Structure and versification in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
Regularity
The sonnet structure is identical to To Seem the Stranger, both in its quatrain and sestet structure, its rhyming and even the enjambement pattern. The thought is structured inevitably in much the same way, though the ending here is slightly more upbeat.
Brevity
The use of ellipsis tends towards short lines, so that the fifth foot of the pentameter is sometimes hard to find, as in ll.2,5. There is no obvious use of sprung rhythm, certainly no outriders. Most lines fall easily into an iambic pentameter line however, and sometimes the word order is displaced to accommodate this, as in l.1 where ‘more' is moved in front of ‘have' to give a more regular scansion. The regularity emphasises the restrained tone.
Counterpoint
The marked enjambements with mid-line stops and caesurae are the main feature of the counterpointed rhythms, a feature that occurs in all these dark sonnets.
Investigating My Own Heart
- Scan ll.3,13.
- Does the rhythm actually suggest torment?
- At what sort of speed do you feel comfortable reading the poem?
- Would you read it softly- and if so, what sounds and words would you emphasise to achieve such an effect?
- If you would prefer to read it some other way, then what emphasis would you give?
The device, frequently used at the ends of lines in poetry, where words with the same sound are paired, sometimes for contrast ' for example, 'breath' and 'death'.
The technique used in blank verse and other verse forms in which the sense of a line runs on without a pause to the next one; this often gives a sense of greater fluency to the lines.
A line containing five stressed syllables or feet.
A term given by Gerard Manley Hopkins to his versification. It does have a regular basic metre, but contains additional feet or outriders and other planned irregularities.
A term coined by Gerard Manley Hopkins to denote a syllable or group of syllables not to be counted in the scansion. Also called hangers.
A line containing five metrical feet each consisting of one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
Measuring the metre of verse, by determining the patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables, and the length of each line.
The tone of voice in which anything is to be read in: e.g. lyrical, dramatic, contemplative.
The technique used in blank verse and other verse forms in which the sense of a line runs on without a pause to the next one; this often gives a sense of greater fluency to the lines.
A pause, often indicated in text by a comma or full stop, during a line of blank verse.
Rhythm is the musical effect of the repetition of stresses or beats, and the speed or tempo at which these may be read.
