In Defence of the Dolnik: Twentieth-Century British Verse in Free Four-Beat Metre

Abstract

A number of twentieth-century British poets have written poems in a free four-beat metre that draws on long-standing traditions of English verse but that cannot be satisfactorily analysed in terms of prosodic feet. A convenient term for this type of metre is “dolnik”, borrowing from the Russian prosodic tradition where it is common. Poems by Auden, Hardy, MacNeice, Betjeman and de la Mare written in dolnik verse are discussed, demonstrating the variety of effects the metre is capable of, and its continuing importance in the earlier part of the twentieth century.

Keywords

• D. H. Auden
• J. Betjeman
• T. Hardy
• L. MacNeice
• W. de la Mare
• dolnik