The Rhythms of English PoetryExamines the way in which poetry in English makes use of rhythm. The author argues that there are three major influences which determine the verse-forms used in any language: the natural rhythm of the spoken language itself; the properties of rhythmic form; and the metrical conventions which have grown up within the literary tradition. He investigates these in order to explain the forms of English verse, and to show how rhythm and metre work as an essential part of the reader's experience of poetry. |
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Page 9
... different from that between a stress and a following nonstress. This is not a distinction of which the reader is aware, unless perhaps he has through rigorous training developed the capacity to THE CLASSICAL APPROACH 9.
... different from that between a stress and a following nonstress. This is not a distinction of which the reader is aware, unless perhaps he has through rigorous training developed the capacity to THE CLASSICAL APPROACH 9.
Page 13
... distinctions only where these are genuine perceptions experienced by the reader. Even in its analysis of the type of metre most amenable to foot-prosody, in which the number of syllables in the line is strictly controlled, the classical ...
... distinctions only where these are genuine perceptions experienced by the reader. Even in its analysis of the type of metre most amenable to foot-prosody, in which the number of syllables in the line is strictly controlled, the classical ...
Page 16
... distinction by rewriting a familiar line: consider the different rhythmic character of the last two words in the following: X / X / X I I I (14) To walk, and pass our long love's day X / X / X X / / [14a] To walk, and cherish our love's ...
... distinction by rewriting a familiar line: consider the different rhythmic character of the last two words in the following: X / X / X I I I (14) To walk, and pass our long love's day X / X / X X / / [14a] To walk, and cherish our love's ...
Page 17
... distinction between a basic metrical pattern and the more varied rhythms of the spoken language, whether we think of this as another relatively simplified pattern, or as the fine gradations of speech itself. Of the terms used to refer ...
... distinction between a basic metrical pattern and the more varied rhythms of the spoken language, whether we think of this as another relatively simplified pattern, or as the fine gradations of speech itself. Of the terms used to refer ...
Page 18
... Elizabethan readers, who made no systematic distinction between these two types of syllable in their pronunciation of Latin, would not have been perturbed by an equal 18 TRADITIONAL APPROACHES 1.2 The temporal approach.
... Elizabethan readers, who made no systematic distinction between these two types of syllable in their pronunciation of Latin, would not have been perturbed by an equal 18 TRADITIONAL APPROACHES 1.2 The temporal approach.
Contents
Rhythm | 57 |
Metre | 145 |
Practice | 283 |
RULES AND SCANSION | 357 |
Bibliography | 363 |
Sources of examples | 376 |
Index | 388 |
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Common terms and phrases
accentual-syllabic verse alternation anapaestic B B B B Ceolred chapter classical approach common metre complex create David Abercrombie deviation discussion distinction double offbeat duple metre duple verse emphasis English metre English verse example falling rhythm five-beat line following line four-beat line four-beat rhythm four-beat verse function iambic pentameter implied offbeat initial inversion initial offbeat language linguistic literary metrical form metrical pattern metrical rules metrical set metrical structure metrical style metrical subordination metrical theory metrist movement nonstresses occur offbeat condition optional pause perceived perception phonetic phonological phrase poem poetic poetry poets promotion pronunciation prosody reader reading rhyme rhythmic form rhythmic structure rhythmic unit scansion semantic sense sequence single offbeat speech rhythms stanza stress contour stress pattern stress-final pairing stress-initial pairing stress-timing stressed and unstressed strong syllable count syntactic break syntax tension tradition triple metre triple rhythm triple verse trochaic trochee underlying rhythm unrealised beat unstressed syllables words