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Unread 12-01-2004, 09:50 AM
Susan McLean Susan McLean is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Iowa City, IA, USA
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Graceful and touching poem. My one problem with it is L4, which sounded like a four-beat line to my ear. That is primarily because I don't have a clue about how to pronounce the Welsh place name. I would guess two syllables, applying English pronunciation to the letters, but it seems that it would take three to fit in the line comfortably. I am aware that "towards" is pronounced with two syllables in Britain, though I have always pronounced it with one. I think this is most likely going to be a problem for any place names that are not generally known and that look as though they could be pronounced with a varying number of syllables. I'm not suggesting that the name be eliminated, but just pointing out the problems such names create in metrical poems. If they can be framed in a way that allows no possible confusion about syllable count, that would help. After all, the key is not to get the reader to pronounce it right, but merely not to stumble on the meter at that spot.

Susan
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