Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
CWSA 27
Fragment ID: 6676
Some Questions of Scansion [3]
I certainly think feet longer than the three syllable maximum can be brought in and ought to be. I do not see for instance why a foot like this should not be as legitimate as the anapaest. Only, of course, if frequently used, they would mean the institution of another principle of harmony not provided for by the essentially melodic basis of English prosody in the past; as
Interspersed | in the immense | and unavai|ling void, | winging their | light through the | darkness in|ane. |
Or,
Interspersed | in the immense | and unavai|ling void, | scattering |their light through | the darkness | inane. |
I agree that this freedom would be more pressingly needed in longer metres than in short ones, but they need not be excluded from the short ones either.