Blank Verse Feminine Endings
December 16, 2010 2:02 PM Subscribe
In the mechanics of blank verse, why do feminine endings go with eleven-syllable lines?
I'm spending a lot of time reading Shakespeare right now (I haven't read much blank verse from later periods, which might be different). How come feminine endings "are allowed" in 11-syllable lines, but not regular 10-syllable ones? Is there some effect I should be able to hear? What is the effect? Why would our taste in sounds work in a way that makes this distinction exist?
I'm spending a lot of time reading Shakespeare right now (I haven't read much blank verse from later periods, which might be different). How come feminine endings "are allowed" in 11-syllable lines, but not regular 10-syllable ones? Is there some effect I should be able to hear? What is the effect? Why would our taste in sounds work in a way that makes this distinction exist?
Best answer: Right. The difference is just that 10 is an even number (so if you stress every second syllable in a 10-syllable line, you wind up ending on a stressed syllable) and 11 is an odd number (so if you do the same thing in a 11-syllable line, you wind up ending on an unstressed one).
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:23 PM on December 16, 2010
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:23 PM on December 16, 2010
Someone else will be able to better name the terms involved, but syllable count isn't really the hallmark of Shakespeare's blank verse. His blank verse is iambic pentameter(wikipedia), distinguished by five beats per line, generally of two-syllables each. But that doesn't mean that feet other than iambs are disallowed, particularly as the last foot in a line.
Yeah, this is called a "substitution," though if I'm reading right, nebulawindphone is correct in that in a line of iambic pentameter with no other substitutions but with a feminine ending, it's pretty much how things will just work out. You can make a trochaic substitution in blank verse on the fifth foot, and thus end on an unstressed syllable, but it muddles your rhyme and is rare.
I have an MFA in poetry and spent an entire grad school semester talking about this, but am terrible at it. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. :P
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:19 PM on December 16, 2010
Yeah, this is called a "substitution," though if I'm reading right, nebulawindphone is correct in that in a line of iambic pentameter with no other substitutions but with a feminine ending, it's pretty much how things will just work out. You can make a trochaic substitution in blank verse on the fifth foot, and thus end on an unstressed syllable, but it muddles your rhyme and is rare.
I have an MFA in poetry and spent an entire grad school semester talking about this, but am terrible at it. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. :P
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:19 PM on December 16, 2010
Best answer: THE source for answers to questions like this is "Shakespeare's Metrical Art." It's a fantastic book.
You probably know some of this, but the basic rhythm of blank verse is...
tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM
(in SOOTH | I KNOW | not WHY | i AM | so SAD. )
Each section of the line, which I divided with pipe symbols, is a "foot," so an iambic pentameter line has five feet, each two-syllables long. (Ten syllables total.) The second syllable is stressed more strongly than the first.
That's the norm, and up until close to Shakespeare's time, people followed that pattern religiously. Then, he and his colleagues started playing around with variations. They kept enough by-the-rules lines in their plays to establish the basic rhythm, and then, like jazz musicians, they started improvising (always returning to the pattern after a bit, so the listener doesn't get lost).
The are many "allowable" variations. The main ones are...
1. Spondees: feet in which both syllables are stressed:
OH WHAT | a NO | ble MIND | is HERE | o'er THRONE
(Note: you might disagree. There are a variety of ways one could stress those first two syllables. When it comes to scanning verse, there isn't always a right answer. Which is part of the fun. Different readers and actors can play the same instrument in various ways.)
2. Pyrrhic feet: two weak syllables.
Looking back at the previous example, the "is HERE" foot is, perhaps, a bit forced. A more natural reading might be ...
OH WHAT | a NO | ble MIND | is here | o'er THRONE
Here's another example:
now IS | the WIN | ter of | our DIS | con TENT
(The first foot, above, is funky. See below for a fix.)
Note that with both spondees and pyrrhics, the default tee-TUM rhythm comes back very quickly. Generally, the very next foot is a standard one. It's somewhat rare to see, say, two pyrrhic feet in a row, because that would risk the listener losing hold of the beat. More about that shortly.
3. The trochee, which reverses the beat in a standard foot: TUM-tee instead of tee-TUM. Trochaic feet can appear almost anywhere in a line, but most often you see them in the first position:
NOW is | the WIN | ter of | our DIS | con TENT
(The also often occur after a midline pause, e.g. when there's a period or a comma in the middle of the line.
To GIVE | them SEALS, | NEV er | my SOUL | conSENT.
Now, take a look at how the trochaic foot joins onto the following foot:
NOW is | the WIN...
Right back on the beat!
But what if a line ended with a trochee?
to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | YEL low
There's now way for the line to regain the rhythm, because there are no more feet! Try reading the above out loud, making sure to hit IS and YEL really hard. It sounds like there's something missing from the line. After a trochee, we expect a blank verse line to get back onto the tee-TUM track.
Which is why another you almost never see trochee's in the final foot. If a writer wants one, he generally uses another, less jarring, variation, the feminine ending:
to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | the QUEST ion
That last syllable is allowable because it's almost not there. It's like a little exhale of breath after QUEST.
posted by grumblebee at 5:26 PM on December 16, 2010 [12 favorites]
You probably know some of this, but the basic rhythm of blank verse is...
tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM | tee-TUM
(in SOOTH | I KNOW | not WHY | i AM | so SAD. )
Each section of the line, which I divided with pipe symbols, is a "foot," so an iambic pentameter line has five feet, each two-syllables long. (Ten syllables total.) The second syllable is stressed more strongly than the first.
That's the norm, and up until close to Shakespeare's time, people followed that pattern religiously. Then, he and his colleagues started playing around with variations. They kept enough by-the-rules lines in their plays to establish the basic rhythm, and then, like jazz musicians, they started improvising (always returning to the pattern after a bit, so the listener doesn't get lost).
The are many "allowable" variations. The main ones are...
1. Spondees: feet in which both syllables are stressed:
OH WHAT | a NO | ble MIND | is HERE | o'er THRONE
(Note: you might disagree. There are a variety of ways one could stress those first two syllables. When it comes to scanning verse, there isn't always a right answer. Which is part of the fun. Different readers and actors can play the same instrument in various ways.)
2. Pyrrhic feet: two weak syllables.
Looking back at the previous example, the "is HERE" foot is, perhaps, a bit forced. A more natural reading might be ...
OH WHAT | a NO | ble MIND | is here | o'er THRONE
Here's another example:
now IS | the WIN | ter of | our DIS | con TENT
(The first foot, above, is funky. See below for a fix.)
Note that with both spondees and pyrrhics, the default tee-TUM rhythm comes back very quickly. Generally, the very next foot is a standard one. It's somewhat rare to see, say, two pyrrhic feet in a row, because that would risk the listener losing hold of the beat. More about that shortly.
3. The trochee, which reverses the beat in a standard foot: TUM-tee instead of tee-TUM. Trochaic feet can appear almost anywhere in a line, but most often you see them in the first position:
NOW is | the WIN | ter of | our DIS | con TENT
(The also often occur after a midline pause, e.g. when there's a period or a comma in the middle of the line.
To GIVE | them SEALS, | NEV er | my SOUL | conSENT.
Now, take a look at how the trochaic foot joins onto the following foot:
NOW is | the WIN...
Right back on the beat!
But what if a line ended with a trochee?
to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | YEL low
There's now way for the line to regain the rhythm, because there are no more feet! Try reading the above out loud, making sure to hit IS and YEL really hard. It sounds like there's something missing from the line. After a trochee, we expect a blank verse line to get back onto the tee-TUM track.
Which is why another you almost never see trochee's in the final foot. If a writer wants one, he generally uses another, less jarring, variation, the feminine ending:
to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | the QUEST ion
That last syllable is allowable because it's almost not there. It's like a little exhale of breath after QUEST.
posted by grumblebee at 5:26 PM on December 16, 2010 [12 favorites]
You may enjoy the game (pointed out to me in "Shakespeare's Metrical Art") that Shakespeare has Lorenzo and Jessica play in "Merchant of Venice," V, i.
Each character's speech ends with a half line, which the next character finishes. (We call these "shared lines").
For instance, this line ...
Where Cres | sid lay | that night. | In such | a night |
... is started by Lorenzo and finished by Jessica.
LORENZON
Where Cressid lay that night.
JESSICA
------------------------------ In such a night
That's a great technique for, amongst other things, making two lover speak with one voice. But Shakespeare goes much further than that. At the bottom of this post, I've typed out the whole dialogue, so you can read the lines in context, but here I'll just list all the shared lines, with an "(L)" before Lorenzo's parts and a "(J)" before Jessica's. Note that none of these lines form complete sentences, because the rest of the sentence is always completed in subsequent (non-shared lines).
1. (L) Where Cressid lay that night. (J) In such a night
2. (J) And ran dismay'd away. (L) In such a night
3. (L) To come again to Carthage. (J) In such a night
4. (J) That did renew old AEson. (L) In such a night
5. (L) As far as Belmont. (J) In such a night
6. (J) And ne'er a true one. (L) In such a night
The first thing to notice is that the characters alternate who starts each shared line. Lorenzo pitches a beginning to Jessica, which she finishes and then she pitches a beginning to him, which he finishes -- and so on.
Okay. Let's look at how these scan. What you'll notice is that lines one and two are regular in terms of syllable count.
1. (L) Where Cres | sid lay | that night. | (J) In such | a night
2. (J) And ran | dis may'd | a way. | (L) In such | a night
Lines three and four each have an extra syllable at the midline break -- so they have feminine MIDDLES!
3. (L) To come | a gain | to Car thage. | (J) In such | a night
4. (J) That did | re new | old AE son. | (L) In such | a night
Lines five and six each have a missing syllable at the midline.
5. (L) As far | as Bel | mont [---]. | (J) In such | a night
6. (J) And ne'er | a true | one. [---] | (L) In such | a night
I'll reprint the lines, below, bolding the extra syllables and using [---] to indicated the missing ones. (When you read the lines with the missing syllables, try pausing where the sound should be, feeling a beat in the pause. Also note that Jessica's "ne'er" is pronounced as a one-syllable word, rhyming with "bear.")
1. (L) Where Cressid lay that night. (J) In such a night
2. (J) And ran dismay'd away. (L) In such a night
3. (L) To come again to Carthage. (J) In such a night
4. (J) That did renew old AEson. (L) In such a night
5. (L) As far as Belmont.[---] (J) In such a night
6. (J) And ne'er a true one.[---] (L) In such a night
So Lorenzo lobs a partial line at Jessica, which she finishes. She lobs a partial line and him, which he finishes. He ups the ante by batting her a partial line with an extra syllable. Without flinching, she finishes his line and sends an new partial to him, also with an extra syllable. He finishes and sends her a partial line with a missing syllable. She finishes that and returns the favor with her own missing-syllable half line, which Lorenzo finishes.
These lovers are truly of one mind.
LORENZO
The moon shines bright: in such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.
JESSICA
--------------------------------In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself
And ran dismay'd away.
LORENZO
------------------------In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand
Upon the wild sea banks and waft her love
To come again to Carthage.
JESSICA
----------------------------In such a night
Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs
That did renew old AEson.
LORENZO
---------------------------In such a night
Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew
And with an unthrift love did run from Venice
As far as Belmont.[---]
JESSICA
------------------------------In such a night
Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well,
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith
And ne'er a true one.[---]
LORENZO
--------------------------In such a night
Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,
Slander her love, and he forgave it her.
posted by grumblebee at 6:30 AM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
Each character's speech ends with a half line, which the next character finishes. (We call these "shared lines").
For instance, this line ...
Where Cres | sid lay | that night. | In such | a night |
... is started by Lorenzo and finished by Jessica.
LORENZON
Where Cressid lay that night.
JESSICA
------------------------------ In such a night
That's a great technique for, amongst other things, making two lover speak with one voice. But Shakespeare goes much further than that. At the bottom of this post, I've typed out the whole dialogue, so you can read the lines in context, but here I'll just list all the shared lines, with an "(L)" before Lorenzo's parts and a "(J)" before Jessica's. Note that none of these lines form complete sentences, because the rest of the sentence is always completed in subsequent (non-shared lines).
1. (L) Where Cressid lay that night. (J) In such a night
2. (J) And ran dismay'd away. (L) In such a night
3. (L) To come again to Carthage. (J) In such a night
4. (J) That did renew old AEson. (L) In such a night
5. (L) As far as Belmont. (J) In such a night
6. (J) And ne'er a true one. (L) In such a night
The first thing to notice is that the characters alternate who starts each shared line. Lorenzo pitches a beginning to Jessica, which she finishes and then she pitches a beginning to him, which he finishes -- and so on.
Okay. Let's look at how these scan. What you'll notice is that lines one and two are regular in terms of syllable count.
1. (L) Where Cres | sid lay | that night. | (J) In such | a night
2. (J) And ran | dis may'd | a way. | (L) In such | a night
Lines three and four each have an extra syllable at the midline break -- so they have feminine MIDDLES!
3. (L) To come | a gain | to Car thage. | (J) In such | a night
4. (J) That did | re new | old AE son. | (L) In such | a night
Lines five and six each have a missing syllable at the midline.
5. (L) As far | as Bel | mont [---]. | (J) In such | a night
6. (J) And ne'er | a true | one. [---] | (L) In such | a night
I'll reprint the lines, below, bolding the extra syllables and using [---] to indicated the missing ones. (When you read the lines with the missing syllables, try pausing where the sound should be, feeling a beat in the pause. Also note that Jessica's "ne'er" is pronounced as a one-syllable word, rhyming with "bear.")
1. (L) Where Cressid lay that night. (J) In such a night
2. (J) And ran dismay'd away. (L) In such a night
3. (L) To come again to Carthage. (J) In such a night
4. (J) That did renew old AEson. (L) In such a night
5. (L) As far as Belmont.[---] (J) In such a night
6. (J) And ne'er a true one.[---] (L) In such a night
So Lorenzo lobs a partial line at Jessica, which she finishes. She lobs a partial line and him, which he finishes. He ups the ante by batting her a partial line with an extra syllable. Without flinching, she finishes his line and sends an new partial to him, also with an extra syllable. He finishes and sends her a partial line with a missing syllable. She finishes that and returns the favor with her own missing-syllable half line, which Lorenzo finishes.
These lovers are truly of one mind.
LORENZO
The moon shines bright: in such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.
JESSICA
--------------------------------In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself
And ran dismay'd away.
LORENZO
------------------------In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand
Upon the wild sea banks and waft her love
To come again to Carthage.
JESSICA
----------------------------In such a night
Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs
That did renew old AEson.
LORENZO
---------------------------In such a night
Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew
And with an unthrift love did run from Venice
As far as Belmont.[---]
JESSICA
------------------------------In such a night
Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well,
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith
And ne'er a true one.[---]
LORENZO
--------------------------In such a night
Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,
Slander her love, and he forgave it her.
posted by grumblebee at 6:30 AM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you very much, Grumblebee. Your example 'To BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | YEL low' definitely makes the point.
posted by Paquda at 7:24 AM on December 20, 2010
posted by Paquda at 7:24 AM on December 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
That wikipedia article goes into the details.
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 2:18 PM on December 16, 2010