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METRICAL IRREGULARITIES

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Two instances of metrical irregularity, i.e. places where two stressed syllables occur next to each other: Line 7: En keert, en wendt, en stort Staeten en Coninckrijcken: Both stort and the first syllable of Staeten are stressed; the alliteration (the repetition of st in 'stort Staeten') reinforces the effect. Line 10: De schoorvoetighe Tijdt: Schoorvoetigh has two stressed syllables in a row. Interestingly, the two stresses slow you down as you pronounce the words. This harmonizes with the meaning: Time is literally dragging its feet. >Back to structure of poem (1) >Back to structure of poem (2)