The anapest

[Liar]

It's a truly remarkable meter contraption indeed,
in the shadow of iamb and trochee it flows like a song,
placing weight on the third and the slide on the two that precede,
ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, making punchlines exceedingly strong.

If you've gotten the point, here's a challenge I'd like you to mime;
write an anapest verse, in a meter and style of your choice.
Mine is classic, a plain pentameter with altering rhyme.
Pick your own, add a waltz to the weave of your poetry voice.

 

[Senna Jawa]

Could you post examples or links to examples? Please?

 

[Liar]

My silly little verse there is an example. But yes, absolutely. I'll Google up a bunch later tonight. Swamped with work right now.

 

[butters]

so... blue for shorts, red for long (2 shorts and a long = one metrical foot?)

It's a truly remarkable meter contraption indeed,
in the shadow of iamb and trochee it flows like a song,
placing weight on the third and the slide on the two that precede,
ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, making punchlines exceedingly strong.

If you've gotten the point, here's a challenge I'd like you to mime;
write an anapest verse, in a meter and style of your choice.
Mine is classic, a plain pentameter with altering rhyme.
Pick your own, add a waltz to the weave of your poetry voice.

i think this is a tricky one but will take a shot. don't think it'll be much of a poem though.... back in a while

 

[Tzara]

Could you post examples or links to examples? Please?

Anapestic tetrameter:



The Destruction of Sennacherib
George Gordon, Lord Byron

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

 

[butters]

okay, first little bash at this, keeping it as simple as can be and only concerned about keeping the accents where they should be. hope it works:

now a soldier turns heads in his uniform,
this much is true,
and a sailor, a flyboy, a cop will be
turning them too;
but see chicks rick their necks
lose their minds and their kecks
when the firemen start doing the do

 

[butters]

Anapestic tetrameter:



The Destruction of Sennacherib
George Gordon, Lord Byron

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

ah, that's made things a lot clearer, thanks Tzara. i can work more with that, perhaps. later

 

[twelveoone]

Anapestic tetrameter:



The Destruction of Sennacherib
George Gordon, Lord Byron

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Substitutions?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapestic_tetrameter

 

[Liar]

It seems I don't need to add anything else. That Wiki entry is about as explanatory as it gets.



But here's one of the most read (not to mentioned parodied) anapestic poems you'll find.

Twas the Night before Christmas
Clement Clarke Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
[...] The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
[...] In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

(Two last lines begins with a pause and an iamb)

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

 

[Liar]

okay, first little bash at this, keeping it as simple as can be and only concerned about keeping the accents where they should be. hope it works:

now a soldier turns heads in his uniform,
this much is true,
and a sailor, a flyboy, a cop will be
turning them too;
but see chicks rick their necks
lose their minds and their kecks
when the firemen start doing the do

As slong as "firemen" is read as two syllables, I'd say you got it.

 

[twelveoone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapaest
The following is from Byron's The Destruction of Sennacherib:

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

the problem I have is with wave and to a lesser extent rolls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scansion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_scansion
Just wondering what your thoughts are?

 

[twelveoone]

From another thread, I didn't call it an anapest, because I would have had to scan it, and frankly I can't. But an interesting experiment,


Good then you won't mind if I steal a little trick I learned from you;
Crows glide up from the earth
and speak from empty eyes.
this is pretty standard from the earth uuS, crow takes off. Highly unlikely from the would ever be stressed in even the most idiosyncratic manner.

Version A "the" removed, crow, well doesn't take off, no big deal

A. Crows glide up from earth
and speak from empty eyes.

B. Crows glide up from the earth
and speak from empty eyes.

But I distinctly heard a difference in the word "speak" between the two versions.
Does anybody else?

after a left a comment on Chagall's Bride I had to go back, because I thought the damn bird had come out of the painting and screeched at me.

So, I'm stealing it, just letting you know. Thank you.
BTW, I keep telling people, you want to improve, read damn it. You do see things in other people's work.

 

[twelveoone]

As slong as "firemen" is read as two syllables, I'd say you got it.

Also a very good point.
If you where from Baltimore how many syllables would the baseball team have? Four.
Bal more
Or els

 

[twelveoone]

I'm being serious here, scansion guys. You do get a different reading from Trager-Smith notation, which surprise was developed in 1951, before Chomsky.
And is being used in some poetical quarters.

 

[Liar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapaest
The following is from Byron's The Destruction of Sennacherib:

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

the problem I have is with wave and to a lesser extent rolls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scansion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_scansion
Just wondering what your thoughts are?

I would say that line is not optimal, no. It forces me to stress the phrases differently than how they would be spoken in a sentence.

 

[Liar]

A. Crows glide up from earth
and speak from empty eyes.

B. Crows glide up from the earth
and speak from empty eyes.

But I distinctly heard a difference in the word "speak" between the two versions.
Does anybody else?

Well, you have the last line which is three iambs. So (A) with a first line which is two and a half iamb seems to fit it better than (B) where you have two anapests. No big surprise there.

 

[twelveoone]

Well, you have the last line which is three iambs. So (A) with a first line which is two and a half iamb seems to fit it better than (B) where you have two anapests. No big surprise there.

Does it make a difference in the word "speak", between A & B?

I'm glad someone agrees with me on line 4 of Byron.

 

[Liar]

Does it make a difference in the word "speak", between A & B?

Difference how? It messes up the rhythm in general. But I don't see that it does something specific to that word.

 

[butters]

A. Crows glide up from earth
and speak from empty eyes.

B. Crows glide up from the earth
and speak from empty eyes.

But I distinctly heard a difference in the word "speak" between the two versions.
Does anybody else?

yes. i do.

when i read the first, the word 'speak' automatically is sounded lower than the 'and' then the line continues to drop away


in version 2, i find myself raising the musical tone of 'speak' and even 'empty' takes a higher sound than in the previous example... in fact the whole line sounds more uplifted than sombre.

 

[MikeIvy]

Excuse me for asking a stupid question here but...

...At what point does the desire for a certain form in a poem...overshadow the expression or meaning of the words?

I have heard many people try to tie rhymes to poems, and they loose what could have been a powerful line simply by having to use a lesser word because it rhymed.

 

[butters]

Excuse me for asking a stupid question here but...

...At what point does the desire for a certain form in a poem...overshadow the expression or meaning of the words?

I have heard many people try to tie rhymes to poems, and they loose what could have been a powerful line simply by having to use a lesser word because it rhymed.

at the point it becomes a poor poem, like my little anapesty thingy. it's no poem, just doggerel fitting the schematics.

the poem needs to be paramount, form secondary.

of course, when you can combine them both perfectly, or at the very least well, then the form no longer ties but supports the poem and they become the better write for it.

 

[Angeline]

Excuse me for asking a stupid question here but...

...At what point does the desire for a certain form in a poem...overshadow the expression or meaning of the words?

I have heard many people try to tie rhymes to poems, and they loose what could have been a powerful line simply by having to use a lesser word because it rhymed.

For me Mike, that's the point where I say the poem is more important than the form and use the better word. And I believe out of that kind of thinking forms have changed over time. I mean you can still write an Elizabethan "sonnet" with 14 lines and iambic pentameter and the proper rhyme scheme, but people have gone far afield of that and reworked the form to suit their own purposes and call it a "sonnet." If you were to google the term "modern sonnet" you'd see lots of different examples of this.

I always feel that I can adhere to the form and write one kind of poem, but if I am going in another direction as I write and that's making me bust out of the constraints of the form, I forget the form and go with what feels like better poetry to me.

 

[MikeIvy]

For me Mike, that's the point where I say the poem is more important than the form and use the better word. And I believe out of that kind of thinking forms have changed over time. I mean you can still write an Elizabethan "sonnet" with 14 lines and iambic pentameter and the proper rhyme scheme, but people have gone far afield of that and reworked the form to suit their own purposes and call it a "sonnet." If you were to google the term "modern sonnet" you'd see lots of different examples of this.

I always feel that I can adhere to the form and write one kind of poem, but if I am going in another direction as I write and that's making me bust out of the constraints of the form, I forget the form and go with what feels like better poetry to me.

Thanks..

I guess that coming to writing as a "older" person, I have kind of have a "write it as I feel it" approach to poems as opposed to my other writing.

But now when I sit in class with 18-22 year olds during workshops and listen to them spout about the "form" of their poems, they seem to be more into finding word that fit..not words that work and express feeling and emotions. One thing is making the outlines of the poems lines itself take the shape of the topic of the poem...which leads to a one word line then 3 then 1 ect...all to make up a "mountain" because that is the theme of the piece....

 

[Liar]

Excuse me for asking a stupid question here but...

...At what point does the desire for a certain form in a poem...overshadow the expression or meaning of the words?

I have heard many people try to tie rhymes to poems, and they loose what could have been a powerful line simply by having to use a lesser word because it rhymed.

Form, meter and rhyme conveys certain styles, moods and emotions.

If those are the styles, moods and emotions you are trying to express in a poem, then a form or a meter or a rhyme may be one method to emphasise that.

Like any other method, it can be used successfully or awfully, and should never be used just because.

Unless for fun. Or practice.

 

[Liar]

Anyhoo, the reason I started this thread was because almost all attempts at form and meter poetry that I see here and elsewhere are obsessing solely with iambic meter.

I never understood why that one is the default meter foot. To me, it seems contrived from the get-go and I have the hardest time fitting what I want to say into it. A three stroke rhythm seems much more natural and easy to express oneself in.

Wanted to hear the more form-proficient poets' view on it.