TEI by ExampleModule 4: PoetryEdward VanhoutteRon Van den BrandenMelissa TerrasAssociation for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC)Centre for Data, Culture and Society, University of Edinburgh, UKCentre for Digital Humanities (CDH), University College London, UKCentre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH), King’s College London, UKCentre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies (CTB) , Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, BelgiumCentre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies (CTB)Royal Academy of Dutch Language and LiteratureKoningstraat 189000 GentBelgiumctb@kantl.beEdward VanhoutteMelissa TerrasCentre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies (CTB) , Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, BelgiumCentre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies (CTB) , Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, BelgiumGentCentre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies (CTB)Royal Academy of Dutch Language and LiteratureKoningstraat 189000 GentBelgium
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9 July 2010TEI by Example.Edward VanhoutteeditorRon Van den BrandeneditorMelissa Terraseditor
Digitally born
TEI by Example offers a series of freely available online tutorials walking individuals through the different stages in marking up a document in TEI (Text Encoding Initiative). Besides a general introduction to text encoding, step-by-step tutorial modules provide example-based introductions to eight different aspects of electronic text markup for the humanities. Each tutorial module is accompanied with a dedicated examples section, illustrating actual TEI encoding practise with real-life examples. The theory of the tutorial modules can be tested in interactive tests and exercises.
en-GBtechnical revisionreleaserevision and added 2.3. grouping structures and 6.2. dedicationsadded 6.2 Acrostics-added new prose with internal rhyme under 3.1inserted enjambements under 4.4 and rewrote that sectionedited summary of 4added summary to 5removed suggestions divcorrection of textrevisionrevisionrevision
Advanced Encoding
Components of the Verse Line
It is often convenient for various kinds of analysis to encode further subdivisions of verse lines. This can be done using the seg element which contains any arbitrary phrase-level unit of text (including other seg elements).
The third and the fourth stanzas of our poem, for instance, contain lines which include two items each, except for line 13. The appropriate encoding could be the following:
Paper towels / garbage bagsPasta sauce and ParmesanPumpkin seed and olive oilCheesy crisps and favourite magsKidney beans (1 large can)Cling film and kitchen foil
Identifying low-level structures with seg.
Dedications
If the poem is encoded as an lg, the TEI doesn’t have an out of the box solution to deal with dedications which appear under the title of the poem. In the case a dedication needs to be encoded, there are two viable options. The first one is to consider the dedication as a head and use its type attribute for specifying its function as a dedication:
Shopping
To my sweetest son
PoppadomOatmealBubble gumCut of vealMince for pieFrozen peasVideo for GuySelection of teasPaper towels/garbage bagsPasta sauce and ParmesanPumpkin seed and olive oilCheesy crisps and favourite magsKidney beans (1 large can)Cling film and kitchen foil
Encoding a dedication following a heading as a special head.
The second option is to encode the poem as a div type="poem" instead of an lg type="poem", and consider the title as an anonymous block ab with a value of dedication for its type attribute.
Shopping
To my sweetest sonPoppadomOatmealBubble gumCut of vealMince for pieFrozen peasVideo for GuySelection of teasPaper towels/garbage bagsPasta sauce and ParmesanPumpkin seed and olive oilCheesy crisps and favourite magsKidney beans (1 large can)Cling film and kitchen foil
Encoding a dedication after a heading as ab inside div.
Acrostics
One example of the use of the seg element for further advanced analysis is the following proposal to signal the presence of an acrostic in a poem. In this poem by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled
An Acrostic, the first letters of each line of verse together form the first word of the first line: Elizabeth.
Elizabeth it is in vain you say"Love not" - thou sayest it in so sweet a way:In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,Breath it less gently forth - and veil thine eyes.Endymion, recollect, when Luna triedTo cure his love - was cured of all beside -His follie - pride - and passion - for he died.
A possible encoding of an acrostic.