Yes, Carol, I would defer to Bob for the best explanation, perhaps one covering Frostian phrasing theory as well as traditional scansion by classical feet, though that might be a bit advanced for the suggested brief primer.
For a rudimentary explanation I would say that meter denotes the number of feet in a line of accentual-syllabic verse, or of syllables in syllabic verse, while rhythm means the pattern of sounds resulting from the kinds of feet employed and their arrangement. The pattern of meters affects the rhythm since it is an aspect of the arrangement of the rhythmic units or feet. The metric pattern is also a major aspect of form. A typical ballad form, for example, consists of alternating tetrametric and trimetric lines arranged in quatrains(4343) with rhyme scheme ABAB. Within that form, and affected by it, different rhythmic patterns can be created.
We had this problem before on another literary website, remember? There the webmaster arranged for a glossary of prosodic terms to be posted. I don't know how effective that step proved to be, as I have seldom visited that site in the past few of years.
[This message has been edited by Golias (edited January 02, 2003).]
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