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. |
From inside the book
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Page 3
... create a stagnant and derivative poetry ” ; those following “ exclu- sively postmodern " notions " will sustain the creative energy " of " poetry's unend- ing design " ( 282 ) . Determining whether traditional or free verse better ...
... create a stagnant and derivative poetry ” ; those following “ exclu- sively postmodern " notions " will sustain the creative energy " of " poetry's unend- ing design " ( 282 ) . Determining whether traditional or free verse better ...
Page 6
... created a narrative , one that is somewhat different from that offered by most literary histories . I bring together canonical works in what may be called noncanonical ways , and introduce a fair number of noncanonical , or less ...
... created a narrative , one that is somewhat different from that offered by most literary histories . I bring together canonical works in what may be called noncanonical ways , and introduce a fair number of noncanonical , or less ...
Page 11
... created her line as an outgrowth of these influences , and spend some time defining the procedures of short - line poetry . Chapter 5 , like chapter 3 , uses the paradigms of its preceding chapter to read the career of William Carlos ...
... created her line as an outgrowth of these influences , and spend some time defining the procedures of short - line poetry . Chapter 5 , like chapter 3 , uses the paradigms of its preceding chapter to read the career of William Carlos ...
Page 17
... create his or her own set of rules . These rules are based on our personal thought patterns , our sense of how the poem should look on the page , our deepest feelings about life itself . ( 85 ) Here again , rigorous , unspecified rules ...
... create his or her own set of rules . These rules are based on our personal thought patterns , our sense of how the poem should look on the page , our deepest feelings about life itself . ( 85 ) Here again , rigorous , unspecified rules ...
Page 21
... create a quantitative tradi- tion . Lowell soon jumped on the quantitative bandwagon ; later that year , she told Joyce Kilmer that " to a certain extent , ' cadence ” ” is " dependent on quan- tity " ( Kilmer 8 ) . Likewise , Harriet ...
... create a quantitative tradi- tion . Lowell soon jumped on the quantitative bandwagon ; later that year , she told Joyce Kilmer that " to a certain extent , ' cadence ” ” is " dependent on quan- tity " ( Kilmer 8 ) . Likewise , Harriet ...
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