Tools for the Study of Verse

Abstract

Closing remarks on the discussion of “Foundations of Verse” in this issue. A recurring topic, the use of instrumentation, is approached within a historical and methodological framework, with emphasis on the need for more methodological variety and sophistication in experimental work and an emphasis on the need for collaboration of psycholinguists with literary scholars. Gaps in the field of verse studies are emphasized, especially the lack of give-and-take between local studies (the versification of single poems) and global studies of a historical or comparative nature. The nature of basic reference tools needed by verse specialists is discussed as is the new feasibility of such a project in the age of computers.