Is loss of meter in poetry "decay"?

[Frank Antonson]

About the use of catalogues (I'll use the British spelling), They don't HAVE to be really long. And if you have a list of things that you care about, how much better to have it in verse than otherwise?
Were the Old Testament names in verse?? I don't think so, because that was a written, as opposed to an oral, work -- except for the psalms and some canticles.
At the moment, the most promising catalogue for our work will be a catalogue of farm animals, two of each (like Noah's) and with names (all allusions to famous farm animals). Wilber, the pig; Ugly, the Swan; Eeyore and maybe Balaam, the donkeys; (I am going to insist on Hindu, the cow) etc. For this I intend to involve all of my students, because they will SOO get into deciding on the names.

[Frank Antonson]

"We'll Dress the House" was the carol I used for the ABABCCCB rhyme scheme.

One other thing. Do you know the name of the literary device which has several lines starting the same way? Longfellow uses it very effectively. I actually thought it was called a "catalogue". But I have no idea if that is right.

[birdeen's call]

At the moment, the most promising catalogue for our work will be a catalogue of farm animals, two of each (like Noah's) and with names (all allusions to famous farm animals). Wilber, the pig; Ugly, the Swan; Eeyore and maybe Balaam, the donkeys; (I am going to insist on Hindu, the cow) etc. For this I intend to involve all of my students, because they will SOO get into deciding on the names.

I think it's a great idea. Don't forget Baa Baa the black sheep! Have you thought of using this opportunity to teach your students the names of the sounds made by different animals? I don't know the level of your students and I'm sorry if this is an offensive suggestion, but do young people today know that donkeys can bray and horses can whicker?

[Frank Antonson]

Some of my students know their animals very well.

Yes, we thought of Baa Baa.

Keep the suggestions coming, though. We might as well have fun with this.

[MrPedantic]

One other thing. Do you know the name of the literary device which has several lines starting the same way? Longfellow uses it very effectively. I actually thought it was called a "catalogue". But I have no idea if that is right.

How about "anaphora"?

[MrPedantic]

Were the Old Testament names in verse??

Originally, yes: the genealogies in Genesis were in verse, for instance.

(Possibly not all translations manage to convey this.)

All the best,

MrP

[Frank Antonson]

"Anaphora" Yes! that's it. Thank you. Now I must remember it. I actually knew that once, but I had forgotten it. (You have lived up to your name as Mr. Pedantic.)

I wondered a little about those genealogies being originally in verse. It makes so much sense that they would have been.

My experiment in class with the "Catalogue of Farm Animals" has been pretty surprising. In a subsequent post I will explain about it.

[Frank Antonson]

One of the surprises that my experiment in having students write verse was that I MAY have had a girl student in tears because she SO wanted to be the one who wrote the ENTIRE catalogue of farm animals. I told her I wanted it to be a team effort since it was going to be so hard to do, but she wanted it all for herself.
Since my list is so long (easily 25 pairs of animals, with a total of about 60 literary allusions), I decided that I wanted a verse form that would get a lot of syllables in quickly.
The form I chose was the ABCBDDDB 43434443 stanzas that we talked about earlier. But I am asking for an anapestic rhythm. We will see if the students can do it.