ENGB04H3 Study Guide - Blank Verse, Spondee, Trochee
Document Summary
Studying meters requires more attention, observation, & listening to language details than usual. The historical dimension shows that a poet"s choice of meter & form & conscious & deliberate. The poet"s choice of meter assures that every syllable has been measured & the language has been written with full attention to expression, creating aesthetic distance. Smooth, conventional, & unremarkable meters remain in the background while rough, unconventional, & insistent meters force more self-conscious awareness. Strong lined poetry had rhymes with meanings made through their metrical frame. Crowded unaccented syllables are slow, emphatic, & difficult while unaccented syllables have speed, lightness, & ease. Sudden rhythmic reversals are noticed by skilled ears and cause surprise, changing thoughts, new voice tones, or more intensity. Foot: a basic unit of rhythm within a line & an interchangeable rhythmic module. Metrical substitution: the meter of the poem doesn"t change even if a poem is written in iambic pentameter & one foot is different.
