Meter and number of syllables per line in "The Raven"?

Question

After reading some analysis of "The Raven", I've become confused about how syllables are counted. For example, in the second line: *Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore* A few sources say there are 15 syllables, and that it ends with half a foot. However, I count 17 syllables, and it doesn't seem to be trochaic octameter unless I count "many a" as 2 syllables (MA-nya) and curious as 2 (CU-rious). Is it correct to do so, or am I missing something?

Answer 1

Hi,

You correct in counting "curious" as two syllables. Generally, when vowels are next to each other they flow together as one syllable. Here is the setup.

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, 8 Stressed are followed by 8 unstressed syllables.

I hope this helps.