Part one of the home work is,
Your poem has a rhythm of 10, 10, 10, 11
And the stress is:
I DIG for REFuge FROM the BLAZing sun.
BeNEATH this DESert bush, COOL is the loam;
ProTECted AREmy KITS when DAY] is done,
Here THEY are NURTured, in THIS earthy home
Not sure on the above, I found I could stress it
almost any way I wished.
Part two: Clancy Of The Overflow by Banjo Paterson
I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just `on spec', addressed as follows, `Clancy, of The Overflow'.
The meter is 16, 15, 16, 15
The stress seems to be:
I HAD written him a LETter which I HAD, for WANT of better
KnowLEDGE, sent to where I MET him down the LACHlan, years ago,
He WAS shearing when I KNEW him, so I sent the LETter to him,
Just `on SPEC, addressed as FOLLows, `CLANCY, of The OVERflow'.
Again, just tried my best but struggling here.
part three: part of a stanza from 'Get Back Up And Soldier On' -- this weeks Challenge entry
Soldier on Soldier on
When all your strength is gone
You know Who to rely on
Get back up and soldier on
the meter is 6,6,7,7
The stress (that I see is)
SOLdier on SOLdier on
WHEN all your STRENGTH is gone
YOU know WHO to rely on
GET back UP and SOLdier on
comment: the hard work for me is obviously in understanding stress v unstressed syllables and I'm going to have to do a lot of reading on this issue. And my stress in the verse above seems okay to me -- even though the last line has one more stressed syllable than the other three lines.
thanks again for a great lesson.
Blessings, Graham.