Quatrain Prosody -- Part 2

In the traditional Chinese approach to the Quatrain the line is divided so that there are caesurae placed at specific points in the line. For the Five-Four Quatrain the ideal is to have the line pause after the first two syllables. This gives an overall feel of 2 + 3 syllables. Is it possible to mimic this structure in English? I found that I am able to replicate this kind of division. Keep in mind that the pause here refers to a grammatical unit, not so much an extra beat or pulse, but a pause in terms of structural meaning. Here is an example:

Moonlight through the mist
Moonlight through the pine
Strange shapes drift and twist
Strange shapes intertwine

The division after the first two syllables is graphically hihglighted here:

Moonlight -- through the mist
Moonlight -- through the pine
Strange shapes -- drift and twist
Strange shapes -- intertwine

However, I found that generally speaking I am not able to maintain this kind of structure. Here I think the differences between Chinese and English impinge on this kind of structural element. Because Chinese is a monosyllabic language, all words are one syllable long. In English, by contrast, words have a variety of syllable counts. In Chinese the first two syllables will always be two words, but in English the first two syllables might be two words, one word, or part of a three, four, or five syllable word. Nevertheless, I think this kind of structure is worth watching and pursuing. I have just begun working on this type of Quatrain and perhaps with more practice the usage of this kind of structure, adapted to an English language context, will become clearer.

One of the ways that the varied syllable lengths of English can be used is to create what I call “parallel density". In a five syllable line the maximum number of words will be five; that is the highest density. The fewest number of words will be one; that is the lowest density. I have found that when two lines share the same density, that is to say when two lines have the same number of words, there is a kind of resonance that they share. A good example is the following:

The Policeman in the Café

The policeman sits
Sipping his coffee
A gun on his hip
Music plays softly

Lines two and four have the same density (three). In addition they have the same syllabic structure; 2 + 1 + 2. They also rhyme. This combination of factors makes them strongly resonant of each other and unites them rhythmically and sonically.

Parallel density can be either strict or loose. The “Policeman” Quatrain has a strict parallel density for lines 2 and 4 because the syllabic order of the words is the same. In line 1 the number of words is also 3, but the syllabic order differs from lines 2 and 4. In line 1 the syllabic order is 1 + 3 + 1. I refer to this kind of relationship as loosely parallel, which means that the density of the two lines is the same (meaning that the number of words is the same), but the syllabic order is different. When the density and the syllabic order are the same the parallel is strict.

In the following Quatrain the parallel density is loose:

Heard in the Distance

Clouds in the morning
Slowing down the dawn
Shadowless gray light
A solo flute’s song

Lines 1, 2 and 4 have the same density (4), but the distribution of syllables is different. For line 1 it is 1 + 1 + 1 + 2, for line 2 it is 2 + 1 + 1 + 1, while for line 4 it is 1 + 2 + 1 + 1. Strict parallel density, it seems to me, creates a stronger resonance. Yet loose parallel density has a discernible effect. In this particular Quatrain, line 3 has a density of 3, which makes it stand out. When line 4 repeats the density of 4 found in lines 1 and 2, it provides a sense of return and closure.

For Chinese Quatrains the placement of the grammatical division was codified. For the English Quatrain derived from the Chinese Quatrain, it seems to me that a less codified approach is needed. I say this because, again, of the variable syllabic length of English words; this would seem to lead to a variety of possible patterns, interactions, and resonances between the lines of the English Quatrain which wouldn’t be available in the Chinese language (just as tonal interactions are unavailable in English). No doubt more will be revealed as I continue to explore this form.

Note: There are also codified caesurae for the Seven-Four Quatrain. The same kind of analysis applies as that given above for the Five-Four Quatrain.