So, in the English Language tradition, what is verse? And how does it differ from prose? What precisely are “blank verse” and “free verse”? What is “metre”? Is it true that Shakespeare’s plays are largely written in “iambic pentameter”, whatever that might be? (Spoiler alert: I explain why this is an impossible fiction!)
Throughout my career as a teacher of English Language and Literature I have been irritated by the nonsense prated about English versification. For centuries schools and universities passed on unthinkingly the muddled doctrines inherited from previous generations, who had all been taught that English verse follows the same “rules” as verse composed in the venerated Classical languages. In my book I show how English verse actually works, as professional readers and actors and sensitive listeners and, of course, poets have already discovered for themselves.
My book is intended for all those who have ever enjoyed listening to, or reading, or composing English verse and poetry, however they feel about it now. (It is perhaps most urgent that current teachers of English, or anyone considering becoming an English teacher in the future, should be curious enough to read it through. Please!)
Feedback is always welcome.
On other pages I have placed some poems of my own.
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