What Is Metre

Metre is one of the technical terms of English chanting poetry. This metre has a deep relationship with the order of strong beats and weak beats in music. Here we will look at what metre is, what kinds there are, and what kind of influence it gives to language.

The Importance of Metre: The Crossing Point of Language and Music

Metre is something like the 5-7-5 form of haiku in English, and is one of the very important expressive methods of the English language. It is closely intertwined with the pronunciation structure of English stress-timed rhythm, and it is no exaggeration to say that understanding metre has the importance of understanding English pronunciation. Metre is not only the most basic knowledge for understanding English, but also the source of all intellectual activity of English, extending not only to English literature but to all fields such as philosophy of science, giving great influence not only to all of English musical culture but being the main trunk of musical culture itself, and it can be said to be the most basic knowledge for understanding English. Rhyme is the soul of English.

English has a deep culture of chanting poetry. Occupying an important element of these chanting-poetry cultures is metre. Many of the chanting poems written by Shakespeare make use of metre. It is not rare even in scientific papers and technical explanatory books for chanting poetry to be cited and touch on contents that cannot be understood unless differences in pronunciation are understood.

In Japan, the importance of this metre is not recognized at all. Japanese is a language of ideographic characters formalized by kanji, and pronunciation tends to be treated lightly, but English is a language of phonetic characters, and the characters themselves contain many playful elements of pronunciation. It is not rare that even in scientific papers expressions appear that cannot be understood unless one understands differences of pronunciation.

This metre, which should be learned at the very beginning of English study, is treated in Japan as advanced content to be researched in graduate-school theses in English departments. It can be said that Japanese English education learns first the basic knowledge that should be learned last.

Encountering metre begins with Nursery Rhymes heard and seen in childhood. Nursery Rhyme is generally translated as “children’s song,” but this too is a culture with a deep meaning far beyond children’s songs. By hearing Nursery Rhymes from early childhood, when one cannot even read letters, there is an effect of deeply internalizing the pronunciation structure of English stress-timed rhythm.

Basic Knowledge of Metre ── Stress Beats

It is no exaggeration to say that the basis of metre begins with accent and ends with accent.

Accent is sometimes translated as “strong and weak” or as “stress” and “unstress,” but generally it has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of sound or the height or low of sound. In English (a stress-timed language), there is the rule that syllables with accent are pronounced long and syllables without accent are pronounced short. And the following rule is the most important rule of English.

In English (stress-timed rhythm) …
- Beats with accent are pronounced at fixed intervals like a metronome.
- By pronouncing beats without accent short, the fixed interval of beats with accent is maintained.

Let us look at the following example.

3		Boys		play		games
4	The	boys		play		games
5	The	boys	will	play		games
7	The	boys	will be	play	-ing	games
8	The	boys	will be	play	-ing the	games

There are accents on the three syllables of Boys play games. These three syllables are pronounced at fixed intervals. And between them, syllables without accent are inserted briefly. This is the most basic rule of English pronunciation.

By learning this rule through metre, one acquires it in order.

Metre Has Many Forms

Metre has about thirty forms. Each form is defined by the order of the combination of strong and weak. Among them, the most basic forms are called iambic and trochaic. Below is a Japanese excerpted translation of the list of metres in the Wikipedia article explaining metre.

Disyllables

Macron and breve notation: Strong = stressed/long syllable, Weak = unstressed/short syllable

Weak	Weak	pyrrhus
Weak	Strong	iamb
Strong	Weak	trochee
Strong	Strong	spondee

Trisyllables

Weak	Weak	Weak	tribrach
Strong	Weak	Weak	dactyl
Weak	Strong	Weak	amphibrach
Weak	Weak	Strong	anapaest,
Weak	Strong	Strong	bacchius
Strong	Weak	Strong	cretic,amphimacer,
Strong	Strong	Weak	antibacchius
Strong	Strong	Strong	molossus

Tetrasyllables

Weak	Weak	Weak	Weak	tetrabrach, proceleusmatic

Strong	Weak	Weak	Weak	primus paeon
Weak	Strong	Weak	Weak	secundus paeon
Weak	Weak	Strong	Weak	tertius paeon
Weak	Weak	Weak	Strong	quartus paeon

Strong	Strong	Weak	Weak	major ionic, double trochee
Weak	Weak	Strong	Strong	minor ionic, double iamb
Strong	Weak	Strong	Weak	ditrochee
Weak	Strong	Weak	Strong	diiamb
Strong	Weak	Weak	Strong	choriamb
Weak	Strong	Strong	Weak	antispast

Weak	Strong	Strong	Strong	first epitrite
Strong	Weak	Strong	Strong	second epitrite
Strong	Strong	Weak	Strong	third epitrite
Strong	Strong	Strong	Weak	fourth epitrite

Strong	Strong	Strong	Strong	dispondee

About Nursery Rhyme

Because Metre contains all patterns of the basic weak-strong rhythm of English, by becoming familiar with it, one can efficiently acquire the concept of rhythm of stress-timed rhythm. Among actual examples in which Metre is actually used, the one most suitable for study is Nursery Rhyme.

By listening to the lyrics of Nursery Rhyme, practicing listening, memorizing them, and making oneself able to sing together, one can bodily acquire rhythms characteristic of stress-timed rhythm such as linking and weak-beat precedence.

Table of contents

Offbeat Count Theory