Poet's Tool Box Part 2: Meter

I am not going to discuss the mechanics of classical meter.  You can read more about this in any good poetry text book. Here I am going to talk about what meter means today.

Meter uses rhythm to command the attention of the reader/listener. Today we have poetry that is exclusively spoken in front of an audience and at the other end of the spectrum we have poetry that is only read silently by individuals. While the spoken-word artist’s use of meter may be more obvious, meter is just as important to the poet whose work will not ever be read aloud.

Let me interject here that I think all poetry should be read aloud. I have heard it said that when you read a poem aloud you give it a whole new life. I think that is true.

Yet some poetry is not intended to be read aloud, but read silently by individuals sitting apart on their own, in private, absorbing the words of the poet by themselves. This is a very intimate and special interaction as well, and I do not disapprove of it.

What I urge in regard to meter is to learn the iamb, trochee, dactyl, etc., and then go to poetry slams until you see where they all fit in. Practice with a strictly metered form – maybe a villanelle or a pantoum - either selected from a text book, from the work of an established poet or one you invent. In doing so you will learn to think in rhythmic patterns that will help you improve your poetry.

Think why nursery rhymes are so memorable – not just because they rhyme, but because of their rigid meter. Think about Shakespeare’s sonnets, ten syllables a line, stresses on every even syllable, every word immortal.

The point is that, like rhyme, meter is a very powerful tool. Once again, read your poetry aloud or hear it in your head and sense its rhythm, its music. Ah, now you’re writing poetry.