Comparative Versification

The aim of the course is to explain the basic principles of versification (quantitative, syllabic, accentual and syllabic-accentual versification), main poetic procedures and terms (rhythm, meter, assonance, alliteration etc.), and verse, stanza and poetic forms in different languages and national literatures from antiquity to post-modernism. Among verse forms a special attention is paid to the Ancient Greek and Latin dactylic hexameter, French alexandrin, Italian endecassilabo giambico, trochaic and iambic octosyllable in different languages; among stanza forms to Dante's terza rima; among poetic forms to the Troubadour sestina, Medieval cercle forms (rondeau, rondel, triolet, ballade) and the sonnet as the crown of the European lyric poetry. The course is not limited to the European tradition only – it offers an insight into the treasuries of other civilizations and cultures as well: it deals with Japanese haiku, Indonesian and Malayan pantum, Arabic ghazal etc. Besides strict traditional poetic forms it also explains the specific nature of Modern poetic language, including free verse and prose poem.