Examples of English metrical systems:

Metrical English poetry is essentially accentual-syllabic; that is to say, the lines can be divided into
separate feet, with each foot consisting of either a pair or a triad of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
The commonest metrical feet are iambs ad!ective" iambic#, trochees ad!." trochaic#, dactyls
ad!." dactylic# and anapests ad!." anapestic; the word is sometimes spelt anapaest#.
$n iamb is a two-syllable foot; it consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, as
in the word about, the name Michelle, or the words so soon.
$ trochee is also a two-syllable foot; it consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
one, as in the word father, the name Peter, or the words do it.
$ dactyl is a three-syllable foot; it consists of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones,
as in the word syllable, the name Gregory or the words open it.
$n anapest is a three-syllable foot; it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed
one, as in the word intervene or the words in the soup.
$ poetical line can be a combination of different feet anapests and trochees, for e%ample#;
however, most metrical poetry adopts !ust one &ind of foot, with occasional substitutions. The
commonest foot in English poetry is the iamb. 'erhaps ()* or more of English metrical poetry is
iambic, since it matches the usual speech patterns of the language.
+hen describing a metrical line we identify the number of feet and the &ind of feet. ,f a line has
four feet, it is tetrameter; if it has five feet, it is pentameter. These are the commonest lengths in
English poetry, but you will also find e%amples of dimeter two feet#, trimeter three feet#,
hexameter si% feet#, heptameter seven feet# and octameter eight feet#.
Iambic lines:
The commonest metrical line in English poetry is iambic pentameter. This is the meter adopted in
-ha&espeare.s plays, in Milton.s Paradise Lost, in /ryden.s and 'ope.s satirical poetry, in the
sonnets and narrative poems of +ordsworth, -helley, 0eats, Tennyson, 1rowning and countless
23
th
- and 24
st
-century poets 5obert 6rost, +allace -tevens, $nthony 7echt, /avid Mason, to name
!ust a few#.
7ere is a line from a sonnet by -ha&espeare"
-hall , compare thee to a summer.s day8
The stresses are as follows"
-hall I / compare / thee to / a sum / mer.s day8
9bviously not all the stresses are e:ually strong; the preposition to is not stressed as forcefully
as the word day. 7owever, the basic iambic pattern is clear.
7ere are more e%amples of iambic pentameter"
9nce more unto the breach, dear friends, once more
9r close the wall up with our English dead.
-ha&espeare" Henry V#
9f Man.s 6irst /isobedience, and the 6ruit
9f that 6orbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
1rought /eath into the +orld, and all our woe,
+ith loss of E/E;, till one greater Man
5estore us, and regain the blissful -eat,
-ing 7eav<nly Muse=
>ohn Milton" Paradise Lost#
The curfew tolls the &nell of parting day.
The lowing herd winds slowly o.er the lea.
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way
$nd leaves the world to dar&ness and to me.
Thomas ?ray" Elegy in a Country Churchyard#
The world is too much with us, late and soon.
+illiam +ordsworth" Sonnet#
@ome down o Maid from yonder mountain height.
$lfred Aord Tennyson" Ayric from The Princess#
, didn.t ma&e you &now how glad , was
To have you come and camp here on our land.
5obert 6rost" $ -ervant to -ervants#
7ere are e%amples of iambic tetrameter"
7ad we but world enough and time,
This coyness Aady were no crime.
$ndrew Marvell" To his @oy Mistress#
, wander thro. each charter.d street
;ear where the charter.d Thames does flow=
+illiam 1la&e" Aondon#
Trochaic lines
'oems in trochaic meter are rarer than those in iambic meter. Trochees tend to sound very
emphatic, giving a &ind of strong marching or incantatory rhythm to the verse, which obviously is
not suited to all &inds of poetry.
9ne e%ample of a long poem in trochaic tetrameter is the 4B
th
-century $merican epic poem
Hiawatha by the $merican poet 7enry +adsworth Aongfellow. Aongfellow wrote his poem in
imitation of the 6innish epic, the alevala. The poem deals with ;ative $merican legends and
Aongfellow clearly wanted his poem to have a heavily mar&ed e%otic rhythm, different from most
English poetry. 7ere is a sample line"
1y the shores of ?itche ?umee=
This can be scanned"
By the C shores of C Gitche C Gumee,
7ere is an e%tended passage"
1y the shores of ?itche ?umee,
1y the shining 1ig--ea-+ater,
-tood the wigwam of ;o&omis,
/aughter of the Moon, ;o&omis.
/ar& behind it rose the forest,
5ose the blac& and gloomy pine-trees=
7. +. Aongfellow" Hiawatha#
$nother poet who used trochaic meters for their heavy incantatory rhythm is Edgar $llan 'oe.
7ere is a sample from a poem in trochaic octameter"
9nce upon a midnight dreary, while , pondered, wea& and weary,
9ver many a :uaint and curious volume of forgotten loreD
+hile , nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
$s of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber doorD
E. $. 'oe" The 5aven#
,n order to give a stronger ending to the line, poets sometimes cut short the final foot. This is
called a catalectic line. 7ere is a stanEa from a very famous poem written in catalectic trochaic
tetrameter"
TygerF TygerF burning bright,
,n the forests of the night,
+hat immortal hand or eye
@ould frame thy fearful symmetry8
+illiam 1la&e" The Tyger#
The first line can be scanned"
TygerF C TygerF C burning C bright
The same meter was used by +. 7. $uden in a section of his poem ,n Memory of +.1. Geats"
,n the deserts of the heart
Aet the healing fountain start,
,n the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
$nd here is an e%ample of catalectic trochaic octameter"
$s for Henice and her people, merely born to bloom and drop,
7ere on earth they bore their fruitage, mirth and folly were the crop"
+hat of soul was left, , wonder, when the &issing had to stop8
5obert 1rowning" $ Toccata of ?aluppi.s#
Triple meters: dactyls and anapests
Triple meters are usually used to give a sense of speed and lightness to the verse. 7ere is an
e%ample of anapestic tetrameter, used to convey the idea of swift movement"
The $ssyrian came down li&e the wolf on the fold,
$nd his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
$nd the sheen of their spears was li&e stars on the sea,
+hen the blue wave rolls nightly on deep ?alilee.
Aord 1yron" Hebrew Melodies#
The first line can be scanned as follows"
The $ssy C rian came down C li&e the wolf C on the fold
7ere is an e%ample of dactylic hexameter"
T7,- is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemloc&s,
1earded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
-tand li&e /ruids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic=
7.+. Aongfellow" Evangeline#
The first line can be scanned as follows"
THIS is the C forest pri C meval. The C murmuring C pines and the C hemloc&s
The final foot is a trochee, rather than a dactyl.
Hery often triple meters are used for comic effect. 7ere is an e%ample from a comic operetta"
+hen you<re lying awa&e with a dismal headache, and repose is taboo<d by an%iety,
, conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in without impropriety;
6or your brain is on fire - the bedclothes conspire of usual slumber to plunder you"
6irst your counterpane goes and uncovers your toes, and your sheet slips demurely from
under you
+.-. ?ilbert" from !olanthe#
5emember that it is rare for a long poem to be written in entirely regular meter; an occasional
substitution is inevitable, in order to avoid monotony. ,ambic lines, for e%ample, often have an
e%tra unstressed syllable in the last foot. 7ere is the opening line of 7amlet.s most famous
solilo:uy"
To be or not to be; that is the :uestion.
This can be scanned"
To be C or not C to be; C that is C the uestion.
The ne%t line in the solilo:uy has the same e%tra unstressed syllable and also has a trochee in place
of an iamb in the first foot. This is a very common substitution in iambic lines"
!hether C .tis no C bler in C the mind C to suffer=
The technical name for the final three-syllable foot in these two lines, consisting of an unstressed,
stressed and unstressed syllable, is an amphibrach. There is no need to worry too much about this
&ind of foot; it is practically only ever found at the end of iambic lines.
Blan" #erse:
Inrhyming iambic pentameter, as in most of -ha&espeare.s plays, Milton.s Paradise Lost, the
narrative poems of +ordsworth, Tennyson, 6rost etc., is &nown as blan" #erse. This should not be
confused with free #erse, which means poetry that follows no fi%ed metrical or rhyming schemes.