Scansion | Literary Term | English Literature | Major English | Plus Two Level
Scansion
is an analysis of verse. Each English word contains one or more syllables that
are stressed or unstressed. Scansion is
a description of rhythms of poetry through break up of its lines or verses into
feet, pointing the locations of accented and unaccented syllables, working out
on meter, as well as counting the syllables. The word 'ti-ger' contains
two syllables: the first accented and the second unaccented. Scansion
demonstrates variation and regularity in poetry. It also proves very helpful in
determining the natural rhythm of a free and blank verse. Moreover,
it makes a poem pleasurable as well as more meaningful by marking the stressed
and unstressed syllables. In fact, scansion explains how rhythm contributes
to beauty, significance and meaning of a poem.
For
example: 'Hope is the Thing With Feathers' By Emily Dickinson.
Hope is
the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all...
In
this example, stressed syllables are underlined. The stressed and unstressed
pattern of the syllables show that the poem has used iambic
tetrameter with alternating iambic tri-meter, while
the rhyme scheme used is ABAB.
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