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GothicCherry
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since 2008-09-16
Posts 471
TN

0 posted 2009-02-15 07:17 PM


Ok, I'm confused about this and I know it sounds silly, but can anyone explain to me how to use meter in my poems????


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Nan
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since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA
1 posted 2009-02-15 07:33 PM


Hi there GothicCherry

You can start here in the workshop, where we worked on meter... da-DUM!

da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM

da-DUM

Then you can enjoy reading Kit's expert advice...

Playing With My Feet

GothicCherry
Member
since 2008-09-16
Posts 471
TN
2 posted 2009-02-15 07:57 PM


Thank you!!

I understand what iambs are and the da/DUM thing. Now what are feet? Kit's words got mixed in my head and I couldn't make much sense of it all. It sounded very pretty though.

Oh, and I really appreciate the help!

Balladeer
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since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
3 posted 2009-02-15 08:13 PM


A foot is described by the character and number of syllables it contains: in English, feet are named for the combination of accented and unaccented syllables; in other languages such as Latin and Greek, the duration of the syllable (long or short) is measured.


(disregard my earlier ramblings...too much multi-tasking at the same time. Thanks, Nanners)

[This message has been edited by Balladeer (02-16-2009 12:05 AM).]

Mysteria
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4 posted 2009-02-15 08:35 PM


Get out really?  All this time I never asked.     I can't even get the da dums right, so didn't dare ask what a foot was.  LOL, now I am finding this funny, but guess you have to be here.

Well GothicCherry you came to the right place, Nan, Balladeer, and Kit do it "right!"

Nan
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since 1999-05-20
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Cape Cod Massachusetts USA
5 posted 2009-02-15 11:38 PM


da-DUM - is an iambic foot.  Each set of metered syllables comprises a foot in poetry.

Iambic pentameter is a line of five iambic feet = da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM

da-da-DUM/da-da-DUM/da-da-DUM = three anapestic feet...

Does that make sense?

GothicCherry
Member
since 2008-09-16
Posts 471
TN
6 posted 2009-02-16 07:33 PM


Yes, a lot more sense than I'd made of it before. Thanks a million.
Falling rain
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since 2008-01-31
Posts 2178
Small town, Illinois
7 posted 2009-02-16 08:10 PM


Maybe I'm just slow today but I'm still confused about it.. I don't know at all what you guys are talking about.. Can you break it all down into something more simple and vague? lol

Please and thanks
-Zach

When I see your smile, and I know it’s not for me, that’s when I’ll miss you.

turtle
Senior Member
since 2009-01-23
Posts 548
Harbor
8 posted 2009-02-16 08:49 PM


Hi cherry,

When I was trying to grasp meter I was just as confused as anyone else. Most of what
I was trying to comprehend was college level material that used terms I wasn't familiar
with. This was also presented in a way that assumed the reader had some previous understanding
of what was being talked about. I found that if I looked up the terminology and rewrote
an explanation in terms I could comprehend, it would instantly become clear. I ended up writing
a brief explanation of the concepts of structured verse  for the beginner,  called:

"Basics Of Rhyme"

I've posted this on other sites and some people DID find that it helped them to grasp
structured verse a little better.

If it's okay, I'll post this in the workshop and maybe it well help some of you.

/pip/Forum22/HTML/000990.html

    


[This message has been edited by turtle (02-16-2009 09:37 PM).]

Essorant
Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769
Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada
9 posted 2009-02-16 11:05 PM


All you need to do is study how stress works in words and then you will generally recognize how it is put into special patterns by poets, from which these half-useless terms such as "feet", "iambic" "trochaic" etc come.  The stress of a word is generally the most pronounced syllable of a word, such as the hor- of horror.  The first syllable hor- of horror has more pressure and vibration on it.  That is the stress.  You need to listen at least halfcarefully to recognize that pressure, and eventually after practice you naturally grow an ear to hear that similar "spot" in other words.   If you are unsure of the correct pronunciation , then usually the dictionary may help.  For example, at dictionary.com the pronunciation is given in brackets with the syllable that has the stress in bold type: "Horror [hawr-er, hor-]".

Where people were saying "DUM" above, that is where the stresses of words generally go, where they were saying "da" that is where other syllables go.  If a normal word has only one syllable that one syllable has the stress.  But little words such as to, from, of, in, or, I, he, it, etc. don't have stress.  The rest is a bunch of exceptions and variations that may be learned along the way.  

[This message has been edited by Essorant (02-17-2009 04:19 PM).]

GothicCherry
Member
since 2008-09-16
Posts 471
TN
10 posted 2009-02-17 09:10 AM


OH MY GOSH!! Thank you sooo much! That helps me a lot. It's all starting to make a lot more sense than it did before. I guess I'm not very good with the complicated words. Lol...
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