Rhythm:
stressed/accented syllables, beat, feet, scansion
Jackson
Rhythm: any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound, caused by the natural rise and fall of language. All
language involves alternations between accented and unaccented (stressed and unstressed) syllables.
How is rhythm different in English and in French, Korean, Spanish? What qualities of the languages
account for the differences?
Write down:
As many one syllable words as you can in 30 seconds:
Two syllable:
Three syllable:
Four syllable:
Five syllable:
(Do human stress representation for words.)
We show accented and unaccented syllables with these symbols above the syllable:
‘
˘ = unstressed. It can also be indicated by using ALL CAPS to show stressed and lower case to show
unstressed syllables. Write the stress marks (called ictus and breve) above the words you wrote.
The stressed syllables determine the beat of a poetic line.
Stresses on individual words (mainly the one-syllable words) may change when you put them into
sentences. Mark these lines with their stresses (one stress mark per syllable):
Every day, I can’t wait for IB Literature to start. Ms. Jackson’s face glows when she sees us.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
Patterns of sound waves?
Sometimes the waves are irregular, they follow the flow of the language the author selected. (Usually
referred to as the rhythm.) Though they are irregular, it’s unlikely that they are random. Poets actually
think about all these elements in their poetry and use rhythm to
augment meaning.
Sometimes the waves of sound are regular (usually referred to as
the beat or meter):
Wind=line of poetry
wave=accented syllable
Isn’t it beautiful?
When the waves (patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables) are regular, we call this meter.
Foot: basic unit of meter that gets repeated in a line of poetry (usually a fixed number of times), i.e. the
pattern of stress in a line.
A foot is usually one stressed plus one or more unstressed syllables; we show the shift from one foot to
the next with a slash or straight line. / ˘ ‘ /˘ ‘/˘ ‘/˘ ‘/˘ ‘/
This is a five-foot line of poetry
Scansion: when you scan the poem, you mark the stressed and unstressed syllables and the feet, if there
are any. This lets you see the pattern visually and determine what importance it might have for the form
or meaning of the poem.
Scan this poem:
Still
Across the country’s plains
name:
sealed boxcars are carrying names:
he’ll need it. Here people count
how long will they travel, how far,
hairs
will they ever leave the boxcar –
and examine the shape of your
don’t ask, I can’t say, I don’t know.
eyelids
to tell right from wrong, “ours” from
The name Nathan beats the wall
“theirs.”
with his fist,
the name Isaac sings a mad hymn,
Don’t jump yet. Your son’s name will
the name Aaron is dying of thirst,
be Lech.
the name Sarah begs water for him.
Don’t jump yet. The time’s still not
right.
Don’t jump from the boxcar, name
Don’t jump yet. The clattering
David.
wheels
In these lands you’re a name to
are mocked by the echoes of night.
avoid,
you're bound for defeat, you’re a
Clouds of people passed over this
sign
plain.
point out those who must be
Vast clouds, but they held little rain
destroyed.
–
just one tear, that’s a fact, just one
At least give your son a Slavic
tear.
Dark forest. The tracks disappear.
That’s-a-fact. The rail and the
wheels.
That’s-a-fact. A forest, no fields.
That’s-a-fact. And their silence once
more,
that’s-a-fact, drums on my silent
door.
How do the accents on the syllables affect the
tone/meaning of the poem?
Homework: scan the poem below and
analyze its sound qualities. How do they
contribute to the meaning of the poem?
Tone?
March for a One-Man Band
David Wagoner
He’s a boom a blat in the uniform
Of an army tweedledy band a toot
Complete with medals a honk cornet
Against a thump one side of his lips
And the other stuck with a sloop a tweet
A whistle a crash on top of a crash
A helmet a crash a cymbal a drum
At his bumbledy knee and a rimshot flag
A click he stands at attention a wheeze
And plays the Irrational Anthem bang.