名人教你讲英文：Metre in Poetry 诗之韵律

名人教英文：metre in poetry 诗之韵律

in poetry, as often in prose, each metre (or each poetic foot) is a specific pattern of syllables (音节) and stressed words. tradition has it, the long syllable is stressed and accented. the short syllable is unstressed and unaccented. good writing reads well because it has pleasing rhythmic stresses in the choice of words or turn of phrases.

in the famous words of j v cunningham, "poetry is metrical writing". (1)
many liken metrical writing to a form of gravitational pull, without it, the poet might be floating aimlessly in all directions. (2)

the common metre variations worth remembering are given below in alphabetical order. for the purpose of recognition, each long syllable, i.e. each stressed syllable is underlined in bold font.

amphibrach 抑扬抑格 (adj. amphibrachic)
fantastic, rheumatic (short, long, short)
anapest 抑抑扬格 (adj. anapestic)
engineer, magazine (short, short, long)
dactyl 扬抑抑格 (adj. dactylic)
architect, bachelor (long, short, short)
iamb 抑扬格 (adj. iambic)
cocoon, platoon (short, long)
pyrrhic 抑抑格 (adj. pyrrhic)
sort of, but in (short, short)
spondee 扬扬格 (adj. spondaic)
spon dee, fore tell (long, long)
trochee 扬抑格 (adj. trochaic)

doctor, sponsor (long, short)
there are other useful words to learn in poetic metre. for example:

◆a two-syllable metrical unit is called a "binary" metrical unit. e.g. spondee
◆a three-syllable metrical unit is called a "ternary" metrical unit. e.g. anapest
◆a verse in five iambic measures is called a verse in "iambic pentametre" (from greek pente means "five" ; "metron" means "measure")
the accents are underlined in bold font .
e.g. o what unusual news the officials bring
to save and keep at last the old west wing!

◆a verse in four anapestic measures is called a verse in "anapestic tetrametre" (from greek "tettares" means "four")
e.g.the assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold
and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold.
relevant terms on metrical feet are also given below:
monometer = 1 foot
di-meter = 2 feet
tri-meter = 3 feet
tetrameter = 4 feet
pentameter = 5 feet
hexameter = 6 feet
heptameter = 7 feet
octameter = 8 feet
just remember, whatever the term is, the important point about all this is to recognise there are stresses in words and phrases.