Rhythm – The Beating Pulse of Writing 🕺🏽

When most people think of rhythm, the first thing that comes to mind is music. And yes, rhythm is certainly a crucial component in a piece of music, but it’s necessary for more than just song lyrics. Rhythm creates a sense of flow and structure in a piece of writing, and it achieves this primarily through the writer’s use of punctuation, repetition, and word choice.

What is Rhythm?

Rhythm refers to the use of long and short stresses in words but can also be influenced by punctuation. It can help make a word stand out while others fade away. Rhythm is primarily applied to poetry although there are a few examples of prose poetry and prose that use rhythm. Rhythm sets the pace and creates the flow of time.

When do writers use Rhythm?

Writers use rhythm to set the pace of their writing. The syllabic stresses produce a pattern of beats that clues the reader into how fast or slow to read and when to slow down or pause. Rhythm gives poetry an almost song-like quality which is perhaps why it is so closely associated with music.

Despite the significance of poetry, writers do not always use it in their writing. Many contemporary and modern poets prefer free verse and for longer works, stream of consciousness.

Useful Tips to Assist Your Rhythmic Journey?

Rhythm not only sets pace but also determines mood or builds excitement. When working with rhythm, or any useful literary tool, the key to mastery is practice. But while you work toward becoming a rhythm master, here are some useful tips to get you started.

Alternate sentence length.
Relocate words and phrases.
Embrace sentence fragments.
Match your rhythm to the mood you wish to convey.
Use meter and rhyme along with other literary devices to create rhythm.
Apply tension and release. Ok. Now you’re thinking, “What?” This simply means once you have achieved the peak of stress or emotion in your writing, begin the descent to relieve the tension you have built up. As in music, writing benefits from waves of tension in a rise and fall pattern.

What are the Different Types of Rhythm?

Without meter, there can be no poetry and without rhythm, there can be no meter for one cannot exist without the other.

Which brings us to the multiple types of rhythm. Due to the close relationship between rhythm and meter, specific types of meter have been explained for better understanding. Let’s review the five primary types of rhythm.

Iambic pentameter – Perfected by Shakespeare, each line of the poem consists of five two-syllable groupings where the first is stressed and the second is unstressed. Example: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”In this example, the bold beats are stressed, and the underlined beats are unstressed.
Iambic – A series of short syllables followed by long syllables. Example: The bird has flown away.
Tetrameter –Each line of poetry consists of four metrical feet. A metrical foot is a grouping of two or three syllables that form the basic unit of poetic rhythm.
Trochaic tetrameter – This type of rhythm uses a grouping of four trochees in a regular pattern where each trochee consists of one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable.
Trochaic trimeter – Each line consists of three syllables where the first is stressed and the second is unstressed. Example: “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!” Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To the Skylark”

Rhythm in Literature and Poetry 📚

While few examples of rhythm exist in prose, there are quite a few works of epic literature and poetry that do.

Epic Poems:

John Milton, Paradise Lost
James Joyce, Ulyssess

Poetry:

Shakespeare, Sonnet 18, also known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” is, of course, written in iambic pentameter:

To fully understand or get the full effect of what rhythm means to a poem, it is best to listen to them read aloud. Here are a few memorable selections composed using different types of rhythm. As you listen, see if you notice the differences.

William Blake, “The Tyger” – This poem is written in trochaic tetrameter, creating a strong and powerful rhythm.

Emily Dickinson, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” – This poem is written in iambic trimeter, creating a gentle and calming rhythm.

Langston Hughes, “Harlem” – This poem is written in free verse, creating a unique and unpredictable rhythm.

Rhythm in Children’s Literature 🧸

Children’s stories and poems are a treasure trove of rhythm and rhyme. They need to be to make an impression on the child. The right rhythmic pattern can be fun and make the story more memorable, especially when trying to teach. Below are some well-known examples. Perhaps, you enjoyed these in your childhood.

Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat –

. . . And Green Eggs and Ham – 

Clark Moore, “A Visit from St. Nicolas” –

Working Hand-in-Hand with Rhythm . . .👥

Meter – The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Rhyme – A little more complicated than meter, rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words at or near the end of a line of poetry. Example: “I left the house / To follow the mouse.”

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