The City In The Sea - analysis continued from Meter and Rhythm discussion

Robert Swagman · #1 11-24-2002, 01:36 PM

I pick this up as iambic tetrameter, with a liberal use of anapestic substitutions. The final line is trimeter.

- unemphasised syllable
' emphasised syllable (beat)
{} ellision

I noticed the only headless iambs were in S3, and there were four in a row. I noticed four feminine endings, though two of them could have been ellide (flower / bower). I'll overlay the rhythm (as I read it) over this and add it in the next post.

The City In The Sea

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Lo! Death / has reared / himself / a throne

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘
In a / strange cit / y ly / ing alone

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / ‘
Far down / within / the dim / West,

- - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘
Where the good / and the bad / and the worst / and the best

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Have gone / to their /eter / nal rest.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
There shrines / and pa /laces / and {towers}

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
(Time-eat / en tow / ers that trem / ble not!)

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Resem / ble no / thing that / is ours.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Around, / by lift / ing winds / forgot,

- ‘ / - ‘/ - ‘ / - ‘
Resign /edly / beneath / the sky

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The mel / anchol / y wa / ters lie.

- ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘
No rays / from the ho / ly heav / en come down

- ’ / - ’ / - ’ / - ‘
On the / long night-/ time of / that town;

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
But light / from out / the lur / id sea

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Streams up / the tur / rets si / lently --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
Gleams up / the pin ./ nacles far / and / free --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Up domes / -- up spires /-- up king / ly halls --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Up fanes /-- up Bab / ylon-/ like walls --

- ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / -
Up shad / owy long-/ for got / ten bow / ers

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / -
Of sculp / tured i / vy and / stone flow / ers --

- ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘
Up ma / ny and ma / ny a mar / velous shrine

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Whose wreathed / fri e / zes in / tertwine

- ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
The vi / ol, the vi / olet, and / the vine.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Resign / edly / beneath / the sky

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The mel / anchol / y wa / ters lie.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
So blend / the tur / rets and sha / dows there

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
That all / seem pen / dulous / in air,

- ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
While from / a proud tow / er in / the town

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ’ / - ‘
Death looks / gigan / tic al / ly down.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
There o / pen fanes / and ga / ping graves

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘
Yawn le / vel with / the lum / inous waves;

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
But not / the rich / es there / that lie

‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
In / each i / dol's dia / mond eye --

‘ / - ‘/ - ‘ / - ‘
Not / he gay / ly-jew / elled dead

‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Tempt / the wa / ters from / their bed;

‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
For / no rip / ples curl, / alas!

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Along / that wil / derness / of glass --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
No swel / lings tell / that winds / may be

- ‘ - ‘ - ‘ - ‘
Upon / some far-/ off hap / pier sea --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
No hea / vings hint / that winds / have been

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ’ / - ‘
On seas / less hid / eous ly / serene.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
But lo, / a stir / is in / the air!

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The wave / -- there is / a move / ment there!

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
As if / the tow / ers had thrust / aside,

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
In slight / ly sink / ing, the / dull tide --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / -
As if / their tops / had fee / bly giv / en

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / -
A void / within / the film / y Heav / en.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The waves / have now / a red / der glow --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The hours / are breath / ing faint / and low --

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
And when, / amid / no earth / ly moans,

- ‘ / - ’ / - ‘ / - ‘
Down, down / that town / shall set / tle hence,

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Hell, ris / ing from / a thous / and thrones,

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Shall do / it rev / erence.

Curtis Gale Weeks · #2 11-26-2002, 05:37 PM

Jerry,

A few places in your scansion seem out of whack. For instance, reading this, would one actually say (stress/beat) “death LOOKS giGANtiCALly DOWN” or “whose WREATH'D friEzes INterTWINE”--

<Dir>- ‘ / - ‘ / - ’ / - ‘
Death looks / gigan / tic al / ly down.
- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Whose wreathed / fri e / zes in / tertwine--?</dir>

So much of the poem is IP--but then, some areas aren't. I have been particularly interested in the way Poe used so many “anapests” (if one wants to keep the accentual-syllabic interpretation), without ruining the essential meter. One of the features of many accentual poems is the way two non-beats often fall between beats--analyzed in accentual-syllabic terms, a fairly equal number of anapests to iambs exist in many accentual poems, in no particular order between lines. If we are creating IP poems and using many anapests as substitutions, will the IP meter be detroyed? (Think, “expectation,” here.) At what point is the essential IP nature destroyed or made into something else?

If Poe intended a primarily IP meter, he failed, imo, because although the poem can be “scanned” in the way you have scanned it, that scansion doesn't isolate certain necessary content-contextual stressings into beats. For instance, the line “Death looks gigantically down”: imo, the word “death” must receive special emphasis because it refocuses the poem back onto the idea of “death” first introduced in the opening line. In fact, the line might be stressed, in normal speech, as “DEATH looks giGANtically DOWN”--with only three strong stresses, but I suspect the intended stressing would be “DEATH LOOKS giGANTically DOWN,” stressing both “death”--to reintroduce the idea of Death--and “looks,” to expand the image of death--i.e., what Death is doing there. Similarly, I'd stress & put beats on the first two words of the final line of the poem: "SHALL DO it REVerENCE," emphasizing the...uh, emphasis of the statement, the conviction of "shall" in combination of with the action "do."

In similar discussions of the past, I've read the comment that "meter" might have little to do with the way lines are read aloud--that "meter" might be the technical interpretation of lines divided into "feet," but that it might otherwise be useless. Particularly, I remember the discussion that centered around spondees (do they exist, or not?) in constructions which are x x / / and might be interpreted as two iambs or as a pyrrhic-spondee construction. In such a case, how we choose to stress the content will make all the difference in how we understand the line. I think that Poe followed his "ear" more than he followed a strict metrical pattern. (How strict can it be when he so liberally uses "anapests"?) If I were to "scan" this poem myself (and, I have the first half, below), I'd not worry as much over fitting it into a strict pattern of "feet"--mostly because the unimportance of the "foot" is so obvious from your scansion: he meant four beats; he built it around four beats per line; and although he often fell into a duple pattern (iambic), this didn't stop him from adding more non-beats to many lines. Perhaps I'm wrong, and he kept the iamb in mind when composing such lines as "Death looks gigantically down"--I concede, I may well be wrong in this case. (Perhaps he meant, "DEATH looks giGANtiCALly DOWN"--I don't know the particular bent of his then-New England dialect.) So your scansion--but for a few places--might have been his own understanding even if I have my doubts, lol.

Here it is, then, my own interp of the way this sounds:



<font="verdana"><dir>
Beats

All beats are signified by an underline of the unstressed/stress symbols.

x = unstressed syllable, no beat

/ = stressed syllable, no beat (demotion)

\ = secondary stress or subordinate stress, no beat

x = unstressed syllable, beat (promotion)

/ = primary stress, beat

\ = secondary stress of polysyllabic word, beat (promotion)

[The subordinate stresses of natural speech rhythms-- \ --usually
become full stresses when given a beat-- /. Or, the difference
in emphasis between such stresses and their adjacent stresses is
not as great when both are beats in metrical verse.]</pre>

The City In The Sea</pre>

</pre>

\ / x / x / x /</pre>

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne</pre>

x x / / x / x x /</pre>

In a strange city lying alone</pre>

\ / x / x / /</pre>

Far down within the dim West,</pre>

x x / x x / x x / x x /</pre>

Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best</pre>

x / x x x / x /</pre>

Have gone to their eternal rest.</pre>

x / x / x x x / x</pre>

There shrines and palaces and towers</pre>

</pre>

 / \ x / x x / x /</pre>

(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)</pre>

</pre>

x / x / x x \ /</pre>

Resemble nothing that is ours.</pre>

</pre>

x / x / x / x /</pre>

Around, by lifting winds forgot,</pre>

</pre>

x / x \ x / x /</pre>

Resignedly beneath the sky</pre>

</pre>

x / x \ x / x /</pre>

The melancholy waters lie.</pre>

</pre>

</pre>

\ / x x / x / x \ /</pre>

No rays from the holy heaven come down</pre>

</pre>

x x / / \ x x /</pre>

On the long night-time of that town;</pre>

</pre>

x / x / x / x /</pre>

But light from out the lurid sea</pre>

</pre>

 / x x / x / x \</pre>

Streams up the turrets silently --</pre>

</pre>

 / x x / x x / x /</pre>

Gleams up the pinnacles far and free --</pre>

</pre>

X / x / x / x /</pre>

Up domes -- up spires -- up kingly halls --</pre>

</pre>

x / x / x \ x /</pre>

Up fanes -- up Babylon-like walls --</pre>

</pre>

x / x x / x / x / x</pre>

Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers</pre>

</pre>

x / x /x x / / x</pre>

Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers --</pre>

</pre>

x / x x / x x / x x /</pre>

Up many and many a marvelous shrine</pre>

</pre>

x / x / x / x \</pre>

Whose wreathèd friezes intertwine</pre>

</pre>

x / x x / x x x x /</pre>

The viol, the violet, and the vine.</pre>

</pre>

x / x \ x / x /</pre>

Resignedly beneath the sky</pre>

</pre>

x / x \ x / x /</pre>

The melancholy waters lie.</pre>

</pre>

\ / x / x x / x /</pre>

So blend the turrets and shadows there</pre>

</pre>

x / \ / x x x /</pre>

That all seem pendulous in air,</pre>

</pre>

 / x x / / x x x /</pre>

While from a proud tower in the town</pre>

</pre>

 / / x / x(x)x /</pre>

Death looks gigantically down.</pre>

Robert Swagman · #3 11-26-2002, 08:09 PM

Curtis

I think you are mixing meter with vocal stress. Meter is not contextually based. Stress is. Perhaps we are merely having a difference in semantics, especially when you called this IP. It’s not iambic pentameter. Now let me ignore the metrics for a minute and look at the rhythm, independently. I’ll cao the vocal stresses, as I read it.

The City In The Sea

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
LO! DEATH / has reared / himSELF / a THRONE

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘
In a / STRANGE CIT / y LY / ing aLONE

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / ‘
FAR DOWN / within / the DIM / WEST,

- - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘
Where the GOOD / and the BAD/ and the WORST / and the BEST

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Have GONE / to their /eTER/ nal REST.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
There SHRINES / and PA /laces / and {TOWers}

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
(TIME-EAT / en TOW/ ers that TREM / ble NOT!)

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
ReSEM / ble NO/ thing that / is OURS.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
AROUND, / by LIFT / ing WINDS / forGOT,

- ‘ / - ‘/ - ‘ / - ‘
ReSIGN /edly / beNEATH / the SKY

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The MEL/ anchol / y WA / ters LIE.

Now that we’ve scanned the two independently of each other, we can see how they affect each other and work in combination.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
LO! DEATH / has reared / himSELF / a THRONE

Can we really have a spondee in English? I’m not qualified to answer. The first foot I’d call a false spondee, because thought we stress them both, the stress is unequal because the second syllable is on the beat.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘
In a / STRANGE CIT / y LY / ing aLONE

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / ‘
FAR DOWN / within / the DIM / WEST,

- - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘ / - - ‘
Where the GOOD / and the BAD/ and the WORST / and the BEST

This line slows down and stands out because of monosyllables, the change in metrical foot and all the stresses are on the beat.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
Have GONE / to their /eTER/ nal REST.

I don’t stress ‘their’, but the beat it’s on gives it some emphasis. Someone, reading it with a different context, could stress ‘their’, giving ‘their’ as much meaning as ‘eternal’

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
There SHRINES / and PA /laces / and {TOWers}

Same consideration here. We don’t stress the third syllable of ‘palaces’ as we do the first, but it gets a bit of emphasis being on the beat.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - - ‘ / - ‘
(TIME-EAT / en TOW/ ers that TREM / ble NOT!)

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
ReSEM / ble NO/ thing that / is OURS.

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
AROUND, / by LIFT / ing WINDS / forGOT,

- ‘ / - ‘/ - ‘ / - ‘
ReSIGN /edly / beNEATH / the SKY

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘ / - ‘
The MEL/ anchol / y WA / ters LIE.

I note, just in this stanza, several lines with three stresses on the beat, and a middle foot as a false pyrrhic. Now that we’ve combined the two, we can get a better idea of the rhythm, for we have four combinations here, with varying degrees of stress/emphasis.

1. Unstressed / unsupported by a beat
2. Stressed / unsupported by a beat
3. Unstressed / supported by a beat
4. Stressed / supported by a beat.

Now the game gets more interesting. If we call 1 (ta), 2 & 3 (ti) and 4 (DUM), we can work on more complex rhythms using ta ti DUM, than just ta DUM.

I may be mistaken, but it seems in your analysis, you’re considering the stress when trying to determine the meter. The meter is merely the expectation, and that expectation of the beat adds emphasis to a syllable whether it is stressed or not.
I’m too tired to do the whole thing right now, but think it would be redundant, anyway. But now, I think, we can look at Poe’s style and perhaps see what is so compelling about some of his rhythms.

Jerry

- ‘ / - ‘ / - ’ / - ‘
DEATH looks / giGAN / tic al / ly DOWN

I agree with your vocal stresses on this line., BTW. 'gan' and 'down' have a greater emphasis on them, because 'death' is unsupported.

[This message has been edited by Robert Swagman (edited November 26, 2002).]

Curtis Gale Weeks · #4 11-27-2002, 12:20 AM

LOL, Jerry, you're right, not IP but IT--a slip of the...uh, fingers if not tongue! (I was thinking "iambs," and the common "IP" slipped out; but I did say "4-beat" lines, right?)

I don't think we can look at meter as being completely independent of the content-contextuality of a poem. They are often "mixed." In fact, meter cannot--or, at least, should not--vie too much with the contextual stressing. Can meter be "imposed?" What about the first paragraph of this reply?

<dir>lol, JER / ry YOU'RE / right, NOT / i P / but I / t--
a SLIP / of THE.../ uh, FING / ers IF / not TONGUE!
(i was THINK / ing iAMBS, / and the COM / mon iP
slipped out; BUT / i did SAY / four-beat LINES, / (x) (x) RIGHT?)</dir>

In the other thread, you made a comment to the effect that you leaned toward syllabification; I made the comment that I often "hear" the accents/stresses over regular non-beat to beat patterns; and I think our different interpretations are informed by these admissions. It is certain that we can divide Poe's poem by accentual-syllabic "feet," as you have done, and call that the "meter," but I also question that use of the term "meter." Verbal music isn't made, imo, by subjecting our spoken words to a pattern of emphasis which greatly disrupts the delivery of the content; rather, the content is usually highlighted by the meter, made stronger, even though the emphases might occasionally promote, or cause to be demoted, syllables which wouldn't otherwise possess those "changed" attributes.

Two early lines of Poe's poem in particular suggest an ear more attuned to the beats than to regular syllabification (whatever he "meant" to do)--L3 & L4. In the first, the feet you have suggested don't adequately represent an iambic tetrameter line because of the fourth "foot," unless we presume that Poe meant "x FAR / down WITH/in the / DIM WEST"--i.e., a pyrrhic-spondee combination--which I think is unlikely. In the second, he's written an anapestic line which is so obviously not iambic tetrameter. Many other lines in the poem contain one or two "anapests"--but not in a regularized location within the lines. As I said in my last post, I think Poe failed the iambic structure if that's what he was aiming for here.

Spoken emphases are so willy-nilly, depending on contextual stressing. Which strong stresses are stronger than other strong stresses? Which normally unstressed syllables gain stress because of context (i looked UP the mountain, not DOWN)? Which normally unstressed syllables gain emphasis because of their placement, or stressed syllables lose emphasis because of their placement?--This last is interesting, because even regularly spoken English often promotes stresses (albeit, often minor stresses) on generic function words when they happen to fall in a string of normally unstressed syllables, and many stressed syllable lose emphasis next to yet stronger stresses, regardless of whether or not they possess special content-context. Some normally unstressed function words in Poe's poem gain a beat because of their placement in the context of a line; e.g., "The VIol, the VIolet, AND the VINE"--where "-let" or "and" might pick up a stress in normal speech simply because of their location within a string of normally unstressed syllables. Those syllables might not pick up a stress in normal speech, depending on the speed one is speaking; but within the context of this poem, the general rhythm (of no more than 2 unstressed syllables in a row) has slowed down the progress enough to force the stress, and in this case, a beat.

For another interesting look at meter, one which is primarily iambic but contains quite a few anapests, here's Frost's "On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations"--

<dir>You'll wait a long, long time for anything much
To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud
And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves.
The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,
Nor strike out fire from each other, nor crash out loud.
The planets seem to interfere in their curves,
But nothing ever happens, no harm done.
We may as well go patiently on with our life.
And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun
For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane.
It is true the longest drought will end in rain,
The longest peace in China will end in strife.
Still it wouldn't reward the watcher to stay awake
In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break
On his particular time and personal sight.
That calm seems certainly safe to last tonight.</dir>

Notice how the meter and natural stressing pattern so closely match (despite a few promotions and demotions)? I suspect that Poe's meter closely matches a natural stressing pattern, too, rather than veering via an imposed structure, which is why my interp took the route it took--However, his use of some particular promotions & demotions (the first line's "lo DEATH""; some of the secondary stresses/beats) seems to display a poet quite accustomed to iambic conventions, so either the meter "got away" from him at times (which I doubt), or he composed w/ an accentual "ear" (4 beats/line) which happens to have already been conditioned into thinking in terms of iambics, and that he combined effects--This is the most interesting possibilty for me.

Curtis.

Robert Swagman · #5 11-27-2002, 04:56 PM

Curtis

I think we're agreeing much, but coming to the conclusion in a different manner. As for your (prose) example, I'm not automatically expecting the meter to be iambic. After reading it, I'd call it ambiguous, which is why it's prose. No meter has been established, therefore I have no expectation, should we continue to scan your entire post.
If I tried to scan this:

LOL, / JER ry, you're / RIGHT, not / Ip but / It--a / SLIP of the[...uh,] / FINgers if /NOT {of the)/ TONGUE! (i was / THINKing (of) / "Iambs," / and the COM/ mon "iP" / SLIPPED out; but / I did say / "FOUR-beat" lines,/ RIGHT?)

The poet has failed (I know this was not written to be taken as poetry) to establish a meter, or has failed the dactyllic pattern I see at first. Admittedly, I ignored LOL
(LAUGHing out LOUD). Perhaps there's a confusion with us between context and content-words. Content words have a beat to them - that's what I used to determine the meter, but that's not context. A non-content word (articles, etc.) and other monosyllabic words can be promoted or demoted, but not as easily polysyllabic words, as one syllable is always emphasized. Context can change from speaker to speaker, depending on what they view as important in the line. Does that change the rhythm? Yes. That's why a sentence can be spoken sarcastically or normal. The rhythm of the sentence changes, because the stresses are different, though the beat / meter would stay the same, because the wording has not changed.

And I agree the stress and beat should coincide most often, but if it always did it would be a boring rhythm.

It is about preferences. Breaking down a poem as I am is helping me to understand the individual poet's 'style' - how he / she accomplished certain poetic feats (bad pun). When I'm writing, I'm not thinking of meter, but of rhythm, as Bob Clawson wrote. This scansion technique helps me work over rough spots, though. You're looking at it slightly differently, but since it works for you - great.

I'm finding my FV becoming more rhythmical, even more metrical, so the the dividing line between the two is becoming hazy. I'm not writing with a metrical or non-metrical intent anymore, it either comes out one way or the other.

Jerry

Curtis Gale Weeks · #6 11-28-2002, 09:27 AM

Jerry,

I don't think we're far separated. Some areas in the poem suggest other motivations for Poe, although we might interpret them differently--particularly the lines which include "Gleams up" & "Streams up," which I stress on the first word because I like the rhyme between the opening of those lines. He most likely didn't intend "up" to be a beat in the lines following these, right? However, perhaps he meant "up" to be especially stressed in order to set up the "down" of "Death looks gigantically down"--i.e., a juxtaposition of opposite things & direction (light streams/gleams up, but Death looks gigantically down.) I still like the poem, despite the ambiguities which are present; in fact, the ambiguities might allow different readers to enjoy the poem in their own particular ways.

I think it's true that meter can be considered as an artificial construct outside the consideration of content-context, but I wonder at the usefulness. For instance, one could create lines of verse which technically adhere to a duple pattern (iambic), can be divided into feet, but which don't really do justice to the words which are used--or, perhaps the words in such a case don't do justice to the meter. Finding the common ground (between meter and stress) seems to be the cross formalists must bear...but I do think "play" makes it more than an onerous objective.

Curtis.

Robert Swagman · #7 11-28-2002, 10:37 AM

Agreed. It's been an enjoyable discussion.

I also agree about 'gleams up'. The vocal stress would be on gleams, but the beat would be on up, creating a (false) spondee. I think the main line stress, however, would be on 'PIN(acles)', a vocal stress on the beat, as I scan it.

Jerry