Dear JP,
What syllable are you giving the second stress? One cannot say "Th'in
TOL er A ble SHIRT of FLAME." No one would stress the "a," so I am still
unclear how this is meant. I do not think any implied meter can be
assumed to call for stressing a sound no English speaker would ever hear
or say with stress.
Nancy
Date sent: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 10:49:03 -0600
Send reply to: "T. S. Eliot Discussion forum." <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Earls, JP" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Meter in LG IV/208
To: [log in to unmask]
I agree here with Greg, except that I hear a common hymnodic elision
between "the" and "intolerable," sometimes printed as "th' in" or with a
half-moon sort of thing linking the "e" to the "in," hence
_ / _ / _ / _ /
"Th' in tol er a ble shirt of flame"
Not that it would actually be *read* that way, but that is the implied
meter ticking behind it, by my reckoning. Also, I don't think anyone
pointed out that the first stanza has a strongly implied tetrameter
scansion (using a "feminine" final foot on second and fourth lines
(terror/error), but also having the trimeter third line "Of which the
tongues declare."
J. P. Earls, OSB
St. John' University
Collegeville, MN 56321
-----Original Message-----
From: D.Gregory Griffith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 12:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Meter in LG IV/208
As I look at the way my post has come back to me, I'd like to
appologize for the scan marks being skewed from the lines of the
poem--that's not what it looked like as I transmitted it. Rather than
resubmit the entire post hoping it will come out the way I want, I'll let
the majority stand and offer a correction on the line I had difficulties
with. Line four in my opinion should read: _ _ / _ / _ /
_ / The intol era ble shirt of flame
Rather than:
_ _ / _ _ _ / _ /
The intol erable shirt of flame
Hope this one flies! --Greg--
