Meter in poems is confusing...?

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Question:

I've read several websites about meter and most basically say it is the stress of syllables in a line (or comparatively, a stanza) of a poem!.

Though, I really do not know how to identify where the stresses lie within the poem!.

"Apples fall from grace, gravity to dirt"

I can only see a few different stresses in the above line!.

But can't the stresses of each line be interpreted differently!? How can you tell which is a stress and which isn't!?

And I've seen the word "I" such as "I am here" being stressed in some instances and not in others!.

It's confusing, as someone also said my meter was all messed up in a poem I posted and suggested trying to read it aloud!. I did what they suggested and it sounded just fine in terms of pace, etc!.

What am I doing wrong!? Please help!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Meter really is rather tricky, and you're definitely correct; in lots of cases, it CAN be interpreted differently!. Poetry is a form of art, and as such, it can, and should, be interpreted differently by each person who experiences it!.

For starters, most any word that has more than one syllable inherently has some kind of stress!. The smaller, one-syllable words in a line of poetry will usually pick up stress depending on the other words!.

In the example you gave, "apples" inherently has stress on the first syllable!. It is pronounced AP-pullz, not ap-PULLZ!. "Gravity" also has stress in it!. The first syllable has the most stress!. GRA-vuh-tee!. While you shouldn't need to do this when you're analyzing poetry, try checking the definitions of different words with multiple syllables in a dictionary!. More often than not, the words are broken up into their constituent syllables, and the stressed syllables are noted in some way, either with stress marks, or with bold and italicized font, indicating primary and secondary stresses!. The primary stress of a word should be obvious; the secondary stress not so much, especially since it can change around in poetry!. Certain types of words tend to have similar, recognizable patterns of stress!. Four-syllable words, for example, often follow the pattern of unstressed - STRESSED - unstressed - unstressed!. Examples of this pattern include "superfluous," "extravagant," and "remarkable!."

Most of the time, unstressed words include small linking words such as prepositions, conjunctions, or articles!. Both "from" and "to" are unstressed in your example!. Stress usually falls on others parts of speech instead, especially nouns and verbs!. In your example, "fall," "grace," and "dirt" are all stressed!.

I wish there were a more exact science to this, but when it comes down to it, it's really just about gut feeling and how it sounds!. When you say the line either aloud or in your head, the lines have a noticeable beat to them!. Sometimes clapping or tapping out a beat while you read the line can help, or even experimenting with incorrect emphasis can help clarify things!. also, try counting the syllables!. If many lines continually have the same number of syllables, it's likely that they are in some type of meter!.

So start with the larger words, which almost always have inherent stresses, analyze the placement of smaller words in relation to other words, and see if you can find a pattern!. Feel free to mark the stressed and unstressed syllables, if that helps to visually clarify a pattern!. Again, it's not an exact science, and lots of lines can be open to debate!.

And to wrap up your example, each line has five syllables (beats), and the stress is on the first, third, and fifth of each line!.

Good luck, and use your instincts!Www@QuestionHome@Com