Rhythm
For some people, rhythm is really tricky, so if you find it challenging, know that you are not alone!
How do you get good rhythm?
Read the poem out loud! Does it sound smooth and even? You probably have good rhythm! If you have to say words weirdly to make it sound smooth, your rhythm is probably off.
WHEN IN DOUBT: the lines should sound like natural speech. That should be the baseline.
You can also track the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. “Stressed” means weight or emphasis is put on a syllable. In the word “decide,” the “-cide” part is stressed. That’s why we say deCIDE and not DEcide. In the word “helper,” the “help-“ part is stressed. It’s HELPer, not helpER.
In poetry, when the stressed and unstressed syllables form a pattern, it’s called “meter.” The most famous meter is called “iambic pentameter.” That means 5 stressed and 5 unstressed syllables, alternating. Here’s a line of iambic pentameter from Shakespeare:
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.
If you read it to hear the meter, it sounds like this:
my MIStress EYES are NOthing LIKE the SUN.
For your poem, play with where you put stressed and unstressed syllables. If it’s hard for you to tell which are stressed and unstressed, asked yourself: what sounds cool? That’s a good rule of thumb.
Understanding meter involves a lot of reading metered poetry to hone your ear. If you don’t know what “iambic pentameter” is but you’ve developed your ear, you’ll be fine! Just remember: it should sound natural.
There’s also a lot of technical language around meter that puts people off, ie “trochaic inversion” or “dactylic hexameter.” I don’t go into all that here, but if you are interested, hit me up!
howtopoem@gmail.com