The Trees by Philip Larkin The trees are
The Trees by Philip Larkin The trees are coming into leaf Like something almost being said; The recent buds relax and spread, Their greenness is a kind of grief. Is it that they are born again And we grow old? No, they die too. Their yearly trick of looking new Is written down in rings of grain. 5 Yet still the unresting castles thresh In fullgrown thickness every May. 10 Last year is dead, they seem to say, Begin afresh, afresh.
Prosody: The Study of Poetic Sounds and Rhythms Metrical Patterns, Pauses, Sound Devices, and Types of Rhyme
When you read poetry, remember that. . Poets are less interested in communicating messages than they are in expressing patterns of perception and capturing the movement of consciousness. For this reason, image and subtlety and even sound are essential to the experience a poem creates for us.
Rhythm & Scansion n Rhythm – When words are put together, the heavy stresses of certain syllables (and the number of light stresses in between them) create a pattern or “beat. ” n. Scansion – analyzing the rhythm of a poem by determining the pattern of stresses or beats (and any variations from the pattern)
Metrical Feet – Units of Poetic Rhythm 2 -Syllable Feet ØThe Iamb = light / heavy (Iambic) ØThe Trochee = heavy / light (Trochaic) 3 -Syllable Feet ØThe Dactyl = heavy / light (Dactylic) ØThe Anapest = light / heavy (Anapestic)
What’s “iambic pentameter”? What’s “trochaic tetrameter”? These terms refer to the number of metrical “feet” in a single line of poetry. iambic pentameter = 5 Iambs in a line trochaic tetrameter = 4 Trochees in a line
Meter = the number of feet per line Monometer = one foot per line Dimeter = two feet per line Trimeter = three feet per line Tetrameter = four feet per line Pentameter = five feet per line Hexameter = six feet per line Heptameter = seven feet per line Octameter = eight feet per line In terms of accent or beat, the meter equals the number of heavy stresses per line. e. g. , a trimeter line has three beats (heavy stresses), a pentameter line has five beats, and so on.
The Iamb – the Rhythm of the Heart “boom BOOM, boom BOOM” e. g. , because machine technique Q: Which meter do these three lines follow? Thus I Pass by “Thus I” heavy And die. . . light / (Robert Herrick, “Upon His Departure Hence”) one Iamb A: iambic monometer
Identifying Rhythm & Meter Q: What rhythm and meter do these lines follow? Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though. A: iambic tetrameter Whose woods / these are / I think / I know 1 2 3 4 (Robert Frost)
More Iambic Rhythms Q: What rhythm and meter does this line follow? The winds that will be howling at all hours (William Wordsworth) A: iambic pentameter The winds / that will / be howl- / ing at / all hours 1 2 3 4 5
Examples of Trochaic Rhythm (heavy / light) water author something morning window cherry language rising snowfall willow Q: What is the rhythm & meter of these lines? Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble. A: Trochaic Tetrameter Double, / double, / toil and / trouble 1 2 3 4 (Shakespeare, Macbeth)
Dactylic Rhythm (heavy / light) Q: What is the meter of this line? Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me. . . (Thomas Hardy, “The Voice”) A: dactylic tetrameter Woman much / missed, how you / call to me, / call to me. . . 1 2 3 4
Anapestic Rhythm (light / heavy) Q: What is the meter of these lines? What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleam(ing) (Francis Scott Key, “The Star-Spangled Banner”) The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. . . (George Gordon, Lord Byron, “The Destruction of the Sennacherib”)
A: anapestic tetrameter What so proud- / ly we hailed / at the twi- / light’s last gleam- / 1 The Assyr 1 2 3 4 / ian came down / like the wolf / on the fold. . . 2 3 4 (Note: The letters “ian” in the Byron poem should be heard as one syllable, a form of contraction known as elision. )
The Imperfect Foot A single syllable all by itself— whether stressed or unstressed— creates an “imperfect foot. ” e. g. , A single imperfect foot occurs at the end of this anapestic tetrameter line from “The Star-Spangled Banner. ” What so proud- /ly we hailed /at the twi- / light’s last gleam- / ing 1 2 3 4 ¿
Substitution Too strict obedience to a rhythmic pattern can create monotony. For interest and emphasis (and because of the natural rhythms of English speech), poets often vary their rhythms by substituting a different rhythmic “foot” in place of the dominant foot. Not mar- / ble, nor / the gild- /ed mon- /uments Of prin- /ces, shall / outlive / this pow- / erful rhyme; In the last foot of line 2—“-erful rhyme”—Shakespeare doesn’t use the expected 2 -syllable Iamb. Instead, he substitutes a 3 -syllable Anapest. WHY? ? ?
Why bother paying attention to rhythmic substitutions? 1. Is there a dominant rhythm used in the poem? 2. If so, how does the poet depart from this dominant rhythm, or insert variation into it? 3. How do these rhythmic variations— whether striking or nuanced—enable the poet to to achieve emphasis?
The Caesura (“a cutting-off”) the pause that creates variety and natural rhythm When we speak and when we read, we pause briefly at the ends of phrases, and we pause longer, for emphasis, at the ends of sentences. In scansion, such a pause is called a caesura (a “cutting off”), pluralized as caesurae. Often the caesura coincides with the end of a foot. However, sometimes it falls within a foot, and there may be more than one caesura within a single line.
Here’s a sonnet by William Wordsworth with interesting caesurae (pauses) and massive use of rhythmic substitutions. Can you recognize where the caesurae and substitutions occur and what effects they contribute to the poem’s mood (emotional atmosphere) and tone (attitude)?
The World Is Too Much with Us The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. —Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. 5 10
End-Stopped vs. Run-On Lines End-stopped lines– These are lines in which the pause occurs at the end of the line, usually marked by a comma, semicolon, or period. Run-on lines / enjambement – If a line has no punctuation at the end, and the thought carries over to the next line, it is called a run-on line or a line that uses “enjambement” (a “striding over”). e. g. , A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but will still keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams. . . (John Keats, “Endymion”)
Sound Devices – the Sound Is Part of the Meaning Assonance Alliteration Onomatopoeia Euphony vs. cacophony
Assonance Repetition of identical vowel sounds in different words e. g. , Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. (Shakespeare, Sonnet 73)
Alliteration - the repetition of consonant sounds, generally initial consonant sounds (i. e. , at the beginning of words) e. g. He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, (Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The Eagle”) Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. (Shakespeare, Sonnet 73) I grant I never saw a goddess go; (Shakespeare, Sonnet 130)
Consonance is a form of alliteration; it is the repetition of consonant sounds within words. e. g. , Coral is far more red than her lips red; (Shakespeare, Sonnet 130) Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. (Shakespeare, Sonnet 73)
Onomatopoeia The blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest a situation or an action Onomatopoeia is made possible because many words in English are echoic in origin—i. e. , they are verbal echoes of the actions they describe. e. g. , buzz bump slap roar clang thump wheeze cough
Euphony vs. Cacophony Euphony (“good sound”) – words containing consonants that permit an easy and smooth flow of pleasing sounds Cacophony (“bad sound”) – the opposite of euphony, in which percussive and choppy sounds make for vigorous, noisy pronunciation and harsh, jarring sounds Obviously, unintentional cacophony is a mark of imperfect control, but poets do create it deliberately for effect. e. g. , Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”)
Types of Rhyme Exact rhyme (perfect rhyme) Masculine / rising rhyme Feminine / falling rhyme Inexact rhyme (imperfect rhyme, slant rhyme) Eye rhyme (sight rhyme)
Exact Rhyme (Perfect Rhyme) when words contain identical final sounds End rhyme – rhyme that occurs between words that end lines e. g. He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands. (Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The Eagle”) Internal Rhyme – rhyme between words within the same line e. g. , Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, (Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”)
Masculine vs. Feminine Rhyme Masculine / rising rhyme – when the rhymed words end with a stressed syllable e. g. , such day / away as rare / compare Feminine / falling rhyme – when the rhymed words end with an unstressed syllable e. g. , chiming / rhyming trouble / bubble seasons / reasons
Inexact (Imperfect) Rhyme (Also known as slant rhyme, half rhyme, near rhyme, off rhyme) English is relatively short in words with identical terminations (compared to languages such as Italian). Among poets writing in English, inexact rhyme has grown as a tradition because it provides poets with more options. Also, since the 19 th century, many poets have felt that the confident chimes of perfect rhymes are inappropriate for the tone of poetry that is about doubt, frustration, isolation, and grief. Inexact rhymes are created out of words with similar but not identical sounds. Either the vowel sounds are different while the consonants are the same, or vice versa. e. g. , seam / swim room / storm hear / fair bleak / broke could / solitude bird / crowd
Eye Rhyme (Sight Rhyme) The sounds rhymed are identical in spelling but different in pronunciation. In many instances these words were once pronounced alike, but over the course of time they have acquired different pronunciations. e. g. , love / prove bury / fury bough / cough daughter / laughter
Here is a contemporary sonnet in which the placement of caesurae (pauses) and the use of enjambement (run-on lines)—as well as the emphases created by rhythmic substitutions and feminine rhymes— help move us through the poem’s images, thoughts, and emotions in a fascinating, powerful way…
Kim Addonizio (b. 1954) First Poem for You (1994) I like to touch your tattoos in complete darkness, when I can’t see them. I’m sure of where they are, know by heart the neat lines of lightning pulsing just above your nipple, can find, as if by instinct, the blue swirls of water on your shoulder where a serpent twists, facing a dragon. When I pull you to me, taking you until we’re spent and quiet on the sheets, I love to kiss the pictures in your skin. They’ll last until you’re seared to ashes; whatever persists or turns to pain between us, they will still be there. Such permanence is terrifying. So I touch them in the dark; but touch them, trying.
In a great poem, sounds cannot be separated from “sense. ” Sound helps create a poem’s total effect, contributing to both its mood (or emotional atmosphere) and the author’s tone. If you talk about a poem’s sound elements, always consider how they contribute to the emotional atmosphere of the poem and help us “hear” the author’s tone or attitude (toward the topic or situation depicted in the poem, and even toward us, the reader).
A bird came down the Walk— He did not know I saw— He bit an Angleworm in halves And ate the fellow, raw, A poem by Emily Dickinson (1830 -1886) And then he drank a Dew 5 From a convenient grass— And then hopped sidewise to the Wall To let a beetle pass— He glanced with rapid eyes That hurried all around— 10 They looked like frightened beads, I thought— He stirred his Velvet Head Like one in danger, Cautious, I offered him a crumb And he unrolled his feathers And rowed him softer home— 15 Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam— Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon Leap, plashless as they swim. 20
- Slides: 36