Meter in Poetry: A New Theory

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 12
1.1 On different kinds of verse......Page 13
1.2 Other functions of the metrical grid......Page 19
1.3 Phrase and word boundaries may be disregarded in metrical verse......Page 22
1.4 The metrical grid......Page 23
1.5 How verse length is controlled......Page 32
1.6 Comparison with the traditional approach......Page 35
1.7 The strict meters of English verse......Page 38
1.8 Grid transformations......Page 40
1.9 Loose meters......Page 45
1.10 Appendix A: The metrical grids in music and in performance......Page 48
1.11 Appendix B: A note on the assignment of stresses to words......Page 51
2.1 The four basic strict meters......Page 56
2.2 Strict iambic meters......Page 57
2.3 Trochaic meters......Page 61
2.4 Anapaestic meters......Page 63
2.5 Dactylic meters......Page 66
2.6 Above Gridline 0......Page 69
2.7 Non-projection: some syllables are not counted......Page 72
2.8 On the operation of the iterative rules......Page 75
3.1 Loose iambic meter......Page 79
3.1.1 Are only stressed syllables counted?......Page 85
3.2 One-syllable groups within the iambic line......Page 87
3.3 Yet another definition of maximum......Page 90
3.3.1 ‘A short, sharp shock’: the molossus reinterpreted......Page 91
3.4 Loose anapaests in a poem by W. H. Auden......Page 92
3.5.1 Hopkins’s conventional iambic poetry......Page 94
3.5.2 Sprung Rhythm: loose iambic plus non-projection......Page 97
3.6 A note on a meter in The Waste Land......Page 102
3.7 The characteristics of a loose meter......Page 104
3.8 Ordered rules, and conditions......Page 105
4.1 Introduction......Page 106
4.2 Two general properties of Gridline 0 construction in Southern Romance......Page 107
4.3 The Spanish endecasilabo......Page 111
4.4 Italian: the Petrarchan paradigm......Page 123
4.4.1 Dante’s eleventh syllable......Page 128
4.5 Spanish arte mayor as loose anapaestic meter......Page 129
4.5.1 Unmetrical lines in the Laberinto......Page 137
4.6 Loose anapaestic meter in Galician-Portuguese cantigas......Page 138
4.7 A note on the saturnian verse of Latin......Page 142
5.1 Introduction......Page 145
5.2 The simple meters......Page 148
5.3 The alexandrin and other compound meters......Page 152
5.3.1 Villon’s meter......Page 155
5.4 Nine-syllable lines and related matters......Page 156
5.5 Grids without conditions......Page 160
5.6 The meter of the Chanson de Roland......Page 161
5.7 Conclusion......Page 164
6.1 Introduction......Page 165
6.2.1 Iambs......Page 166
6.2.2 Resolution in iambic meters......Page 169
6.2.3 Resolution in a sequence of five or six light syllables......Page 173
6.2.4 Splitting the line......Page 174
6.2.5 Trochees......Page 175
6.2.6 Cretic......Page 177
6.3.1 Dactylic hexameter: the traditional approach......Page 179
6.3.2 Dactylic hexameter reanalyzed as a loose trochaic meter......Page 181
6.3.4 The caesura rule......Page 185
6.3.5 Anapaests......Page 188
6.4 Aeolic meters......Page 190
6.4.1 Glyconic and telesillian......Page 191
6.4.2 Hipponactean......Page 193
6.4.3 Pherecratean......Page 194
6.4.5 Anacreontic and ionic: anaclasis as deletion......Page 195
6.5 Conclusion......Page 197
7.1 Circle 3 meters: rajaz, hazaj, and ramal......Page 198
7.2 Circle 4 meters: munsarih, muqtadab, mudari‘, xafıf, and mujtatt......Page 204
7.3 Circle 1 meters: basit, tawil, and madid......Page 208
7.4 Circle 5 meters: mutaqarib and mutadarik......Page 213
7.5 The sari‘ meter......Page 215
7.6 Circle 2 meters: kamil and wafir......Page 216
7.7 Summary of the main results......Page 219
7.8 The Judeo-Spanish poetry of the Middle Ages......Page 220
8.1 The Vedic meters......Page 226
8.1.1 The 12-syllable line with late caesura......Page 227
8.1.2 The 12-syllable line with early caesura......Page 228
8.1.3 11-syllable lines......Page 230
8.1.4 The 8-syllable line......Page 231
8.2 Classical anustubh......Page 233
8.3 The fixed syllabic meters of Classical Sanskrit......Page 234
8.3.1 Indravajra......Page 235
8.3.2 Vasantatilaka......Page 237
8.4.1 Malini......Page 239
8.4.2 Sragdhara......Page 241
8.4.3 Sardulavikridita......Page 243
8.5 Arya and other ‘mora-counting meters’......Page 244
9.1 Trochaic dainas......Page 250
9.2 Dactylic dimeters......Page 255
9.3 Trochaic and dactylic tetrameters......Page 257
9.4 Alternating trochaic trimeter and tetrameter......Page 258
9.5.1 A loose trochaic tetrameter......Page 259
9.5.2 A loose anapaestic dimeter......Page 260
9.6 Conclusion......Page 262
10.1.1 A Bedouin accentual meter......Page 263
10.1.2 Superheavy syllables in Hassaniya meter......Page 265
10.2 Tonal meters......Page 266
10.2.1 Chinese regulated verse......Page 267
10.2.2 Vietnamese ca dao......Page 271
10.3 Rhyme and meter......Page 272
10.4 The alliterative meter of Beowulf......Page 275
10.5 Conclusion......Page 279
11.1 Introduction......Page 280
11.2 Syntactic parallelism and meter......Page 281
11.3 Syllable counting in Old Testament metrical poetry......Page 283
11.4 Psalm 23: meter and gematriya......Page 285
11.5 The meter of Psalm 24......Page 288
11.6 The structure of Psalm 137......Page 291
11.7 Summary and conclusion......Page 295
Bibliography......Page 297
Index......Page 306