The basic rhymes in English are masculine, which is to say that the last syllable of the line is stressed: ‘lane’ rhymes with ‘pain,’ but it also rhymes with ‘urbane’ since the last syllable of ‘urbane’ is stressed. ‘Lane’ does not rhyme with ‘methane.’ James Fenton Read Quote
The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint. James Fenton Read Quote
The Italian word ‘stanza’ means ‘a room’, and a room is a good way to conceive of a stanza. A room, generally speaking, is sufficient for its own purposes, but it does not constitute a house. A stanza has the same sense of containment, without being complete or independent. James Fenton Read Quote
Working alone on a poem, a poet is of all artists the most free. The poem can be written with a modicum of technology, and can be published, in most cases, quite cheaply. James Fenton Read Quote
At four lines, with the quatrain, we reach the basic stanza form familiar from a whole range of English poetic practice. This is the length of the ballad stanza, the verse of a hymn, and innumerable other kinds of verse. James Fenton Read Quote
