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18 February 2005: My thoughts on meter, probably increasing in repetitititititious, are continuing. In his latest post about the stressing or non-stressing of "in" in "Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame," Sam Gwynn says, "If I were Richard Burton (who I am not), I wouldn't put any stress on 'in." I've always found that the best honor you can do to iambic pentameter is to remember that it is iambic pentameter, then read it as 'naturally' as possible. Most of the actors I've admired over
the years do this--to my ear. If the poet and actor are any good, the strength of the versification will emerge."
My response: "How? Which is not intended to be belligerent. Does the listener hear the beat the meter requires, so the speaker need not sound it? All I can say is that I don't. I hear free verse.
"I'd add that when I hear genuine be free verse, it has a rhythmic effect on me only when it seems to me arhythmic. I take for granted the kind of rhythm almost any text has, so don't 'hear' it, unless it's absent.
"Or maybe the actors you admire, DO accent an 'in' but simply accent it so much less than they accent other beats that most people think they don't accent it?"
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