Poetry and Narrative in Performance

Since classical times scholars have attempted to describe poetic music but a difficulty for modern descriptions has been that any one performer of the poem may not create the same overall vocal music as another. This book uses machine data of poetry readings in a new way to discover neglected features of rhythm and intonation and to clear away some methodological problems that hamper the teaching of poetic melody. The discussion is linked to an overall theory of literary form, throwing light on the role of emotion in both poetry and narrative fiction. These two arts are treated as dynamic mental performances rather than as static texts.