BASIC GUIDE TO ENGLISH PROSODY
Sources:
B&P Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Penn. Understanding
Poetry. London: Holt, Rinehart & Wilson, 1968.
P&B Preminger, Alex, and T. V. F. Brogan. The New
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1993.
Shapiro, K. A Prosody Handbook. New York: Harper & Row
1965
Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Longman,
1991.
FIRST DEFINITIONS
Prosody: the study of the laws that govern the ways in which the
regular patterns of sound and beats in poetry are arranged
(B&W )
the traditional term for what is now called verse theory,
which is the study of verseform, i.e. structures of
sound patterning in verse, chiefly meter, rhyme, and
stanza (P&B 982)
Rhythm: - the quality of sounds or movements happening at regular
periods of time
- a regularly patterned flow of sounds or of movements
(Brooks & Warren 493)
Metre: arrangement of sound elements into strong and weak beats or
accents.
We say that a work is written in verse, that is, in meter, when
the rhythm has been regularized and systematized (B&W
494)
We examine regularized rhythm both at the level of the verse line,
and at the level of groups of lines or stanzas
RHYTHM IN VERSE LINES
Kinds of metre in English:
- stress or accentual verse : rhythm based on the regular number of
stresses in a line
- accentual-syllabic verse : rhythm based on the regular number of
stresses and syllables in a line (the standard versification in
English poetry since the 14th century)
- syllabic verse : rhythm based on the number of syllables per line (as
in French prosody)
free verse : rhythm provided without a fixed number of stresses
and syllables
ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC VERSE
Its pattern is based not only on the number of syllables in a line,
but also on the relation to each other of the accented and unaccented
syllables (B&W 496)
We count stresses and syllables
Its basic unit of measure is a combination of syllables and stresses
(or in other words, of unaccented or less accented syllables and
stressed or more stressed syllables). Each unit is called a foot.
Kinds of feet (a dash - means unaccented syllable; acute accent
indicates stressed syllable)
Iamb (iambic) : / - / one unstressed followed by a stressed syllable:
alone
Trochee (trochaic): / - / a stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable: only
Spondee (spondaic): / / two stressed syllables :
Pyrrhus (pyrrhic): / - - / two unstressed syllables
Anapest (anapestic) : / - - / two unstressed syllables followed by a This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks
stressed syllable: intervene (H. W. Longfellow, Evangeline)
Dactyl (dactylic): / - - / one stressed syllable followed by two (scanned as Ths is the/ frest pri/mval, the/ mrmuring/
unstressed syllables: happily pnes and the/ hmlocks -> dactylic hexameter

Line lengths
one foot -> monometer
two feet -> dimeter SPRUNG RHTYHM
three feet -> trimeter A term coined by Gerard Manly Hopkins (1844 - 1889)
four feet -> tetrameter measured by feet of from one to four syllables, regularly, and for
five feet -> pentameter particular effects any number of weak or slack syllables may be
six feet -> hexameter (also alexandrine) used. It has one stress, which falls if there are more [than one
seven feet -> heptameter syllable] on the first (Hopkins, in P&B 1208-9)
To speak shortly, [it] consists in scanning by accents or stresses
Line lengths combined with the dominant kind of feet constitute line alone (Hopkins) -> thus he envisaged sprung rhythm as a pure-
metrical patterns that characterise a kind of verse line: stress metre whose stresses are sense-stresses or rather than
Examples of line metrical patterns: metrical, expressive rather than purely rhythmic. Sprung rhythm
iambic trimeter: / - / - / - / also shares with [Old English] verse a cultivation of alliteration,
anapestic tetrameter: / - - / - - / - - / - - / though not raised to a metrical principle, and other echoic patterns
(assonance, internal rhyme) (P&B 1209)
Examples: For Hopkins, sprung rhythm is the rhythm of natural speech in
My mother thinks us long away; everyday language, prose, nursery rhymes, etc.
Tis time the field were mown. .... This rhythm springs loose of the common rhythm (running
(A. Housman) rhythm, as Hokpins called it) of accentual-syllabic verse measures by
feet of two or three syllables (P&B 1209 and 1101)
My mother thinks us long away;
(scanned as My m/ther thnks/ us lng/ awy/ ->
iambic tetrameter) ACCENTUAL VERSE
Tis time the field were mown. .... ( -> iambic trimeter) Its pattern is based on count of stresses disregarding the number
of syllables per line. Usually, lines have a fixed number of stresses
(natural speech-stresses) and a variable number of syllables)
It was night in the lonesome October (Poes Ulalume) Used in folkverse (nursery rhymes, college chants, slogans,
(scanned as It was nght / in the lne/some Octber/ -> jingles), balldas, hymns, popular song, in S. T.
anapestic trimeter Coleridges Christabel, in T. S. Eliots Four Quartets (P&B 7)
SYLLABIC VERSE
Its pattern is based on syllable count. The number of syllables per
line is fixed, while the number of stresses is variable.
Standard measure in French prosody and in Spanish prosody
(until the rise of free verse)
It is very doubtful that verse lines regulated by nothing more
than identity of numbers of syllables would be perceived by auditors
as verse, for there would be nothing to mark them as such except for
end-of-line pauses in performance (Brogan, in P&B 1249)
Line lengths
octosyllable
decasyllable
alexandrine: 12 syllables (a hexameter in English accentual-
syllabic verse; in French prosody, a line of 12 syllables)
Examples of syllabic verse
Robert Bridges New Verse (1925), The Testament of
Beauty (1929)
Marianne Moore
Dylan Thomas
FREE VERSE
difficult to define. A typical free verse poem shows no formal
prosodic devices, and is unrhymed throughout. It is as difficult to
scan as prose. And yet it has form: the arrangement of syllables and
words, the line lengths, and the distribution of pauses fit the sense at
every point.
While accentual-syllabic verse regulates both stresses and
syllables in a line, free verse regulates neither (P&B 1249)
Every line has its own length, its own metre and rhythm, and
usually has no rhyme.
Caesura
The caesura is an internal pause marking the end of a sense unit - not
a metrical unit (B&W 511). Example: A thing of beauty | is a joy
forever: (John Keats).
Enjambment
Also called run-on lines: when the sense unit does not coincide
with the end of the verse line. When it does, lines are called end-
stopped lines.
Examples in lines 2 onwards showing different degrees of
enjambment:
A thing of beauty is a joy forever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower of quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing ... (John
Keats)
SCANSION
To scan a poem, or a line, is to measure its rhythm in order to
analyse its meter by marking the rhythmical or metrical units
in the line
1.- perceive the dominant rhythm (iambic, trochaic, spondaic, etc.)
take the poem as a whole and not merely a line at a time, for
the lines may not be metrically identical ... get a sense
of the basic pattern. Always one should read a poem
aloud, at least several times, to establish the initial
acquaintance (B&W 505)
2.- mark the natural accents in each the line, and count the number of
syllables
3.- try to mark the foot divisions of the line metrical pattern that will
best fit the dominant rhythm, number of accents, and number
of syllables. (For instance, a dominant iambic rhythm will lead
 you to think of two-syllable feet; if you count five stresses and
ten (or eleven, or nine) syllables, you can try the pattern of
iambic pentameter)
3a. take into account sound and not writing governs rhythm, and
therefore feet do not necessarily correspond to word
divisions (see lonesome in It was nght / in the
lne/some ...
3b. meter cannot violate the natural accentuation of a word
(B&W 498). Never impose a preconceived hypothesized
metrical pattern on the natural stresses of the line. For
instance, primeval is naturally accented primval. You
cant accent it as prmeval is you are trying an iambic
pentameter pattern in This s / the fr/est pr/meval ...
3c. not all accents in a line have equal force, but what matters is
the contrast between less accented syllables and more
stressed syllables
3d. A good working guidline, but not an absolute principle, is that
unimportant words receive less accent while key words in
the line are accented (B&W 499)
4.- when marking foot divisions, take into account accepted or
expected variations or licences from the metrical pattern (see
corresponding section)
5.- observe the caesura or internal pause marking the end of a sense
unit - not a metrical unit (B&W 511). Note that the caesura
may occur in the middle of a foot: Its lve/linss/ incra/ses |
t / will nver (J. Keats)
6.- observe the enjambment(s) or run-on lines.
7.- examine and explain the effect of regularities and irregularities,
both those changes that are accepted or expected, and those
that are not. Explain how variations give expression and
vitality to the verse (B&P 53)
Variations or licences
In the pronunciation of words and phrases:
elision:
words pronounced with one syllable less: heaven
diphtongs may count as one vowel: oil
Inversion of first feet: this is very common: e.g. trochaic instead of
iambic
Example:
See, heres the workbox, little wife
That I made of polshed oak.
He was a joiner, of village life;
She came of borough folk. (The Workbox)
First line: Se hres / the wk/box, lt/tle lfe /
Third line: H was / a jin/er of vl/lage lfe
Lines with less syllables: (with defetive feet)
Example:
Long for me the rick will wait
And long will wait the fold,
And long will standthe empty plate
And dinner will be cold (Housman)
The first line has one syllable less because the first foot is
defective, has one unstressed syllable missing. The line is
scanned ^ Lng/ for m/ the rick/ will wit/
A defecive foot can occur in mid line:
Speech after long silence; it is right (W.B. Yeats,
After Long Silence)
Spech af/ter lng/ ^s/lence; t/ is rght /
Lines with extra syllables
Feminine ending: final foot has an extra syllable at the end
 It was nght / in the lne/some Octber/ (last foot is an
anapest with an extra syllable: - - - )
Extra syllable in the first foot:
Example:
I wish you strength to bring you pride,
And a love to keep you clean
And I wish you luck, come Lammastide,
At racing on the green (A. Housman)
The second line has seven syllables, and is scanned And a
lve / to kep / you clan/: the first feet is an
anapest.
Extra syllable in
Example: H was / a jin/er of vl/lage lfe (third foot is
anapest)
Caesura
defective feet, or feet with extra syllables may occur before the
caesura
RHYME
In English use, rhyme is the repetition of two syllables at the end
of a line with the same medial vowel(s) and final consonant(s) and
with different initial consonant(s)
The equivalence of the rhymed syllables or words on the phonic
level implies a relation of likeness or difference on the semantic
level sound similiarty [ is a ] means to semantic and structural
ends (P&B 1053)
internal rhyme
when one of the rhyming words is not at the end of the line;
can occur in two consecutive lines
Forms (in English)
rhyme, end rhyme, full rhyme, true rhyme, perfect rhyme = back -
pack C V C
near rhyme = repetitions of vowels or consonants at line end not
conforming to the strict definition of rhyme are called near
rhyme, imperfect rhyme, slant rhyme, half rhyme,
oblique rhyme, partial rhyme
assonance = back - rat C V C
consonance = back- neck C V C
back - buck C V C (also called frame rhyme or
pararhyme)
(Not to be confused with rima consonante in Spanish.
Consonance is, strictly speaking, the repetition of the sound
of a final consonant or consonant cluster in stressed, unrhymed
syllables near enough to each other for the echo to affect the
ear, as in Popes Ah neer so dire a Thirst of Glory
boast, where st or r endsevery stressed syllable (P&W 236-
7)
reverse rhyme = back - bat C V C
rich rhyme = bat - bat C V C :
eye rhyme (visual rhyme) = cough - plough
STANZA FORMS
Source: K. Shapiro A Prosody Handbook Harper & Row 1965

We can identify stanzas by looking at three elements:
- number of lines: 2, 3, 4, etc. or indefinite number
- rhyme pattern or scheme: combinations of rhymes,
e.g. four lines rhyming a b b a
envelope, enclosed or enclosing rhyme : a b b a
cross or alternate rhyme : a b a b
tail rhyme or tailed rhyme a verse form in which rhymed
lines such as couplets or triplets are followed by a tail
a line of different (usually shorter) length that does not
rhyme with the couplet or triplet. In a tail-rhyme stanza
(also called a tail-rhymed stanza), the tails rhyme with
each other (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- line length: e.g. trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter
Number
of lines
2 couplet rhyme scheme: a a
open couplet: when the syntactical unit carries over into
the first line of the next couplet and there is no
heavy pause at the end of its second line.
closed couplet: the syntactical unit comes to an end at
the end of the second line, and there is a heavy
pause or a full stop.
HEROIC COUPLET: when lines are iambic pentameters
(It is also used for the conclusion of other stanzas)
3 tercet
triplet: a a a
TERZA RIMA : a b a, b c b, c d c
4 quatrain
ballad stanza: 4a 3b 4a 3b ; 4x 3a 4x 3a ; iambic rhythm
(4 is for tetrameter, 3 for trimeter)
Long ballad: a b a b ; x a x a ; a a b b ; all lines are
iambic terameters
Short ballad: 3x 3a 4x 3a; iambic rhythm
HEROIC QUATRAIN: a b a b ; all lines are iambic
pentameter, alternate rhyme
Brace stanza: a b b a; all lines iambic pentameter, brace
rhyme
5 cinquain
LIMERICK: 3a 3a 2b 2b 3a; anapestic rhythm (3 is for
trimeter, 2 for dimeter)
6 sixain
STAVE OF SIX: a b a b c c : iambic pentameter or
tetrameter (quatrain + couplet)
SESTINA: six pentameter sixains that repeat, each in a
different and predetermined pattern, the end
words of the lines of the first sixain (e.g. Sir
Philip Sidney)
tail-rhyme stanza: a a b c c b, with line b having different length
7 septet
RHYME ROYAL (Chaucerian stanza): a b a b b c c ;
pentameters. Variants have hexameters
8 octave
common octave: a b a b c d c d ; x a x a x b x b;
pentameter or tetrameter
brace octave: any octave in which brace rhyme (a b b a)
is used
Triolet: a b a a a b a b ; 1st, 4th and 7th lines are
identical, as are lines 2 and 8
OTTAVA RIMA: a b a b a b c c; iambic pentameter
9 SPENSERIAN STANZA: a b a b b c b c c ; first eight lines are
pentameters; the ninth line, a hexameter
Created by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie
Queene (1590, 1596)
14 Sonnet (see later)
Stanzas of ten, eleven and twelve lines are rare and have no familiar
name.
 Villanelle: usually 19 lines in tercets and two rhymes; 1st line
is repeated in line 6 and 12, and 3rd line is repeated
inline 9 and 15; both 1st and 3rd lines are repeated in the
final 4 lines.
The ode:
difficult definition = poem of some length which does not
follow any of the other conventional forms
Stanzaic odes: follow a fixed stanzaic pattern
HORATIAN ode: a a b b; or unrhymed
quatrain in which the first two lines are
longer than the third and fourth
PINDARIC ode: consists of three stanzas, strophe,
antistrophe and epode, being the first two identical in
pattern except for the rhyme sounds, and the third stanza
is almost diferent from the other two.
Cowleian ode: named after Abraham Cowley, is indeterminate
in form
The sonnet
ITALIAN or PETRARCHAN sonnet: a b b a, a b b a, c d e, c d e ;
a b b a, a b b a, c d c, d c d
14 lines: one octave + one sestet. Some have the sestet
ending in a couplet.
ENGLISH, Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet: three heroic
quatrains + couplet
A common rhyme scheme is: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g
BLANK VERSE:
unlimited succession of unrhymed iambic pentameters
Imported from Italy, where in the Renaissance it was
developed as an equivalent of the Classical hexameter, the line
of epic, the heroic line.
In English, fFirst used by Henry Howard, Early of Surrey,
in his translation of Aeneid [?1539-46].
A major versification form in English narrative and lyrical
verse (especially since John Milton), and the staple meter of
English dramatic verse (first used in Gorboduc [1561])
Genres: suited to long works, especially epic and drama
Verse without rhyme and without limited number of
lines allows for expressing an idea at whatever length is
required.
Omission of rhyme promoted continuity, sustaiend,
articulation, enjamment, and relatively natural word
order (P&B 138)
Characterised by rhythmic and syntactic flexibility, which
makes it closer to speech
Definition
In verse and poetry, meter is a recurring pattern of stressed
(accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short)
syllables in lines of a set length. For example, suppose a line
contains ten syllables (set length) in which the first syllable is
unstressed, the second is stressed, the third is unstressed, the
fourth is stressed, and so on until the line reaches the tenth
syllable. The line would look like the following one (the
opening line of Shakespeares Sonnet 18) containing a pattern
of unstressed and stressed syllables. The unstressed syllables
are in blue and the stressed syllables in red.
Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mers DAY?
Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a
unit called a foot. The line contains five feet in all, as shown
next:
.. ..1........... ... 2........... ... ..3 ..............4................ 5
Shall.I..|..com.PARE..|..thee.TO..|..a.SUM..|..mers DA
Y?
Types of Feet and Meter
A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable (as above) is called an iamb. Because there are five
feet in the line, all iambic, the meter of the line is iambic +
pentameter. The prefix pent- Unstressed
in pentameter means five (Greek: penta, five). Pent is joined .
to words or word roots to form new words indicating five. For The length of linesand thus the metercan also vary.
example, the Pentagon in Washington has five sides, the Following are the types of meter and the line length:
Pentateuch of the Bible consists of five books, and a .
pentathlon in a sports event has five events. Thus, poetry lines
Monometer One Foot
with five feet are in pentameter.
Dimeter Two Feet
Some feet in verse and poetry have different stress patterns. Trimeter Three Feet
For example, one type of foot consists of two unstressed Tetrameter Four Feet
syllables followed by a stressed one. Another type consists of Pentameter Five Feet
a stressed one followed by an unstressed one. In all, there are
six types of feet: Hexameter Six Feet
. Heptameter Seven Feet
Octameter Eight Feet
Unstressed Two .
Iamb (Iambic)
+ Stressed Syllables Meter is determined by the type of foot and the number of feet
Trochee Stressed + Two in a line. Thus, a line with three iambic feet is known as iambic
(Trochaic) Unstressed Syllables trimeter. A line with six dactylic feet is known as dactylic
hexameter. .
Spondee Stressed + Two
(Spondaic) Stressed Syllables
Unstressed Examples of Metric Formats
Anapest + Three
(Anapestic) Unstressed Syllables Following are additional examples of feet and meter
+ Stressed combinations.
Stressed +
Dactyl Unstressed Three Iambic Pentameter
(Dactylic) + Syllables From "On His Blindness," by John Milton
Unstressed
Unstressed 1.............2............. 3...............4..............5
Pyrrhic (Noun Two
+ When I..|..con SID..|..er HOW..|..my LIFE..|..is SPENT
and Adjective) Syllables
Unstressed
Amphibrach Unstressed Three
(Amphibrachic) + Stressed Syllables
 1.................2.............. 3..................4...................4 ...... ....1.......... .....2........ ........3..........
Ere HALF..|..my DAYS..|..in THIS..|..dark WORLD..|..and WID Iambic
......4...............5........... ...6
E Hexame
The THINGS..|..which I..|..have SEEN..|..I NOW..|..c
ter
an SEE..|..no MORE.
Mixed Meter With Iambic Feet
From "Intimations of Immortality," by William Wordsworth
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.........1.......... .....2............ .....3.......... Digital Music Game Downloads Jewelry
Iambic
...........4................ ......5 Kindle E-Readers Musical Instruments Men's
Pentam
There WAS..|..a TIME..|..when MEAD..|..ow, GROV Clothes Women's Clothes Handbags and Shoes
eter
E,..|..and STREAM,
Iambic Anapestic Tetrameter
.... .....1............ ....2.......... .....3........... .....4. From "The Destruction of Sennacherib," by George
Tetrame
The EARTH,..|..and EV..|..ry COM..|..mon SIGHT, Gordon Lord Byron
ter
.....1............ ..2 Iambic
To ME..|..did SEEM Dimeter .... ....1................ .......2..................... .....3...........
Iambic ...........4
... ...1........ ......2.......... ...3........ .......4 The As SYR..|..ian came DOWN..|..like the WOLF..|..on
Tetrame
Ap PAR..|..elled IN..|..cel EST..|..ial LIGHT, the FOLD,
ter
......
...... ..1....... .......2.......... .......3........... ..... ...1.............. .........2.................. ........3.............
Iambic
.....4.......... .......5 .......4
Pentam
The GLOR..|..y AND..|..the FRESH..|..ness OF..|..a And his CO..|..horts were GLEAM..|..ing in PUR..|..ple
eter
DREAM. and GOLD;
Iambic
. .1.............2...... .......3....... ......4......... .........5
Pentam .... .....1......... ................2...................... .......3.............
It IS..|..not NOW..|..as IT..|..hath BEEN..|..of YORE; ..........4
eter
And the SHEEN..|..of their SPEARS..|..was like STARS..|..on
... .....1...... ..............2.... .........3 Iambic the SEA
Turn WHERE..|..so E'ER..|..I MAY, Trimeter
... ....1........... ...2 Iambic
By NIGHT..|..or DAY, Dimeter Trochaic Tetrameter
From "The Tyger," by William Blake
....1.............2............ ...3..... ............4
TY ger..|..TY ger..|..BURN ning..|..BRIGHT
. ...1...............2......... ......3......... ...4
IN the..|..FOR..ests..|..OF the..|..NIGHT
See Catalexis below for an explanation of why the
fourth foot in each line has only one syllable.
Catalexis and Acatalexis
The lines from "The Tyger" (above) contain trochaic feet
consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
syllable. Notice, however, that the final foot of each line is
incomplete, containing only a stressed syllable. An incomplete
foot at the end of a line is
called catalexis. Thus, bright and night are called catalectic
feet. The meter of these lines is trochaic tetrameter
tetrameter because they each contain three complete feet and
one incomplete foot, for a total of four feet. A complete foot at
the end of a line is called acatalexis. The final feet in the
stanza under Mixed Meter With Iambic Feet are
all acatalectic.
Common Meter
Common meter is a metric format consisting of a four-line
stanza with four iambic feet in the first and third lines and three
iambic feet in the second and fourth lines. Emily Dickinson
used common meter in many of her poems. Following is an
example:
Two swimmers wrestled on the spar
Until the morning sun,
When one turned smiling to the land.
O God, the other one!
The stray ships passing spied a face
Upon the waters borne,
With eyes in death still begging raised,
And hands beseeching thrown.
Here is graphic illustration of the verse format of the poem.
First Stanza
......1.....................2...................3...............4
Two SWIM..|..mers WREST..|..led ON..|..the SPAR..................
.......(iambic tetrameter)
....1..................2...............3
Un TIL..|..the MORN..|..ing SUN,...............................................
.....(iambic trimeter)
.......1...................2.................3.............4
When ONE..|..turned SMI..|..ling TO..|..the LAND.....................
........(iambic tetrameter)
.....1................2..............3
O GOD,..|..the OTH..|..er ONE!..................................................
......(iambic trimeter)
Second Stanza
.........1..................2...................3.................4
The STRAY..|..ships PAS..|..sing SPIED..|..a FACE.................
..........(iambic tetrameter)
....1...............2..................3 Poetry and Verse
U PON..|..the WAT..|..ers BORNE,............................................
........(iambic trimeter) For an explanation of how poetry differs from verseand how
they both differ from prose
........1..................2................3.........../.......4
With EYES..|..in DEATH..|..still BEG..|..ging RAISED,..............
...........(iambic tetrameter)

........1.....................2...................3
And HANDS..|..be SEECH..|..ing THROWN..............................
..........(iambic trimeter)

Terms to Know

Ballad: Poem that tells a story, sometimes in common meter.

Blank Verse: Lines in iambic pentameter that do not rhyme.
Caesura: Pause or break in a line of poetry, often occurring in
the middle of the line.
Free Verse: Poetry written without a metrical or stanzaic
format or a regular rhyme scheme.
Metrics: Art of writing in meter.
Prose: The language of everyday conversation and of novels,
essays, and other forms of writing that differ from poetry and
verse.
Prosody: The study of meter, stanza forms, and the structure
of poems.
Refrain: In a poem or hymn, a line or several lines repeated at
intervals.
Stanza: Group of lines that make up one of the divisions of a
poem.
Stave: Stanza.
Verse: (1) One line of a poem with meter. (2) Lines of a play
written in a metric format. Poetry is often called verse;
however, not all verse is poetry.