Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Collington
Janet, Tennyson's hendecasyllabics are not a "syllabic" metre at all. The classical form is as follows:
DUM da DUM da da DUM da DUM da DUM da Technically, alas, I disagree. See the numbered references below in my section.
(Technically, the first two syllables and the last are all "anceps," and so can be either heavy or light. In practice, however, Tennyson always (?) begins with an accented syllable, which pretty much guarantees "demotion" of the next, and the required accent on the penultimate has the same effect at the end.)
Tennyson follows this line scrupulously throughout, with the one possible exception of
O blatant Magazines, regard me rather
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Hard, hard, hard it is, missing those molossi.
(1) O O — u u — u — u — —,
Phalaecian, the verse. M L West, p 198,
Greek Metre.
(2) x x — u u — u — u — —,
phalaecean hendecasyllable.
The Meters of Greek and Latin Poetry by Halporn, Ostwald, & Rosenmeyer, (revised) p 131.
(3) Let the Wiki win
Tennyson's full text follows. I emphasize some lines that to me have strong second syllables.
O you chorus of indolent reviewers,
Irresponsible, indolent reviewers,
Look, I come to the test, a tiny poem
All composed in a metre of Catullus,
All in quantity, careful of my motion,
Like the skater on ice that hardly bears him,
Lest I fall unawares before the people,
Waking laughter in indolent reviewers.
Should I flounder awhile without a tumble
Thro' this metrification of Catullus,
They should speak to me not without a welcome,
All that chorus of indolent reviewers.
Hard, hard, hard it is, only not to tumble,
So fantastical is the dainty meter.
Wherefore slight me not wholly, nor believe me
Too presumptuous, indolent reviewers.
O blatant Magazines, regard me rather -
Since I blush to belaud myself a moment -
As some rare little rose, a piece of inmost
Horticultural art, or half-coquette-like
Maiden, not to be greeted unbenignly.