Rhythm is a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables, says book
According to the editor of the book titled “The teachers and Writers’ Handbook of Poetic Forms”, rhythm is a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables and it is particularly important in poetic art forms. The word rhythm comes from the Greek, meaning "measured motion."
The book further says that the most obvious king of rhythm is the regular repetition of stressed and un-stressed syllables found in some poetry. And, creation and rendering of such poetry can enhance students’ musical intelligence if it is done across the curriculum, I think.
The book informs that the writers create rhythm by repeating words and phrases or even by repeating whole lines and sentences. It cites the following example from the rhythmic poem titled "Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman.
Furthermore, a combination of two words is often used to describe regular rhythm or meter. For example, the first word (iambic) refers to the beat pattern, like, unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. The second refers to the length of the line. In the case of pentameter we mean five feet (or ten syllables long).
The book gives some tips in the form of some commonly used words to describe the meter of regular poetry as given below.
The most common units ("feet") of rhythm in English are:
The iamb, consisting of two syllables, only the second accented (as in "good-bye")
The trochee, two syllables, only the first accented (as in "awful")
The anapest, three syllables, with only the third stressed (as in "Halloween")
The dactyl, one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed (as in "wonderful")
The spondee, two consecutive syllables that are both stressed (as in "big deal")
To me it appears that poetry using everyday language and subject matter should be done in an iambic pattern. In other words, the poetry in academic should have a lot of iambic rhythm.
Published by Holt-Rinehart, the book further adds that rhythm (or "measure") in writing is like the beat in music. In poetry, rhythm implies that certain words are produced more force- fully than others, and may be held for longer duration. The repetition of a pattern of such emphasis is what produces a rhythmic effect.
According to book, in speech, we use rhythm without consciously creating recognizable patterns. For example, almost every telephone conversation ends rhythmically, with the conversants understanding as much by rhythm as by the meaning of the words, that it is time to hang up. Frequently such conversations end with Conversant A uttering a five- or six-syllable line, followed by Conversant B's five to six syllables, followed by A's two- to four-syllable line, followed by B's two to four syllables, and so on until the receivers are cradled.
Well I gotta go now.
Okay, see you later.
Sure, pal. So long.
See you. Take care.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.
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