{"id":55,"date":"2019-09-06T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T05:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/engl1130\/chapter\/chapter-7-the-technical-language-of-poetry\/"},"modified":"2021-08-24T17:22:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T21:22:45","slug":"chapter-7-the-technical-language-of-poetry","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/engl1130\/chapter\/chapter-7-the-technical-language-of-poetry\/","title":{"raw":"The Technical Language of Poetry","rendered":"The Technical Language of Poetry"},"content":{"raw":"

\"\"<\/h1>\r\nThe Technical Language of Poetry<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn this chapter, we\u2019ll be looking at some basic formal elements of poetry. Much of this material is based on sound. It is easier to understand with spoken examples.\r\n\r\nThe vocabulary that has been developed to study poetry is elaborate. Although you may feel you\u2019re being exposed to a lot of new words at once, in fact we will only be sampling the extent of this vocabulary here.\r\n\r\nThe study of the nature, forms, rules, and techniques is called poetics; <\/strong>part of this, the study of poetic meter and sound<\/em>, is called prosody<\/strong>. The following poetics describes very well the majority of poems written in English from the late 15th century (the time just before Shakespeare) to the present. The major exception is free verse, which is primarily a 20th-century (to present) phenomenon. Although you may use this chapter as a supplemental glossary, the entries are not in alphabetical order because concepts described in many entries depend upon a knowledge of those that have been described before. You can\u2019t understand what blank verse<\/strong> is, for example, until you know what meter<\/strong> is. Fortunately, you have a computer and can search for entries easily if you need to refresh your memory.\r\n\r\nThese are the most basic words anyone needs to know who wishes to discuss poetics:\r\n\r\nFoot:\u00a0 <\/strong>For the most part English poetry is measured by stressed syllables; a stressed syllable and its accompanying unstressed syllable(s) is called a foot<\/strong>.<\/em> English poetry has four basic feet, the iamb<\/strong>, the trochee<\/strong>, the dactyl<\/strong> and the anapest<\/strong>. Of these four, the iamb (pronounced \u201cI<\/strong> am\u201d) is by far the most common. The iamb consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. Traditionally an unstressed syllable is marked by a \u02d8, and an stressed syllable is marked \u00b4. But, for visual ease we will mark the stressed syllables in bold<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\niamb:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The bar<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nA trochee (pronounced \u201ctroh<\/strong>-kay\u201d) is a backwards iamb, a two-syllable foot in which the first syllable is stressed:\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\ntrochee:\u00a0 \u00a0bro<\/strong>-ther<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe anapest (pronounced as written, \u201can<\/strong>-a-pest\u201d) and dactyl (pronounced \u201cdak<\/strong>-til\u201d) are three syllable feet thus:\r\n\r\nanapest:\u00a0 on the<\/span> hill<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\ndactyl:\u00a0 dumb\u00a0<\/strong> as\u00a0 a<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn addition to these four basic feet, there are two more, less common, that you should know, the spondee <\/strong>(\u201cspon<\/strong>-day\u201d) and the pyrrhic<\/strong> (\u201cpeer<\/strong>-ik\u201d). These feet are common substitutions in poetic lines. In other words, they are not generally the basic meter of the line, but serve to add variation to the regular pattern set up in the meter by repeating one of the four basic feet. The spondee consists of two accented syllables together; the pyrrhic consists of two unaccented syllables together.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
spondee: We real<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\npyrrhic:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0to\u00a0 a<\/span>\r\n\r\nLine <\/strong>and meter:<\/strong> A string of feet is a line. The pattern of stresses in a line is called the meter. It\u2019s obvious from looking at a poem where a line begins and ends. What you may not know is that lines have names based on the meter and on number of feet the line contains<\/em>. Lines in English poetry tend to repeat the same foot a number of times. Variations tend to be isolated. For example, one anapest, or spondee or pyrrhic may show up in an otherwise iambic line. But it is still an iambic line.\r\n
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REMEMBER THE FORMULA:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

METER + NUMBER of FEET = LINE\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(five iambs = iambic pentameter)<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nHere are some more line names, from one beat to eight:\r\n\r\n \r\n
one foot = monometer<\/div>\r\n
two feet = dimeter<\/div>\r\n
three feet = trimeter<\/div>\r\n
four feet = tetrameter<\/div>\r\n
five feet = pentameter<\/div>\r\n
six feet = hexameter<\/div>\r\n
seven feet = heptameter<\/div>\r\n
eight feet = octameter<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\nYou\u2019re unlikely to come across a regular line longer than eight feet.\r\n\r\nTo give the full name to a line you put the adjective form of the foot beside the name of the length. Greek epics, for example are written in dactylic hexameter<\/em>. The line is natural to Greek and rare in English. (Even translations of Greek epics are often not rendered in dactylic hexameter.)\r\n\r\nThe most common line in English poetry is iambic pentameter. <\/strong>A pentameter line, as the name suggests, is a line with five feet. An iambic pentameter line would therefore look like this: da da |<\/strong>\u00a0da da<\/strong> | da da |<\/strong> da da |<\/strong> da da<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAn example would be,\r\n\r\nThe bear<\/strong> is in<\/strong> the house<\/strong> be-side<\/strong> the brook<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThe second most common line is iambic tetrameter, a four beat line:\r\n\r\nI nev<\/strong>-er lost<\/strong> as much<\/strong> but twice<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe third most common is iambic trimeter, for which I assume you do not need an example. You should be able to recognize these on sight. Any other line you may have to cross reference with your vocabulary list if you need to name it.\r\n\r\nIf you feel you understand, great. If you want to set the idea of iambic pentameter more firmly, here<\/a> is a video that will help.\r\n\r\nScansion\/Scanning\/Scan: <\/strong>The task of determining the meter of a line, of being able find the proper name of a poetic line, is called scanning or scansion.\r\n\r\nA word of warning: to understand how poems work, it is necessary to be able to scan them. However, knowing what scansion is and being able to scan are not the same. Many students in the past have come to me saying they can\u2019t figure out how to scan a given line in a poem. The only sure way to improve is to practice. Here are a few helpful hints that might get you started.\r\n