"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is written in iambic tetrameter. "Iambic" means that each metrical foot contains two syllables, an unstressed :me followed by a stressed one. "Tetrameter" means that each line contains four metrical feet. So 1 poem written in iambic tetrameter would contain 1 total of eight syllables in each line. This idea will become clearer if we scan a line, or diagram the meter:
Of easy wind and downy flake.
When the line is scanned, it will look like this: Of eas / y wind / and down / y flake.
Such metrical patterns generally make poetry sound more musical. Occasionally, a line will vary from the established pattern, which often.....
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