Meter and Meaning: An Introduction to Rhythm in Poetry

by Carper; Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780415311755
• ISBN10: 0415311756
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-09-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

InMeter and Meaningpoet Thomas Carper and distinguished scholar Derek Attridge join forces to communicate a new, user-friendly way to explore the rhythms of poetry in English. Side-stepping the jargon that often runs through discussions of meter, the authors begin with the basic idea of poetry as a performance and suggest an entirely fresh approach to reading poetic texts. As they guide us through exercises and ideas, they equip us with a new understanding of the relationship between meter and meaning in poems of all periods. Assuming no previous knowledge of meter, the authors ensure a smooth passage to an advanced knowledge of poetic rhythms. Perhaps even more importantly, they make studying meter a pleasure and reading poetry a revelation. This is the only guide to meter you will ever need and a must-read for anyone who wants to study, write or better appreciate poetic texts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Basic Rhythms

Further Practice

Beats: B, b, [B]

Further Practice

Offbeats: o, O, -o-, [o], o

Further Practice

Scan-ning Poems

Further Practice

Rhythmic Figures

Names and Labels

Meter and Meaning

Identifying Meters and Stanza-forms

Where to Go from Here

Scansion Symbols

Afterword

Index

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