Year: 2024
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Analyzing Shelley’s “Ozymandias”
Ferrick Gray — Ozymandias is brilliant! Yet it is not without its critics. There has been much debate over different aspects in this short poem. Is it a sonnet? Is it written in iambic pentameter? How do you pronounce Ozymandias? How many syllable are in Ozymandias? All these and other questions litter the Shelley table.
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Dos and Don’ts when using Heroic Couplets
Ferrick Gray — Heroic couplets have been a useful and successful vehicle in formal poetry. They have a uniqueness to them that is pleasing in both a visual and audible sense. The heroic couplet became popular from the influence of the likes of Dryden and Pope.
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The Poet’s Voice
Ferrick Gray — How many times have I said this? Ha! Be yourself, and do not try to be someone else. I mention this in my essay Charging Poetry with Meaning, but I will elaborate further in what follows.
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What is this Thing called Meter?
Ferrick Gray — When we talk of meter in accentual-syllabic verse, it is not something that should be obvious. If it is obvious, then your work will be of little interest. After listening to overemphasized syllables, it will become dull and boring. When you read formal (structured or metrical) verse, you are feeling the rhythm…
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Charging Poetry with Meaning
Ferrick Gray — How would you group different styles of poetry? It seems that there are a whole host of ways of doing this. As we may suspect, as many ways as there are individuals. There will be three types of poetry, regardless of your method. Sure, there are!
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An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot
Ferrick Gray — In a similar fashion to other analyses, this review will only consider metrical variations in the verses. However, the common substitution of a trochee for an iamb at the start of a verse will not be analyze here. Some of Pope’s verses are what we call feminine, but I have not included all of them since many do not qualify…
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The Dunciad—Book I—Verses 46, 47
Ferrick Gray — Issue 5 of Working with Pope continues with the metrical analysis of The Dunciad. This issue looks at verses 46 and 47 from Book I.
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Review of “To Look Upon Eurydice”—Kenneth Daniel Wisseman
Ferrick Gray — A Collection of Poems by Kenneth Daniel Wisseman This original review of To Look Upon Eurydice can also be found on Goodreads.
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The Dunciad—Book I—Verses 20, 37
Ferrick Gray — Issue 4 of Working with Pope continues with the metrical analysis of The Dunciad. This issue looks at verses 20 and 37 from Book I.
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An Essay on Criticism
Ferrick Gray — This analysis is not exactly a critique, but in some ways it may well be. One would be daring to criticize a master such as Pope. However, this is about analyzing the metrical variations that Pope has employed in his work. In some instances, the verses do not seem to follow without…