Dr Scott argues that only by attending to the precise locations of words in line or stanza, and to the specific value of syllables, or by understanding the often conflicting demands of rhythm and metre, can the reader of poetry acquire a real grasp of the intimate life of words in verse with all their fluctuations of meaning, mood and tone. The analyses through which the book pursues its argument address two principal concerns: the way in which syllabic position projects words and colours their complicated and challenged by the relationship of rhythm to metre.

The act of translation is perhaps the ultimate performance of reading. By translating a text translators rework the source text into a reflection of their reading experience. In fact all reading is translation, as each reader incorporates associations and responses into the reading process. Clive Scott argues that the translator needs new linguistic resources to do justice to the intricacies of the reading consciousness, and explores different ways of envisaging the translation of a literary work, not only from one language to another, but also from one form to another within the same...