Counting of any kind is a substitute for hearing. Nobody in the world ever spoke in imabic pentameter (consistently at least).
If it sounds good it will fly right.
Tim, I count myself as a great lover of Dylan Thomas, especially Fern Hill, and I don't care how many syllables or stresses there are to a line. I think that means I agree with you.
Prosody has to do with analysis, not synthesis. Nobody can make a great poem simply out of rules.
Philip
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