GENRE STUDIES UNIT-IV Meter

 

Meter

            It is a unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats. It is also called a foot. Each foot has a certain number of syllables in it, usually two or three syllables. The difference in types of meter is which syllables are accented and which are not.

 

Iamb Meter has the first syllable unaccented and the second acceted.

Eg: Sonnet 18- That time/ of year/ thou mayst/ in me/ behold

                                    Shall I/ com pare thee to  sum/mer?

 

Trochee has the first syllable accented and the second unaccented.

Eg: Henry Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha”

            Tell me/ not in/mournful/ numbers/

             By the / shores of / gitche/ gumee,

            By the/ shining/ big sea-/ water

 

Dactyl meter has the first syllable accented and the second and third unaccented.

Anapest meter has the first two syllables unaccented and the third syllable accented.