It is generally agreed that scholarly comment on English poetry has yielded no theoretically consistent yet critically productive theory of English verse rhythm. Here the author explores the theoretical assumptions that have led English prosodists to this historical impasse, sketches a new theory of English verse rhythm based on other assumptions and develops and illustrates one "component" of this new theory. While the tradition of comment on English prosody has been preoccupied with meter, the basic "beat" of the verse, Cureton's major focus is on the more poorly understood phrasal components, grouping and prolongation, especially grouping. The book is a relatively advanced, technical treatment of the issue. It assumes considerable knowledge of both language organization and literary theory. Its major audience would be professionals and advanced students in various disciplines - linguistics, English language study, critical theory, music theory, cognitive science and literary criticism. Its most interested readers would be professionals in prosodic study. The book could be used for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in English linguistics, stylistics, discourse analysis, literary criticism, poetry, music-language relations, cognitive science and poetry.
