FOUR B BEATS TO THE L LINE.
Wordsworth wrote 'Daffodils' in straight four-beat tetrameters.
I wand wander'd lone lonely as as a a cloud cloudThat floats floats on on high high o'er o'er vales vales and and hills hillsWhen all all at at once once I I saw saw a a crowd crowd,A host host, of gold golden daff daffodils; Tetrameter, the four-stress line, is immensely popular in English verse. If iambic pentameter, the Heroic Line, may be described as the great joint of beef, then tetrameters are the sandwichesthe everyday form if you like, and no less capable of greatness. If you ask someone to write a poetic ditty on a Valentine's card or something similar, nine times out of ten they will write tetrameters, whether they do so consciously or not: the four-beat instinct is deep within us, much as in music the four/four time signature is so standard as to be the default: you don't have to write it in the score, just a letter C for Common Time.
Four stresses also mark the base length of a form we will meet later called the ballad ballad, where they usually alternate with three-stress lines, as in the anonymous seventeenth-century 'Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens': And many was the feather-bedThat fluttered on the foam;And many was the good lord's sonThat never more came home.
Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner': The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,The furrow followed free:We were the first that ever burstInto that silent sea.
and Oscar Wilde's 'Ballad of Reading Gaol': I never saw a man who lookedWith such a wistful eyeUpon that little tent of blueWhich prisoners call the sky.
In each of these ballad verses the first and third lines have four stresses (eight syllables) and the second and fourth lines have three (six syllables):
It might have struck you that all three extracts could have come from the same poem, despite their each being separated by roughly a hundred years. We will hold that thought until we come to look at the ballad later. You will remember, I hope, that the Earl of Oxford's duff heptameters and Kipling's rather better managed ones seemed to beg to be split into a similar arrangement: My life through lingering long is lodged,In lair of loathsome ways,Yes, makin' mock o' uniformsThat guard you while you sleep Tetrameters, even if they follow ballad form and alternate with trimeters, don't need need to have the swing and narrative drive of a ballad: they can be used in more lyrical and contemplative poetry too, as we have already seen with Wordsworth's use of them for his daffodils. Emily Dickinson (1830-86) is perhaps the poet who most completely mastered the reflective aspect of the four-beat/three-beat measure. Almost none of her poetry is in lines of longer than four feet, yet its atmosphere of depth, privacy and (often sad) thoughtfulness is a world away from lusty narrative ballads. to have the swing and narrative drive of a ballad: they can be used in more lyrical and contemplative poetry too, as we have already seen with Wordsworth's use of them for his daffodils. Emily Dickinson (1830-86) is perhaps the poet who most completely mastered the reflective aspect of the four-beat/three-beat measure. Almost none of her poetry is in lines of longer than four feet, yet its atmosphere of depth, privacy and (often sad) thoughtfulness is a world away from lusty narrative ballads.
71222Because I could not stop for deathHe kindly stopped for meThe carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.1612The Auctioneer of PartingHis 'Going, going, gone'Shouts even from the Crucifix,And brings his Hammer downHe only sells the Wilderness,The prices of DespairRange from a single human HeartTo Twonot any more Lord Byron shows that pure four-beat tetrameters can be blissfully lyrical: note the initial trochaic substitution in the last line.
She walks in beauty like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skiesAnd all that's best of dark and brightMeets in her aspect and her eyes.
While Humbert Wolfe demonstrates here their appropriateness for comic satire: You cannot hope to bribe or twist,Thank God, the British journalist.But seeing what the man will doUnbribed, there's no occasion to.
The above examples are of course in iambic iambic four-beats. four-beats.
Mary Sidney Countess of Pembroke's metrical version of Psalm 71 is written in trochaic trochaic tetrameters: tetrameters:
Lord, on thee thee my my trust trust is is ground grounded:Leave me me not not with with shame shame con confounded As is Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha Song of Hiawatha:
Often stopped stopped and and gazed gazed im imploringAt the the trembl trembling Star Star of of Eve Evening,At the the tend tender Star Star of of Wom Woman;And they they heard heard him him murm murmur soft softly Now look at the following two four-stress lines, which reiterate the point I made earlier about question and answer: the obvious but crucial difference in the way each foot as it were distributes its weight.
Trochees end end their their lines lines in in weak weaknessIambic lines lines re resolve with with strength strength But as we know, iambic lines don't have have to end with a stressed syllable: you can add an extra weak syllable ( to end with a stressed syllable: you can add an extra weak syllable (hypermetric addition). Similarly, trochaic lines can have their weak ending dropped ( addition). Similarly, trochaic lines can have their weak ending dropped (catalectic subtraction). In both cases you're either adding or subtracting a subtraction). In both cases you're either adding or subtracting a weak weak syllable: the number of syllable: the number of stresses stresses stays the same. stays the same.
Tyger, ty tyger bu burning bright brightIn the the for forests of of the the night night Blake's famous opening lines drop the natural weak ending of the fourth trochees, giving a seven syllable count and a strong resolution.
Dum-di, dum dum-di, dum dum-di dum dum or Trochee, tro trochee, tro trochee troke troke The full trochaic line 'Tiger, tiger burning brightly' would be rather fatuous, don't we feel? The conclusiveness of a strong ending frames the image so much more pleasingly. Here is the opening to Keats's poem 'Fancy': Ever let the Fancy roam,Pleasure never is at home:At a touch sweet Pleasure melteth,Like to bubbles when rain pelteth; Both lines of the first couplet (a couplet couplet is a pair of rhyming lines) have their final weak endings docked. The second couplet is of four full trochees. Why? is a pair of rhyming lines) have their final weak endings docked. The second couplet is of four full trochees. Why?
Well, at the risk of taking us back to English classes, it is worth considering this, for the sake, if not of appreciation, then at least of one's own poetry. The strong endings of the opening give a sense of the epigrammatic and purposeful: they offer a firm opening statement: Ever let the Fancy roam roam,Pleasure never is at home home: The weak endings of 'melteth' and 'pelteth' (after all, in his time Keats could perfectly well have said 'melts' and 'pelts') echo the meaning of the image echo the meaning of the image by melting and popping to their end rather than banging to a solid conclusion. Sweet Pleasure's evanescence is evoked by the evanescence of the metre. by melting and popping to their end rather than banging to a solid conclusion. Sweet Pleasure's evanescence is evoked by the evanescence of the metre.
At a touch sweet Pleasure At a touch sweet Pleasure melt melteth,Like to bubbles when rain pelt pelteth; Did he consciously consciously set out to do this and for that reason? Well, I think someone with a sensitive ear for the rhythms and cadences of verse wouldn't need to be taught something like that. To anybody with the slightest instinct such use in metre would come as naturally as finding the right musical phrase for the right emotion comes to a composer. It is true, however, that Keats from an early age completely soaked himself in poetry and (despite being labelled a 'Cockney poet' by literary snobs of the time) experimented all his life with poetic form and constantly wrote about prosody and chewed over its nuances passionately with his friends and fellow poets. A mixture of absorption in poetry, obsession with technique and, of course, natural talent culminates in what you might call 'poetic taste'a feel for precisely which techniques to reach for. set out to do this and for that reason? Well, I think someone with a sensitive ear for the rhythms and cadences of verse wouldn't need to be taught something like that. To anybody with the slightest instinct such use in metre would come as naturally as finding the right musical phrase for the right emotion comes to a composer. It is true, however, that Keats from an early age completely soaked himself in poetry and (despite being labelled a 'Cockney poet' by literary snobs of the time) experimented all his life with poetic form and constantly wrote about prosody and chewed over its nuances passionately with his friends and fellow poets. A mixture of absorption in poetry, obsession with technique and, of course, natural talent culminates in what you might call 'poetic taste'a feel for precisely which techniques to reach for.
Incidentally, for some reason Keats's 'Fancy' was one of my favourite poems when I was a mooncalf teenager. Don't ask me why: it is after all a slight work compared to 'Endymion', 'Lamia' and the great Odes.
MIXED F FEET.
Let us consider the whole issue of mixing feet mixing feet within a poem. The end of writing poetry is not to write 'perfect' metre with every line going da- within a poem. The end of writing poetry is not to write 'perfect' metre with every line going da-dum or or dum dum-da into the distance, it is to use the metre you've chosen to reflect the meaning, mood and emotional colour of your words and images. We've already seen how subtle variations such as pyrrhic and trochaic substitutions stand as perfectly acceptable ways of bringing iambic pentameter to life. What about mixing up whole lines of iambic and trochaic metre in the same verse?
He bangs bangs the the drums drums and and makes makes a a noise noiseScaring girls girls and and wak waking boys boys Nothing necessarily wrong with that either. Don't get hung up on writing perfectly symmetrical parades of consistent rhythm. Utterance Utterance, sung or spoken, underlies poetry. Human utterance, like its heartbeat and its breathing, quickens, pauses and breaks its patterns according to states of relaxation, excitement, passion, fear and all manner of moods and feelings: this is precisely why I took so long over caesura and enjambment earlier. No one could say that the above two lines are wrong wrong, it is surprisingly rare, however, to find two metres mixed in this fashion (in 'literary' verse, as opposed to popular ballad and song lyrics, at least) and you would want to alternate trochaic and iambic lines for a good reason: the 'ear' of the reader would note (however subconsciously) the variation and expect something from it. Perhaps in the above example the alternating trochaic lines could form a kind of chorus or explanatory aside: He bangs the drums and makes a noise(Scaring girls and waking boys) He makes a row till dawn unfurls He makes a row till dawn unfurls(Waking boys and scaring girls) I never knew a greater pest I never knew a greater pest(Even squirrels need a rest)He drives his wretched family wild(Spare the rod and spoil the child) So long as you are in control in control of the metre, using its swing and balance to fit the mood, motion or story of your poem there is no reason not to use a variety of beats within the same piece. I would only repeat this observation: well-made poems do not mix up their metric scheme of the metre, using its swing and balance to fit the mood, motion or story of your poem there is no reason not to use a variety of beats within the same piece. I would only repeat this observation: well-made poems do not mix up their metric scheme carelessly carelessly. Have you ever seen a parish magazine or some other flyer, newsletter, brochure or poster where the designer has got too excited about the number of fonts available on his computer and created a great crashing mess of different typefaces and sizes? Musical pieces often go into double time or modulate up or down for effect, but generally speaking such techniques are crass and ugly unless there is a good purpose purpose behind it all. Most of the paintings we admire use a surprisingly small palette of colours. A profusion of herbs in a dish can cancel out each flavour or drown the main ingredients. You get the idea. behind it all. Most of the paintings we admire use a surprisingly small palette of colours. A profusion of herbs in a dish can cancel out each flavour or drown the main ingredients. You get the idea.
Having said all that, let's look at the whole whole first stanza of Blake's 'The Tyger'. first stanza of Blake's 'The Tyger'.
Tyger, ty tyger, bu burning bright brightIn the the for forests of of the the night nightWhat im immortal hand hand or or eye eyeCould frame frame thy thy fear fearful sym symmetry?
As we observed earlier, these are trochaic four-stress lines (docked of their last weak syllable). That holds true of the first three lines, but what's afoot with the last one? It is a regular iambic iambic four-stress line. Here's the third stanza: four-stress line. Here's the third stanza: And what what shoul shoulder and and what what art artCould twist twist the the sin sinews of of thy thy heart heart?And, when when thy thy heart heart be began to to beat beat,What dread dread hand hand and and what what dread dread feet feet?
Trochaic first and last lines 'enveloping' two central first and last lines 'enveloping' two central iambic iambic lines; and the poem's penultimate stanza runs: lines; and the poem's penultimate stanza runs: When the the stars stars threw threw down down their their spears spears,And wat water'd heav heaven with with their their tears tears,Did He He smile smile His His work work to to see see?Did He He who who made made the the lamb lamb make make thee thee?
In this case we alternate between trochaic and iambic tetrameters. The rest of the poem is trochaic. With a little casuistry one could, I suppose, make the argument that Blake's shift between metres 'stripes' the verse as a tiger is striped. I think that is more than a little tenuous: there is no plan plan to the changes between metre, no apparent design at work: certainly, poets in the past and present have employed metre, rhyme and even the shape of the words on a page further to conjoin form with subject matter, but I do not believe this applies here. to the changes between metre, no apparent design at work: certainly, poets in the past and present have employed metre, rhyme and even the shape of the words on a page further to conjoin form with subject matter, but I do not believe this applies here.
Nonetheless, the variations can hardly be said to spoil the poem: the docking of the final trochaic foot matches the standard male endings of the iambic. After all, one could look at it this way one could look at it this way: are the odd lines out really iambic, or are they trochees with an extra weak syllable at the beginning beginning? Trochees are the opposite of iambs: if you can pop a weak syllable at the end of an iambic line, why not shove one on to the beginning of a trochaic one? If you read those stanzas above, missing out the unstressed syllables at the start of each iambic line you will see what I mean. It is finally a matter of nomenclature and one's own ear. For many modern metrists there's no such thing as the iamb or the trochee at all, there are only lines with a set number of beats or stresses to them. Where the weak weak syllables come is, for them, irrelevant. They would have us believe that English verse should be treated as if it is accentual, but not accentual-syllabic. I can't go that far, myself: there is an obvious and to my ear syllables come is, for them, irrelevant. They would have us believe that English verse should be treated as if it is accentual, but not accentual-syllabic. I can't go that far, myself: there is an obvious and to my ear absolute absolute difference between the whole nature of difference between the whole nature of Hiawatha Hiawatha and that of, say, 'She walks in beauty'. There certainly was to Longfellow and Byron. and that of, say, 'She walks in beauty'. There certainly was to Longfellow and Byron.
Here is a well-known couplet from Blake's 'Auguries of Innocence': A Robin Red breast in a Cage23Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
That is metrically identical to my made-up hybrid line: He He bangs bangs the the drums drums and and makes makes a a noise noiseScaring girls girls and and wak waking boys boys Heartless to quibble with Blake's sentiment, but to most ears, trained or otherwise, it is a bit of a dud, isn't it? This is a naivety one expects, forgives and indeed celebrates with Blake ('look at his paintings: couldn't draw, couldn't colour in' as Professor Mackenny of Edinburgh University once excellently remarked) and from any poetic sensibility but his one might wrinkle one's nose at such childlike versifying. If the poem went on alternating in regular fashion as I suggested with the drum-banging boy one could understand. In fact the next lines are: A dove house filled with doves and PigeonsShudders Hell thro' all its regions.
That couplet does conform with the plan, the second line is completely trochaic, with weak ending and all, but now Blake continues with: A dog starv'd at his Master's GatePredicts the ruin of the State.
Those are both iambic lines. And the next couplet?
A Horse misus'd upon the RoadCalls to Heaven for Human blood Well, I mean I'm sorry, but that's just plain bad. Isn't it? The syntax syntax (grammatical construction) for a start: bit wobbly isn't it? Does he really mean that the (grammatical construction) for a start: bit wobbly isn't it? Does he really mean that the horse horse is calling to heaven: the other animals don't, surely he means the misuse of horses calls to heaven? But Blake's sentence structure invites us to picture a calling horse. And, my dear, the is calling to heaven: the other animals don't, surely he means the misuse of horses calls to heaven? But Blake's sentence structure invites us to picture a calling horse. And, my dear, the scansion scansion! Presumably Blake means to elide Heaven into the monosyllable Heav'n (a perfectly common elision and one we might remember having to sing in school hymns), but it is odd that he bothers in earlier lines to put apostrophes in 'starv'd' and 'misus'd' and even shortens through through to to thro' thro'24yet fails to give us an apostrophe here where it really would count: he has already used the word Heaven once without without elision, as a disyllabic word, six lines earlier: perhaps, one might argue, he felt that as a holy word it shouldn't be altered in any way. I think this unlikely, he tends not to use capitals for God, although he uses them for 'Me' and 'My' and just about every word he can (incidentally, why does Horse deserve majuscules here, but not dog, I wonder? Why Pigeon and not dove?). Well, perhaps the unelided 'Heaven' is a misprint: if so, it is one that all the copies elision, as a disyllabic word, six lines earlier: perhaps, one might argue, he felt that as a holy word it shouldn't be altered in any way. I think this unlikely, he tends not to use capitals for God, although he uses them for 'Me' and 'My' and just about every word he can (incidentally, why does Horse deserve majuscules here, but not dog, I wonder? Why Pigeon and not dove?). Well, perhaps the unelided 'Heaven' is a misprint: if so, it is one that all the copies25of Blake I have seen repeat. It is fairly obvious that this is how he wrote it in his manuscript.
No, I think we can confidently state that there is no metrical scheme scheme in place here: Blake seems to be in such a hurry to list the abominable treatment that animals suffer and the dire consequences attendant upon mankind if this cruelty continues that measured prosody has taken a back seat. Well, may be that's the point. Any kind of control or cunning in versification would mediate between Blake's righteous indignation and the conscience and compassion of the reader, resulting in 'better' metre perhaps, but less direct and emotionally involving poetry. A more conventional poet might have written something like this: in place here: Blake seems to be in such a hurry to list the abominable treatment that animals suffer and the dire consequences attendant upon mankind if this cruelty continues that measured prosody has taken a back seat. Well, may be that's the point. Any kind of control or cunning in versification would mediate between Blake's righteous indignation and the conscience and compassion of the reader, resulting in 'better' metre perhaps, but less direct and emotionally involving poetry. A more conventional poet might have written something like this: Robin redbreasts in a cagePut all heaven in a rageDovecotes filled with doves and pigeonsShudder hell through all its regionsDogs starved at their masters' gateAugur ruin for the state.Horses beaten on the roadCall to Heav'n for human blood.
There is is a loss there: Blake's point is that a loss there: Blake's point is that a a robin, one single caged bird, is enough to put heaven in a rage (admittedly that isn't true of the dove house, which has to be filled to cause hell to shudder, but no matter). Pluralising the animals for the sake of trochees does alter the sense, so let us try pure iambs: robin, one single caged bird, is enough to put heaven in a rage (admittedly that isn't true of the dove house, which has to be filled to cause hell to shudder, but no matter). Pluralising the animals for the sake of trochees does alter the sense, so let us try pure iambs: A robin redbreast in a cageDoth put all heaven in a rage.A dove house filled with doves and pigeonsWill shudder hell through all its regions.A dog starved at his master's gatePredicts the ruin of the state.A horse misused upon the roadDoth call to heav'n for human blood.
Neither, incidentally, solves the curious incident of the dog starved at at his master's gate: trochaic or iambic, the line's a bitch. Surely it is the his master's gate: trochaic or iambic, the line's a bitch. Surely it is the starving starving that needs the emphasis? 'A dog that starves at's master's gate' would do it, but it isn't nice. that needs the emphasis? 'A dog that starves at's master's gate' would do it, but it isn't nice.
We have seen two non-hybrid versions of the verse. Let us now remind ourselves of what Blake actually gave us: A Robin Red breast in a CagePuts all Heaven in a Rage.A dove house filled with doves and PigeonsShudders Hell thro' all its regions.A dog starv'd at his Master's GatePredicts the ruin of the State.A Horse misus'd upon the RoadCalls to Heaven for Human blood.
I have mocked the scansion, syntax and manifold inconsistencies; I have had sport with these lines, but the fact is I love them. They're messy, mongrel and mawkish but such is the spirit of Blake that somehow these things don't matter at allthey only go to convince us of the work's fundamental honesty and authenticity. Am I saying this because Blake is Blake and we all know that he was a Seer, a Visionary and an unique Genius? If I had never seen the lines before and didn't know their author would I forgive them their clumsiness and ill-made infelicities? I don't know and I don't really care. It is a work concerned with innocence after all. And, lest we forget, this is the poem that begins with the quatrain quatrain (a quatrain is a stanza of four lines) that might usefully be considered the Poet's Credo or Mission Statement. (a quatrain is a stanza of four lines) that might usefully be considered the Poet's Credo or Mission Statement.
To see a World in a Grain of SandAnd a Heaven in a Wild Flower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour.
The metre is shot to hell in every line, but who cares. It is the real thing. I think it was worth spending this much time on those lines because this is what you will do when you write your own verseconstantly make series of judgements about your metre and what 'rules' you can break and with what effect.
Poetry Exercise 5 It is now time, of course, to try writing your own verse of shorter measure. Here is what I want you to do: give yourself forty-five minutes; if you haven't got the time now, come back to the exercise later. I believe it is much simpler if you have a subject, so I have selected Television Television. As usual I have had a go myself. Rhyming seems natural with lines of this length, but if you'd rather not, then don't. I remind you once again that it is the versification that matters here, not any verbal or metaphysical brilliance. This is what I would like, with my attempts included.
Two quatrains of standard, eight-syllable iambic tetrameter:
They're always chopping bits of meatForensic surgeons, daytime cooks.Extracting bullets, slicing hamDetecting flavours, grilling crooks.My new TV has got no knobsIt's sleeker than a marble bowl.I'm sure this suits designer snobs,But where's the damned remote control?
Two quatrains of alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter:
Big Brother's on the air again,Polluting my TV.Who was it said, 'Mankind can't bearToo much reality?26Sir Noel Coward drawled, when askedWhich programmes he thought shone:'TV is not for watching, dearIt's just for being on.'
Two quatrains of trochaic trochaic tetrameter: one in 'pure trochee' a la tetrameter: one in 'pure trochee' a la Hiawatha Hiawatha, and one with docked weak endings in the second and fourth lines, a la 'Tyger'.
Soap stars seem to do it nightlySlap and shag and rape each other.If I heard the plot-line rightlyDarren's pregnant by his brother.News of bombs in Central London,Flesh and blood disintegrate.Teenage voices screaming proudly,'Allah akbar! God is great!'
So, your turn. Relax and feel the force.
IV.
Ternary Feet: we meet the anapaest and the dactyl, the molossus, the tribrach, the amphibrach and the amphimacer Ternary Feet Now that you are familiar with four types of two-syllable, binary (or duple duple as a musician might say) footthe as a musician might say) footthe iamb iamb, the trochee trochee, the pyrrhic pyrrhic and the and the spondee spondeetry to work out what is going on metrically in the next line.
In the dark of the forest so deepI can hear all the animals creep.
Did you get the feeling that the only way to make sense of this metre is to think of the line as having feet with three three elements to them, the third one bearing the beat? A kind of Titty- elements to them, the third one bearing the beat? A kind of Titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum triple rhythm? A triple rhythm? A ternary foot ternary foot in metric jargon, a in metric jargon, a triple measure triple measure in music-speak. in music-speak.
Such a titty- titty-tum foot is called an foot is called an anapaest anapaest, to rhyme with 'am a beast', as if the foot is a skiing champion, Anna Piste. It is a ternary version of the iamb, in that it is a rising rising foot, going from weak to strong, but by way of foot, going from weak to strong, but by way of two two unstressed syllables instead of the iamb's one. unstressed syllables instead of the iamb's one.
Any purely anapaestic line is either a monometer of three syllables...
Unconvinced ...a dimeter of six...
Unconvinced, at a loss loss ...a trimeter of nine...
Unconvinced, at a loss loss, discontent ...or a tetrameter of twelve...
Unconvinced, at a loss loss, discontent, in a fix fix.
And so on. Don't be confused: that line of twelve syllables is not a hexameter, it is a tetrameter tetrameter. It has four four stressed syllables. stressed syllables.
Remember: it is the number of stresses stresses, not the number of syllables syllables, that determines whether it is penta-or tetra-or hexa-or any other kind of -meter:
Now look at the anapaestic tetrameter above and note one other thing: the first foot is one word, the second foot is two thirds of a single word, foot number three is two and a third words and the fourth foot three whole words. Employing a metre like the anapaest doesn't mean every foot of a line has to be composed of an anapaestic word:
That would be ridiculous, as silly as an iambic pentameter made up of ten words, as mocked by Popenot to mention fiendishly hard. Nor would an anapaestic tetrameter have to be made up of four pure anapaestic phrases phrases:
The rhythm comes through just as clearly with...
or...
...where every foot has a different number of words. It is the beats that give the rhythm. Who would have thought poetry would be so arithmetical? It isn't, of course, but prosodic analysis and scansion can be. Not that any of this really matters for our purposes: such calculations are for the academics and students of the future who will be scanning and scrutinising your work.
Poe's 'Annabel Lee' is in anapaestic ballad ballad form (four-stress lines alternating with three-stress lines): form (four-stress lines alternating with three-stress lines):
For the moon moon never never beams beams without without bring bringing me dreams dreamsOf the beaut beautiful Ann Annabel Lee Lee.
I suppose the best-known anapaestic poem of all (especially to Americans) is Clement Clarke Moore's tetrametric 'The Night Before Christmas':
'Twas the night night before before Christ Christmas, when all all through the through the house house Not a Not a creat creature was stir stirring, not ev even a mouse mouse;The stock stockings were hung hung by the by the chim chimney with care care In In hopes hopes that St that St Nich Nicholas soon soon would be would be there there.
The second couplet has had its initial weak syllable docked in each line. This is called a clipped clipped or or acephalous acephalous (literally 'headless') foot. You could just as easily say the anapaest has been substituted for an iamb, it amounts to precisely the same thing. (literally 'headless') foot. You could just as easily say the anapaest has been substituted for an iamb, it amounts to precisely the same thing.
Both the Poe and the Moore works have a characteristic lilt that begs for the verse to be set to music (which they each have been, of course), but anapaests can be very rhythmic and fast moving too: unsuited perhaps to the generality of contemplative poetry, but wonderful when evoking something like a gallop. Listen to Robert Browning's 'How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix': I sprang sprang to the to the stirr stirrup and Jor Joris and he heI gall galloped, Dirk gall galloped, we gall galloped all three three.
It begs to be read out loud. You can really hear the thunder of the hooves here, don't you think? Notice, though, that Browning also dispenses with the first weak syllable in each line. For the verse to be in 'true' anapaestic tetrameters it would have to go something like this (the underline represents an added syllable, not a stress): Then I sprang to the stirrup and Joris and heAnd I galloped, Dirk galloped, we galloped all three.
But Browning has given us clipped clipped opening feet: opening feet: Da-dum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tumDa-dum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum.
instead of the full Titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tumTitty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum If you tap out the rhythms of each of the above with your fingers on the table, or just mouth them to yourself (quietly if you're on a train or in a cafe, you don't want to be stared at) I think you will agree that Browning knew what he was about. The straight anapaests are rather dull and predictable. The opening iamb or acephalous foot, Da-dum! makes the whole ride so much more dramatic and realistic, mimicking the way horses hooves fall. Which is not to say that, when well done, pure anapaests can't work too. Byron's poem 'The Destruction of Sennacharib' shows them at their best.
TAKE OUT YOUR PENCIL AND MARK THE ANAPAESTS HERE (Assyrian is (Assyrian is three three syllables, by the way, not four): syllables, by the way, not four): The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;And the sheen on their spears was like stars on the sea,And the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Byron doesn't keep this up all the way through, however: For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; He could could have written the anapaest 'And he breathed...' but I think his instinct to use the clipped 'And breathed' instead is exactly right for the conceit. It is a very subtle difference. What do you think? Try saying each alternative aloud. I think the clipping causes us to linger a tiny bit longer on the word 'breathed' than we would in strict anapaestic rhythm and this brings the image to life. Now, back to those standard anapaests beating: have written the anapaest 'And he breathed...' but I think his instinct to use the clipped 'And breathed' instead is exactly right for the conceit. It is a very subtle difference. What do you think? Try saying each alternative aloud. I think the clipping causes us to linger a tiny bit longer on the word 'breathed' than we would in strict anapaestic rhythm and this brings the image to life. Now, back to those standard anapaests beating: Titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tumTitty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum Imagine that, instead of doing what Browning and Byron did and clipping off the head like so: Da-dum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tumDa-dum, titty-tum, titty-tum, titty-tum you started with anapaests and ended with a spondee spondee which, as I mentioned earlier, is a double-stressed foot: which, as I mentioned earlier, is a double-stressed foot: Hard cheese Hard cheese. Humdrum Humdrum Anapaest, anapaest, anapaest, spon-dee!Anapaest, anapaest, anapaest, spon-dee!
That might remind you of the gallop from Rossini's overture to William Tell William Tell, famously used for the TV series The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger and the three-way orgy in Kubrick's and the three-way orgy in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange A Clockwork Orange.
The spondee (inasmuch as it truly exists in English) makes a great full stop full stop, either serious like a tolling bell or comic, as in the famous knocking rhythm that Americans express as: Shave and a and a hair cut, two bits hair cut, two bits!
Tum-titty tum tum tum tum. Tum tum Tum tum!