Rhythm

Rhythm is a technical term that has led to confusion among students of verse. For an outline of one problem, the difference between metre and rhythm, see metre - rhythm, or the page on metre in verse. For an etymological note on another confusion, see rhyme - rhythm.

Rhythm (from the Greek ῥυθμός, from a verb meaning 'to flow') has the general meaning of "Movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions" (OED, meaning 7. a.). There are many rhythms in nature: a rhythm over 24 hours of day and night, which is connected with another more variable one, that of marine tides: the rhythm of the seasons, which lasts over 365 days. The heart beats with rhythm. (One symptom of heart disease is 'arrhythmia', an irregular pulse.) The term was first used in English in describing the regular 'beat' of poetry. This is what AWE names metre.

• In analysing prose, the word rhythm is very useful to describe "The measured flow of words or phrases" (OED 4. d.): the way in which a writer or speaker uses the speed of the words and the emphases to play upon the reactions of the readers or hearers. In such analysis, critics may use such terms as 'measured', 'controlled', 'breathless' or 'rushed'. In this sense, rhythm is less regular, less predictable, than what AWE prefers to call metre. It is still a powerful tool for the writer, whether of poetry, prose or speech, seeking to create effect.
• In poetry, it can be very helpful to distinguish between the regular patterns of Metre in verse, which operates largely at the level of syllables, words and lines, and the broader effect of rhythm, which operates over longer sections, sometimes whole stanzas and indeed whole poems.

• • From the eighteenth century, the term rhythm began to be used in fields other than literature. In Music, rhythm is used for the occurrence of the very regular 'beat' which encourages marching or dancing. In traditional western notation of music, rhythm depends greatly on 'bars', which are the repeated elements that correspond, more or less, with the metrical foot in poetry, and on the time signature. In jazz, the rhythm section usually has drums and a bass, and often a piano; and in popular music Rhythm and Blues is a separate genre. Musicologists use the term 'metre' in a way that conflicts with the advice given here about its use in literary studies. It is a technical term best left to them to explain.
  • In the visual arts, the term rhythm is used for elements of repeated patterning: one can talk of the rhythms of a neo-classical building in architecture, for example, or the wave-like movement in much 'op art'.

This is one of the 117 mis-spellings listed as 'Common difficulties' in the section on 'Spelling' within 'Writing' in UEfAP.