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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
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The alexandrine in French - but not English - poetry (much)
Is there a technical reason why the alexandrine should have been so popular a meter in French verse ? practically the default meter into the Romantic period ? and scarcely used in English verse?
I'm thinking about the availability of ?-e', ?-es', ?-ent' word-endings in French which provide rhythmic variety, according to the rules of French prosody, with the ?sensuous schwa'.
Alexander Pope says (1), in ?An Essay on Criticism' (ll 354-7)
?Then, at the last, and only Couplet fraught
With some unmeaning Thing they call a Thought,
A needless Alexandrine ends the Song,
That like a wounded Snake, drags its slow length along.'
Some English poets must have used the form, otherwise why should Pope complain? But I get the strong impression that, on alexandrines in English verse is concerned, Pope's is overwhelmingly the majority view.
(As will be patently apparent, I'm a mere kibitzer in this area!)
(1) http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/essay.html
I'm thinking about the availability of ?-e', ?-es', ?-ent' word-endings in French which provide rhythmic variety, according to the rules of French prosody, with the ?sensuous schwa'.
Alexander Pope says (1), in ?An Essay on Criticism' (ll 354-7)
?Then, at the last, and only Couplet fraught
With some unmeaning Thing they call a Thought,
A needless Alexandrine ends the Song,
That like a wounded Snake, drags its slow length along.'
Some English poets must have used the form, otherwise why should Pope complain? But I get the strong impression that, on alexandrines in English verse is concerned, Pope's is overwhelmingly the majority view.
(As will be patently apparent, I'm a mere kibitzer in this area!)
(1) http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/essay.html
Top answer
[nq:1]Is there a technical reason why the alexandrine should have been so popular a meter in French verse - practically ... [/nq] The most abundant supply of English alexandrines that I know of can be found in Spenser's "Faerie Queene", where one can be found as the last line of every stanza. Alexandrines in Shakespeare are rather rare, to the extent that editors explain apparent ones away by rescanning.
- [nq:1]Is there a technical reason why the alexandrine should have been so popular a meter in French verse - practically ...
- [/nq] The most abundant supply of English alexandrines that I know of can be found in Spenser's "Faerie Queene", where one can be found as the last line of every stanza.
- Alexandrines in Shakespeare are rather rare, to the extent that editors explain apparent ones away by rescanning.
- Deliberate alexandrines can be found for the casket inscriptions in "The Merchant of Venice", repeated several times in the course of the play: Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire (gold casket) Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves (silver casket) Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath (lead casket)
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2 Answers
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[nq:1]Is there a technical reason why the alexandrine should have been so popular a meter in French verse - practically ... But I get the strong impression that, on alexandrines in English verse is concerned, Pope's is overwhelmingly the majority view.[/nq]
The most abundant supply of English alexandrines that I know of can be found in Spenser's "Faerie Queene", where one can be found as the l
The most abundant supply of English alexandrines that I know of can be found in Spenser's "Faerie Queene", where one can be found as the l
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[nq:1]Is there a technical reason why the alexandrine should have been so popular a meter in French verse ? practically the default meter into the Romantic period ? and scarcely used in English verse?[/nq]
Since the alexendrin is a line of 12 syllables, and since English verse depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the total number of syllables, it is hard to see how it would
Since the alexendrin is a line of 12 syllables, and since English verse depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the total number of syllables, it is hard to see how it would
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