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 vii
... Readers with an exclusively literary or exclusively linguistic background may find that occasionally they are asked ... reader to engage directly with rhythmic forms produced over the past six hundred years - I have deliberately ignored ...
... Readers with an exclusively literary or exclusively linguistic background may find that occasionally they are asked ... reader to engage directly with rhythmic forms produced over the past six hundred years - I have deliberately ignored ...
Page 3
... reading, teaching, and criticism of verse. This examination will have the double aim of providing an outline of the metrical assumptions which underlie most critical discussions of English poetry, and of assessing what is valuable and ...
... reading, teaching, and criticism of verse. This examination will have the double aim of providing an outline of the metrical assumptions which underlie most critical discussions of English poetry, and of assessing what is valuable and ...
Page 7
... reading: x / x / X X x / x / x / x / x / (5) Behold her, sing le in the field, x / X X x / x / x / x / x / X / Yon so lita ry High land lass! / x x / x / x / X X x / x / x / Reaping and sing ing by herself; / / X / x / x / X /. THE ...
... reading: x / x / X X x / x / x / x / x / (5) Behold her, sing le in the field, x / X X x / x / x / x / x / X / Yon so lita ry High land lass! / x x / x / x / X X x / x / x / Reaping and sing ing by herself; / / X / x / x / X /. THE ...
Page 11
... reader; if they are truly nothing but an analytical convenience, either scansion would suffice - though it is difficult ... reading, but it is not easy to see what these could be, other than the imposition of an artificial pattern on the ...
... reader; if they are truly nothing but an analytical convenience, either scansion would suffice - though it is difficult ... reading, but it is not easy to see what these could be, other than the imposition of an artificial pattern on the ...
Page 12
... reading? x i x x i x / x / (10) A little black thing among the snow, XX I I X / X / Crying “'weep! 'weep!” in notes ... reader's experience, and the impression which such an analysis would give of a highly complex and deviant metre would ...
... reading? x i x x i x / x / (10) A little black thing among the snow, XX I I X / X / Crying “'weep! 'weep!” in notes ... reader's experience, and the impression which such an analysis would give of a highly complex and deviant metre would ...
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