You Can Write Poetry - Jeff Mock [30]
BARE RU- / in'd CHOIRS / where LATE / the SWEET / BIRDS SANG.
In both the first and fifth feet of this line, Shakespeare substitutes a spondee, a foot consisting of two stressed syllables, for the iamb. A spondee is a double beat (DUM-DUM). In the fifth and sixth lines, he makes other substitutions:
In ME / thou SEE'ST / the TWI- / LIGHT of / SUCH DAY
As AF- / ter SUN- / set FAD- / eth in / the WEST,
The fifth line runs iamb, iamb, iamb, trochee, spondee. A trochee consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ("LIGHT of"). The sixth line runs iamb, iamb, iamb, pyrrhic, iamb. A pyrrhic consists of two unstressed syllables ("-eth in"). The spondee, trochee and pyrrhic are the natural substitutions that vary the rhythm of a poem.
Two other feet are the anapest and dactyl. Both are three-syllable feet. The anapest consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, as in George Gordon, Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib":
The AsSYR- / ian came DOWN / like the WOLF / on the FOLD
The dactyl consists of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, as in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade":
CANnon to / RIGHT of them,
CANnon to / LEFT of them,
CANnon in / FRONT of them
The anapest and dactyl are less common meters, but they appear in some of our best loved poems, such as Clement Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas": "'Twas the NIGHT/ before CHRIST- / mas, when ALL / through the HOUSE. . . ."
Here, again, are the primary rhythmic feet:
iamb: ta-DUM
spondee: DUM-DUM
trochee: DUM-ta
pyrrhic: ta-ta
anapest: ta-ta-DUM
dactyl: DUM-ta-ta
These feet combine to create meter, the recurrence of a rhythmic pattern. We note meter by first naming the predominant foot and then the length of the line; thus Sonnet 73 is written in iambic pentameter, a line of five iambic feet. Other common metric lines are dimeter (two feet per line), trimeter (three feet), tetrameter (four feet) and hexameter (six feet). All meters allow for an extra unstressed syllable at the end of the line. An iambic pentameter line, for example, may read, "Give NOT / a WIND- / y NIGHT / a RAIN- / y MOR- / row" (from Shakespeare's Sonnet 90). This extra unaccented syllable allows more play in the line and thus lets us avoid some awkward constructions.
The length of the line can set the mood of a poem. Shorter lines—dimeter and trimeter—are sprightly lines, quick off the tongue. They reel off short and snappy. Longer lines—tetrameter and pentameter—are more versatile. They allow greater freedom to substitute rhythmic feet. (Recall the effects Pope achieves in the pentameter lines from An Essay on Criticism.) Hexameter tends to be a weighty line, ponderous and serious. Your choice of rhythm and line length depends, of course, on the effects you wish to achieve. Match your subject with lines appropriate to its expression.
One other concern is the line break, the end of the line where the verse turns to begin a new line. Line breaks may be end-stopped or enjambed. Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" begins, "Come live with me, and be my love." This is an end-stopped line; it's complete in its grammatical structure and sense. An enjambed line is not complete; it runs on to the next line. The second stanza of John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" begins, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard . . ." This line must run on to the next line to reach completion: "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on."
Most poems use both end-stopped and enjambed lines. Because the end-stopped line reaches completion, it provides immediate coherence and emphasis. The grammar and sense come together at the line break, and the reader pauses to take in the import of the line. The enjambed line provides momentum and urges the reader on to the next line. There's no pause, but a steady push, deeper into the poem. Each line break is effective in its way. Meter and line breaks work together to slow the reader for