A Discussion of Meter

[nyeldell]

Hello all...

I was just wondering if one of the moderators, who all seem to be very adequate in explaining basics of poetry, would be so kind as to give us (particularly me) a "blurb" on meter. I'm having a bit of trouble recognizing stressed and unstressed syllables in certain words, but I would also like to hear your thoughts as to where you would apply a certain type of meter. For instance, I was told that in a poem about a lava lamp I recently posted, iambic hexameter would be better than my choice of trochaic trimeter to enhance flow. How am I to make this decision? All comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Nathan :-)

[JohnBoddie]

Nathan,

The best introduction to meter is probably Robert Pinsky's book, "The Sounds of Peotry." It's readily available for purchase and you may be able to find it at your local library.

Meter requires much more than a "blurb" to communicate its essential points.

JB

[nyeldell]

JohnBoddie-

I've seen this book mentioned somewhere on this board once or twice but never got that this was its subject matter. Thank you for pointing that out, I will go grab that book now :-)

Nathan :-)

[clive]

While you're at i, look out for John Hollander's "Rhyme's Reason" - did me the power of good. Also, Lewis Turco's "New Book Of Forms" is pretty damn good, too.

[nyeldell]

Clive-

Thanks... I picked up the Pinsky book today, and I'll grab those two on my next trip to the book store...

Nathan :-)

[This message has been edited by nyeldell (edited 02-24-2001).]

[Mandolin]

Metrical stress and the dictionary stress are not the same thing, though they interact in interesting ways.

Timothy Steele's All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing has the most comprehensive and helpful treatment of meter and other formal elements of verse that I've seen -- far more useful, I think, than Pinsky or Fussell's Poetic Meter and Poetic Form. Another good one is Alfred Corn's The Poem's Heartbeat.
Steele's Missing Measure's is a good analysis of how and why so many 20th poets came to abandon one of their basic tools -- a very great error, IMNSHO.

(I have corrected the speeling of the title of Corn's book)

[This message has been edited by Mandolin (edited 03-01-2001).]

[nyeldell]

Mandolin-

Thank you so much for your reccomendations! I will be sure to check them out. Thanks again...

Nathan :-)