Listening to people reading 241The question of what counts as a stressed syllable for this mode of analysis
is crucial. There are many content words in the stanza which do not count
although they would have prominence in a minimally engaged reading. In
the last four lines we have commend, summer, sensual and unageing. If
they were all realized the rhythmic structure would be lost. The reader is
evidently involved in making decisions as to which potential stresses to
realize and which not to. On the very limited evidence of this fragment of
verse, it would seem that those decisions are closely related to the way the
lines would be said conversationally, except for the possible reduction of
all the tones to zero in the way that I have characterized as Stage 2
engagement.
The patterned regularities revealed by this metrical analysis would appear,
like those from the method of classical scansion, to presuppose a performance
which takes account of the interactive potential of the language.