The
Rhythm of
Poetry
An Exploration in Understanding the Meter and Rhyme in Poetry
Literary Arts Explore with Jeri Swatosh
Spring 2015
Portfolio Requirements:
 Show your exploration and play on the space
provided for each poetry form.
 Write one poem for each of the styles presented in
this poetry packet (for sonnet, write a minimum of
4 lines). This can be handwritten and you just
need to create a convention showing which poem is
your best (e.g., highlight, frame, etc.)
 Complete the reflection of each poetry form as well as
a reflection on the class so far
 Please note that you will read one poem aloud to the
class on the day portfolios are due. This date will be
determined by us as a class as we go through the
packet and experience poetry! 
Table of Contents:
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Glossary
Etheree
Haiku
Seussian meter
Limericks
Clerihew
Sonnets
Free verse
Reflection
Extra paper
Glossary of Poetry Terms
Line Length
Poetry is generally measured in feet or meters or measures. The lengths are:
Monometer = one foot (these are rare)
Dimeter = two feet
Trimeter = three feet
Tetrameter = four feet
Pentameter = five feet
Hexameter = six feet
Heptameter = seven feet
Octameter – eight feet (as in Poe’s The Raven)
Although, take note of…
Syllabic Meter: A poem written with a predetermined number of syllables per line
Syllable-Stress Rhythms
It is important to know how to notate the rhythm of poetry. Unaccented syllables are
notated using a
, and accented syllables use a
. The following definitions
will use both notation and lower case/upper case to help you find their rhythms.
Trochee = (TUM ta)
Once upon a midnight dreary…(Longfellow)
Iamb = (ta TUM)
To be or not to be that is the question (Shakespeare)
Dactyl = (TUM ta ta)
Mournfully
Anapest = (ta ta TUM)
There was a young lad from Vancouver (limerick)
From Western Wind: an introduction to poetry by John Frederick Nims:
Haiku
Haiku in Japanese is written in a single vertical line with seventeen sound units or
mora (not strictly the same as syllables) in a rhythm of five, seven, and five. In English (a
stressed language), the ideas are usually expressed in three separate lines: The first
line contains five syllables, the second contains seven syllables, and the third contains
five syllables.
Many haiku seem to focus on nature, but what they are really focusing on is a
seasonal reference. Japanese poets use a "saijiki" or season word almanac to check
the seasonal association for key words that they might use in a haiku (thus the haiku is a
seasonal poem, and thus often about nature, but does not have to be about nature if
the seasonal reference is about a human activity). The season is important for coming
up with words to use in a haiku. Because the poem has so few words, simple phrases
such as "cherry blossoms" or "falling leaves" can create lush scenes, yet still reflect the
feeling of the verse. Think about each season and those ideas and activities you
associate with it. You can also consider symbolism that is associated with seasons. In
addition, think about colors, textures, and temperatures with each season.
Reading most haiku, you'll notice they either present one idea for the first two
lines and then switch quickly to something else or do the same with the first line and last
two. A Japanese haiku achieves this shift with what is called a "kireji" or cutting word,
which cuts the poem into two parts. In English, it is essential for nearly every haiku to
have this two-part juxtapositional structure. The idea is to create a leap between the
two parts, and to create an intuitive realization from what has been called an "internal
comparison." Creating this two-part structure effectively can be the hardest part of
writing a haiku, because it can be very difficult to avoid too obvious a connection
between the two parts, yet also avoid too great a distance between them that becomes
obscure and unclear.
Haiku are based on the five senses and use primarily objective sensory
descriptions. They are about things you can experience, not your interpretation or
analysis of those things. To do this effectively, it is good to rely on sensory
description, and to use mostly objective rather than subjective words.
Examples:
As the wind does blow
Across the trees, I see the
Buds blooming in May
Falling to the ground,
I watch a leaf settle down
In a bed of brown.
It’s cold—and I wait
For someone to shelter me
And take me from here.
I hear crackling
Crunch, of today’s new found day
And know it won’t last
Use this space to create some haiku of your own:
Select a season and write down
ideas that you associate with it:
Limerick
A limerick is a short, often humorous and ribald poem developed to a very
specific structure. The first line often ends with a person's name or a location
(geographical limericks), and rhymes are often intentionally tortured.
Edward Lear popularized this form in his nonsense verse. Unfortunately, Lear's limericks
begin to sound the same after a while. In addition, while he popularized the form, he
popularized a degenerative form. Lear's more than 200 limericks were "aimed more at
nonsense than toward a punch line or twist in the final line." Many are also not "true"
limericks, as the last line is, often, simply a variant on the first. This has led some people
to retroactively rename Lear's work as Learics.
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!'
Fortunately, limericks do not have to be silly, nonsensical, or repetitive.
I favor the limerick form,
For serious work not the norm;
A new way to capture,
A feeling of rapture,
Or visions of wild thunderstorm.
-Excerpt from Poetry of the Heart by Joel D. Ash
Poetic Form
The limerick is ... constructed of five lines with an anapestic beat (see below) and an
AABBA rhyme scheme.
The anapest contains three syllables, the first two of which are unaccented and the last of
which is accented (examples: comprehend or intervene.
Limerick Pattern
--/ --/ --/
--/ --/ --/
--/ --/
--/ --/
--/ --/ --/
A
A
B
B
A
(da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM)
(da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM)
(da da DUM da da DUM)
(da da DUM da da DUM)
(da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM)
Examples:
This one is from Gilbert and Sullivan (1877)
My name is John Wellington Wells.
I'm a dealer in magic and spells.
In blessings and curses
And ever-filled purses
In prophecies, witches and knells.
The following is a "typical" modern limerick:
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
Use any free space on this page to begin brainstorming rhymes so you can write a
limerick of your own.
Tetrameter
Tetrameter means “four measures” and is a format rather than a kind of
poetry. Verse written in tetrameter has four measures, which are also called feet.
In English, the most common foot or measure is the iamb, which is a pair of
syllables that follow this pattern: ta TUM. Iambic tetrameter has four such feet,
for a total of eight syllables. A line of poetry is in iambic tetrameter if it follows this
pattern:
ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM.
Some variation is allowed. An extra or missing syllable may be tolerated,
and an occasional reversal of the ta TUM pattern (to TA tum) is common, even
desirable as a way to avoid monotony. An example of four lines of tetrameter is
the first stanza of the introduction to Milton, by William Blake:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
The tetrameter pattern can be demonstrated by overdoing the rhythm and
pronouncing the stanza like this:
And DID those FEET in ANcient TIME
WALK upon ENgland's MOUNtains GREEN?
And WAS the HOly LAMB of GOD
On ENgland's PLEASant PAStures SEEN?
Many famous writers wrote in tetrameter and much of it is serious and
contemplative in tone. Theodore Geisel—a.k.a. Dr. Seuss—used anapestic (ta
ta TUM) tetrameter in many of his books and brought humor and whimsy to his
books generally written for children. The following is from Yertle the Turtle:
And today the Great Yertle, the marvelous he
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
Another light-hearted example of anapestic tetrameter is A Visit from St.
Nick:
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Play with the form of tetrameter and write a poem of at least four lines.
First, reference the glossary to choose a kind of rhythm within each foot
(e.g., iamb, trochee, anapest). Next choose a rhyme scheme. An
alternating rhyme scheme is common (A B A B), but Dr. Suess and Moore
here use a repeating pattern (A A A A, etc.). Sometime writing a list of
rhyming words will help you to get started. 
The English (or Shakespearian) Sonnet
As forms go, iambic pentameter is the most famous poetic form used.
Iamb (ta TUM) are considered to be similar to a heart beat and also a natural
speech rhythm. Leonard Berstein believed that iambic pentameter was in on the
birth of the blues. William Shakespeare used it in the dialogue of his characters of
nobility as well as in the poetry form known as the the English sonnet. It is often
named after him, not because he invented it, but because he is considered the
most famous practitioner. It has the simplest and most flexible pattern of all
sonnets, consisting of 3 quatrains (four lines) of alternating rhyme and a couplet:
abab
cdcd
e f e f (the third quatrain offers a change—or volta—in the direction of the
sonnet)
g g (the final couplet often summarized the sonnet)
There are a variety of sonnet forms, and you are welcome to explore them. In the
Spenserian sonnet, each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related
to the ideas in the other quatrains. The rhyme scheme is a little different:
abab
bcbc
cdcd
ee
Not only is the English sonnet the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for
only pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of 4, and is considered the most
flexible in terms of the placement of the volta. Notice is here on line 9:
“Sonnet XXIX” by William Shakespeare
When in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate,
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Equally, Shakespeare can delay the volta to the final couplet, as in this sonnet
where each quatrain develops a metaphor describing the aging of the speaker,
while the couplet then states the consequence—“You better love me now
because soon I won’t be here”:
“Sonnet LXXIII” by William Shakespeare
That time of year thou mayst in me behold,
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day,
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self that seals up all in rest.
In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed, whereon it must expire,
Consumed by that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.
This is a form that is a bit more complex to tacklet. We will write a Shakespearean
sonnet together as a class to help you more completely grasp the form and
content. Use this space here to write our class sonnet and to write any ideas you
have for your own sonnet:
Free Verse, Free Rhythms
Early in the 20th century, Ezra Pound and his contemporaries are credited
with beginning to write and theorize about free verse. One of the principles
they agreed on, according to Pound, was “to compose in the sequence of the
musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome…” The idea is to let your
emotion find its own rhythm rather than let a preordained meter dictate it.
AN IMMORALITY
Sing we for love and idleness,
Naught else is worth the having.
Though I have been in many a land,
There is naught else in living.
And I would rather have my sweet,
Though rose-leaves die of grieving,
Than do high deeds in Hungary
To pass all men's believing.
Ezra Pound
Song of Myself
by
Walt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loaf and invite my soul,
I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
I deliberately waited until the last form of this packet to explore free verse.
Sometimes it can be considered anything and that isn’t true. I wanted you to
be aware of the rhythm of poetry, both in different forms, and in experiencing
different music as a result of those forms. In short, know the rules before you
break them. Now play in creating a free verse poem with a least eight lines.
Rhythm of Poetry
Name____________________
Literary Arts Explore with Jeri  Spring 2015
Reflect…
What did you enjoy about each poetry form? What was challenging?
 Etheree
 Haiku
 Anapestic Tetrameter (Seussian)
 Limerick
 Clerihew
 Sonnet
 Free Verse / Blank Verse
What poetry style/poem are you submitting for Lit Mag? Why did you
choose it?
Attach this to all of your poetry worksheets. Turn in your Lit Mag
submission unattached.
How is this class working for you so far and why? What could work better
and why? Consider the curriculum, my teaching style, and what you bring
to the class on a daily basis. Please use the back to answer this question if
you would like. 