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Meter and Style (WP)
Meter and Style (WP)
Meter and Style (WP)
By
Chapter One
Notes on Metrics
When learning the craft of verse, one must begin with three
definitions. The first is the word rhythm, and it may be defined
as “the flow of sounds in written or spoken language.”* The other
two definitions, prosody and meter, are used in understanding that
flow of sounds. Prosody may be defined as “the art or science of
versification; specifically (a) The systematic study of metrical
structure, including varieties of poetic feet and meter, rhymes
and rhyming patterns, types of stanzas, strophes, and fixed forms.
(b) A particular system or theory of versification or of metrical
compositions. e.g. Horace’s Prosody.
For the purposes of this book, a few principal symbols for
representing prosody need demonstrated. They are, Ictus or
accent;( ‘ ) secondary accent; ( | ) a division between feet.
Thus,
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘
ing feet. |
2
The breve and macron are meant to be used as quantitative symbols -- i.e.
They do not denote measure--the quality of metrical verse--therefore, when
represented in metrical verse, units with more that one stressed or unstressed
syllable should be shown as ‘ or |.
Hence,
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| RAINing | and rain | ing syll | ables, | in Line |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| as beats | CHANGE in | the flow | of sounds. | And then |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| again | the rain | STARTS in | with sounds | in time |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| and rain | ing syll | ables | FLOW to| the line.|
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| RAINing | and rain | ing they | WENT to | the night |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| NO MORE | the mul | titude | of words | is locked |
B. Substitution in the 2nd foot.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| The whole | EARTH SINGS | the tunes | of days | and ways |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| The last | of them | SANG HYMNS | and the | earth cried |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| With tears | of blues | and grays | FAR DEEP | er still |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| than all | the seas | and lakes | and their | SAD HUES |
NOTICE how in example A., the word multitude falls within the
line, and how in the previous example it falls differently. ALL
words can fall in any place within a line, but you cannot change
their sound. However, there is a way to drop a syllable from a
word, which we will go into later.
In the forth foot of example C. you may have notice that their are two
soft syllables followed by two long syllables; these syllables are the topic
of this next section.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| AS THE | COLD WIND | and rain | within | the storm | {ing}*
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| The rain | IN THE | PARK STOPPED | to laugh | at all |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| Within | the storm | ING OF | ALL SYLL | ables |
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| The mus | ic waits | to play | AND THE | MUSE SINGS |
Of coarse, you can flip the trochee and the spondee around, like so. However,
if you are not careful the line can sound jumbled.
A.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| it's slow | ing fing | URES MOVE ON | but you | feel lost |
The above line may be scanned as:
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| it's slow | ing fing | URES MOVE | ON but | you feel | lost ?|
B.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
/DOWN to/ the BROWN/i an MOVE/ meant of/ PAIL STREAMS/ [3]
Here, in the second example, the anapestic foot relates directly to the
man who discovered the random motion of molecules in liquid state elements.
When the anapest is used like this, the extra syllable leads the mind to an
understanding of the meaning.
A.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
| ^ LEAP | ing like | a cat | but nev | er land | ing right |