Meter | Literary Term | English Literature | Major English | Plus Two Level
Meter
is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse, or within the
lines of a poem. Meter 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. Stressed syllables
tend to be longer, and unstressed shorter. In simple language, meter is a
poetic device that serves as a linguistic sound pattern for the verses, as it
gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound. It is also regular pattern of accented and
unaccented syllables. The line is divided into a number of feet. A meter
contains a sequence of several feet, where each foot has a number of
syllables such as stressed/unstressed. Hence, a meter has an overall rhythmic
pattern in a line of verse. Iambic, Iambic Pentameter, Blank Verse and Free
Verse has written in different meter as: Iambic has composed with one
unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Iambic Pentameter has
composed with five (penta) feet (meters) of one unaccented syllable followed by
an accented syllable. It is the most common in English verse. Blank Verse
has composed with unrhymed iambic pentameter and Free Verse has composed
without a fixed meter.
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