Meter in Poetry

Poetry

is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of

syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.

Poetry

Compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to story, a poem may or may not have

a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing.

and it's ELEMENTS...

Elements of Poetry

RHYTHM is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem

aloud, and understand the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Elements of Poetry

METER is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is

made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to be included. This

is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.

Elements of Poetry

STANZA in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc. Based on

the number of lines, stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).

Elements of Poetry

RHYME A poem may or may not have a rhyme. When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other

in some form. Rhyme is basically similar sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and 'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry, though, does not

follow this system.

Elements of Poetry

RHYME SCHEME As a continuation of rhyme, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first- and second-lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc.

Elements of Poetry

THEME is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of

something or someone; anything that the poem is about.

Elements of Poetry

SYMBOLISM Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a

systematic and structured method of looking at things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.

Elements of Poetry

IMAGERY is also one of the important elements of a poem. This device is used by the poet for readers to create an image in their imagination. Imagery appeals

to all the five senses. For e.g., when the poet describes, 'the flower is bright red', an image of a red flower is immediately created in the reader's mind.