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The 'teixlite' DTD: - Poems & Poetry

TEI uses a 'line group' (lg) and 'line' (l) elements to mark up poetry. Consider the following Nursery Rhyme.

  Jack Spratt

    "Jack Spratt could eat no fat,
    His wife could eat no lean.
    And so between the pair of them,
    They licked the platter clean."

  Anon.

  Traditional English Nursery Rhyme

Here is how the verse might look when marked up in TEI.

<lg>
  <l>"Jack Spratt could eat no fat,</l>
  <l>His wife could eat no lean.</l>
  <l>And so between the pair of them,</l>
  <l>They licked the platter clean."</l>
</lg>

Marking upindividual poems.

In poetry it is usualy to consider each poem as a self contained text element, so here is how a complete TEI file will look. Note how it is divided into front, body, and back matter by the appropriate elements.

<!DOCTYPE text SYSTEM "teixlite.dtd">
<text>
 <front>
   <head>Jack Spratt</head>
 </front>
 <body>
  <lg>
    <l>"Jack Spratt could eat no fat,</l>
    <l>His wife could eat no lean.</l>
    <l>And so between the pair of them,</l>
    <l>They licked the platter clean."</l>
  </lg>
  <trailer>Anon.</trailer>
 </body>
 <back>
   <div><p>Traditional English Nursery Rhyme</p></div>
 </back>
</text>

Notes

The trailer element is is used with sectioning elements to provide a wrapper for any end material
The back element can only contain content if placed in a div or other sectioning element.
As an aside, note that even though we have missed out the teiHeader information, the following will validate againste teixlite.dtd. Try it out if you don't believe us!

Marking up collections and Anthologies

By and large when marking up an anthology of poems it is easiest to consider each poem as a seperate text division contained within a group element.

<text><!--begin composite text-->
  <front>
       ...[front matter for composite text..] 
  </front>
  <group><!--container for individual texts-->
    <text>
      <front>
         ...[front matter for individual text..] 
      </front>
      <body>
         ...[body of individual text..] 
      </body>
      <back>
         ...[back matter for individual text..] 
      </back>
    </text>
    <text>...[content of next individual text]...</text>
    <text>...[content of next individual text]...</text>
      ...etc...
  </group>
  <back>
       ...[back matter for composite text..] 
  </back>
</text><!--end composite text-->

Example

Here is an example of two Nursery Rhymes marked up as part of an Anthology.


<!DOCTYPE text SYSTEM "teixlite.dtd">
<text>
 <front>
   <head>An Anthology of Nursery Rhymes</head>
 </front> 
 <group>
  <text>
   <front>
    <head>Jack Spratt</head>
   </front>
   <body>
   <lg>
    <l>"Jack Spratt could eat no fat,</l>
    <l>His wife could eat no lean.</l>
    <l>And so between the pair of them,</l>
    <l>They licked the platter clean."</l>
   </lg>
   <trailer>Anon.</trailer>
   </body>
   <back>
    <div><p>Traditional English Nursery Rhyme</p></div>
   </back>
  </text>

  <text>
   <front>
    <head>Three Blind Mice</head>
   </front>
   <body>
   <lg>
    <l>"Three blind mice,</l>
    <l>Three blind mice,</l>
    <l>See how they run.</l>
    <l>See how they run.</l>
    <l>They all ran after the farmers wife,</l>
    <l>Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.</l>
    <l>Did you ever see such a thing in your life?</l>
    <l>As three blind mice."</l>

   </lg>
   <trailer>Anon.</trailer>
   </body>
   <back>
    <div><p>Traditional English Nursery Rhyme, often sung as a round.</p></div>
   </back>
  </text>

 </group>
 <back>
    <div><p>Example for TEI Tutorial</p></div>
 </back>
</text>

We will look at marking up a more complex poetry example later on in this tutorial. On the next page we will look at how plays are marked up.

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The HTML Writers Guild

The 'teixlite' DTD: - Poems & Poetry

Marking upindividual poems.

Marking up collections and Anthologies

Example