Portal:Poetry/Language Corner archive/July 2006

The book Notes on Prosody by bi-lingual author Vladimir Nabokov compares differences in iambic verse in the English and Russian languages, and highlights the effect of relative word length in the two languages on rhythm. Nabokov also proposes an approach for scanning patterns of accent which interact with syllabic stress in iambic verse. Originally Appendix 2 to his Commentary accompanying his translation of Aleksandr Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, Notes on Prosody was released separately in book form. Both the translation of Eugene Onegin and Notes on Prosody sparked considerable academic debate. Nabokov is known both for his Russian language poetry and his English language prose.

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