Description
Book SynopsisThis volume contains the remarkable PhD thesis submitted by Crozier in 1972, and for which his external examiner was J.H. Prynne-whose comments on the thesis are also included here, as an afterword. "My intention in writing this thesis has been to cast some light on the prima facie case that free verse, in abandoning the exercise of metre, has abandoned that principle of restraint upon which the creation of artistic form depends. This point of view contrasts with a general contention on the part of the exponents of free verse that their works possess form which is not only unique but which also bears an immediate relation to the significance of the work, a relationship felt to be 'musical', although not in any directly analogical sense."
Table of ContentsIntroduction by Ian BrintonChapter 1: Summary & Introduction: Critical Reservations about "Modern" or Experimental Poetry Chapter 2: The Concept of Metre and the Relation of Prosody to MeaningChapter 3: Prose and Speech as Criteria for the Organisation of Poetic DiscourseChapter 4: The Influence of Humanist Notions of Organisation on Sixteenth Century PoeticsChapter 5: The Harmony of the World and the Harmony of Verse: an Idea in DegradationChapter 6: Sound and Sense: the Direct Action of Poetic Rhythm on the Passions and the Theory of ExpressionChapter 7: Natural Rhythmic Standards and the Demand for Prosodic VarietyChapter 8: Conclusion: Free Verse and the Natural Restraints of LanguageReport by J.H. Prynne
