SALTER, FERGUSON, STALLWORTHY - Versification

Versification

  • Definition of a Poem: A poem is a composition meant for vocal performance, akin to a musical score that awaits execution through the human voice.

  • Reading Experience: Engaging with a poem involves both visual and auditory interpretation, where the eye observes word arrangement and the ear attunes to sounds.

  • Musical Analogy: Understanding versification, the principle of writing verse, enhances the appreciation of poetry, similar to understanding musical composition.

Categories of Poetry

  1. Epic:

    • A lengthy narrative poem dealing with grand themes, typically divided into sections or 'books'.

    • Classic examples include:

      • The Faerie Queene by Spenser

      • Paradise Lost by Milton

      • The Prelude by Wordsworth

      • Aurora Leigh by Barrett Browning

    • Modern examples often utilize freer forms, such as:

      • Cantos by Pound

      • Paterson by Williams

  2. Dramatic:

    • Poetry presented in monologue or dialogue, from the perspective of a character rather than the poet. Examples include:

      • "Ulysses" by Tennyson

      • "My Last Duchess" by Browning

  3. Lyric:

    • Originally sung with a lyre, now refers to short poems with a single speaker, not necessarily the poet's voice.

    • Caution against conflating the speaker with the poet; many lyrics utilize a fictional 'I'.

Meter and Rhythm

  • Importance of Rhythm: Poetry condenses language and incorporates rhythm, formed by sequences of syllables.

  • Scansion: The analysis of a line's stressed (accented) and unstressed syllables; facilitates understanding of a poem's metrical structure.

  • Metrical Systems: The English language utilizes four primary metrical systems:

    • Accentual Meter: Primarily focuses on the number of stresses per line; includes Old English poetry examples (e.g., Cædmon's Hymn).

    • Accentual-Syllabic Meter: Combines stresses with syllable count, widely used since the fourteenth century. Key metrical feet include:

      1. Iambic: Unstressed followed by stressed (e.g., “New York”).

      2. Trochaic: Stressed followed by unstressed (e.g., “London Bridge is falling down”).

      3. Anapestic: Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (e.g., “The Assyrian came down.”).

      4. Dactylic: A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g., “Leningrad”).

      5. Spondaic: Two successive stressed syllables.

      6. Pyrrhic: Two successive unstressed syllables.

  • Line Lengths: Varied from Monometer (1 foot) to Octameter (8 feet), illustrating diverse effects in poetry.

Rhyme

  • Function of Rhyme: Since its origins with Chaucer, rhyme has played a significant role in poetry, enhancing rhythm and memorability.

  • Types of Rhymes:

    • End Rhyme: Rhymes that occur at the end of lines.

    • Internal Rhyme: Rhymes within a line.

    • Assonance: Vowel sound repetition.

    • Masculine Rhyme: Single stressed syllable rhymes.

    • Feminine Rhyme: Stress followed by unstressed syllable.

    • Perfect Rhyme: Exact matching of end sounds.

    • Imperfect or Off-Rhyme: Variations from perfect rhyme.

Forms of Poetry

  • Basic Forms:

    1. Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter, widely used in English drama.

    2. Couplet: Two rhymed lines, historical significance in English poetry.

    3. Tercet: Three-line stanzas, often linked by rhyme.

    4. Quatrain: Common four-line stanza, acknowledging various rhyme schemes.

    5. Rhyme Royal: Seven-line stanza rhyming ababbcc.

    6. Ottava Rima: Eight-line stanza rhyming abababcc.

    7. Spenserian Stanza: Nine lines, blending different meters.

    8. Sonnet: Fourteen lines with various rhyme structures; major types include Italian (Petrarchan) and English (Shakespearean).

    9. Villanelle: 19 lines, featuring a specific rhyme scheme with two repeating refrains.

    10. Sestina: Composed of six stanzas with intricate patterns.

    11. Canzone: Varied lengths with a repeating structure.

    12. Pantoum: Series of quatrains with line repetitions.

    13. Limerick: Five lines, traditionally humorous.

    14. Clerihew: Comic poems about famous individuals in two rhymed couplets.

Irregular and Free Forms

  • Irregular Forms: Poems utilizing rhyme and meter without fixed patterns (e.g., Milton's Lycidas).

  • Open Forms: Free verse that avoids traditional rhyme and meter, relying on natural speech rhythms and patterns.