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
Results 1-5 of 52
Page 1
... perhaps the most pressing problem of twentieth- century poetics : how to define and understand the form that dominated the century . The difficulty of my task is compounded by the fact that there is little apparent agreement over the ...
... perhaps the most pressing problem of twentieth- century poetics : how to define and understand the form that dominated the century . The difficulty of my task is compounded by the fact that there is little apparent agreement over the ...
Page 3
... perhaps made most clear by H. T. Kirby - Smith's The Origins of Free Verse ( 1996 ) . In his treatment of the theory of organicism , Kirby- Smith refuses to " allow " the concept " as a basis for discussion of free verse . " Emerson's ...
... perhaps made most clear by H. T. Kirby - Smith's The Origins of Free Verse ( 1996 ) . In his treatment of the theory of organicism , Kirby- Smith refuses to " allow " the concept " as a basis for discussion of free verse . " Emerson's ...
Page 13
... perhaps to vulgar read- ers ” ; in fact , the blank - verse line used in the epic “ recoverd ” an “ ancient liberty " enjoyed by Homer , freeing the poem " from the troublesome and modern bondage of rhyming , " that , in longer poems ...
... perhaps to vulgar read- ers ” ; in fact , the blank - verse line used in the epic “ recoverd ” an “ ancient liberty " enjoyed by Homer , freeing the poem " from the troublesome and modern bondage of rhyming , " that , in longer poems ...
Page 16
... perhaps to the assertion , promi- nently forwarded by Max Eastman in 1916 , that free verse is “ Lazy Verse ” ( 139 ) . In short , the response to the unprovable claim that poets write free verse because they are too lazy to learn ...
... perhaps to the assertion , promi- nently forwarded by Max Eastman in 1916 , that free verse is “ Lazy Verse ” ( 139 ) . In short , the response to the unprovable claim that poets write free verse because they are too lazy to learn ...
Page 17
... perhaps to the temporary advantage of the critic . ( 23 ) Sutton's comments can be neatly separated into two categories . The first two sentences regard organic form , an important concept that I will return to later . The second two ...
... perhaps to the temporary advantage of the critic . ( 23 ) Sutton's comments can be neatly separated into two categories . The first two sentences regard organic form , an important concept that I will return to later . The second two ...
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