JentooEnglish Literature

AP® English Literature and Composition · Poetry Craft: Meter, Rhythm and Scansion

3.C Line Length: Monometer Through Hexameter

Watch it drawn3 questionsPractice

Watch it explained

  1. How it worksHow does counting the feet in a line give you its metrical name?
  2. Worked exampleFind the meter of 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep' by counting its feet.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't pentameter simply a count of ten syllables?

Check yourself

Your turneasy1 of 3
Read the following poem about a vigil of 16 hours. She waited by the bed and did not move, and when the light came up she moved at last. The kettle. The stairs. The long slow business of the ordinary day. What does the contrast between the long first line and the two short ones do?

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