Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (198-225) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
"The recurrence of rhythms is basic to human life: tied to our breathing, our heartbeats, and such natural cycles as the ebb and flow of the tides and the processes of birth and death."
I never knew how big of a deal that rhythm in poetry really was. I mean, I knew it was important to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a poem, but I didn't know it went into all these meters and foots and stresses and unstresses. It's pretty crazy. The rhythm of a poem can make it or break it. It is life or death for the poem where rhythm is concerned.
Nicely phrased!
Anything that is important to human culture gets studied and analyzed. As humans we are programmed to identify patterns and use them to our advantage. It's very rewarding to me as a teacher to watch as students who already liked this English majors stuff become aware of just how much there is to learn and enjoy and be amazed by.