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Poetry and Prose
Ferrick Gray — Much of this essay has appeared in “Tradition: What Happened to Poetry?”, but it is included here with some minor additions for the completion of the summaries for Murry’s lectures delivered at Oxford in 1921.
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The Eumenides
Ferrick Gray — The Family Reunion is a play written by T. S. Eliot. It was published and first performed in 1939. Eliot’s play had three unusual aspects to it, things we would not normally expect to find today.
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“When We Two Parted”
Kenneth Daniel Wisseman —Byron, without question, is my favorite poet. He created perhaps some of the most well-known love poems of all time. Today I will write about one of my—if not my favorite poems of his and analyze the brilliant meter found in this lovely poem, a meter that I find perhaps the most beautiful I have ever discovered; and one that does not…
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The Feminine Ending: Amphibrach or Hypermetrical?
Ferrick Gray — This discussion deals specifically with verses written in iambic pentameter although it may apply to other metrical patterns. This metrical scheme, iambic pentameter, is commonly used in formal verse. Although variations are somewhat limited, they do exist and are utilized by poets to avoid the monotony of the strict iambic rhythm. For the reader, these variations can be welcome.
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Scansion: Is it Important?
Ferrick Gray — Scansion of verses is often thought of as unnecessary, and to a point this may be correct. In most cases, it is doubtful whether the poet is interested in the scansion of their verses, especially if they read well enough to satisfy. It is mainly when variations are introduced or there is some experimentation that scansion will be a necessity for the…
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Tradition: What Happened to Poetry?
Ferrick Gray — How do we judge the poet (or indeed any writer)? It comes as no surprise that we tend to form an opinion very quickly based on our likes and dislikes. In other words, what we have read in the past. It makes good sense that we will be more tolerant of someone with which we are familiar.
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Precision
Ferrick Gray — I was reading Murry’s lecture and on two pages of his book (86 & 87), there were some interesting and profound statements which struck me as being very important to any writer of prose or poetry.
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“Ode to a Nightingale”
Kenneth Daniel Wisseman — A friend of John Keats once wrote of John’s inspiration for this beautiful poem, “In the spring of 1819 a nightingale had built her nest near my house. Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song; and one morning he took his chair from the breakfast table to the grass-plot under a plum-tree, where he sat for two or…
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Mrs Dalloway
Ferrick Gray — Mrs Dalloway is often said to be Woolf’s masterpiece, and having read some of her other novels, I would have to agree that this is no overstatement.
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The Psychology of Style
Ferrick Gray — In this second lecture, The Psychology of Style Murry sums up his previous lecture, but his summary is phrased very differently, yet in itself, it is something quite extraordinary. I would say that his explanations are much better worded, supported, and his work as a whole is very passionate in what he relays.