228 Poetry for Students

English for long poems, verse dramas, and epics—

Renaissance sonnets, Milton’s Paradise Lost,

Wordsworth’s The Prelude,and of course most of

Shakespeare’s drama is in iambic pentameter.

Iambic tetrameter, by contrast, has been a popular

line in short lyric poetry for centuries. Alternating

rhymed lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic

trimeter (three feet) create a sing-song effect—

Emily Dickinson and Wordsworth both wrote in

this form, and many popular songs (think “The Yel-

low Rose of Texas”) use the form.

Stanzas exclusively of iambic tetrameter, how-

ever, give poems a slow, contemplative feeling.

Iambic pentameter is approximately the length of

most English sentences, and thus iambic pentame-

ter sounds like “real” speech. Iambic tetrameter,

though, is slower and shorter than “real” speech. It

makes the poem sound careful, precise. With the

subject matter here, it also makes the poem sound

ominous and foreboding. The rhymes (in an ABAB

CDCD EFEF pattern) are not emphasized; some,

such as “myrrh” and “bier,” are less direct rhymes

than they are “slant,” or almost, rhymes. However,

the rhymes work to tighten the stanzas, to link the

lines together, and in this they counteract the iso-

lating, slowing rhythm of the iambic tetrameter.

Historical Context

In 1950, poetry was a major issue in the public

arena. Ezra Pound, one of the most famous Eng-

lish-language poets in the world, was confined to

a Washington, D.C. mental hospital, having been

found mentally unfit to stand trial on treason

charges. During World War II, Pound had made

The Phoenix

Compare

&

Contrast

• 1950:U.S. President Harry S Truman is em-
  broiled in the Korean War. This conflict,
  sparked when Communist-led North Korean
  troops invaded South Korea, was never an “of-
  ficial” war, only a “police action.” An armistice
  was signed by the belligerents in 1953.

2000:The armistice between North and South

Korea is still in effect, but North Korea, led by

the dictator Kim Jong Il, continues to behave er-

ratically and unpredictably. Although a famine

has gripped the nation for years, the North Ko-

rean government continues to spend a great deal

of its money on armaments. In addition, the

country is the only Stalinist-style totalitarian

state left on the planet today. American officials

fear Kim’s unpredictability and suspect that he

is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons.

• 1950:Spurred by the massive industrial pro-
  duction needed at the end of World War II, the
  American economy is booming. Returning sol-
  diers share in this prosperity, and as a result of
  government programs and a healthy private sec-

tor, more families are able to own homes, own

cars, and go to college than ever before.

2000:The American economy is entering its

tenth consecutive year of rapid growth, and

largely as a result of the burgeoning computer

industry (a field in which the U.S. leads the

world), prosperity seems endless.

• 1950:Joseph Stalin, the Soviet premier, rules
  his country with an iron fist and challenges the
  U.S. for world cultural and military supremacy.
  After his death, his successor, Nikita Kruschev,
  will let the world know of the extent of Stalin’s
  brutality.
  2000:Russian leader Boris Yeltsin retires, and
  his hand-picked successor Vladimir Putin takes
  over. Russia’s transition from a state-run com-
  munist economy to a “free-market” capitalist
  economy has been difficult, and the Russian
  people have suffered great economic hardships.
  At the same time, a small group of people have
  enriched themselves by purchasing state-owned
  properties at bargain prices. The U.S. fears for
  Russia’s stability.