Homer, Shakespeare, Pope, and George Bush

[Congressman Billybob]

I wrote two columns this week, because neither could be set aside. This one's about poetry, so a small number of Freepers will be interested. The same will be true of the other one. Still, enjoy as you choose.

John / Billybob

[Borges]

I don't think Alexander Pope is forgotten. That acerbic dwarf was a witty fellow! Now his direct predecessor John Dryden is relatively forgotten.

[mdittmar]

Sounds Sherwin Cody'ish.

[BikerNYC]

I don't think Alexander Pope is forgotten.

Nor is Carmelita.

[Miss Marple]

I am interested. I hadn't paid attention to anything but the content, because of the Peggy Noonan columns.

Great work on callingthis to our attention! It is an important characteristic of this speech.

[Socratic]

Thank you for your contribution, as always.

[Cornpone]

Thank you. Don't forget one of my favorites, John Donne. He also wrote in iambic pentameter almost exclusively I think.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promentory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death dimishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

[Soul Seeker]

Very interesting.

Thank you for calling this to note. I'd be interested in hearing from Bush, Gerson and anyone who might have intimate knowledge about this aspect of the speech.

[pickemuphere]

I teach lit for a living, Billybob, and those lines don't scan out as iambic pantameter. Whoever taught you scansion did a poor job (no offense).

[Cicero]

Modern prose doesn't do it very often, but the use of iambic and other rhythms in prose is fairly common in older prose. It was common in the great prose writers of the seventeenth century. I noticed a good bit of it in parts of Jane Eyre, which I was listening to on an MP3 disk a few weeks ago while commuting. And there are whole chapters in Moby Dick that are in iambic pentameter.

It's a commonplace that poetry is, and should be, more elevated than prose, an observation that goes back to Aristotle. When you are talking about elevated matters, it's natural to fall into rhythmic patterns and an elevated style.

You have to be careful not to do this sort of thing all the time, or it begins to sound artificial. But at the right moments, it's very effective.

[Congressman Billybob]

You are quite right that this does not scan as pure iambic pentameter, that is: da DA, da DA, da DA, da DA, da DA However, both Pope and Shakespeare deliberately varied the meter from that classic metronome.

The reason I mentioned Homer is that I looked first for the five strong syllables per line, which was the crossover point between Homer and Shakespeare. Admittedly it is a rough match, but good enough to take note of, in my mind.

John

[Congressman Billybob]

I made five calls over two days trying to get a response from Michael Gerson about my conclusions from the text itself. I got five promises of a call back from three different people. The return call with the answer to my question never came.

John

[Graymatter]

Pope is forgotten? I will adjust to this, but it's going to ruin my evening. :(

[Valin]

Many commentators have noted that President Bush’s Second Inaugural Address presented “lofty” themes, rather than “plans for specific action in his second term

And if he'd offered "plans for specific action in his second term", they would of howled that he had no “lofty” themes.

With people like this there's no pleasing them.
All I can say is would you like some cheese to go with that whine?
Or
Tell me how does it feel to be irrelevant?

[Valin]

There there..there there. It'll be alright, remember we're here for you.

[Longwalled Newbie]

"To-DAY,/ I AL-/ so SPEAK/ a-NEW/ to my FEL-/ low CIT-/ i-ZENS."

That is how I'd scan the first line you posted from the 21st paragraph of Bush's speech. "Pentameter", it ain't! As you can see, there are 7 feet in that line--iamb, iamb, iamb, iamb, anapest, iamb, iamb--rather than 5. But, Billybob: If there's another way for scanning that line (and the others you posted), I'd be interested in seeing it (them). I'm always willing to learn. :-)

[Congressman Billybob]

I would not put a hard accent on the AL in also, nor in the ZENS in citizens. Compared to the rest of the line, these are less accented syllables. There are instances in both Shakespeare and Pope where you can see them pushing around the accents on syllables.

The poetical influence I see in the President's speech is not precise, and mathematical. But it IS there.

John / Billybob

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

John Donne-aside from Keats, and perhaps, A.E. Housman-is probably my favorite English poet.

I even have a classic Donne poem-among others-posted on my old profile page.

[don-o]

got ping?

If so, be so kind as to add me.

Thanks

[k2blader]

Bush does not belong in that list.