A poet‘s use of regular rhythm is known as _______?

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for the term describing a poet's use of regular rhythm, meaning a consistent, patterned arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse.

Step 2: Explain each option

• A. Allegory: A story, poem, or picture where characters and events symbolize deeper moral, political, or spiritual meanings. Example: Animal Farm. It has nothing to do with rhythm.
• B. Assonance: The repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, e.g. "the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain". This is about sound, not rhythm pattern.
• C. Metre: The regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. A line is divided into units called feet. Common types include the iambic foot (da-DUM), as in "To BE or NOT to BE", and the trochaic foot (DUM-da). The number of feet per line gives names such as pentameter (5 feet) and tetrameter (4 feet).
• D. Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds, e.g. "buzz", "hiss", "boom", "bang". Again, this is about sound imitation, not rhythm.

Step 3: Match the definition "Regular rhythm" in poetry is exactly what metre means. It is the measured, patterned beat of a poem.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is C. metre.

Exam tip: Link the word to its meaning: metre = measure. Poetry that is "measured" has a regular beat. For similar questions, remember:

• Assonance = repeated vowel sounds
• Alliteration = repeated consonant sounds at the start of words
• Onomatopoeia = words that sound like what they mean
• Allegory = a story with a hidden meaning