The meter of a poem refers to the rhythm of the syllables
in each line. Traditionally, meter uses two descriptions: the type of "foot" (a group
of either two or three syllables) and the number of syllables in each
line.
To figure out what type of foot is being utilized,
you must find out which are the stressed syllables. This can be done by reading the
poem out loud and really exaggerating the strong beats of a line, or by clapping along
as if the line were part of a song. The most popular feet are iambs and stroches.
Iambs have an unstressed-stressed (or weak-strong) pattern, whereas stroches are
stressed-unstressed (strong-weak).
If you read this section
aloud, you can hear the iambs very clearly: "The SMILES that WIN, the TINTS that GLOW."
Generally, when marking the feet, you use a small u above each unstressed, or weak
syllable, and an accent mark (`) above each strong, stressed syllable. I'm not sure
what your teacher requires as far as marking the meter, but if he or she has not given
particular instructions, you might want to use the traditional metric
symbols.
Even though it doesn't seem part of the question,
there is another part to the description of the meter: the number of feet in each line.
This usually is described by adding the suffix "-meter" to that number. Thus, a line
with five feet will be "pentameter," or a line with six feet is a "hexameter." By
putting the type of foot and number of feet together, you have the meter (i.e. iambic
pentameter or strochaic hexameter).
The second part of your
question is much easier! Tradition dictates that rhyme schemes be described using
letters. Beginning with the first line, assign the same letter to each line that
rhymes. In this section of four lines, "glow" rhymes with "below," so those would both
be "A." Any line that doesn't rhyme with "glow" gets the next letter, "B." Once you
have letters assigned to all lines, you've got your rhyme
scheme!
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