Questions & explanations
1. Give an example of a limerick and scan its first line.
Example: 'There once was a man from Nantucket / Who kept all his cash in a bucket. / But his daughter, named Nan, / Ran away with a man, / And as for the bucket, Nantucket.' The first line: 'There ONCE was a MAN from NanTUCKet' — stresses: ONCE, MAN, TUCK. The pattern: there (unstressed), once (stressed), was (unstressed), a (unstressed), man (stressed), from (unstressed), Nan (unstressed), Tuck (stressed), et (unstressed) — actually, 'Nantucket' has stress on TUCK. So it's anapestic: da-da-DUM da-da-DUM da-da-DUM. The first foot: 'there once was'? No, 'there' is unstressed, 'once' stressed, 'was' unstressed — that's da-DUM-da, not anapest. Better: 'There ONCE was a MAN from NanTUCKet' — the anapests are: 'there once was' (da-da-DUM? 'there' da, 'once' da? No, 'once' is stressed. I'm confusing. Let me scan properly: In anapest, the stress is on the third syllable. So 'there once was' has stress on 'once'? Actually, 'there' is unstressed, 'once' is stressed, 'was' is unstressed — that's iambic (da-DUM-da). Limericks often use anapests but can vary. The classic line 'There once was a m
2. Give an example of an endecasillabo line from Dante's Divine Comedy.
A famous example is 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' from Dante's Inferno. This line has eleven syllables: Nel (1) mez-zo (2) del (3) cam-min (4) di (5) no-stra (6) vi-ta (7). Wait, that's seven. Let's recount: Nel (1) mez-zo (2) del (3) cam-min (4) di (5) no-stra (6) vi-ta (7) — that's only seven. Actually, the full line is 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' — it has 11 syllables: Nel (1) mez-zo (2) del (3) cam-min (4) di (5) no-stra (6) vi-ta (7) — still seven? I'm mistaken. The correct line is 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' has 11 syllables in Italian: Nel (1) mez-zo (2) del (3) cam-min (4) di (5) no-stra (6) vi-ta (7) — no, it's 7. Let me check: 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' — actually, 'cammin' is two syllables? No. I'll correct: The line is 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' — syllables: Nel (1), mez-zo (2), del (3), cam-min (4), di (5), no-stra (6), vi-ta (7). That's 7. I'm wrong. The correct famous line is 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita' has 11 syllables? No, it's 7. I'll provide a correct example: 'Per me si va ne la città dolente' has 11 syll
3. Write a short English imitation of a Sapphic stanza (three 11-syllable lines and one 5-syllable line).
Example: 'The morning sun rises over the hills bright, / Birds sing their songs in the trees so lovely, / The world awakes to a new day of wonder, / Peaceful and calm.' The first three lines have 11 syllables each: 'The morning sun rises over the hills bright' = 11? The (1), morn (2), ing (3), sun (4), ris (5), es (6), ov (7), er (8), the (9), hills (10), bright (11). Yes. Second line: 'Birds sing their songs in the trees so lovely' = Birds (1), sing (2), their (3), songs (4), in (5), the (6), trees (7), so (8), love (9), ly (10) — 10. Add 'very': 'Birds sing their songs in the trees so very lovely' = 11? That's 12. Let me fix: 'Birds sing their songs in the trees so lovely now' = 11? Birds (1), sing (2), their (3), songs (4), in (5), the (6), trees (7), so (8), love (9), ly (10), now (11). Third line: 'The world awakes to a new day of wonder' = The (1), world (2), a (3), wakes (4), to (5), a (6), new (7), day (8), of (9), won (10), der (11). Fourth line: 'Peaceful and calm' = Peace (1), ful (2), and (3), calm (4) — 4 syllables. Add 'so': 'Peaceful and so calm' = 5. So the stanza wor
4. Identify the meter of this Latin line: 'Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris.' Is it dactylic hexameter? Explain.
Yes, this line is dactylic hexameter. It has six feet: 'Arma' (long-short, trochee, but allowed as first foot), 'virumque' (long-short-short, dactyl), 'cano' (long-short, trochee, but here it's a spondee because 'cano' has two long syllables? Actually 'cano' has short 'ca' and long 'no'? Wait, 'cano' – 'ca' is short, 'no' is long, so it's a trochee, but in dactylic hexameter, the first four feet can be dactyls or spondees; the fifth is usually a dactyl, and the sixth is a spondee. Let's scan: 'Ar-ma' (long-short), 'vi-rum-que' (long-short-short), 'ca-no' (short-long? Actually 'ca' is short, 'no' is long, so that's a trochee, but the meter allows a spondee here? This is tricky. For simplicity, the line is a classic example of dactylic hexameter, with the fifth foot being 'pri-mus' (long-short-short) and sixth 'a-b o-ris' (short-long? Actually 'ab' is short, 'o' is long, 'ris' is long? This is complex. The answer: Yes, it is dactylic hexameter, the standard epic meter.
5. Write the final couplet of a 14-line rondel that begins with 'The sun sets in the west' and 'The birds fly home to rest'.
The final couplet (lines 13 and 14) would be exactly the first two lines: 'The sun sets in the west (A) / The birds fly home to rest (B).' In a 14-line rondel, the first two lines repeat as the last two lines. The first line also repeats as line 7? Actually, in a 14-line version, the first line repeats as line 7 and line 14? Wait, standard 14-line rondel: lines 1-2 repeat as 13-14, and line 1 repeats as line 7? Let's check: typical 14-line rondel rhyme scheme: ABBA ABBA ABBAA? That's 13 lines. For 14 lines, it's often ABBA ABBA ABBA AB? Actually, common 14-line rondel: ABBA ABBA ABBAA? That's 13. I'll clarify: a 13-line rondel has first line repeat as line 7 and lines 12-13 repeat first couplet. For 14-line, sometimes first line repeats as line 7 and line 14, and second line as line 13? To avoid confusion, I'll stick with 13-line. So for 13-line, final couplet is lines 12-13: 'The sun sets in the west / The birds fly home to rest.'
6. Write an English couplet in elegiac meter (hexameter + pentameter) with 6 and 5 stressed syllables respectively.
Example: 'The sun sets slowly over the hills and the valleys so green, / Birds fly home to their nests in the trees.' The first line has 6 stresses: The (1) SUN (2) sets (3) SLOW (4) ly (5) O (6) ver (7) the (8) HILLS (9) and (10) the (11) VAL (12) leys (13) so (14) GREEN (15) — that's 15 syllables, but 6 stressed syllables: SUN, sets? Actually, 'sets' is not stressed? Let me do: 'The SUN sets SLOWly O'er the HILLS and VALleys GREEN' — that has 6 stresses: SUN, SLOW, O'er, HILLS, VAL, GREEN. Second line: 'BIRDS fly HOME to their NESTS in the TREES' — stresses: BIRDS, HOME, NESTS, TREES = 4. Need 5: 'BIRDS fly HOME to their NESTS in the TALL TREES' = 5 stresses: BIRDS, HOME, NESTS, TALL, TREES. So the couplet: 'The SUN sets SLOWly O'er the HILLS and VALleys GREEN, / BIRDS fly HOME to their NESTS in the TALL TREES.'
7. Write a short English line in hendecasyllable meter (11 syllables).
An example: 'I love you, my darling, and I want you' — that has 11 syllables: I (1), love (2), you (3), my (4), dar (5), ling (6), and (7), I (8), want (9), you (10) — that's only 10. Let me fix: 'I love you, my darling, and I want you near' — that's 11: I (1), love (2), you (3), my (4), dar (5), ling (6), and (7), I (8), want (9), you (10), near (11). But the stress pattern may not match Latin. In English, we just count syllables. So a hendecasyllable line in English is any line with 11 syllables, like 'The cat sat on the mat and looked at me' (11 syllables: The, cat, sat, on, the, mat, and, looked, at, me — that's 10? Actually: The (1), cat (2), sat (3), on (4), the (5), mat (6), and (7), looked (8), at (9), me (10) — 10. Add 'then': 'The cat sat on the mat and then looked at me' — 11. So that works.
8. What is the basic metrical pattern in Spanish poetry called 'arte mayor'?
'Arte mayor' refers to lines with more than eight syllables, typically nine to twelve syllables. The most common is the 'hendecasyllable' (11 syllables), which is similar to Italian endecasillabo. Spanish poetry counts syllables based on pronunciation, with rules for elision (merging vowels across words). For example, 'La casa blanca' has 4 syllables: 'La-ca-sa-blan-ca' (5? Actually 'La' (1), 'ca' (2), 'sa' (3), 'blan' (4), 'ca' (5) – but if 'casa blanca' merges? In Spanish, 'casa blanca' is 5 syllables because the final 'a' of 'casa' and initial 'b' of 'blanca' do not merge? Wait, elision happens when a word ends with a vowel and the next begins with a vowel. So 'casa' ends with 'a', 'blanca' starts with 'b' (consonant), so no elision. So 5 syllables. But for 'arte mayor', the count is important.
9. Is this line in iambic pentameter? 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'
Yes, it is. Let's scan: shall I (iamb), com-PARE (iamb), THEE to (iamb? 'thee' stressed, 'to' unstressed? Actually 'thee' is stressed, 'to' unstressed, so that's a trochee? Wait: 'Shall I com-PARE thee TO a SUM-mer's DAY?' Better: shall I (iamb), com-PARE (iamb), thee TO (iamb? 'thee' unstressed? No. Standard reading: shall I com-PARE thee TO a SUM-mer's DAY? Stresses: 'I', 'PARE', 'thee', 'SUM', 'DAY'? That's five stresses, but 'thee' is not usually stressed. Actually, the line is iambic pentameter: unstressed-stressed for each foot: Shall I | com-PARE | thee TO | a SUM- | mer's DAY? 'thee' is unstressed, 'to' stressed? That's a trochee. Many scans vary. But overall it's accepted as iambic pentameter.
10. Give an example of an alliterative long line from a Middle English poem.
From 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight': 'And the knight with the green girdle came into the hall.' The alliteration is on 'knight,' 'green,' and 'came'? Actually, 'knight' and 'came' start with 'k,' and 'green' with 'g'? Let's correct: 'And the knight with the green girdle came into the hall' – alliteration on 'knight' and 'came' (both 'k' sound). The line has a pause after 'girdle.' The first half has 'knight' and 'green'? No, 'green' is 'g.' A better example: 'In a summer season when soft was the sun' – alliteration on 'summer,' 'season,' 'soft,' 'sun.' The first half has 'summer' and 'season' (both 's'), second half has 'soft' and 'sun' (both 's'). So the line has four alliterating stresses.
11. What is the rule of 'sinalefa' in Spanish prosody?
Sinalefa is the merging of a vowel at the end of a word with a vowel at the beginning of the next word, counting them as one syllable. For example, 'la alma' becomes 'lalma' (2 syllables instead of 3). This is important for syllable counting. In the line 'La alma del poeta' (the soul of the poet), without sinalefa it would be 5 syllables: La (1), al (2), ma (3), del (4), po (5), e (6) – actually 'poeta' has three syllables: po-e-ta. So 'La alma del poeta' = La (1), al (2), ma (3), del (4), po (5), e (6), ta (7) – 7 syllables. With sinalefa, 'La alma' becomes 'Lalma' (2 syllables: Lal-ma), so total: Lal-ma (1-2), del (3), po-e-ta (4-5-6) = 6 syllables. So sinalefa reduces the count.
12. Apply sprung rhythm to a short line about a waterfall. Write a line with four stresses and varying unstressed syllables.
Line: 'Crash! Foam flies, spray glints, water roars down.' Stresses: 'Crash,' 'foam,' 'spray,' 'glints,' 'wa,' 'roars,' 'down' — that's seven stresses. Let me fix: 'Crash! Foam flies, spray glints, water roars.' That has four stresses: 'Crash,' 'foam,' 'spray,' 'roars.' Unstressed syllables: 'flies' and 'glints' are unstressed? Actually, 'flies' and 'glints' could be stressed. To get four stresses: 'Crash! foam flies, spray glints, roars.' That's four: 'Crash,' 'foam,' 'spray,' 'roars.' Unstressed: 'flies' and 'glints' are unstressed here. The line has six syllables total, so many unstressed? No, it's fine. The rhythm feels fast and powerful, matching the waterfall.