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 v
... speech at another. Indeed, for all its artfulness and (sometimes strenuous) complexity, poetry is not disjunct from but intimately bedded in the most commonplace fundamentals of our everyday speech rhythm and grammar: even in the most ...
... speech at another. Indeed, for all its artfulness and (sometimes strenuous) complexity, poetry is not disjunct from but intimately bedded in the most commonplace fundamentals of our everyday speech rhythm and grammar: even in the most ...
Page 17
... 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 to this distinction, and the expressive possibilities it offers ...
... 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 to this distinction, and the expressive possibilities it offers ...
Page 18
... patterns and repetitions. This is a feature of all speech, perhaps of all human activity; but metre marks off the language of poetry from the language of daily existence by formalising and controlling this natural tension, and the ...
... patterns and repetitions. This is a feature of all speech, perhaps of all human activity; but metre marks off the language of poetry from the language of daily existence by formalising and controlling this natural tension, and the ...
Page 19
... music, a relationship which was particularly appreciated and particularly fruitful during this period. Thus Sidney ... rhythms of spoken English in his Essay towards Establishing the Melody and Measure of Speech (1775), better known by ...
... music, a relationship which was particularly appreciated and particularly fruitful during this period. Thus Sidney ... rhythms of spoken English in his Essay towards Establishing the Melody and Measure of Speech (1775), better known by ...
Page 21
... rhythms of music, but the rhythms of English speech. Many of the musical prosodists, from Steele on, argue that their analyses of syllabic duration are relevant to prose as well as to verse, and that poetic rhythm is merely a ...
... rhythms of music, but the rhythms of English speech. Many of the musical prosodists, from Steele on, argue that their analyses of syllabic duration are relevant to prose as well as to verse, and that poetic rhythm is merely a ...
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