How does one tell the difference between long and short syllables?

Question

Currently in the process of playing with Limericks and the meter they use usually requires a meter of long followed by two short syllables or vice versa.

My question, how do you differentiate? Is it by ear? I'm a native speaker but my experience with poetry and meters is very lacking.

Answer 1

It would be better expressed as "Stressed" vs. "Unstressed". Take the classic limerick starter, "There once was a man from Nantucket". When you speak the line, the emphasis naturally falls onto certain syllables:

there ONCE was a MAN from nanTUCKet

which looks like

da DA da da DA da da DA da

which is a nice repeating pattern. If you try to substitute Timbuktu for Nantucket, the pattern of the emphasis is destroyed:

there ONCE was a MAN from TIMbukTU

da DA da da DA da DA da DA

As a native speaker, you should have no trouble determining that "Nantucket" fits the stress pattern called for in the standard limerick form, and "Timbuktu" does not.