A Study in Accentual-Syllabic Verse: One

A: Stressed-unstressed                      E: Stressed-stressed



B: Stressed-unstressed-unstressed  F: Stressed-unstressed-unstressed



C: Unstressed-stressed                        G: Unstressed-unstressed



D: Unstressed-unstressed-stressed



G: Dimeter;



A, C, E: Tetrameter ;



B, C, F: Hexameter



Note: This is my very first experience with accentual-syllabic poetry, the type I poetry I really want to get into. If you see anything wrong, please tell me, as I appreciate commentary. Just keep in mind that I am not focusing on the actual poem just yet- I am simply trying to get down the form. I was also unsure if the anapests (B: Unstressed-unstressed-stressed) and the dactyls (B: Stressed-unstressed-unstressed) had to have feet of one word only. The iambs, trochees, spondees and pyrrhics were a bit easier to deal with though. This poem is comprised of tercets, and an ending couplet. Are tercets a standard type of stanza? So far, I only know of couplets, quatrains, sextets and octets. The poem's story is a bit disjointed, but as I said, that's not my focus now. I think it was a good start, because my goal is to eventually write a Terza Rima in English.




Tercet 1: a) Until dawnbreaks anew,

              b) The masses cannot see

              a) The true problem arise.



Tercet 2: b) They aren’t awaken'd

              c) to the daily

              b) Hustle and bustle or



Tercet 3: c) the bestiality

              d) of the day (of the light)

              c) of the morrow.



Tercet 4: d) Surety unassured;

  e) Safety forgot;

  d) the devil a’chasing



Tercet 5: e) afore the path

              f) to the gates of escape

              e) from her domain.



Tercet 6: f) And if it happens to

              g) be then

              f) that one cannot escape,



Ending Coulplet: g) god help

                            g) their soul.