Poet Annie Finch shares her lifelong passion for meter and scansion with poetry lovers and poets in this uniquely useful book. From the basic tools and fundamental 3 steps of scansion to the most complex metrical delights, How to Scan a Poem covers it all: accentual poems, anapests, trochees, iambs, dactyls, and more, with sample poems you can scan right in the book and explorations of the all-important connections between meter and meaning. The art of Deep Scansion you will learn here invites you to enter the poet’s own voice, mind, and inner ear in the most intimate of ways. ‘Scansion is widely considered to be a way of thinking-and yet it is a way of hearing, a way of feeling, a way of listening, a way of dancing. Truly, scansion is a way of living.’ -Annie Finch
Cuprins
CONTENTS
Introduction: Meter, Magic, and Scansion
RESOURCES FOR REFERENCE
Scansion Tools: A Quick Guide
List of Metrical Feet
Definitions of Key Terms
Guiding Principles of Scansion
PART 1: ACCENTUALS
Chapter 1 Scanning Accentuals: The Foundation of Meter
PART 2: ACCENTUAL-SYLLABICS
Chapter 2 The Three-step Method of Scansion
Process for Doing the Scansions
Chapter 3 Anapests to Scan
Chapter 4 Iambs to Scan
Chapter 5 Trochees to Scan
Chapter 6 Dactyls to Scan
Chapter 7 Amphibrachs to Scan
Chapter 8 Dipodics, Etc. to Scan
Afterword: Beyond Scansion
PART 3: SCANSIONS
Scanned Accentuals
Scanned Anapests
Scanned Iambs
Scanned Trochees
Scanned Dactyls
Scanned Amphibrachs
Scanned Dipodics, Etc.
Acknowledgments