On rhythm

So far unfinished...

I'm reading through the AllPoetry site, as you do, and one thing strikes me.  The number of people that can't seem to get the rhythm right.

If a poem rhymes, it should have a very regular rhythm, otherwise the rhyme doesn't work.  Now I've nothing aginst free verse or non-rhyming poetry.  What I'm complaining about is people who don't use rhythm properly in their rhyming poems.

I can't give you rules about how to make your rhythm flow.  But you can see it for yourself, and if you can't then you should learn.  The best way to check is to read the poem out loud.  Find the words that don't fit, the words that only work if you pronounce them with the wrong emphasis, and change them.

[The poetry below is not good, it's been written in a hurry to illustrate points!]

"Late last night
when I went out
What a fright
I met a lout!"

This follows a 3-syllable, 4 syllable rhythm,  which works because in the 3 syllable lines the emphasis is on the first syllable (late, what), whereas in the 4 syllable lines the emphasis is on the second syllable (I, met).  On the other hand:

"When it was dark last night
I went out
I got a terrible fright
When I met a knife-wielding lout"

This has a completely random number of syllables, and immediately you see that the rhyme has less emphasis.  The poem flows as a free-verse poem should, not as a rhyming poem.  The rhyming is incidental.  

"Iambic" rhythm means that every other syllable is emphasised.  Like
"Going down the park one day" rather than "On my merry way down to the local park".
Usually, the word "Iambic" is coupled with another word, which tells you how long the lines should be.  Most commonly, it's "iambic pentameter", which means ten syllable lines consinsting of syllable pairs of an unemphasised and an emphasised syllable -
"Yet when I looked to see the truth, I smiled."  

"Going over the road to visit her" has ten syllables, but it is *not* iambic pentameter.  The first syllable is stressed, and the pattern of emphasis is not regular.  Even:
"Call on me if you feel sad, and try me" doesn't work, because the first syllable is emphasised and the last is not.  You begin to see how very strict the term "iambic pentameter" is.

The good news is that you don't need to use Iambic pentameter to get good flow and rhythm in your poetry.

This is an extract from "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr Seuss.
"The sun did not shine        5 syllables
It was too wet to play        6 syllables
So we sat in the house        6 syllables
All that cold, cold wet day.  6 syllables

"I sat there with Sally,      6 syllables
We sat there, we two          5 syllables
And I said 'How I wish        6 syllables
We had something to do!' "    6 syllables

You can see that the number of syllables is not the key to the rythm, rather it's the pattern of emphasis:
da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM

da DUM da da DUM da
da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM

Any extra syllables are not emphasised, so they don't interrupt the flow of the rhyme.Unfinished