Keir
@8dawntreader8.bsky.social
Lifelong Londoner
Drawn to the weird, strange and colourful
Shakespeare and Poe fanatic
Expert on poetic meter and Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Intro to meter, with further links: https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-use-2-syllable-words-in-iambic-pentameter/answer/
Drawn to the weird, strange and colourful
Shakespeare and Poe fanatic
Expert on poetic meter and Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Intro to meter, with further links: https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-use-2-syllable-words-in-iambic-pentameter/answer/
I don’t even live in the US, fortunately, but I have a friend on your side of the pond whom I’m deeply worried for.
November 10, 2025 at 10:35 AM
I don’t even live in the US, fortunately, but I have a friend on your side of the pond whom I’m deeply worried for.
Here she is on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/park...
So @underthedesknews.bsky.social is urging folks to call your Senators especially if they are the 8 yes votes and demand they vote no on the next round. This isn’t over. Like I said earlier: it’s boots on necks time. We raise hell and we don’t abandon folks w/ ACA.
Switchboard 202-224-3121
Switchboard 202-224-3121
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Here she is on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/park...
A no vote doesn’t prove they didn’t want this result, unfortunately: youtu.be/dl-OD5e58DM?...
Thoughts on tonight's betrayal by Senate Dems
YouTube video by Parkrose Permaculture
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 10:24 AM
A no vote doesn’t prove they didn’t want this result, unfortunately: youtu.be/dl-OD5e58DM?...
My own approach to notating the scansion of a poem is somewhat idiosyncratic: bsky.app/profile/8daw...
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 PM
My own approach to notating the scansion of a poem is somewhat idiosyncratic: bsky.app/profile/8daw...
Here I discuss the rhythms at play with lines of different length, and how internal variation can affect the rhythm: substack.com/@snapdragons...
Keir (@snapdragons)
There's one more poem it's occurred to me to share, as half of it is in hexameter. But only because it's two lines long! This little gem by Ezra Pound:
[Scansion = beats in italics; heavy syllables i...
substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Here I discuss the rhythms at play with lines of different length, and how internal variation can affect the rhythm: substack.com/@snapdragons...
You might find this a useful read: qr.ae/pCTxPm
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander P...
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
Shakespeare was supremely skilled a...
qr.ae
November 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
You might find this a useful read: qr.ae/pCTxPm
Gaining a deep grasp of the meter certainly enhanced my own enjoyment of Shakespeare: williamshakespeare.quora.com/Shakespeare-...
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander P...
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
Shakespeare was supremely skilled a...
williamshakespeare.quora.com
September 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Gaining a deep grasp of the meter certainly enhanced my own enjoyment of Shakespeare: williamshakespeare.quora.com/Shakespeare-...
Here I delve a little deeper into heavy offbeats and different line lengths: substack.com/@snapdragons...
Keir (@snapdragons)
There's one more poem it's occurred to me to share, as half of it is in hexameter. But only because it's two lines long! This little gem by Ezra Pound:
[Scansion = beats in italics; heavy syllables i...
substack.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Here I delve a little deeper into heavy offbeats and different line lengths: substack.com/@snapdragons...
Fittingly, “breaks…” marks a break in the line!
September 22, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Fittingly, “breaks…” marks a break in the line!
That final line has two beat shifts. I incline to read it as two catches: trochee-spondee combis.
ON the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
Alternatively, it could open on a pump: the first beat pumped forward.
on the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
I explain beat shifts here:
ON the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
Alternatively, it could open on a pump: the first beat pumped forward.
on the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
I explain beat shifts here:
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander P...
Shakespeare’s Rhythms
> “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance”
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
Shakespeare was supremely skilled a...
williamshakespeare.quora.com
September 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
That final line has two beat shifts. I incline to read it as two catches: trochee-spondee combis.
ON the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
Alternatively, it could open on a pump: the first beat pumped forward.
on the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
I explain beat shifts here:
ON the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
Alternatively, it could open on a pump: the first beat pumped forward.
on the BALD STREET | BREAKS the BLANK DAY
I explain beat shifts here:
And perhaps more of a linger on "us". It makes a difference visually, and may influence how we read the line in terms of emphasis. But that core 4/3 rhythm remains.
September 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
And perhaps more of a linger on "us". It makes a difference visually, and may influence how we read the line in terms of emphasis. But that core 4/3 rhythm remains.
She moved the last two syllables of the first line to the second. If "The Dews" had remained on the opening line, this stanza would be identical to the rest. Because we automatically count in fours, we still hear 4 beats followed by 3; the difference it makes is visual.
September 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
She moved the last two syllables of the first line to the second. If "The Dews" had remained on the opening line, this stanza would be identical to the rest. Because we automatically count in fours, we still hear 4 beats followed by 3; the difference it makes is visual.
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only le –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only le –
September 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only le –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only le –
The poem as a whole is in common meter (alternating 4 & 3 beat lines), though only the even numbered lines rhyme, which is more characteristic of ballad meter (loose common meter, making free use of anapests).
There is an alteration to the 4th stanza:
There is an alteration to the 4th stanza:
September 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The poem as a whole is in common meter (alternating 4 & 3 beat lines), though only the even numbered lines rhyme, which is more characteristic of ballad meter (loose common meter, making free use of anapests).
There is an alteration to the 4th stanza:
There is an alteration to the 4th stanza: