Rhythm in Modern Poetry

Eva Lilja

A pioneering work in cognitive versification studies, scrutinizing the rhythmical means of free verse.Investigating a previously neglected area of study, Rhythm in Modern Poetry establishes a foundation for cognitive versification studies with a focus on the modernist free verse. Following in the tradition of cognitive poetics by Reuven Tsur, Richard Cureton and Derek Attridge, every chapter investigates the rhythms of one modern poem, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sylvia Plath and others, and engages each element in the broader interpretation of the poem in question.In her examination of modernist poetry in English and other Germanic languages, Eva Lilja expands her analysis to discuss both the Ancient Greek and Norse origins of rhythm in free verse and the intermedia intersection, comparing poetic rhythm with rhythm in pictures, sculptures and dance. Rhythm in Modern Poetry thus expands the field of cognitive versification studies while also engaging readers writ large interested in how rhythm works in the aesthetic field.

Eva Lilja is a founding scholar of cognitive poetics with an established readership and audience

List of PlatesList of FiguresPrefaceForeword by Margaret H. FreemanAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I: The Poetic GestaltIntroduction: Mousike1. Verse Systems and Principles of Rhythm2. The Rhythmic Gestalt3. Rhythm and Significance4. Temporal and Spatial Rhythms: The Intermedia Perspective5. Cognitive Versification Theory: Some Aspects6. Levels and TimesPart II: Reading Free Verse RhythmsIntroduction: How to Read Free Verse7. Cognitive Economy8. The Poem in the Body9. Patterns of Culture10. Direction11. Balance in Versification12. Rhythm in Modern PoetryWorks CitedIndex