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 xix
... rhythmic character – though not the metrical structure – of stems from the placing of word and phrase boundaries, creating rhythmic groups which may be rising (beginning with a nonstress) or falling (beginning with a stress), and an ...
... rhythmic character – though not the metrical structure – of stems from the placing of word and phrase boundaries, creating rhythmic groups which may be rising (beginning with a nonstress) or falling (beginning with a stress), and an ...
Page xxi
... rhythmic reading? One could choose almost any foot for the basic metre and explain the actual pattern of stresses in ... rhythm is bold and strong, with the firm four-beat structure of the ballad or nursery rhyme. Some theorists would ...
... rhythmic reading? One could choose almost any foot for the basic metre and explain the actual pattern of stresses in ... rhythm is bold and strong, with the firm four-beat structure of the ballad or nursery rhyme. Some theorists would ...
Page xxiii
... pattern , but this creates further complexities in scansion by reducing the number of feet in the line . The clear rhythmic structure of lines like those in ( 11 ) can be fully brought out in a reading that remains faithful to the ...
... pattern , but this creates further complexities in scansion by reducing the number of feet in the line . The clear rhythmic structure of lines like those in ( 11 ) can be fully brought out in a reading that remains faithful to the ...
Page xxv
... rhythmic dislocation; in the rewritten version both words require a strong emphasis to maintain the metrical structure of five beats, and a greater sense of disturbance is experienced as a result. Yet in the classical approach these are ...
... rhythmic dislocation; in the rewritten version both words require a strong emphasis to maintain the metrical structure of five beats, and a greater sense of disturbance is experienced as a result. Yet in the classical approach these are ...
Page xxvi
... 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 to this distinction, and the ...
... 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 to this distinction, and the ...
Contents
THE RHYTHMS OF ENGLISH SPEECH | 8 |
THE FOURBEAT RHYTHM | 25 |
THE FIVEBEAT RHYTHM | |
WHAT IS A METRICAL RULE? | |
THE FUNCTIONS OF POETIC RHYTHM | |
SOME EXAMPLES | |
RULES AND SCANSION | |
Bibliography | |
Sources of examples | |
Index | |
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Common terms and phrases
accentual-syllabic verse alternation anapaestic chapter common metre complex create David Abercrombie demotion deviation dipodic rhythm discussion distinction double offbeat duple metre duple verse duration emphasis English metre English speech English verse example falling rhythm five-beat line five-beat rhythm four-beat line four-beat rhythm four-beat verse function iambic pentameter implied offbeat initial inversion initial offbeat language line-end linguistic metrical form metrical pattern metrical rules metrical set metrical structure metrical style metrical theory movement nonstresses nursery rhymes occur offbeat condition organisation pause perceived perception phonetic phonological phrase poem poetic poetry poets pronunciation prosody reader reading realised rhythmic form rhythmic structure rhythmic unit rising rhythm scansion semantic sense sequence single offbeat sounds speech rhythms stanza stress contour stress pattern stress-final pairing stress-timing stressed and unstressed strong syllable count syntactic break syntax tendency tension triple metre triple rhythm triple verse trochaic trochee underlying rhythm unrealised beat unstressed syllables variation words