The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-12-17
PULSE AND POETRY.
RELATION OF VERSE TO HUMAN
ORGANISM.
experiments Being Conducted to Dis
cover Law of Connection Between
Stress in Metrical compo-
sition and Heartbeat.

sition and Heartbeat.
Berkeley, GAIA remarkable set OF
experiments to determine the relation
Oh poetry to human organism is being
conducted In the experimental psy-
GEOLOGY department OF the University
OF California by Prof. James Man
Di&on and DR.. W. S. Wrinch. These
experiments, which were begun some
unie ago, are il a neId heretofore un-
explored by psychologists. They are
OF an exceedingly delicate nature. and
the university at Berkeley is one of
Inc few institutions in the United
States which possess apparatus sen
sltiye enough to record the results of
the work.
Prof, Dixon has already discovered
an emotional curve in poems like
T%enrysun's The Bridge" Expert
ments are now being conducted 10 dis
cover a law as TO the relation between
stress in poetry and the beat of the
human heart, and the relation be-
tween the lines Of poetry and the
respiration A large number of tests
have already been made, and some
provisional conclusions have been ar
rived at, but before the law is fully
determined Prof, Dixon thinks it will
be necessary to record the singing Of
the Doxology or some other song by
q whole congregation.
In securing the records o be used
IN drawing this general conclusion,
Prot. Dixon and DR.. Wrinch use an
exceedingly complicated machine that
records the pulse beat of the person
receiving the poetry, the stress, the
number of lines, the respirations and
the time taken. All these results are
recorded N a smoked record and can
be preserved.
Prof. Dixon, who is a noted English
scholar and author, and who is here
doing research work, will present a
thesis on his work for a doctors de-
gree. A great deal of interest is be-
ing taken by scholars in the outcome
of his researches, and his technical
lecture before the Pathological club
giving the results obtained thus far.
In speaking of the experiments, Prof.
Dixon said;
THE work we are doing now deals
with the expansion and contraction of
lines CT poetry, according to the sub
ject matter, whether it is happy or
sad. An emotional curve has been
discovered in poems like Browning's
'Abt Yogier' and Tennyson's The
Bridge Perhaps the most remarkable
manifestation of the law discovered
was found in Tennyson's May Queen.
1t was shown that the three divisions
into which the poem is divided vary
In a most decided manner The first,
giving a mood of heightened happi-
ness, uses IL per cent, more s%yllables
than the second, which is in a mood
of utter depression. The third divi-
sion is in a mood of resignation or
sorrow, and uses three per cent. less
syllables than the second
The results thus far obtained have
been sent by Prof. Dixon to the Royal
society, at Edinburgh, of which he is
a fellow.
A further examination to find a
norm in ali poetTy-that is, why some
lines should have eight syllables and
others Is. and why the lines of Is
should break in the middle with a
c~aesura--has been undertaken. 1t Is
also Prof. Dixon's purpose to deter
mine what & line of poetry is psyche
logically. Experiments with the pulse
and throat seem to show that a tetra-
meter verse Of our common hymn
'Doxology" gives a norm. For every
pulse means a stress and every line
means the time between respiration.
An experiment with the hymn, Rock
of Ages" comes out regularly 16
pulse beats and 16 stresses, four res
pirations and four lines.
Before he finishes, however, Prof
Dixon intends to record the singing
Of A whole congregation on a phono-
graphic record. and see If the law
holds for great audiences, as well as
for individuals. BY these experiments
Prof. Dixon will seek to draw sharp
ly the line between poetry and prose
At present 1t is almost impossible to
tell the real difference between the
poetry and prose. Ii poetry is a di-
rect appeal to organism, it has a d.
rect connection with breathing and
he heart action, and the connection
Is 10 be minutely determined.