I need help with the meter of this poem:
Wild Nights -- Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile -- the Winds --
To a Heart in port --
Done with the Compass --
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden --
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor --
Tonight --In Thee!
1. Does the poem have iambic tetrameter or iambic dimeter? I want to say it is dimeter, but I've read that Dickinson rarely uses iambic dimeter. Any help?
2. Is the first line of the poem a spondee or trochee?
Thanks!!
thank you for responding. However, line 10 has only 3 syllables? What would that be called?
also--i have read the definitions for spondee and trochee but I am still confused about which word is stressed and unstressed or both stressed or unstressed for "wild nights!".
In line 1, both syllables are stressed. That line is called spondaic dimeter.
Read lines 9 and 10 together. What is the total of syllables in the TWO lines?
Every once in a while a poet will depart from his or her intended rhythm ... for any variety of reasons!
1. In order to determine the meter of a poem, it is important to analyze the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. Let's go through the poem and identify the stress patterns:
Wild | Nights -- Wild | Nights!
Were I | with thee
Wild | Nights should | be
Our lux | -ury!
Fu | -tile -- the | Winds --
To a | Heart in | port --
Done | with the | Com | -pass --
Done | with the | Chart!
Row | -ing in | E | -den --
Ah, the | Sea!
Might | I but | moor --
To | night -- In | Thee!
Based on the stress patterns, we can determine the meter of the poem. The majority of the stressed syllables fall on the even-numbered syllables, indicating an iambic meter. However, here it is not consistent. Some lines have a different number of syllables, while others have variations in the position of the stressed syllables. Dickinson often experimented with meter, and in this particular poem, the lines do not strictly adhere to either iambic tetrameter or iambic dimeter.
2. Let's focus on the first line: "Wild Nights -- Wild Nights!"
A spondee consists of two stressed syllables, while a trochee consists of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Let's scan the line to determine the stress pattern:
Wild | Nights -- Wild | Nights!
In this line, "Wild" and "Nights" are both stressed syllables (indicated by "|"). Therefore, the stress pattern is spondaic.
When dealing with iambic anything, count the number of syllables in a line and divide by 2.
Each line in the first stanza has 4 syllables; if those lines have iambs in them, then the poet is using iambic dimeter (di- means two).
To determine the second answer, go to www.google.com and enter each word. Enter spondee and read; then enter trochee and read. What will you decide.