Scansion

Definition:

Scansion is the analysis of the verses in a poem to determine their feet and meter.To "scan" a line of poetry means to analyze it rhythmically.

There are three kinds of scansion: the graphic, the musical, and the acoustic.Graphic is the most common.

There are three basic parts to scansion: rhythm, the type of feet, and the meter.

Rhythm: This is the way the poem sounds.• There are several rules for analyzing the rhythm of a poem.

• One must distinguish between loud and soft syllables. Unstressed syllablesare given less emphasis and stressed syllables are given more emphasis.

• The normal markings are - for unstressed, short syllables and / for long orstressed syllables.o Place accent marks / in words with multiple syllables on the syllables

that sound louder than others.o Every word with multiple syllables in the English language has set

accents. They are only pronounced one way.v / v / \J

.:. Vo cab u lary y\J /

.:. De sign/ V

.:. Front age

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Feet: Scansion is also includes analyzing the feet in a poem as well. Each foot willhave either two or three syllables. There are four basic names for the feet in poetryand two auxiliary feet.

• feet with two syllableso iamb- unstressed, stressed

V / v I.:. sug gest pre tend

o trochee- stressed, unstressedI v / v

.:. prob lem rath er• feet with three syllables

o anapest- unstressed, unstressed, stressedv v / v v /

.:. in ter rupt un der stando dactyl- stressed, unstressed, unstressed

/ v v / v v.:. mur mur ing ru mi nate

• auxiliaryo spondee- stressed, stressed

/ / I /.:. gum drop pen guin

a PY~:i:~:~:~~s:~:,unstressedThe terms iambic or anapestic will refer to the whole meter of a poem or line

while the terms iamb or anapest refers to just one foot.

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Meter: The final part of scansion is the meter of a poem. The number of feet in aline of poetry constitutes the meter. There are several typical meters.

• Monometer- one foot• dimeter- two feet• trimeter- three feet• tetrameter- four feet• pentameter- five feet

o Shakespeare uses this meter very frequently.• hexameter- six feet

o This is used often by the French.• heptameter- seven feet• octameter- eight feet

"Foot" is a unit of meter, while "meter" describes the rhythm.

Examples:"Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare

1:"1_LiU

t 1....1 t 1._.1 1._.1 I 1.•..1

long I as men I oan breathe I or eyes I o an see,f 1._.1 1....1

long [Iives this I and this I .§l\.res

I.•.•.•

life I to thee .

5 feetunstressed, stressediambic pentameter

(.., t 1'-'"'..l)onne _ .::;...'

"The Road not Taken" by Robert Frosthttp://www.bartleby.com/11911.html

'" "I shall Jbe tel Jling this with Ja sigh spondee, iamb, anapest, iamb

Sornewhere a Js= and a Js= hence: anapest, anapest, iamb

Two roads I diverged I in a woocl, I and 1-- iamb, iamb, anapest, iamb

I took I the one lIes::;tra I veled by, all iambs

.An.dthat I has made all I the difference. iamb, anapest, amphibrach

generally 4 feet with unstressed, stressed meter thus is itiambic tetrameter with variations

Links:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owllresource/570/02/http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgeklpoetics/scansion.html#definition