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Russ_willers Posted 18 years ago
Metrical Analysis in The Faerie Queene
Hi everyone, I've always been abysmal at metrical analysis - I just don't have a feel for identifying stress patterns! Anyhow, I was wondering if anybody could give me any pointers with analysing a few lines from The Faerie Queen (III.iii.44):
'Nay but the terme (said he) is limited,
That in this thraldome Britons shall abide,
And the just revolution measured,
That they as Straungers shalbe notified.'
Spenserian stanzas are nine lines long, with the first eight (these are the first 4 of the verse) written in iambic pentameter. I am particularly considered with the third line - is it strict or is there some derivation here? My intuitive reaction is to say that it IS strict iambic pentameter (assuming that measured is taken to be three syllables in order to rhyme with 'limited', but I'm not sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
'Nay but the terme (said he) is limited,
That in this thraldome Britons shall abide,
And the just revolution measured,
That they as Straungers shalbe notified.'
Spenserian stanzas are nine lines long, with the first eight (these are the first 4 of the verse) written in iambic pentameter. I am particularly considered with the third line - is it strict or is there some derivation here? My intuitive reaction is to say that it IS strict iambic pentameter (assuming that measured is taken to be three syllables in order to rhyme with 'limited', but I'm not sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Top answer
I'm no expert, but, given the age of this work, and that Spenser used a form of language ancient in his own time, I would say that the word would be syllablized as mea-sur-ed to fit the poetic meter. There is a bit more evidence by the spelling used in other stanzas: retird; conspird, (clearly 2 syllables by the spelling) And if all that fails, there is poetic license
- I'm no expert, but, given the age of this work, and that Spenser used a form of language ancient in his own time, I would say that the word would be syllablized as mea-sur-ed to fit the poetic meter.
- There is a bit more evidence by the spelling used in other stanzas: retird; conspird, (clearly 2 syllables by the spelling) And if all that fails, there is poetic license
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1 Answers
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I'm no expert, but, given the age of this work, and that Spenser used a form of language ancient in his own time, I would say that the word would be syllablized as mea-sur-ed to fit the poetic meter.
There is a bit more evidence by the spelling used in other stanzas: retird; conspird,
There is a bit more evidence by the spelling used in other stanzas: retird; conspird,
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