Meter Meter is common to Greek, Roman, English, and American poems, but Hebrew meter is different. Meter is defined in relationship to rhythm. Rhythm is the unsystematic alteration of stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter, on the other hand, is regular and predictable. There is a pattern.
Meter can generate meaning.
First, it triggers a reading strategy. Second, meter sets up a regular, repeated pattern. Departure from this pattern lends emphasis. Finally, certain metrical patterns are sometimes associated with certain ideas or moods. Discerning the metrical pattern of Hebrew poems would enable researchers to determine the original text and structure of the poems.