Metre refers to the abstract, ideal, or underlying pattern that acts as a template for a line of verse. In English, metrical patterns consist of repeated patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. Using this app, you can learn more about English metre through a series of interactive exercises.

Unit 1

  1. Syllables and stress

  2. Syllable division 1

  3. Syllable division 2

  4. Stress

  5. Strong and weak stress 1

  6. Strong and weak stress 2

  7. Stress patterns

  8. Stress and meaning

  9. Iambic pentameter 1

  10. Iambic pentameter 2

  11. Metre analysis

  12. Metre and rhythm

  13. Metre and rhythm analysis

Unit 2

  1. Secondary stress

  2. Foot boundaries 1

  3. Foot boundaries 2

  4. Foot boundaries 3

  5. Trochees 1

  6. Trochees 2

  7. Anapaests

  8. Dactyls

  9. Feet type by syllable

  10. Feet type by stress

  11. Spondaic and pyrrhic feet

  12. Metre, syllable and foot boundary analysis 1

  13. Metre, syllable and foot boundary analysis 2

  14. Metre, syllable and foot boundary analysis 3

Unit 3

  1. The Rainbow

  2. Analysis of lines 1-4

  3. Analysis of lines 5-9

  4. Rhythm deviation from metre

  5. Monosyllables

  6. Promotion

  7. Open class words

  8. Compound words

  9. Phrasal verbs

  10. Reasons for deviation

  11. Disyllabic and polysyllabic words 1

  12. Disyllabic and polysyllabic words 2

  13. Elision and inverted feet

  14. Grammatical patterns

  15. Word order

  16. Thematic stress

  17. Rhythm and deviation in Hamlet's soliloquy

About

The content of this resource was originally written by Professor Christian Kay. The app version was created in 2016 by Brian Aitken, Digital Humanities Research Officer for the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow with revisions and amendments by Marc Alexander and Jean Anderson.