scribbler

Jan 16, 2012

This poem is part of the workshop:

More Meter

(Read More...)

Description:

Leader: Jess (weirdelf)
Moderator(s): Beauregard, Geezer, Wesley Snow

Objectives: To get meter inside our heads and make it easy.

Level of expertise: Open to all

Subject matter:
More Meter

In the last meter workshop we compared iambic meter with trochaic and had a quick look at anapaestic. This time we will start with a discussion on meter and each participant's experience/knowledge of it. The workshop activities will be tailored to each persons needs and development.

Only two things are not open to argument. We will use classic meter terminology, it is not hard and it is useful. And critique of each others submissions are considered as important as your own submissions.

OK, to get the ball rolling I will give the briefest possible description I can of meter.

Meter is the rhythm of poetry as determined by the way words are pronounced normally in English, this does allow for regional and dialect variations. Meter is not about counting syllables, it is about counting Feet. A foot is two or three syllables of which one is stressed. The repetition of feet creates meter. The number of feet per line defines the metric form.

The most common forms of feet are Iambic, Anapestic, Trochaic And Dactylic and we will discuss them all.

The number of feet per line are named with Greek numeric prefixes (monometer, dimeter, etc.). We will go up to five feet per line (pentameter).

Just about everyone has heard of Iambic Pentameter. It has been popular since Shakespeare and Chaucer. Iambic Pentameter is a line of five iambs
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

To join please PM me or Beauregard

Enough for now. Let's talk! In the following discussion important points about content and style will be raised. Contribute your thoughts, ideas and questions.

FIRST ACTIVITIES.

For those who have never consciously written in meter before-

Write up to 14 lines of Iambic Pentameter.
Do NOT rhyme.
Choose a topic that is not emotional, personal or profound, merely descriptive. This will free up your word choice.

For those who have consciously written in meter before-

Write up to 14 lines of Trochaic Pentameter.
Do NOT rhyme.
Allow variations including Dactylic and strong and weak lines.
Choose a topic that is not emotional, personal or profound, merely descriptive. This will free up your word choice.

From the Toolbar click Workshop>Submit a poem.

Copy or type in your poem. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and above the Preview button you will see a Workshop droplist. Click this and select More Meter. Then preview and save as normal.

PLEASE READ THE SYLLABUS, THE DISCUSSION AND ALL MESSAGES CAREFULLY

This workshop is closed.

STRESSED by STRESSES (meter workshop)

Damn! there goes another poet
off to the land of nonmeter
overstressed about the stresses
made to write outside of rhyme
(though he did it this one time)

Syllables spoken naturally
though in a southern dialect
even when spoken out loud
stressed and unstressed run together
as his head turns into mush

Losing count of all the lines
as he slowly loses his small mind
while sitting in the padded room
trying to write trochaically

About This Poem

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: South Carolina, United States, USA

Favorite Poets: Frost

This user supports Neopoet so it can be free to all

Comments

Stan,

You are right, I did a count and according to what I thought Jess said there are suppose to be five streesed syllables per foot. or maybe I misunderstood. which probally the case.

I F' ken lost.
Eddie

Hi Eddie

Is this in reference to your poem or mine? From my very limited understanding Iambic, trochaic, ect has to do with order of stressed syllables and pentameter,tetrameter, ect. has to do with number of stressed syllables. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.........stan

you are right

count feet

thanks

It appears that most of the variation of meter in my works is in number of feet with ocassional changes in type of meter. Which is the way of spoken language. Also I apparently write in some type of Iambic which is why this attempt at trochaic felt so alien.............stan PS it is the attempt to maintain strict meter and foot length that makes so much poetry feel forced in my opinion

But here's my silly point again,

Writing in a very strict form can teach the mind to think that way. Then when the poet writes, he ignores form, leaves behind only what he felt and knows that the tricks of language (meter/rhyme, et.al.) have taken care of themselves and his work flows gently or aggressively essentially on its own.
wesley

D.E.N.I.A.L

"DOESN'T EVEN NOTICE HE IS LYING"

Your problems with meter, stan, are not your 'idosyncracies', your own cute style, it is the inability to use it correctly.

Wes and Jess

You know, the main reason I write mostly in rhyme is because I really like the results when it's done right. And the main reason I joined this shop is in an attempt to be able to make it "sound" right on purpose instead of ocassional accident. And in my opinion it Doesn't sound right if it sounds unnatural or forced. I continue to strive to produce poetry in which the rhyme and/or rhythm are nearly unnoticed on first reading but then appreciated when noticed. I know it can be done but it's no easy task..............stan

Dear Stan,

I'm lost as to the meter discussion. I probably shouldn't be here, but I'm trying to learn. I liked these lines and related to them!

Losing count of all the lines
as he slowly loses his small mind
while sitting in the padded room
trying to write trochaically

always, Cat

hi Cat

I'm just here hoping a little bit of it will rub off on Me lol.........stan

Okay, wait a minute.

When discussing iambic, trochaic or any other "ic" meter we are to be counting feet. An iambic foot is two syllables. An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed (or accented) syllable. That means in pentameter there should be five poetic feet. If we are dealing with iamb there will be five stressed and five unstressed syllables alternating from the beginning with an unstressed. If we were considering anapest and still wanted it to be pentameter, we would have (still) five poetic feet, but each foot would be three syllables long. Two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. Personally I think you will confuse yourselves if you count syllables. Instead, count poetic feet. Stan, your poem has a number of different meters. For example the second line ends with an accent on the end of "non me/ ter". I pronounce "meter" with an accent on the first syllable.

Here's stanza three, line one scanned as if it were iambic-

"Losing/ count of/ all the/ lines"

Now, here it is scanned the way the words would work normally-

"Losing/ count of/ all the/ lines"

This is trochee with a catalectic (hanging) foot. Does this make sense at all? I'm not the best at describing this.

wesley

hi Wes

It is beginning to make a bit of sense. If I can get my mind around just plain iambic and trochaic I'll be doing good....stan

HELLO.....Hello.......helloooo........

Nobody else wants to work this over?

You are so cool.

hi

Been called a lot of things before but never cool.
Scribbler has been called a fool
barely smart enough to drool
some believe that he's a tool
who seldom follows any rule
(and smells like a donkey's stool)
but here I am in this shark pool
trying not to be too cruel
while dispersing thin cold gruel....................stan