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BASIC GUIDE TO ENGLISH PROSODY Sources: B&P Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Penn. Understanding Poetry. London: Holt, Rinehart & Wilson, 1968. P&B Preminger, Alex, and T. V. F. Brogan. The New Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Shapiro, K. A Prosody Handbook. New York: Harper & Row 1965 Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Longman, 1991.

FIRST DEFINITIONS

Prosody: the study of the laws that govern the ways in which the regular patterns of sound and beats in poetry are arranged (B&W ) “the traditional term for what is now called verse theory, which is the study of verseform, i.e. structures of sound patterning in verse, chiefly meter, rhyme, and stanza” (P&B 982) Rhythm: - the quality of sounds or movements happening at regular periods of time - a regularly patterned flow of sounds or of movements (Brooks & Warren 493) Metre: arrangement of sound elements into strong and weak beats or accents. We say that a work is written in verse, that is, in meter, when the rhythm has been regularized and systematized (B&W 494) We examine regularized rhythm both at the level of the verse line, and at the level of groups of lines or stanzas

RHYTHM IN VERSE LINES Kinds of metre in English: - stress or accentual verse : rhythm based on the regular number of stresses in a line - accentual-syllabic verse : rhythm based on the regular number of stresses and syllables in a line (the standard versification in English poetry since the 14th century) - syllabic verse : rhythm based on the number of syllables per line (as in French prosody) — free verse : rhythm provided without a fixed number of stresses and syllables

ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC VERSE Its pattern is based not only on the number of syllables in a line, but also on the relation to each other of the accented and unaccented syllables (B&W 496) We count stresses and syllables Its basic unit of measure is a combination of syllables and stresses (or in other words, of unaccented or less accented syllables and stressed or more stressed syllables). Each unit is called a foot. Kinds of feet (a dash - means unaccented syllable; acute accent ´ indicates stressed syllable) Iamb (iambic) : / - ´ / one unstressed followed by a stressed syllable: ‘alone’ Trochee (trochaic): / ´ - / a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable: ‘only’ Spondee (spondaic): / ´ ´ / two stressed syllables : Pyrrhus (pyrrhic): / - - / two unstressed syllables

Anapest (anapestic) : / - - ´ / two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: ‘intervene’ Dactyl (dactylic): / ´ - - / one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables: ‘happily’ Line lengths one foot -> monometer two feet -> dimeter three feet -> trimeter four feet -> tetrameter five feet -> pentameter six feet -> hexameter (also alexandrine) seven feet -> heptameter Line lengths combined with the dominant kind of feet constitute line metrical patterns that characterise a kind of verse line: Examples of line metrical patterns: iambic trimeter: / - ´ / - ´ / - ´ / anapestic tetrameter: / - - ´ / - - ´ / - - ´ / - - ´ / Examples: “My mother thinks us long away; ‘Tis time the field were mown. ....” (A. Housman) “My mother thinks us long away; (scanned as ‘My mó/ther thínks/ us lóng/ awáy/’ -> iambic tetrameter) ‘Tis time the field were mown. ....” ( -> iambic trimeter) “It was night in the lonesome October” (Poe’s “Ulalume”) (scanned as “It was níght / in the lóne/some Octóber/ -> anapestic trimeter

“This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks” (H. W. Longfellow, Evangeline) (scanned as “Thís is the/ fórest pri/méval, the/ múrmuring/ pínes and the/ hémlocks” -> dactylic hexameter

SPRUNG RHTYHM A term coined by Gerard Manly Hopkins (1844 - 1889) “measured by feet of from one to four syllables, regularly, and for particular effects any number of weak or slack syllables may be used. It has one stress, which falls … if there are more [than one syllable] on the first” (Hopkins, in P&B 1208-9) “To speak shortly, [it] consists in scanning by accents or stresses alone” (Hopkins) -> thus he envisaged sprung rhythm “as a purestress metre … whose stresses are sense-stresses or rather than metrical, expressive rather than purely rhythmic. Sprung rhythm also shares with [Old English] verse a cultivation of alliteration, though not raised to a metrical principle, and other echoic patterns (assonance, internal rhyme)” (P&B 1209) For Hopkins, sprung rhythm is the rhythm of natural speech in everyday language, prose, nursery rhymes, etc. This rhythm “springs” loose of the common rhythm (“running” rhythm, as Hokpins called it) of accentual-syllabic verse measures by feet of two or three syllables (P&B 1209 and 1101)

ACCENTUAL VERSE Its pattern is based on count of stresses disregarding the number of syllables per line. Usually, lines have a fixed number of stresses (natural speech-stresses) and a variable number of syllables) Used in folkverse (nursery rhymes, college chants, slogans, jingles), balldas, hymns, popular song, in S. T. Coleridge’s Christabel, in T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets (P&B 7)

SYLLABIC VERSE Its pattern is based on syllable count. The number of syllables per line is fixed, while the number of stresses is variable. Standard measure in French prosody and in Spanish prosody (until the rise of free verse) “It is very doubtful that verse lines regulated by nothing more than identity of numbers of syllables would be perceived by auditors as verse, for there would be nothing to mark them as such except for end-of-line pauses in performance” (Brogan, in P&B 1249) Line lengths octosyllable decasyllable alexandrine: 12 syllables (a “hexameter” in English accentualsyllabic verse; in French prosody, a line of 12 syllables) Examples of syllabic verse Robert Bridges New Verse (1925), The Testament of Beauty (1929) Marianne Moore Dylan Thomas

FREE VERSE difficult to define. A typical free verse poem shows no formal prosodic devices, and is unrhymed throughout. It is as difficult to scan as prose. And yet it has form: the arrangement of syllables and words, the line lengths, and the distribution of pauses fit the sense at every point. While accentual-syllabic verse regulates both stresses and syllables in a line, free verse regulates neither (P&B 1249) Every line has its own length, its own metre and rhythm, and usually has no rhyme.

Caesura The caesura is an internal pause marking the end of a sense unit - not a metrical unit (B&W 511). Example: “A thing of beauty | is a joy forever:” (John Keats). Enjambment Also called “run-on lines”: when the sense unit does not coincide with the end of the verse line. When it does, lines are called endstopped lines. Examples in lines 2 onwards showing different degrees of enjambment: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower of quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing ...” (John Keats)

SCANSION To scan a poem, or a line, is to measure its rhythm in order to analyse its meter by marking the rhythmical or metrical units in the line 1.- perceive the dominant rhythm (iambic, trochaic, spondaic, etc.) “take the poem as a whole and not merely a line at a time, for the lines may not be metrically identical ... get a sense of the basic pattern. Always one should read a poem aloud, at least several times, to establish the initial acquaintance” (B&W 505) 2.- mark the natural accents in each the line, and count the number of syllables 3.- try to mark the foot divisions of the line metrical pattern that will best fit the dominant rhythm, number of accents, and number of syllables. (For instance, a dominant iambic rhythm will lead

you to think of two-syllable feet; if you count five stresses and ten (or eleven, or nine) syllables, you can try the pattern of iambic pentameter) 3a. take into account sound and not writing governs rhythm, and therefore feet do not necessarily correspond to word divisions (see ‘lonesome’ in “It was níght / in the lóne/some ...” 3b. “meter cannot violate the natural accentuation of a word” (B&W 498). Never impose a preconceived hypothesized metrical pattern on the natural stresses of the line. For instance, ‘primeval’ is naturally accented ‘priméval’. You can’t accent it as ‘prímeval’ is you are trying an iambic pentameter pattern in “This ís / the fór/est prí/meval ...” 3c. not all accents in a line have equal force, but what matters is the contrast between less accented syllables and more stressed syllables 3d. A good working guidline, but not an absolute principle, is that unimportant words receive less accent while key words in the line are accented (B&W 499) 4.- when marking foot divisions, take into account accepted or expected variations or licences from the metrical pattern (see corresponding section) 5.- observe the caesura or internal pause marking the end of a sense unit - not a metrical unit (B&W 511). Note that the caesura may occur in the middle of a foot: “Its lóve/linéss/ incréa/ses | ít / will néver” (J. Keats) 6.- observe the enjambment(s) or run-on lines. 7.- examine and explain the effect of regularities and irregularities, both those changes that are accepted or expected, and those that are not. Explain how variations “give expression and vitality to the verse” (B&P 53)

In the pronunciation of words and phrases: elision: words pronounced with one syllable less: ‘heaven’ diphtongs may count as one vowel: ‘oil’ Inversion of first feet: this is very common: e.g. trochaic instead of iambic Example: “ ‘See, here’s the workbox, little wife That I made of polshed oak.’ He was a joiner, of village life; She came of borough folk.” (“The Workbox”) First line: Sée hére’s / the wók/box, lít/tle lífe / Third line: Hé was / a jóin/er of víl/lage lífe

Lines with less syllables: (with defetive feet) Example: “Long for me the rick will wait And long will wait the fold, And long will standthe empty plate And dinner will be cold” (Housman) The first line has one syllable less because the first foot is ‘defective’, has one unstressed syllable missing. The line is scanned “ ^ Lóng/ for mé/ the ´rick/ will wáit/” A defecive foot can occur in mid line: “Speech after long silence; it is right” (W.B. Yeats, “After Long Silence”) Spéech af/ter lóng/ ^sí/lence; ít/ is ríght /

Variations or licences

Lines with extra syllables Feminine ending: final foot has an extra syllable at the end

“It was níght / in the lóne/some Octóber/ (last foot is an anapest with an extra syllable: - - ´ - ) Extra syllable in the first foot: Example: “I wish you strength to bring you pride, And a love to keep you clean And I wish you luck, come Lammastide, At racing on the green” (A. Housman) The second line has seven syllables, and is scanned “ And a lóve / to kéep / you cléan/”: the first feet is an anapest. Extra syllable in Example: Hé was / a jóin/er of víl/lage lífe (third foot is anapest) Caesura defective feet, or feet with extra syllables may occur before the caesura

RHYME In English use, rhyme is the repetition of two syllables at the end of a line with the same medial vowel(s) and final consonant(s) and with different initial consonant(s) “The equivalence of the rhymed syllables or words on the phonic level implies a relation of likeness or difference on the semantic level” “sound similiarty [ is a ] means to semantic and structural ends” (P&B 1053)

“internal rhyme” when one of the rhyming words is not at the end of the line; can occur in two consecutive lines

Forms (in English) rhyme, end rhyme, full rhyme, true rhyme, perfect rhyme = back pack C V C near rhyme = repetitions of vowels or consonants at line end not conforming to the strict definition of rhyme are called “near rhyme”, “imperfect rhyme”, “slant rhyme”, “half rhyme”, “oblique rhyme”, “partial rhyme” assonance = back - rat C V C consonance = back- neck C V C back - buck C V C (also called frame rhyme or pararhyme) (Not to be confused with “rima consonante” in Spanish. Consonance is, strictly speaking, “the repetition of the sound of a final consonant or consonant cluster in stressed, unrhymed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to affect the ear, as in Pope’s ‘Ah ne’er so dire a Thirst of Glory boast,’ where st or r endsevery stressed syllable” (P&W 2367) reverse rhyme = back - bat C V C rich rhyme = bat - bat C V C : eye rhyme (visual rhyme) = cough - plough

STANZA FORMS Source: K. Shapiro A Prosody Handbook Harper & Row 1965

We can identify stanzas by looking at three elements: - number of lines: 2, 3, 4, etc. or indefinite number - rhyme pattern or scheme: combinations of rhymes, e.g. four lines rhyming a b b a envelope, enclosed or enclosing rhyme : a b b a cross or alternate rhyme : a b a b tail rhyme or tailed rhyme a verse form in which rhymed lines such as couplets or triplets are followed by a tail— a line of different (usually shorter) length that does not rhyme with the couplet or triplet. In a tail-rhyme stanza (also called a tail-rhymed stanza), the tails rhyme with each other (Encyclopaedia Britannica) - line length: e.g. trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter

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7 Number of lines 2 couplet rhyme scheme: a a open couplet: when the syntactical unit carries over into the first line of the next couplet and there is no heavy pause at the end of its second line. closed couplet: the syntactical unit comes to an end at the end of the second line, and there is a heavy pause or a full stop. HEROIC COUPLET: when lines are iambic pentameters (It is also used for the conclusion of other stanzas) 3 tercet triplet: a a a TERZA RIMA : a b a, b c b, c d c 4 quatrain ballad stanza: 4a 3b 4a 3b ; 4x 3a 4x 3a ; iambic rhythm (4 is for tetrameter, 3 for trimeter) Long ballad: a b a b ; x a x a ; a a b b ; all lines are iambic terameters Short ballad: 3x 3a 4x 3a; iambic rhythm

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HEROIC QUATRAIN: a b a b ; all lines are iambic pentameter, alternate rhyme Brace stanza: a b b a; all lines iambic pentameter, brace rhyme cinquain LIMERICK: 3a 3a 2b 2b 3a; anapestic rhythm (3 is for trimeter, 2 for dimeter) sixain STAVE OF SIX: a b a b c c : iambic pentameter or tetrameter (quatrain + couplet) SESTINA: six pentameter sixains that repeat, each in a different and predetermined pattern, the end words of the lines of the first sixain (e.g. Sir Philip Sidney) tail-rhyme stanza: a a b c c b, with line b having different length septet RHYME ROYAL (Chaucerian stanza): a b a b b c c ; pentameters. Variants have hexameters octave common octave: a b a b c d c d ; x a x a x b x b; pentameter or tetrameter brace octave: any octave in which brace rhyme (a b b a) is used Triolet: a b a a a b a b ; 1st, 4th and 7th lines are identical, as are lines 2 and 8 OTTAVA RIMA: a b a b a b c c; iambic pentameter SPENSERIAN STANZA: a b a b b c b c c ; first eight lines are pentameters; the ninth line, a hexameter Created by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596)

14 Sonnet (see later) Stanzas of ten, eleven and twelve lines are rare and have no familiar name.

Villanelle: usually 19 lines in tercets and two rhymes; 1st line is repeated in line 6 and 12, and 3rd line is repeated inline 9 and 15; both 1st and 3rd lines are repeated in the final 4 lines. The ode: difficult definition = poem of some length which does not follow any of the other conventional forms Stanzaic odes: follow a fixed stanzaic pattern HORATIAN ode: a a b b; or unrhymed quatrain in which the first two lines are longer than the third and fourth PINDARIC ode: consists of three stanzas, ‘strophe’, ‘antistrophe’ and ‘epode’, being the first two identical in pattern except for the rhyme sounds, and the third stanza is almost diferent from the other two. Cowleian ode: named after Abraham Cowley, is indeterminate in form The sonnet ITALIAN or PETRARCHAN sonnet: a b b a, a b b a, c d e, c d e ; a b b a, a b b a, c d c, d c d 14 lines: one octave + one sestet. Some have the sestet ending in a couplet. ENGLISH, Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet: three heroic quatrains + couplet A common rhyme scheme is: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g BLANK VERSE: unlimited succession of unrhymed iambic pentameters Imported from Italy, where in the Renaissance it was developed as an equivalent of the Classical hexameter, the line of epic, the “heroic” line. In English, fFirst used by Henry Howard, Early of Surrey, in his translation of Aeneid [?1539-46].

A major versification form in English narrative and lyrical verse (especially since John Milton), and the staple meter of English dramatic verse (first used in Gorboduc [1561]) Genres: suited to long works, especially epic and drama Verse without rhyme and without limited number of lines allows for expressing an idea at whatever length is required. Omission of rhyme promoted continuity, sustaiend, articulation, enjamment, and relatively natural word order (P&B 138) Characterised by rhythmic and syntactic flexibility, which makes it closer to speech Definition In verse and poetry, meter is a recurring pattern of stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short) syllables in lines of a set length. For example, suppose a line contains ten syllables (set length) in which the first syllable is unstressed, the second is stressed, the third is unstressed, the fourth is stressed, and so on until the line reaches the tenth syllable. The line would look like the following one (the opening line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18) containing a pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. The unstressed syllables are in blue and the stressed syllables in red. Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mer’s DAY? Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called a foot. The line contains five feet in all, as shown next: .. ..1........... ... 2........... ... ..3 ..............4................ 5 Shall.I..|..com.PARE..|..thee.TO..|..a.SUM..|..mer’s DA Y? Types of Feet and Meter A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as above) is called an iamb. Because there are five

feet in the line, all iambic, the meter of the line is iambic pentameter. The prefix pentin pentameter means five (Greek: penta, five). Pent is joined to words or word roots to form new words indicating five. For example, the Pentagon in Washington has five sides, the Pentateuch of the Bible consists of five books, and a pentathlon in a sports event has five events. Thus, poetry lines with five feet are in pentameter. Some feet in verse and poetry have different stress patterns. For example, one type of foot consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one. Another type consists of a stressed one followed by an unstressed one. In all, there are six types of feet: . Unstressed + Stressed Trochee Stressed + (Trochaic) Unstressed Spondee Stressed + (Spondaic) Stressed Unstressed Anapest + (Anapestic) Unstressed + Stressed Stressed + Dactyl Unstressed (Dactylic) + Unstressed Unstressed Pyrrhic (Noun + and Adjective) Unstressed Amphibrach Unstressed (Amphibrachic) + Stressed Iamb (Iambic)

Two Syllables Two Syllables Two Syllables Three Syllables

+ Unstressed . The length of lines—and thus the meter—can also vary. Following are the types of meter and the line length: . Monometer One Foot Dimeter Two Feet Trimeter Three Feet Tetrameter Four Feet Pentameter Five Feet Hexameter Six Feet Heptameter Seven Feet Octameter Eight Feet . Meter is determined by the type of foot and the number of feet in a line. Thus, a line with three iambic feet is known as iambic trimeter. A line with six dactylic feet is known as dactylic hexameter. .

Examples of Metric Formats Following are additional examples of feet and meter combinations.

Three Syllables

Iambic Pentameter From "On His Blindness," by John Milton

Two Syllables

1.............2............. 3...............4..............5 When I..|..con SID..|..er HOW..|..my LIFE..|..is SPENT

Three Syllables

1.................2.............. 3..................4...................4 Ere HALF..|..my DAYS..|..in THIS..|..dark WORLD..|..and WID E Mixed Meter With Iambic Feet From "Intimations of Immortality," by William Wordsworth

.........1.......... .....2............ .....3.......... ...........4................ ......5 There WAS..|..a TIME..|..when MEAD..|..ow, GROV E,..|..and STREAM,

Iambic Pentam eter

.... .....1............ ....2.......... .....3........... .....4. The EARTH,..|..and EV..|..ry COM..|..mon SIGHT,

Iambic Tetrame ter

.....1............ ..2 To ME..|..did SEEM

Iambic Dimeter

... ...1........ ......2.......... ...3........ .......4 Ap PAR..|..elled IN..|..cel EST..|..ial LIGHT,

Iambic Tetrame ter

...... ..1....... .......2.......... .......3........... .....4.......... .......5 The GLOR..|..y AND..|..the FRESH..|..ness OF..|..a DREAM.

Iambic Pentam eter

. .1.............2...... .......3....... ......4......... .........5 It IS..|..not NOW..|..as IT..|..hath BEEN..|..of YORE;

Iambic Pentam eter

... .....1...... ..............2.... .........3 Turn WHERE..|..so E'ER..|..I MAY,

Iambic Trimeter

... ....1........... ...2 By NIGHT..|..or DAY,

Iambic Dimeter

...... ....1.......... .....2........ ........3.......... ......4...............5........... ...6 The THINGS..|..which I..|..have SEEN..|..I NOW..|..c an SEE..|..no MORE.

Iambic Hexame ter

Great Buys on the Following Items at Amazon.com Cameras Cell Phones and Accessories Computers Digital Music Game Downloads Jewelry Kindle E-Readers Musical Instruments Men's Clothes Women's Clothes Handbags and Shoes Anapestic Tetrameter From "The Destruction of Sennacherib," by George Gordon Lord Byron

.... ....1................ .......2..................... .....3........... ...........4 The As SYR..|..ian came DOWN..|..like the WOLF..|..on the FOLD, ...... ..... ...1.............. .........2.................. ........3............. .......4 And his CO..|..horts were GLEAM..|..ing in PUR..|..ple and GOLD; .... .....1......... ................2...................... .......3............. ..........4 And the SHEEN..|..of their SPEARS..|..was like STARS..|..on the SEA

Trochaic Tetrameter

From "The Tyger," by William Blake

....1.............2............ ...3..... ............4 TY ger..|..TY ger..|..BURN ning..|..BRIGHT . ...1...............2......... ......3......... ...4 IN the..|..FOR..ests..|..OF the..|..NIGHT See Catalexis below for an explanation of why the fourth foot in each line has only one syllable.

Catalexis and Acatalexis The lines from "The Tyger" (above) contain trochaic feet— consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Notice, however, that the final foot of each line is incomplete, containing only a stressed syllable. An incomplete foot at the end of a line is called catalexis. Thus, bright and night are called catalectic feet. The meter of these lines is trochaic tetrameter— tetrameter because they each contain three complete feet and one incomplete foot, for a total of four feet. A complete foot at the end of a line is called acatalexis. The final feet in the stanza under Mixed Meter With Iambic Feet are all acatalectic.

Two swimmers wrestled on the spar Until the morning sun, When one turned smiling to the land. O God, the other one! The stray ships passing spied a face Upon the waters borne, With eyes in death still begging raised, And hands beseeching thrown. Here is graphic illustration of the verse format of the poem. First Stanza ......1.....................2...................3...............4 Two SWIM..|..mers WREST..|..led ON..|..the SPAR.................. .......(iambic tetrameter) ....1..................2...............3 Un TIL..|..the MORN..|..ing SUN,............................................... .....(iambic trimeter) .......1...................2.................3.............4 When ONE..|..turned SMI..|..ling TO..|..the LAND..................... ........(iambic tetrameter) .....1................2..............3 O GOD,..|..the OTH..|..er ONE!.................................................. ......(iambic trimeter)

Common Meter Common meter is a metric format consisting of a four-line stanza with four iambic feet in the first and third lines and three iambic feet in the second and fourth lines. Emily Dickinson used common meter in many of her poems. Following is an example:

Second Stanza .........1..................2...................3.................4 The STRAY..|..ships PAS..|..sing SPIED..|..a FACE................. ..........(iambic tetrameter)

....1...............2..................3 U PON..|..the WAT..|..ers BORNE,............................................ ........(iambic trimeter) ........1..................2................3.........../.......4 With EYES..|..in DEATH..|..still BEG..|..ging RAISED,.............. ...........(iambic tetrameter) ........1.....................2...................3 And HANDS..|..be SEECH..|..ing THROWN.............................. ..........(iambic trimeter)

Terms to Know Ballad: Poem that tells a story, sometimes in common meter. Blank Verse: Lines in iambic pentameter that do not rhyme. Caesura: Pause or break in a line of poetry, often occurring in the middle of the line. Free Verse: Poetry written without a metrical or stanzaic format or a regular rhyme scheme. Metrics: Art of writing in meter. Prose: The language of everyday conversation and of novels, essays, and other forms of writing that differ from poetry and verse. Prosody: The study of meter, stanza forms, and the structure of poems. Refrain: In a poem or hymn, a line or several lines repeated at intervals. Stanza: Group of lines that make up one of the divisions of a poem. Stave: Stanza. Verse: (1) One line of a poem with meter. (2) Lines of a play written in a metric format. Poetry is often called verse; however, not all verse is poetry.

Poetry and Verse For an explanation of how poetry differs from verse—and how they both differ from prose