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; asSri Aurobindo
Letters on Poetry and Art
SABCL - Volume 27
Part 1. Poetry and its Creation
Section 3. Poetic Technique
English Metres
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.