Poetic Terms and Metrical Structures Study Guide

Definitions of Poetic Meter and Line Lengths

• Monometer

  • Contributor: AJ Abram

  • Definition: A poetic line consisting of only $1$ metrical foot, which is a single unit of rhythm composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.

  • Example: ‘‘Skunks,’ the squirrel said,’ are sent to try us.’ by Ralph Hodgson.

• Dimeter

  • Contributor: Om Kshirsagar

  • Definition: A poetic meter where each line contains $2$ metrical feet.

  • Example: ‘‘The sun will rise’’ - Iambic Dimeter.

• Trimeter

  • Contributor: Hanna Lieu

  • Definition: A poetry meter where each line has $3$ metrical feet.

  • Example: ‘‘To a Skylark’’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

• Tetrameter

  • Contributor: Aarav Chandani

  • Definition: A poetic meter in which every line has $4$ metrical feet.

  • Example: It was too wet to play - Anapestic Tetrameter.

• Pentameter

  • Contributor: Samik Shah

  • Definition: A poetic meter in which every line contains $5$ metrical feet.

  • Example: ‘‘Two households, both alike in dignity’’ (Shakespeare Prologue) - Iambic Pentameter.

• Hexameter

  • Contributor: Katelyn Huynh

  • Definition: A line of verse consisting of $6$ metrical feet, especially of $6$ dactyls.

  • Example: ‘‘Pancakes / and waffles / with syrup / and sugar / are always / so nice’’

• Heptameter

  • Contributor: Evan Chen

  • Definition: A line of verse containing $7$ metrical feet.

  • Example: ‘‘And the rav / en nev / er flit / ing, still is / sitting, / still is / sitting’’ (Edgar Allan Poe).

Types of Metrical Feet and Rhythmic Patterns

• Iambic

  • Contributor: Maryam Imyarova

  • Definition: A foot in poetry that follows an unstressed then stressed syllable (ba-BUMP).

  • Example: ‘‘Where CIvil BLOOD makes CIvil HANDS unCLEAN’’ (Shakespeare Prologue).

• Trochaic

  • Contributor: Sahana Amithkumar

  • Definition: A type of poetic meter which follows with a stressed syllable and an unstressed syllable (GAR-den).

  • Example: ‘‘DOUble, DOUble, TOIL and TROUble;’’ (Shakespeare, Macbeth).

• Dactylic

  • Contributor: Audrey Shen

  • Definition: A type of poetic meter where each foot consists of a stressed, unstressed, and unstressed syllable (DA-da-da).

  • Example: ‘‘Actions speak louder than words.’’

• Anapestic

  • Contributor: Advaith Naveen

  • Definition: A foot pattern in poetry consisting of an unstressed, unstressed, and then stressed syllable (da-da-DAH).

  • Example: ‘‘In the blink of an eye.’’

• Spondaic

  • Contributor: Sophie Nguyen

  • Definition: A metrical foot in poetry that consists of $2$ consecutive stressed syllables.

  • Example: ‘‘KNOCK KNOCK! WHO’S THERE?’’

Variations and Structural Deviations in Meter

• Pure Meter

  • Contributor: Nathalie Bendanillo

  • Definition: The rhythmic structure of a verse that has a consistent pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

  • Example: ‘‘MARy HAD a LITtle LAMB’’

• Impure Meter

  • Contributor: AJ Abram

  • Definition: Regular in its structure but containing deliberate variations, substitutions, or deviations from a strict or consistent beat.

  • Example: ‘‘Shall I / compare / thee to / a summer’s / day?’’ (Shakespeare Sonnet $18$).

• Catalexis

  • Contributor: Aarini Shah

  • Definition: The absence of one or more unstressed syllables in the last foot of a line or a verse.

  • Example: ‘‘I WALK along the ROAD’’ (missing the unstressed syllable at the end after ‘‘road’’).

• Hypercatalexis

  • Contributor: AJ

  • Definition: A line that contains an extra syllable or syllables at the end, following the completion of the expected metrical foot or pattern.

  • Example: ‘‘I wan-dered lone-ly as a cloud, be-yond’’

• Anacrusis

  • Contributor: Emma Gill

  • Definition: One or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a poetic line right before the expected metrical beat starts; it is typically used in trochaic and dactylic poetic meter lines.

  • Example: The letter ‘‘O’’ in the beginning of the phrase ‘‘O say can you see’’ in the Star Spangled Banner acts as a lead-in to the main verse.

• Lame Foot

  • Contributor: AJ

  • Definition: A metrical line that deliberately disrupts its established rhythm, creating an uneven, hesitant, or ‘‘limping’’ gait.

  • Example: Most of the words that I give you are new.

Rhyme Classifications

• Masculine Rhyme

  • Contributor: Trish Tran

  • Definition: A rhyme of final stressed syllables.

  • Example: pancake and mistake; lemonade and grade.

• Feminine Rhyme

  • Contributor: Sophia Jao

  • Definition: A rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more unstressed syllables.

  • Example: stocking and shocking.

• Slant Rhyme (aka Half Rhyme)

  • Contributor: Advaith Naveen

  • Definition: Rhyme structures with similar sounding words that are not perfect rhymes.

  • Example: ‘‘If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, / When other petty griefs have done their spites, / But in the onset come; so I shall taste / At first the very worst of fortune’s might…’’ (Shakespeare).

• Internal Rhyme

  • Contributor: Ariha Shah

  • Definition: A rhyme involving words in the middle of a line and/or another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next line.

  • Example: ‘‘I had a cat who wore a hat. He looked cool but felt the fool.’’

Syntax, Lineation, and Repetition

• Syntax

  • Contributor: AJ Abram

  • Definition: The intentional arrangement and ordering of words, phrases, and sentences to create specific rhythmic, tonal, and thematic effects.

  • Example: ‘‘Whose woods these are I think I know.’’ (Robert Frost, ‘‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’’).

• Enjambment

  • Contributor: [Not Listed]

  • Definition: A poetic technique where a sentence or phrase runs over from one line, couplet, or stanza to the next without terminal punctuation.

  • Example: ‘‘I will never/love/again’’

• End-stopped Line

  • Contributor: Chai Annadi

  • Definition: A poetic device where the end of a line ends with punctuation (such as a period, dash, or closing parenthesis). A line is considered end-stopped if it is a full phrase.

  • Example: ‘‘Oh, I kept the first for another day—’’ (Frost).

• Repetition

  • Contributor: Vicky Chan

  • Definition: Using the same word or phrase over and over again in a piece of writing or speech.

  • Example: ‘‘I have a dream, a dream of a better tomorrow.’’ (The word ‘‘dream’’ is repeated).

• Anaphora

  • Contributor: Natalie Lin

  • Definition: The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of clauses or sentences to emphasize meaning and provide rhythm.

  • Example: ‘‘I have a dream…’’ - Martin Luther King Jr., ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech.

Auditory Literary Devices

• Alliteration

  • Contributor: Reuel Solomon

  • Definition: The repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in a phrase.

  • Example: They read the time as ten in the night time.

• Consonance

  • Contributor: Ray Howlett

  • Definition: The repetition of a consonant sound.

  • Example: ‘‘though, english is understood through thorough thought’’

• Assonance

  • Contributor: Jordon Li

  • Definition: The repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences.

  • Example: ‘‘The horse hobbled home.’’

Figurative and Metaphorical Devices

• Personification

  • Contributor: Riya Shah

  • Definition: The use of a literary device to describe a nonliving object, animal, or idea using human qualities.

  • Example: ‘‘The hot sun smiled down at us’’

• Conceit

  • Contributor: Aimee Luong

  • Definition: An elaborate, unconventional, and often surprising metaphor that compares two highly dissimilar things.

  • Example: ‘‘Love is a monster truck.’’

• Allusion

  • Contributor: Charlene Chien

  • Definition: A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of art/literature that the author assumes the reader understands.

  • Example: She felt as if she had been struck by Cupid’s arrow as soon as they met.