Syllables, accent and rhythm in verse

We speak with a natural rhythm, accenting certain syllables over others.  Poetry takes advantage of these natural stresses to create a regular pulse when it is read. 

1. Find the words which contain more than one syllable in the verses below and write them down next to the verse, indicating the division between syllables with a hyphen (“-”):

• Look for prefixes and suffixes, which easily separate from the rest of the word.
• Where there are consecutive consonants, it is usual to split the word between the consonants, especially double letters.  However, consonant blends (“-ph-”, “-ch-”) should remain intact.
• Splitting a syllable immediately after a vowel implies that the vowel is a long one, and you need to decide whether that is appropriate given its usual pronunciation.

My Love is like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June; 

My Love is like the melody

That's sweetly play'd in tune.

(Robert Burns)

Birds of a feather flock together,

And so will pigs and swine;

Rats and mice will have their choice,

And so will I have mine.

(from Mother Goose)

Dear friends, we surely all agree

There's almost nothing worse to see

Than some repulsive little bum

Who's always chewing chewing gum.

(Roald Dahl)

Old Deuteronomy's lived a long time 

He's a cat who has lived many lives in succession 

He was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme 

A long while before Queen Victoria's accession.

(T S Eliot)

2. Find the accented syllables in these words.  Read each of these words aloud or quietly to yourself.  Notice how one syllable will stand out from the others.  Mark that syllable by underlining it.  If you’re not sure where the accent should go, experiment by stressing each syllable in turn, until you find the one that makes the most sense.

3. Choose one of the stanzas above, and place a vertical line BEFORE the accented syllables.

You will probably have more than one accent per line.  The first accent is not always on the first syllable.  If an accent falls within a multi-syllabic word, it will always be on strong syllable.  If a word is long enough, it may get a number of accents (“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”).

[HINT: How many marks are assigned to this question? 7 marks would indicate that the examiner will expect seven accents to be marked.  If you’ve got more or less, you’re probably wrong.]

WRITING RHYTHMS TO VERSE

This part of the exam is called, “Creative”, which means that there is more than one right answer - within limits!  Those vertical lines you marked in your verse represent bar lines in music, and if you’ve done this correctly, you’ve grouped the syllables into roughly equal groups.  This may suggest one or more appropriate time signatures to you.

Choose a time signature for your verse.

Now, write a rhythm, using ONE note per syllable.  Make sure you adhere to your bar lines.  It should reflect a natural way of saying these words, although as you get more confident doing this you could incorporate some more unusual rhythms to add an element of surprise.

Finally, you need to present the words and rhythm together.  The words will be split into syllables wherever necessary, using hyphens.  When you write the rhythm out, make sure you give yourself lots of space between notes so you can place each syllable directly underneath the note that belongs to it.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9JdpU-tw7FuRmxXbzRDMDNZYTA