Rhythm refers to the regular beat of the words in a poem. It is also a pattern the poet has arranged by way of stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter is counted in sets of two syllables, known as a foot.

The four basic rhythms:
1 Iambic –metrical foot with two syllables, unstressed-stressed X /
Study the Poem Mending Wall (also with audio), by Robert Frost
Stress | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syllable | Some | thing | there | is | that | does | not | love | a | wall, |
that | sends | the | fro | zen | ground | swell | un | der | it |
2 Trochaic – metrical foot with two syllables, stressed-unstressed /X
Example: "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe
Stress | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X | / | X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syllable | Deep | in | to | that | dark | ness | peer | ing, | long | I | stood | there | won | dering, | fear | ing |
3 Anapestic – metrical foot with three syllables, unstressed-unstressed-stressed XX/
Example: "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe
Stress | X | X | / | X | X | / | X | X | / | X | X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syllable | It | was | ma | ny | and | ma | ny | a | year | a | go |
In | the | king | dom | by | the | sea |
4 Dactylic- metrical foot with three syllables, stressed-unstressed-unstressed / X X
Example: the introduction to the poem Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Stress | / | X | X | / | X | X | / | X | X | / | X | X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syllable | This | is | the | for | est | prime | e | val, | the | mur | mur | ing |
| pines | and | the | hem | locks |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rhyme
Words rhyme when their ending sounds are repeated either at the end of a line, "end rhyme" or within the line which is called "internal rhyme".
Here is an example of end rhyme in the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sarah Teasdale
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;…”
Study an example of internal rhyme in the poem Changes by Tupac Shakur
“…and only time we chill is when we kill each other it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other…”
Læringsressurser
Written Communication - How to:
Fagstoff
How to Analyze a Novel
KjernestoffHow to Write a Book Report
KjernestoffHow to Analyze a Short Story
KjernestoffHow to Analyze Poetry
KjernestoffHow to Analyze a Film
KjernestoffHow to Write a Film Review
KjernestoffHow to Write a Newspaper Article
KjernestoffCharacterise a News Article
KjernestoffHow to Write an Article
KjernestoffHow to Write an Essay
KjernestoffHow to Write a CV
KjernestoffJob Application - Vocational
KjernestoffHow to Work with Instructions
KjernestoffHow to Write a Formal Letter
KjernestoffHow to Write a Letter to the Editor
KjernestoffHow to Write a Report
KjernestoffWrite a Report - Checklist
KjernestoffHow to Write a Report - Work Task or Event
KjernestoffHow to Write a Work Report
KjernestoffHow to Write Factual Texts
KjernestoffHow to write with style
KjernestoffExample text: How to Write an Essay
Kjernestoff- Tilleggsstoff
Rhythm (advanced)Du er her
Tilleggsstoff
Oppgaver og aktiviteter
How to Work with Novels
KjernestoffJob Interview
KjernestoffBody Language
KjernestoffWrite a Letter to the Editor
KjernestoffHow to Get the Message Across
Kjernestoff
Vurderingsressurs
Det er ikke noe kjernestoff for vurderingsressurs.