Lazy Poetry Lesson ONE

[Fangorn]

RHYTHM AND METER

This is probably the hardest concept for a new poet to understand, because they seem almost the same, but they are not.

RHYTHM and METER to me are probably the most important factor in creating and enjoying good poetry. The vocabulary of a Shakesperean sonnet may relate to some but not others. A short funny limmerick, may rock your world. A long winded descriptive verse may be your cup of tea. Fast short, funny verse may do it for you. But no matter what type of poetry you prefer, they ALL have to deal with METER and RHYTHM.

Our first lesson will deal with these two concepts. Ok, so what is METER? WHAT is RHYTHM?

Musicians will understand RHYTHM. Half-time, Three-quater time are all familiar terms to musicians. Non-musicians understand RHYTHM as as that beat that gets you dancing.

The easy way to understand METER, is that it is a RHYTHM "pattern".

Take the Beatles song that goes "Yea, Yea, Yea." Yea, yea, yea....is an example of RHYTHM. Now you add the repeatative lines:
"She loves you, yea, yea, yea"
"She loves you, yea, yea, yea"

Now you have a pattern. "She loves you" followed by a RHYTHM. This now becomes METER!

I won't go any further at this time, since this is supposed to be a lazy introduction to poetry. Let's digest this first and discuss it. I warn you, the basics are harder to comprehend then the many extensions poetry has evloved into.

Bon Apetit!

[Fangorn]

P.S. Do not confuse RHYTHM with RHYME. RHYME is a much easier task to master! Even though many of you may feel differently.

[MajahTR]

ok that is easy enough using "Yea, Yea, Yea" but could you demonstrate the same concept with a line from Shakesphere or some other more classical poetry?
Maj
ps thanks for being simple it is good for me!

[Desi Baggins]

I too would like an example from a poem...

[Fangorn]

OK, here is an example of IAMBIC meter, a familiar rhythm pattern used by many poets:

Sonnet LXXIII. [Shakespeare]

“That time of year thou mayst in me behold”<br>

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day 5
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, 10
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

(stressed syllables are in caps):
Two-syllable foot meters are
Iambic:
That TIME of YEAR thou MAYST in ME beHOLD
When YELLow LEAVES, or NONE, or FEW, do HANG

Try doing this with the rest of the lines from the sonnet.
Since the pattern is only ten syllables, try taping each of your ten fingers on the table with each syllable as you say the line. You will find if you say it correctly, you will tap your ten fingers for each line.

This is a good exercise, because for some lines you may not come out with the correct number of fingers, but that would be because you are not saying the meter correctly. Keep trying, each line really DOES come out to ten.

[Fangorn]

This may also be of use to you:

da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
(weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG)

Was-THIS the-FACE that-LAUNCH'D a-THOU sand-SHIPS
And-BURNT the-TOP less-TOW ers-OF Il-Ium?

Although strictly speaking, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in a row (as above), in practice, most poets vary their iambic pentameter a great deal, while maintaining the iamb as the most common foot.

[Greenleaf]

Thanks, Fangorn, for being so exemplifying. That was a great lesson and I can happily say that I fully understood what's iambic meter. I looked up the word iambus and found out that originally it was one short syllable followed by one long syllable. I suppose that's even more difficult to write than composing a sequence of alternate weak and strong syllables!

[Fangorn]

Remember also, that although we emphasize syllables and meter, etc....(when teaching) when you actually speak or read the poetry you do NOT do it that way. The meter and emphasis becomes subtle, only recognized by the brain as something familiar and repetitive. It becomes pleasant and seemingly the "right" way. This is what gives GOOD poetry it's power.

[Desi Baggins]

I was able to do the ten finger tap!!! Not sure if that will ever happen with my own poetry though, but at least now I know to try and get that!

[Fangorn]

For people who have problems with meter, the ten fingered exercise is a very good thing to do. I advise everyone to try it, even those with poetry sense. If you can tap out the lines from that Shakespearan verse, you are on the road to wonderful poetry form!!

I think our next poetry contest will use Iambic Pentameter. Please continue to make yourself familiar with it, and IM or E-mail me at [e-mail] if you have questions.

[Stormrider]

Does that mean we should try our "Beorn in Action" poem out with iambic pentameter or will we start practicing meter after the hobbit study poetry challenges are over? Of course, there is no better time than the present to start making use of the poetry rules, right?

Are there other meter styles beside iambic pentameter? I am just wondering at this point. I don't think we should get into them until we get a little practice with iambic pentameter first!

[Fangorn]

No, I said lazy and I meant it. Iambic Pentameter is the most common , and I think it best for everyone to become familiar with it. I could rock your world with everything from alliteration to Haiku. But that is not my style. My intention is to educate, not alienate.

We will wait for the end of the Hobbit study before we get too in-depth with poetry. It is hard for new poets to merely write, nevermind adhere to a poetic structure. I am just letting the sun into the cracks, so to speak. Please admonish me whenever you think I go too far.

[Stormrider]

No, no, no! No admonishing necessary! I asked the question about other meters! You didn't post them yet! And I agree, I think we need to take it slow and practice these new concepts. It is enough for me just to get the rhyme let alone worry about all different types of meters! But I will see if I can do anything in iambic pentameter just for the heck of it--I could use the practice.

I really like these slow lessons. I am sure I will learn a lot from them and therefore, become much better at my own poems. Way to go, Fangorn! You are a great Poetry Bard!

[Fangorn]

You will be surprised to learn that using and appreciating the correct meter, will automatically make it easier for you to rhyme. New poets always make the mistake of thinking that rhyming is the most important. When in fact, it is meter that is most important. There are many great poems that do not rhyme at all. Their greatness lies in the meter.

Once you get the meter right, the rest is easy. The worst poems, the ones that make me cringe, are always the ones that mess up the meter. I have helped many poets fix their rhymes without changing their words or intention. But if the meter is messed up, then any help I give leads to me re-writing the whole thing and it becomes not thier own.

Meter gives form, intention and body. There is NO getting around that.

[Fangorn]

The next meter we will explore is Trochaic...........but slowly as usual.

Trochaic:
TELL me NOT in MOURNful NUMbers

Who can tell me right away what is different about it?

This also, is one of the easier ones.