Below are areas of concern and things to consider that are particular to French poetry.
Masculine and Feminine Rhymes
Both French and English poetry feature masculine and feminine end-rhyme, also referred to as masculine and feminine ending. While French poetry counts syllables and English poetry differentiates between stressed and unstressed syllables, masculine and feminine end-rhyme in both schools of poetry pertains to the final syllable in a line. In masculine end-rhyme it is sounded or stressed, while in feminine end-rhyme it is unsounded or unstressed. In French poetry, this translates to a feminine rhyme ending in a silent, or mute, "e" with everything else being referred to as a masculine rhyme. WARNING: Masculine and feminine rhyme have absolutely nothing to do with the gender of any nouns in the line. I repeat, masculine and feminine rhyme have absolutely nothing to do with the gender of any nouns in the line. For this reason, although the concept can be taught if so desired, I strongly recommend not using the technical lingo in the classroom. It will only further muddy the already difficult concept of noun gender for students.
In traditional French poetry, lines must follow some pattern of alternation between masculine and feminine rhyme, although there are several patterns from which to choose (M/M/F/F or its partner F/F/M/M; M/F/M/F or its partner F/M/F/M; M/F/F/M or its partner F/M/M/F.) These patterns can also be slightly altered (6).
Just to keep it interesting, of note is the potential for confusion with the term feminine rhyme, in English poetry, which is used to denote the rhyme of a two-or-more-syllable word, in which the first syllable is stressed and the rest are not (as in
happily
and
scrappily
or
hurry
and
scurry
.) Here, masculine rhyme is the opposite, with the first syllable unstressed and the rest stressed (as in
bemoan
and
dethrone
.) These terms are sometimes further simplified to indicate that the stress is on either the final syllable of a line (masculine) or else the penultimate, or second-to-last, syllable of a line (feminine.)
The Mute "E"
I like to tell my students that an "e" at the end of a French word "gives you permission" to pronounce the consonant before it, because final consonants are generally not pronounced in French. So that in the word
consonne
, for example, one can hear the "n" sound since the "e" gives you permission; without the ending "e", the word would be
conson
(as there would be no need to double the n, which is irrelevant to the pronunciation but notable all the same) and the "n" sound would only show itself as a slight nasal memory hanging in the air.
To my middle school students, these are odd rules that go against their natural instincts of pronunciation. So I consistently ask students why we do or don't hear certain letters, so that they may begin to develop an automaticity as regards French pronunciation. These concepts are being developed and solidified in my 5
th
grade classes. So although I will incorporate the following poetry-specific pronunciation rules when we read and practice with established poetry, I will not teach this explicitly until 7
th
or even 8
th
grade.
Poetry Rule 1: When a mute "e" ends a word within the course of a line of poetry, and that word is followed by a consonant, then the "e" is no longer mute and must be pronounced (7). (As in the example of the title of this unit given previously, where
píche
would normally be pronounced "pesh" but because it is followed by a consonant in a line of poetry, it would be pronounced "pesh-uh.")
Poetry Rule 2: The same as rule #1, except it specifies that if the word ends in a silent final consonant or consonant blend
preceded
be a mute "e", then the "e" is no longer mute and must be pronounced.
Poetry Rule 3: A mute "e" followed by a vowel or silent "h" sound is never pronounced. Instead, it is
elided
as if creating a contraction between the two words. To explain
elision
, I tell my students that many rules of French language revolve around the desire to sound good, and that two vowel sounds together sound choppy and awkward, that they don't
flow
like they do when contracted. I over-exaggerate the choppiness of non-elided phrases and accompany them with semi-robotic body language, and use flowing hand gestures and silky voice to showcase how much better the phrases sound elided.
Poetry Rule 4: (Just to keep you on your toes) A mute "e" at the end of a line is never pronounced.
