English, being of Germanic origin, is a predominantly accentual language. Of the ways of looking at meter, the most common in English are those that are accentual. Quantitative: Measures the duration of words.Accentual-syllabic: A counting of syllables and accents.Accentual: A counting of accents only per line.Syllabic: A general counting of syllables per line.Fussell defines meter as 'what results when the natural rhythmical movements of colloquial speech are heightened, organized, and regulated so that emerges from the relative phonetic haphazard of ordinary utterance.' (4-5) To 'meter' something, then, is to 'measure' it (the word meter itself is derived from the Greek for measure), and there are four common ways to view meter. Although some of Fussell's ideas are a bit outdated (namely, he doesn't deal with the visual elements of a poem), his approach is complete, concise and useful. The bible of most poets today regarding meter and sound is a book by Paul Fussell called Poetic Meter and Poetic Form.

The crafting of the aural aspects of a poem is what we may call 'ear training.' Thus, the crafting of the visual aspects is what we'd call 'eye training.' Meter

Writing Letters of Recommendation for StudentsĪ brief exploration of the various aspects of sound that can be utilized when making a poem.