ENCODING VERSE TEXTS

This article identifies problems and proposes solutions for encoding v erse texts in SGML. It is organized around a series of distinctions an d oppositions which the TEI Work Group on Verse regard as significant. These include examination of the formal properties which distinguish verse from prose, followed by discussions of (1) text-searching vs ana lysis, (2) markup vs algorithms, (3) markup vs transcription, (4) unif ormity vs choice, (5) specificity vs generality, (6) metrical conventi on vs linguistic realization, (7) structural vs non-structural divisio ns and (8) fidelity vs interpretation. Using German and English verse forms as illustrations, the advantages and disadvantages of pre-line t agging, in-line tagging and feature structure analysis are discussed. We suggest that metrical and rhyme conventions always be tagged at the highest possible level of text divisions.