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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Page 8
... implies a relatively stable communal interpretation of tradi- tions for which there is little evidence . Certainly , the undergraduates I have taught in survey courses can read excerpts from Childe Harold quite untouched by the shadow ...
... implies a relatively stable communal interpretation of tradi- tions for which there is little evidence . Certainly , the undergraduates I have taught in survey courses can read excerpts from Childe Harold quite untouched by the shadow ...
Page 18
... implies that what she describes is so clearly manifest that any researcher could detect it . A year later , also in Poetry , Amy Lowell picked up Henderson's argument , renaming her “ wavelengths ” as “ simply curves , ” and reiterating ...
... implies that what she describes is so clearly manifest that any researcher could detect it . A year later , also in Poetry , Amy Lowell picked up Henderson's argument , renaming her “ wavelengths ” as “ simply curves , ” and reiterating ...
Page 19
... imply that free verse is closer to the essential nature of poetry than traditional verse that free verse is the naked exercise of the very law of poetry . This idea implies a cri- tique of traditional versification and an ontology of ...
... imply that free verse is closer to the essential nature of poetry than traditional verse that free verse is the naked exercise of the very law of poetry . This idea implies a cri- tique of traditional versification and an ontology of ...
Page 21
... implies that writing in , say , strict iambic pentameter is like writ- ing a symphony using only quarter notes ... imply a potentially devastating critique of traditional versification . Jannaris argues that Attic versification is ...
... implies that writing in , say , strict iambic pentameter is like writ- ing a symphony using only quarter notes ... imply a potentially devastating critique of traditional versification . Jannaris argues that Attic versification is ...
Page 22
... imply ) that free verse follows no law but the very law of poetry . Traditional versification , on the other hand , is based upon abstractions that are archaic if not wholly false , and upheld by blind adherence to received authority ...
... imply ) that free verse follows no law but the very law of poetry . Traditional versification , on the other hand , is based upon abstractions that are archaic if not wholly false , and upheld by blind adherence to received authority ...
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