Some notes on English poetry forms

＃ 音节 Syllable、音步 Foot、抑扬格 Iambic
一个元音为一个音节
2-3个音节为一个音步
一个音步中轻音为抑，重音为扬，这是英语诗歌的metre
因此抑扬格 iambic 就是一个音步中轻音在前，重音在后，如ago，around，away等
另有扬抑格 trochaic，即重音在前，轻音在后，如battle，fairness，summer等
同理，三个音节的音步亦有扬抑抑格、抑抑扬格
＃五步抑扬格 Iambic Pentameter、英雄双行体 Heroic Couplet
五步抑扬格即一句诗中有5个音步，每个音步均为抑扬格
如：
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
轻 重 |轻 重 | 轻 重|轻 重 | 轻 重
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
轻 重| 轻 重| 轻 重 | 轻 重| 轻 重
如果两个五步抑扬格连在一起，压同一尾韵，即英雄双行体/英雄双韵体
如：
So long as men can breath or eyes can see,
轻 重 | 轻 重 | 轻 重 | 轻 重 | 轻 重，韵[iː]
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
轻 重 | 轻 重 | 轻 重 | 轻 重|轻 重，韵[iː]
# 十四行诗 Sonnet
## 意大利式十四行诗/彼特拉克体十四行诗 Italian/Petrarchan
分为两部分
前8行：Octave，陈述问题，express an emotional tension，韵abbaabba
后6行：Sestet，解决问题，释放张力，韵cdecde或cdccdc或cdedce
## 英式十四行诗/莎士比亚体十四行诗 Egnlish/Shakespearean
英语有较少的rhymes，因而在演化中降低了对押韵的要求
由3个quatrain（4行诗节）＋1个couplet组成，每节有各自独立的韵脚
如abab cdcd efef gg
最后一个couplet要求希腊警句式的总结性结尾
# Villanelle
19行，每行长度不限
分为6个诗节：5个tercet（3行诗节）＋1组quatrain
韵aba aba aba aba aba abaa
此外，第1行在第6行、第12行、第18行重现
第3行在第9行、第15行、第19行重现
比如前些日子很多人提起过的Dylan Thomas的Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night，写于其父病危之际。
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night, / 韵[aɪ]
Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / 韵[eɪ]
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light. / 韵[aɪ]
Tough wise men at their end know dark is right, / 韵[aɪ]
Because their words had forked no lightning they / 韵[eɪ]
Do not go gentle into that good night. / 韵[aɪ]，第6行，重复第1行
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / 韵[aɪ]
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, / 韵[eɪ]
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. / 韵[aɪ]，第9行，重复第3行
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, / 韵[aɪ]
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, / 韵[eɪ]
Do not go gentle into that good night. / 韵[aɪ]，第12行，重复第1行
Grave men, dear death, who see with blinding sight / 韵[aɪ]
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, / 韵[eɪ]
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. / 韵[aɪ]，第15行，重复第3行
And you, my father, there on the sad height, / 韵[aɪ]
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray / 韵[eɪ]
Do not go gentle into that good night. / 韵[aɪ]，第18行，重复第1行
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. / 韵[aɪ]，第19行，重复第3行
＃ Sestina
6个6行诗节＋1个3行envoy
无须押韵，但前6节中每行最后一个字有规律
下一节每行的最后一字分别是上一节第6、1、5、2、4、3行最后一字
如，每行结尾字A B C D E F，则下一节结尾字F A E B D C
后三行中会再次重现这6个字，3个字在行中，3个字结尾
Bishop 的 September Rain Falls on the House
September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
She thinks that her equinoctial tears / 上一节第6行最后一字
and the rain that beats on the rood of the house / 上一节第1行最后一字
were both foretold by the almanac, / 上一节第5行最后一字
but only known to a grandmother. / 上一节第2行最后一字
The iron kettle sings on the stove. / 上一节第4行最后一字
She cuts some bread and says to the child, / 上一节第3行最后一字
It's time for tea now, but the child / 上一节第6行最后一字
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears / 上一节第1行最后一字
dance like mad on the hot black stove, / 上一节第5行最后一字
the way the rain must dance on the house. / 上一节第2行最后一字
Tidying up, the old grandmother / 上一节第4行最后一字
hangs up the clever almanac / 上一节第3行最后一字
on its string. Birdlike, the almanac / 以下几节类推，规律6 1 5 2 4 3
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons, the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.
Time to plant tears, says the almanac. / 行中出现tears，结尾almanac
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove / 行中出现grandmother，结尾stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house. / 行中出现child，结尾house