Accentual Verse

[ellajam]

I received this critique:

Marcella,

This is mostly in trimeter in accentual verse isn't it? I count mostly three accents per line.

Just listen to the first two lines.

Started as a lark,
morphed into a monster

as there is only incidental rhyme, it's a shame not to follow that pattern all the way through. As you are not end rhyming, it doesn't get singsong. There are a number of reasons I like accentual verse, but one is that it has a earthiness about it, hearth and home, and all that.

Dale

Right now, I can see that most lines have three stresses, but they are not regular. Would I have to pick a meter and stick to it or are any three stresses enough to make this work? All I have now is accidental accentual verse, .

Accentual verse was quite popular just 1000 years ago, let's bring it back! Seriously though, it tends to work better if you are singing it with a specific melody, maybe include a bongo!

I have never been a big fan of accentual verse in modern english poetry, line breaks won't provide the regularity through reading to give a true rhythm. Also, it tends to be particularly ineffective with short clipped lines (anything less than 4 beats, really).

Well, I know you're a fan of meter, so you are saying accentual verse is stress count only, not necessarily regular?

Nope, no plans to sing it, even with a bongo to drown me out.