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Post by Belinda on Sept 8, 2004 14:01:54 GMT -5
Meter
Meter is the regular rhythmic pattern of a poem. As we stated before, paying attention to the rhythm of words is part of what makes a poem a poem. In English, the units of rhythm are rather simple - speech may be broken down into patterns of stressed and unstressed beats (that is, stressed and unstressed syllables). The basic unit of rhythm in a poem is the foot, consisting of either two or three of these beats. Don't worry too much about the foot. It's just cool to know.
Now, iambic pentameter is one of the most common types of meter, or metrical schemes. The word pentameter is used because the line is broken up into five feet. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of one unstressed beat followed by a stressed one, and is often given the notation "|u x|," where u is the unstressed beat and x the stressed one (for example, "to-DAY". An example of how iambic pentameter is read would be:
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Post by Belinda on Sept 13, 2004 1:33:35 GMT -5
OUTSIDEI walk in stillness to the sight of birds in flight above the froth with bated breath. Some spread their wings of colours bright then soar in height or have a scrap then take a nap. A running brook across the field in songs reveal to passers-by how autumns sigh. By Flicker
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Post by Flicker on Sept 13, 2004 17:43:30 GMT -5
Thanks so much Trina for the honour of posting my poem here. Here's another one..I post it here as I notice I cannot make new posts.
Climb The Hill ( 3 verse Quatrain )
We woke at crack of dawn before cocks crowed The air was fresh, green nature sent a thrill. My mum exclaimed " Today we climb the hill ! " Equipped with food and water we set out.
I looked around me , sleepy lay the world. Pale mist enhanced the landscape with soft hues. The glorious sea, the distant mountains blue beguiled our hearts, relaxed our tortured minds.
We sometimes pause and take a drink or two and toast to nature with our glasses raised . Within an hour, we reached the top and gazed at views surrreal and wide , red sun and sky.
Flicker
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Post by Belinda on Sept 14, 2004 2:41:43 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this Just Great Don't know why you couldn't post I'll go check the settings
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Post by Belinda on Sept 14, 2004 2:43:04 GMT -5
Posting here should work now
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Post by Flicker on Sept 28, 2004 16:51:20 GMT -5
Thanks Trina
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Post by R. Menz on Jan 12, 2010 21:42:29 GMT -5
Can someone please give an example of how iambic pentameter clearly alternates from stressed to unstressed syllables. I was supposed to learn it a couple of years ago for English class but it seemed like just about any word or syllable could be used. I'm guessing that any word where you can hear the vowel like "i" in "iambic" is stressed but other than that I can't really tell.
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Post by Belinda on Jan 14, 2010 8:37:37 GMT -5
Pentameter means "five" so you will have five pairs of unstressed/stressed syllables.
The unstressed is a short syllable and the stressed is a long syllable
for example look at the following words:
DELAY DE---unstressed LAY---stressed
BEYOND BE--unstressed YOND-- stressed
AMONG A--unstressed MONG---stressed
I found this step by step to help you out:
1. Step 1
Decide what you want your poem to be about. If this is an assignment for school you may have a topic assigned to you. 2. Step 2
Determine whether or not you will write a rhyming poem, blank verse or a sonnet. 3. Step 3
Choose a rhyme pattern for rhyming poetry. Example: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. 4. Step 4
Think about how many lines you plan to write and if it should be divided into stanzas. 5. Step 5
Write your first line and count out the beats. Your lines should have five beats or meters per line. 6. Step 6
Make sure that your syllables have one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. Example:Di DUM, Di DUM, Di DUM. 7. Step 7
Proofread your poem using slash marks above each word to indicate stressed and unstressed beats. Count up your beats and write at the end of each line. If you're over or under you'll have to go back and rework.
An example of the above steps--not all are going to have the Di Dum Di Dum Di Dum rhyming scheme here is an example of that:
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Scheme di-dum di-dum dum-di di-dum di-dum (5 pairs)
Scheme broke down from the line above: di(shall)-dum(I) di(Com)-dum(Pare) dum(Thee)-di(to) di(a)-dum(Sum) di(ers)-dum(day)
I hope this helps
Belinda
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Post by R. Menz on Jan 15, 2010 21:44:37 GMT -5
yes! thank you that does help.
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Post by Belinda on Jan 15, 2010 22:17:55 GMT -5
You are welcome.
Belinda
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