This is a wide-ranging, poetic analysis of the great English poetic line, iambic pentameter, as used by Chaucer, Sidney, Milton, and particularly by Shakespeare. George T. Wright offers a detailed survey of Shakespeare's brilliantly varied metrical keyboard and shows how it augments the expressiveness of his characters' stage language.
Shakespeare's Metrical Art
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Editorial Reviews
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"Wright's book is rare in its field in being extremely well-written and fascinating. . . . It is the best book about metre I have ever read, and one of the most helpful books about Shakespeare for some years."--Peter Levi, "Notes & Queries
About the Author
George T. Wright is Regents' Professor of English at the University of Minnesota and author of The Poet in the Poem and W. H. Auden.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is more than a history of iambic pentameter and a brilliant analysis of its use in the hands of its greatest practitioner, it should probably also be read as the best general introduction to prosody available. Truly general introductions may touch on more forms and offer a more complete view of English poetic history, but none out there (that I've seen, at least) are as perceptive as Wright and none of them, perhaps because of their general natures, elucidate so fully the possibilities of expressive variation and mimetic form in poetry the way Wright does in such minute detail. Chapters like "Lines with extra syllables," or "Lines with omitted syllables," or "Play of phrase and line" may at first glance promise only dry reading, and it's probably hard to believe that a 300-page book on iambic pentameter could be one of the best works of literary criticism you could ever read. But this is an analysis of at least half of what poetry is all about and, more importantly, the half most rarely talked about (most college professors don't even know how to). Digest this rich and beautifully written book with a handful of Shakespeare's plays (you won't be able to stay away from them after reading it anyway) and you'll be ready to tackle and analyze most any other poet with relative confidence for yourself.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
George T. Wright's "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" is an
introduction not only to the art of Iambic Pentameter as
Shakespeare practiced it but also a starting point to an
understanding the art of Iambic Pentameter itself. Mr. Wright
argues that in Shakespeare the Iambic Pentameter meter found
its greatest and most flexible practitioner. In
appreciating the beauty of Shakespeare's artistry we also
come to appreciate the intrinsic artistry and beaty of the
meter. Mr. Wright's journey begins with Chaucer and Wyatt,
the former being the earliest practitioner of the Iambic
Pentameter line and also the greatest until Shakespeare. His
reading of Chaucer's lines, as most often Iambic Pentameter,
sometimes runs counter to accepted wisdom, yet, as with his
conception of the meter itself, his argument is well-reasoned
and convincing. More contraversial is his treatment of Wyatt's
often inconsistent use of meter. Yet, here again, Wright
offers the reader a plausible framework into which Wyatt's
poetry becomes another expression of the meter's vitality and
flexibility. From the further disintegration of the meter
after Wyatt, Wright begins his treatment of Shakespeare's
metrical art. Every facet of Shakespeare's flexible and
imaginative use of the meter (his diversions from its strict
course) is methodically examined and considered for its
possible influence upon the meaning of the text. These
diversions include Shakespeare's use of long and short lines,
syllabic ambiguity, lines with extra syllables, lines with
omitted syllables, trochees, false trochees and other such
variations as are possible within the iambic pentameter meter.
Wright rounds off the book with an all too short consideratiom
of the meters use after Shakespeare -- including the writers
Donne, Milton, and in passing twentieth writers Frost, Stevens,
and Eliot. With Mr. Wright's contention that the Iambic
Pentameter meter reached its zenith at Shakespeare's hands,
his argument comes to the inevitable conclusion that Shakespeare's
skill is one which later generations may echo, rarely equal, but never exceed.
This is a book both for the lover of Shakespeare and the
reader of poetry who wishes to better understand the art of
one of the english language's greatest trimphs.
introduction not only to the art of Iambic Pentameter as
Shakespeare practiced it but also a starting point to an
understanding the art of Iambic Pentameter itself. Mr. Wright
argues that in Shakespeare the Iambic Pentameter meter found
its greatest and most flexible practitioner. In
appreciating the beauty of Shakespeare's artistry we also
come to appreciate the intrinsic artistry and beaty of the
meter. Mr. Wright's journey begins with Chaucer and Wyatt,
the former being the earliest practitioner of the Iambic
Pentameter line and also the greatest until Shakespeare. His
reading of Chaucer's lines, as most often Iambic Pentameter,
sometimes runs counter to accepted wisdom, yet, as with his
conception of the meter itself, his argument is well-reasoned
and convincing. More contraversial is his treatment of Wyatt's
often inconsistent use of meter. Yet, here again, Wright
offers the reader a plausible framework into which Wyatt's
poetry becomes another expression of the meter's vitality and
flexibility. From the further disintegration of the meter
after Wyatt, Wright begins his treatment of Shakespeare's
metrical art. Every facet of Shakespeare's flexible and
imaginative use of the meter (his diversions from its strict
course) is methodically examined and considered for its
possible influence upon the meaning of the text. These
diversions include Shakespeare's use of long and short lines,
syllabic ambiguity, lines with extra syllables, lines with
omitted syllables, trochees, false trochees and other such
variations as are possible within the iambic pentameter meter.
Wright rounds off the book with an all too short consideratiom
of the meters use after Shakespeare -- including the writers
Donne, Milton, and in passing twentieth writers Frost, Stevens,
and Eliot. With Mr. Wright's contention that the Iambic
Pentameter meter reached its zenith at Shakespeare's hands,
his argument comes to the inevitable conclusion that Shakespeare's
skill is one which later generations may echo, rarely equal, but never exceed.
This is a book both for the lover of Shakespeare and the
reader of poetry who wishes to better understand the art of
one of the english language's greatest trimphs.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Teop Tnomrev
Format:Paperback
I remember perfunctory discussions of Iambic Pentameter in High School. None of the artistry or intent was explained and afterward I would struggle to write blank verse. An entire generation (the baby-boomers) has grown up in the free-verse movement their elders established -- and sometimes dogmatically so.
I realize now that they themselves didn't understand the verse form they were ostensibly teaching.
The result has been decades of poets who have little understanding of verse forms and who have, at times, been flatly hostile toward anything other than free verse. In my late twenties, however, I discovered "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" by George Wright; and because of this book, I taught myself how to write iambic pentameter. The subtlety, the beauty and artistry of blank verse made sense.
Wright's book is both a book about Shakespeare and a thorough textbook on the art of blank verse. If you want to understand this 'lost' art form, start here. I wish there were some way I could personally thank Wright (and I have tried from time to time to contact him without success).
So, Mr. Wright, if you ever read these reviews - I thank you... I am in your debt.
Patrick Gillespie
Author of "Opening Book"
I realize now that they themselves didn't understand the verse form they were ostensibly teaching.
The result has been decades of poets who have little understanding of verse forms and who have, at times, been flatly hostile toward anything other than free verse. In my late twenties, however, I discovered "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" by George Wright; and because of this book, I taught myself how to write iambic pentameter. The subtlety, the beauty and artistry of blank verse made sense.
Wright's book is both a book about Shakespeare and a thorough textbook on the art of blank verse. If you want to understand this 'lost' art form, start here. I wish there were some way I could personally thank Wright (and I have tried from time to time to contact him without success).
So, Mr. Wright, if you ever read these reviews - I thank you... I am in your debt.
Patrick Gillespie
Author of "Opening Book"
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great resource
This is a very clear, thorough study of the development and properties of the iambic pentameter. I would recommend it.
Published 2 months ago by Donna
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent and Helpful Book
If you are interested in prosody and want a brief introduction, I still recommend (now that it is back in print) Shapiro and Beum's The Prosody Handbook: A Guide to Poetic Form... Read more
Published on January 28, 2009 by Kent Richmond
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Study
I found this to be a truly absorbing and comprehensive study not just of Shakespeare, but of English metrical practice on the whole. Read more
Published on June 30, 2008 by Jonathan Golding
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
46
books
cite this book:
See all 46 books citing this book
- Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare on 13 pages
- Romeo and Juliet (Penguin Readers, Level 3) by William Shakespeare on 13 pages
- Romeo and Juliet (Simply Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare on 13 pages
- Measure for Measure (Oxford School Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare on 13 pages
- Romeo And Juliet (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Saddleback Classics) by William Shakespeare on 13 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- The Tragedy of Anthony and Cleopatra (Oxford Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare on page 101, and page 141
- Shakespeare Survey by Stanley Wells on page 100, and page 103
- The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1500-1600 (Cambridge Companions to Literature) by Arthur F. Kinney on page 198, and page 199
- A Companion to Shakespeare by David Scott Kastan in Front Matter, and page 260
- The Comedy of Errors (The New Cambridge Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare in Front Matter, and Back Matter
See all 46 books citing this book
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