Information AboutSpondee |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SPONDEE | |
| poetic form | |
| metrical feet | |
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In Poetry , a spondee is a Metrical Foot consisting of two Long Syllable s. This makes it a unique type of metre in English verse as all the other Metric Form s contain no more than one long syllable. It is impossible to construct a whole, serious poem with spondees. Consequently, spondees mainly occur as variants within, say, an Anapaest ic structure. For example (from G. K. Chesterton , ''Lepanto''): :White founts falling in the courts of the sun :And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run; This whole verse is rather unusual in structure, making it difficult as an example, unfortunately. The following is a possible analysis, and shows the role of the spondee. #The basic template for both lines is Anapaest ic Tetrameter : four feet, each consisting of two short syllables then a long syllable (duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH). It is then heavily modified: #The second, third and fourth feet in the second line each have three instead of two short syllables (duh-duh-duh-DAH). #The first anapaest in the first line is replaced with a spondee ("White founts," DAH-DAH) #The second anapaest in the first line is replaced with a trochee (DAH-duh). A simpler version of the first line might be: :There are white fountains falling in the courts of the sun . Two short syllables are added at the beginning, and "founts" is lengthened to "fountains." These extra syllables add "filler," so that when the poem is read stress no longer naturally falls on the syllable "fount" (or, does so to a lesser degree). As a result there are unstressed syllables just before the "fall," so that naturally becomes an anapaest ("fountains fall-," duh-duh-DAH), and the "ing" slips into the following anapaest. Chesterton's original version changes all this; it is less intuitive to write and has a more unusual sound. The spondee effects this. In Grammar , a spondee is a two-syllable word in which there is equal emphasis placed on both syllables. Examples (in some accents; not standard British English) include "pancake", "railroad" and "robot". "Spondee" is also the title of a piece composed by IDM duo Matmos . It is the third track on their 2001 album "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure." The piece revolves around audio Samples from a Hearing Test : a woman's voice reciting two-syllable words, stressing both syllables. Audiologist Rebecca Highlander, CCC-A, reads a list of phonetically balanced words ("Spondees", with equal stress on the first and second syllable). Recorded in the hearing test booth at the Jean Weingarden Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf. Beeps and tones generated during the response curve testing of hearing aids. |
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