What is scansion?
Analyzing stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry or verse.
Scan Your Way to Understanding Poetry: Scansion in Creative Writing
Scansion is the process of analyzing stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry or verse. When reading a poem, it can be difficult to grasp what the author is trying to communicate without first scanning the poem to understand its rhythm and meter. In scansion, stressed syllables are marked with a '/', while unstressed syllables are marked with a 'u'.
By scanning a poem and identifying its meter, a writer gains a greater understanding of how the poem is structured. It also helps the writer to better appreciate the use of language in the poem. Scanning a poem can also help a writer to more effectively use meter and rhythm in their own writing. Understanding the importance of rhythm and meter through scansion can take a writer's creative writing to the next level.
The famous poem 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost demonstrates scansion in action through the poet's use of iambic tetrameter. The first line of the poem exemplifies this:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Scan the line by identifying the stressed syllables marked with a '/' and the unstressed syllables marked with a 'u':
/ u / u / u /
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Frost's use of meter in this poem helps to create a sense of thoughtful introspection, as the speaker contemplates the decision between two roads.
In T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,' scansion is employed to create a sense of emotional unease. Eliot utilizes a mix of meter, including iambic pentameter and irregular rhythms, in order to create a disjointed and fragmented feeling throughout the poem.
One example of scansion in 'The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock' can be found in this line:
And indeed there will be time
By scanning the line, one can identify the varying patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables:
/ u / u / u / u /
And indeed there will be time
Eliot's use of scansion in this poem helps to reinforce the feeling of uncertainty and anxiety that the speaker experiences throughout the work.