Rhyme,+Rhythm,+Poetic+Feet

Rhyme is the similarity in final sounds of words or verse. It can be used in various forms of poetry. Rhyme helps to give shape or form to verse and to bind the lines together. The rhymed couplet is the simplest form of poetic stanza and consists of two rhyming lines. Some examples are shown below:
 * Rhyme**

"My book and heart Must never part."

"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day."

Rhythm is the rise and fall of sounds and is a beat or accent that occurs with regularity in poetry. The pattern of a poem's rhythm is its meter. Formal poetry has a variety of measured beats. Some beats are quick and express joy and animation. Others are slower and give the feeling of mourning or deep reflection.
 * Rhythm**

and Meter and Iambus** Poetic foot is a group of two or three syllables with an accent on one of the syllables. When the feet are put together they make a special pattern called meter. A familiar pattern of meter is called the iambus.
 * Poetic Foot


 * Meter** is used in all forms of poetry except free verse. Meter refers to the rhythm pattern of a poetic line. It results from the syllabic word pattern measured by accent and repetition. Such words as preserve, enthuse, apart are two syllable words. Each word has one accented syllable and one unaccented syllable.


 * Iambus** is where two syllables are used together and there is no accent on the first syllable but an accent is used on the second. In the sentence below the accented syllables have a line over them and the syllables are numbered.

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 "The morns are meeker than they were, 1 2 1 2 1 2 The nuts are getting brown,"


 * Iambic pentameter** itself is a rhythmical pattern of syllables. The "iambic" part means that the rhythm goes from an unstressed syllable to a stressed one, as happens in words like divine, caress, bizarre, and delight. It sounds sort of like a heartbeat: daDUM, daDUM, daDUM. Each iambic unit is called a foot (the term foot is also applied to other rhythmical units, such as trochaic [DUMda], dactyllic [DUMdada], and anapest [dadaDUM]). The "pentameter" part means that this iambic rhythm is repeated five times, or has five feet: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM[da].

Here are a few examples of lines written in iambic pentameter: • "We hold these truths to be self-evident," Thomas Jefferson, "The Declaration of Independence," line 1. "The Declaration of Independence" is a prose work, but who knows if Jefferson intended to make the first line poetic?
 * "Oh, gentle Faustus, leave this damnèd art," Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, 5.1.37. This quotation comes from a play written, at least somewhat, in blank verse, unrhymed iambic pentameter.
 * "I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night." John Milton, "Methought I Saw My Late Espousèd Saint", a sonnet using fourteen lines of iambic pentameter.
 * "But surely Adam cannot be excused," Aemilia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, line 777. Lanyer's work uses ottava rima, an eight-line stanza with the rhyme scheme abababcc.

Definition: The unit of measurement in a line of metrical poetry in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable. Using the common metrical notation where a '/' represents a stressed syllable and a 'U' represents an unstressed syllable, an anapest is shown as U U /. See also foot.
 * Anapest**

The adjective anapestic refers to any line that is composed in anapests. Thus anapestic pentameter refers to a line of poetry in which there are five (pent) anapests.

Pronunciation: AN-uh-pest • (noun) | an-uh-PESS-tic • (adjective)

Examples: "There are many who say that a dog has his day." (Dylan Thomas) Four anapestic feet make up that line, giving it a pattern like: U U / U U / U U / U U

Definition: The unit of measurement in a line of metrical poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables. Using the common metrical notation where a '/' represents a stressed syllable and a 'U' represents an unstressed syllable, a dactyl is shown as / U U. See also foot.
 * Dactyl**

The adjective dactylic refers to any line that is composed in dactyls. Thus dactylic hexameter refers to a line of poetry in which there are six (hex) dactyls.

Pronunciation: DAK-til • (noun) | dak-TIL-ik • (adjective)

Examples: "Take her up tenderly." (Hood) This is a line of two dactylic feet, with the pattern: / U U / U U

Definition: The unit of measurement in a line of metrical poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable. Using the common metrical notation where a '/' represents a stressed syllable and a 'U' represents an unstressed syllable, a trochee is shown as / U. See also foot.
 * Trochee**

The adjective trochaic refers to any line that is composed in trochees. Thus trochaic heptameter refers to a line of poetry in which there are seven (hept) trochees.

Pronunciation: TRO-kee • (noun) | truh-KAY-ik • (adjective)

Examples: "Let her live to earn her dinner." (J.M Synge) This line contains four trochaic feet and thus has the stresses: / U / U / U / U