Rhythm
Rhythm is a complex aspect of Frost’s poetry. Mostly, writers of
student notes make a brief reference to rhythm and leave it at that.
But in a Frost poem, rhythm needs to be explained in detail.
Frost used rhythm to create meaning.
You’ve got to use your ear to judge the rhythm. So, read the poem
aloud.
Frost had a complex attitude to rhythm. He claimed that he wanted
to represent the rhythm of ordinary speech in his poems.
But he was also a conservative. That means that he tried to write
poetry according to the rules of the great poets he had read.
In the past, most poets used the rhythm known as iambic
pentameter.
The beat of each line is based on a unit of sound known as a foot. The
iambic foot is by far the most common type of foot. The iambic foot
has two syllables. The second syllable of the pair is the loudest. In
other words, it is a stressed syllable. A line of poetry with five of
these iambic feet is known as iambic pentameter. ‘Penta’ comes from
the Greek word for five.
In traditional poetry, the most popular type of line had ten syllables.
Usually such lines were divided into five pair of syllables for the
purpose of beat or rhythm. This is the beat that Frost admired and
tried to use in his poetry. You can see iambic pentameter in many of
Frost’s lines.
Take ‘Mending Wall’ as an example of rhythm in Frost’s poetry. There
is a regular rhythm created by the five beats per line.
Consider the opening line as an example of this rhythm or tempo:
‘Something…there is...that does…n't love… a wall’.
[Two syllables… Two syllables… Two syllables… Two syllables… Two
syllables…]
This was the most common tempo or rhythm in poetry down through
the ages. In this quoted line, there are two syllables per beat. The
second syllable of each beat is loud or stressed. This type of rhythm
is known as iambic pentameter.
In his early poetry, Frost kept to traditional rules of rhythm.
In his later poetry, he relied more on the rhythm of the voice in
normal speech when writing his poetry.
Did traditional metre or rhythm decide the basic rhythm of ‘Mending
Wall’?
Trust your ear to judge the rhythm.
To comment on rhythm, quote a typical line and show the rhythm
that you hear in the line.
So, you should read or listen again to ‘Mending Wall’.
As well as the formal five even beats or iambic feet, your ear may
hear a more natural rhythm.
The same line that was analysed just above can be read as a four
beat line:
‘Something…there is...that doesn't love… a wall’.
[Two syllables…two syllables…four syllables…two syllables]
In this reading of the poem the stressed syllable may be any
syllable—just trust your ear: ‘thing…is…love…wall. The voice
emphasizes the last syllable of each beat]
This way of reading the line is based on the human voice and ear as
it deals with both the sound and meaning of the words. In fact, the
human voice increasingly replaced formal poetic meter in Frost’s
mature poetry.
You can find just the same pattern in reading to and listening to the
rest of ‘Mending Wall’.
Consider line sixteen:
‘To each…the boulders…that have fallen… to each…’
[Two syllables…three syllables…four syllables…two syllables, with
various syllables stressed—each...bould…fall…each]
In fact, while your trained eye may see the five beat rhythm, your
ear is more likely to lead you to the four beat rhythm, especially if
you read for meaning. You may also reach this conclusion just by
sounding the poem out in your head. Try it.
Overall, Frost aspired towards a natural rhythm in the sounding out
of his poems. Thus there are two contrasting rhythms, the silent
formal metre and the natural beat of the reading voice