Dryden's Annus Mirabilis celebrates an English naval victory and suggests the great fire in London only augmented the city's greatness and the solidarity of the king and his people. Dryden shoves us along his verse with rhyming abab quatrains. After reading Mac Flecknoe and considering this week's blog prompt I decided to wait until Friday to address the herioc couplet directly.
I found it interesting to think about how the rhyme schemes in the two poems shaped how I read them and then comparing them. Annus Mirabilis feels halting due to the quatrain setup and the rhyme scheme. The quatrains feel as if they need to finish their rhyme in order to finish their thoughts. Lines 1 and 2 introduce an idea or feeling while 3 and 4 sum them up or tie the first two lines together. This rising to a conclusion fits perfectly with Annus Mirabilis's victorious, celebratory tone.
I wont delve too deeply into Mac Flecknoe since this is NOT me addressing the prompt but I want to briefly discuss the contrast. The heroic couplets feels like dagger thrusts for his satire as opposed to the halting alternate rhyme of Annus Mirabilis. The overall effect of this rhyme scheme is to make one feel as if Dryden is delivering blows to the opponent he is lambasting.