Lesson 4.02 Rhythm and Blues

Rhythym

You may notice very quickly how some poems are more sing-song than others.

Read at the poem called "Underface" by Shel Silverstein.

Underneath my outside face
There's a face that none can see.
A little less smiley,
A little less sure,
But a whole lot more like me.

These poems have a pattern or a certain rhythm that the words are following. Sometimes the pattern is simple, and in some cases the patterns are more complex.

What is rhythm? Rhythm is a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound; it is also called meter. Poets choose their rhythm very carefully. The rhythm in music is the beat that makes you tap your pencil to your desk.

Now, let's find out what the terms are in poetry that make you tap your pencil on your desk.

 

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Iambic Pentameter

An iamb is a metrical foot, or rhythmic unit; meaning, the iamb is simply an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. All words have unaccented and accented syllables, unstressed and stressed syllables. The stressed syllable is said with a little more force or emphasis than the other.

Place your hand over your heart (it's on the left side). Think of iambic pentameter like a heartbeat. Listen to some of the heartbeats at SoundSnap.

Da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. The bold part is where the most emphasis occurs.

Look at the two words I am. Which word would you put more force, or emphasis, on in the sentence below?

I am going to the ballgame today.

The stronger syllable would be AM.

I am going to the ballgame today.

Pentameter

Pentameter means that the iamb, or foot, is repeated five times.

Look at I am again.

I AM / I AM / I AM / I AM / I AM

That is an example of iambic pentameter because there is a line of five iambs.

Each line in iambic pentameter has ten syllables. Then, the ten syllables are broken down into five groups of two syllables. Look at the first line of Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Now, fair/ Hippo/lyta,/ our nup/tial hour

Draws on/ apace./ Four hap/py days/ bring in

Ano/ther moon./ But, O,/ methinks /how slow

This old/ moon wanes!/ She ling/ers my/ desires

Like to/ a step/dame or/ a dow/ager

Long wi/thering/ out a/ young man's/ revenue."

You can see each line in the passage is broken down into ten syllables and separated into five meters of iambs.

Metrical Feet

The other types of metrical feet you will see are

• trochee: one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable,

Dou-ble, / dou-ble, / toil and / Trou-ble
Fi-re / burn and / caul-dron / bub-ble

• spondee : two stressed syllables,

And the / white breast / of the / dim sea

• anapest: two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, and

And the sheen / of their spears / was like stars / on the sea
When the blue / wave rolls night / ly on deep / Gal-i-lee

• dactyl: one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.

Take her up / ten-der-ly
Lift her with / care
fash-ioned so / slen-der-ly
young and so / fair.

Line Length

The length of lines, or the meters, may also vary. Here are the types of meter you may see in some poems:

• monometer: one foot,

• dimeter: two feet,

• trimeter: three feet,

• tetrameter: four feet,

• pentameter: five feet,

• hexameter: six feet,

• heptameter: seven feet,

• octameter: eight feet.

 

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Imagery

Authors, as you have seen in other units, use imagery in their writing to evoke many emotions. Sensory details are important because the reader can actually see what is being described. Imagery helps create a vivid experience for the reader.

Imagery is language that appeals to the senses.

By using imagery, authors can use a multitude of figures of speech Types of figurative language that are not literal and mean something more than they seem to say. (like metaphor Comparing two unlike objects. Example: Spongebob's life is a train wreck. , simile A comparison of two unlike objects using the connecting words 'like' or 'as.' Example: Life is like a box of chocolates. , and personification Inanimate objects are given human characteristics. Example: The sky smiled a rainbow of color. ) to help the readers see, feel, hear, touch, taste, and smell the world that they are describing.

Hover over the first line in each of Emily Dickinson's poems.

1. "Death is a Dialogue between"

   

2. "Exhilaration is the breeze"

   

3. "Hope is the thing with feathers"

   

Dickinson uses personification to enhance the meaning of the abstract word, which provides a picture for the reader.

 

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