A Modest Proposal (Meter Discussion)

[milo]

Thank you so much - I was quite dismayed by some of the responses - my intention was exactly what you read: it was just meant as a sort of over-the-top fancy joke. So I was a bit taken aback when someone said it descended into "meter vomit"!

I hadn't consciously thought about meter when I wrote it, I just played it by ear; but my research this evening confirms what I suspected and what you write: I can't find a single poem written in common meter that sticks rigidly to it - it would sound like a metronome if you did. Also, unless I'm mistaken, the first stanza is 9 7 8 7 - which isn't common meter.

Anyway, my intention was really to entertain and I'm pleased I succeeded at least once!

common meter is always 4-3-4-3

Every successful poem written in common meter that I have read sticks to it pretty rigidly.  It is pretty rare to see variances in common meter.  Try singing the poem to the Gilligan's Island theme song if you want to find the holes.