New Applications of Jakobson’s “Broad Metrics”: Sung Poetry and Dual-Metered Verse

Abstract

meter and rhythmThis article extends Roman Jakobson’s framework of “broad metrics” to sung poetry. Building on his dichotomies of verse design/instance (poetic meter and rhythm) and delivery design/instance (recitation rules and performance), it proposes an additional dyad: musical design/instance (musical meter and rhythm), which often diverge from verse patterns. The study also incorporates Mihhail Lotman’s concept of secondary meter to account for dual metricity in verse. Analysis of sung texts with dual-metered verse structures – such as but not limited to hyperpaeonic syllabotonic meters – shows how verse and music coalesce to shape delivery rhythms that may oscillate between multiple meters. Whenever this occurs, the choice of a particular rhythmic variant is conditioned by the delivery design (performance strategy). The model is substantiated by case studies of three Soviet-era songs.