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 1
... rhythm . This book , then , addresses what is 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 ...
... rhythm . This book , then , addresses what is 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 ...
Page 10
... rhythm . It is worth noting that many of the critics most interested in poetic rhythm are poets themselves . I examine not only what I consider to be an essential fea- ture of what is generally called poetry , but also one that is one ...
... rhythm . It is worth noting that many of the critics most interested in poetic rhythm are poets themselves . I examine not only what I consider to be an essential fea- ture of what is generally called poetry , but also one that is one ...
Page 14
... rhythm ) offer comparable justifications . In this respect , the free verse of the Moderns poses a special problem . Compare Milton's preface to the comments of two Modern free - verse poets , T. S. Eliot and William Carlos Williams ...
... rhythm ) offer comparable justifications . In this respect , the free verse of the Moderns poses a special problem . Compare Milton's preface to the comments of two Modern free - verse poets , T. S. Eliot and William Carlos Williams ...
Page 16
... rhythm as severe as any under which Chaucer , Pope , or Tennyson worked " ( 356 ) . Period . End of entry . Hough asserts that free - verse poems have “ a planned and intricate organization " that is nonetheless " indescribable ” ( 173 ) ...
... rhythm as severe as any under which Chaucer , Pope , or Tennyson worked " ( 356 ) . Period . End of entry . Hough asserts that free - verse poems have “ a planned and intricate organization " that is nonetheless " indescribable ” ( 173 ) ...
Page 18
... rhythm ( an iambic line , e.g. , has a certain disposition of stressed syllables ) , those seeking to define free verse positively have sought to describe free verse's rhythm . While later critics such as Sutton and Dodd often insist on ...
... rhythm ( an iambic line , e.g. , has a certain disposition of stressed syllables ) , those seeking to define free verse positively have sought to describe free verse's rhythm . While later critics such as Sutton and Dodd often insist on ...
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