notes page 35-75

The Line

Prose:
 printed or written within the confines of margins.

Poetry:
no attention to margins, specifically the right margins.

Verse (to turn)
Poets such as sonnets need to understand what effects are created by the turning of the line at any of various possible points within a logical phrase or only at the conclusion of sentences, or only at the ends of logical units. Every turning is a meaningful decision, effect should be felt by readers.

Length and rhythm
1. In metrical verse, each line of poem can be divided into feet and each foot into stresses, to reveal the overall rhythmic pattern.
2. The process of dividing a line into its metrical feet and each foot into its individual parts is called scansion.
3. an iambic foot is one light stress followed by one heavy stress.
Iambic pentameter is common and widely used in English metrical verse.

Metrical Lines
One foot line: monometer
Two-foot line: dimeter
Three-foot line: trimeter
Four-foot line: tetrameter
Five-foot line: pentameter
Six-foot line: hexameter
Seven-foot line: heptameter
Eight-foot line: octameter

Metrical Feet and Symbols
Iamb: light stress followed by heavy stress
Trochee: heavy stress followed by light stress
Dactyl: heavy stress followed by two light stresses
Anapest: two light stresses followed by one heavy stress
Spondee: two equal stresses

Pentameter and tetrameter are different.
Tetrameter is a sense of quickness, spareness and a little agitation, which is not evoked in the five-foot lines, it can evoke a more intense sense of agitation and celebrity, one the other side of the five-foot lines lies the hexameter or alexandrine.
Pentameter line is the primary line used by the English poets not for any mysterious reasons, because the pentameter lines most nearly match the breath capacity of our English lungs, it fits without stress, and leaves little breath at the end.
The longer line suggests a greater than human power, it can seem by its simple endurance; it also indicates abundance, richness and sense of joy. In metrical verse, the lines may be all of the same length, but in many cases the pattern includes lines of varying length, thus complicating the whole mechanism.

Constancy

The reader, as he or she begins to read, quicly enters the rhythmic pattern of a poem. 

Rhythm is one of the most powerful of pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue. 

Nursery rhythm give this pleasure in a simple and wonderful way.

Readers fall deeply into the rhythm of the poem
2-3 lines


Variation

The difference between beats and rhythm

Variation can make the pattern more supportive and stronger.

People read it differently which creates variation



End and also beginning of lines 

The most important point in the line is the end of the line. The second most important point is the beginning of it. 
More poems begin with iambic meter than any other construction. The mood is relaxed, invitational-natural.
When a poem does begin with a heavy stress (metrical verse), it immediately signals to the reader that something dramatic is at hand. The similarity of sound at the end of two or more lines creates cohesion, order, and gives pleasure. 

Feminine endings tend to blur the end rhyme. So does slant rhyme. Masculine and true rhyme endings are forthright. And masculine true rhymes with words ending in mute sounds are the most emphatic rhymes of all- they slam the gate shut.

Turning the line

There is always a brief pause at the end of each line, it is part of the motion of the poem, the poet must decide where within the phrase itself to turn the line over.
Poet enjambs the line- turns the line so that a logical phrase is interrupted, speeds the line for two reasons: curiosity and reader will hurry.


Some Given forms

Couplet: aa bb cc dd 
Tercet: aaa bbb ccc ddd 
Quatrain: abab cdcd
Terza Rima: aba bcc cdc deu
Spenserian Stanza: abab bcbc

Sonnet: poem of four lines.

Stanza: used to determine lines, each stanza may have a specific meaning. 

Syllabic verse: pattern that is determined by the number of syllables from the first line of the first stanza. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 poems notes

1. I'm nobody! Who are you?: There are two stanzas, a relatively short poem. There are four lines in each stanza. Because of her anti-social personality, this poem reflects her own feelings of being unnoticed. The rhyme scheme is AABC DEFE. There is a contrast between Somebody and Nobody. The important words are capitalized. 2. Hope is the thing with feather There are three stanzas four lines for each stanza The simile used to describe hope as a bird all positive about hope. 3. Tell all the truth but tell it slant  There is only one stanza There are eight lines in this stanza. She criticizes how people are not willing to tell the actual truth Slant means that people need to indirectly face the truth. 4. A bird, came down a walk Five stanzas four lines in each stanza It describes how the poet sees a bird. Throughout the poem, the poet describes the bird's movement and details. All positive and vivid.
Read more

sample question

While some poems focus exclusively on a personal or private experience, others reflect on the place of the individual in the larger human community. In the work of at least two poets, explore the ways in which poems have conveyed the poet’s sense of the world beyond the private sphere.  As an Arabic who is born in the United States and have a diverse family with a heavy sense of culture environment, Naomi Shihab Nye has lots of experiences that can reflect the idea that though people have different identities, they are still all humans no matter what. More specifically, in her poems ‘My father and the Fig Tree’ and ‘The words under the words’, she expresses the idea that all humans try to adapt to different environment, even though it can be difficult.  In the poem ‘The words under the words’ Naomi has a detailed description of her grandmother’s life in the U.S. After reading this poem, it appears to me that Naomi tries to emphasise the idea that humans can adapt in a...
Read more

MLML reading notes Chapter 3-5

Continue from the previous chapter, Desiree eventually finds a young man who is injured from the accident, whose name is Daniel. She sees a broken car, which at that time she had no idea what it is. To comfort Daniel, Desiree sings a song and then other peasants from the village appear. They bring Daniel back to their place and look after him. At the meantime, Desiree thinks that all this is fate, it is the will of God that brought this man to their place. Apparently, Daniel is from the wealthy part, but he does not tell them what his specific identity is. Peasants send M.J and M.B to the city to find someone. After a few days, M.J and M.B come back. There is a storm. Mama Euralie has a mental breakdown and starts to curse at God about her life; she also worries that one-day Desiree will leave the village and never comes back. There are also lots of praying going on. Daniel's father comes to the village in a helicopter, which is something peasants have never seen befo...
Read more