Poetic Drama
What It Is, and Why We Need It.
Prefatory Remarks
There are several classifications for plays. Each is used to describe their characteristics, viz., verse drama, dramatic verse, and closet drama. Admittedly, any particular play may be a combination of these.
Closet drama is interesting terminology to use. It is almost as if you are hiding the fact that you read drama. However, it is similar to some of the plays written by authors such as Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Nevertheless, this type of drama or play was intended to be read from the page, rather than performed on a stage. Much like a novel. There would have been several reasons why the plays were never on stage, and the most likely would have been that it was impractical or impossible to produce.
Added to this discussion of poetic drama will be an attempt to answer the question:
Is it possible to capture an English idiom that embraces the form of expression and specific characteristics of the English language in verse?
In some respects, it may appear divorced from the initial discussion, but if verse is to be used in drama, we need to ask this question. It may well be that our quest is pointless and that prose and poetry will always be differentiated from each other. Naturally, personal opinion plays a large part in determining the differences.
It may appear that I am biased toward Eliot, but this is not the case. I was initially researching Eliot’s work in poetic drama after my analysis of The Family Reunion and his use of the Eumenides and chorus. Williams’ Paterson was briefly considered, and then I decided to add my own thoughts regarding the possible use of the couplet in poetic drama.
The Concept of Poetic Drama
The concept of a poetic drama is by no means a recent contemplation. They have existed for centuries. The idea of a poetic drama, as the name would imply, is that it has poetic content and poetic devices. More so, the verses are set to a particular style, e.g., blank verse.
Blank verse is misunderstood by some, but it has a definite structure and rhythm. Blank verse is written in iambic pentameter, and successive verses do not rime. I cannot see a reason for shorter or longer lines not to be considered blank. For example, iambic tetrameter or iambic hexameter (our poor English excuse for the alexandrine), but blank verse itself, has always been accepted as iambic pentameter.
However, there must be something more than a series of blank verses to justify the piece being called a poetic drama. Or is there? We need to consider what it means to be poetic.
The question: What is poetry? This has already been addressed, and the conclusion was that we are essentially offering a personal opinion on the matter. We may be tempted to assume the same of poetic drama. As it is, it would be very wrong to do so. After all, a drama is not necessarily a poem, but a poem may be dramatic.
When we compare a play written in normal conversational (prose) style and a poetic drama, we notice a difference. The language used in a poetic drama is different because it allows the writer to appeal to and test the reader’s imagination.
Poetic drama has a somewhat simple definition; however, writing a poetic drama is far from simple. Briefly stated, a poetic drama is a play that is written in verse, not prose. Bear in mind that the aim is not to attempt to imitate Shakespeare. Such an attempt would fail.
Eliot, among others, tried to bring back the poetic drama. In his 1949 Presidential Address to the Poet's Theatre Guild, he outlined several aims for poetic drama and what he would like to achieve for himself.
He begins by saying that poetic drama must try, or at least the writer must try, the most daring thing. This is not to be tempted to take advantage of making up with nice poetry, what is lacking in dramatic quality.
This makes sense because not all poets are dramatists or dramatists, poets. The temptation may be great to overcome deficiencies in either area.
From Eliot's point of view, he wished only to write plays of contemporary life. He believed that writing a play set in the past or some fictitious place and time would defeat the whole purpose of writing a poetic drama. But why would this happen?
When Eliot was referring to contemporary life, he meant people of our day: wearing normal clothes, having the same perplexities, concepts, and misunderstandings. In other words, the people we meet in everyday life. His added condition was that there should be no superfluous lines that are not related to the situation, mood, and dramatic action. This in itself would be a challenge for most playwrights, if indeed it is possible. This style of writing may be very taxing for the audience.
What needs to be shown is that poetic drama can deal with the same material as prose drama, and the writer should not restrict themselves to subject matter usually considered appropriate to verse. This is one, if not the most difficult point to address, as the writer must be able to explain why and what is to be gained by writing verse instead of prose.
Why go to all that trouble, and add to the difficulties of both actor and audience, by saying in verse what can be said as well in prose?
His answer to this question, or partial solution, was to show that it cannot be said so well in prose. The audience should not be conscious of the difference between the verse and prose during the performance.
What is required is that the rhythm of what is spoken should prepare the ear of the audience for those moments of intensity when the emotion of the character imparts their feelings to the audience. Furthermore, we must believe that there are moments in life when poetry becomes the natural form of expression.
What he says is that it is more possible for poetry to adapt itself to the uses of prose than for prose to perform the functions of poetry.
Most likely, the primary task is to make the transition from poetry to prose and vice versa imperceptible. Surely there is a distinct difference between poetry and prose. This is something that Murry has addressed on several occasions in his lectures. However, Eliot believes that it is, or should be, possible. We just have not found the solution.
To do this, we need to take into consideration the natural rhythms of normal speech. But this is easier said than done. It has been said that the English language is geared toward iambic in nature, but this is not what you necessarily want of poetic drama unless it were some inferior imitation of Shakespeare, Marlowe, or any of the other Elizabethan playwrights. In theory, it sounds like a perfect solution, but practically, it is nowhere near a solution.
It is also said that iambic pentameter allows the right amount of words, or syllables, for one breath, but this is not what you necessarily want in a poetic drama. The change would still be very obvious, and the iambic nature would still dominate.
Eliot was not the only one to take on the poetic drama. We also had the likes of Auden and the French contingent with Claudel. These are, of course, the more modern players, but the Elizabethan playwrights were very successful with this type of drama because it was the drama of the times. These included Dryden, Marlowe, and Shakespeare, along with a host of others, many of whom were highlighted by Dobrée. (Dobrée’s collections alone are invaluable in terms of content and criticism.)
Chiari keenly points out the relationship between poetry, actors, and plays in his The Poetic Drama of Paul Claudel:
Some plays do not bear reading and only live on the stage through the skill of the actors, but that is because they are inferior plays and certainly not poetry.
There has certainly been a call for poetic drama, and in many ways, it is more satisfying than the normal drama we are exposed to. There is something unique and compelling in how it lives for the stage. We have only to look at some of Shakespeare's plays. Some are not what you would call dramatic, but it is the poetry of his verses that develops the plot and brings intensity to his verses. We may almost be tempted to say that in some cases, Shakespeare was not the best dramatist, but his poetry expresses all emotion, and is all that was necessary.
Is there an Iambic Nature to English Speech?
In the history of English verse, we find that iambic pentameter was the way to write verse, and it remained this way for centuries. Anyone who was anyone, and everyone else, wrote their verses in iambic pentameter. No matter how well it has served English poetry, it has suffered a loss in popularity for writing verse today. This is nothing new.
A popular belief is that the iambic rhythm comes very close to satisfying the requirements of English verse, but it does not always sound normal, according to the placement of the ictus. Even though the strict iambic pentameter form may be regarded as the perfect mouthful of syllables, it can still carry an unnatural or at least monotonous rhythm. The many possible variations make it more acceptable, but in doing this, the metrics diverge from the iambicity of the piece.
Natural Rhythms
The natural rhythms of human speech are not an easy one to imitate in verse, and this would be the case in any language. There are many factors to consider, including place of origin and dialects. English, like other languages, places inflexion on syllables that do not always fit with a prescribed rhythm.
We may recall Williams’ attempt with his invention of triadic verse. This is something that he used with great success in his writing of Paterson. It may be due to the period of time being different, but this format does not make a great deal of sense to me now. I would ask: Do we naturally break our sense of communication into three distinct parts, or is it necessary? Williams may have decided this for effect or simply presentation, but I cannot see it as suitable to convey the naturalness of spoken English, regardless of accent in verses today.
To have a natural rhythm, there cannot be a uniform or consistent number of the same metrical feet in succession. This would lead to a monotonous rhythm, which is undesirable. It happens that a rhythm will always be detected by the ear, even if there is no obvious rhythm. Hence, there is no requirement for the rhythm to be uniform or obvious.
To be more comparable to the way we speak, it would make more sense to break the flow of a thought into two parts. Thus, there is the possibility of using couplets of some form. These couplets may derive from a split verse, but there would be no necessity to indent as in Williams' triadic verse.
In any situation, the verse would still use measured feet and be divided as subject and predicate. By the nature of the English sentence, couplets would be the most logical choice of verse, but more importantly, it is how we use the couplet form.
Couplets & Rime
The accepted triple of the traditional couplet form could be the equivalent of the third of Williams' triadic verse. Variations would be required to avoid the strict iambicity of the verse, since this is not desired unless for a particular effect or reason. As such, it would need to be introduced purposely. The couplet itself would necessitate variations of some description to produce a more natural-sounding verse when taking into account rhythm.
Although strictly not a variation, the couplet is to capture a single thought in its entirety. Enjambment may be used as an afterthought by the use of the triple.
But does the couplet need to rime? Traditionally, we would expect rime to occur, but rime in normal conversation is generally not common unless there is a reason for it. Hence, we may say that in most cases, the couplets will be unrimed. However, this does not exclude rime altogether. However, this is then moving us away from the traditional rimed couplet and into a blank verse format.
For example, one verse from one couplet may rime with another verse elsewhere. These may be accidental, but they can also be a purposeful act for effect. The advantage is that rime may meld with the conversation, producing a pleasant effect.
The couplets should be closed and may involve the triple as an afterthought, but as in traditional heroic couplets, this variation should not occur in any great frequency. A triple for a thought would not be common.
The use of couplets does allow some other variation as in stanza length. The poem does not need to be a continuation of couplets. Depending on the mood of the poem, the presentation may be in terms of quatrains, sestets, or octets. This does not exclude the sole couplet or even a single standalone verse.
The variations would enhance the poem in terms of what is happening. The traditional verse is too repetitive and cannot emulate human conversation or speech, albeit possible to imitate speech patterns, to a point.
Needless to say, each language, or dialect would have its own idiom, so it would be impossible to find one to suit all.
Regardless of the language, there is still the problem as to whether a measure can be found to have a natural expression in verse, because those languages would still exhibit a difference between poetry and prose in their own right.
When we find poetry that adopts a more natural reading, we will generally see prose that has been crudely broken, and often, the line breaks do not mean anything at all. One needs a discerning ear to judge the appropriate line breaks.
One effect of vers libre today is that for most, they have a natural reading and expression, but as pointed out several times, this was not the purpose. Mostly, today's vers libre is prose, and partly due to the purposeful avoidance of meter, as in consistent, we find in many cases that there is basically no rhythm different from what we may find in prose.
The couplets may be grouped to form verse-paragraphs as in blank verse, but each paragraph would generally have an even number of verses, and represent a change in thought or mood.
Some Points to Address
In the work of Auden and Isherwood, we find characters speaking in riming couplets, and quatrains. For example, in The Ascent of F6. The interesting fact is that the riming couples do not sound out of place. There is a natural flow to the dialogue. I think it is that the couplets appear in what one could say is a normal conversation, and with the skill of the playwrights, the result did not appear out of place. Not only this, but it was pleasing to the ear.
- Are couplets the answer? Possibly. The idea of couplets capturing a single thought has a lot of merit when comparing the manner in which we speak. However, the use of blank verse may be able to disguise the verse presentation.
- Avoid predictability when using riming couplets. This aspect does not matter to any great extent in drama, which in itself creates a scene more readily for the stage.
- Is conversational poetry possible? Conversational poetry is possible without necessarily being in drama form. It is the skill of the poet or playwright that can produce the appropriate flow of verses, which are not disjointed in their delivery on stage or in a poem.
- Is it possible to move between prose and poetry without the transition being obvious to the audience? This is a highly debatable question, and there are likely more who disagree than who would agree. The major reason for this is that over the centuries, drama has changed, and so we are more familiar with prose drama than poetic drama. Skillful use of verses and their form may lessen the obvious transition between poetry and prose.
Why Do We Need It?
For many, there is no reason why we need it. As stated above, we have become accustomed to prose drama. Unfortunately, poetic drama has much the same appeal as formal poetry, in that it can be easily identified and then considered inappropriate for no other reason except that it uses verse instead of prose.
Poetic drama requires more effort and skill on behalf of the playwright, not only to maintain the mood and context, but also the natural flow of verses. In some ways, prose drama can show a lack of creativity because of its popularity, and the norm of exactness.
Even now, audiences enjoy the plays of Shakespeare in part due to their verse content and not always the drama itself. Poetry alone is capable of expressing human emotion in a way that prose is unable to do. This is not to say that all drama should be solely verse, but a subtle combination of poetry and prose is desirable. We should also note that on the occasions where a poetic drama has been produced in movie form, there is a special appeal in how the actors converse, and a careful production can only enhance the poetic content to bring it to life.