On Wed, 10 Nov 1999 14:39:37 -0000, you wrote:
>Robert Sheppard mentioned word-counts. Could anyone explain how word-counts can be
>used as a way of establishing rhythm? I'm genuinely interested, but I can't at present see it.
- like others, I can't see word-counts or syllabics as ways of
establishing rhythm, tho they might creatively be ways of establishing
tensions for rhythms to bounce off (I'd cite Gunn as some of the best
instances of this, where he gets the beat going almost in spite of the
self-imposed artificial syllable-count restriction he's built in). I'm
always amazed that folk need to / want to build in such extra problems
(as in: see? I can do it with one hand tied behind my back): it takes
me all my wit to get going with a clear deck and no restrictions. But
the precedents (JS Bach; L. Zukofsky) are there and surely honourable.
Zuk's 80 Flowers, for instance, just beggars belief: each one 8 lines,
5 words per line, and yet the range of rhythms on display is
staggering. Blimey! I wish I could do that.
Not that taking these restrictions away means that what you're left
with is - uh - "Free Verse". For myself, I'd like that term ditched,
reported to the Advertising Standards Authority, sued for corrupting
the young. It ain't free, kids, it's just pay as you go, and every
move in this world has to be earned.
RC
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