Find out what the metric scheme of a poem is

The literature in verse It has a rhythm and a musicality that is given by the versification used by the author. In most cases, it follows existing standards and structures. In this article by a PROFESSOR we will learn to analyze the structure of a poem by making a metric scheme and, thus You will be able to better know the composition of the poems and you will be able to carry out the comments of the poems in a complete and elaborate. Keep reading and discover what is the metric scheme of a poem in a simple and well explained way.

Metric syllables usually coincide with grammatical syllables, but to count the syllables of a verse it must be taken into account that in poetry the following can be used poetic licenses:

• The sinalefa: this resource allows to unite in a single metric syllable the last syllable of a word that ends in a vowel and the first syllable of the next, if this in turn begins with a vowel. For example: TO/sia-a-un/la/do-al/o/tro-Eu/ro/pa (José de Espronceda)
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• The umlaut: this poetic license consists of undoing a diphthong to convert it into two metric syllables. For example: Ne / gras / vi / o / las / blan / cos / al / he / li / es (Luis de Góngora)
• The syneresis: This resource consists of converting a hiatus into a diphthong to convert it into a metric syllable. For example: I go / co / mo-un / hé / roe / de / poe / si / a / mi / a (Juan Ramón Jiménez)

Syllabic phenomena when measuring a poem

There are also the following phenomena of addition or suppression syllables, but they are rare. The addition phenomena are as follows:

• The prosthesis is the addition of a syllable at the beginning of the word. (ex. launch)
• The epenthesis is the addition of a syllable in the middle of the word. (ex. salamantino)
• The paragoge is the addition of a syllable at the end of the word. (ex. happy)

The suppression phenomena are as follows:

• The aphaeresis is the deletion of a syllable at the beginning of the word. (ex. pipeline)
• The syncopation is the deletion of a syllable in the middle of the word. (ex. force)
• The apocope is the deletion of a syllable at the end of the word. (ex. even)

But the most important thing is that how the syllables are counted varies according to the stress of the last word of each verse. This occurs as follows:

• If the final word of the verse is sharp, one syllable more must be counted.
• If the final word of the verse is esdrújula one syllable less must be counted.

In a metric scheme, the number of syllables must be indicated by putting the number next to each verse. The verses are classified as follows according to their number of syllables:

• From minor art, in the case of having less than nine syllables: bisyllables, trisyllables, tetrasyllables, pentasyllables, hexasyllables, heptasyllables and octosyllables.
• From major art, if they have nine or more syllables: eneasyllables, decasyllables, hendecasyllables, twelve syllables, tridecasyllables, alexandrines and pentadecasyllables.

Here we tell you in more detail what is minor and major art in poetry.

When the verses have twelve syllables or more, we consider them compound verses. These are made up of two hemistichs They can be the same, in which case we will call them isostichs, or different, so that they are called heterostichs. The space between the hemistichs is called caesura. In case we find compound verses we must indicate the number of verses of each hemistich.

The rhyme is a phonetic similarity found at the end of the verses, that is, the repetition of certain sounds. To take it into consideration, it must appear, at least, in all vowel phonemes starting with the last stressed vowel. In this case we are talking about the rhymeassonant. If consonant phonemes are also repeated, we will be faced with a rhyme.

In the metric scheme, each rhyme is represented with a letter, using a different letter for each rhyme for each new one (a, b, c, d ...). For the verses without rhyme, or single verses, we will use a hyphen. For the verses of major art, the letters that indicate the rhyme will be uppercase, and for those of minor art, lowercase.

The following is an example of the metric diagrams of the Quevedo's sonnet "Defining love":

It is / hie / lo-a / bra / sa / dor, / is / was / go-he / la / do, 11A
is / he / ri / da, / que / due / le-y/ it does not feel, 11B
is / un / so / ña / do / good, / un / bad / pre / sen / te, 11B
es / un / bre / ve / des / can / so / muy / can / sa / do. 11 A
It is / un / des / cui / do, / que / nos / da / cui / da / do, 11 A
a / co / bar / de, / con / nom / bre / de / va / lien / te, 11B
un / an / dar / so / li / ta / rio-en / tre / la / gen / te, 11B
un / a / mar / so / la / men / te / ser / a / ma / do. 11A
It is / u / na / li / ber / tad / en / car / ce / la / da, 11C
that / du / ra-has / ta-el / pos / tre / ro / pa / ro / xis / mo, 11D
in / fer / me / dad / que / cre / ce / si-es / cu / ra / da. 11C
És / te-es / el / ni / ño-A / mor, / es / te-es / tu-a / bis / mo: 11D
my / rad / which / to / my / tad / ten / dra / with / na / da, 11C
the / que-en / to / do-es / con / tra / rio / de / si / mis / mo.11D

(Francisco de Quevedo)