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Unread 12-06-2009, 05:56 AM
Maryann Corbett's Avatar
Maryann Corbett Maryann Corbett is offline
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That might be true for the occasional one-beat-short line, but those are easily caught and fixed by the first critter.

For me, the main reason scansion is not like spell checking is that scansion has subjective elements. Often a criticism of scansion is not about error but about hearing differently. One poet may pronounce a word like "file" with two syllables; others will hear one, and they'll hear that line as short. Another may use a lot of anapestic substitutions; those might scan properly in his or her own ears, while others find those lines too bumpy.
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