C2
vocab
How does French prosody work in classical poetry?
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Model answer
Alexandrin: 12 syllables, caesura at 6. Rime plate (AABB), croisée (ABAB), embrassée (ABBA). Mute e counts before consonant but elides before vowel. Learn scansion (versification) to analyse Racine, Molière, Hugo.
Why
Modern poetry (Verlaine, Rimbaud, Apollinaire) plays with and breaks these rules deliberately.
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