Accentual-syllabic verse

Accentual-syllabic verse

Accentual-syllabic verse is an extension of accentual verse which fixes both the number of stresses and syllables within a line or stanza. Accentual-syllabic verse is highly regular and therefore easily scannable. Usually, either one metrical foot, or a specific pattern of metrical feet, is used throughout the entire poem; thus we can talk about a poem being in, for example, iambic pentameter. Poets naturally vary the rhythm of their lines, using devices such as inversion, elision, feminine endings, the caesura, using secondary stress, the addition of extra-metrical syllables, or the omission of syllables, the substitution of one foot for another.

Examples

*"The Gashlycrumb Tinies," a 1963 book by Edward Gorey, is written in strict 10-syllable lines consisting of three dactyls plus a final stressed syllable:A is for Amy who fell down the stairsB is for Basil assaulted by bearsC is for Clara who wasted awayD is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh...

*"She Walks in Beauty", an 1814 poem by Lord Byron, is written in strict iambic tetrameter:She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender lightWhich heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face;Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow,But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!


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  • accentual-syllabic verse — ▪ prosody       in prosody, the metrical system that is most commonly used in English poetry. It is based on both the number of stresses, or accents, and the number of syllables in each line of verse. A line of iambic pentameter verse, for… …   Universalium

  • syllabic verse — ▪ literature       in prosody, the metrical system that is most commonly used in English poetry. It is based on both the number of stresses, or accents, and the number of syllables in each line of verse. A line of iambic pentameter (pentameter)… …   Universalium

  • Syllabic verse — is a poetic form having a fixed number of syllables per line or stanza regardless of the number of stresses that are present. It is common in languages that are syllable timed such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish, as opposed to accentual… …   Wikipedia

  • Accentual verse — has a fixed number of stresses per line or stanza regardless of the number of syllables that are present. It is common in languages that are stress timed such as English as opposed to syllabic verse, which is common in syllable timed languages… …   Wikipedia

  • accentual — adjective 1. of or pertaining to accent or stress • Pertains to noun: ↑accent • Derivationally related forms: ↑accent 2. (of verse) having a metric system based on stress rather than syllables or quantity accentual poetry is based on the number… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Alliterative verse — The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme.… …   Wikipedia

  • Meter (poetry) — In poetry, meter (metre in British English) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse meter, or a certain set of meters alternating in a particular order. The study of… …   Wikipedia

  • prosody — prosodic /preuh sod ik/, prosodical, adj. /pros euh dee/, n. 1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification. 2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification: Milton s prosody. 3. Ling. the stress and intonation… …   Universalium

  • metre — /mee teuhr/, n., v., metred, metring. Brit. meter. * * * I Basic unit of length in the metric system and the International System of Units. In 1983 the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided that the accepted value for the speed of… …   Universalium

  • Iamb — An iamb or iambus is a metrical foot used in various types of poetry. Originally the term referred to one of the feet of the quantitative meter of classical Greek prosody: a short syllable followed by a long syllable (as in i amb). This… …   Wikipedia

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