Can the ear hear a thirteen-syllable line as consisting of thirteen syllables? I don't think so, but I think that a series of thirteen-syllable lines (supposing that was the length chosen) would, after a while, begin to have a characteristic resemblance. For the most part, though, counting the syllables seems to be something that works, if it works, for the poet. It is a private method of organization.

It normally happens that if you put two words together, or two syllables together, one of them will attract more weight, more emphasis, than the other. In othe…

The composer does not want the self-sufficiency of a richly complex text: he or she wants to feel that the text is something in need of musical setting.

Tennyson follows his feelings in creating each line. He follows the music in his head. If you had asked him, at the end of the day, to describe the prosody of …

Trochee trips from long to short; From long to long in solemn sort Slow Spondee stalks.

Poetry is an art form that demands heightened attention and retention. It both invites and rewards more intense involvement than we normally give to other kind…

He cursed Petrarch for redacting verses to sonnets, which he said were like that tyrant's bed, where some who were too short were racked, others too long cut s…