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Guided Practice
Poets like to occasional disrupt the flow of iambic
meter to provide variety and surprise. Read the first eight
lines (octave) of George Barker's evocative poem "To My
Mother." See if you can find a few lines that do not start
with iambic meter.
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Click on any lines that do not
begin with iambic meter.
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Were you able to find any lines that began with a trochee?
Here is the rest of George Barker's poem. Are there any lines written
entirely in trochee meter? Can you find any other nonstandard lines?
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To My Mother
by George Barker
Most near, most dear, most loved and most far,
Under the window where I often found her
Sitting as huge as Asia, seismic with laughter,
Gin and chicken helpless in her Irish hand,
Irresistible as Rebelais, but most tender for
The lame dogs and hurt birds that surround her,—
She is a procession no one can follow after
But be like a little dog following a brass band.
She will not glance up at the bomber, or condescend
To drop her gin and scuttle to a cellar,
But lean on the mahogany table like a mountain
Whom only faith can move, and so I send
O all my faith, and all my love to tell her
That she will move from mourning into morning.
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Sometimes poets use a trochee line to break up the weak-strong
rhythm that get established in iambic meter. It is also common to insert
one trochee foot (two syllables, stressed/unstressed) into a line that
is otherwise written in iambic pentameter. This is called troachaic
inversion. For example:
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Lillies that fester, smell far worse than weeds
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The word "lilies" is a trochee, a stressed syllable
followed by unstressed syllable. The rest of the line is written in iambic
meter.
When you are writing sonnets or other types of verse, remember that meter
is a tool that helps you establish rhythm and tone. Don't feel that you
have to slavishly adhere to a poetic meter. However, it is a good idea
to understand the underlying strengths and weaknesses of particular pattern
before you diverge too much from tradition.
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