Humdrum and Harum-Scarum
Encyclopedia
"Humdrum and Harum-Scarum: A Lecture on Free Verse" is an essay by the poet Robert Bridges
, first published in November 1922
in both the North American Review
and the London Mercury
. In it Bridges explains what he regards as the 'adverse conditions' that free verse
imposes upon a poet:
Robert Bridges
Robert Seymour Bridges, OM, was a British poet, and poet laureate from 1913 to 1930.-Personal and professional life:...
, first published in November 1922
1922 in poetry
— Opening lines from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry established...
in both the North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
and the London Mercury
London Mercury
The London Mercury was the name of several periodicals published in London from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The earliest was a newspaper that appeared during the Exclusion Bill crisis; it lasted only 56 issues...
. In it Bridges explains what he regards as the 'adverse conditions' that free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
imposes upon a poet:
- loss of carrying power
- self-consciousness
- same-ness of line structure
- indetermination of subsidiary 'accent'