... the stress does really make it long for metrical purposes. 21 July 1936 English Prosody and Bengali Metrics You have set me two very intricate subjects to wrestle with—English prosody and the yaugmika-akṣara tangle! English prosody is neither syllabic nor quantitative nor anything else; it is simply English prosody—that is to say, everything together, except what it pretends to be. As to the ...
... been charmed and taken captive by its rhythm and surge, its sweetness and opulence. Many attempts have been made in England to shape it in the mould of English verse. For quantity or measure in English prosody is of a very different type from what it is in Greek, Latin or Sanskrit. In these classical tongues, the vowels could be lengthened to a degree without deviating from the norm, whereas in English... common and accent determines their quantity in large measure. The rhythm or music of English verse follows the pattern of stress. Sri Aurobindo wanted to refashion the hexameter in the style of English prosody, and whatever success has been achieved in this field is Sri Aurobindo's gift. For instance, his poem, Ahana, is written entirely in this metre: Vision de/lightful a/lone on the/hills whom... deal by the French language with its Latin tradition. Indeed, the Norman-French influence has been powerfully dominating the English language for several centuries. This has considerably helped English prosody gain in variety and richness, for here there is room for both the main lines of rhythmic expression. Metrical forms where the element of stress is predominant Page 91 and the ...
... the authorities (I wrote a book* of prosody also whereupon many began to besiege me with questions about the intricacies of Bengali rhythm) I appealed to Gurudev to take me in hand and teach me English prosody including quantitative metres. It will be going beyond the scope of my reminiscences to go on relating how he taught me, at every step, and with what meticulous pains. But I am sure that a few... "From this example given by Voltaire," I wrote, "does it not seem that he takes caesura to mean every pause of the kind indicated by a comma? But that is not, I gather, what is meant by caesura in English prosody? Please enlighten." To that he wrote in my note-book: "Voltaire's dictum is quite baffling, unless he means by caesura any pause or break in the line; then of course a comma does create ...
... Letters on Poetry and Art Appendix I: The Problem of the Hexameter The perfection of the hexameter is one of the unsolved problems of English prosody. Either the problem is insoluble, the noble rhythm so satisfying in Greek and Latin unsuited to the brief Saxon vocables—or else the secret of a successful measure has not yet been discovered. Even were the... much overburdened and fettered by its past successes and triumphs. The present poem is an experiment in this direction. No doubt the definite entry of the hexameter among the ordinary forms of English prosody must wait until it is chosen by a supreme poetical genius or a master rhythmist. But meanwhile something may possibly be done by a careful attempt founded on a clear and definite conception of ...
... of my fruitful contact with the great poet A.E. for which Sethna was partly responsible. It happened like this. Sethna, and later Chadwick, used to give me valuable subsidiary advice about English prosody and verse-making which I was learning under the direct guidance of Sri Aurobindo. I will have more to write, in a subsequent chapter* on our Master's corrections and counsels and so will confine... he always helped me by correcting my English poems which he liked very much, he said. His deep mastery of the technique of English poetry left a lasting impression on my mind eager to possess English prosody. He too in his turn wanted to profit by what little I could tell him about our music which he came gradually to love, so much so that one day after hearing a few hymns to Krishna which I sang for ...
... the Calcutta Review in June 1934. In Horis Aeternum . 19 April 1932. Sri Aurobindo began this poem while corresponding with Arjava (J. A. Chadwick, a British disciple) about English prosody. He wrote the first stanza in a letter to Arjava and the full poem in a subsequent letter ( Letters on Poetry and Art , pp. 231–34). There are two handwritten and two typed manuscripts ...
... course, quantitative according to the system illustrated at length in his hexameters. We have in Descent, therefore, not a strict imitation of the Greek pattern but a living response to it by English prosody without sacrificing the basic spirit and rhythm-movement of the original. Over and above technical departures there is also one in the lyrical quality which demands notice. Swinburne and Symonds ...
... Impatient of preposterous curbs no less than fictitious values and haphazard movements, most poets have chosen to throw overboard all classicism and to construct their hexameters according to the English prosody of heavy and light instead of long and short. Sri Aurobindo recognises the naturalness and flexibility thus brought into the technique, but he is not satisfied with the results offered by the ...
... for which Sethna was Page 186 partly responsible. It happened like this. Sethna, and later Chadwick, used to give me valuable subsidiary advice about English prosody and verse-making which I was learning under the direct guidance of Sri Aurobindo. I will have more to write in a subsequent chapter on our Master's corrections and counsels and so will confine ...
... not be as legitimate as the anapaest. Only, of course, if frequently used, they would mean the institution of another principle of harmony not provided for by the essentially melodic basis of English prosody in the past; as Or, I agree that this freedom would be more pressingly needed in longer metres than in short ones, but they need not be excluded from the short ones either. ...
... evolving soul were to be sought in the earthworm or the scarabaeus and not in the developed human being—or in the divinised man or Jivanmukta. As for foreign influences, most of the elements of English prosody, rhyme, foot-scansion, line lengths, stanza forms and Page 162 many others have come in from outside and have altered out of all recognition the original mould, but the spirit of the ...
... and example are convincing, and one wonders whether poets like Eliot, Auden and Spender have reached similar conclusions. At least, they should be made aware of this considerable contribution to English prosody by an Indian poet." 2 The Future Poetry, pp. Page 116 of life vibrating in all he utters, an almost primitive force of vitality, delivered from the enormous mechanical ...
... rhythm. Or else we may adopt the scansion: where the first foot is a dactyl and the second a spondee. As a foot consisting of one slack and two stresses is not part of normal English prosody but as the adjective "vast" is too impor-tant to be slightly slurred over with a minor accent, the second way of scanning disqualifies itself. The first gives "vast" its due weight, but divides ...
... before publishing the work in book-form after obtaining his degree. My shorter report was read out to the Mother. It had a passage on technical points of English poetry. She said: "I don't know English prosody. So I couldn't have written this passage." I generalised and abbreviated my remarks and brought the passage within the Mother's acceptance. She signed the report. Then I said: "Mother, what about ...
... disguised in the more perfect work in which it has developed its own possibilities to their full pitch, variety and scope. Page 308 As for foreign influences, most of the elements of English prosody, rhyme, foot-scansion, line-lengths, stanza-forms and many others have come in from outside and have altered out of all recognition the original mould, but the spirit of the language has found ...
... readers, partly because of their overhead inspiration, and partly because they either handle classical quantitative metres or they seem to sway uncertainly between the patterns of traditional English prosody and the exasperating vagaries of modernist free verse. On the other hand, it would be a mistake to draw the hasty conclusion that because poems like Ocean Oneness, Trance of Waiting, Flame-Wind ...
... there is a yet minuter difference I myself shall have to live in the misery of ignorance. What, however, I do know I may concretely impart to you by illustrating a Dochmiac and an Antispast, in English prosodic terms, through a compliment to our horror-stricken ecstastic of metre: An all-wise delight is George Gissing's. Perhaps the compliment seems too high-pitched. But that there is... mould for his mood-movements should mechanically conform to the new non-conformity! All must have a right to be individual— Page 216 and if people want to be boldly experimental in prosody they may do so, but the soul of metre must not be lost—or else poetry in the truest connotation will get lost with it. Even "free verse" is, when it is still true poetry, a broad pattern of returning ...
... there is a yet minuter difference I myself shall have to live in the misery of ignorance. What, however, I do know I may concretely impart to you by illustrating a Dochmiac and an Antispast, in English prosodic terms, through a compliment to our horror-stricken ecstastic of metre: An all-wise delight | is George Gissing's. Page 175 Perhaps the compliment seems too high-pitched... older metres a natural mould for his mood-movements should mechanically conform to the new nonconformity! All must have a right to be individual - and if people want to be boldly experimental in prosody they may do so, but the soul of metre must not be lost - or else poetry in the truest connotation will get lost with it. Even "free verse" is, when is still true poetry, a broad pattern of returning ...
... there is a yet minute difference I myself shall have to live in the misery of ignorance. What, however, I do know I may concretely impart to them by illustrating a Dochmiac and an Antispast, in English prosodic terms, through a compliment to our horror-stricken ecstastic of metre: An all-wise delight is George Gissing's. Perhaps the compliment seems too high-pitched. But that there is... older metres a natural mould for his mood-movements should mechanically conform to the new nonconformity! All must have aright to be individual — and if people want to be boldly experimental in prosody they may do so, but the soul of metre must not be lost — or else poetry in the truest connotation will get lost with it. Even "free verse" is, when is still true poetry, a broad pattern of returning ...
Share your feedback. Help us improve. Or ask a question.