Re: Accentual/syllabic metre
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:05 pm
G'day All
The first three examples of Paterson are consistent when you look at them in terms of the number of stressed syllables.
The line from "The Man from Snowy River" has seven stressed syllables, as does the line that matches it in rhyme.
The one from "Clancy of the Overflow" has eight stressed syllables, the same as the other internally rhymed lines.
All of the lines from "Saltbush Bill" have seven stressed syllables (including the two that I have used in the example)
The same is mostly true in "Lost", most lines have six stressed syllables (there are some with seven, like the one below):
And rode each day to the ranges on a hopeless, weary quest
The example poems mentioned from O'Brien and Dennis also have the same number of stressed syllables in the equivalent lines in each stanza.
The main thing that differs in these examples is the number of unstressed syllables. The variations here give you different combinations of feet that are not necessarily repeated through the whole of the poems. This is why working with syllable count alone can fall down. Both lines below have twelve syllables - one has six stressed, the other four stressed:
I thought I'd like to play a bit of contact sport
but I hadn't decided upon the best sort
If I only kept up the twelve syllable count, I might have lines with four, five or six feet (or possibly more or less if different types of ceasura are employed).
What if I take the above two lines and I match the number of stressed syllables. If I drop the first line back to four stressed syllables:
I thought I'd like to play some sport
but I hadn't decided upon the best sort
Notice the more consistent sound in the above? This is what you are looking to achieve when mixing metres.
Whether or not the exact same pattern of feet has to be maintained is debatable. If one stanza which uses mixed metre is technically correct and a second is also technically correct when viewed alone but not exactly the same as the first stanza (you might have the following in common: rhyme scheme, number of feet per line, number of lines) the only difference being the combination of feet in the lines, then why is the poem technically incorrect? In theory, you could abandon multiple stanzas all together and write the poem as a single stanza and the whole thing should be technically correct then.
Regards
John Peel
The first three examples of Paterson are consistent when you look at them in terms of the number of stressed syllables.
The line from "The Man from Snowy River" has seven stressed syllables, as does the line that matches it in rhyme.
The one from "Clancy of the Overflow" has eight stressed syllables, the same as the other internally rhymed lines.
All of the lines from "Saltbush Bill" have seven stressed syllables (including the two that I have used in the example)
The same is mostly true in "Lost", most lines have six stressed syllables (there are some with seven, like the one below):
And rode each day to the ranges on a hopeless, weary quest
The example poems mentioned from O'Brien and Dennis also have the same number of stressed syllables in the equivalent lines in each stanza.
The main thing that differs in these examples is the number of unstressed syllables. The variations here give you different combinations of feet that are not necessarily repeated through the whole of the poems. This is why working with syllable count alone can fall down. Both lines below have twelve syllables - one has six stressed, the other four stressed:
I thought I'd like to play a bit of contact sport
but I hadn't decided upon the best sort
If I only kept up the twelve syllable count, I might have lines with four, five or six feet (or possibly more or less if different types of ceasura are employed).
What if I take the above two lines and I match the number of stressed syllables. If I drop the first line back to four stressed syllables:
I thought I'd like to play some sport
but I hadn't decided upon the best sort
Notice the more consistent sound in the above? This is what you are looking to achieve when mixing metres.
Whether or not the exact same pattern of feet has to be maintained is debatable. If one stanza which uses mixed metre is technically correct and a second is also technically correct when viewed alone but not exactly the same as the first stanza (you might have the following in common: rhyme scheme, number of feet per line, number of lines) the only difference being the combination of feet in the lines, then why is the poem technically incorrect? In theory, you could abandon multiple stanzas all together and write the poem as a single stanza and the whole thing should be technically correct then.
Regards
John Peel