popeye prosody
Iamb what Iamb... (Popeye philosophy)
so far so good, the beginning of Stephen Fry's book is very educational.
I'm encouraged to adopt three rules; tools with which to make the journey more meaningful.
I'm learning about the basic building blocks of poetry, starting with stress and the iambic pentametre. I find this difficult to be honest because the more I think about it the more I go wrong. It comes easier when I don't try. The problem is hearing all those awful actors reading poetry with exaggerated and often misplaced stress on certain syllables - I'm doing this myself! though when I read like a normal bloke, it's hard to notice the natural stresses on polysyllabic words - but with perseverance it's improving.
So, an iamb is a two syllable element with a rise or stress on the second syllable, like appears, today and iamb (pronounced i-yam).
a pentametre is a measure of five elements, so an iambic pentametre is five iambs (or ten syllables where each even numbered syllable is naturally stressed). It is also known as a heroic line. so, that's what I've learned.
To consolidate, I am instructed to come up with some iambic pentametres of my own, off-the-cuff, very quickly. I hope I got it right. Here's the ten;
the clock is twenty minutes fast today
i run but tiredness trips my aching feet
a bruise appears where none appeared before
my shoe is loose my sock is falling down
erase those foolish marks and draw a line
he's tall because his legs are very thin
money is tight so daddy looks for work
this sugar's sweet and costs an arm and leg
no sense to make a piglet ride a sow
come rain and shine the rainbow arcs my way
Can you feel the rhythm? I was told to concentrate on the metre, not try to make sense! :o)
so far so good, the beginning of Stephen Fry's book is very educational.
I'm encouraged to adopt three rules; tools with which to make the journey more meaningful.
- Take your time - poems can't be read too slowly, but they can be read too fast!
- Do not look for immediate meaning - just enjoy the flow of words, the meaning may come much later...but don't worry about this.
- Always carry a notebook and pencil for those moments - flashes - of inspiration.
I'm learning about the basic building blocks of poetry, starting with stress and the iambic pentametre. I find this difficult to be honest because the more I think about it the more I go wrong. It comes easier when I don't try. The problem is hearing all those awful actors reading poetry with exaggerated and often misplaced stress on certain syllables - I'm doing this myself! though when I read like a normal bloke, it's hard to notice the natural stresses on polysyllabic words - but with perseverance it's improving.
So, an iamb is a two syllable element with a rise or stress on the second syllable, like appears, today and iamb (pronounced i-yam).
a pentametre is a measure of five elements, so an iambic pentametre is five iambs (or ten syllables where each even numbered syllable is naturally stressed). It is also known as a heroic line. so, that's what I've learned.
To consolidate, I am instructed to come up with some iambic pentametres of my own, off-the-cuff, very quickly. I hope I got it right. Here's the ten;
the clock is twenty minutes fast today
i run but tiredness trips my aching feet
a bruise appears where none appeared before
my shoe is loose my sock is falling down
erase those foolish marks and draw a line
he's tall because his legs are very thin
money is tight so daddy looks for work
this sugar's sweet and costs an arm and leg
no sense to make a piglet ride a sow
come rain and shine the rainbow arcs my way
Can you feel the rhythm? I was told to concentrate on the metre, not try to make sense! :o)
posted by Ian russell at 2:07 AM
3 Comments:
it is a good idea to read it out loud - or at least with your mouth moving over the words. I am in doubt about the line;
money is tight so daddy looks for work
where occurs the stress on money? mo-ney or mo-ney... :o/
I think maybe I was right after all.
there are few poems that make me feel the desire to read them out loud...why is that? I do not know...:)
i agree. and it is difficult to find a place where you can do this on your own without people thinking you are crazy!
but it is quite like listening to music and then dancing to music. when you dance you feel a different rhythm sometimes. more intense.
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