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 5
... important fiction . He is quick to add that calling these assump- tions “ fictions ' is not to judge their truth value , not to call them wrong or false ” ( 5 ) . The fact that these fictions have generated so much fine poetry attests ...
... important fiction . He is quick to add that calling these assump- tions “ fictions ' is not to judge their truth value , not to call them wrong or false ” ( 5 ) . The fact that these fictions have generated so much fine poetry attests ...
Page 8
... important contribution to the debate on the politics of poetic form . I have just argued that it makes no sense to say that alternating ten stressed and slack syllables is political ; instead , the more accurate formulation is that ...
... important contribution to the debate on the politics of poetic form . I have just argued that it makes no sense to say that alternating ten stressed and slack syllables is political ; instead , the more accurate formulation is that ...
Page 10
... important beliefs about the nature of poetry , the way that poems are composed , and how readers apprehend poetic rhythm . After explaining the prosodic problem that free verse foregrounds ( and which makes the term difficult to define ) ...
... important beliefs about the nature of poetry , the way that poems are composed , and how readers apprehend poetic rhythm . After explaining the prosodic problem that free verse foregrounds ( and which makes the term difficult to define ) ...
Page 17
... important concept that I will return to later . The second two sentences , however , constitute a significant statement of belief . Why shouldn't some superintelligent , hyperaesthetic genius be able to fashion an explanation more ...
... important concept that I will return to later . The second two sentences , however , constitute a significant statement of belief . Why shouldn't some superintelligent , hyperaesthetic genius be able to fashion an explanation more ...
Page 19
... important for this discussion , he wishes to bifurcate what we mean when we say poetic tradi- tion . On the one hand is the mistaken tradition of mainstream nineteenth- century poetics ; on the other is the tradition of poetry itself ...
... important for this discussion , he wishes to bifurcate what we mean when we say poetic tradi- tion . On the one hand is the mistaken tradition of mainstream nineteenth- century poetics ; on the other is the tradition of poetry itself ...
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