3.5
Scan a poem by finding an index word
‘Scanning’ is testing lines to figure out a poem’s meter. It is also the way you check your own meter to make
sure it doesn’t have flaws.
There are only a few likely meters. Iambic pentameter is by far the most common; if you suspect a poem has a
meter, start with a theory of what that meter is.
Since single-syllable words can shift to fit different stresses most of the time, they are not useful for pinning
down a line’s meter. The only sure way is to identify words of two or more syllables and use their ‘locked’
stresses to identify a line’s pattern.
The time you won your town the race
This line is of no use; it has no ‘locked’ words. Skip it.
we chaired you through the market-place.
Both lines have 8 syllables. That’s a clue. Also, this line has
the word ‘market.’ It’s two syllables and can’t be pronounced any other way than MAR-ket. It’s an index word.
Make 8 blanks, one for each syllable, above the line.
__ __
__ __
__ __ __ __
We chaired you through the market place
/ __
͜
__ __
__ __
__ __
__
We chaired you through the market place
fill in the stresses for the index word.
/ __͜
/ __
͜
/ __
͜
/
__
__
__͜ __
__
We chaired you through the market place
we know the stresses alternate. Backfill the line accordingly.
/ __
͜
/ __
͜
͜ __
/ __
͜
/
__
__
__
__
We chaired you through the market place evaluate the meter. The line starts on a trochee, so it’s trochaic.
It has four two-beat feet, so the technical name is trochaic quadrameter (four sets of two).
1.
Identify an index word for each line.
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
2.
Create a scan map for line 1 or 2; fill it out using the process above.
3.
Answer:
what is the poem’s meter?
Line 3 is a sprung (imperfect) line. Explain why. (number of syllables is not enough!)
If line 4 is to be pronounced in the meter of the rest of the stanza, how is ‘subaqueous’ to be pronounced?