The Art of Versification by J. Berg Esenwein [PDF]

 The Art of Versification

 

by J. Berg Esenwein

 

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Chapter I — The Nature of Poetry   i 

1. Poetry Defined 3

2. The Ten Elements of Poetry 4

(a) Thought 5

(b) Emotion 5

(c) Interpretation 6

(d) Imagination 8

(e) Utterance 9

(f) Rhythm 10

(g) Beauty 11

(h) Loftiness 11

(i) Delight 12

(j) Profit 12

J. Poetry and Verse 13

Exercises 13

Chapter II — The Origin and Progress of Poetry i 5

1. The Origin of Poetry 16

2. The Spread of Poetry as an Art 17

J. Poetry Today 19

Exercises 20

Chapter III — The Language of Poetry  22

1. The Choice of Words 23

2. The Grouping of Words 26

J. Imagery 28

Exercises 35

Chapter IV — The Analysis of Verse  37

1. The Relation of Spirit to Form 38

2. Meter 40 

3. Quantity 41

4. Accent 41

Exercises 45

Chapter V — The Foot 47

1. The Iambus, or Iambic Foot 48

2. The Trochee, or Trochaic Foot 50  

3. The Anapcest, or Anapcestic Foot 51

4. The Dactyl, or Dactylic Foot 51

5. Scanning 52

6. The Law of Quantity in English Verse   53
Exercises 55

Chapter VI — Rhythm  59

1. Regular Rhythm Unrhymed  61

2. Regular Rhythm Rhymed 62  

3.  Unusual Rhythm Unrhymed 62

4. Unusual Rhythm Rhymed 63

Exercises 67

Chapter VII — Rhyme  69
1. Rhyme Defined  69

2. Imperfect Rhymes 70

3. Kinds of Rhyme 72

4. Location of Rhymes 73

5. Unusual Rhyme Schemes 76

6. Special Cautions 78

Exercises  80

Chapter VIII — Assonance and Alliteration  83

1. Assonance 83

2. Alliteration 85

Exercises 88

Chapter IX — Onomatopceia — Sound and Movement 90

1. Sound 90

2. Movement 96

Exercises 98

Chapter X — Tone-Color 100

Exercises 108

Chapter XI — Meters and the Stanza  109

Types of Stanza no

Exercises 122

Chapter XII — Irregularities 124

1. To Indicate Difference in Meaning  124

2. Other Irregularities 126

Exercises 128

Chapter XIII — Epic Poetry 130

Exercises 132

Chapter XIV — Blank Verse 133

1. Milton on Blank Verse 134

2. Examples of Milton's Groups of Lines  135 

3. The Ccesura or Pause 136

Exercises 138

Chapter XV — Dramatic Poetry 140

Exercises 145

Chapter XVI — The Ode 147

Exercises 151

Chapter XVII — The Ballad 152

Exercises 155

Chapter XVIII — The Lyric 157

Characteristics of the Lyric 158

Exercises 161

Chapter XIX — The Sonnet 163

Rules of the Italian Sonnet 175

Exercises 176

Chapter XX — Imitations of Classical Meters 178

1. Hexameters 179

2. Lyrical Measures 182

Exercises 186

Chapter XXI — French Forms 188

Exercises 213

Chapter XXII — Song-Writing 214

General Hints 215

Exercises 219

Chapter XXIII — Light Verse 221

1. Vers de Société   223

2. Satirical Verse 227

3. Humorous Verse 237

4. Parody and Travesty 245

5. Nonsense Verse 255

6. Whimsical Verse 265

Exercises 286

APPENDICES

Appendix A — Glossary or Metrical Terms  288

Appendix B — Some Books for the Study of Versification 291

Appendix C — Helps in the Study of Poetry  293

1. General Collections 293

2. British Anthologies 294  

3. American Anthologies 295

4. The Theory of Poetry 295

Appendix D — Light Verse 297

Index 298 

This little treatise does not aim to create poets — Heaven must do that; but it does seek to furnish those who have poetic inspirations with the knowledge o£ how to master the forms of expression. Poetry is first a gift, then an art — both the gift and the art demand cultivation.

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Also see:

• A Study of Versification