Hello everyone!
I have a question regarding understanding scansion, not sure this is the right place to ask exactly, but since it concerns my writing process, here I go:
How do you tell what type of meter you have in verses where they kinda blend in and there can be a little ambiguity as to how to set the feet. Here is what I mean exactly:
Where, oh/ where have /you been /my love?
If I group the feet by two syllables then I would have
trochee/trochee/iamb/iamb
If I group the feet by three syllables as well, I would have:
Where, oh/ where have /you been my/ love?
trochee/trochee/amphibrach/spondee/ - or this cannot be because you cannot have a foot made of only one syllable?
If we separate them like this:
Where, oh/ where have you/ been my love?
We would have trochee/dactyl/cretic?
The next verse cannot be separated into 2 syllable meter, one syllable is left out, so how do we know whether it is:
It's been /so long/ since the /moon has gone/
iamb/iamb/pyrrhus/cretic
or
It's been /so long/ since the moon /has gone/
Iamb/iamb/anapest/iamb
So I guess the right question would be: what are the criteria for separating the feet? how do you tell the 3 syllabic feet from the 2 syllabic feet? How do you decide if to put the slash after 2 syllables or after 3 - when more of them are in a verse like in this example?
Thank you!
