American Literature / Unit 8 AML 0707 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Poe's Sound: Meter, Refrain, and Internal Rhyme
Captions available
The idea
Poe's verse is built for the ear: long lines with strong falling rhythms, rhymes inside the line as well as at its end, repeated words and whole repeated phrases. The technique makes the poems easy to memorize and is the reason they are so often parodied.
In practice
Falling rhythm, rhyme inside the line.
Where people slip
The music is deliberate, and it costs him some readers.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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