![]() ![]() We can see the consonants of the first half as:Īnd the second half following with similar sounds, in a different order:Ĭan you find the acrostic scrambling in the lovely phrasing of 16th line?ĭiminution and augmentation, Burke explains, are musical terms describing the ways that composers draw half notes into later quarter notes, or vis a versa. “One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral”Īcrostic scrambling, as described by Burke, is when a pattern of consonants (and their cognates) is set, then repeated in a scrambled form. In the 10th line, we see this concealed alliteration play out.Īnd here, in line 13, we see the splendidly concealed alliteration of m cognates beginning with the m in “stumble:” The basics: the same way we make the m sound with our mouths, we make both b and p, and further, the v and f sounds. The sounds d, t, and th similarly are related to the n shape of our mouths. Read Burke’s original essay to learn more about the concept of phonetic cognates, but essentially, the argument for concealed alliteration is that the repetition of phonetically related consonants is a subtle and effective way to build musicality. We’ve made it a rule to never miss the chance to talk about Sylvia Plath’s poetry. Here, we’re going to bring his analytical discoveries to light not through Coleridge, but rather Sylvia Plath & her poem “Morning Song,” a beautiful work about the birth of her child. Within his essay, Burke-like the surgeon who has forgotten more about anatomy than any of us will ever learn-dissects some lines of Coleridge in order to answer a riddle we’ve all faced in our readings: “There were many passages that seemed to have a marked consistency of texture,” he begins, “yet this effect was not got by some obvious identity of sound, as in alliteration.” Part of that great body of work is a small essay, originally published in a 1940 issue of Poetry under the title “On Musicality in Verse.” Kenneth Burke, one of the founders of transformative New Criticism movement, wrote poetry, literary theory and criticism until his death in 1993. However, some techniques are more obscure in analysis, though nearly as prevalent in practice. These show up in every poet’s glossary, for good reason. Some techniques of tonal musicality you likely already know from school: alliteration, assonance, rhyme, etc. ![]() We’re going to explore here the tonal sounds poets use to build musicality. Rhythm (or meter) is fascinating and worth your research, but not our concern today. To consider the musicality of a poem in English is to consider two essential ingredients: the tonal sounds of the vowels and consonants, and the rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables. Today, we’re going to dig deeper into how musicality is built according the classic critic Kenneth Burke-explore the gritty details of concealed alliteration, acrostic scrambling, diminution and augmentation. Unlike most ballroom dances, which tend to use the music as a metronome to guide the dance, Lindy Hop, West Coast swing, Argentine Tango, for example, view matching your dancing to the spirit and mood of the music as the highest goal achievable.The relationship between music and poetry is romance-so much so that the “musicality” of poetry endeavors as much conversation and analysis as the intricate movements of today’s best composers. This is the key characteristic of improvised dancing. Beginner dancers usually think they should step on the beats of the music, and may vary the size of their movements with the volume of the music, while more advanced dancers dance to the melody, variations of rhythm, and mood. Musicality may also refer to fitting a dance to the music being played, with the goal of relating the dance to the music's rhythm, melody, and mood. One usually differentiates between two types of musicality: To be able to perceive music and to be able to reproduce music as well as creating music. The word also refers to the quality or state of being musical A musical person has the ability to perceive differences in pitch, rhythm and harmonies. Musicality is a noun that means sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music. Freebase Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes
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