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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