Online Tool Store
Poetry Meter Scanner
Paste a poem to scan each line for stressed and unstressed syllables and see whether it holds an iambic, trochaic, anapestic, or dactylic meter.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Example poems
Scansion
Overall meter
—
˘ unstressed · — stressed
How the Poetry Meter Scanner works
- Paste a single line of poetry.
- Each syllable is marked stressed or unstressed.
- The overall meter (iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, etc.) is named.
FAQ
What is scansion?
Scansion is marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse to identify its meter — the rhythmic pattern, like iambic pentameter, that the poet is working within.
What does "iambic pentameter" mean?
Five ("penta") repeating unstressed-STRESSED syllable pairs ("iambs") per line — the meter Shakespeare's sonnets and much of English verse drama is written in.
Does this work for free verse?
Scansion is most useful for metered poetry. Free verse doesn't follow a fixed stress pattern, so a scan of it won't reveal a consistent meter — that's expected, not a bug.
Can it detect meters other than iambic pentameter?
Yes. Each line is scored against iambic, trochaic, anapestic, and dactylic patterns and named with its foot count — for example trochaic tetrameter or anapestic trimeter — not just iambic pentameter.
Can I scan a whole poem, not just one line?
Yes. Paste multiple lines and the tool scans each one individually, then gives an overall verdict — such as "mostly iambic pentameter" — for the poem as a whole.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | Scanning by ear alone | A literature textbook's worked examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual stress marks | ✓ | ✗ | Sometimes |
| Works on your own lines | ✓ | ✓ | No — fixed examples only |
| Instant feedback | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
When you're checking your own verse against a meter, this gives faster feedback than scanning by ear alone.