Meter (poetry)

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/meter-poetry

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the metrical structure?The patterned arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetic lines
2. What is the historical development?Evolved from ancient Greek quantitative verse to English accentual-syllabic meter
3. What is poetic meter?Poetic meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that gives a poem its rhythm. It is made by arranging words in a regular way so the poem sounds musical.
4. What are the main metrical feet in poetry?The main feet are the iamb (unstressed-stressed), trochee (stressed-unstressed), anapest (unstressed-unstressed-stressed), and dactyl (stressed-unstressed-unstressed). Each foot gives a different beat to the line.

Scansion: The analysis of poetic meter by identifying stressed and unstressed syllables and metrical feet.
Caesura: A pause or break within a line of poetry, often indicated by punctuation.
Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next without terminal punctuation.