Getting a feel for the metre
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:56 am
Hi,
I've decided to take another crack at Homer now that I have a bit of free time but I want it to be more succesful this time around. I've got a decent grounding in the grammar, so I'm okay with (eventually) figuring out what a sentence means. My big problem was getting a sense for the rhythm of the poetry (basically, I can't tell why it is poetry) and it's something I'd really like to understand so I was hoping someone here had some tips for me on how to get this feeling for the metre.
I'm okay with lines where all heavy syllables are caused by long vowels, and I think my main problem is with figuring out how a closed syllable (especially one that ends in a stop) can be heavy. Is it simply convention and I just have to adjust my thinking, or is there a phonetic basis for all this?
I've listened to a few recordings but that hasn't really helped me with this either, so I'd appreciate any help people can give me, especially seeing how vague my questions are .
Thymio
I've decided to take another crack at Homer now that I have a bit of free time but I want it to be more succesful this time around. I've got a decent grounding in the grammar, so I'm okay with (eventually) figuring out what a sentence means. My big problem was getting a sense for the rhythm of the poetry (basically, I can't tell why it is poetry) and it's something I'd really like to understand so I was hoping someone here had some tips for me on how to get this feeling for the metre.
I'm okay with lines where all heavy syllables are caused by long vowels, and I think my main problem is with figuring out how a closed syllable (especially one that ends in a stop) can be heavy. Is it simply convention and I just have to adjust my thinking, or is there a phonetic basis for all this?
I've listened to a few recordings but that hasn't really helped me with this either, so I'd appreciate any help people can give me, especially seeing how vague my questions are .
Thymio