Meter and Scansion
Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. Scansion is marking that pattern so anyone can check it. Show the marks; never ask the author to take "it scans" on trust.
Feet
| Foot | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Iamb | da-DUM | a-WAY |
| Trochee | DUM-da | KEEP-er |
| Anapest | da-da-DUM | in the NIGHT |
| Dactyl | DUM-da-da | PAR-af-fin |
| Spondee | DUM-DUM | GREY ROCK |
Meters
Name a meter by its foot and the number of feet per line: dimeter (2), trimeter (3), tetrameter (4), pentameter (5), hexameter (6). Iambic pentameter is five iambs: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.
Accentual verse (ballads, nursery rhymes, much song) counts only the beats and lets the unstressed syllables vary. Say which kind the poem uses before judging it.
Finding a word's stress
- Say the word in a normal sentence. Dictionary stress wins for words of two or more syllables (KEEP-er, a-BOUT, PAR-af-fin).
- One-syllable words take stress from their role: nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs usually stress; articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns usually do not.
- Stress is relative. Meter can promote a weak syllable a little (and on the third beat of "the KEEP-er AND his WIFE"), and a one-syllable verb between two stronger stresses can take a weak position ("when his CLOCK lost a HAND"); mark that as deliberate. Meter cannot shift a word's own stress: if it needs KEEP-er read as keep-ER, the line fails.
- Accent changes stress and syllable count. Ask which accent the verse is for when a word such as address, garage, fire, flower, or poem sits on a key beat.
Scansion table
Mark stressed syllables in capitals and separate feet with / (a |
would break the markdown table). Give the syllable count, the beat
count, the rhyme letter, and a verdict.
| Line | Scansion | Syll | Beats | Rhyme | Verdict |
|------|----------|------|-------|-------|---------|
| 1 | a KEEP / er who LIVED / on a ROCK | 8 | 3 | A | ok |
| 2 | whose LAMP / was as TRUE / as a CLOCK | 8 | 3 | A | ok |
| 3 | when his CLOCK / lost a HAND | 6 | 2 | B | deliberate: *lost* demoted between two stronger stresses |
| 4 | he re-LIED / on the SAND | 6 | 2 | B | ok |
| 5 | and he KEEPS / his ac-COUNTS / in a SOCK | 9 | 3 | A | ok |Verdicts:
- ok - the line fits the meter.
- deliberate - a variation the form allows (below); name it.
- fault - a stress on a weak syllable, a strong syllable forced weak, a missing or extra beat, or a stumble aloud. Say which, and propose a fix.
Allowed variations
These are normal and do not need fixing:
- Initial inversion: a trochee in place of the first iamb ("KEEP-ing the LIGHT a-LIVE").
- Feminine ending: an extra unstressed syllable at the line end ("the LAMP was BURN-ing").
- Headless line: a missing first unstressed syllable in iambic verse ("LIT the LAMP and CLIMBED the STAIR"), or one or both missing in anapestic verse ("KEEP / er who LIVED / on a ROCK").
- Anapestic substitution: an anapest in iambic verse, or an iamb in anapestic verse, used sparingly.
- Spondee: two stresses together for weight ("GREY ROCK").
Two or more variations in one line, or the same variation in most lines, means the poem is in a different meter than claimed. Say so.
Common faults
- Wrenched stress: the meter forces a stress no speaker would use ("he LIT the LAMP with par-af-FIN", where speech says PAR-af-fin).
- Padding: filler added for a beat: did + verb, so, oh, all, doubled adjectives.
- Elision to fit: o'er, e'en, 'twas, th' in modern verse. Only keep them in deliberate pastiche.
- Syllable counting without stress: ten syllables is not iambic pentameter unless the stresses fall on the even syllables.