The strict metrical tradition
Subtitle: variations in the literary iambic pentameter from Sidney and Spenser to Matthew Arnold
By: David Keppel-Jones.
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Montreal; Ithaca
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
Subjects: Iambic pentameter; English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
Description: "A central issue in the recent surge of interest in metre on the part of theorists in different disciplines and practicing poets has been that of variations in the iambic pentameter. Keppel-Jones approaches this subject in a way that somewhat resembles Derek Attridge's, but is in fact very different.".

"The Strict Metrical Tradition focuses on a period of 275 years, during which iambic pentameter variations were conducted with special precision. Representative blocks of verse are chosen from major poets in original authoritative editions, and each variation is analysed on the basis of all cases of that variation.

To give precision to certain of the principles, Keppel-Jones follows the linguist Bruce Hayes' definitions of boundaries between word-groups, but handles this material in such a way as to be understood by the general reader.".

"The practical result of this study is a new metre that allows Keppel-Jones to apply the principles of iambic variation to the anapest. His fascinating and original approach to iambic pentameter will appeal to scholars in the field and also to people with a general interest in poetry."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-274) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: PART ONE; title: Introduction to Part One 31; title: 1 The Unvaried Line 35; title: 2 Extra Syllables 39; title: 3 The Choriamb 56; title: 4 The Minor Ionic 73; title: 5 The Second Epitrite 93; title: 6 Review of Radical Variations 104; title: 7 Variations Based on the Spondee 11c; title: 8 Variations Based on the Pyrrhic 131; title: 9 Combinations 147; title: Conclusion to Part One 154; title: PART TWO; title: Introduction to Part Two 167; title: 10 The Renaissance 171; title: 11 The Interregnum and the Restoration 184; title: 12 The Eighteenth Century 192; title: 13 The Romantics 197; title: 14 The Victorians 206; title: Conclusion 216; title: Appendix:; title: The Placement of Variations and the Caesura 233; title: Notes 239; title: Bibliography 269; title: Index 275.