The patterned “movement” of the poem created by words and their arrangement, taps into the varied rhythms of life. It can be fast or slow. Graceful or rough, deliberate or frenzied. There several conditions that shapes the rhythm.
- Line length: short lines quickens rhythm, but long ones draw it out
- Line endings: run on lines into the other lines tend to toward a faster and smoother pace. But lines with period at the end often slow down
- Pauses: also called (Caesuras) indicated by punctuation tend to break up the flow of the line.
- Spaces: leaving gaps within , at the beginning or at the end, even between the lines may slow up movement.
- Word choice: it is way to create a steady, smooth, harmonious pace in a line. (Schakel&Ridl, 1997, Pp. 131-132)
When poems have a regular and steady beat or measured pulse. A beat arises from the contrast of louder and softer syllables. The combination of “Stressed” or “accented” and “Unstressed” or “Unaccented” syllables.
The basis of accentual-syllable meter is the repetition of metrical “Feet” . Feet are two-or three-syllable units (usually) one stressed and one or two unstressed (Schakel&Ridl, 1997, pp.138-140)
Poetry 