Some forms of poetry have a specific number of words or syllables.\u00a0 Most, or at least many, sonnets contain 14 lines, each with 10 syllables.\u00a0 Knowing a pattern like the number of syllables in a line, or a particular rhyme scheme can make memorizing a poem easier.\u00a0 Here are the first four lines from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 128:<\/p>\n
1. How oft when thou, my music, music play’st,
\n2. Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
\n3. With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st
\n4. The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,<\/p>\n
It’s helpful to know a poem’s patterns.\u00a0 So many times while I’m going over a line and am not sure I got it right or not, I can count while I recite.\u00a0 If I end up with eight or nine or twelve syllables, I know I missed or added something, but when I have ten, I am pretty sure I got it right.\u00a0 Counting syllables is useful for poems like sonnets that have a regular number in each line.<\/p>\n
This tip can be a helpful guide for me to know if I’ve gotten it without having to look at the actual text.\u00a0 The longer I can work on a line without actually reading it, the more likely I’ll be committing the particular word, phrase, sentence or stanza to memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some forms of poetry have a specific number of words or syllables.\u00a0 Most, or at least many, sonnets contain 14 lines, each with 10 syllables.\u00a0 Knowing a pattern like the number of syllables in a line, or a particular rhyme … Continue reading