num_pages: 77
description: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1897 ... CHAPTER III. THE STROPHE-FORMS. In the preceding chapter we have examined the individual lines of Browning's poetry, and have seen how the greatest variety possible in their complex structure may be reduced to a system, by considering their elemental structure. It is proposed to do the same for the strophes, of which there is also a very great variety. The strophe is a more complex unity than the line; and, with Browning, it may be said to be the primary unit; for the habitual use of enjambement, even in his longer lines, seems to make it apparent that he did not treat the line as a unit to be considered independently of the strophe. The most important elements of the strophe are the line (or verse) and rhyme. By the structure of the strophe, whether corresponding in internal structure, or length; or differing in both or either, a special rhythm is imparted to the strophe-form, which marks it out as individual and distinct in kind. The rhymes, by their arrangement, bind the strophe together more or less closely, according as they are made more or less prominent. Besides these two combining and fusing agencies there is another, which gives to the strophe its toning--alliteration. It is frequently very important in Browning's poetry, and its elusive effects are scarcely ever absent. Thus the structure of the strophe is very complex; and the success to which any poet attains in its use is one of the highest tests of his power. The real strophe must be a structural unit, and not a merely mechanical group of verses. The poet must have breathed into it the breath of life, and the whole must be an organism, in which every 3 member has its special function and which is quick with "the mystery of vital movement." This test as a poet Browning stands most admirably. F...
language: English
title: Browning's verse-form: its organic character
titlecomplete: Browning's verse-form: its organic character
publisher: Folcroft Library Editions