Welcome to Part 19 of my Study on Clive Barker. Today, we will be looking at story # 17 from his books of Blood, The Body Politic. The story tells the bizarre tale of Charlie George's hands, and their quest to liberate themselves from the main body. Charlies, feeling something is off about himself, tries to seek help, but things go wrong when his hands take over, kill his wife, then manage to sever 'left' (his left hand) from his body. Left escapes and goes to the YMCA and convinces other hands to chop themselves off and separate themselves from the main Body. Left gathers a massive army of severed hands -no, I'm not shitting you- and they rush to a hospital, where Charlie has been taken, to liberate his right hand. Charlie realizes that these walking hands are an abomination and comes up with a plan. He lures them to the top of the Hospital, allows the hands to cover his body, then jumps off the roof. Charles and the rebellious hands fall to their death. The ending shows a scene elsewhere where one of the side characters fell onto some train tracks and had his legs cut off. His 'legs' -now free- runoff. He's thoughts act as this brilliant ending paragraph: "And did his eyes envy their [the legs] liberty, he wondered, and was his tongue eager to be out of his mouth, and was every part of him, in its subtle way, preparing to forsake him? He was an alliance only held together by the most tenuous truces. Now, with the precedent set, how long before the next uprising? Minutes? Years? He'd wait, heart in mouth, for the fall of Empire. (The Body Politic, page 33) This is such a brilliant ending. I am beginning to see a pattern in some of Clive Barker's endings where he ends his story on a little Dramatic monologue note. I'd like to see if this type of ending occurs in his other stories (I know the hellbound heart ends with a similar reflective statement.) This story is more comical than scary but does have some elements to it that I'd like to go over. 1. Charlie sacrifice is what makes him a good hero. Readers like when a Heroes sacrifice themselves for the greater good. 2. The second thing I like about Charle's Sacrifice is when he is falling, he thinks about the fact that his gums won't bleed anymore everytime he brushes. This really shows insight into the character as he doesn't think 'Oh, I am saving the world,' or, "I got these bastards.' No, his final thoughts are, again, comical and very simple, everyday thoughts that normal people would have. Overall, a fun story. This ends my look at The Body Politic. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like. Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/horror-a-study-on-cliver-barker-part-18-a-recap.63861/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/horror-a-study-on-cliver-barker-part-20-the-inhuman-condition.64085/
This is the end of our long study of Metrical writing. Some people might be curious about what is the main source of my Metrical opinion and upbringing. Here are the resources I consider 'Canon' in terms of Meter. For Novices. 1. Writing Metrical poetry by William Baer. 2. Rules for a dance by Mary Oliver. For Advance students. 1. All the Fun's in how you say a Thing by Timothy Steel. For continued study. Measure: A bi-annual review and journal of Metrical poetry. https://www.writingforums.org/resources/measure-an-annual-review-of-formal-poetry.365/ - I'd like to end this study with a scan of one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets. 'For My Daughter' by Weldon Kees Looking into my daughter’s eyes I read Beneath the innocence of morning flesh Concealed, hintings of death she does not heed. Coldest of winds have blown this hair, and mesh Of seaweed snarled these miniatures of hands; The night’s slow poison, tolerant and bland, Has moved her blood. Parched years that I have seen That may be hers appear: foul, lingering Death in certain war, the slim legs green. Or, fed on hate, she relishes the sting Of others’ agony; perhaps the cruel Bride of a syphilitic or a fool. These speculations sour in the sun. I have no daughter. I desire none. Looking /into/ my daught/er’s eyes /I read (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Beneath/ the in/no-cence /of morn/ing flesh (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/) Concealed,/ hintings/ of death /she does/ not heed. (Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Coldest/ of winds/ have blown/ this hair,/ and mesh (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Of sea/weed snarled /these min/ia-tures/ of hands; (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) The night’s /slow pois/on, tol/er-ant /and bland, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Has moved /her blood. /Parched years /that I /have seen (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) That may/ be hers /appear: /foul, ling/er-ing (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Death /in cert/ain war,/ the slim/ legs green. (Headless Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Or, fed /on hate, /she rel/ish-es/ the sting (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Of oth/ers’ ag/on-y;/ perhaps /the cruel (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Bride of/ a syp/hil-it/ic or /a fool. (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) These spec/u-la/tions so/ur in /the sun. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) I have/ no daugh/ter. I/ de-si/re none. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) What I really like about this poem, is that it makes you work through every syllable, even a few ambiguous ones. - I hope this study has been of value to those who have read it. I will be going back -over the next few weeks- and cleaning up some spelling mistakes, and presenting better examples in some of the articles. Also, should I come across any interesting essays or articles on Meter, I will amend this study. Thank you for following. - Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-20-syntax-and-phrasing.64051/ Main Menu: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/orys-writing-notes-introduction-and-thoughts-on-style.63609/
Welcome to part 20 of my study on Metrical writing. Today, I want to look at Syntax and Poetic Phrasing in terms of meter. There is only one rule I need to stress: Metrical Writing is a MARRIAGE of proper Grammar use, and writing in Rhythm; in other words, no Yoda speak to make the meter work, and no wretching meter to make the grammar work. I know, it's cruel. Now, (minus the headless iamb) Trochee and Hyper Metrical endings give you 8 different types of line you can write using Iambic Pentameter. So, you have the flexibility of using all types of Sentence constructions that exist out there. Here are the different type of lines All Iamb: Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb All Iamb with a Hyper-ending: Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb (hyper) Trochee openings: Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/ Mid-line Trochees: Iamb/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/Iamb (Midlines Trochees can be used in the 2nd-4th foot) Trochee opening +Hyper ending: Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb (hyper) Trochee opening + Mid-line Trochee: Trochee/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/Iamb Mid-line Trochee + Hyper Ending: Iamb/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/ Iamb (Hyper) All the above: Trochee/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/Iamb (hyper) (Note: At a later date I'll edit in contemporary examples of each.) With all these line Variations that occur within Iambic Pentameter, one can craft any type of sentence structure to match the Rhythm and visa-versa. It is not the purpose of this series to inform people on how to construct their sentences, but Iambic Meter can match the simple sentences that Ted Kooser uses in his poems, to the extended, page-long sentences the John Milton writes. - The next thing I want to ever-so-lightly touch on is poetic phrasing. Poetic phrasing is where the poet makes a statement (using a sentence, a phrase, or a clause) and creates movement within the poem by extending and building on the statement that is originally made. Statements and Extensions are further broken down into Anticipation and Arrival. I've seen some Analyst that break them down into further units but I feel breaking a poem down to 2-3 levels is enough. The idea behind the poetic movement is to understand that the poet is moving the poem to some destination. How this works with Meter is that the end of a beat (not necessarily a line) ends the poetic movement. This might seem all confusing, but we'll be looking a short poem to help us understand these concepts a bit better. The poem we will be looking at today is "My Son, My Executioner" by Donald Hall. We will be looking at the line composition, the grammatical units, and the poetic phrasing. I should forewarn, the poetic phrasing of this poem is very straightforward. More complex poems will not be as easy to break apart as this one. - "My Son, My Executioner" By Donald Hall. My son, my executioner, I take you in my arms, Quiet and small and just astir And Whom my body warms. Sweet death, small son, out instrument Of immortality, Your cries and hunger document our bodily decay. We twenty-five and twenty-two Who seemed to live forever Observe enduring life in you And start to die together. - My son, my executioner, Grammatically this is an address followed by an Appositive phrase. This first line acts as the Anticipation of the statement. We know who the poet is addressing, and what he thinks of his son, but what does he wish to tell his son? This line is Also Iambic Tera meter. I take you in my arms, Here is the arrival of the Statement, and it is a beautiful juxtaposition. The poet is addressing someone he calls his 'executioner' and yet takes his son lovingly in his arms. Grammatically, This is the main Clause of this sentence. Metrically this is Iambic Tri-meter. The poem's lines alternate between 4 and 3 beats. Quiet and small and just astir Grammatically, this is an object complement (a phrase that describes a direct object.) It also serves as the Anticipation of the extension. After all, we are building on the main clause. This line also starts with a trochee. The scan being Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb. And Whom my body warms. This line is a continuation of the object complement with a noun dependent clause. The Arrival of the Extension shows such love for his son. Sweet death, small son, our instrument Grammatically this line is gorgeous. It is an Address followed by TWO appositive phrases. It serves as the Anticipation of the statement as it leaves the question of 'Our instrument for what?" Also, the first half of the line is very slow, while the second half picks up speed. 3/4, 3/4, 1/4, 1/2. Is the Numbering for this line. Of immortality, This line is an adjective prepositional phrase modifying instrument. It acts as the arrival for the Statement as it answers the implied question from the previous line. Your cries and hunger document -Extension Anticipation. This line has a double subject and a verb. our bodily decay.- Extension Arrival. This whole line is a direct object. We twenty-five and twenty-two- Statement Anni Subject + Appositive phrase. Who seemed to live forever- I feel this is a continuation of the Statement Anticipation. Dependent adjective clause. Observe enduring life in you -This line acts as the arrival of the statement. Grammatically this line acts as the first predicate. And start// to die together. -This is an extension of the statement and has both the anticipation and the arrival (marked with //) and this line acts as the second predicate. This might seem all confusing, but keep this in mind as when you add Rhetoric to Metrical writing, you need to be aware of how to build phrases. Rhetoric -which will be its own series- is a type of writing where you try to get an audience to agree with a certain point of view. - Well people, this pretty much finishes up my look at Metrical writing. Next week I'll be scanning a poem that puts to use almost everything I've covered in this series as the conclusion. - If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like. Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-19-the-weight-of-syllables.64041/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-21-conclusion.64061/
Hello, and welcome to part 19 of my study on Metrical writing, today we will be looking at the weight of Syllables. There are two things that determine the weight of a Syllable: 1. The degree of stress it has (The numbering system) and 2. The sounds that make up the syllable. Since this is a study of Metrical writing, we will only be looking at the stress degree, but please be aware that sound plays a huge impact on Syllable weight (I'll be doing a study on Sound in the far future.) Why is this important? The 'heavier' a line, the longer it takes for a person to read it. This is important when crafting a poem. If you wanted a light-hearted and joyful line, you'd try to make the line as light as possible. If the line was dealing with pain or death, you might want to make the line as heavy as possible. There are two other factors that determine the 'weight' of a line outside of syllable. 1. Rather or not a line ends with a piece of punctuation, or if you use enjambment to carry the reader over to the next line. Enjambment can create a forward movement and speed up the reading of the poem. There are dozens of ways to use Enjambment to create effects -and it is outside the scope of this study to go into them all- but I wanted to give you one way that is used in Metrical poetry (and I am sure as well as Free Verse.) When you end the line with a subject in need of a predicate. ...The Man (Subject) Jumped off the Bridge and swam away. See how the Enjambment creates a forward movement that matches the action of the man? This is a common device used in poetry and can cause a reader to speed up his or her reading of a line. 2. The second thing that determines the speed of a line are the Caesural pauses. A Caesural pause is a pause that occurs that the end of a phrase (Next post, we will go into poetic Phrasing). It is often -but not always- marked with a punctuation mark. It is important to note that how Caseural pauses work in Blank verse are not the same as how they work in Jazz or Blue poems. In some forms, the pause can act as a virtual beat; however, in Iambic Pentameter, all beats MUST be actual beats. In any case, Pauses can slow down a line considerable. - I wanted to end today's post by scanning a poem to see how each line 'weighs.' How the sake of conversation, we will say Enjambment likes a line '2' points lighter, and for pauses that don't occur at the END of a line slight pauses = +1 Comma Pauses = +2 Other punctuation marks = +3. Inpatient, by Jane Kenyon The young attendants wrapped him in a red Velour Blanket, and pulled him strapping taut. Sedated on a stretcher and outside for the last time, he raised his head and sniffed the air like an animal. A wedge of geese flew honking over us. The sky leaned close; a drop of rain fell on his upturned face. I stood aside, steward of Grandma's red- Letter New Testament and an empty vase. The nurse went with him through the sliding door. Without having to speak of it we left the suitcase with his streetclothes in the car. - The (1) young (4)/ at(1)-ten(4)/dants (1) wrapped(4)/ him (1) in (2)/ a (1) red (4) [Enjambment] This line has a syllable weight of 21. The fourth foot is also a great example of Promotion. Also, this line is pure Iambic and makes use of Enjambment. Ve(1) lour(4)/ Blank(4)et(1),(II)/ and (1) pulled (4) /him (1) strapp(4)/ing(1) taut(4). This line has a syllable weight of 27 due to the pause after the second foot. It takes longer than the first line to say. Se(1) dat(4)/ed(1) on (2) /a (1) stretch(4)/er(1) (II) and(2)/ out(3)side(4) [Enjambment] This line has a syllable weight of 22. It has a slight pause at the 'and' but uses Enjambment. Also, Outside -when used as a noun- both syllables are stressed. for (2) the (1)/ last (3) time(4),/ (II) he(1) raised(4) his(1) head (4)/ and (1) sniffed (4) [Enjambment.] This line has a Syllable weight of 25. While it has a pause, it is canceled out by the Enjambment. the(1) air(4)(II)/ like(2) an(1)/ an(4)imal(1).(II) A(1) wedge(4)/ of(1) geese(4) [Enjambment.] This line has a syllable weight of 25. This line has a slight pause and a heavy pause after animal. The line also makes use of Enjambment. flew(3) honk(4)/ing(1) ov(4)/er(1) us(2). (II)/ The(1) sky(4)/ leaned(3) close(4); This line has a syllable weight of 30! Due to the heavy Iambs and the strong pause in the middle of the line. This line also has a great example of a demotion in the 5th foot. a(1) drop (4)/ of (1) rain (4)/ fell (3) on (4)/ his (1) up(4)/turned(1) face(4). This line has a syllable weight of 27. I(1) stood(4) /a(1)side(4),/ (II) stew(4)ard(1) /of (2) Grand(4)/ma's(1) red(3)- This line has a syllable weight of 25. Lett(4)er(1)/ New(2) Test(4)/ament(1) and(2) /an(1) emp(4)/ty(1) vase(4). This line has a syllable weight of 24. The(1) nurse(4)/ went(3) with(4)/ him(1) through(2)/ the(1) slid(4)/ing(1) door(4). This line has a syllable weight of 25. With(1)out(4)/ hav(4)ing(1)/ to(2) speak(4) of(1) it(2) (II) we(1) left(4) [Enjambment.) This line has a syllable weight of 23. the (1) suit(4)/case(1) with(2)/ his(1) street(4)/clothes(1) in(2)/ the(1) car(4). This line has a syllable weight of 21. - So, our weights look like this. 21. 27. 22. 25. 25. 30. 27. 25. 24. 25. 23. 21. A few ideas can be found by looking at this. Notice that the poem's 6-7 lines (the middle) is the heaviest part of the poem? Also look how the first and last lines are both 'light.' It is as if the beginning and end are mirroring each other to show that this poem has gone full circle. You might be asking, 'Do poets really design their poems this way?' I would argue that when a poet is starting out, they might pay careful attention to the weight of a line, but as years go on, and they continue perfecting their craft, they do things like this second nature. I am also sure that not every poem out there is going to have a 'heavy' middle, and matching start and end lines; but these are interesting concepts to keep in the back of your mind. After all, some poets do have a Rhythmic style that is their own. This poet uses very little rising and falling Rhythms, and all of her words are one or two syllables (expectation is the few words she is eluding.) Her Rhythmic variations come from her playing with Enjambment, pauses, and the use of promotion and demotion. And she seems to like using Trochees before pauses. Lots of things can be learned from studying a poet (which is why I do these studies.) - This ends my look at Syllable weight. Also, we only have two more blog posts in this series! If you have questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like! 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@ladybird (The moment you've been waiting for.) Today we will be looking at Ambiguous syllables. In the previous post, we talked about cutting away Syllables. In this post, we will be talking about how some writers add syllables to their words, usually due to speech habits. Before we get to this, I want to address Silent Syllables. The most common silent syllable is the -ed ending for past tense. In some words, you will pronounce the -ed ending, in others it will be totally silent. Here are some examples. Stopped (1 syllable) Text-ed (2 syllables) The reason I bring this up is that sometimes U.K English is different from U.S. English in terms of pronouncing syllables. The word 'Toward' is 1 syllable in the U.S. But in a U.K poem I read, 'Toward' was being used as a 2 syllable word. The point is this, not all silent syllables are silent depending on what part of the world you are from. Reading other people's metrical writing can be tricky if you are not used to their pronunciation of words. - Now onto Ambiguous syllables. In English, there are four consonants that CAN form their own syllable. They are, M, N, R, and L. To give some examples. Rhythm = Rhyth-m Isn't = IS -n't Fire = FI -re Smile = SMI -le Now the Ms, and Ns are easy to hear, but the Ls and Rs are subtle in their sound. In essence, some people hear the word 'fire' as two syllables, and some hear it as one. The way you hear a word is the way you need to write it in your meter. I am going to give you some examples of words that have ambiguous syllables and then we will discuss what they all have in common. Our (Ow-er), Desire (De-Si-er) Child (Chi-eld) Wild (Why-eld) While (Why-el) Oil (O-il) Foul (Fow-el) Do you see the pattern? The words either have a long 'I' or the have double vowel (ou, oi, etc.) These ambiguous syllables are sometimes played with by poets. Shakespeare was known to use 'our' as a one syllable word in one line, and use it as two a few lines later. (Shakespeare, I would imagine, had a very keen ear.) But to add to this complication, let us take a look at the words Flower vs Flour. It could be argued that these two words sound identical (despite their spelling) so if some people would pronounce Flour as one syllable, could they pronounce flower as one syllable as well? The answer is yes. Frost is known for having the word 'flower' being a single syllable word in poems. A few other words to keep in mind, 'Higher' being pronounced like 'fire'. 'Foul' being pronounced like 'towel. 'Mirror' being pronounced like 'near'. (but with a M) 'Error' being pronounced like 'air.' Etc. As we can see, there is some fluidity to syllable counts. I need to stress something; since Ambiguous syllables are somewhat 'fake,' they will never be stressed. Using the word desiring. Most people would say de-SIR-ing. If you do hear this word as a four syllable word, this is how it would look. de(1)-SI (4)-r(1)-ING (2) To add another layer of confusion to this whole ordeal, a writer could elude such a word if they do hear it as four syllables. De-SI-ring. This whole business might seem confusing to some, but it is important aspect in regards to reading other people's meter. - As a general rule, if you don't 'hear' words like fire, wild, smile, tile, etc as two syllables, don't write them as two; However, if you do hear them as two, I know of no such rule saying you can't switch syllable counts from one to the other to help with the metrical pattern, but I would not be obnoxious with syllable play. I Personally hear 'fire' as two syllables, and 95% of the time I would write it as such; however, in a jam, I would cheat it to one syllable. - The last thing I want to touch on is Epenthesis. Sometimes, due to a words spelling, a speaker will add an extra 'sound' to it as a way to help with the pronunciation, usually though, a person will change the spelling of the word to match how they are pronouncing the word. Here are some examples. Monst-rous vs. monst-er-ous. Real-tor vs. real-at-or. Jewel-ry vs. Jewel-er-y. There are many other words out there that do this. - As we can see, Syllable counting can be a tricky business. (I'll post a scanned poem later. I am looking for one that illustrates the points I've made.) - I hope today's post has been insightful. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like. Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-17-elisions.64032/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-19-the-weight-of-syllables.64041/
Welcome to part 17 of our study on Metrical writing. Today we will be looking at Elisions. What are Elisions? Elisions are the omitting or slurring of syllables. In today's writing of Blank Verse, there are two types that are commonly used. 1. The first (which all of you have seen used in everyday writing, but didn't know it was called an Elision) is contracting words together using an Apostrophe. Examples: Let us = Let's Dave is = Dave's We will = We'll It is = It's Will not = Won't etc. As you can see, you are combining two words into one. This is a handy tool in Metrical writing as sometimes you will need two syllables, and sometimes you will just need one. If you follow this link: https://www.writingforums.org/resources/contractions.357/ it will take you to where you can find a list of contractions. The Next type of Elision is a little more trickery and involves speech habits. Syncope (The Omission of a sound) and Synaersis (The slurring of a sound) occur in everyday speech. Violent Vi-o-lent OR Vi-lent Ivory Iv-o-ry OR Iv-ry Memory Mem-o-ry OR Mem-ry Natural Nat-u-ral OR Nat-ral Saddening Sad-en-ing or Sad-ning. There is probably hundreds of words out there that you can do this with, but as you can see, you can play with the syllable count of a word depending on how you pronounce that word. - I wanted to give you a few examples of Elisions that have been done in the past but are not done today. Sometimes, when one word ended in a vowel and the next word began in a vowel, they would combine the two letters together. Many a people = Man/y a People/le ... This is not an anapest, the y+a is being pronounced as one syllable. Another example of this (and this is where people try to be poetic and just show they have no fucking clue what they are doing) I am sure you've seen something like this before, Th'expansion. Really this is The expansion, and they combined the two words. This practice is NO longer done today. P.S. I'll see people who don't even write metrically put this into their poetry because they read some of Poe's works and saw him do this. (If you want to write like Poe, learn about Meter and the use of sound. Don't try to copy words of his when you have no idea what it was he was doing. /End rant.) We've also read words like this O'vr, Nev'r, Heav'n etc. Again, poets were cutting out Syllables, but this is no longer done today. (If any of you can pronounce 'over' as one Syllable, God Bless you.) - There are probably dozens of different types of Elisions that have used since the birth of English, but I wanted to give a handy rule about using them. If you can't pronounce, or, more importantly, you wouldn't pronounce the word like how you are trying to Elude it, chances are, you shouldn't be eluding the word like that. But if you can/do pronounce a word that you elude, go for it. Is there a way for me to let the reader know I eluded a word? Sadly, you can't hold your reader's hand. A reader does have some responsibility -in regards to understanding for you've crafted your work- when reading your work. - I wanted to end today's post by looking by scanning Suzanne J. Doyle's 'Some Girls.' It makes use of a few Elisions. - Some Girls by Suzanne J. Doyle. The risk is moral death each time we act, And every act is whittled by the blade Of history, pared down to brutal fact, The fact: we only want what we degrade. No beauty in the glass makes our loss good, No hero in the wings can take the stage, The Clash of blood at war with its own blood Intoxicates us with colossal rage. A cold beer and the young moon's tender horns Are shining on the table where we spar Like women gladiators, bred and born To wear our father's breastplates, greaves and scars. There's something not quite right here. We can't talk Like some girls, who'd say, "Hell, the bastards broke our hearts." We are a different kind of tough; we hawk Our epic violence in black bars, in bed, in art. - Some Girls by Suzanne J. Doyle. The risk/ is mor/al death/ each time/ we act, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) And eve/ry act/ is whitt/led by/ the blade (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Of hist/o-ry,/ pared down/ to brut/al fact, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb)*1 The fact: /we on/ly want /what we /degrade. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) No beaut/y in/ the glass /makes our /loss good, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) No he/ro in/ the wings/ can take/ the stage, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) The Clash/ of blood/ at war /with its /own blood (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) In-tox/i-cates /us with /co-loss/al rage. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) A cold /beer and/ the young/ moon's tend/er horns (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb)*2 Are shin/ing on/ the tab/le where /we spar (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Like wo/men glad/i-a/tors, bred /and born (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) To wear/ our fath/er's breast/plates, greaves /and scars. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) There's some/thing not /quite right /here. We/ can't talk (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb)*3 Like some /girls, who'd /say, "Hell,/ the bas/tards broke/ our hearts." (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb)*4 We are /a diffe/rent kind /of tough;/ we hawk (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) *5 Our ep/ic vio/lence in /black bars, /in bed,/ in art. (Iamb/Iamb/Double Iamb/Iamb/Iamb). *6 *1: If we remember last blog post, I said that with verb phrases the preposition can take the stress. Pared down, the down takes the stress. *2: It might seem strange that 'and' out stresses 'Beer' but 'cold beer' is a compound noun. In compound nouns, always treat the second word like any other unstressed syllable in a multi syllable word. *3: There's (There is) is an elision. *4: Two notes on this line. 1. Who'd (Who would) is an Elision. 2, this line has six feet so that it will match the last line in regard to Rhyme. Remember, for A Ryhme to match it just land on a stress, and match the Rhythm count of the line it is Rhyming with. *5 Different is being eluded. Instead of saying diff-er-ent, she is saying diff-rent. *6 Violence is being eluded. Instead of saying vi-o-lence, she is saying vi-lence. - This concludes my look at Elision in regards to meter. I want to stress that it would be impossible for me to look at every form of Elision that exist as different regions have different speech habits, and I don't know every speech habit that exist. In our next post -which builds on this one- we will be looking at ambiguous syllables. - If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment or a like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-16-english-stress.64028/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-18-ambiguous-syllables.64033/
Today we will be looking at some of the finer and more confusing ideas behind English Stress, especially, in regards to compound words. The first thing I want to address is words that can be used as either a noun or a verb and how they work in regards to Stress. Now in some languages, when a word is being used as a noun or a verb it is indicated by the end spelling for that word. In English, we don't change the spelling of a word, but we do change which syllable is STRESSED. To give you a few examples. subject when used as a noun: SUB-ject. subject when used as a verb: sub-JECT. object when used a noun: OB-ject. object when used a verb: ob-JECT. desert when used as a noun: DES-ert desert when used a verb: de-SERT. We can see a pattern here, correct? Nouns have their stress on the first syllable, while verbs have their stress on the second syllable. This is a very important concept to understand when writing Metrically, and sometimes you will have to look at a dictionary to know where the stress falls depending on how you plan to use a word. - The next thing I want to look at is compound nouns. Be they one word, two words, or hyphenated, compound nouns follow that same rule: The primary stress falls on the first word. Example: Grandmother GRAND (4) moth (1) er (2) Using the above word in metrical writing, you could see either of the following. My(1) grand(4)/moth(1)-er(2) (Iamb/Iamb) or Grand (4) moth(1)/er (2) went (4) (Trochee/Iamb) Both options are valid ways in using compound words. - The next thing I want to touch on is Idiomatic verbs/Verb phrases. In my introduction, I informed you that prepositions are usually ranked low on the stress meter, and in terms adjectives, or by themselves, this is true. But in Idiomatic verbs (example: Pull out) the stress can fall on the preposition of the phrase, not the verb. This is a handy tool to understand as it gives you some leeway when writing in Iambic Pentameter. Both of the following examples would be acceptable in metrical writing. I pulled/ out Dan/ny's gun. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) or Pull out, my friend! (Iamb/Iamb) Understanding that you can shift the preposition of a verb phrase either into a stressed foot or an unstressed foot gives you a little breathing room when writing. - The next thing to look at is compound Adjectives. In compound adjectives, such as red-hot, the stress falls on the second adjective (red-HOT). The expectation to this rule is when you are using a noun as part of the compound adjective then the stress falls on the noun no matter what position it is in. Example: airsick = AIRsick. - The last thing I want to address is the word 'into.' 'Into' is such a great word for metrical writing, as it is one of the few words in English where you can switch the stress to either syllable, IN-to, or in-TO. Learn to love this tool. Today I want to scan the poem St. Judas by James Wright. It uses some of the principles we talked about today. When I went out to kill myself, I caught A pack of hoodlums beating up a man. Running to spare his suffering, I forgot My name, my number, how my day began, How soldiers milled around the garden stone And sang amusing songs; how all that day Their javelins measured crowds; how I alone Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away. Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten, Stripped, kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms: Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten, The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope, I held the man for nothing in my arms. - When I/ went out/ to kill /myself, /I caught (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb)* A pack /of hood/lums beat/ing up a man. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Running/ to spare/ his suff/ering, I/ forgot (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/IAmb) My name,/ my num/ber, how /my day /began, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) How sold/iers milled /around/ the gard/en stone (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) And sang /a-mus/ing songs;/ how all /that day (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Their jave/lins meas/ured crowds;/ how I /alone (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Bargained /the prop/er coins, /and slipped /away. (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Banished/ from heav(en), I found/ this vict/im beat(en,) (Trochee/Iamb (Midline-hyper)/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb (Hyper)) Stripped, kneed,/ and left /to cry. /Drop-ping/my rope (Spondee/Iamb/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb) Aside,/ I ran, /ignored /the un/i-forms: (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/iamb) Then I/ remem/bered bread /my flesh /had eat(en), (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb (hyper)) The kiss/ that ate/ my flesh./ Flayed with/out hope, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb) I held /the man/ for noth/ing in /my arms. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) *As we can in the first line, an Idiomatic verb -went out- appears and the stress falls on the 'out.' - This concludes me look at the more trickier uses of compound and stress in the English language. If you have any questions, or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-15-anapest-and-other-matters-of-meter.64025/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-17-elisions.64032/
Today I wanted to take a look at Anapest poems, using Anapest in Iambic Pentameter and take a look at a few other minor facets of Meter. Anapest poems tend to be used in a lot of light verses (non-series/fun poems) and was used a bit by Dr. Suess. Here are two lines from his children story Oh, The Places you will go. Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! (Anapest/Anapest/Anapest/Anapest) There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. (Anapest/Anapest/Anapest/Anapest) Anapest, like Trochee, lends itself nicely to Terameter (four Feet) poems. A Common Substitution that occurs in Anapest poems is putting an Iamb in the first foot. Here is a line from Robert Frost's Blueberries that Illustrates the above point (If you are interested in studying an Anapest poem, this would be the one to look at.) That's always the way with the blueberries, though: That's al/ways the way/ with the blue/berries, though: (Iamb/Anapest/Anapest/Anapest) - But can we use an Anapest in Iambic Pentameter? Yes, in loose Iambic you may. In serious poems, poets tend to avoid using Anapest -with one exception I'll address shortly- The reason is not that Anapest is a terrible foot, but because of the tradition of them being used in 'fun' verse, poets tend to stay away from them in serious narratives. I would highly suggest that a poem master writing in Iambic Pentameter without Anapest, before throwing them in. When used wrongly, they tend to disrupt the Rhythm of the poem. Midline Hyper Metrical endings. Occasionally you will see the following, which gets misread as an anapest. Not proven, who swept the dust of ruin'd Rome. -Line 133 Idylls of the King. Not prov(en), (II) /who swept/ the dust/ of ru/in'd Rome. (Iamb(Hyper)/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) The 'en, who SWEPT' is not an anapest. Poets sometimes run into a jam due to phrasing issues and are forced to use a midline Hyper-Metrical ending before a Ceasrual pause. This practice is not wide-used today, and I'd be wary to say that it is an acceptable practice, but I do see modern poets occasionally use it. - There is a few minors thing I wanted to make a note for anyone that has been reading this. There is a foot called Dactylics that is used as a meter. They are a stress/unstressed/unstressed foot. Example: BEAUT-i-ful/ TAP-es-tray (Dactylic/Dactylic) Another triple foot that exists is called the Amphibrach which is a Unstreesed/Stressed/Unstressed foot. Example: a-TTAC-ing. I will not be going into great detail about these feet as they are not used in Blank Verse, but you should be aware of them. - The last thing I wanted to focus on is two other types of Meter that exist. English verse is primarily an Accentual-Syllabic verse, meaning we have x amount of Accents per line and x amount of Syllables per line. This came to be because of the fact that both Romance Languages and Germanic has influenced the English Langauge. In essence, Romance Languages (Italian, Spanish, French) focus on syllable count in their meter, and German-based languages focus on Accent. While 90% of English meter is Accentual-Syllabic, some poems are written either as pure Syllabic, or focuses purely on the Accents per line. It is not my intention to slight these meters, (As many great poems have been written in them) but they outside the scope of this study. I will in the far future be doing a study on Blue and Jazz poems which do use an accent-based meter as the core of their Rhythm. - This ends today's post. We are nearing the end our study on meter and will now be focusing on the most complex parts of meter: Stress in compound words, Elisions, Ambiguous syllables, Syllable weight, and Metrical-Rhetorical Phrasing. If you are still struggling with writing meter, I'd re-read this series before we get to the last 1/4 of this Study. If have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-14-the-headless-iamb.64023/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-16-english-stress.64028/
Following our discussion of Trochee Meter, I'd like to look at this Bad Boy, The Headless Iamb. The Headless Iamb is where you drop the opening unstressed syllable. Here is an example from 'Legacies' by Emily Grosholz. ^ Old/ e-nough/ to take/ the train /alone (Headless Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb). A few guidelines using this substitution. 1. Don't use it in the opening line. Why? Tell me, what is wrong with the following scan? Old e/nough to/ take the/ train a/lone (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Tailless Trochee.) Nothing. The above Illustrates that by using a Headless Iamb in the opening line, you run the possibility of having someone reading your poem in the wrong meter. (By the way, This is why you don't tailless Trochee in the opening line of a Trochee poem either.) The first line of a poem should establish the meter of the poem. Note: I'd like to note that if you were trying to create some ambiguity with the meter to match the context of the poem, it could argue that a headless Iamb opening line would be justified. 2. While some poets do this, you should not use a Hypermetrical ending with a Headless Iamb either. From the same poem. Renters, mice, and brave nocturnal children ^ Rent/ers, mice,/ and brave/ nocturn/al child(ren) (Headless Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb (Hpyer)) OR Renters,/ mice, and/ brave noct/urn-al /children (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Trochee) Do we see the problem? But what saves this line that makes it Iamb 100%? It is the Caesural pause after the word mice. (II) and brave /nocturn/al child(ren) If we look at this phrase by itself it is Iamb. We've not gotten to Rhetorical phrasing with Meter (that will be last few blog post in this series) but phrasing is essential in writing meter. What about using a headless Iamb somewhere in the middle of the line? Yuck! Rhythmically it would be displeasing, but I can't say that poets haven't done it; I just wouldn't do it. One last note, when using the Headless Iamb, Make sure the opening Syllable is STRONG and the closing Syllable is equally strong, Nouns, Verbals, Verbs, Adjectives, etc. Not prepositions, articles, or conjunctions - If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-13-trochee-meter-and-the-alexandrine.64021/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-15-anapest-and-other-matters-of-meter.64025/
Welcome to part 13 of my study on Metrical writing. Today we will be looking at Trochee Meter, and the Alexandrine, both types of Variations that occur within Blank Verse. (@123456789 I know you had a question about this the other night, and I thought this Blog post would interest you.) Depending on the subject of a person's writing, a writer might choose to insert portions of Trochee meter into their blank verse for the desired effect, but before one can put lines or Stanzas of Trochee mixed with Iambic Pentameter, one must first learn how to write in Trochee. There are many fine poems that are written in pure Trochee, but none are finer than The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe. I'll be going over first Stanza of the poem so that we might better understand the ideas behind Trochee Meter (which does differ a lot from Iambic Pentameter.) Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.” Once u/pon a /midnight/ drear-y, (II)/while I/ pondered,/ weak and/ weary, (Trochee x 8) Ov-er /man-y a/ quaint and /cur-ious /vol-ume /of for/gotten/ lore— (Trochee x 8, last foot is a tailless trochee) While I /nod-ded,/ nearly/ nap-ping,(II)/ sud-den/ly there/ came a/ tapping, (Trochee x 8) As of/ some one /gen-tly /rapp/ing (II), /rapp-ing /at my /chamber/ door. (Trochee x 8, last foot is a Tailless Trochee) “’Tis some/ vis-it/or,” I /muttered,(II) /“tapping/ at my /chamb-er /door— (Trochee x 8, Last foot is a Tailless trochee.) On-ly /this and /nothing/ more.” (Trochee x 4, last foot is a tailless Trochee.) There are two things that the Raven illustrates in regards to how Trochee Meter works. 1. While Iambic feet lend itself to Pentameter (Hence why Iambic Pentameter is the most used Meter there is) Trochee feet lend themselves to Terameter (Hence why Trochee Terameter is the most used meter when writing in Trochee.) This is illustrated in the fact that Poe puts a Caesural pause (a punctuation mark) after the 4th foot in 90% of the lines and the last line in each Stanza is four feet. 2. The most common, if not the only substitute used in trochee meter, is the tailless Trochee. When Writing Trochee meter, you have the option, after the first line, to drop the unstressed syllable at the end of the line. This helps with both sound of the poem as well as give a poet more options in word choice. Usually, when writing Trochee, a poet aims for strict Trochee form due to the nature of the sound they are trying to create. - Now that we have been given a brief introduction into writing Trochee meter, one must ask -and I do get asked this a lot- can one mix Iambic Pentameter and Trochee Terameter in a longer work? The answer is Yes, in fact, the most famous example (and possibly the first poet to ever do it) was done by Shakespeare in his play 'Macbeth.' From Song of the Witches, by William Shakespeare. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good. Doub-le,/ doub-le/ toil and/ troub-le; (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Trochee) Fi-re /burn and /cald-ron/ bub-ble. (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Trochee)* Cool it/ with a /bab-oon's/ blood, (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Tailless Trochee) Then the/ charm is/ firm and /good. (Trochee/Trochee/Trochee/Tailless Trochee) 1. Again, as we can see, Trochee meter is written in Terameter, and two of the lines have a Tailless Trochee ending. *Some of you might notice that the word 'fire' is split into two Syllables and might be confused by this. There will be a blog post on Ambiguous Syllables, but in English, there are four consonants that -under certain phonetic conditions of a word- can be counted as its own syllable; for the word 'fire' the letter 'R' is acting as the ambiguous syllable. As the play continues, the dialogue shifts back to Iambic. What we can learn from this is that Trochee, compared to Iambic, is indignant and vile. Hence, in an Iambic poem, vile thoughts or speech, or even actions, can be written in Trochee meter to enhance the action of the line. This is an advanced idea, and I would suggest you master writing in Iambic pentameter before adding Trochee lines to it, but this idea of mixing meters to enhance the context of a poem or story is what separates good writing from excellent writing. - The last thing I want to touch on is the Alexandrine, Iambic Hexameter (6 feet). Some writers will insert an Alexandrine at the climax of their poem or -in plays- when something more than human is speaking (like a god.) I wanted to give an example from Suzanne J. Doyle's 'Some girls.' The risk is moral death each time we act, And every act is whittled by the blade Of history, pared down to brutal fact, The fact: we only want what we degrade. (Lines 1-4) The risk/ is mor/al death /each time /we act, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) And ev/ery act /is whit/tled by/ the blade (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) Of hist/o-ry,/pared down /to brut/al fact, (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) The fact:/ we on/ly want/ what we /de-grade. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) As you can see, the first four lines of the poem are Iambic pentameter, however, the last line -the climatic ending- is an Alexandrine. Our Epic Violence in bleak bars, in bed, in art. (Line 16) Our Ep/ic Vi/olence in/ bleak bars,/ in bed,/ in art. (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb.) - In conclusion, one has the options of changing meter type and/or foot count to create poetic effects in one's writing. In skilled hands, Trochee poems, Trochee line(s) inserted into Iambic poems, and Alexandrines, are powerful tools that can enhance a person's Metrical writing. If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment or a like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-12-trochees.64010/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-14-the-headless-iamb.64023/
Welcome to part 12 of my study on Metrical writing. Today we will be looking at the Trochee. The Trochee, along with the Feminine ending, is the most important substitute in writing blank verse. So what is a Trochee? A Trochee is an inverted foot a Stressed-unstressed pattern. Here is an example: From Jay Macpherson's 'The Third Eye' Fading /so fast! Ah love, /its light /is done. (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) As we can see, the first foot is Trochee and the rest of them are Iambs. Now, what I want to do with today's blog is to explain WHEN to use a the Trochee substitute. People starting off might just throw a Trochee into a line at any time with no thought to it, but this would be a sign of a beginner's work. Let us now explore when and why a Trochee is used. The most common type of trochee is use is a trochee opening. 10% of all Iambic lines open with a Trochee, but some forethought must be put into the reason why. First, like the above example, Trochee openings are often used with Verbals. Now think about what the line is 'saying.' Love fades away -just like how the beat fades away due to the trochee opening, yet even without this effect, Trochee's give a writer Grammatic Freedom in their lines. Second, let's Say you open with a Verb/Trochee like the following example. Kill the /gray dog! A trochee opening often as a violent sound, just like how the verb in this opening is violent. Trochee + Verb openings are a great way to show violent opening. Third, A noun. I wouldn't use any old noun but a proper noun with a trochee opening. Example: Danny, /the boy/ from school... (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb) As we can see, using a trochee for a proper noun works very well. Last, an Adjective. If you are speaking about an important Feature, having an Adjective in a Trochee opening would be another important idea. Blue was /the col/or of/ her eyes, (Trochee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) So in Essence, when using a Trochee opening try to use: A verbal, Verb, proper noun, or an important Adjective. What type of trochee would you not use? On a /dark day, (Trochee/Iamb) I am not saying the above is 'wrong.' But notice how On is not a very important word. It just doesn't have the power of a noun, verb, verbal, or adjective. I feel that the above would work better with a mid-line Trochee, not an opening Trochee. Which brings me to my next point; when to use a mid-line Trochee? This one is easy; you may use a mid-line Trochee AFTER a Caesural pause. What is A Caesural pause? It is a pause that occurs between clauses and phrases and is often -though not always- marked with a punctuation mark. Here is one from May Sarton's 'The Tortured.' Cried In/no-cence/, (II)'Mother,/ my thumbs, /my thumbs! (Iamb/Iamb/Trochee/Iamb/Iamb.) The pause (marked with II) occurs before the dialogue. We can see, because of the pause, the writer chose to insert a Trochee. Midline Trochees my appear in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th foot of Iambic Pentameter. What about the final foot? Many Metrical writers believe that 5th-foot Trochees don't exist. They certainly don't exist in Ryhmn poetry as even in the Raven (A trochee poem) Poe ends alot of lines in a Tailless Trochee to avoid the problem of a finding a unstressed/Stressed/unstressed word for every line. But what about Blank Verse? They do occur in Blank Verse, however, Trochee endings create an unpleasant Rhythm and have the ability -if used poorly- to butcher the line. Instead, I will offer up two ideas where one could justify the use of Trochee endings. 1. Creating a point of Irony. 2. Comicverse. In most series poems, people avoid Trochee endings like the plague (so much that I am unable to find a contemporary example of them.) and I would not suggest beginning writers to try their hand at them. - This concludes my look at the Trochee Substitute. Next post, we will be looking at inserting whole lines of Trochee into an Iambic poem, and the Alexandrine. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-11-feminine-hypermetrical-endings.64007/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-13-trochee-meter-and-the-alexandrine.64021/
Today we will be looking at Feminine/Hypermetrical endings. Feminine endings are important because they allow greater Grammatical and Rhythmic qualities when writing Blank verse. A Feminine Ending is when a line of metrical writing has an extra unstressed syllable at the end of the line (So the line will have 11 syllables vs the usual 10.) There are two ways this occurs; I will give examples of both. A group of women kissing one another, A group /of wom/en kiss/ing one /a-noth(er), (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb(Hypermetrical) The extra syllable is marked within the (). Also, there is a pun in this line as the line is talking about women and ends with a 'Feminine Ending.' You may also use a mono-syllable word, like a personal pronoun, at the end of a line and have it count as a hypermetrical ending. Be sure you have a really strong stressed word before it, to avoid confusion in the scansion. The Black/ bitch ran/ across/ the field/ and bit (me.) (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb(Hyper))) - There is not much more to the Feminine ending than that. I'd like to note that some poets (Frost comes to mind) have really pushed the use of the Feminine ending (such as using the word 'day' in its place) in some poems. It is really one of the most important tools for writing Blank verse (Along with the trochee) in regards to mastering this craft. - Next, we will be looking at The Trochee. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment or a like! Previous Post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-10-the-rising-and-falling-rhythm-of-double-ionics.64000/ Next Post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-12-trochees.64010/
Welcome to part 10 of my study on Metrical writing; today we will be looking at my favorite device in meter, the double Ionic. We will first be looking at the different stress patterns that occur within these rising and falling Rhythms, then we will be looking at the Grammtic construction of these different patterns. There are two types of Ionics: Major Ionic, and Minor Ionic. Major Ionic (Falling Rhythm) is a Stressed-Stressed-/Unstressed-Unstressed pattern. Their Metrical pattern looks like this: 3-4/1-2 OR 4/3-2/1 Minor Ionic (Rising Rhythm) is a unstressed-unstress/Stressed-Stressed pattern. Their Metrical pattern looks like this: 1-2-3-4, OR 2-1-3-4. So in essences, we have four patterns to play with. 1-2-3-4 2-1-3-4 3-4-1-2 4-3-2-1 But what is the purpose of knowing these Rhythm patterns? If someone wrote a line with all 1-4s, say like This: To (1) Live (4), To(1) Die(4), To(1) breathe(4), to(1) fight(4) and(1) suff(4)er(1). Their writing would have a very monotone sound to it. Rising and Falling Rhythm (along with promotion and demotion) helps keep Iambic Pentameter from being monotone. It also helps by giving the writer more grammatic freedom. So let us look at some examples of these Rhythm patterns and look at how we can construct them grammatically. Frist, 1-2/3-4 (double Iamb). The (1) Old (2) Man (3) Ran (4). Article + Adjective + Noun + Verb - All Monosyllable. This is a very basic Rising pattern that people will see a lot in Metrical writing. Stand/ing (1) by (2)/ Dan's (3) Car (4) -Ing ending (or any suffixe ending) + preposition+ possessive Adjective + noun This is another good example. look/ing (1) like(2) /bad(3) Weath(4)/er Undstressed syllable ending + comparision+ Adjective + Front stressed double-Syllable word I wanted to note that in my substitution guide I said that double Iambs don't count as being a substitution. Why? Because all a double Iamb really is, is a light Iamb being followed by a heavy Iamb. You will still have two Iambs, the thing is, the unstressed syllable in the heavy iamb out stresses the stressed Syllable in the light iamb (hence why it is called, Double Iamb). Also, 'Die(1), Die(2), Die (3), Die (4), is a rising Rhythm. When you repeat words you voice naturally rises. (Don't believe me? Go watch a movie where a character says that same word over and over again, You will hear his voice 'rise.' ) This rising pattern is very natural to English Speakers. In fact, it is how people can tell when English is someone's second language despite them speaking it grammatically correct. Rising Rhythm is a phenomenon in the English Langauge. - Next is the 2-1/3-4 pattern. (Trochee/Iamb). While I've not gone into Trochees extensively yet, for a reminder they are a stressed-unstressed foot. By (2) the (1)/ red (3) car (4) (Trochee/Iamb.) Preposition+Article+Adjective + noun. - Next, 3-4/1-2 "Burn (3) Fool!(4)" The (1) Red (2) Imp (3) shout(4)ed You can see the line starts strong, but drops down then rises. This occurs a lot in Metrical writing when you start a line with a Spondee/Heavy Iamb and follow it up with a double Iamb. - Last, 4-3-2-1. This one takes a little more thinking to pull off, and is rare. It occurs when you have an Iamb with a heavy ending/a light Trochee/Iamb. Here is an example I wrote. And death(4)/, in (3) an(2)/ un(1)kind(4)/ly man(4)ner(1), killed (4) The real trick is to have a Preposition + Article trochee, followed by a Multistressed Adjective where the first syllable is unstressed but the second syllable is stressed. - I wanted to end here by saying that Rising and falling Rhythms might seem confusing; the only way to understand them is by reading a TON of metrical writing. I did not understand them fully until I read Tennyson's Idylls of the King, in which he uses them a lot. This blog series is only a guide and no amount of reading it will help anyone if they don't practice and don't read metrical writing (If you need suggestions ask. I have a ton of books.) - Next, we will be looking at the Hypermetrical/Feminine ending. Previous Post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-9-spondees-the-great-lie.63999/ Next Post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-11-feminine-hypermetrical-endings.64007/
Welcome to part 9 of my Study on Metrical writing, today we will be looking at the Spondee. Originally I was planning on doing Rising and Falling Rhythms, but I felt that we need to explore the Spondee before doing so. A Spondee is a foot that has two stressed Syllables, but with demotion and word importance, one must ask, do spondees exist in English? See, most metrical feet are taken from the Greek and Latin metrical systems, however, Those systems are based off a duration-based language, while English is a Stress-based language. What most people call a Spondee is really a heavy Iamb, example: Bright (3) Star (4). The reason they are not equal goes beyond stress- it involves word importance; A noun is more important than an adjective. But let's look at a Noun + a Verb. Mike (3) fought (4). While nouns and verbs are equal in a word importance sense, in a rhetorical sense, wouldn't you put the stress on the 'action' of the beat to give it a little more force? I would, however -and not to get too far off subject- Mike fought could be a Trochee. Mike (4) fought (3). How? If I ask 'Who fought?' and you said 'Mike (4) fought(3).' The beat is less about the action, and more about the 'who.' But back to The Spondee (More of rhetorics and trochees later). In either example, neither one is equally stressed. What about a Noun plus a Verbal? Mike(?), Stand(4)ing next .... The above is actually debatable, and I might mark this as a spondee. However, a lot of people (The majority) will have Mike as a (3) because 'stand-' is a stressed syllable. Still, I would consider this a Spondee in my own writing and would keep the line regular after such an opening. What about A Noun (subject) + Verb + Noun (Object)? Example: The (1) boat (4) /broke (3) waves (4). Demotion comes into play here. We know, based on that linguistic study from the 50s (See Trager and Smith) that Demotion occurs in English when a speaker is faced with three stressed words, so 'broke' becomes a 3. To dive even deeper into the theory behind Spondees, we are going to look at one of the most discussed lines from paradise lost. 'Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and shades of death,' - John Milton's Paradise Lost, Book II line 621, A lot of people would scan the above line as 'Spondee/Spondee/Spondee/Iamb/Iamb,' but there is no way that this is correct as having more Spondees than Iambs destroys the Rhythmic pattern of the poem. No, John Milton was much more clever in his design on this line than just throwing 6 nouns in a line; no, each word is carefully picked and put in a certain order for a reason. Let's break down this line so you can see that there is, in fact, no spondees in this line. Say the line out-loud. What is the first thing you notice? Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and shades of death, Fens & Dens rhyme. This is so important. Why? Because the definition of a rhyme is two stressed sounds that share the same vowel and ending consonant. Notice the word 'Stressed'? So understanding that we know that Fens and Dens NEED to be stressed. Next (and this takes a little more thinking). Rocks, Caves, If you looked at a rock on the ground in your front yard, then you went and explored a cave, which one would you say was more impressive? I'd be willing to wager 'the cave.' 'Cave' is just a far more important word than rock, especially when comparing one to the other in the same beat. What about Lakes and Bogs? The rule of Demotion makes these two words a 3. In the end, this line reads like this. Rocks (3), Caves (4), /Lakes (3), Fens (4),/ Bogs (3), Dens (4),/ and(1) shades(4)/ of (1) death (4), (Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) - So do Spondees exist in English then? The Metrical community is somewhat divided on the subject. Some people believe that Spondees exist and we should mark them when seen, others believe that they don't and teaching them does nothing but make learning Metrical writing far more difficult than it needs to be. My personal feeling is that they exist under certain 'conditions.' (By the way, what I am about to type is personal theory only. You're going to have to make your own decision on the subject and write your meter based on that decision.) 1. Spondees can only exist in the first foot or following a trochee (This prevents the problem of Demotion). 2. List of Nouns or Verbs, or the Noun + Verbal opening would be the only thing I'd call a Spondee. 3. Any beat with the word 'God' (or any other religious mono-syllable name.) 'God Bless' would be a Spondee only because of its significance. Rather you are religious or not, isn't the point. I know I would want such a foot called a Spondee if anyone scanned my writing, and any poem I read that had anything like this in it (despite the religion) I would call it a Spondee. Examples of a list: Bob, Mike & Dan went to the store to buy (Spondee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) [List of nouns/subjects] Beef, pork, and Chicken. Dinner would be good! (Spondee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) [List of noun/Direct objects.] ...They Kicked, Punched, and Bit the people in the bar. (Spondee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb) [List of verbs] Remember, if you choose to use Spondees, you can only use two of them within a line. - I hope my exploration of Spondees proves insightful to those of you wanting to learn metrical writing. If you have any thoughts or questions on the subject, please leave a comment or a like! 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Welcome to part 8 of my study on Metrical Writing. Today we will be looking at the numbering system. So how does the Numbering system work? The system is based on a 1-4 numbering scale. 1. Weak stress. 2. Semi-Weak stress. 3. Semi-Strong Stress. 4. Strong Stress. The reason that the numbering system exists is that not all Iambs are created equal. Here, let me give you some examples. A standard Iamb: The(1) Toad (4). A weak Iamb: -ing (1) the (2) (Notice how the word 'the' is a 1 in one example and a 2 in another? We'll get the why in a bit) A heavy Iamb: Bright (3) Star (4) (Some people would call this a Spondee, but we will dive into spondees in depth in a few blog posts to really see what a spondee is.) As you can see not all Iambs are equal in their stress levels. Now the part that makes people get lost with the numbering system is that they try to say 'All verbs and nouns' are 4s, or all Articles are 1s, etc. In truth, the numbering scale is very fluid. The number you assign a syllable is relevant to the other syllables that share the line. In other words, a word that might be a 4 in one line, might reappear and be a 3 in the line below, depending on what other syllables or words that appear with it. The reason the numbering scale is important is that without it, you could not really dive into the brilliance of some of the Metrical poetry that has been written over the centuries. To end this, I am going to scan Lord Tennyson's 'The Kraken' using the numbering scale. I will put notes on why I assigned syllables/word a certain number, and I will explain the brilliance of this poem (By the end of this, anyone reading this is going to discover a mind blowing poetic idea.) Lord Tennyson's 'The Kraken' Below the thunders of the upper deep, Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides; above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cell Unnumbered and enormous polypi Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green. There hath he lain for ages, and will lie Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep, Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die. - Be(1)low(4)/ the(1) thund(4)/ers(1) of (2)/ the (1) upp(4)/er(1) deep(4), This line is pretty straight forward; however, by scanning this line we know the poem is Iambic Pentameter, meaning that it will be using the rules of IP. Far(3), far(4)/ be(1)neath(4)/ in (3) the (2) /a(1)bys(4)1/mal(1) sea(4), Any time you see double mono-syllable words, it will be a (3/4). The real genesis in this line is the 4/3-2/1 pattern that occurs with a mid-line trochee. The Rhythm is 'sinking' just how the poem is talking about sinking into the depths of the ocean. In other words, the Rhythm is Metaphoric and sharing the characteristics of the poem context. This is an advanced idea, but you can create Rhythmic beats that match the action of a poem. Prepositions, by the way, will always have a little more stress than Articles, but Articles will always have a little more stress than the unstressed syllables in a multi-syllable word. It is very rare for the word 'in' to have a 3 on the stress meter, but compared to the other feet in the line, there is no other number that works with it. His(1) an(4)/cient(1), dream(4)/less(1), un(2)/in(1)vad(4)/ed(1) sleep(4) The '-Less-un-in' is a great example of promotion. The 'un' is promoted to a (2) because of the surrounding unstressed syllables. The(1) Krak(4)/en(1) sleep(4)/eth(1): faint(4)/est(1) sun(4)/lights(1) flee(4) You can see all the feet in this line is 1/4. When talking about a poem having a monotone 'sound' this is what creates it. I am not saying having all 1/4 feet in a line is bad, I am saying having all 1/4 feet in every foot in a poem would be bad, and tells me that you only have the most basic understanding of meter. A(1)bout(4)/ his(1) shad(4)/owy(1) sides(4);/ a(1)bove(4)/ him(1) swell(4). I only want to note that -owy is being pronounced as 1 syllable. Later in this Blog, we are going to to dive deep into Elisions, the slurring/omitting on syllables. Huge(3) spong(4)/es (1) of (2)/ mil(1)len(4)/nial(1) growth (4) /and(1) height (4); The opening 3-4 gives the line a boost. Sondees/Heavy Iambs work very well at the beginning on a line. And (1) far (3) /a(1)way(4)/ in(4)to(1)/ the(1) sick(4)ly(1) light(4), 1-3 is a rare type of Iamb. The reason I gave 'far' a 3 is because it is a adverb, and adverbs and adjectives are always less stressed than nouns and verbs. From (1) man(4)/y(>) a(1) wond(4)/rous(1) grot(4)/ and(1) sec(4)/ret(1) cell(4) (>) is the ellusion Symbol. Y+A is pronounced as 1 syllable. Today this practice is no longer done, but it something to be aware of when reading older poetry. Un(1)num(4)/bered(1) and(2) /e(1)norm(4)/ous(1) pol(4)/y(1)pi (2) This is the line that ends in a weak iamb 1-2. Win(4)now(1) /with (1) gi(4)/ant(1) arms(4)/ the(1) slumb(4)/ering(1) green(4). Trochee opening. There(1) hath(2) /he(1) lain(4)/ for(1) ag(4)/es(1)/, and(2) will(3) lie (4) The reason I gave 'will' a 3 is because it is part of the verb phrase. This Rising Rhythm (which we will be look at in-depth next blog post) is a common occurrence in English. Batte(4)ning(1)/ u(1)pon(4)/ huge(3) sea(4) worms(1) in(2) his(1) sleep(4), Trochee Opening. I need to stress that 'Huge' being a 3 is not a demotion. An adjective will never out-stress a noun. Also, Compound nouns (Sea worm) be they two separate words, one word, or a hyphenated word, The first 'word' is the stressed part. Sea (4) Worm (1). Un(1)til(4)/ the (1) latt(4)/er(1) fire(4)/ shall(1) heat(4)/ the(1) deep(4); Two lines up the word 'will' was a 3 because of it was part of a verb phrase. Here I have 'Shall' a 1 because the word before it is the noun 'fire.' This is a great example of what I mean that the numbering system is fluid, and open to interpretation. Then (1) once(2) /by (1) man(4)/ and(1) ang(4)/els(1) to(2) /be(3) seen(4), -els to be seen, is a rising Rhythm. These Rising Rhythms are what keep IP from being Monotone. In(1) roar(4)/ing(1) he(2)/ shall(3) rise(4)/ and (1) on/(2) the(1) sur(4)/face(1) die(4). This last line has 6 feet! The reason is that 6 feet are used in lines of great significance and importance. Also, There is a Rising Rhythm that matches the action of the poem (The Kraken rising out of the ocean!) The concept of Metaphoric Rhythm is super important if one truly wishes to tap into the power of Meter. - I hope you've enjoyed my scan and explanation of The Kraken using the numbering system. The next thing we will be looking into is the Rising and Falling Rhythm that occurs in English. - If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment or a like! Previous post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-7-promotion-and-demotion.63993/ Next post: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/a-study-of-metrical-writing-part-9-spondees-the-great-lie.63999/