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Iamb
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Definition
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a
metrical foot consisting of one short/unstressed syllable followed by one long/stressed
syllable
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Example:
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“We romped until the pans / Slid from the
kitchen shelf; / My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself. “-Theodore
Roethke: “My Papa’s Waltz
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Explanation:
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These lines are formed in iambic
tetrameter, meaning three parts each consisting of one ‘iamb’. Stressed
syllables are bolded. “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf …”
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Trochee
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Definition: a foot consisting of one long/stressed
syllable followed by one short/unstressed syllable
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Example:
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Infant Innocence
The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;
He has devoured an infant child.
The infant child is not aware
It has been eaten by the bear.
He has devoured an infant child.
The infant child is not aware
It has been eaten by the bear.
-A E Housman
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Explanation: This is the revers of an
iamb, it goes stressed syllable then unstressed. This poem is written in
trochaic tetrameter, so three sets of a trochee. “The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;…”
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Anapest
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Definition: a metrical foot consisting of two
short/unstressed syllables followed by one long/stressed syllable
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Example:
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The Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; - Clemet Clark Moore or Henry Livingston
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; - Clemet Clark Moore or Henry Livingston
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Explanation:
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This poem is written in anapestic
tetrameter so three ‘anapests’ per line. “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through
the house…” However it does cheat a bit, often when they are small
single syllable words that, when spoken, can sound like one word, for example “not
a” can easily sound like “nota” in normal speech.
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Dactyl
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Definition: a metrical foot consisting of one long/stressed
syllable followed by two short/unstressed syllables
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Example:
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The Charge of the Light Brigade
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred….
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred….
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Explanation:
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This poem contain many anapests, the
first line is very clear and easy to understand as anapestic. “Half a league, half a league…” It is very intense sounding, as the two unstressed words
come to a sort of crescendo at the final stressed syllable.
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Spondee
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Definition: a foot consisting of two long/stressed
syllables
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Example:
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The exclamation “Hell no!”
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Explanation:
Many curses are spondees. Spondees often have a
very strong sound as there are constantly two stressed syllables. In the case
of my example, both words in the phrase are stre
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