DIGGING DEEPER INTO POETIC METER - PART 4 OF 4: ANAPESTIC METER (& Spondee, too)

Over the past three months, I’ve introduced you to a few basic terms related to rhythm and meter in writing in verse as well as three poetic meters. If you missed them, you can follow these links.
the iamb - a two-syllable metrical foot commonly used in English poetry.
the trochee - another two-syllable metrical foot.
the dactyl - our first three-syllable metrical foot, but one that is less commonly used.
This month let’s study anapestic meter, made famous by a widely-known holiday poem. At the end of this post I'll also introduce you to the spondee, a lesser known poetic foot, too.

​anapest – (pronounced “ann-uh-pest”) In an anapest foot, the first two syllables are unstressed and the third is stressed. Think da-da-DUM. An example is the word understand. Anapestic meter is referred to as a “rising meter” because it moves from two unstressed syllables to a stressed syllable. I will diagram stressed and unstressed syllables using UPPERCASE (stressed) and lowercase (unstressed) letters. 

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A Visit From St. Nicholas,
the 1837 poem by Clement Clarke Moore
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 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

‘twas the NIGHT be-fore CHRIST-mas, when ALL through the HOUSE;
not a CREA-ture was STIR-ring, not E-ven a MOUSE;

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​The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore is anapestic tetrameter. Two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed one (the anapest foot), and each line contains four anapestic feet.

A Few Other Notes on Meter:
Consistent Meter:  Some forms of poetry, such as the sonnet, use the same type of foot throughout. As noted in an earlier post, many of William Shakespeare’s sonnets were written in iambic meter.
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Variations in Meter: Other forms may combine different feet in a line. An example is this limerick - the dominant foot is anapest, but some lines begin with a trochee foot (not quite anapest).
There WAS a young MAN from Pe-RU,
who DREAMT he was EAT-ing a SHOE.
he WOKE up one NIGHT
with a TERR-i-ble FRIGHT,
and FOUND it was PER-fect-ly TRUE.
The key to a smooth poetic meter is consistency!
  
Another poetic foot that is less common is the spondee:
 spondee – (rhymes with “Blondie”) A spondee has two stressed syllables (think DUM-DUM). Often the spondee is a compound word, like bookmark. 

​​Here is an example of a spondee used in Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht’s picture book, ALL ABOARD THE LONDON BUS (Illustrated by Sam Usher) and the poem, “A Bell Named Ben”:

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“. . . that ring and echo, loud and long. "
The song of Big Ben - Bonnng! Bonnng! Bonnng!”
" that RING and EC-ho, LOUD and LONG.
the SONG of BIG BEN - BONNNG! BONNNG! BONNNG!"
 The use of the name BIG BEN is a spondee in this iambic poem.
 
Well, that wraps up our four-month study of poetic meter! Thanks for joining me in this deeper study of four different meter patterns, numerous examples, and helpful tips about their usage. If you want to read more, two of my favorite reference books are:
     Sound and Sense, An Introduction to Poetry, by Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp
     An Introduction to Poetry, by S. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia

Happy writing and creating!
Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor