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Poetry as music

Hopkins’ own theory on poetry

Hopkins developed a fully worked-out theory of poetry:

whilst he was an Oxford undergraduate and writing his first poems
whilst he was in training
during the year he was at Manresa House and when he was asked to teach a course on rhetoric
through his reading of Duns Scotus
whilst he was in North Wales and writing poetry once more; Welsh poetry gave him further ideas about the patterns poetry could have.

His theory is complicated, but if you are interested in it, especially if you have a good sense of rhythm or are musical, there is a fuller account in Appendix 1. However, it is best to study that only when you have read quite a number of the poems.

Musical Rhythm

Hopkins was musical as well as artistic. He insisted that poetry and music were allied, and that poetry should certainly be read aloud, not just silently.

As you study, be sure to read the poems out loud!

Tape yourself or others reading the poems.

See if you can read them rhythmically.

Rhythm in poetry

Two terms Hopkins used frequently were ‘sprung rhythm’ and ‘counterpointing’. All language has some rhythm, made up of the patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that occur in English. More on English rhythm?

More on English rhythm: Of forms of literature, poetry has the strongest rhythmic sense, followed by drama, followed by prose. However, even good prose has a clear rhythm, as good public speakers realize.

Differing poetic metres

Rhythm in poetry is based on line and metre, metre being the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within a line.

There are various traditional metres in English poetry, the most common being the ‘rising’ metres of iambic and anapaestic lines, where the emphasis comes at the end:

We talk and shop un til we drop (iambic metre – de dum / de dum )
My e motions were kept under check (anapestic metre – de de dum / de de dum)

These conform more to the English sentence structure, rather than the ‘falling’ metres of the trochaic and dactylic pattern, where the emphasis comes at the start:

Never talk with strangers (trochaic metre – dum de / dum de)
Rabbits like munching their carrot tops (dactylic metre – dum de de / dum de de)

Sprung rhythm

Hopkins usually takes the traditional metre of the English sonnet form, which is iambic pentameter (five groups, or feet, of two syllables; each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one – de dum / de dum). He then:

introduces extra unstressed syllables to the line, extending its length, or
sometimes he even adds an extra foot, to give the line six or even seven feet
sometimes he marks these additions with little loops under the syllables, which he calls ‘outriders’.

This extended sound pattern is what he calls ‘sprung rhythm’. It is moving towards a freer verse form, but still using traditional poetic structures as a base.

Counterpointing

‘Counterpointing’ is when you have two or more sound patterns or tunes going on at once. The easiest poetic counterpointing to recognize is to take the line as the basic rhythmic unit (like a drum beat under a rock tune). That becomes one sound pattern.

Enjambement

However, if there is no punctuation at the end of the line (ie. it is not ‘end-stopped’), the voice naturally runs on into the next line, and only pauses where the punctuation dictates. The device of over-running a line is called enjambement. Even though there may be rhyming words to re-enforce the visual ending of the line, the grammatical force of the sentence produces a second sound pattern, overlying the first.

Caesura

Another example of counterpointing in Hopkins comes when he makes a break in the middle of the line. This is called a caesura. More on caesura?

More on caesura: Use of the caesura is common in French, Welsh and Old and Medieval English poetry, where it often becomes the climax of the line. This sort of verse uses alliteration and caesuras to create its main rhythmic sound pattern.

Hopkins sets use of ceasuras up as a counterpoint rhythm, on top of the metric line, which usually looks towards the end of the line for its climax.

Originally, the art of using language orally to persuade, and the formulation of various devices.

The musical effect of the repetition of stresses or beats, and the speed or tempo at which these may be read.

In music, the playing of two tunes at the same time, allowing them to interweave. In poetry, the use of two rhythms at the same time, for example, one being based on the metre, and one on the grammatical structure of the sentence.

In written text, the ordinary plain form of language, not organised into verse form. It is often contrasted with the term 'poetry'.

The particular measurement in a line of poetry, determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in some languages, the pattern of long and short syllables). It is the measured basis of rhythm.

The smallest sound fragment of a word, consisting of one vowel sound, with attached consonants if any.

A term used of speech rhythms in blank verse; an iambic rhythm is an unstressed, or weak, beat followed by a stressed, or strong, beat. It is a rising metre.

A metre in poetry, each foot consisting of two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed syllable. A rising metre, like the iambic.

Use of a metric foot in a line of verse, consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed. It is thus a falling metre.

A unit of metre or foot, consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones. It is thus a falling metre, like the trochaic.

A sonnet is a poem with a special structure. It has fourteen lines, which are organised in a particular manner, usually characterised by the pattern of rhyming, which changes as the ideas in the poem evolve.

A line containing five stressed syllables or feet.

In all languages, some syllables are pronounced with more of an emphasis than others. In poetry of many languages, this becomes a significant means of patterning. The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within a line of verse is called its

The technique used in blank verse and other verse forms in which the sense of a line runs on without a pause to the next one; this often gives a sense of greater fluency to the lines.

A pause, often indicated in text by a comma or full stop, during a line of blank verse.

Alliteration is a device frequently used in poetry or rhetoric (speech-making) whereby words starting with the same consonant are used in close proximity- e.g. 'fast in fires', 'stars, start'.

crossref-it.info - AS/A2 English Literature Study Guides - texts in context.