In poetry, metre (Commonwealth English) or meter (American English) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known as prosody. (Within linguistics, "prosody" is used in a more general sense that includes not only poetic metre but also the rhythmic aspects of prose, whether formal or informal, that vary from language to language, and sometimes between poetic traditions. Meter is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse, or within the lines of a poem. Stressed syllables tend to be longer, and unstressed shorter. In simple language, meter is a poetic device that serves as a linguistic sound pattern for the verses, as it gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound. For instance, if you read a poem aloud, and it produces regular sound patterns, then this poem would be a metered or measured poem. English poetry employs five basic meters, including:

  • Iambic meter (unstressed/stressed)

  • Trochaic meter (stressed/unstressed)

  • Spondaic meter, (stressed/stressed)

  • Anapestic meter (unstressed/unstressed/ stressed)

  • Dactylic meter (stressed/unstressed/unstressed)

  Meter has two subdivisions: qualitative meter, and quantitative meter.

  Qualitative Meter

  Qualitative meter contains stressed syllables with regular intervals, such as iambic pentameter containing even numbered syllables. Quantitative Meter Quantitative meter, however, is based on syllabic weight, and not stressed pattern,s such as dactylic hexameters of classical Greek and classical Latin. However, classical Arabic and Sanskrit also have used this meter. Poets like Virgil used quantitative meter in Aeneid, and Homer used it in Iliad.

  Short Examples of Meter; People become what they believe.

  (Trochaic meter)-Those who can dream it, they really can achieve it.

  (Dactylic/Spondaic)-Don’t search faults. Find remedies.

  (Iambic meter)-When you give and accept gratefully, you feel blessed.

 (Anapestic meter)-The safest place on planet earth.