Ep 16 - How to Read an Epic Poem

In episode 16 (episode 4 of Season 2), Joe Carlson and Daniel Foucachon read some epic poetry together, beginning with a BAD reading of epic poetry, followed by a tutorial covering four basic principles for reading epic poetry:

First, allow the natural stresses of the words to dictate the flow of the sentence. Different words have different stress lengths, depending on the placement of the vowels and the number of consonants. For example the words “to” and “flinch” are both one syllable words, but you can tell one takes less time to say than the other. Furthermore, a short word like “to” naturally leads you into the next word (ending with a vowel as it does), whereas you want to land on “flinch” a little, taking just a moment before moving on. Read the following naturally, while paying attention to the space you give between the words: “to flinch means to make a quick movement in reaction to something.” Notice the lack of space following the three instances of “to”, and the space following the harder sounds of “flinch” “make” “quick” and “movement”. This is how the English language works, and you shouldn’t fight it when reading, especially when reading poetry.

Second, read according to the punctuation, not the line break. The line breaks because the number of syllables allotted that line have been used up, not because a breath is required. Pay attention to the natural breaks in the syntax: the commas, the semicolons, the periods. Also, like I mentioned above, pay attention to the flow of the words themselves, and let the natural stresses dictate your annunciation and your rests.

Third, read the poem aloud and slowly. Taste the words on your tongue. Let their sounds fill your eustachian tubes, bringing the words directly to your ears, as well as traveling around your cheeks and hitting them from the outside. This process will encourage and cultivate your ability to enter into the story, imaginatively accepting the imagery of the poem as the landscape you are inhabiting.

Lastly, for extra credit, you can listen for moments of alliteration (repetition of certain consonants), assonance (repetition of certain vowel sounds), parallelisms, chiasmi, and the skilled use of enjambment (the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line), among other poetic tools wielded by the master. But these are the technical aspects of the poetry, the museum lighting that carefully illumines the painting. Therefore, while they certainly offer fodder for fruitful discussion, do not let them distract you from the painting itself, the story that Milton is telling.