Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction

by Derek Attridge

This is the first introduction to rhythm and meter that begins where students are: as speakers of English familiar with the rhythms of the spoken word, nursery rhymes, song and rap. Poetic Rhythm builds on this knowledge and experience, moving from basic questions about the rhythms of spoken English to the elaborate achievements of past and present poets. Terminology is straightforward and there are frequent practical exercises. Poetic Rhythm will help readers of English poetry experience and enjoy its power, subtlety and diversity, and will serve as an invaluable tool for those who write or discuss poetry in English.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

About the author

Derek Attridge is a South African-born British literary scholar celebrated for his influential contributions to English literature, particularly in literary theory, poetic form, modernist fiction, and South African writing. He is especially noted for his work on James Joyce and J.M. Coetzee, and for his landmark study The Singularity of Literature, which won the European Society for the Study of English Book Award and has been translated into multiple languages. Across his career, Attridge has explored the ethical, rhythmic, and linguistic dimensions of literature, always emphasizing the transformative potential of reading.
He has authored or edited over thirty books and published scores of essays in journals and collections. His major works include The Rhythms of English Poetry, which challenged traditional approaches to poetic meter; Joyce Effects and How to Read Joyce, key texts for modernist studies; and J.M. Coetzee and the Ethics of Reading, which has become a foundational text in Coetzee scholarship. His book The Experience of Poetry traces the reception of poetry from Homer to Shakespeare, while Forms of Modernist Fiction offers an ambitious study of the modernist novel, earning recognition as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.
Attridge has held numerous prestigious fellowships, including those from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, and research centers in the US, Europe, and South Africa. He has also held visiting professorships in universities across four continents. He is Emeritus Professor of English and Related Literature at the University of York and a Fellow of the British Academy.
His editorial work includes influential volumes such as The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce, Acts of Literature (featuring essays by Jacques Derrida), and The Cambridge History of South African Literature. His writing is known for its clarity, depth, and ability to bridge close reading with philosophical inquiry, establishing him as a key figure in the fields of poetics, modernism, and literary ethics.

Reviews

[Taka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good--

I have to admit that, having learned English at the linguistically precarious age of 11, I was never really familiar with nursery rhymes and so I had a hard time understanding his whole discussion of the four-beat verse (and I'm still a bit iffy about the whole virtual beat/offbeat concept to be honest, even after studying the relevant chapters and scouring the Internet for the examples he gives, plus doing the exercises in the book and checking my answers against the "suggested response" section at the back of the book—which, by the way, is super helpful). But putting that aside, thanks to this, I have a MUCH better understanding of meter and rhythm than before and MANY things I was baffled by in the metered poetry I've been reading (Keats and Gerard Manley Hopkins) MAKE SENSE NOW (e.g., elisions and stress subordination in particular) and I'm able to enjoy/appreciate their poetry even more.

Two gripes about this otherwise wonderful introduction to poetic rhythm. As much as the suggested answers to the exercises are uber helpful, there were a few instances of scansion that really confused me. He gives the same words (usually pronouns) a stressed beat in one line and a promoted unstressed beat in the next. Or sometimes he gives certain parts of a compound word a full demoted stress while in other instances gives them a secondary stress. Maybe it really depends on how the lines are read or I might have missed something, but I would've liked a little more discussion on their differences, if any.

The second quibble about this book is that his discussion of "phrasal movement," while promising at first, proves to be a little too analytical/cumbersome for my taste (and I'm willing to bet for many poets). So if you're picking up the book, I'd either gloss over the section or skip it altogether.

Overall, a solid book on rhythm.

[Mikhael Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

So enjoyable. I like reading poems but I might like reading poem-lovers’ writings on poetry even more. It was truly an intro-level book, I’m still looking for something a bit more advanced and a much more global. This one is just English

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most straightforward and practical introduction to metrical verse I've read, chiefly because it starts with the importance of beats in the poetic line and distinguishes them clearly from stresses. I wish I'd started with this book ten years ago.

[cerys ౨ৎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

mansplaining poetry👎👎dont care pal x

[Swell Versed · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a rhyming, nonmetrical poet, I was struggling to analyze the rhythm in my poems, as traditional scansion (based on meter) didn't suit my needs. So I was pleased to learn that Derek Attridge pioneered an alternative that focuses on "beats" rather than "stresses", although it scans for both. This book helped me realize that I had been writing to a 4-beat rhythm, just like songwriters and rappers do, and that I can use beat-based scansion to analyze my works. This is definitely targeted towards an academic, English/Literature audience, so I was not able to understand some sections/details. Still, I appreciate that this book made efforts to expand knowledge re: how poetic lines can be rhythmically analyzed and that the author even applied his method to a few rap verses. I also found it helpful to attempt the exercises at the end of the chapters, and that answer keys were provided (with the author's note that there may be more than one "correct" answer to some).

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good if you want to learn metrical stress. He guides you through it.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attridge aims to impress, but even more he seeks to educate. As a result, Poetic Rhythm is solid and eminently approachable.