scansion
/ˈskanʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1The action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm: the verse defies easy scansion...
- Using conventional scansion the lines would scan.
- After a brisk run-through of key terms - they include scansion, rhyme, caesura, verse - he proceeds to a series of Shakespearean speeches for analysis, which form the main section here.
- This kind of annotation of the rhythmic structure of a verse is called scansion, and the basic rhythmic pattern of a poem (if it has one) is called its meter.
1.1The rhythm of a line of verse: triple scansion...
- Tennyson's epic Charge of the Light Brigade was really just McGonagall with a competent rhyme scheme and effective scansion!
- But for a poet concerned with scansion, as Chaucer was, that weak ending the final e offered was a blessing.
- Where others would use more flowery language to remain within the rhyming scheme and scansion they have set up, he can find simple ways to do it, so it doesn't become contorted.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin scansio(n-), from scandere 'to climb'; compare with scan.