How to determine the size of a poem? It's all about the accent

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Eugene Onegin in Pushkin's novel of the same name "couldn't… distinguish an iambic from a chorea…". Maybe it's very difficult? Hardly. It’s just that Pushkin’s hero was not interested in questions about how to determine the size of a poem. And if you comprehend the secrets of versification, then the recognition of the forms of poetic rhythm will become a fascinating activity and will allow you to penetrate deeper into the secret of poetic labyrinths. By the way, the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" is written in iambic tetrameter, thanks to which it has an energetic life-affirming intonation.

How to determine the size of a poem?

First of all, it should be said that the sizes are one-syllable, two-, three-, four-, five-syllable and even more. What does it depend on? In order to correctly determine the size in which a poem is written, one must understand what a stop is in poetry. This is the name of a group of syllables, where one of them is stressed. So, the first thing to do is to paint the poetic line in feet and place the stresses. Then stressed syllables should be emphasized.

Two-syllable measures

1. If the word consists of two syllables andthe first of them is stressed, then we have a trochee. To record the dimensions, scientists came up with a schematic representation. For example, like this: ∩́ _, here we write the stressed syllable with the sign ∩́, and the unstressed syllable with the symbol _. Trochee looks like this: ∩́ _. The famous poem by Alexander Pushkin "Winter Evening" was written in this size. If you write down schematically the first line of this lyrical work, it will turn out like this: ∩́ _ / ∩́ _ /∩́ _ /∩́_.
2. In iambic, on the contrary, the stress falls on the second syllable in stops consisting of two syllables. The entry will be like this: _ ∩́. Konstantin Batyushkov's poem "My Genius" is written in this size. The first line will look like this: _ ∩́/_ ∩́/_ ∩́/_ ∩́. These are the most common two-syllable sizes. And we, unlike Onegin, will now be able to distinguish them from each other.

Tri-complex measures

And how to determine the size of a poem if it is three-syllable? Their names, like the previous ones, came to us from the Greek language. They are called dactyl, amphibrach and anapaest. Three-syllable sizes are found in stops consisting of three syllables.

1. In a dactyl, the stress always falls on the first syllable followed by two unstressed ones. Like this: ∩́ _ _. Mikhail Lermontov's poem "Clouds" is written in this size. We write the line like this: ∩́ _ _ /∩́_ _ /∩́ _ _ /∩́ _ _.
2. If in words of three syllables the stress falls on the second (middle) syllable, then we are dealing withamphibrach. Here is the scheme: _ ∩́_ (syllable alternation: unstressed, stressed, unstressed). "The Song of the Prophetic Oleg" (A. Pushkin) was created by amphibrach. Schematically, the first line will be written as follows: _ ∩́_ /_ ∩́_ /_ ∩́_ /_ ∩́_.
3. If a poetic line consists of words in three syllables, and the stress falls on the last one, following this logic, you can easily determine the size in which the poem is written - this is an anapaest. Scheme: _ _∩́. Afanasy Fet's poem "I won't tell you anything" was created in this size. Signed notation: _ _∩́ /_ _∩́ /_ _∩́.

Special sizes

But the world of poetic rhythms has its subtleties. For example, it happens that in the place where, according to the logic of size, the emphasis should be, it is omitted. When two unstressed syllables stand in a row in a two-foot meter (iambe or chorea), we see a pyrrhic. And if such a combination is present in a three-foot size (anapaest, amphibrach, dactyl), then this is already a tribrach. Neither one nor the other affects the type of size, but can confuse a novice literary critic. What does "do not affect" mean? This means that the iambic remains iambic, and the trochee remains a trochaic, but "complicated" pyrrhic. Accordingly, trisyllabic sizes remain themselves, but have omissions of stress - tribrachs. If the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in the foot is broken in the other direction - there are two stresses in a row (where, according to logic, an unstressed syllable should be, it is replaced by a stressed one), we are dealing with a sponde.

That's probably allthe sizes that are used in modern versification. Is it worth mentioning the hexameter with which the legendary Iliad of Homer was written and which is sometimes imitated by today's poets. It consists of six choreic feet with an arbitrary last syllable. Written like this: ∩́_ _ /∩́_ _/∩́_ _/∩́_ _/∩́_ _/∩́Х (where X stands for an arbitrary syllable).

It also happens that we have to puzzle over how to determine the size of the poem, because in the line we find an alternation of different sizes. Dactyl alternates with trochee, etc. Such a phenomenon is called "logaed" in versification. Marina Tsvetaeva loved to use it. For example, in the poetic work "The Table" she uses the iambic-anapest-iambic alternation.

Why do I need to know how to determine the meter?

Poems are not just rhyming lines. Competently used poetic devices, the most important of which is rhythm, make them unsurpassed examples of lyrics. Both the sound and the mood of the work depend on it. If the chorea creates a melodious, slightly mysterious intonation, then the iambic gives the poem a strict outline, businesslike and energetic. Three-syllable sizes are similar to a conversational style, reminiscent of a narrative. The hexameter gives the lines a majestic solemn sound.

With the ability to recognize poetic meters, we can explain what exactly causes the enchanting music of a poetic masterpiece.