Syllable Counter & Poetry Analyzer
Count syllables per word and per line, then validate fixed poetic forms — haiku (5-7-5), tanka (5-7-5-7-7) and limerick (8-8-5-5-8). Optionally highlight each word's stressed syllable.
Input
Output
Annotated text with per-word syllable counts will appear here.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| No data yet | |
Guides
Count syllables in any text — word by word and line by line — and check whether a poem matches a fixed form like a haiku, tanka, or limerick. Paste a poem, a lyric, or any passage and the tool annotates every word with its syllable count, tallies each line, and reports the totals, all instantly in your browser.
How to use it
- Paste or type your text into the input box. Each line is analyzed on its own, so keep one line of verse per line.
- Pick an analysis mode:
- Standard — per-word and per-line syllable counts, with no target to hit.
- Haiku — validates the classic 5-7-5 pattern across three lines.
- Tanka — validates 5-7-5-7-7 across five lines.
- Limerick — validates 8-8-5-5-8 across five lines.
- Optionally turn on Highlight stressed syllables to see an estimate of where the emphasis falls in each multi-syllable word.
The results update as you type. The Form check line tells you at a glance whether the poem matches its target pattern (for example, Valid Haiku: 5-7-5 ✓), and each line's total badge turns green when it hits the target and red when it misses. The Statistics table sums up total syllables, words, and lines, plus averages per line and per word.
How syllables are counted
The per-word count is produced by a well-established syllable-counting algorithm (the open-source syllable library) rather than a naive vowel-group guess, so contractions, silent letters, and common irregular words are handled far better than a simple heuristic would manage. English spelling is famously inconsistent, though, so treat the counts as a strong estimate — a handful of unusual or invented words may be off by one.
Why does a word's count look wrong?
No syllable counter is perfect for English. Proper nouns, foreign loanwords, and coined words are the usual sources of disagreement. When counting for a strict form, read the line aloud and trust your ear over the number if they conflict.
What counts as a line?
Every newline starts a new line, and blank lines are ignored for form validation (they only add vertical space in the annotated view). This lets you separate stanzas with a blank line without breaking a haiku or limerick check.
Are stressed syllables accurate?
The stress highlight is a lightweight heuristic: it marks the first syllable of most multi-syllable words and leaves short function words (the, and, of, to…) unmarked. It is meant as a quick visual aid for scanning meter, not a substitute for a pronunciation dictionary.
Privacy
Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never uploaded to a server, which makes this safe for drafts of unpublished poems, song lyrics, or any private writing.