--- title: "10 Lines Quotes By James Fenton" description: "10 Lines quotes by James Fenton. Plus more from James Fenton and more Lines sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png" --- > [At somewhere around 10 syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-english-poetic-line-is-at-its/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png) > [I don't see that a single line can constitute a stanza, although it can constitute a whole poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-constitute-a-stanza-although-it/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/james-fenton-9438_lines_i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-const_3193994.png) > [In my opinion, it is easier to avoid iambic rhythms, when writing in syllabics, if you create a line or pattern of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iambic-rhythms-when-writing-in/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/james-fenton-9438_avoid_in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iamb_1631577.png) > [Generally speaking, rhyme is the marker for the end of a line. The first rhyme-word is like a challenge thrown down, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-for-the-end-of-a-line-the/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/james-fenton-9438_challenges_generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-f_1722519.jpg) > [The basic rhymes in English are masculine, which is to say that the last syllable of the line is stressed: 'lane' rhymes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculine-which-is-to-say-that-the/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/james-fenton-9438_doe_the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculin_1882118.png) > [The iambic pentameter owes its pre-eminence in English poetry to its genius for variation. Good blank verse does not sound like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-eminence-in-english-poetry-to-its/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/james-fenton-9438_blank_the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-emine_1946881.png) > [For poets today or in any age, the choice is not between freedom on the one hand and abstruse French forms on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice-is-not-between-freedom-on/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-fenton-9438_age_for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice_1293542.png) > [At four lines, with the quatrain, we reach the basic stanza form familiar from a whole range of English poetic practice. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach-the-basic-stanza-form/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/james-fenton-9438_ballads_at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach_1552048.jpg) > [No poet is required to write in stanzas, or indeed in regular forms at all. Coleridge's 'Dejection: An Ode' has a rhyme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas-or-indeed-in-regular-forms-at/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/james-fenton-9438_following_no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas_1039262.png) > [Those who actually set out to see the fall of a city or those who choose to go to a front line,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fall-of-a-city-or-those-who/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c77/james-fenton-9438_asking_those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fa_1523093.png) ## Other authors on Lines ## More by James Fenton > [Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/among-those-today-who-believe-that-modern-poetry-must-do-without/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in modern spelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/when-we-study-shakespeare-on-the-page-for-academic-purposes-we-may/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [There is no objection to the proposal: in order to learn to be a poet, I shall try to write a sonnet. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/there-is-no-objection-to-the-proposal-in-order-to-learn-to-be-a-poet/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Poetry carries its history within it, and it is oral in origin. Its transmission was oral. Its transmission today is still in part oral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/poetry-carries-its-history-within-it-and-it-is-oral-in-origin-its/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [A glance at the history of European poetry is enough to inform us that rhyme itself is not indispensable. Latin poetry in the classical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/a-glance-at-the-history-of-european-poetry-is-enough-to-inform-us/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [In song the same rule applies as in dramatic verse: the meaning must yield itself, or yield itself sufficiently to arouse the attention and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/in-song-the-same-rule-applies-as-in-dramatic-verse-the-meaning-must/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Great poetry does not have to be technically intricate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/great-poetry-does-not-have-to-be-technically-intricate/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > ['Love' is so short of perfect rhymes that convention allows half-rhymes like 'move.' The alternative is a plague of doves, or a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/love-is-so-short-of-perfect-rhymes-that-convention-allows-half-rhymes/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Lyric poetry is, of course, musical in origin. I do know that what happened to poetry in the twentieth century was that it began…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/lyric-poetry-is-of-course-musical-in-origin-i-do-know-that-what/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [At somewhere around 10 syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-english-poetic-line-is-at-its/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [In rap, as in most popular lyrics, a very low standard is set for rhyme; but this was not always the case with popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/in-rap-as-in-most-popular-lyrics-a-very-low-standard-is-set-for-rhyme/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [The Italian word 'stanza' means 'a room', and a room is a good way to conceive of a stanza. A room, generally speaking, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/the-italian-word-stanza-means-a-room-and-a-room-is-a-good-way-to/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Some people think that English poetry begins with the Anglo-Saxons. I don't, because I can't accept that there is any continuity between the traditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/some-people-think-that-english-poetry-begins-with-the-anglo-saxons-i/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Nobody really knows whether they are a poet. I knew I was interested from the age of 15.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/nobody-really-knows-whether-they-are-a-poet-i-knew-i-was-interested/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [Modernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity could just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/modernism-in-other-arts-brought-extreme-difficulty-in-poetry-the/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/#itemlist", "name": "10 Lines Quotes By James Fenton", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At somewhere around 10 syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-english-poetic-line-is-at-its/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At somewhere around 10 syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable.” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't see that a single line can constitute a stanza, although it can constitute a whole poem.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-constitute-a-stanza-although-it/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/james-fenton-9438_lines_i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-const_3193994.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/james-fenton-9438_lines_i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-const_3193994.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/james-fenton-9438_lines_i-don-t-see-that-a-single-line-can-const_3193994.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't see that a single line can constitute a stanza, although it can constitute a whole poem.” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In my opinion, it is easier to avoid iambic rhythms, when writing in syllabics, if you create a line or pattern of lines using odd numbers of syllables.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iambic-rhythms-when-writing-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/james-fenton-9438_avoid_in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iamb_1631577.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/james-fenton-9438_avoid_in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iamb_1631577.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/james-fenton-9438_avoid_in-my-opinion-it-is-easier-to-avoid-iamb_1631577.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my opinion, it is easier to avoid iambic rhythms, when writing in syllabics, if you create a line or…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Generally speaking, rhyme is the marker for the end of a line. The first rhyme-word is like a challenge thrown down, which the poem itself has to respond to.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-for-the-end-of-a-line-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/james-fenton-9438_challenges_generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-f_1722519.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/james-fenton-9438_challenges_generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-f_1722519.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/james-fenton-9438_challenges_generally-speaking-rhyme-is-the-marker-f_1722519.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Generally speaking, rhyme is the marker for the end of a line. The first rhyme-word is like a challenge…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The basic rhymes in English are masculine, which is to say that the last syllable of the line is stressed: 'lane' rhymes with 'pain,' but it also rhymes with 'urbane' since the last syllable of 'urbane' is stressed. 'Lane' does not rhyme with 'methane.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculine-which-is-to-say-that-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/james-fenton-9438_doe_the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculin_1882118.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/james-fenton-9438_doe_the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculin_1882118.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/james-fenton-9438_doe_the-basic-rhymes-in-english-are-masculin_1882118.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The basic rhymes in English are masculine, which is to say that the last syllable of the line is stressed…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The iambic pentameter owes its pre-eminence in English poetry to its genius for variation. Good blank verse does not sound like a series of identically measured lines. It sounds like a series of subtle variations on the same theme.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-eminence-in-english-poetry-to-its/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/james-fenton-9438_blank_the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-emine_1946881.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/james-fenton-9438_blank_the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-emine_1946881.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/james-fenton-9438_blank_the-iambic-pentameter-owes-its-pre-emine_1946881.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The iambic pentameter owes its pre-eminence in English poetry to its genius for variation. Good blank verse…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For poets today or in any age, the choice is not between freedom on the one hand and abstruse French forms on the other. The choice is between the nullity and vanity of our first efforts, and the developing of a sense of idiom, form, structure, metre, rhythm, line - all the fundamental characteristics of this verbal art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice-is-not-between-freedom-on/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-fenton-9438_age_for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice_1293542.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-fenton-9438_age_for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice_1293542.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-fenton-9438_age_for-poets-today-or-in-any-age-the-choice_1293542.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For poets today or in any age, the choice is not between freedom on the one hand and abstruse French forms…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At four lines, with the quatrain, we reach the basic stanza form familiar from a whole range of English poetic practice. This is the length of the ballad stanza, the verse of a hymn, and innumerable other kinds of verse.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach-the-basic-stanza-form/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/james-fenton-9438_ballads_at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach_1552048.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/james-fenton-9438_ballads_at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach_1552048.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/james-fenton-9438_ballads_at-four-lines-with-the-quatrain-we-reach_1552048.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At four lines, with the quatrain, we reach the basic stanza form familiar from a whole range of English…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No poet is required to write in stanzas, or indeed in regular forms at all. Coleridge's 'Dejection: An Ode' has a rhyme scheme and sequence of long and short lines that goes without regular pattern, following the mood and whim of the poet. Such a form is known as an irregular ode.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas-or-indeed-in-regular-forms-at/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/james-fenton-9438_following_no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas_1039262.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/james-fenton-9438_following_no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas_1039262.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/james-fenton-9438_following_no-poet-is-required-to-write-in-stanzas_1039262.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No poet is required to write in stanzas, or indeed in regular forms at all. Coleridge's 'Dejection: An Ode'…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Those who actually set out to see the fall of a city or those who choose to go to a front line, are obviously asking themselves to what extent they are cowards. But the tests they set themselves - there is a dead body, can you bear to look at it? - are nothing in comparison with the tests that are sprung on them. It is not the obvious tests that matter (do you go to pieces in a mortar attack?) but the unexpected ones (here is a man on the run, seeking your help - can you face him honestly?).", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Fenton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fall-of-a-city-or-those-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c77/james-fenton-9438_asking_those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fa_1523093.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c77/james-fenton-9438_asking_those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fa_1523093.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c77/james-fenton-9438_asking_those-who-actually-set-out-to-see-the-fa_1523093.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Those who actually set out to see the fall of a city or those who choose to go to a front line, are…” — James Fenton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/", "name": "Lines Quotes by James Fenton", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fd/james-fenton-9438_lines_at-somewhere-around-10-syllables-the-eng_634573.png" }, "description": "10 Lines quotes by James Fenton. Plus more from James Fenton and more Lines sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Lines", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "James Fenton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/james-fenton/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```