Christopher Aruffo, MFA, MBA, MSc, PhD
Verify your scan by reading it aloud. Follow the scan marks and speak each syllable with the length you've assigned. Your goal is to speak naturally. No words should be unnatural, unintelligible, or unpronounceable.
To speak naturally, focus on communicating its meaning. Put the ideas of "stressed" and "unstressed" completely out of your mind. When you say what each sentence means, the correct stresses happen automatically.
For example, speak the next sentence with the stresses indicated.
,
, ,
I know | that's what / you said.
Decide what the sentence would mean if you said it like this. Now say the sentence again, but don't think about the stresses. Just say, out loud, what the sentence means.
I know that's what you said.
The stress pattern appears anyway. It has to. If the stresses were different, it would mean something else. The meaning of a sentence and its stress pattern are the same thing.
A metrical analysis shows you a stress pattern, but that pattern gives you the meaning of each sentence. When you speak that meaning, its stress pattern happens automatically-- and with it, rhythm.
Rhythm is a pattern, not a drumbeat. Verse is meant to be natural speech, and natural speech requires imprecise timing. You're not supposed to speak each stress with the precision of a ticking clock.
A perfectly steady beat is emotionless and hard to understand.
Pauses are necessary to indicate grammatical phrases. For example, read the first line of "The Raven." You will hear yourself naturally pause at the end of each phrase; however, you will feel a continuous rhythm.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
You can pause anywhere that grammar allows. Try reading the line again, but pause in different places. Pauses create phrasing without disrupting rhythm.
Changes in speed express emotion. For example, say the following two lines from "Annabel Lee." When you reach the last two words, say them more slowly. Don't try to "act" or "perform" them; just slow them down. The change in speed automatically changes the feeling.
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
Phrasing and emotion are expressed through timing variations. If you maintain a "steady beat," a listener won't be able to understand what you're saying or how you feel. When you read verse, your listener needs you to speak naturally.
Reading aloud verifies that rhythm is natural and unforced. If your scan forces you to speak too strenuously, or mangle your words, or pause at weird moments, the awkwardness of its unnatural language will overwhelm any rhythmic equalities.
Your analysis confirms that the syllables fulfill the equalities required for verse. As you scan, use your common sense and knowledge of ordinary English. Look for ways to increase equality while maintaining a natural sound. When you can follow your markings with an easy, natural flow, your reading will produce a natural rhythm.
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