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.