Here’s the original poem by Robert Frost. Note ‘shadowy” – a break from the otherwise perfect meter. It’s not exactly a dactyl, because under the influence of the meter, we probably turn the ‘w’ into a vowel more or less and barely pronounce the ‘o.’ Still. “In one tree’s overthrow” – It is inappropriate to read ‘tree’ as an unstressed syllable, I believe, despite the meter. And so we have a spondee here in the middle of the line. in ONE TREE’S OV-er-THROW What figures and glimmers tangled with this… Read more Poetry Challenge 8: In Winter in the Woods Alone →
from The Generations of Men: (“Those of name Stark” have gathered together, by decree of the Governor of New Hampshire, for a family reunion in the town of Bow.) Someone… Read more Robert Frost Mentions the Human Taste for the Outlandish on Special Occasions →
I keep meaning to go back and do a first-line challenge again, as we did in our first two poetry challenges. The idea of making a new poem from a… Read more Poetry Challenge 8: Reversion to First-Line Challenge →
Excerpt from How Hard It Is to Keep From Being King When it’s In You and In the Situation (the King’s Son speaks:) “Don’t let him fool you: he’s a King already. But though almost all-wise, he makes mistakes. I’m not a free-verse singer. He was wrong there. I claim to be no better than I am. I write real verse in numbers, as they say. I’m talking not free verse but blank verse now. Regular verse springs from the strain of rhythm Upon a meter, strict or loose iambic.… Read more Robert Frost on Free Verse: “Cherished Prose” →
Slow Literature 