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Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Metrical signatures

 I was thinking of the concept of metrical signatures: the Gestalt of any given poet in terms of metrical preferences or tendencies. What makes that poet sound like him or her self. 

With Claudio, the enjambment of adj / noun is one element of his signature.  I've found it in Baroque poetry, like Quevedo's "postrera / sombra." There is some of it in Góngora.  Góngora seems to be thinking strophically, not line-by-line, even in stanzas without enjambment.  

Another element of his signature would be what you might call awkward syntax in metrical sound forms, or seeming variability and irregularity, with the simultaneous presence of a strong forward pull in the meter.  

This seems to be virgin territory. Sure, there is a lot on prosody, but it tends to be geared toward establishing the basic facts rather than exploring nuances.  


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