Poetic Rhythm: Meter
Shira Wolosky · 2001
Abstract With poetic rhythm, we have come to a topic that is in some sense the very heart of the matter of poetry. Yet, it can be a mistake to begin a discussion of poetry with meter. The full weight of the importance of the rhythm of the words in poetry can only be felt if you already have some experience with poetry. Otherwise, counting out the accents and the syllables seems at best mechanical, at worst meaningless. But to people immersed in poetry, the sounds of the words, in their rhythms and repetitions, are perhaps the fundamental poetic experience.