Meter, substitutions, pauses

Prosody

The recurring pattern of sounds that give poems written in verse their distinctive rhythms

Accentual-syllabic meter is based both on number of syllables in a line and on the pattern of stresses in each metrical unit, or foot.

Meter

A cha pel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the greenTwo unstressed followed by one stressed

Anapest

Meter - 1

˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’A Cha / pel was built / in the midst, ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ Where I / used to play / on the ’greenThree feet each line (# of times stress pattern repeated per line)

Three feet + Anapest = anapestic trimeter

Meter - 1

The woods / de cay, / the woods / de cay / and fall,

The va / pors weep / their bur /then to / the ground,

Man comes / and tills / the field / and lies / be neath,

And af / ter ma / ny a sum / mer dies / the swan.

Meter - 2

Jew els / in joy / de signed

To rav / ish the sen / su ous mind

Lie light / less, all / their spar / kles bleared / and black / and blind. Unstressed followed by stressed

Lines 1-2 have three feet – iambic trimeter•Line 3 has six feet – iambic hexameter

Meter - 3

Earth, re / ceive an / hon oured / guest;

Will iam / Yeats is / laid to / rest.

Let the / I rish / ves sel / lie

Emp tied / of its / po et / ry.•Stressed followed by unstressed•Four feet per line•Trochaic tetrameter •Catalectic last foot

Meter - 4

When a man / hath no free / dom to fight / for at home,

Let him com / bat for that / of his neigh / bors;

Let him think / of the glo / ries of Greece / and of Rome,

And get knocked / on the head / for his la / bors.

Meter - 5

When a man / hath no free / dom to fight / for at home,

Let him com / bat for that / of his neigh / bors;

Let him think / of the glo / ries of Greece / and of Rome,

And get knocked / on the head / for his la / bors

Anapestic tetrameter alternating with anapestic trimeter with an extra unstressed foot (feminine ending) in lines two and four

Meter - 5

Any variant foot within a line that consists predominantly of another metrical patternSpondaic foot – two stressed syllables in a row

Trochee at the start of an iambic line

Anapestic foot within an iambic line

Catalectic – at the end of a trochaic or dactylic line

Substitutions

Lines that end with a strong stress are said to have a masculine ending.

Lines that end in an unstressed syllable are said to have a feminine ending.

Substitutions

Ah! Well – a- day! What e vil looks

Had I from old and young!

In stead of the cross, the Al ba tross

A bout my neck was hung.Predominant pattern – Unstressed followed by stressed

iamb

Substitutions - 1

Ah! Well / -a-day! / what e / vil looks

Had I / from old / and young!

In stead / of the cross, / the Al / ba tross

A bout / my neck / was hung.Predominantly Iambic (Unstressed followed by stressed)• Tetrameter alternating with trimeter: ballad meter• Spondee: the first foot of lines 1 & 2; extra unstressed syllable in line three: “of the cross”

Substitutions - 1

The hand / that held / my wrist

Was bat / tered on / one knuc / kle;

At ev / ery step / you missed

My right / ear scraped / a buc / kle.Iambic trimeter (unstressed followed by stressed; three feet to line)

An extra unstressed syllable at the ends of lines 2 & 4 (feminine endings); a spondee at “ear scraped”

Substitutions - 2

I will / a rise / and go now, / for al / ways night / and day

I hear / lake wa / ter lap / ping with / low sounds / by the shore.Iambic hexameter – six feet; unstressed – stressed

Spondees at “go now,” and “low sounds”; and extra unstressed syllable at “and” in line 1 and “by the” in line 2

Substitutions - 3

The dew / of the morn / ing

Sunk chill / on my brow –

It felt / like the warn / ing

Of what / I feel now.Two unstressed followed by stressed; two feet

Missing unstressed syllable at the start of each line; extra unstressed syllable at the end of lines 1 & 3 (feminine ending); spondees at “sunk chill” and “I feel now,” with an extra stressed syllable in the latter foot

Substitutions - 4

Wo man much / missed, how you / call to me, / call to me,

Say ing that / now you are / not as you / were

When you had / changed from the / one who was / all to me,

But as at / first, when / our day was / fair.Four feet of a stressed followed by two unstressed

– dactylic tetrameter

Missing unstressed syllables ends of lines 2 & 4; caesura 2nd foot of 4th line; spondee at “our day”

Substitutions - 5

End-stopped • Contains complete thought (complete

sentence or independent clause)

• Distinct pause at the end, usually indicated by a mark of punctuation

• Calls attention to the complete thought expressed

Pauses

Enjambed lines• Sentence or clause continues for

two or more lines

• No punctuation appears at the end of the enjambed lines

Pauses

Caesura• A pause in the midst of a verse

line

• Indicated by a mark of punctuation

• Creates a shift in the rhythmic pattern which parallels a shift in the focus

Pauses

How do I love thee? // Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, // when felling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.End-stopped: complete thought ends with line

Enjambed: thought continues to next line.

Pauses - 1

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, // of golden daffodils.

Pauses - 2

What the hammer? // what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? // what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

Pauses - 3

No longer mourn for me when I am dead

Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell

Give warning to the world that I am fled

From this vile world, // with vilest worms to dwell.

Pauses - 4

The flowers do fade, // and wanton fields

To wayward winter reckoning yields;

A honey tongue, // a heart of gall,

Is fancy’s spring, // but sorrow’s fall.

Pauses - 5

’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘

Sun days / too my / fa ther / got up / ear ly

˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ’ ’

and put / his clothes / on in / the blue / black cold,

˘ ˘ ’ ’ ˘ ’

then with / cracked hands / that ached

˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ’ ’ ˘ ’

from la / bor in / the week / day wea / ther made

’ ˘ ’ ’ ’ ’ ˘ ’ ’

banked fires / blaze. // No one / ev er / thanked him.

Those Winter Sundays

’ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘

I’d wake / and hear / the cold / splin / ter ing, / break ing.

˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’

When the rooms / were warm, / he’d call,

˘ ’ ˘ ’ ’ ’ ˘ ’

and slow / ly I / would rise / and dress,

’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ’

fear ing / the chron / ic an / gers of / that house,

Those Winter Sundays – cont’d

’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ˘ ˘ ’

Speak ing / in dif / fer ent ly / to him,

’ ’ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’

who / had dri / ven out / the cold

˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ’ ˘ ’

and po / lished my / good shoes / as well.

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

What did / I know, // what did / I know

˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘

of love’s / aus tere / and lone / ly off i ces?

Those Winter Sundays – cont’d

Reminiscence of the narrator’s difficult childhood.

Blames father – resentment made him treat father with indifference

Yet, looking back remembers the “austere and lonely offices” that his father performed for him

Diction? colloquial

Tone? conversational

Those Winter Sundays