Offbeats o, O, -o-, [o], ô

Rhythm in English poetry is realized by the alternation of beats and offbeats. This is the principle we first proposed in our Introduction. And in Chapter 2 we showed how the scansion indicates the beats with B's in their three varieties - B, b, and [B]. So you have already learned the first part of the system. And perhaps you have become more aware than ever before of those pleasing rhythms in metrical lines that readers take from the printed page and perform either aloud or in their own "inner ears." For the second part of the system, the offbeats, there is a larger variety of possibilities; we'll begin looking at and listening to them now.