ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ

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142 Вестник ПГУ М3 2003 г. Филологические науки ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ УДК 821.111-142 ENGLISH VERSIFICATION N.A. Alikpashova Pavlodar State University named after S.

Олец шыгаруы тутас влецнщ бвлы деп саналуына к;ансет;ягни, тацырыбы, бейнеа, цурылысы, цалыбы - осылар ацынныц сезшгнщ жене ойынъщ 61рл1стшнен шигады.

2 142 Вестник ПГУ М г. Филологические науки ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ УДК ENGLISH VERSIFICATION N.A. Alikpashova Pavlodar State University named after S. Toraigyrov Осы голыми ецбек агылшын классикалык; поэзиясыныц ец мацызды бвлшнщ 6ipin - елец шыгаруын зерттейы. Олец шыгаруы тутас влецнщ бвлы деп саналуына к;ансет;ягни, тацырыбы, бейнеа, цурылысы, цалыбы - осылар ацынныц сезшгнщ жене ойынъщ 61рл1стшнен шигады. Следующая научная работа изучает один из важных аспектов классической английской поэзии - стихосложение английского языка. Стихосложение должно наблюдаться и оцениваться как часть целостного стихотворения - тема, предмет, образ, структура и форма, что выявляется из единства суи{ествующего между чувствами и мыслями поэта. The following research work studies one o f the most important aspects o f classical English poetry that is English versification. Versification is to be observed and appreciated as part ofthe total poem - theme, subject, imagery, structure andform - which emerges out o f the unity that must exist between the poet s thought and feeling. Poetry is music in words, and if read properly, is rich with interwoven harmonies which are as much a part of the poem and its total effect as theme, subject and imagery. Studying some peculiarities of the Language of English Poetry we have selected one of the important aspects that is English versification. English versification includes: rhythm and meter, rhyme and other devices of sound. In the prose accents fall irregularly and without predictable pattern. The passage has rhyme, but in the verse, the stressed syllables alternate with the unstressed syllables to set up a recurring measured beat. The rhythmic pattern in a line of poetry is the meter of the line, that is, its measure. Meter measures the number offe e t-o f rhythmic units or syllable groups - into which the line is divided. In English poetry these units usually contain two or three syllables, only one of which is generally accented. If there are two syllables the foot is disyllabic, if three it is trisyllabic. The most common types of feet in English are: The iamb, a disyllabic foot in which the second syllable is accented The sea is calm to-night [ 1 ]. The trochee, also a disyllabic foot with the accent on the first syllable: Journeys end in lovers meeting [1]. The anapest, a trisyllabic foot in which the accented syllable follows two unaccented ones: О thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again [ 1 ].

$Since meter measures the number of rhythmic units in a line, a one foot line is termed monomter\ a two-foot line, dimeter, a three-foot, trimeter; a four-foot, tetrameter,; a five-foot, pentameter$ six-foot, hexameter; a seven-foot, heptameter, an eight-foot, octameter. Thus, the line Advan tage feeds him fat, while men delay is iambic pentameter, the most frequent line in English poetry.

six-foot, hexameter; a seven-foot, heptameter, an eight-foot, octameter. Thus, the line Advan tage feeds him fat, while men delay is iambic pentameter, the most frequent line in English poetry.

3 Н.А. Алыкпашова 143 The dactyl, a trisyllabic foot in which the accented syllable precedes two unaccented ones: Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them [ 1]. Since meter measures the number of rhythmic units in a line, a one foot line is termed monomter\ a two-foot line, dimeter, a three-foot, trimeter; a four-foot, tetrameter,; a five-foot, pentameter six-foot, hexameter; a seven-foot, heptameter, an eight-foot, octameter. Thus, the line Advan tage feeds him fat, while men delay is iambic pentameter, the most frequent line in English poetry. Although a «regular» (metrical) poem is dominated by one type of foot and one meter, complete regularity would quickly become monotonous, and hence there are perpetual variations within the pattern. One of these is a disyllabic foot known as the spondee, composed of two accented syllables: Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death [1]. In other common variations a line may end with a foot that is one syllable short of being complete, or begin with an extra syllable. Both of these variants are shown in the lines below: All the buds and bells of May, From dewy sward or thorny spray [1]. In addition to using these and other rhythmic variants that can be identified and measured in quantitative terms, most verse reflects all the variations of natural speech rhythms. The pattern, then, is constantly modified by the requirements of stress and sense. Yet with all these variations the pattern is always there, giving unity to the whole. Rhyme and Rhyme-Scheme In addition to the rhythmic pattern within the line, the poet may. interrelate his lines with rhyme. Words rhyme when they have the same vowel and consonant sounds from the last accented vowel to the end - wait, fate; tonight, recite; dying, crying. If the final accented syllables rhyme, the rhyme is said to be «masculine»; These pleasure, Melancholy, give, And I with thee will choose to live. If the rhyme involves two syllables, with the accent on the next-to-last, it is said to be «feminine»: If young hearts were not so clever Oh, they would be young forever [2]. Rhymes of three or more syllables are infrequent in serious poetry, but are sometimes used for comic and satiric effect.

Since in poetry all aspects of form and thought are interrelated, these poets have believed that they must evolve verse form of their own to avoid imitating the thought, as well as the forms, created

The best of these writers have not ignored meter and rhythm; for from it.

4 144 Вестник ЛГУ М г. Филологические науки Blank Verse and Free Verse A number of modem poets have wanted to express themselves in ways which, they have felt, conventional patterns of rhythm and rhyme do not permit. Since in poetry all aspects of form and thought are interrelated, these poets have believed that they must evolve verse form of their own to avoid imitating the thought, as well as the forms, created by earlier poets. Thus they have abandoned conventional meter as well as rhyme and have created their own highly personal forms of free verse. The term, of course, is a matter of definition. The best of these writers have not ignored meter and rhythm; for from it. But they have treated the instruments of versification in highly individual ways, each poet working out the form best suited to himself. The opening lines of «The Waste Land» by T.S. Eliot achieves a powerful rhythm in them: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers [2]. The succession of strong, slow, dirge-like beats intensifies the statement that life is suffering whereas death is peace, and the rhythm helps to establish the theme of the tragedy of renewal. Thus, while these lines defy strict metric analysis, the rhythm is certainly one of verse, not of prose. Other Devices of Sound In addition to meter or rhythm and rhyme, other devices of sound in poetry can help to create emotion or sense impressions. When regular meter and rhyme are absent, these may become even more prominent. Perhaps the most obvious of these devices is the imitative use of sound known as onomatopoeia, in which the words suggest the sound of the action or subject they describe. «Whisper» and «murmur» are onomatopoetic words. Robert Southey built a tour deforce of over a hundred lines, called «The Cataract of Lodore», in which the main effect is double onomatopoeia, through the use of the imitative words and, on top of that, their combination in multiple internal rhyme: Rushing and flushing and brushing and pushing. And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping. Somewhat similar is cacophony, a succession of harsh, discordant sounds, which may be used imitatively, or may create a strong emotional effect. Much subtler that these is assonance, which is akin to rhyme and may be used in its stead. Assonance is the occurrence of the same or a similar vowel sound in words with differing consonant sounds, as in chair: slain.

Н.А. Алыкпашова 145 ) Repetition of consonants, particularly at the beginning of words, is known as alliteration. This was a principal adornment on Old English poetry, which did not know rhyme [3].

wishes to express. Indeed, it is largely the union of thought and form which makes the excellence of the poem.

Note the apparent simplicity in these lines from a song in Twelfth Night: O, mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear; your true love s coming. That can sing both high and low.

5 Н.А. Алыкпашова 145 ) Repetition of consonants, particularly at the beginning of words, is known as alliteration. This was a principal adornment on Old English poetry, which did not know rhyme [3]. Synthesis: The Total Effect Out of the use of rhyme, rhythm and rhyme scheme, assonance and alliteration, harsh sounds and soft, the poet creates a form in which to embody the thought and feeling he wishes to express. Indeed, it is largely the union of thought and form which makes the excellence of the poem. In every good poem, however, there is an inevitable fitness of form to the theme, thought, and purpose of the poet, and the range of form is as varied as the range of feeling and thought. Note the apparent simplicity in these lines from a song in Twelfth Night: O, mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear; your true love s coming. That can sing both high and low. Yet in these lines, Which at first appear almost naively simple, observe how many liquid consonants there are - l s, m s, n s and r s - which prolong and blend with the vowels and create music even without song. And note how few end-stop consonants there are to cut the sound short. The effect is purely lyrical, expressing much more of an emotional than of a thought [4]. Versification is to be observed and appreciated as but part of the living whole, part of the total poem - theme, subject, imagery, structure, and form - which emerges out of the unity that must exist between the poet s thought and feeling if the poem is itself to live. The organic nature of the poetic whole does not, however, preclude analysis. In fact, there is danger in carrying this metaphor too far. Reading may be like surgery in the early stages, when the unskilled use of the analytical knife can drive the vital spirit out. But practice in close reading brings keener awareness of organic symmetry, while practice in surgery only helps to excise parts more neatly and with less damage to what remains. Yeats had a better metaphor, drown from that manifestation of the creative act in which content and form are mostly strikingly one. We ask, How can we know the dancer from the dance? And, of course, we cannot. LITERATURE 1. Under the General Editorship of Gordon N. Ray. «Masters of British Literature», Houghton Mifflin Company/Boston, P Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. The Norton Introduction to Literature. W.W. Norton & Company /New York - London, P Захарова B.B., Томашевский Б.Б. An Anthology of English and American Verse. Progress Publishers /Moscow, P

6 146 Вестник ПГУ М г. Филологические науки 4. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. Poetry: Reading, Responding, Writing. W. W. Norton & Company /New York - London, P

Elements of Poetry and Drama

Elements of Poetry and Drama Instructions Get out your Writer s Notebook and do the following: Write The Elements of Poetry and Drama Notes at the top of the page. Take notes as we review some important