[Jerry Glenn Hartwig]

The meter is actually fairly regular iambic pentameter, if that helps.

Sam

If I place a beat on every syllable that has any stress, from my original scan, I can get five beats (I get six on the first):

When Ly-le picked his pen up to write
13/13/24/213
The floor fell quiet as a church,
13/24/12/13
And Ann soon began to explain
13/41/31/23
About flowers and the door frame
12/31/21/42
And men | | who had known the girl’s name.
14/12/31/23

The only way I (currently) can see this as IP, however, is with the liberal use of caesuras - the pause replacing an unstressed syllable.

?????


When Ly-le picked his pen up to write
13/13/^2/42/13
The floor fell quiet as a church,
13/^2/41/^2/13
And Ann soon began to explain
13/^4/13/^1/23
About flowers and the door frame
12/31/^2/14/^2
And men | | who had known the girl’s name.
14/^1/23/^1/23

[This message has been edited by Jerry Glenn Hartwig (edited June 14, 2006).]