Can you please state which are which and why? Obviously why is because some of the lines start with unstressed syllables, but which are they? Am I right in saying, given your guide on verbs, nouns and prepositions, that the only iambic line in my poem is the last one, as the other three all start with either noun or verb? Can I ask, in that case, if you feel the same about the first example (the author's taken from the book)? I know it's not a good poem, but at the moment that is not the idea of these exercises - the question is does it display a better 'ear', and if so why? You could always do what a lot of the modern poets do, and pretend there are no rules and that 'anything goes'.
It's not that I was looking to write formal poetry, it's that I don't really have an ear for poetic cadence, and my poetry suffered as a result. I think I'm just not cut out for it, haha.
I suppose this is something I'm trying to discover myself. This poetry course book I'm working through loses me at times, but the exercises are fun - even if I'm not following the rules correctly. What worries me is how I seem to have become deaf to stressed words and syllables. If they're indicated - as if often done in this book - it's blatantly obvious where the stresses come and I can even hear them clearly, but when an exercise calls for me to write my own in either iamb (unstressed followed by stressed) or trochee (stressed followed by unstressed) I really struggle. @OJB's tip about nouns and verbs usually being stressed and prepositions usually unstressed, will help me some, but I'm sure it's a little more complex than that.
It really just boils down to practice to develop your ear. You'll get it eventually. And, if you're enjoying the practice, I say do it as much as you can. Maybe you're naturally inclined to be good at poetry. The poems you've posted thus far have been great.
OurJud, I am not trying to dodge your questions but it would take an entire book to explain the reasons why. Meter is very complex (which is why it is fun to write in). I am going to give you the advice my teacher gave me. Read: Idylls of the king. It is a Narrative written completely in Iambic pentameter. READ IT OUT LOUD. Once you've done this you will have improved your hearing skills. Also, Read: Mary Oliver's Rules of the dance. While very basic (She only gives you a foundation to work on. There are other studies and essays that dive deeper into the complexities of meter) it will serve you well. I actually plan on doing a massive year-long study blog on meter one of these days, just right now my focus has been on other aspects of writing (Imagery and story structure.)
Fair enough, OJB, I appreciate that. But can you at least take a look at the author's example in my post, and tell me if - had this been my own effort - you'd have said the same thing about me not having an ear for meter? It's not a trick question, but I'm not sure I stressed enough that neither of the examples (the author's or my own) are serious attempts at poetry. If you can tell me that the author's example shows a clear ear for meter, where mine doesn't, then it gives me something to work on.
How I read this line is as followed. (You have it in reverse.) Take THIS with YOU and GO feel PROUD. take THIS (This first foot can be tricky and would actually depend on the subtext of the conversation; however, if THIS [being a pronoun] is something of utt most importance then I would read it as stressed) with YOU (YOU has more of a stress than with) and GO (GO is a verb, hence it overshadows and) feel PROUD. (Go, feel, proud could all be argued to be stressed; however, if you have three words are that equally stressed in a row, the middle of the three is 'demoted.' )
Yes, I can see clearly now I have it wrong. The stresses are so obviously where you've put them, and this is the problem. The one thing I didn't think I would have any trouble with is hearing the stress in words/syllables. Maybe I'm trying to hear them too much. And you're not going to answer my question about the author's example, are you?
I am not sure what he was aiming for but the following is how I read it. NEWS of/ BOMBS in/ CENTral/ LONdon FLESH and/BLOOD dis/INTer/GRATE ^ (This line confuses me a bit, but I am not as well studied in Troche as I am in Iambic) TEENage /VOICes/ SCREAMing/ PROUDly ALLah/ AKbar/ GOD is/ GREAT! (I see it now. GRATE and GREAT Rhyme. Since for English a Rhyme must fall on a stressed word, he's dropped the unstressed foot at the end to make the rhyme work.
@OJB - the purpose of this exercise was to write a quatrain of trochaic tetrameter, with docked weak endings in line 2 and 4, meaning you've read it exactly as intended. Thanks for the input - I'll take it as said that this displays a much better understanding for meter than my own effort, but then I'd have been surpised if it didn't. At least I know where I went wrong now.
Rhyming schemes I feel rather stupid asking for an explanation of this, but it's something I feel it's vital I do understand. We'll use the example from the book I'm reading - John Donne's 'At the round earth's imagined corners' At the round earth's imagined corners, blow (a) Your trumpets, Angels, and arise, arise (b) From death, you numberless infinities (b) Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go, (a) All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow, (a) All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies, (b) Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes, (b) Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe. (a) But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space, (c) For, if above all these, my sins abound, (d) 'Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace, (c) When we are there; here on this lowly ground, (d) Teach me how to repent; for that's as good (e) As if thou hadst seal'd my pardon, with thy blood. (e) Now, I can see that the first 'a' rhymes with the second 'a' (blow/go), but the first two 'b' lines do not rhyme (arise/infinities) - although is this a wrenched rhyme and 'infinities' should be pronounced 'infini - TIES'? And why does it go 'a b b' and not 'a b c' ? And then why do we go into 'c', 'd' and 'e' towards the bottom? I feel like this should be one of the most basic elements in poetry - in fact in the book Stephen Fry casually explains that it's as simple as 'a b c' , as though it's the most obvious thing in the world, before giving us this sonnet as an example - but I just can't get my head around it. An explanation in layman's terms would be appreciated.
Hold on, I think I've dissected this myself. What was confusing me was the use of all those wrenched rhymes. Now I can see that all the 'a' lines rhyme, as do all the 'b, c, d, e' lines.
Quick question: Can we simply half the syllable count of a line to discover its feet/beats? Is this a foolproof way of discovering how many feet a line has?
Back to my lack of ability to hear the stress in certain words. Please take a look at this: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1966.68.6.02a00040/pdf Example 10 presents the alphabet in lines of four feet/beats, but there's a couple of things I don't get. A: Why do they skip over the letter 'N'? To my ears it is stressed just as the others are. B: If I start this example off an as iamb rather than a trochee, and put the stress on the letter 'B', it sounds just as natural to me.
What would be the rhyming scheme of a basic couplet form? (When line 2 rhymes with line 1. Line 4 with 3. Line 6 with 5 and so on and so on). I know it would start out 'a a b b...' but then what? Would it just go 'c c d d e e f f g g...' ?
aa bb cc dd - so-on is pretty basic. Couplets aren't really a form so much as a tool. Successive rhyming lines. For example, aba bcb cdc ee is a rhyme form that ends in a couplet for a strong effect.
I suppose that answers my next question, then, which was going to be, what happens if the poem is longer than 52 lines? However, the couplet is used as a form - it's called the Heroic Verse and comes in non-stanzaic, iambic pentameter.
Thought you were speaking of a basic couplet. Add a distinct meter and rhythm and you have a form. You should try creating a form for yourself. Think of line length, syllables, delay, stanza size, and rhyme scheme. There a lot.that can go into it but have fun with it. It is the true fun of formal poetry.
I'm itching to start experimenting but I'm not sure I'm ready yet. In fact I really want to start playing around with free verse but find it a little daunting.
