nted verse - by the number of stresses in a line. In prose - by the alternation of similar syntactical patterns. Rhythm in verse as a stylistic device is defined as a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and the variations of it, variations which are governed by the standard. [2] There are the following rhythmic patterns of verse:
Iambus
Dactul
Umphibrach
Anapaest
Rhythm is not a mere addition to verse or emotive prose, which also has its rhythm. Rhythm intensifies the emotions. It contributes to the general sense. Much has been said and writhen about rhythm in prose. Some investigators, in attempting to find rhythmical patterns of prose, superimpose metrical measures on prose. But the parameters of the rhythm in verse and in prose are entirely different. [11]
In poetry all these phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices play the most significant role. Their realization can be best seen on the example of the works by Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose poems are often called В«songsВ» in order to underline the melody of his speech. [5]
2. Practical Part
2.1 Percy Bisshe Shelley's life and literary work
To understand better Shelley's manner of writing, it's necessary to say first some words about his life and literary work.
As a writer, Shelley has been criticised for his obscure symbolism, intellectual arrogance and intense self-pity. However, in his greatest works he transcends these limitations and conveys a message of hope and aspiration through strikingly beautiful prose and poetry.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 - 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language. He is most famous for such classic anthology verse works as Ozymandias , Ode to the West Wind , To a Skylark , and The Masque of Anarchy , which are among the most popular and critically acclaimed poems in the English language. His major works, however, are long visionary poems which included Prometheus Unbound , Alastor , AdonaГЇs , The Revolt of Islam , and the unfinished work The Triumph of Life . The Cenci (1819) and Prometheus Unbound (1820) were dramatic plays in five and four acts respectively. He wrote the Gothic novels Zastrozzi (1810) and St. Irvyne (1811) and the short works The Assassins (1814) and The Coliseum (1817). p> Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron. The novelist Mary Shelley was his second wife. p> Shelley never lived to see the extent of his success and influence. Some of his works were published, but they were often suppressed upon publication. Up until his death, with approximately 50 readers as his audience, it is said he made no more than 40 pounds from his writings. For example, in 1813, at age 21 Shelley В«printedВ» his first major poem, В« Queen Mab В». He set the press and ran 250 copies of this radical and revolutionary tract. В« Queen MabВ» was infused with scientific language and naturalizing moral prescriptions for an oppressed humanity in an industrializing world. He intended the poem to be private and distributed it among his close friends and acquaintances.
His early works are characterized by intense political passion. In them he proposed republicanism, free love, atheism and vegetarianism. They contain many autobiographical references and introduced the theme of struggle and renewal, which is present in much of his later works. Musical patterns of his works, which are built on internal rhyme, assonance and run-on lines, clearly show the poet's mastery of his art. [9]
2.2 The analysis of the content of the song В«To the Men of EnglandВ»
First of all one should introduce the poem itself:
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the Lords who lay you low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care,
The rich robes your tyrants wear?
Wherefore feed, and clothe and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who
Drain your sweat - nay, drink your blood!
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love's gentle balm?
Or what is ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear?
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears.
Sow seed - but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth - let no impostor heap;
Weave robes - let not the idle wear;
Forge arms - in your defence to bear.
With plough and sp...
