Poet Annie Finch shares her lifelong passion for meter and scansion with poetry lovers and poets in this uniquely useful book. From the basic tools and fundamental 3 steps of scansion to the most complex metrical delights, How to Scan a Poem covers it all: accentual poems, anapests, trochees, iambs, dactyls, and more, with sample poems you can scan right in the book and explorations of the all-important connections between meter and meaning. The art of Deep Scansion you will learn here invites you to enter the poet's own voice, mind, and inner ear in the most intimate of ways. "Scansion is widely considered to be a way of thinking-and yet it is a way of hearing, a way of feeling, a way of listening, a way of dancing. Truly, scansion is a way of living." -Annie Finch

CONTENTS

Introduction: Meter, Magic, and Scansion

RESOURCES FOR REFERENCE

Scansion Tools: A Quick Guide

List of Metrical Feet

Definitions of Key Terms

Guiding Principles of Scansion

PART 1: ACCENTUALS

Chapter 1 Scanning Accentuals: The Foundation of Meter

PART 2: ACCENTUAL-SYLLABICS

Chapter 2 The Three-step Method of Scansion

Process for Doing the Scansions

Chapter 3 Anapests to Scan

Chapter 4 Iambs to Scan

Chapter 5 Trochees to Scan

Chapter 6 Dactyls to Scan

Chapter 7 Amphibrachs to Scan

Chapter 8 Dipodics, Etc. to Scan

Afterword: Beyond Scansion

PART 3: SCANSIONS

Scanned Accentuals

Scanned Anapests

Scanned Iambs

Scanned Trochees

Scanned Dactyls

Scanned Amphibrachs

Scanned Dipodics, Etc.

Acknowledgments