How do I find the meter and the number of syllables in my poem?

Question

Here is my poem

1 Two paths I can run on,

2 One is short and sweet

3 The other is long and hard.

4 Sorry I could not take both,

5 Looking as far as I could down one path

6 My heart raced like a cheetah

7 Then I took the other path,

8 Because it was my future.

9 Even though the path was as hard as a rock,

10 I was the cat in a tree, trying not to look down.

11 One path is singing in the wind,

12 The other is howling at the moon.

13 Luck lingers from my little hands

14 As I run down the path that summer,

15 I knew what awaited me.

16 Two paths I can run on,

17 I took the path to destiny,

18 My destiny.

19 The path I run shows my true colors,

20 Because it was my future.

Answer 1

Hello Aaliyah,

First, here are some definitions:

1. The meter of a poem is the rhythm of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. Each syllable is one unit of sound, e.g. "to-" in "tomato" is a syllable.
3. A foot is a set of 2-3 syllables.

Second, to find the meter, read a line out loud and mark the syllables you emphasize. For example, in line 6, " My heart raced like a cheetah," you would emphasize or stress the syllables "heart," raced," and "chee-." Then divide the line into feet, or sets of 2-3 syllables. Here we have "My heart / raced like a / cheetah." The first foot is an iamb, the second is a dactyl, and the third foot is a trochee.

Third, to label a poem with a specific meter, find the meter of each line and look for a pattern. For example, if most of the lines are dominated by iambs, you have an iambic meter.

To get a more expansive explanation, see http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/meter.html .

Also, since poetic meter can be a little complicated, I would be better able to help you if we looked at a poem together and sounded out the meter.

I hope that helps!

T