Special education of the republic of uzbekistan

Unit 15. Intonational Peculiarities of Poetry
The main peculiarities of poetry consist in the following; the poetic text is built on a regular repetition of similar and isochronous units-lines. The line is the main lexico-grammatical and intonational unit of poetry. The line that contains more than six syllables is usually divided into two or more sense-groups.

Lines constitute a stanza, which is a higher unit of verse.

1. 
   Poetry is characterized by a wide use of simple tones: slow Falling tones,
   

Rising tones and Levels. The Level Tone is often combined with the High

Level Scale. This pattern gives a somewhat soft character to the utterance.

2. 
   Falling and Rising Tones are usually preceded by descending or ascending
   

pitch movement.

3. 
   The following compound tones are most typical: Fall + Fall, Fall + Level,
   

Rise + Fall.

4. 
   If the line is divided into two sense-groups, the second is often lower in pitch
   

than the first.

5. 
   The line usually ends in a pause (if there is no enjambment).
   
6. 
   The pitch range is rather narrow (within an octave).
   
7. 
   Stress, especially in lyrical poems, is decentralized.
   

8. The tempo is slow and often constant.

It is common knowledge that a poetic piece permits a great variety of interpretations.

At least two types of interpretations can be distinguished: the so-called authorial (the interpretation of the poet himself) and non-authorial (belonging to anyone else).

The poet usually emphasizes the rhythmic organization of the poem which is accompanied by a monotone. The author’s reading usually strikes us as a monotonous one. Strictly organized rhythm is the main means of emotional expression.

Non-authorial interpretation consists in conveying the idea of the poem not only through rhythm but other means too / melody, stress, tempo /.

Learners of English often find the reading of English poems difficult. Highly emotional poems seem to have no particular intonational characteristics. One may think that the interpretation of a poem depends entirely on the reader. But the reader is expected to express not only his own thoughts and emotions but those which are offered by the author. Besides the form itself limits the number of interpretations.

E.g.
TWILIGHT

(By George G. Byron)
It 'is the ˏhour ≀ when 'from the ˏboughs ≀

The 'nightingale’s ↑high ˎnote is heard; |

It is the ˊhour ≀ when 'lovers’ ˏvows ≀

^―Seem ˋsweet in 'every 'whisper’d ˎword; |

And 'gentle ˎwinds ≀ and 'waters ˎnear, |

'Make ˎmusic ≀ to the 'lonely ˎear. ||

^―Each ↘flower the ↘dews have ↑lightly ˏwet, |

And 'in the ˏsky ≀ the ˋstars are ˏmet, |

And 'on the ˏwave ≀ is 'deeper ˆ blue, |

And ˏon the ˊleaf ≀ a ↘browner ˆ hue. ||

And 'in the ˏheaven ≀ that 'clear obsˏcure, |

So 'softly ˏdark, ≀ and 'darkly ˏpure, |

Which ˏfollows ≀ the dec'line of ˎday, |

As 'twilight ˎmelts ≀ beneath the 'moon aˎway. ||