Metrical
adjective
Related to or having a regular rhythm that is based on the number and length of words or syllables.
Shakespeare's plays often use a metrical pattern known as iambic pentameter.
Often appears as...
- metrical pattern
- metrical verse
Usage tips
Literary
adjective
Related to measurement, specifically in geometry.
The principles of metrical geometry are essential in the study of shapes and spaces.
Often appears as...
- metrical geometry
- metrical properties
Usage tips
Formal
Technical
adjective
Related to or having a regular rhythm that is based on the number and length of words or syllables.
Shakespeare's plays often use a metrical pattern known as iambic pentameter.
Often appears as...
- metrical pattern
- metrical verse
Usage tips
Literary
adjective
Related to measurement, specifically in geometry.
The principles of metrical geometry are essential in the study of shapes and spaces.
Often appears as...
- metrical geometry
- metrical properties
Usage tips
Formal
Technical
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Poetic Rhythm
Understanding 'metrical' helps to grasp the beat of a poem, much like music.
Many nursery rhymes are written in simple metrical forms.
Pro Tip 2/3Iambic Misconception
'Metrical' doesn't only mean iambic pentameter; it covers all rhythmic patterns.
That poem was metrical but followed a trochaic rhythm instead.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Obvious
Some metrical poems may have variations that subtly alter the expected rhythm.
Despite the irregularities, the poet maintained a metrical structure.
Pro Tip 1/3Poetic Rhythm
Understanding 'metrical' helps to grasp the beat of a poem, much like music.
Many nursery rhymes are written in simple metrical forms.
Pro Tip 2/3Iambic Misconception
'Metrical' doesn't only mean iambic pentameter; it covers all rhythmic patterns.
That poem was metrical but followed a trochaic rhythm instead.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Obvious
Some metrical poems may have variations that subtly alter the expected rhythm.
Despite the irregularities, the poet maintained a metrical structure.
Pro Tip 1/3Poetic Rhythm
Understanding 'metrical' helps to grasp the beat of a poem, much like music.
Many nursery rhymes are written in simple metrical forms.
Pro Tip 2/3Iambic Misconception
'Metrical' doesn't only mean iambic pentameter; it covers all rhythmic patterns.
That poem was metrical but followed a trochaic rhythm instead.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Obvious
Some metrical poems may have variations that subtly alter the expected rhythm.
Despite the irregularities, the poet maintained a metrical structure.
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Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
forming a distinct unit, just as a musical measure consists of a certain number of beats. One line of verse is usually made up of several feet. For example, a dactyl is a metrical foot of three syllables
Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
forming a distinct unit, just as a musical measure consists of a certain number of beats. One line of verse is usually made up of several feet. For example, a dactyl is a metrical foot of three syllables
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Billy Collins
American Poet
I try to write very fast. I don't revise very much. I write the poem in one sitting. Just let it rip. It's usually over in twenty to forty minutes. I'll go back and tinker with a word or two, change a line for some metrical reason weeks later, but I try to get the whole thing just done.
Quote examples
Billy Collins
American Poet
Emily Dickinson never developed. She remained loyal to her persona and to that same little metrical song that stood her in such good stead. She is a striking example of complexity within a simple package. Her rhymes are like bows on the package.
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
Modernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity could just as easily be a quality of metrical as of free verse.
Quote examples
Derek Walcott
Poet
My delight in things is definitely Caribbean. It has to do with landscape and food. The fact that my language may have a metrical direction is because that's the shape of the language. I didn't make that shape.
Quote examples
John Crowe Ransom
American Poet
Or he can work it out as a metrical and formal exercise, but he will be disappointed in its content. The New Year's prospect fairly chills his daunting breast.
Quote examples
Sophie Hannah
British Poet
All through childhood, I wrote verses and mysteries. There is, for me, one connection: structure. My poetry is metrical, rhyming.
Quote examples
Billy Collins
American Poet
I try to write very fast. I don't revise very much. I write the poem in one sitting. Just let it rip. It's usually over in twenty to forty minutes. I'll go back and tinker with a word or two, change a line for some metrical reason weeks later, but I try to get the whole thing just done.
Quote examples
Billy Collins
American Poet
Emily Dickinson never developed. She remained loyal to her persona and to that same little metrical song that stood her in such good stead. She is a striking example of complexity within a simple package. Her rhymes are like bows on the package.
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
Modernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity could just as easily be a quality of metrical as of free verse.
Quote examples
Derek Walcott
Poet
My delight in things is definitely Caribbean. It has to do with landscape and food. The fact that my language may have a metrical direction is because that's the shape of the language. I didn't make that shape.
Quote examples
John Crowe Ransom
American Poet
Or he can work it out as a metrical and formal exercise, but he will be disappointed in its content. The New Year's prospect fairly chills his daunting breast.
Quote examples
Sophie Hannah
British Poet
All through childhood, I wrote verses and mysteries. There is, for me, one connection: structure. My poetry is metrical, rhyming.
Example 1 of 6
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