Rhythm and Sound in Poetry

[Neophyte]

Okay, guys, I want all your...knowledge. http://www.everypoet.com/poetry/poetry_forums/smile.gif (And don't you dare say "Go fish"!)

I think I'm improving certain aspects of my poetry. (Well, we can always hope, eh?) But two of the things I'm clueless on (or near-so) are rhythm and sound.

For rhythm, I understand stressed vs. unstressed syllables, BUT I don't know which orders or combinations are better than others.

For sound, I think I understand alliteration (Although, I fear I use it far too often.), BUT I don't know what else I should be listening for when I read my (or another's) poem aloud.

Please, enlighten me! http://www.everypoet.com/poetry/poetry_forums/smile.gif

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Heidi
"So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when--shouldn't it be the other way around?"

music.jd.2b@justice.com
www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html (http://www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html)

[Rachel Lindley]

A great resource on the rhythm and sound of poetry is Robert Pinsky's The Sounds of Poetry. I suggest you pick up a copy.

It's funny, I was just thinking about this very subject no more than an hour or two ago. It seems that some people naturally have rhythm and some people must really make an effort to consciously hear the varying nature of the human voice. It reminded me of those people who just can't keep time to music. I'm sure you've heard the saying "white men can't dance." Heh heh.

When it comes to stressed and unstressed sounds, I always think of the voice, and more specifically poetry, as a form of music. One wants to have some tempo changes in there to make things interesting and appealing. If you have the same steady beat going on and on, it gets monotonous.

The more light stresses one has, the faster the music. The more heavy stresses present, the more ponderous the music is. When the voice stresses a syllable, the pitch rises, creating more focus and emphasis. When it doesn't, it can almost skip over it sometimes. If one has enough unstressed syllables in a row, the voice can even begin to meld syllables together into one (called elision), especially if you have a lot of smooth, open sounds with no glottal stops.

Then when you take into consideration the sounds made, which ones are stressed and which ones aren't, you get a feeling for the speed and pitch of the voice. For instance, if you have a lot of short sounds, with a lot of unvoiced consonants like "t" or "k" or "ch" and short vowal sounds like "eh" or "ah", it moves quickly and sharply, almost as if someone is spitting out the words. In combination with the amount of stressed and unstressed sounds, you can vary the speed, the mood or atmosphere created. Conversely, if a line is filled with long, voiced consonants with no glottal stop like "w", "m", "n", and "v" mixed with long, open vowel sounds like a long "ay", "oh", and "aw", the line reads more slowly and has a smoother sound, thus slowing the piece down and perhaps creating a more somber or more peaceful atmosphere.

Some of the most interesting poetry to read uses a unique combination of sounds and stresses to vary the tempo and thus build tension and interest. A piece written entirely in iambic pentameter (five units of "weak-strong" syllabic combinations) shouldn't read in a sing-songy voice even though the stresses are all "weak-strong", because the varying sounds change the tempo throughout the piece. The strong stress of a preceding iambic foot (specific combinations of stresses are called feet -- iambic is "weak-strong", trochaic is "strong-weak", anapestic is "weak-weak-strong", etc.) may be weaker than the weak stress of the iambic foot that follows. This creates an interesting rhythm that stops the voice from falling into a nursery rhyme sing-songy rhythm. However, if a beginner poet is writing a sonnet and starts throwing in a lot of trochaic feet and maybe a couple of anapests for good measure, the rhythm can stutter and interfere with the reading of the piece.

Although free verse has no set stress pattern, one must still keep the effect that the piece's rhythm has in mind. Are there a lot of heavy stresses all in a row? A lot of light, unstressed syllables? Taking into consideration the subject of the piece, does that help or hinder? Does the stress-unstress pattern allow for a smooth read, or does it stop and stutter? Does that help or hinder the piece? What about the vowel/consonant choices? Do they speed up or slow down the piece and what kind of mood or atmosphere do those specific sounds imply? These are all important questions to ask oneself. The best way to learn about these things is to read poetry, both classic and modern, and see how the poets experiment with those sounds and rhythms to build tension, speed, and mood.

Rachel

[This message has been edited by TheBroad (edited 01-15-2001).]

[Neophyte]

Many thanks, Rachel!

I will pick up the book when my pocket allows, but your comments have given me something to chew on in the meantime. http://www.everypoet.com/poetry/poetry_forums/smile.gif

I only wish my poetic rhythm were as well-developed as my musical rhythm. Perhaps I should go practice my etudes for a while to get some ideas.

Thanks again!

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Heidi
"So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when--shouldn't it be the other way around?"

music.jd.2b@justice.com
www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html (http://www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html)

[This message has been edited by Neophyte (edited 01-14-2001).]

[clive]

There's also a nice, accessible, slim volume called "Rhyme's Reason" by John Hollander which discusses some of these issues and gives handy examples.

[Neophyte]

Thanks for the reference, clive! http://www.everypoet.com/poetry/poetry_forums/smile.gif

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Heidi
"So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when--shouldn't it be the other way around?"

music.jd.2b@justice.com
www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html (http://www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html)

[Neophyte]

***Note to self: Remember to refer to Rachel's response (sheesh!) to Erika's flashcards thread.***

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Heidi
"So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when--shouldn't it be the other way around?"

music.jd.2b@justice.com
www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html (http://www.geocities.com/music_jd_2b/index.html)

[This message has been edited by Neophyte (edited 01-16-2001).]

[Andrea345]

nudging this piece of Rachel's advice back out of p.2. Would it be possible to get this added to the Blurbs thread? The questions she poses at the end of the article are exactly what I'm trying to look at in my "free verse."

And yes, there are those of us who can be classified as "rhythmically challenged". Our only hope is that intensive therapy will provide a solution....
-a


[This message has been edited by Andrea345 (edited 05-08-2001).]