A History of Free VerseThis book examines the most salient and misunderstood aspect of twentieth-century poetry, free verse. Although the form is generally approached as if it were one indissoluble lump, it is actually a group of differing poetic genres proceeding from much different assumptions. Separate chapters on T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, H.D., and William Carlos Williams elucidate many of these assumptions and procedures, while other chapters address more general theoretical questions and trace the continuity of Modern poetics in contemporary poetry. Taking a historical and aesthetic approach, this study demonstrates that many of the forms considered to have been invented in the Modern period actually extend underappreciated traditions. Not only does this book examine the classical influence on Modern poetry, it also features discussions of the poetics of John Milton, Abraham Cowley, Matthew Arnold, and a host of lesser-known poets. Throughout it is an investigation of the prosodic issues that free verse foregrounds, particularly those focusing on the reader's part in interpreting poetic rhythm. |
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... Wallace Stevens Chapter Four : Straight Talk , Straight as the Greeks Chapter Five : The Parsing Meter and Beyond Conclusion : Avoiding Prosody ? Notes Works Cited Index 101 135 179 223 237 255 273 Acknowledgments “ 1 ( a ” . Copyright ...
... Wallace Stevens Chapter Four : Straight Talk , Straight as the Greeks Chapter Five : The Parsing Meter and Beyond Conclusion : Avoiding Prosody ? Notes Works Cited Index 101 135 179 223 237 255 273 Acknowledgments “ 1 ( a ” . Copyright ...
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... Wallace Stevens . Copyright 1923 and renewed 1951 by Wallace Stevens . Reprinted by permission of Alfred A Knopf , a Division of Random House , Inc. " Fine Work with Pitch and Copper " [ excerpt ] , “ The Descent of Winter ” [ excerpt ] ...
... Wallace Stevens . Copyright 1923 and renewed 1951 by Wallace Stevens . Reprinted by permission of Alfred A Knopf , a Division of Random House , Inc. " Fine Work with Pitch and Copper " [ excerpt ] , “ The Descent of Winter ” [ excerpt ] ...
Page 2
... Wallace Stevens , a poet who could be as aloof from the cultural wars as Pound was confrontational . “ Why do you scorn free verse ? " he wrote Ferdinand Reyher . “ Isn't it the only kind of verse written with any kind of aesthetic ...
... Wallace Stevens , a poet who could be as aloof from the cultural wars as Pound was confrontational . “ Why do you scorn free verse ? " he wrote Ferdinand Reyher . “ Isn't it the only kind of verse written with any kind of aesthetic ...
Page 6
... Wallace Stevens , for example , is replete with offhand remarks about the similarities between the practice of these authors and that of previous generations . In their entries on free verse , poetry handbooks often mention many of the ...
... Wallace Stevens , for example , is replete with offhand remarks about the similarities between the practice of these authors and that of previous generations . In their entries on free verse , poetry handbooks often mention many of the ...
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... Wallace Stevens's poems use prosody to build meaning . Chapters 4 and 5 explore short - line poetry . Chapter 4 surveys the history of the short line and shows its connection to classical literature and translation theory . I then show ...
... Wallace Stevens's poems use prosody to build meaning . Chapters 4 and 5 explore short - line poetry . Chapter 4 surveys the history of the short line and shows its connection to classical literature and translation theory . I then show ...
Contents
13 | |
61 | |
The Haunting of Wallace Stevens | 101 |
Straight Talk Straight as the Greeks | 135 |
The Parsing Meter and Beyond | 179 |
Avoiding Prosody? | 223 |
Notes | 237 |
Works Cited | 255 |
Index | 273 |
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic alliteration approach argues Arnold asserted begins Blue Guitar cadence called century chapter claim classical Coleridge Coleridge's consider contemporary couplets Cowley Cowley's create critics decorum describes Dover Beach E. E. Cummings Eliot English enjambment essay example feel free verse free-verse theory genre grammatical Greek Henley iambic pentameter iambs idea Imagist imitate implies insists irregular ode language Letters line breaks lineal form long-line loose lyric means metaphor metrical Milton's natural nineteenth-century notion organic organicism pattern perhaps phrase Pindar poem poem's poet's poets Pope Pound prose Prufrock reader regular rhyme and meter rhythmic rules scansion seems sense short lines short-line sonnet sort sound speaker speech stanza Stevens Stevens's stress suggests syllables tetrameter thing thought tion traditional prosody traditional verse translation triadic line trimeter twentieth-century variable foot vers libre versification visual Wallace Stevens Whitman William Carlos Williams Williams Williams's words writing wrote