Friday, November 1, 2024
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Qualitative Versus Quantitative Meter in Poetry

A sonnet can contain numerous components to give it structure. Rhyme is maybe the most widely recognized of these components: endless idyllic works, from limericks to epic poems to pop verses, contain rhymes. Yet, similarly significant is meter, which forces explicit length and accentuation on a given line of poetry.

Meter is the fundamental musical structure of a line inside a work of poetry. Meter comprises of two parts:

The quantity of syllables

An example of accentuation on those syllables

A line of poetry can be broken into “feet,” which are singular units inside a line of poetry. A foot of poetry has a particular number of syllables and a particular example of accentuation.

Qualitative meter is described by focused on syllables coming at customary stretches, for example, the steady progression of five iambs in a line of a Shakespearean piece.

Quantitative meter, paradoxically, is based on examples dependent on syllable weight instead of stress. For example, in quantitative meter, a line that is in fact written in dactylic hexameter could contain dactyls (DUH-duh-duh) yet in addition a spondee (DUH-DUH). What makes a difference isn’t the “stress” on a syllable yet rather the “length” of a syllable.

Eli Scott

Eli Scott is our resident social media expert. He also writes about tips for authors to boost their presence online.

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