Unlocking the Secret Pulse of Poetry: How Rhythm and Meter Transform Words into Magic
- 1 foot: monometer
- 2 feet: dimeter
- 3 feet: trimeter
- 4 feet: tetrameter
- 5 feet: pentameter
Let’s return to the first line of “Annabel Lee” and show its metrical feet:
it was MA|ny and MA|ny a YEAR | aGO ||
This line consists of three anapests followed by an iamb, or a combination of anapestic and iambic feet.
But what about the number of feet? How do those factor into the language we use to talk about meter? Let’s look at a line from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” (please note that I have changed the capitalization to accommodate scansion):
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