Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Russom, Geoffrey (1943-....)
Titre(s) : The evolution of verse structure in Old and Middle English poetry [Texte imprimé] : from the earliest alliterative poems to iambic pentameter / Geoffrey Russom
Publication : Cambridge (GB) ; New York : Cambridge university press, 2017
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (XI-319 p.) ; 24 cm
Collection : Cambridge studies in medieval literature ; 98
Lien à la collection : Cambridge studies in medieval literature
Comprend : General principles of poetic form ; Indo-European and Germanic meters ; Old English
meter in the era of Beowulf ; From late Old English meter to Middle English meter
; Middle English type A1 and the hypermetrical b-verse ; Type A1 in the a-verse
; Types B and C ; Survival and extinction in types A2, Da, and E ; Type Db and the
hypermetrical a-verse ; The birth of English iambic meter ; General summary.
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references (pages 310-316) and index
"In this fascinating study, Geoffrey Russom traces the evolution of the major English
poetic traditions by reference to the evolution of the English language, and considers
how verse forms are born, how they evolve, and why they die. Using a general theory
of poetic form employing universal principles rooted in the human language faculty,
Russom argues that certain kinds of poetry tend to arise spontaneously in languages
with identifiable characteristics. Language changes may require modification of metrical
rules and may eventually lead to extinction of a meter. Russom's theory is applied
to explain the development of English meters from the earliest alliterative poems
in Old and Middle English and the transition to iambic meter in the Modern English
period. This thorough yet accessible study provides detailed analyses of form in key
poems, including Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and a glossary of technical
terms" ; "Given the structure of English, a sound echo involving stressed syllables
will usually have semantic as well as phonological prominence. Ideally, semantic relations
marked by the echo will take on special meaning within a particular work. Shakespeare's
rhymes highlight semantic kinships in day / May (times associated with youth), shines
/ declines (high point and descent), dimmed / untrimmed (loss of beauty), and fade
/ shade (loss of color). At a more abstract level, these rhymes align life and death
with light and darkness. Alliteration has comparable semantic importance in Meredith's
poem. In the fourth stanza, for example, the unifying sound echoes occur in fish,
fur, fierce, fire, faggots, and froze"
Sujet(s) : Poésie anglaise -- 450-1100 (vieil anglais)
Poésie anglaise -- 1100-1500 (moyen anglais)
Anglais (langue) -- Versification
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9781107148338. - ISBN 1107148332 (rel.)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45281481b
Notice n° :
FRBNF45281481
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
