on Writing Forward:

Rhythm is everywhere: we hear it in the hum of vehicles and appliances. We feel it when we walk or run. We see it in the very rising and setting of the sun. Even our hearts beat to a rhythm. Rhythm is built into the way we experience and perceive the world.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary offers several definitions for rhythm:

• an ordered recurrent alternation of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence in speech
• the aspect of music comprising all the elements (such as accent, meter, and tempo) that relate to forward movement
• movement, fluctuation, or variation marked by the regular recurrence or natural flow of related elements 

Poetry encapsulates all of these definitions of rhythm. But what about meter?

The words rhythm and meter are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are slightly different in the context of poetry. Perinne’s Sound and Sense describes this difference clearly and simply: “rhythm is the flow of sound; meter is the patterns in the sounds.”

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