Choriamb Foot

Choriamb is a metron in Greek and Latin poetry consisting of four syllables in a pattern of long-short-short-long ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ that is a trochee ¯ ˘ alternating with an iamb ˘ ¯. In English poetry, choriamb is sometimes used to describe four syllables which follow a pattern of stressed-unstressed-unstressed-stressed  ̷ ˘ ˘ ̷ . In English poetry, the choriamb is often found in the first four syllables in standard iambic pentameter verses. The following verses 6, 9 and 10 found in stanza 2 of the Homostrophic ode written by John Keats’, “Ode to Autumn” provide examples as shown below:

According to prosody, it is not uncommon for poets to vary their Iambic Pentameter, while maintaining the iamb as the dominant foot. However, convention allows that these variations must always contain only five feet. The second foot is almost always an iamb. The first foot is the one most likely to change by the use of the inversion technique. This technique counteracts the metronomic effect by substituting for an iamb another type of foot whose stress is different. So it is not unusual to see any of these (trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapest or pyrrhic) appearing in Iambic Pentameter verses. The inversion mostly tends to fall on a trochee. Another common departure from the standard Iambic Pentameter is the addition of a final unstressed syllable which creates a feminine ending or what is referred to as a weak ending.

Homostrophic Ode consists of a number of stanzas alike in structure. The poet is free to decide on the structure of the basis stanza, with respect to the:-
- number of verses in the stanza
- verse length
- rhyme scheme
in accordance with the demands of the content.
-----
American spelling: meter, anapest
British spelling: metre, anapaest

Molossus Foot

Molossus is a metrical foot used in metered poetry. It consists of three long syllables ( ̵̵̵̵̵        ̵̵̵̵̵        ̵̵̵̵̵  ).  In English poetry, syllables are usually categorized as being stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short as is the case in quantitative meter of Greek and Roman poetry. The molossus is very rare in English poetry, but can usually be created by using an adjective-adjective-noun combination. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Break, Break, Break” (in memory of Arthur Hallam) shows a molossus in verses 1 and 2 of the first stanza as shown below:

The poem “Freak Storm Smash” is loaded with the molossus foot as shown in the partial scan below:

Comments on "Mothers' Day"

This poem “Mothers’ Day” was composed at Cassia Drive in St. James South, Barbados in 2008. It is in the form of an Acrostic made up of a septet stanza and a tercet stanza. A septet is a stanza of seven verses. A tercet is a stanza of three verses. The poem contains end rhymes forming a rhyme scheme aabccbd aab. It has tetrameter verses. However, the analysis of the verses shows that no particular pattern of meter dominates the verses. So in the poem you'll see verses further described as Trochaic tetrameter and iambic tetrameter measuring 4 feet as shown in Exhibit #1.

Exhibit #1
Graphic Scansion of the poem, "Mothers' Day

Many<>pros and<>cons, tag<>parents;
Trochee..... Trochee .........Trochee .......... Trochee
... /u ............./u .........│ ...... /u ..........│...... /u ...│
............ 1 .................... 2 .................... 3 .............. 4 ..Trochaic Tetrameter

onus<>on moth<>ers to<>bear fruits
Trochee ....... Iamb ............... Pyrrhic ............. Spondee
../u ....... │...... u/ ................│...uu ..........│.......... // ......... │
.............. 1 ......................... 2 ................. 3 ........................ 4 ....Tetrameter

the Cre<>ator<>placed on<>us, his
.. Pyrrhic ..Trochee ... Trochee ........ Pyrrhic
.... uu ......│.... /u ......... /u ............. ... uu .....│
............... 1 ........... 2 ...................... 3 ............ 4 .....Tetrameter

heaven<>ly en<>dowed port<>manteau;
..Trochee .. Pyrrhic ..... Trochee ........... Trochee
.... u/ ......│... uu ...│........ /u ............│...... /u .......│
............... 1 .......... 2 ......................... 3 ................ 4 ....Trochaic Tetrameter

even<>Adam<>wore it<> to sow…
Trochee ..Trochee ... Trochee ...... Iambic
..... /u......... /u ... ..... /u .................u/ .............
........... 1 .............. 2 .............. 3 ........................... 4 ...... Trochaic Tetrameter

respect<>your mom<>,Benedict<>said it's
Trochee.......... Pyrrhic ....... Amphibrach .... Trochee
.... /u ...... │..... uu ............│........... u/u ... ......... /u ....│
............... 1 ...................... 2 .....................3 ................. 4 .... Tetrameter

Sacred<>,to cath<>olic<>decree;
Trochee ....... Pyrrhic ..Trochee ...Trochee
.... /u ......│...... u u .....│.. / u ........... / u │....
............... 1................. 2 ......... 3 ............ 4 .....Trochaic Tetrameter

Drawn to<>passions'<>bed we<>do wed
..Trochee .......... Trochee ... ... Trochee ....... Spondee
..... / u .........│....... / u ........│....... / u .....│..... / / ...... │
.................... 1 .................... 2 ................ 3 ................ 4 ..Trochaic Tetrameter

and Jor<>dan floods<>the Dead<>Sea bed
...Iambic........... Iambic ............ Iambic ......... Spondee
..... u / ..... │ ........ u / ......... │....... u / ........ │ .... / / .......│
................ 1......................... 2 .................... 3 ................ 4 ...Iambic Tetrameter

yearly<>since, Ma<>ry birth<>us Christ
Trochee ........ Iambic .......... Iambic ......... Iambic
... /u ......│ ...... u/ ......... │....... u/ ....... ...... u/ ......... │
..............1...................... 2 .................. 3 .................... 4 ....Iambic Tetrameter

In English poetry, measurement places emphasis on stressed and unstressed syllables and this type of measurement is described as accentual-syllabic meter, in which every syllable counts to create the proper rhythm and flow of the meter. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporary of poets are credited for the fusion of the accentual of English and the syllabic of French into modern English accentual-syllabic forms.

Meter means measurement of the verse length. Foot is the unit of such measurement; hence the measuring instrument is known as the metric foot. In ancient Greece during poetry chants, chanters danced to the rhythmic flow of poetry verses with their feet so this tradition of using feet as the measurement tool in poetry came about.

Let’s look at the words (attack), (beginner) and the phrase (her health) as examples.

The word (attack) has two like consonant letters (tt), the syllable before the double consonant is usually stressed. Hence, in the word (attack) the first syllable (at) is stressed and the second syllable (tack) is unstressed. The graphic scanning of the word (attack) looks like this:

at’tack
. /... u ... ... trochaic monometer

and therefore measures one foot and the symbolic representation of this particular pattern of the English foot is called a trochaic monometer. Exhibit #2 gives a listing of these various patterns in the English poetic foot.

Exhibit #2
English Metrication Symbols

u/ ........ Iamb
u/u ...... Amphibrach
uu/ ...... Anapest
/u ..........Trochee
/uu ....... Dactyl
// .......... Spondee
uu.......... Pyrrhic

These are the most common types found in English poems. I wished blogger was user friendly when it comes to tables and charts. Use is made of leader dots to prevent the scrambling of these symbols all over the blog.

A vertical line like this (│) in graphic scansion is called the counter. The counter marks the location where every foot ends on the lines of verse. The phrase (her health) has an unstressed word (syllable) and a stressed word (syllable). A phrase is a group of words that does not have both a subject and a predicate and therefore cannot stand as a clause or a sentence. The graphic scansion of this phrase (her health) looks like this:

her health
. u ... / ..... ... iambic monometer

This graphic scansion of the phrase (her health) shows that the first word (syllable) is unstressed and the second word (syllable) is stressed and therefore measures one foot making this particular symbolic pattern an iambic monometer verse.

Why is it an iambic monometer verse?

When a metrical foot in English poetry is made up of one unstressed syllable (u) followed by one stressed (/) syllable it is called an iambic foot. The English derivative of the word iambic is iamb. Exhibit #3 shows the symbolic representation of the various English poetic feet.

Exhibit #3
English Metrication

Monometer is a line of verse measuring 1 foot

Dimeter is a line of verse measuring 2 feet

Trimeter is a line of verse measuring 3 feet

Tetrameter is a line of verse measuring 4 feet

Pentameter is a line of verse measuring 5 feet

Hexameter is a line of verse measuring 6 feet

Heptameter is a line of verse measuring 7 feet

Octameter is a line of verse measuring 8 feet

Nonameter is a line of verse measuring 9 feet

Decameter is a line of verse measuring 10 feet

Why does the graphic scansion of the phrase “her health” shows and unstressed symbol for “her”?

Let’s bear in mind that English stress content words. Nouns, principal verbs, adjectives and adverbs are considered content words. Pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions are considered Function words. Function words are quickly glided over in speech hence the reason why they carry the unstressed label. These principles are applied as well in accentual-syllabic meter. This quality of quickly gliding over less important words is also known as connected speech. In my cursory analysis of English words with two syllables the stressed syllable seems to fall on the first syllable.

The word (beginner) has two like consonant letters (nn), the syllable before the double consonant is usually stressed. Hence, in the word (beginner) the first syllable (be) is unstressed, the second syllable (gin) is stressed and the last syllable (ner) is unstressed. The graphic scanning of the word (beginner) looks like this

be’gin’ner
..u . /.... u
Amphibrach u/u

It measures one foot in the pattern of the Amphibrach.

The iamb is the most common metrical foot in English and other languages as well. The iambic and anapestic meters are called rising meters because their sound rises from unstressed to stressed. Trochee and dactylic meters are called the falling meters and this is so because their sound falls from stressed to unstressed. The anapest and the dactyl are bouncing meters and in the twentieth century they were very popular in comic verses than for serious poetry. The spondee still measures a foot even thought it has one sound that is stressed, and so is the pyrrhic with one sound that is unstressed. They are never used as the sole meter of a poem. Wherever the spondee and the pyrrhic are found in the verse, they provide the complementary role of lending emphasis and variety to a meter especially the iambic rhythmic verses.

Metrical verses are named according to the constituent foot and for the number of feet in the line of verse. So what we have got is this listing where a:

Monometer measuring 1 iambic foot is called an Iambic Monometer

Dimeter measuring 2 iambic feet is called an Iambic Dimeter

Trimeter measuring 3 iambic feet is called an Iambic Trimeter

Tetrameter measuring 4 iambic feet is called an Iambic Tetrameter

Pentameter measuring 5 iambic feet is called an Iambic Pentameter

Hexameter measuring 6 iambic feet is called an Iambic Hexameter

Heptameter measuring 7 iambic feet is called an Iambic Heptameter

Octameter measuring 8 iambic feet is called an Iambic Octameter

Nonameter measuring 9 iambic feet is called an Iambic Nonameter

Decameter measuring 10 iambic feet is called an Iambic Decameter

It is not a common occurrence in English Language poetry to read lines of verses in poems made up entirely of the anapest, trochee, dactyl, spondee, pyrrhic or any other type. These only provide variety and versatility in the rhythmic flow of poetic verses. What is most common occurrence in English Language poetry is to read lines of verses in poems made up entirely or mostly of the iamb. The iamb is the most popular foot in English Language Poetry. So, any description of the lines of verses in English Poetry necessitates inclusion the name of the constituent foot or dominant foot.

Here are examples of two poems (“Rose” and “Upon Leaving USA”) for you to study:

Rose

Your roots .................... (monometer verse)
Are everywhere
In gardens near and far
With petals of sunshine beauty
Blooming ...................... (monometer verse)

Graphic Scansion of the poem “Rose”

Your roots
.... Iamb
...... u / ........
.................... 1 .... iambic monometer verse
Are ev<>erywhere
Spondee ....... Iamb
... //............. u/.......
............. 1 ................. 2 ... dimeter verse
In gar<>dens near<>and far
.. Iamb ....... Iamb .......... Iamb
... u/...... ....... u/ ......... .. uu ....
............. 1 .................... 2 ............ 3 ... iambic trimeter
With pet<>als of sun<>shine beauty
.. Iamb ...... .. Anapest .... .. Amphibrach .....
.. u/ ................. uuu ................... //u
.................. 1 .................... 2 ........................... 3 ... trimeter
Blooming<>
.. Iamb
... /u ...........
................... 1 ... iambic monometer

Some poems are written exclusively in monometer verse.
Here is such an example taken from the poem “Upon Leaving USA” and the graphic scansion on it as proof.

Upon Leaving USA

The stress
And worry
Were more
Than she
Could bear;

Graphic Scansion of the poem “Upon Leaving USA”

The stress<>
... Iamb
.... u/
..................
.................. 1 foot ... iambic monometer
And worry<>
Amphibrach
.... u/u
..................
.................. 1 foot ... amphibrachaic monometer
Were more <>
.. Spondee
..... //
.....................
..................... 1 foot ... spondaic monometer
Than she <>
Pyrrhic
... uu
...............
............... 1 foot ... pyrrhaic monometer

Could bear; <>
.. Spondee
...... //
......................
...................... 1 foot ... spondaic monometer

In this particular poem (Upon Leaving USA) even though each line of verse measures one foot (monometer) the foot pattern varies throughout the lines of verse, and the iambic foot is not the dominant pattern throughout the poem because other foot patterns have emerged but still not able to claim dominance in every line of verse either, so the poem can only be described as having monometer verses. If the iambic pattern had been able to claim dominance in all the lines of verse in the poem, then we could say that "Upon Leaving USA" is an iambic monometer poem. However, based on the graphic scansion the poem is simply a monometer poem. To read all the verses to the poem go to “Upon Leaving the USA".

What is there to learn about the graphic scansion process?

Scansion in the broadest sense is to examine carefully animate and inanimate entities using any range of symbols. This process of examining and analyzing symbols and symbolic expressions in the end products of poetry, for the purpose to make informed decisions as to what the poet is saying or might be implying is called Graphic Scansion. This process examines in detail the rhythmic flow and the metrical structure of poems in order to understand the poems better and to draw conclusions from them.

English Poetry Versification - Part III

5. Sound Effects in Poetry

Alliteration
Assonance
Cacophony
Consonance
dissonance
Euphony
Onomatopoeia
Rhymes
Rhythm
Sibilance

Have you ever found out that when you read a poem aloud you gain further insight into its meaning as compared to when the same poem was read silently? Also when you see a poem do these initial thoughts invade your mind like: How do I read this poem? How should it sound? Well, for me I do. Just think about it. These are valid questions because subconsciously acknowledging the fact that poetry is meant to be read aloud, in order to get the full meaning of what the poem has conveyed in its imagery.

Poetry is the conduit for all of our senses. We plug into it via its imagery. Imagery is often described as word pictures. In this regard poets use language in such a way as to create vivid pictures in the minds of the audience. Poets use imagery that calls upon the senses of smell, touch, and taste as well as the use of visual and aural imagery. Poets create sound pictures to make us hear something in our imagination; so let us talk more about aural imagery and how poets use auditory words or words that talk about sound and their effects. Whenever there is a discussion on aural sounds in poetry there are two words with which we must be familiar: meter and rhyme.

When there is a basic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem we refer to the poem as having a certain meter. When you read the poem this rhythmic pattern is often different from rhythms you would have used in normal speech. This interplay between these two rhythm patterns helps to give the poem its unique quality. For example, if you were to read the Versification poem the metrical pattern is one which alternates between stressed (/) and unstressed (u) syllables, e.g.

Value and measure verses as you should
/ u u / u / / u u /
each word, or sound that has fallen from lips;
u / u / u u / u u /
run as you like under the old stave wood;
/ u u / / u u / / /
stressed and unstressed feet, this way the voice dips;
/ u u / / u / u / /

If you were to read the poem following this pattern strictly the result would be silly. It would sound like:

Value andmea surever sesas youshould eachword orsound thathas fallen fromlips

But it you read it ‘naturally’ this pattern influences how it comes out in the end.

The poem, Indian corn has another basic pattern in its meter. I goes:

He eats the cob the proper way
u / u / u / u /
By, holding ends real tight;
u / u / / /
Each corn from ear he bites and chews,
u / u / u / u /
Crisscrossing rows in sight;
/ / u / u /

It gives the poem a different kind of flow from the first and is more suitable to a ballad.

Most modern poems don’t follow a strict metrical pattern, but the principle is important. The patterns of meter and of rhythm all help to make a poem more powerful and beautiful.

Another powerful effect is achieved in the poem, The Cry of the Birdies using a simple u/ u/ rhythm that it sounds like a nursery rhyme. Here it goes:

A fluffing, puffing and singing
u / u / u / / u
Tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet where is my share;
/ / / / u / u /
For it is only fair and square.
u u / / u / u /

To get the feel of the general rhythm of a poem is more important than working out the meter. This is because the meter is only a tool to achieve the rhythm. If the poet wants to race along the poet will use a combination of meter, sentence structure, length of line and other ‘techniques’ to achieve this. So:

A fluffing, puffing and singing
Tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet where is my share;
For it is only fair and square.

Has a different rhythm from:

Charts, scrubs, gloves, pens and thermometer she used all
Those notes she wrote with loving care and compassion
Nightingale’s sweet sounds fade softly in night’s snowfall
Feelings bring on tears that speak of scary notion.

(From the poem, Beloved Sister)

She stands
Beside
The quiet stream
Holds lily pad
Within her hand
Hiding her face
From the glaring eyes
Of dawn

(From the poem, The Reverie)

Sound Effects in poetry come from the essential elements of repetition and variations. As students of poetry when you begin analyzing the basic elements of poetry you should reflect firstly on what poetry is all about. We may want to accept the view that poetry is literature in metrical form or as a composition forming rhythmic verses or cadence as in free verse poetry. Let’s say it differently, a poem is something that follows a particular flow of rhythm, meter or cadence when compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to the story, a poem may or may not have a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing.

The use of sound effects in poetry such as alliteration, assonance, cacophony, consonance, dissonance, euphony, onomatopoeia, rhymes, rhythm, and sibilance create a pleasing effect when poetry is read aloud. Please bear in mind that these various sound effects are not all to be found in one poem. Poets more often than not, would pick what sound effects to incorporate in the poem; whether one, two, three or more. As we explore these sound effects with their definitions you will find examples of them taken from a variety of poems you may or may not have read. Links to these poems are provided to facilitate the rereading of them.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words, but the surrounding consonant sounds are different.

Him crossing glory’s open door (This Fort)
We heard about Hillary and Norgay (Tuakau Honey Jar First to Ever Rest)

Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession.

When I putt green grass and pulled the weeds (Mowing)
Of French, Spanish, and English origin, (Hurricane Preparedness Watch)
Toads paddle amid the foam (Musing in the Blooming Forest)

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds. The sound effects of alliteration may help to tie two or more lines together by repeating the beginning sound. Do believe me when I said that I did not set out from the outset to use this technique. It became apparent when I re-read the poems aloud. Here are two examples of alliteration found in poems I have written:

With wrinkles warping
wasting what was
wonderful wear
of roses...withered, warped
we wished winkles would

Please go away!

These vampires
Shrouded with great mystery
They try to dash the hopes
Of medicine men in search
For some miracle and a cure

When wrinkles walking

All over body parts

are no more

(From the poem, Wrinkles)

When I putt green grass and pulled the weeds

(From the poem, Mowing)

William Langland is known as the grand-master of the alliteration technique. In his poem, The Piers Plowman provides many examples of this technique.

In a summer season when the sun was mild
I clad myself in clothes as I’d become a sheep;
In the habit of a hermit unholy of works,
Walked wide in this world, watching for wonders.
And on a May morning on Malvern hills,
There befell me as by magic a marvellous thing:
I was weary of wandering and went to rest
At the bottom of a broad bank by a brook's side,
And as I lay lazily looking in the water
I slipped into a slumber, it sounded so pleasant.
There came to me reclining there a most curious dream
That I was in a wilderness, nowhere that I knew;
But as I looked into the east, up high toward the sun,
I saw a tower on a hill-top, trimly built;
A deep dale beneath, a dungeon tower in it,
With ditches deep and dark and dreadful to look at.
A fair field full of folk I found between them,
Of human beings of all sorts, the high and the low,
Working and wandering as the world requires.

Sibilance is a special case of consonance, the use of hissing sounds created by the sibilant sounds of (s) and (sh)

Adam’s tassel has curls on top
He grills, or pops or boils with thyme
Crisscrossing rows in sight

(Indian Corn)

On these precious, treacherous rocks for sure (Ode to the Ghost of Sam Lord)
Atlas! Pastures, hillsides, fields and gardens are green (Blissful Countryside)

I have never come across anybody who doesn’t like rhymes. Have you? When speaking of rhymes such things become the focus:

- Definition for rhyme
- Rhyme schemes
- Types of rhyme schemes
- Rhyme positions
- Rhyme genders
- Rhyme types

Rhyme is the combination of assonance and consonance as well as being the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words.

Slant rhyme is known by such names as half rhyme, sprung rhyme, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme. A slant rhyme is when either the vowels or the consonants of stressed syllables are identical. Many slant rhymes are also eye rhymes. W. B Yeats made slant rhymes very popular in his era. In his poetry he mixed slant rhymes with regular rhymes, assonance and para rhymes as shown below:

When have I last looked on
The round green eyes and the long wavering bodies
Of the dark leopards of the moon?
All the wild witches, those most noble ladies,
For all their broom-sticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.

(W. B Yeats, Lines Written in Dejection)

Here are some other examples of slant rhymes used by a lesser known poet as shown below:

The heavy ruin plays on most CDees
To cue the minds to graves with drab décor
As fingers scratched for life amid debris
They longed once more for blissful days of yore.

(From the poem, Humanity Rose)

This tendency to live the name
Can give a person shame or fame;
In Ashanti the name is blamed
For types of traits, deemed so disdained;
And so, Tonsillitis Jackson
Test, came up with same condition

(From the poem, That Name)

Para rhyme is a technique devised by Edmund Blunden to describe a near rhyme in which the consonants in two words are the same, but the vowels are different. This type of rhyme is sometimes referred to as double consonance. William Owen and Dylan Thomas shaped their poems with bounteous supplies of the para rhyme as evident from in exerts from their poems shown below:

Earth’s wheels run oiled with blood. Forget we that.
Let us lie down and dig ourselves in thought.
Beauty is your and you have mastery,
Wisdom is mine and I have mystery.
We two will stay behind and keep our troth.
Let us forego men’s minds that are brute’s natures,
Be we not swift with swiftness of the tigress.
Let us break ranks from those who trek from progress.
Miss we the march of this retreating world
Into old citadels that are not walled.
Let us lie out and hold the open truth.
Then when their blood hath clogged the chariot wheels
We will go p and wash them from deep wells.
What though we sink from men as pitchers falling
Many shall raise us up to be their filling
Even from wells we sunk too deep for war
Even as One who bled where no wounds were

(Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen)

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

(And Death Shall Have No Dominion by Dylan Thomas)

And as usual I like to cite some parts of my poems that do showcase the para rhyme technique as shown below:

With great haste I rolled on the grass;
Into some smelly pile of crap,
Cow down, in my hair, totally gross.
Reached for the shears to have hair crop;
Ball eagle lands on top my head,
And hitched me up with riding hood.

(From the poem, Shack Shack Tree Mishap)

Rhyme schemes are handy tools for rhyming in poetry. It facilitates in synchronizing and distributing the sound effects given off by the rhyming of words. It is consistent throughout the entire poem. Poems with unvarying patterns to rhyming words throughout the verses in every stanza of the poem can be said to have a rhyme scheme.

Rhyme schemes are labeled according to their rhyme sounds with letters of the alphabet to set them apart from others that may appear in the poem. See examples below:

One day to go, meanwhile I pat my cat; a
Sun hot as hell is driving me insane; b
This waiting is making me really fat; a
Chris, are you coming on that Boeing plane? b

I shall welcome him with an airport hug; a
High from the sky he comes before the spring; b
While I hope for hugs, I don’t want a shrug; a
Smile and dance I will, when 'Merry Men' sing. b

Could musing be causing my head to spin? a
Should I kiss his tangled hair in the breeze? b
Will I see smiles and no frowns near his chin? a
Still I think, I could get thrills from his tease. b

(From the poem, Tension)

The rhyme scheme sets the pattern for the number of verses for the poem. If the rhyme scheme has more than four lines then the alphabetical arrangement continues with the letters c, d, e, f, g, h and so on, but every time the rhyme sound is repeated the alphabetical letter remains the same as shown in the example below:

The tranquility of valley and hills, a
Allows the mind to wander like the clouds, b
Above the tree tops with their many thrills, a
As nervous leaves rustle in mystic shrouds. b
They shadow time each passing day anew, c (rhyme scheme ababcdecde)
And patiently wait for the rising sun, d
To fill their chlorophyll sacs to the brim; e
They thirst for summer rains and morning dew, c
To spark their blooms before the day is done, d
With Hawaiian pride that glows from each limb. e

There are gardens ablaze with rainbow hue; a
Around mansions tall and at cottage doors, b
Bringing hope to the soul with every view, a
These gems of nature, everyone adores b
The blooms of hibiscus, across the land, c (rhyme scheme ababcdecde)
Are apparels of celestial light! d
Heavenly bliss wrapped up in each flower; e
Displays the glory of God’ master plan; c
For we are never alone in His sight, d
And each flower that opens shows His power. e

(From the poem, Ode to the Hibiscus Bush)

Today I am feeling a little low a
I find it very hard to sleep and rest b
And penned this poem with beats that are slow; c
Surely, it is not the amateur’s best! b
Poems you know do have a unique way d
Of, freeing the mind from the enclosed box; e
Such creativity is on display; d (rhyme scheme abcbdedefgfghh)
So one behaves like a crafty old fox. e
What sadness do we see on faces here? f
He is gone, so too is his shaven face. g
Silver buckles no longer shine, my dear f
From the earth too are his footsteps and pace; g
He parades in the celestial sky; h
So he had to say this final goodbye. h

(From the sonnet, Sadness)

The poems above show examples of a regular rhyme scheme. Poems that have no regular rhyme schemes can be called rhyming poems as shown in the example below:

Water glycerin oil or gel, a
Which one is it you cannot spell? a
So rub the neck before the bell, a
‘Cause tap is slow, she give a yell; a
Who or what am I, can you tell? a (rhyming poem)

Lather me up as well as down; a
On my face to look like a clown; a
Then wash between those lines and curves, b
And don’t get on my edgy nerves; b
Now that you have eaten hors d’oeuvres! b

(From the poem, What is my Name)

Rhyme position identifies the precise location of the rhyme on the verse. When rhymes fall on the first words of verses they are called initial rhymes or beginning rhymes. When the rhyming occurs on the last words in the verses they are called end rhymes or terminal rhymes. When rhymes occur within the verses they are called internal rhymes. See examples below:

One day to go, meanwhile I pat my cat;
Sun hot as hell is driving me insane;
This waiting is making me really fat;
Chris, are you coming on that Boeing plane?
I shall welcome him with an airport hug;
High from the sky he comes before the spring; (initial rhymes)
While I hope for hugs, I don’t want a shrug;
Smile and dance I will, when 'Merry Men' sing.
Could musing be causing my head to spin?
Should I kiss his tangled hair in the breeze?
Will I see smiles and no frowns near his chin?
Still I think, I could get thrills from his tease.

One day to go, meanwhile I pat my cat;
Sun hot as hell is driving me insane;
This waiting is making me really fat;
Chris, are you coming on that Boeing plane?
I shall welcome him with an airport hug;
High from the sky he comes before the spring; (end rhymes)
While I hope for hugs, I don’t want a shrug;
Smile and dance I will, when 'Merry Men' sing.
Could musing be causing my head to spin?
Should I kiss his tangled hair in the breeze?
Will I see smiles and no frowns near his chin?
Still I think, I could get thrills from his tease.

One day to go, meanwhile I pat my cat;
Sun hot as hell is driving me insane;
This waiting is making me really fat;
Chris, are you coming on that Boeing plane?
I shall welcome him with an airport hug;
High from the sky he comes before the spring; (internal rhymes)
While I hope for hugs, I don’t want a shrug;
Smile and dance I will, when 'Merry Men' sing.
Could musing be causing my head to spin?
Should I kiss his tangled hair in the breeze?
Will I see smiles and no frowns near his chin?
Still I think, I could get thrills from his tease.

(From the poem, Tension)

If the rhyming words in the verses end with unstressed syllables that rhyme is called a feminine rhyme. If the rhyming words end with stressed syllables the rhyme is called a masculine rhyme. See examples below:

STAND still, and I will read to thee
A lecture, Love, in Love's philosophy.
These three hours that we have spent,
Walking here, two shadows went
Along with us, which we ourselves produced.
But, now the sun is just above our head,
We do those shadows tread,
And to brave clearness all things are reduced. (masculine rhymes)
So whilst our infant loves did grow,
Disguises did, and shadows, flow
From us and our cares ; but now 'tis not so.

That love hath not attain'd the highest degree,
Which is still diligent lest others see.

(John Donne, A Lecture upon a Shadow)

Oh, what a day this has been, very mean;
Began this day so friendly and so keen,
Until, some fiend stuck me hard with a pin; (masculine rhymes)
Such an assault can only be a sin.

Battered unjustly in cyber-valley
From claws, and left half-dead, the finale (feminine rhymes)
Think this some sort of a conspiracy
Ponder I must over the lunacy.

(From the Hendianne sonnet, Irritation)

A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted
Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion;
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; (feminine rhymes)
A man in hue, all 'hues' in his controlling,
Much steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created;
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.

(William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20: A woman’s face with nature’s own hand)

See the continuation under English Poetry Versification Part III-B

English Poetry Versification - Part II

4. Measurement: meter, scansion
















The English Poetry Versification - Part I dealt with such versifier tools as content, form and style. This current blog goes further in the discourse by paying attention to yet another versifier tool that has to do with measurement. No discourse on measurement can take place without addressing the matter of meter and scansion and that is where it is going.

Measurement is the process whereby the length of verses in poetry is determined. In English poetry, measurement places emphasis on stressed and unstressed syllables and this type of measurement is described as accentual-syllabic meter, in which every syllable counts to create the proper rhythm and flow of the meter. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporary of poets are credited for the fusion of the accentual of English and the syllabic of French into modern English accentual-syllabic forms. Meter means measurement of the verse length. Foot is the unit of such measurement; hence the measuring instrument is known as the metric foot. In ancient Greece during poetry chants, chanters danced to the rhythmic flow of the poetry verses with their feet so this tradition of using feet as the measurement tool in poetry came about. Metrical verses are named according to the constituent foot and for the number of feet in the verse. So what we have got is this listing where a:

Monometer is one-foot
Dimeter is two-foot
Trimeter is three-foot
Tetrameter is four-foot
Pentameter is five-foot
Hexameter is six-foot
Heptameter is seven-foot
Octameter is eight-foot
Nonameter is nine-foot
Decameter is ten-foot

It is the norm regardless of the metric number to use foot instead of feet.

Iamb is the most common metrical foot in English and other languages as well, and from it iambic is derived. It is made up of a short (u) or unstressed (unaccented) syllable followed by a long (/) or stressed (accented) syllable. Take these two examples: attack; the mind.

There are two syllables in attack. The first syllable (at-) is short and the second syllable (tack) is long. Hence attack measures one iambic foot or what is known precisely as an iambic monometer as we recall the rule that a metrical verse is named according to the constituent foot and for the number of feet in the verse. If the verse had measured five iambic feet then it would be called an iambic pentameter which is very common in English language poetry.

In the phrase, the mind there is one syllable in the word, the; one syllable in the word, mind. The first word in the phrase is short and the second word in the phrase is long therefore the phrase measurement is described as an iambic monometer.

A phrase is a group of words that does not have both a subject and a predicate and therefore cannot stand as a clause or sentence.

A sentence is a group of words that make complete sense, contains a main verb, and begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop; or the equivalent such as a question mark(?) or an exclamation mark(!)

In metered poetry a stanza is made up of verses. A stanza of four verses is called a quatrain. The quatrain is most popular in English poetry. In unmetered poetry, unit is used instead of stanza, and a unit is made up of lines not verses. A unit can have one line or more lines.

The iamb, anapest, trochee, dactyl and spondee are the most common poetic foot used in English verse. Their profiles look like this

Iamb: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable
Anapest: two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
Trochee: one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable
Dactyl: one stressed syllable followed two unstressed syllables

Scansion in the broadest sense is to examine carefully; it is applied to animate and inanimate entities. However, when used in poetry it refers to the process of analysis of the rhythmic flow and metrical structure of poems.

When the scansion process is applied to poetry the stressed syllable is shown with a symbol that looks like this / and the unstressed syllable is shown with this symbol u, so the symbolic representation of the English poetic foot is listed as follows:

Iamb u /
Anapest u u /
Trochee / u
Dactyl / u u
Spondee / /
Pyrrhic u u

The iambic and anapestic meters are called ‘rising meters’ because their sound rises from light sound to heavy. Trochee and dactylic meters are called the ‘falling meters’ and this is so because their sound falls from heavy to light. The anapest and the dactyl are bouncing meters and in the twentieth century they were very popular in comic verses than for serious poetry.

The spondee still measures a foot even thought it has one sound that is heavy, and so is the pyrrhic with one sound that is light. They are never used as the sole meter of a poem. Wherever the spondee and the pyrrhic are found in the verse, they provide the complementary role of lending emphasis and variety to a meter especially the iambic rhythmic verses.

The application of the graphic scanning in poetry requires that the heavy sounding syllables and light sounding syllables, feet and rhythmic breaks be identified with their appropriate scanning symbols such as these shown below.

u (unstressed)
/ stressed syllable)
│ (counter)
││ (caesura)

The counter │ marks the location of where every foot ends in the verse. The first step in this graphic scanning is to mark off the stressed and unstressed syllables in the verses as shown in Versification poem in Exhibit 1. Bear in mind that English stress content words which are nouns, principal verbs, adjectives and adverbs; and then quickly glides over function words which are pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions are unstressed. These principles are applied as well in accentual-syllabic meter. This quality of quickly gliding over less important words is also known as connected speech. In my cursory analysis of English words with two syllables the stressed syllable seems to fall on the first syllable.

Exhibit 1

Value and measure verses as you would,
/ u u / u / u u u /each word or sound that has fallen from lips;
/ / u / u u / u u /
run as you like under the old stave wood;
/ u u / / u u / / /
stressed and unstressed feet, this way the voice dips;
/ u u / / u / u / /
in musing, rhyme as you please on the verse;
u / u / u u / u u /
for feet brake sharply, leaving strong road mark;
u / / / u / u / / /
in time, those pentameter lines will rhyme;
u / u / u / u / u /
catalectic scanning is not a crime;
u u / u / u / / u /
acatalectic gives foot a stretch mark;
/u u / u / / u / /
take time to sway with cadence every time;
/ / u / u / u / u /
inside rhymes and caesura solve conflicts;
/ / / u u / u / / /
omitted vowels make lines roll with terse;
u / u / u / / / u /
now, those omissions are metrical tricks.
/ u u / u / u / u /

Exhibit 2 shows the second step in poetic graphic scanning where each foot is marked with the counter (│)
.
Exhibit 2

Value│ and mea│sure ver│ses as│ you would,
/ u │u / │ u /│u u│ u / (5 feet)
each word or sound that has fallen from lips;
/ /│ u /│ u u│ / u│u / (5 feet)
run as│ you like│ under│ the old│ stave wood;
/ u│u /│ / u│ u /│ / / (5 feet)
stressed and unstressed feet, this way the voice dips;
/ u│ u /│ / u│ / u│ / / (5 feet)
in mus│ing, rhyme│ as you│ please on│ the verse;
u /│ u /│ u u│ / u│u / (5 feet)
for feet│ brake sharp│ly, leav│ing strong│ road mark;
u /│ / /│ u /│ u / │ / / (5 feet)
in time,│ those pen│tame│ter lines│ will rhyme;
u / │ u /│ u /│u /│ u / (5 feet)
cata│lectic│ scanning│ is not│ a crime;
u u│/ u│ / u│/ /│u / (5 feet)
aca│talec│tic gives│ foot a│ stretch mark;
/ u│u /│u /│ / u│ / / (5 feet)
take time│ to sway │with ca│dence ev│ery time;
/ /│ u /│ u /│ u /│u /
inside rhymes and│ caesu│ra solve │conflicts;
/ / │ / u│ u /│u /│ / / (5 feet)
omit│ted vow│els make│ lines roll│ with terse;
u /│u /│u /│ / /│ u / (5 feet)
now, those│ omi│ssions are│ metri│cal tricks.
/ u│ u /│u /│ u /│u / (5 feet)

The “double-pipe”││in Exhibit 3 in Stanza 1, Verses 1-4 of the modern English poem, "Trapped" shows the location of the caesura in the verses. In modern English poetry the caesura is used more often than not for rhetorical effect. In meter, the caesura denotes an audible pause that occurs in the verse. It is often indicated by punctuation marks which cause a pause in speech. You see such punctuation marks: comma, semicolon, full stop, dash, exclamation, etc being used in poems. It is worth noting though that punctuation is not necessary for a caesura to occur. When a caesura follows a stressed syllable it is known as a masculine caesura; and when it follows an unstressed syllable it is a feminine caesura. The caesura’s position on the verse is worth noting too. When the caesura describes a break close to the beginning of a verse it is an initial caesura, in the center of a verse, it is a medial caesura, and at the end it is a terminal caesura. Caesurae are featured prominently in Greek and Latin versification, especially in heroic verse form, dactylic hexameter. However, in Exhibit 3 the stress meter is used instead of quantitative meter. Quantitative meter is extremely difficult to construct in English, but is common in Latin, Greek, Sanskirt, and Arabic poetry.

Exhibit 3

Gladly the│ girl took│ soft, white│ silk-based│ sheets from the│ big bed;
/ u u│/ / │ / /││ / / │ / u u │/ / (six feet)
(masculine caesura)
Gladly the │girl fixed│ old green│ trampoline;│bug in the│ tool case
/ u u│ / / │ / /│ / u u││ / u u│/ / (six feet)
(feminine caesura)
Falling from│ panel, a │spider on│ top of the│ clean new│ bedspread
/ u u│ / u u│/ u u│/ u u│ / / │ / / (six feet)
Moving, so │deadly with│ weird look;│ web pest│ morphed in her│ sad face.
/ u u│/ u u│/ / ││ / /│ / u u│ / / (six feet)
(masculine caesura)

With respect to the Alexandrine which is a line of verse composed in iambic hexameter, the caesura is often placed after the third foot. See Exhibit 4 for examples taken from the Idyll poem, Blissful Countryside.

Exhibit 4

I hate the rapid life in suburbia;
u / │ u u│ / /││u /│u /│ u
masculine caesura
The strife in foreign lands including Serbia;
u / u / u /││ u / u / / u
caesuraI long to hear the sounds of animals and birds;
u / u / u / ││u u u / u /
caesura
The whispering of the wind, and the barking of curs.
u / / u u u ││/ u u / u u /
feminine caesura

What is there to conclude about the scansion process? Scansion provides a diagrammatic representation of the metrical effect of the poem, any poem when applied for that matter. Scanning in English poetry is not to reproduce sound of the persona’s voice. Its purpose is to make a diagram of the heavy sounds and the light sounds found in the poem. Scansion is a way to see where the stresses are the poet wishes to put the emphasis. When you scan a poem don’t be surprised to find that the exercise helps in understanding the poem. Scansion has the propensity to unlock those techniques poets use to create rhythmic effects, and can sometimes help readers to see layers of meaning in poems that only scansion can provide. Scansion is a way to indicate how to read a poem aloud.

Forms of Poetry: Blank Form

William Shakespeare wrote most of his poems in Blank Verse also known as Blank Form. This structure allows poems to be unrhymed with the rhythmic power of the meter. In order to write top quality blank form, one must pay close attention to syllables and word count. The meter most commonly used with blank form is the iambic pentameter with end stops. Opinion would have it that the Earl of Surrey, Henry Howard was the first to use blank form having been inspired by classical Latin verse and others of similar orientation that did not use rhyme. Of the romantic poets, the true believers of this poetic form rested on the shoulders of William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelly, and John Keats; also, Alfred Lord Tennyson whose long narrative poems are crafted with the blank form structure.

When free verse was hitting the top of the charts, as it were; Hart Crane and William Wallace Stevens, poets of immense respectability, held on to blank form. My opinion is that some poets of the old school found it hard to part familiar ways; but sought to solve the dilemma by lounging with meter, hugging the arms and legs of iambic pentameter and at the same time romping with free verse; some sort of a hoodwink comes to mind. Samuel Johnson voiced his concern that John Milton wrote bad blank form. On that I have no opinion, but I do accept what the records have said that Milton’s blank form became very popular so much so that it was referred to as the Miltonic blank Verse. It became the standard for those attempting to write English epics for centuries following Milton’s publication of Paradise Lost and poems he wrote later in his life.

Blank form is often misunderstood as free verse. A good way to remember the difference is to think of the word “blank” as meaning no rhymes at the end of verses and “free” meaning the freedom from fixed patterns of traditional versification. There is an anomaly with respect to the use of the iambic pentameter verses in blank form structure. When the scansion process is applied to poems written in blank verse, we tend to see that the strict standard iambic pentameter advocated is jaded as a result of it being peppered at times by the trochee, anapest, spondee and dactyl. The landing of these invaders in iambic pentameter verses gives off a delightful soothing effect; they break up the monotonous rhythm that dogs standard iambic pentameter verses. This is not a problem per se if we remember rightly that the definition for blank form has allowed for any other type of unrhymed metered verse but must be five feet exactly. This is where the “inversion technique” is used. This technique allows iambic pentameter verses to retain their dominance in spite of being invaded by other foot types. The “inversion technique” imposes strict compliance in that there must be no compromising on the five feet and the second foot must always be an iamb. The first foot of the verse measuring five iambic feet is the one most likely to change; most inversions tend to fall on the trochee.

Wherever the inversion technique occurs in iambic pentameter verses it changes the standard iambic pentameter verses into non-standard iambic pentameter verses; but it is okay to drop the prefix and simply call such verses iambic pentameter verses because majority holds the sway in any civilized environment or platform. The iamb, anapest, trochee, dactyl and spondee are the most common poetic foot used in English verse. Their profiles look like this

Iamb: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable
Anapest: two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
Trochee: one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable
Dactyl: one stressed syllable followed two unstressed syllables
Spondee: two stressed syllables

When the scansion process is applied to poetry the stressed syllable is shown with a symbol that looks like this / and the unstressed syllable is shown with this symbol v, so the symbolic representation of the English poetic foot is listed as follows:

Iamb /v
Anapest vv/
Trochee /v
Dactyl /vv
Spondee //

Anglo Saxon (Old English) poems are written in accentual meter often referred to as the strong-stress meter; alliterative-stress meter or accentual verse. Anglo Saxon accentual verse is based on alliteration and stress. It was usually done with four-stressed lines with a caesura (a pause in the middle). The stressed lines always alliterate with the first stress, the second stress or both. Alliteration held lines of the poem together rather than the rhyme. All vowels were considered to alliterate with each other, but compound consonants would alliterate with themselves. The Anglo Saxons were more likely to use enjambment and not the end stop on their lines.

Most Modern English poems are written in accentual-syllabic meter. Accentual-syllabic meter counts both the stressed and unstressed syllables. It uses specific patterns, such as iambic pentameter or the classical hendecasyllable: a metrical line of eleven syllables. Every syllable counts to create the proper rhythm and flow of the meter. It is conceived as one of the tighter methods of measuring meter. Most of the verse forms that the English created based on French or Italian forms are Accentual-syllabic. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporary of poets are credited for the fusion of the accentual of English and the syllabic of French into modern English accentual-syllabic forms.