From Richard Eberhart's introduction to Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.
"The measure [of Paradise Lost] is English Heroic Verse without Rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Metre. . ."
"Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish Poets of prime note have rejected Rime both in longer and shorter Works, as have also long since our best English Tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt Numbers, fit quantity of Syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one Verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned Ancients both in Poetry and all good Oratory. This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar Readers, that it rather is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to Heroic Poem from the troublesome and modern bondage of Riming."
What do you think?
4 comments:
Sharon! I'm afraid that I am not responding to your excellent insert by Milton . . . but I was just reading your complete profile, and you said that one of your favorite books is "Two are Better than One." I haven't heard of anyone else who likes that book for . . . well . . . ever, I think! :) I love that story! I love, "The Romantical Perrils of Lester and Lynette." I haven't read it in forever, not since I moved from NC to WI, but I won't forget it!
That excited me! I guess I'm easily excited . . . .
Correction: Insert not by Milton. Got it. About Milton and other things. I saw Paradise Lost and skipped ahead. I guess I said it was excellent but didn't read it too closely. (Hanging my head in shame.) I'll read it now. :)
Okay, as I said, it is an excellent insert. And an interesting idea. However, I disagree. Saying that "rime" is vulgar poetry is like saying illustration is a vulgar form of art. The snooty artists say so, but that is silly (this coming from an Illustration Major as well as an English Major). Rhyme is a style of poetry, a genre of poetry you could almost say, just as illustration is a genre of art. It's different from abstract of modern art, but that doesn't make it vulgar. It is just different.
This fellow obviously doesn't care for rhyme any more than some people care for "silly" illustrations . . . but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it.
Of course, this doesn't mean that I don't enjoy free verse and other non-rhyming forms of poetry as well . . . .
That really was a great post for stirring up thought! Thanks, Sharon!
Hi Anne Elizabeth, thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)
I'm not sure I would say that "rhyme is a style of poetry... just as illustration is a genre of art." Seems to me that rhyme (or lack thereof) is a characteristic of poetry, as opposed to illustration being a genre of art.
I do agree that rhyming isn't more vulgar, unless the poet actually is aiming for "jingling sounds" as constituting good poetry. I think Milton is right to say that number and syllable and meter are much more important, because these characteristics of poetry provide the rhythm which allows the reader to 'sing' the poetry, rather than reading it as plain prose. After all, poetry is music!
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