What is the effect of a one verse poem with rhyming couplets?
Browning's poem is a "one verse" poem only because he didn't break it up after each couplet. The skill of this poet is that the rhyming couplets don't come off as being too "rhymy" or "contrived" because he enjambs the lines...in other words, the lines are not hard "end-stopped" rhymes. For example, Roses are red, violets blue Grapes are sweet, apples are too This couplet sounds rhymy because each line "ends" the thought, whereas Browning's lines go like this, That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Notice how lines 2 and 3 continue into the next line? That's called "enjambment" and it allows the poet to create couplets that when read go all but unnoticed. It also keeps the poem sounding like rhymed poetry, but in a more subtle way that isn't too harsh or childish on the ear. The poem almost reads as prose, but it has sufficient poetic elements to make it an obvious poem. It is this skill that is the trademark of a great poet. The poem bounces along without being tiresome...Shakespeare did this quite often in his plays where unless you "read" the play, you might miss the fact that many of the lines actually rhymed. This is probably an assignment you were given, and although I would normally allow you to figure this out by yourself, I thought it important enough of a subject that I'd share the information with other poets who are struggling to make rhymed poetry less "rhymy".
What's the difference between meter and rhyme?
METER is the cadence, or pattern of syllabic emphasis, that a poem follows. A good way to understand METER is to think about it in terms of music. Most songs are simply poems put to music. Think of the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and you can hear the METER in that song. The first two lines of the song are: Twinkle, twinkle little star How I wonder what you are If I CAPITALIZE the STRESSED syllables and leave the unstressed syllable as lower case, you can see the repeating pattern of STRESSED and unstressed syllables: TWINK-le, TWINK-le LIT-tle STAR HOW i WON-der WHAT you ARE. If you sing the song and clap your hands every time there is a stressed syllable in the song, you can feel the METER. This same kind of METER is evident in poetry, as well. Again, songs are just poems put to music. RHYME is a much simpler idea to explain. In the example of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" the ending syllables of each line, well, rhyme. STAR and ARE share the same sound in the ending syllable. Does this help?
Is Shakespeare's play As You Like It written in iambic pentameter?
Though Shakespeare made frequent use of iambic pentameter [often rhymed in couplets or in and ABAB scheme], many if not most parts of his plays are in plain prose. The opening dialogue of "As You Like It" is written in prose: it follows no meter or rhyme scheme. I don't have time to read the entire work and I'm not familiar enough with the play to be certain, but it seems as though most of it is written in prose. The first instance of verse I saw in my scan was in the end of Scene II. In fact, not all of the verse is iambic pentameter; "A Midsummer Night's Dream" seems to only have four feet in each line [though this example is mainly 7 syllables], as in "If we/ shadows/ have off/ended/ Think but/ this and/ all is/ mended/ That you/ have but/ slumbered/here/ While these/ visions/ did app/ear/" also, if you sound it out, several if not most of lines become stressed on the first syllable as you fall into a rhythm [or at least the way I prefer to read it] I hope this helped =)
In poetry, what is rhyme and meter?
In the English language rhyme and metre are two important aspects of poetry. Rhyme occurs when two words share the same sound ending as in ,for example, sing and ring .Metre is the occurrence of stressed and unstressed parts of a series of words in a line.Consider this poem:When fishes flew and forests walked,And figs grew upon thorn,Some moment when the moon was blood,Then surely I was born.In the four lines the stressed words or syllables have been typed in bold lettering .So the presence of stressed and unstressed words or syllables creates rhythm.
Poems that don't rhyme: what rules are there, if any? And how do you know you're writing poetry and not a load
Well, on it's face, free verse may seem to be the lazy man's sonnet. But, as with any art, free verse is poetry in the sense that when it is done skillfully, the words have a lyrical quality that allows the reader to go beyond the need for rhyme. Free verse is analogous to jazz, in that you are able to build melody within melody. One can use words to form rough sketches of concepts, and allow the audience to fill in the blank spots. Yes, it is more forgiving in that you are not necessarily tied to a particular rhyme scheme or structure, but this freedom comes at a cost. Where the construct of a rhyming, metered (though there are no rules to say that free verse cannot adopt a metered outline) poem compels the reader to follow the lead of it's outline, free verse demands that the author keep the audience engaged through interesting syntax and a cohesion of ideas. Though the piece should not read like a grocery list, your images should be strong enough to stand separately, but should flow in a manner that effortlessly leads your reader from one to the next. The great thing about free verse is that the lack of rigidity that is often inherent in traditional form. Alliteration, direct rhyming within lines/stanzas, couplets/sestets/quatrains within the piece to offer contrast-all of these and more can be employed to illustrate the richness of the form (or lack thereof). As far as punctuation is concerned, commas, semi-colons and periods work as in any poem, but the ability to use line breaks to highlight a single word or phrase is quite helpful. Staggering words/phrases to give a halting reading lends itself especially well to highlight a dramatic or weighty concept. I hope that this helps, and that it clears up a bit of misconception that many people have about free verse. As I said above, the truest mark of an artist is the ability to transcend the ideas of form and concept, and to engross the audience to such a degree that they move past their notions of what poetry should be; to disregard the fact that they are reading a "poem" and allow themselves to be consumed by the images set before them.
How do Iambic Pentameter work with enjambment and shortened lines?
Like if a line is purposely short or like it could only be shorter than 5 syllables then does the whole poem cease to be in Iambic Pentameter and hence you've broken the rules? I'm a little confused like say if your first line was "A god stood at the edge of olympus"
If a poem is 11 syllables for the first line but ten for every other line, does it have a metre?
Meter isn't just syllable count, it is feet, as in the first answer. As long as the pattern of stressed syllables is the same in each line, it's OK to overlook an 11th syllable (or even more OK to accept the pause of a missing syllable) when it happens to emphasize a dramatic point.What is a foot?Iambic is i AM i AM i AM, soft STRONG; Shakespeare and his contemporaries used iambic pentameter the same way we use ruled paper today: it was the dramatic standard.Trochee is the opposite: TRO chee TRO chee TRO chee, STRONG soft.Dactylic has three syllables: DAC tyl ic DAC tyl ic. STRONG soft soft.Spondee is more dramatic: STRONG STRONG (just stomping!)Anapest also has three syllables: an a PEST an a PEST soft soft STRONG These are the basic feet in metered writing.
What is Amphimacic meter in poems?
I wrote this as a practice piece. It is done in Amphimacic Dimeter rhyming couplets. It can be sang to the tune of the last movement of the William Tell Overture (Lone Ranger theme). / * / / * / Amphimacic Dimeter In the wind your hair blows, In the sun your face glows. In the dark your eyes shine, I'm so glad that you're mine. Come to me and don't miss, Give your love with a kiss. Show the world you're my girl, Dance a jig spin and twirl. Stay with me all your life, Marry me, be my wife.