David
07-10-2005, 02:50 PM
Have you guys ever noticed that Christine McVie's name scans as an iambic dimeter, perfectly formed with no feminine ending or hovering accent, but properly end-stopped (in Brooks & Warren's context)?
Furthermore, what a euphonious progression of letters! Those vowel sounds -- two each in two pairs -- mirror each other in beautifully balanced mirroring: the short "i" sound in the penult of each word, & the long "e" sound in the final syllable, & all four vowels formed in the front of the voice chamber; so that you have, again in iambic meter, "i"/"ee" -- "i"/"ee": just an amazing conjoinment of sound & sense! The relation of mood to specific vowel sounds is by no means universal, but who can't feel the lightness, sprightliness & sonority of this repetition of short & long vowels in the front of the voice chamber? By extension, who cannot but hear that same sprightly sonority in Christine's keyboard style, a marked contrast from the heavier, lower sonority of a keyboardist like Elton John, with his fat, chunky fingers & the equally long heaviness of the dying fall of "John," with its long, back vowel sound?
Finally, the name exemplifies the so-called slant rhyme: those approximate internal rhymes that keep a phrase or line from sounding sing-songish or childish. That element of versification, too, finds its balance in Christine's own personality: she exudes an inquisitive maturity, a gal with her head on her shoulders, rather than the befuddled wonderment of the child-woman Stevie Nicks. (We will discuss Stevie's name in another post.)
Furthermore, what a euphonious progression of letters! Those vowel sounds -- two each in two pairs -- mirror each other in beautifully balanced mirroring: the short "i" sound in the penult of each word, & the long "e" sound in the final syllable, & all four vowels formed in the front of the voice chamber; so that you have, again in iambic meter, "i"/"ee" -- "i"/"ee": just an amazing conjoinment of sound & sense! The relation of mood to specific vowel sounds is by no means universal, but who can't feel the lightness, sprightliness & sonority of this repetition of short & long vowels in the front of the voice chamber? By extension, who cannot but hear that same sprightly sonority in Christine's keyboard style, a marked contrast from the heavier, lower sonority of a keyboardist like Elton John, with his fat, chunky fingers & the equally long heaviness of the dying fall of "John," with its long, back vowel sound?
Finally, the name exemplifies the so-called slant rhyme: those approximate internal rhymes that keep a phrase or line from sounding sing-songish or childish. That element of versification, too, finds its balance in Christine's own personality: she exudes an inquisitive maturity, a gal with her head on her shoulders, rather than the befuddled wonderment of the child-woman Stevie Nicks. (We will discuss Stevie's name in another post.)