What is the use of meter in poetry?

Meter is an important part of poetry because it helps readers understand rhythm as it relates to words and lines in a poem. It also helps writers create poetry with clearly defined structural elements and strong melodic undertones. Meter is especially significant when reading poetry aloud because it guides desired voice fluctuations. Without consistent meter, it's difficult to maintain a smooth, steady flow throughout a poem unless it follows a free-verse style. When you write or read poetry, think of meter as the beat or the cadence of the piece.

Maintains Fluidity

Meter helps a poem maintain a steady and predictable ebb and flow. This rhythm is created by consistent patterns of individual parts of words: syllables and their accents. Because English is an accentual language, its natural rhythms are usually from one accent to the next, not just one syllable to the next, according to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. There are typically one to three syllables between each accent in a poem. Poems that lack a steady and reliable pattern of accented and unaccented syllables often sound choppy, disconnected and erratic because readers can't anticipate their stress points. For example, imagine singing a song in monotone without a steady rhythm. Or consider a sentence with no punctuation. The result is a song or a sentence that has no ups and downs, pauses or variations.

Helps Set the Tone

Word choice, mood and voice influence the tone of a poem, but meter helps set the pace to support the underlying tone. For example, a melancholy or moody poem might have three syllables between each accent to slow down the pace. An energetic, spirited poem might only have one syllable between each accent, giving it a fast-paced, vibrant rhythm. Meter helps a poet or a reader develop a proper stride so desired emotions and feelings are adequately expressed.

Identifies Poets and Trends

Meter helps a reader identify when and where a poem comes from. For example, many Old English poems, such as "Beowulf," have a meter that's determined by the number of stressed syllables, regardless of the total number of syllables in each line. William Shakespeare and Robert Frost poems often have a meter that contains an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Lord Alfred Tennyson's poems often include an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables. Poets typically choose a meter that suits their language, personal style and cultural speech patterns of the time.

Adds Versatility and Flair

Even though meter is often consistent and predictable, especially in poems that rhyme or have the same number of syllables in each line, it offers some flexibility and diversity. Change-ups in meter can make poems more interesting and they help change the mood if needed. For example, a divergent meter is similar to a song that has a breakdown or a bridge in the middle or a symphony that temporarily changes tempo. Meter can deviate from its normal pattern to make a dramatic point or create rhythmic effects. Frequently, fluctuations in poetic meter return to their original rhythm before the poem ends.

References

Writer Bio

As curriculum developer and educator, Kristine Tucker has enjoyed the plethora of English assignments she's read (and graded!) over the years. Her experiences as vice-president of an energy consulting firm have given her the opportunity to explore business writing and HR. Tucker has a BA and holds Ohio teaching credentials.

Homer uses dactylic hexameter in his epic poem The Iliad.

The function of meter in poetry is to provide a rhythmic structure to a poem. Meter governs both the verses as a whole and each individual line or couplet within each verse. Traditional poetic forms have regular and often highly-structured meter, while modern poetry from the late 19th century onwards sometimes does away with meter entirely. This has led to modern poetry becoming more fluid and experimental, but also less structured.

Poetry does not have to use rhyme nor meter. It could use syllable counts or limit its length to that of a single breath as in Japanese Haiku and Tanka. Poems can also employ alliteration as in old English. Structure comes in many different forms from Homer and Virgil’s epic poetry to Matsuo Basho’s minimalist haiku.

There are two subdivisions of meter in poetry: qualitative meter and quantitative meter. Qualitative meter uses stressed and unstressed syllables at regular intervals. Iambic pentameter is a classic example of qualitative meter. Quantitative meter is used in the poetry of classical languages such as Greek and Latin. It is based on syllabic weight, which is determined by the length of a syllable.

Lines in both types of meter in poetry are divided into feet. A foot is a specific order of syllable types almost like a poem’s Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). A foot, therefore, is the most basic metrical unit in poetry. There are many types of feet depending on what syllables they comprise; for example, a foot with two syllables could be an Iamb, one with three could be a dactyl and one with four could be a Choriamb.

Dactylic hexameter is a quantitative meter used by poets such as Homer in his “Iliad” and Virgil in the “Aeneid.” Each line is comprised of six feet, each of which is either a dactyl or a spondee. A dactyl is comprised of three syllables in the following order: long-short-short. A spondee is made up of two long syllables. The final foot of a dactylic hexameter line of meter in poetry is always a spondee.

Iambic pentameter, a staple of modern English poetry, is a qualitative meter in poetry. A pentameter has five feet in one line. Each foot is an iamb, meaning it has two syllables inside it. An iamb in Iambic pentameter is usually an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. There is some room for variation by having a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one, but the rhythm usually returns to normal in the next foot.

Skaldic and Old English poems use half-lines. They tend to have more variation in the order of stressed and unstressed syllables within each foot. With poems such as “Beowulf” and “The Battle of Maldon,” more importance is put upon alliteration.

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