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Perfecting the Poem — from T. S. Eliot to Robert Waller
Ferrick Gray — In many of Eliot’s letters, one will find a gem of enlightenment. At times, they may be hilarious, or at least amusing, at other times cruel or profoundly serious.
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A Brief Discourse on Rime
Ferrick Gray — One of the biggest complaints today stems from formal poetry, particularly the use of rime. What is it about rime that creates so many arguments among poets? For whatever reason, modern poets have a greater aversion to using rime. Their reasons are many; some are justified, while others are not.
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The Hidden Beauty in Heroic Plays
Ferrick Gray — The center of discussion for this essay is that of the Heroic Play. Most people would never have heard of this type of play let alone have read one. The device used in this type of play is the heroic couplet which today would seem a very strange form to use for a drama of any description.
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Pondering “Burnt Norton”
Ferrick Gray — What follows my thoughts about the first five verses of Eliot’s BURNT NORTON from his FOUR QUARTETS. Clearly there is a philosophical meaning to them (and other parts of the poem) and my aim here is to determine if they make sense. Eliot’s poetry can at times be quite obscure to the general reader, and it is up to the reader as…
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The Stanza: Its Meaning and Use
Ferrick Gray — No doubt you have heard the word stanza used with reference to the way a poem has been set out or constructed. The use of the word stanza is quite common in formal poetry, but the term is used very loosely in the vers libre. What we find in vers libre is more commonly referred to as a strophe.
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Restoration Comedy
1660 — 1720 Bonamy Dobrée OxfordAt the Clarendon Press1924 Comments by Ferrick Gray This book by Dobrée is one of those which is quite easy to read and understand. Even though today we may not be familiar with some of the writers he speaks about, it is still a very entertaining and informative book. This…
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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.