The sunlight on the garden

The sunlight on the garden

Hardens and grows cold,

We cannot cage the minute

Within its nets of gold,

When all is told

We cannot beg for pardon.

Our freedom as free lances

Advances towards its end;

The earth compels, upon it

Sonnets and bids descend;

And soon my friend,

We shall have no time for dances.

The sky was good for flying

Defying the church bells

And every evil iron

Siren and what it tells:

The earth compels,

We are dying, Egypt dying.

And not expecting pardon,

Hardened in heart anew,

But glad to have sat under

Thunder and rain with you,

And grateful too

For sunlight on the garden (L. Macniece).

4. Rhythm

Rhythm is a flow, movement, procedure, etc., characterized by basically regular recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different elements or features. Rhythm has a great significance not only for the music and poetry but for prose as well. The rhythm of prose is based predominantly on the repetition of images or themes, repetition and specific arrangement of the large text elements, parallel constructions, and use of sentences with homogeneous members, etc.

Rhythm is not a mere addition to verse or emotive prose but has its meaning. Rhythm intensifies the emotions. It also specifies emotions. The rhythm can imitate motion or behaviours, it shapes the motion of the thought, it contributes to the general sense of the text.

Rhythm and rhyme are immediately distinguished features of poetic substyle. In verse they both have assumed their compositional patterns. The most observable and widely recognized compositional patterns of rhythm making up classical verse are based on:

1. alteration of stressed and unstressed syllables;

2. an equal number of syllables in a line;

3. a natural pause at the end of each line, the line being more or less complete semantic unit;

4. identity of stanza pattern;

5. established patterns of rhyming.

Prosody

The term prosody refers to the study of versification.  Most prosody begins with an analysis of metre. Metre (or meter) is derived from the Greek word for "measure."  The metre is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in  verse.  While there may be some variation or substitution, the number of syllables, and the number of stressed/unstressed syllables remains relatively consistent from line to line. 

The most common metres include:

• anapaestic - From the Greek word meaning "beaten back," the anapaestic meter consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.   It is used to create the illusion of running, galloping, swiftness or action.  Take for example, Poe's Annabel Lee: "  For the moon |  never beams,| without bring|ing me dreams|";

• dactylic - From the Greek word for "finger," the dactylic meter consists of an stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.  The dactyl produces a falling rhythm, which is not natural to English.  Therefore, it is relatively rare, used mostly as a counterpoint to another metric form:   "Cannon to | right of them,|\Cannon to | left of them,|\ Cannon in | front of them|..." ( Lord Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade);

• iambic - A two syllable metre, composed of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.  The word "defeat" is a prime example of iambic metre.  The iambic metre is thought to be closest to the normal human speech pattern it is also the commonest form of metre because it fits the English language so well.  Thought to have been originated by Archilochus in the 7th century BC;

• paeonic - A metric foot of one stressed and three unstressed syllables.   Common in Classic Greek poetry, it is rare in English;

• spondaic (spondee) - The spondee is a foot composed of two stressed syllables.  Words like daylight and carpool are spondaic;

• trochaic (trochee) -A trochee is a foot composed of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.  The words party and bummer are trochees;

• pyrrhic - Another rare foot (some critics even deny this is a foot), the pyrrhic foot is composed of two unstressed syllables.

A metrical unit of a line is called a foot.  A foot consists of one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables.  Each type of foot is denoted by a specific term (line breaks are indicated by "/"):

• monometer - indicates one foot per line.  An example can be seen in Robert Herrick's Upon His Departure Hence:  Thus I / Pass by / and die. / As one / Unknown / And gone; /I'm made / A shade, / And laid / I'th grave, / There have /My cave. / Where tell / I dwell / Farewell;

• diameter indicates a line that contains two feet.  The third and fourth lines of limericks are diameter.  For instance:  "Her position to Titian / suggested coition/";

• trimeter - trimetric works have three feet per line: ):  "Oh to | be in | England |/ Now that | April's | there./ ( R. Browning's Home Thoughts From Abroad);

• tetrameter - A line with four feet.  Frequently seen in English verse as iambic or trochaic.  This example is from Milton's "L'Allegro":  "Haste | thee nymph, | and bring | with thee\  Jest | and youth|ful Jol|lity";

• pentameter - The five foot line is the basic line in most poetry, especially English verse, blank verse, and the heroic couplet.  Its development is credited to Chaucer. As an Example consider the following: "I saw | the spi|ders mar|ching through | the air,/   Swimming | from tree | to tree| that mil|dewed day. . .\" (Robert Loews's Mr. Edwards and the Spider);

• hexameter -  the six foot line is very rigidly constructed, being built from four dactyls or spondees followed by a dactyl and then a spondee or a trochee: :  “I will a|rise and | go now, | and go | to Inn|isfree, \  And a small | cabin | build there, | of clay | and wat|tels made ...|\" (Yeats The Lake Isle of of Innisfree);

• heptameter - the septenarius or seven foot line:   "I went | into | a pub|lic-'ouse | to get | a pint | o' beer,|\ The publican | 'e up | an' sez, | "We serve | no red|-coats here."|\ (R. Kipling Tommy );

• octameter  - a rare eight footed line.  The most common example is Poe's The Raven (see above).

Meter is usually described as either the dominant foot (which foot is used most often to the strongest effect in a work), or the dominant number of feet per line.   Generally, though, critics combine the dominant foot and number of feet to describe meter.  That is where common terms like iambic pentameter and trochaic tetrameter gain their critical meaning.

Classical verse is called syllabo-tonic – it is characterized by a set number of syllables and certain distribution of stresses. The shortest unit of each metre is called a foot. If we make a careful study of almost any poem, we will find what are called irregularities or modification of its natural metrical pattern, which are: a pyrrhic foot, rhythmical inversion, spondee. These modifications when they occur inevitably influence the semantic structure of a poem. Spondee is always used to add emphasis. Two successive syllables both under heavy stress produce a kind of clash; the juncture between syllables becomes wider making each of them conspicuous. A pyrrhic on the contrary smoothes and quickens the pace of rhythm.

Another departure from the norms of classical verse is enjambment or the run-on line. Enjambment is a transfer of a part of a syntagma from one line to the following one: