Summarize:

You can often hear the rhythm in a poem when you read it out loud. Try reading what you have written so far and listen carefully. You may even want to record yourself reading your poem and then play it back. Reading out loud will also help you to identify the stressed and unstressed syllables in your poetry, which are crucial for creating rhythm. Some questions to consider when you read aloud include:  Does the poem have a noticeable beat when you read it out loud? If so, what is it? Is there a musical quality to the poem? If so, what tune might go well with the poem? What syllables or words have the most and least emphasis when I read them out loud? The main difference between syllables in words that are stressed and unstressed is how long it takes you to say the syllable. Patterns of these long and short syllables in poetry is what creates the rhythm. To adjust the rhythm of your poetry, re-read what you have written and be on the lookout for these different types of syllables. For example, in the word “today” the unstressed syllable is at the beginning of the word and the stressed syllable is at the end of the word, so the emphasis is on “day” and it sounds like “to • DAY.” Placing a special mark above syllables that are stressed and unstressed may help you to adjust your poem and create a stronger rhythm. Make a distinctive mark for each type of syllable and place it above or below the line. For example, you could place an asterisk (*) above syllables that are stressed and a dash (-) above syllables that are unstressed. After you have marked your poem to indicate what syllables are stressed and unstressed, go back through the poem and look for patterns. You should notice a pattern easily if your poem has a distinct rhythm. If not, then you can use the lack of a pattern to help you adjust what you have written.  For example, a line that reads, “The SUM • mer SUN was SHI • ning BRIGHT,” has a clear syllable pattern of unstressed/stressed/unstressed/stressed. On the other hand, a line that reads, “The SUN was BRIGHT that day,” does not have a distinctive pattern. You could adjust it to something like, “The RIS • ing SUN was BRIGHT that DAY,” so that the syllables have a definite pattern of unstressed/stressed/unstressed/stressed.
Read your poem out loud. Identify stressed and unstressed syllables in words. Mark the syllables to indicate if they are stressed or unstressed. Look for patterns in the syllables.