Publisher's Synopsis
This book proposes a theory of the nature and role of accent and rhythm in French verse, and of their relationship with meaning. Since the role of accent in French poetry is the subject of long-standing debate, Roger Pensom s search for understanding takes the reader back to the beginnings of French verse. By the ninth century, the quantitative system of Classical Latin verse had given way to the constant syllable-count familiar to all modern readers of French verse. A detailed exploration of the relation between accent and syllable-count creates the basis for close readings of French verse-texts from Villon to Apollinaire, readings which reveal the productive interdependency of rhythm and meaning. Roger Pensom is an Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, and a former University Lecturer in Old French Literature and Language."
