Definition

Noun: 1. A specific poetic meter: Common meter is a traditional pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in English poetry. It consists of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter (four iambs per line) and iambic trimeter (three iambs per line), with a rhyme scheme of ABAB or ABCB. An iamb is a two-syllable foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (da-DUM).

Usage

Common meter is primarily used to describe the rhythmic structure of verse, especially in traditional English and American folk poetry and hymns. * It is the usual meter for many traditional ballads and hymns. * A poem or song lyric can be written in common meter. * One can scan or analyze a poem to see if it uses common meter.

Examples

• The ballad "Amazing Grace" is written in common meter.
• Many of Emily Dickinson's poems employ common meter.
• To identify common meter, count the iambs: a line with four iambs is followed by a line with three.

Advanced Usage

• Common meter double (CMD): A variant where the four-line stanza (quatrain) pattern is doubled to create an eight-line stanza, often with a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD.
• Hymn meter: Common meter is a type of hymn meter, often abbreviated as C.M. in hymnals. Other hymn meters include Long Meter (L.M.) and Short Meter (S.M.).

Variants and Related Words

• Common measure: A direct synonym for common meter.
• Ballad meter: Often used interchangeably with common meter, though some scholars make subtle distinctions regarding rhyme or thematic tradition.
• Iambic meter: The broader category of rhythmic patterns based on the iambic foot, which includes common meter.
• Quatrain: A four-line stanza, which is the typical structural unit for common meter.

Synonyms

• Common measure
• Ballad meter (in many contexts)
• Hymn meter (specifically C.M.)

Related Phrases & Concepts

• Iambic tetrameter: A line of verse with four iambs (e.g., "The way | a crow | shook down | on me").
• Iambic trimeter: A line of verse with three iambs (e.g., "The dust | of snow").
• Rhyme scheme: The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines of a poem (e.g., ABAB).

Noun

1. the usual (iambic) meter of a ballad