meter (by any other name)

[softlyfalling]

Sorry, I can't help but disagree. Meter is mathematical progressions that are already part of the patterns of the natural world. Those primal chants use exactly the same meter as all poetry -- meter simply controls the speed at which a poem is read, builds mood and tension and helps cement words into the memory. Learning to "manipulate it" is no different to learning the drums. If a drummer misses a beat, you notice -- but is he being unnatural by trying to keep time?

There is no wresting control from nature. The iamb is a heartbeat: da-DUM, da-DUM. An anapaest is the sound of hoofbeats: da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM. Trochees and dactyls are the sound of feet stamping the earth in that primal dance: DUM-da, DUM-da, faster now, DUM-da-da, DUM-da-da.

We name it to make it easy to refer to. We use it to make our poetry closer to nature, not further away. Everyday human speech is a much later invention than the mathematical precision of the earth and its own sounds.

I know you are right, Leanne. It was a tantrum of sorts...should I delete it?