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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A History of English Versification - -Author: Jakob Schipper - -Release Date: July 29, 2013 [EBook #43352] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, Jonathan Ingram and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43352 *** Transcriber's Notes @@ -19049,359 +19021,4 @@ p. 224 (1550-1700),['] Spurious apostrophe End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of English Versification, by Jakob Schipper -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION *** - -***** This file should be named 43352-0.txt or 43352-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/3/5/43352/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, Jonathan Ingram and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A History of English Versification - -Author: Jakob Schipper - -Release Date: July 29, 2013 [EBook #43352] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, Jonathan Ingram and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - -Transcriber's Notes - -There are a number of typographical features that cannot be reproduced -in this text. For details of how these features are rendered here, -please consult the Notes at the end of the text. - -There is a UTF-8 version of this text at Project Gutenberg, which -enables many, but not necessarily all, of the special characters to be -displayed. - -An HTML version of this text is also available which will more -accurately represent those features. This may provide the reader with -a less strenuous reading experience. - - - - - A HISTORY OF - ENGLISH VERSIFICATION - - BY - - JAKOB SCHIPPER, PH.D. - - PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA - MEMBER OF THE KAISERLICHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN, VIENNA - HON. D.LITT. OXON.; HON. LITT.D. CANTAB. - HON. LL.D. EDINBURGH AND ABERDEEN - HONORARY MEMBER OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA - - OXFORD - AT THE CLARENDON PRESS - - 1910 - - - HENRY FROWDE, M.A. - PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD - LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK - TORONTO AND MELBOURNE - - - - - PREFACE - - -It is now more than twenty years since a reviewer of the author's -_Englische Metrik_, in three volumes, expressed the opinion that 'an -English translation of it would do a service to English philology'. -At that time, however, it seemed doubtful whether such a voluminous -work, which probably would have interested only a comparatively small -circle of English scholars, would have found a market. Even in Germany, -although the work was favourably reviewed, and although at the time -when it appeared great interest was felt in metrical research, the sale -was comparatively slow. - -Much livelier, on the other hand, was the demand for an abridged edition -of it which appeared under the title _Grundriss der englischen Metrik_ -(Wien, 1895). It was therefore found possible, several years after its -publication, to make arrangements with the Delegates of the Clarendon -Press for an English edition of this smaller book. Unfortunately, -however, the printing of the manuscript, which was submitted to the -supervision of the late Professor York Powell, was delayed, first by the -illness and the untimely death of that eminent scholar, and afterwards -by other circumstances which it is not necessary to mention here. - -On the whole the English text of the present volume is a close rendering -of the German book, except in the first few chapters, which have been -somewhat more fully worked out. It may also be mentioned that one or -two modern English poets who seemed to be unduly neglected in the German -book have received a larger share of attention in the English edition. -Some errors of the original work have, of course, also been corrected -here. - -The treatment of the subject in this handbook is the same as in the -author's larger work. The systematic arrangement of the different kinds -of verse in Book I, and of the varieties of stanzas in Book II, will -enable the reader easily to find the appropriate place for any new forms -of verse or stanza that may come in his way, and will also facilitate -the use of the large German work, to which frequent references are -given, for the benefit of those students who may desire more detailed -information. - -From the Preface to the German edition of the present work some remarks -on the accents, chiefly in Part II of Book I, may be repeated here in -order to prevent misunderstanding. - -These accents on particular syllables in equal-measured rhythms are -merely meant to facilitate the scansion of the verse according to the -author's view of its rhythmical movement, and to enable the student to -apprehend more readily the precise meaning of the descriptions. They are -by no means intended to dictate a schematic scansion to the reader, as -it is obvious that the finer shades of the rhythm cannot be indicated -by such a mode of accentuation. The safer and easier way undoubtedly -would have been to put no accents at all; but this would have been -less convenient for the reader, to whose own judgement it may be left -in every case to be guided by the accents just so far as he may think -proper. - -In making this statement, however, I may be allowed to mention that none -of the English friends who kindly assisted me in revising my manuscript -has found fault with my system of accentuation. - -My sincerest thanks for their kind help and advice are due to Dr. -Francis J. Curtis, now Professor of English Philology in the Mercantile -Academy at Frankfort on the Main, and in a still higher degree to Dr. -James Morison, of Shotover Cottage, Headington Quarry, Oxford, Examiner -in Sanskrit and German, both of them formerly Lectors of English in -the University of Vienna. I am under equally great obligations to Dr. -Henry Bradley, to whose care the final revision of the MS. was entrusted -by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, and who also had the great -kindness to superintend the printing of it. To him I am indebted for -several useful suggestions regarding the typographical arrangement, and -still more for his valuable help in regard to the style of the book. To -the Delegates and the Secretary of the Clarendon Press I feel greatly -obliged not only for undertaking the publication, but also for the -patient consideration they have shown me during the slow progress of -this work. - - J. SCHIPPER. - - VIENNA, _Feb. 6, 1910_. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - BOOK I. THE LINE - - =PART I. THE NATIVE METRE= - - - CHAPTER I - - GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF METRE - AND THE STRUCTURE OF VERSE - - PAGE - - § 1. Uses of the study of English metre 1 - 2. Object of the science of metre 1 - 3. Definition of rhythm 2 - 4. Distinction between prose and poetry 3 - 5. Phonetic qualities of syllables 4 - 6. Definition and use of the word _accent_ 4 - 7. Classification of accent 5 - 8. Marks indicating position of accent 8 - 9. Principles of versification and their terms 9 - 10. Rhyme; its twofold purpose 11 - 11. End-rhyme, or full-rhyme 12 - 12. Vocalic assonance 12 - 13. Alliteration 13 - - - CHAPTER II - - THE ALLITERATIVE VERSE IN OLD ENGLISH - - § 14. General remarks 15 - 15. Theories on the metrical form of the alliterative line 15 - 16. The four-beat theory 16 - 17. The two-beat theory 19 - 18. Accentuation of Old English 24 - 19. The secondary accent 28 - 20. Division and metrical value of syllables 29 - 21. Structure of the whole alliterative line 30 - 22. The structure of the hemistich in the normal alliterative - line 31 - 23. Number of unaccented syllables of the thesis 33 - 24. Order of the verse-members in the hemistich 35 - - ANALYSIS OF THE VERSE TYPES. - - I. _Hemistichs of four members._ - - 25. Type A, with sub-types A 1-3 36 - 26. Type B, with sub-types B 1, 2 41 - 27. Type C, with sub-types C 1-3 42 - 28. Type D, with sub-types D 1-4 42 - 29. Type E, with sub-types E 1, 2 43 - - II. _Hemistichs of five members._ - - 30. Type A*, with sub-types A* 1, 2; Type B*; Type C*; Type D*, - with sub-types D* 1-3 44 - 31. Principles adopted in classification 45 - 32. Combination of hemistichs by means of alliteration 45 - - PRINCIPLES OF ALLITERATION. - - 33. Quality of the alliteration 46 - 34. Position of the alliterative words 48 - 35. Alliteration in relation to the parts of speech and to - the order of words 50 - 36. Arrangement and relationship of verse and sentence 54 - - THE LENGTHENED VERSE. - - 37. The lengthened line; alliteration 55 - 38. The origin and structure of the lengthened verse 57 - 39. Examples of commonly occurring forms of the lengthened - hemistich 59 - - FORMATION OF STANZAS AND RHYME. - - 40. Classification and examples 62 - - - CHAPTER III - - THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREER FORM OF - THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN LATE OLD ENGLISH AND - EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH - - A. TRANSITIONAL FORMS. - - - § 41. Increasing frequency of rhyme 64 - 42. Combination of alliteration and rhyme 65 - - B. THE 'PROVERBS OF ALFRED' AND LAYAMON'S 'BRUT'. - - 43. Development of the progressive form of the alliterative - line 67 - 44. Nature and origin of the four-beat short-lined metre 69 - 45. Number of stresses 72 - 46. Analysis of verse-types 74 - 47. Extended types 75 - 48. Verse-forms rhythmically equivalent 78 - - - C. THE PROGRESSIVE FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE, - RHYMED THROUGHOUT. 'KING HORN.' - - - 49. Further development of the Layamon-verse 79 - 50. The metre of _King Horn_ and its affinity to the - alliterative line 82 - 51. Characteristics of _King Horn_ and Layamon compared 84 - - CHAPTER IV - - THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN ITS CONSERVATIVE FORM - DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES - - A. THE ALLITERATIVE VERSE WITHOUT RHYME. - - § 52. Homilies and lives of the saints in rhythmical prose. - Poems in regular alliterative verse 85 - 53. Use and treatment of words in alliterative verse 87 - 54. Examples of alliteration 88 - 55. Comparison of Middle and Old English alliterative verse 90 - 56. The versification of _Piers Plowman_ 93 - 57. Modification of forms in the North of England and in the - Midlands 95 - - B. THE ALLITERATIVE LINE COMBINED WITH RHYME. - - 58. Growing influence of verse formed on foreign models 97 - 59. Lyrical stanzas: four-beat and two-beat lines 97 - 60. Forms of structure and versification 99 - 61. Narrative verse 101 - 62. Relation between rhyme and alliteration 101 - 63. Features of alliterative-rhyming lines 105 - 64. Structures of the _cauda_ 105 - 65. Two-beat lines in tail-rhyme stanzas 106 - 66. Rhyming alliterative lines in Mystery Plays 108 - 67. Alliteration in Moralities and Interludes 109 - 68. Four-beat scansion of Bale's verses 110 - 69. Examples of the presence or absence of anacrusis in the - two hemistichs 110 - 70. Entire tail-rhyme stanzas 113 - 71. Irregular tail-rhyme stanzas: Skeltonic verse 114 - - C. REVIVAL OF THE FOUR-BEAT ALLITERATIVE VERSE IN THE - MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD. - - 72. Examples from Gascoigne, Wyatt, Spenser, &c. 117 - 73. Attempted modern revival of the old four-beat - alliterative line without rhyme 119 - 74. Examples of the development of the four-beat - alliterative line in reversed chronological order 120 - 75. Summing-up of the evidence 124 - - - =PART II. FOREIGN METRES= - - DIVISION I. THE FOREIGN METRES IN GENERAL - - CHAPTER V - - INTRODUCTION - - § 76. Influence of French and Low Latin metres 126 - 77. The different kinds of line 127 - 78. The breaking up of long lines 128 - 79. Heroic verse; tail-rhyme staves 131 - 80. Different kinds of caesura 131 - 81. Causes of variation in the structure of metres of equal - measures 133 - - CHAPTER VI - - VERSE-RHYTHM - - § 82. Lines with and without diaeresis 135 - 83. Effect of diaeresis on modulation 136 - 84. Suppression of the anacrusis 137 - 85. Level stress, or 'hovering accent' 138 - 86. Absence of thesis in the interior of a line 139 - 87. Lengthening of a word by introduction of unaccented - extra syllable 141 - 88. Inversion of rhythm 141 - 89. Disyllabic or polysyllabic thesis 143 - 90. Epic caesura 145 - 91. Double or feminine endings 146 - 92. Enjambement, or run-on line 147 - 93. Rhyme-breaking 148 - 94. Alliteration 149 - - CHAPTER VII - - THE METRICAL TREATMENT OF SYLLABLES - - § 95. General remarks on formative and inflexional syllables 151 - 96. Treatment of the unaccented _e_ of words of three - and four syllables in Middle English 152 - 97. Special remarks on individual inflexional endings 154 - 98. Treatment of _-en_ in Middle and Modern English 155 - 99. The comparative and superlative endings _-er_, _-est_ 156 - 100. The ending _-est_ 157 - 101. The endings _-eth_, _-es_ (_'s_) 158 - 102. The ending _-ed_ (_'d_, _t_) 158 - 103. The ending _-ed_ (_-od_, _-ud_) of the 1st and - 3rd pers. sing. pret. and plur. pret. of weak verbs 159 - 104. The final _-e_ in Middle English poetry 160 - 105. Examples of the arbitrary use of final _-e_ 161 - 106. The final _-e_ in later poetry of the North 162 - 107. Formative endings of Romanic origin 163 - 108. Contraction of words ordinarily pronounced in full 165 - 109. Amalgamation of two syllables for metrical purposes 166 - 110. Examples of slurring or contraction 167 - 111. Other examples of contraction; apocopation 168 - 112. Lengthening of words for metrical purposes 169 - - CHAPTER VIII - - WORD-ACCENT - - § 113. General remarks 171 - - I. WORD-ACCENT IN MIDDLE ENGLISH. - - _A. Germanic words._ - - 114. Alleged difference in degree of stress among - inflexional endings containing _e_ 172 - 115. Accent in trisyllables and compounds 174 - 116. Pronunciation of parathetic compounds 175 - 117. Rhythmical treatment of trisyllables and words of four - syllables 175 - - _B. Romanic words._ - - 118. Disyllabic words 177 - 119. Trisyllabic words 178 - 120. Words of four and five syllables 179 - - II. WORD-ACCENT IN MODERN ENGLISH. - - 121. Romanic accentuation still continued 180 - 122. Disyllabic words 181 - 123. Trisyllabic and polysyllabic words 181 - 124. Parathetic compounds 182 - - - DIVISION II. VERSE-FORMS COMMON TO THE MIDDLE AND - MODERN ENGLISH PERIODS - - CHAPTER IX - - LINES OF EIGHT FEET, FOUR FEET, TWO FEET, AND ONE FOOT - - § 125. The eight-foot line and its resolution into four-foot - lines 183 - 126. Examples of the four-foot line 183 - 127. Treatment of the caesura in four-foot verse 185 - 128. Treatment of four-foot verse in North English and - Scottish writings 186 - 129. Its treatment in the Midlands and the South 187 - 130. Combinations of four-foot and three-foot verse in - Middle English 188 - 131-2. Freer variety of this metre in Modern English 188 - 133. Two-foot verse 190 - 134. One-foot verse 191 - - CHAPTER X - - THE SEPTENARY, THE ALEXANDRINE, AND THE THREE-FOOT LINE - - § 135. The septenary 192 - 136. Irregularity of structure of the septenary rhyming - line as shown in the _Moral Ode_ 193 - 137. Regularity of the rhymeless septenary verse of the - _Ormulum_ 193 - 138. The septenary with a masculine ending 194 - 139. The septenary as employed in early lyrical poems and - ballads 195 - 140. Use of the septenary in Modern English 196 - 141-4. Intermixture of septenaries, alexandrines, and - four-beat lines 197 - 145, 146. Origin of the 'Poulter's Measure' 202 - 147. The alexandrine: its first use 204 - 148. Structure of the alexandrine in Mysteries and - Moral Plays 205 - 149. The alexandrine in Modern English 205 - 150. The three-foot line 206 - - CHAPTER XI - - THE RHYMED FIVE-FOOT VERSE - - § 151. Rhymed five-foot verse in Middle English 209 - 152. Sixteen types of five-foot verse 210 - 153. Earliest specimens of this metre 212 - 154. Chaucer's five-foot verse; treatment of the caesura 213 - 155. Masculine and feminine endings; rhythmic licences 214 - 156. Gower's five-foot verse; its decline 215 - 157. Rhymed five-foot verse in Modern English 216 - 158. Its use in narrative poetry and by Shakespeare 217 - 159. The heroic verse of Dryden, Pope, and later writers 218 - - - DIVISION III. VERSE-FORMS OCCURRING IN MODERN ENGLISH - POETRY ONLY - - CHAPTER XII - - BLANK VERSE - - § 160. The beginnings of Modern English poetry 219 - 161. Blank verse first adopted by the Earl of Surrey 219 - 162. Characteristics of Surrey's blank verse 221 - 163. Further development of this metre in the drama 222 - 164. The blank verse of Shakespeare 223 - 165. Rhymed and unrhymed lines in Shakespeare's plays 224 - 166. Numerical proportion of masculine and feminine endings 225 - 167. Numerical proportion of 'weak' and 'light' endings 225 - 168. Proportion of unstopt or 'run-on' and 'end-stopt' - lines 226 - 169. Shakespeare's use of the full syllabic forms of - _-est_, _-es_, _-eth_, _-ed_ 227 - 170. Other rhythmical characteristics of Shakespeare's - plays 228 - 171. Alexandrines and other metres occurring in combination - with blank verse in Shakespeare 230 - 172. Example of the metrical differences between the - earlier and later periods of Shakespeare's work 232 - 173. The blank verse of Ben Jonson 233 - 174. The blank verse of Fletcher 234 - 175. Characteristics of Beaumont's style and versification 235 - 176. The blank verse of Massinger 236 - 177. The blank verse of Milton 237 - 178. The dramatic blank verse of the Restoration 239 - 179. Blank verse of the eighteenth century 240 - 180. Blank verse of the nineteenth century 240 - - CHAPTER XIII - - TROCHAIC METRES - - § 181. General remarks; the eight-foot trochaic line 242 - 182. The seven-foot trochaic line 243 - 183. The six-foot trochaic line 244 - 184. The five-foot trochaic line 245 - 185. The four-foot trochaic line 246 - 186. The three-foot trochaic line 246 - 187. The two-foot trochaic line 247 - 188. The one-foot trochaic line 247 - - CHAPTER XIV - - IAMBIC-ANAPAESTIC AND TROCHAIC-DACTYLIC METRES - - § 189. General remarks 249 - - I. IAMBIC-ANAPAESTIC METRES. - - 190. Eight-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 250 - 191. Seven-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 250 - 192. Six-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 251 - 193. Five-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 251 - 194. Four-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 252 - 195. Three-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 253 - 196. Two-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 253 - 197. One-foot iambic-anapaestic verse 254 - - II. TROCHAIC-DACTYLIC METRES. - - 198. Eight-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 254 - 199. Seven-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 255 - 200. Six-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 255 - 201. Five-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 256 - 202. Four-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 256 - 203. Three-foot trochaic-dactylic verse 257 - 204. Two-foot dactylic or trochaic-dactylic verse 257 - 205. One-foot dactylic verse 258 - - CHAPTER XV - - NON-STROPHIC, ANISOMETRICAL COMBINATIONS OF - RHYMED VERSE - - § 206. Varieties of this metre; Poulter's measure 259 - 207-8. Other anisometrical combinations 260 - - CHAPTER XVI - - IMITATIONS OF CLASSICAL FORMS OF VERSE AND STANZA - - § 209. The English hexameter 262 - 210. Structure of the hexameter 263 - 211. Elegiac verse; the minor Asclepiad; the six-foot - iambic line; Phaleuciac verse; Hendecasyllabics; - rhymed Choriambics 264 - 212. Classical stanzas:--the Sapphic metre; the Alcaic - metre; Anacreontic stanzas 266 - 213. Other imitations of classical verses and stanzas - without rhyme 267 - - - BOOK II - - THE STRUCTURE OF STANZAS - - - PART I - - - CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS - - STANZA, RHYME, VARIETIES OF RHYME - - § 214. Structure of the stanza 270 - 215. Influence of lyrical forms of Provence and of Northern - France on Middle English poetry 271 - 216. Classification of rhyme according to the number of the - rhyming syllables: (1) the monosyllabic or masculine - rhyme; (2) the disyllabic or feminine rhyme; (3) the - trisyllabic, triple, or tumbling rhyme 272 - 217. Classification according to the quality of the rhyming - syllables: (1) the rich rhyme; (2) the identical - rhyme; (3) the broken rhyme; (4) the double rhyme; - (5) the extended rhyme; (6) the unaccented rhyme 273 - 218. Classification according to the position of the rhyming - syllables: (1) the sectional rhyme; (2) the inverse - rhyme; (3) the Leonine rhyme or middle rhyme; (4) the - interlaced rhyme; (5) the intermittent rhyme; (6) the - enclosing rhyme; (7) the tail-rhyme 276 - 219. Imperfect or 'eye-rhymes' 278 - - CHAPTER II - - THE RHYME AS A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT OF - THE STANZA - - - § 220. Formation of the stanza in Middle English and Romanic - poetry 279 - 221. Rhyme-linking or 'concatenation' in Middle English 280 - 222. The refrain or burthen; the wheel and the bob-wheel 280 - 223. Divisible and indivisible stanzas 281 - 224. Bipartite equal-membered stanzas 282 - 225. Bipartite unequal-membered stanzas 282 - 226. Tripartite stanzas 283 - 227. Specimens illustrating tripartition 284 - 228. The envoi 286 - 229. Real envois and concluding stanzas 286 - - - =PART II. STANZAS COMMON TO MIDDLE AND - MODERN ENGLISH, AND OTHERS FORMED - ON THE ANALOGY OF THESE= - - CHAPTER III - - BIPARTITE EQUAL-MEMBERED STANZAS - - I. ISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - § 230. Two-line stanzas 288 - 231. Four-line stanzas, consisting of couplets 288 - 232. The double stanza (eight lines of the same structure) 289 - 233. Stanzas of four isometrical lines with intermittent - rhyme 290 - 234. Stanzas of eight lines resulting from this stanza by - doubling 290 - 235. Stanzas developed from long-lined couplets by inserted - rhyme 291 - 236. Stanzas of eight lines resulting from the four-lined, - cross-rhyming stanza and by other modes of doubling 292 - 237. Other examples of doubling four-lined stanzas 293 - 238. Six-lined isometrical stanzas 294 - 239. Modifications of the six-lined stanza; twelve-lined - and sixteen-lined stanzas 295 - - II. ANISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - 240. Chief species of the tail-rhyme stanza 296 - 241. Enlargement of this stanza to twelve lines 297 - 242. Further development of the tail-rhyme stanza 298 - 243. Variant forms of enlarged eight and ten-lined - tail-rhyme stanzas 298 - 244. Tail-rhyme stanzas with principal verses shorter than - tail-verses 299 - 245. Other varieties of the tail-rhyme stanza 300 - 246. Stanzas modelled on the tail-rhyme stanza 300 - 247. Stanzas formed of two septenary verses 301 - 248. Analogical developments from this type 302 - 249. Eight-lined (doubled) forms of the different - four-lined stanzas 302 - 250. Other stanzas of similar structure 303 - - CHAPTER IV - - ONE-RHYMED INDIVISIBLE AND BIPARTITE UNEQUAL-MEMBERED - STANZAS - - I. ONE-RHYMED AND INDIVISIBLE STANZAS. - - § 251. Three-lined stanzas of one rhyme 305 - 252. Four-lined stanzas of one rhyme 306 - 253. Other stanzas connected with the above 307 - - II. BIPARTITE UNEQUAL-MEMBERED ISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - 254. Four-lined stanzas 308 - 255. Five-lined stanzas 308 - 256. Four-lined stanzas of one rhyme extended by the - addition of a couplet 310 - - III. BIPARTITE UNEQUAL-MEMBERED ANISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - § 257-8. Four-lined stanzas; Poulter's measure and other - stanzas 311 - 259. Five-lined stanzas 314 - 260. Shortened tail-rhyme stanzas 316 - 261. Six-lined stanzas 317 - 262. Seven-lined stanzas 319 - 263. Eight-, nine-, and ten-lined stanzas 320 - 264. The bob-wheel stanzas in the Middle English period 321 - 265. Bob-wheel stanzas of four-stressed rhyming verses 322 - 266. Modern English bob-wheel stanzas 323 - - CHAPTER V - - TRIPARTITE STANZAS - - I. ISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - § 267. Six-lined stanzas 326 - 268. Seven-lined stanzas; the Rhyme Royal stanza 327 - 269. Eight-lined stanzas 329 - 270. Nine-lined stanzas 330 - 271. Ten-lined stanzas 331 - 272. Eleven-, twelve-, and thirteen-lined stanzas 332 - - II. ANISOMETRICAL STANZAS. - - 273-4. Six-lined stanzas 333 - 275. Seven-lined stanzas 335 - 276-8. Eight-lined stanzas 337 - 279. Nine-lined stanzas 339 - 280-1. Ten-lined stanzas 341 - 282. Eleven-lined stanzas 343 - 283. Twelve-lined stanzas 344 - 284. Thirteen-lined stanzas 345 - 285. Fourteen-lined stanzas 346 - 286. Stanzas of fifteen to twenty lines 347 - - - =PART III. MODERN STANZAS AND METRES OF - FIXED FORM ORIGINATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE - OF THE RENASCENCE, OR INTRODUCED LATER= - - CHAPTER VI - - STANZAS OF THREE AND MORE PARTS CONSISTING OF - UNEQUAL PARTS ONLY - - § 287. Introductory remark 348 - 288. Six-lined stanzas 349 - 289. Seven-lined stanzas 351 - 290-2. Eight-lined stanzas; the Italian _ottava rima_ 352 - 293. Nine-lined stanzas 355 - 294. Ten-lined stanzas 355 - 295. Eleven-lined stanzas 356 - 296. Twelve-lined stanzas 356 - - CHAPTER VII - - THE SPENSERIAN STANZA AND THE FORMS DERIVED FROM IT - - § 297. First used in the _Faerie Queene_ 358 - 298-300. Imitations and analogous forms 359 - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE EPITHALAMIUM STANZA AND OTHER ODIC STANZAS - - § 301. The Epithalamium stanza 363 - 302. Imitations of the Epithalamium stanza 365 - 303-5. Pindaric Odes, regular and irregular 366 - - CHAPTER IX - - THE SONNET - - § 306. Origin of the English sonnet 371 - 307. The Italian sonnet 371 - 308. Structure of the Italian form illustrated by - Watts-Dunton 373 - 309. The first English sonnet-writers, Surrey and Wyatt 373 - 310. Surrey's transformation of the Italian sonnet, and - the form adopted by Shakespeare 374 - 311. Another form used by Spenser in _Amoretti_ 375 - 312. The form adopted by Milton 375 - 313. Revival of sonnet writing in the latter half of the - eighteenth century 376 - 314. The sonnets of Wordsworth 377 - 315. The sonnet in the nineteenth century 379 - - CHAPTER X - - OTHER ITALIAN AND FRENCH POETICAL FORMS OF A - FIXED CHARACTER - - 316-7. The madrigal 380 - 318-9. The terza-rima 381 - 320-1. The sextain 383 - 322. The virelay 385 - 323. The roundel 385 - 324. The rondeau 387 - 325. The triolet 388 - 326. The villanelle 388 - 327. The ballade 389 - 328. The Chant Royal 390 - - - - - LIST OF EDITIONS REFERRED TO - - -The quotations of Old English poetry are taken from Grein-Wülker, -_Bibliothek der Angelsächsischen Poesie_, Strassburg, 1883-94. For the -Middle English poets the editions used have been specified in the text. -Most of the poets of the Modern English period down to the eighteenth -century are quoted from the collection of R. Anderson, _The Works of -the British Poets_, Edinburgh, 1795 (15 vols.), which is cited (under -the title _Poets_) by volume and page. The remaining Modern English -poets are quoted (except when some other edition is specified) from the -editions mentioned in the following list. - - =Arnold=, Matthew. _Poetical Works_, London, Macmillan & Co., - 1890. 8vo. - - =Beaumont=, Francis, and =Fletcher=, John. _Dramatick Works_, - London, 1778. 10 vols. 8vo. - - =Bowles=, W. L. _Sonnets and other Poems_. London, 1802-3. - 2 vols. 8vo. - - =Browning=, Elizabeth Barrett. _Poetical Works_. London, Chapman - & Hall, 1866. 5 vols. 8vo. - - =Browning=, Robert. _Poetical Works_. London, Smith, Elder & Co., - 1868. 6 vols. 8vo. - - =Bulwer Lytton=, Sir E. (afterwards Lord Lytton). _The Lost - Tales of Miletus_. London, John Murray, 1866. 8vo. - - =Burns=, Robert. _Complete Works_, ed. Alexander Smith. London, - Macmillan & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) - - =Byron=, Lord. _Poetical Works_. London, H. Frowde, 1896. 8vo. - (Oxford Edition.) - - =Campbell=, Thomas. _Poetical Works_, ed. W.A. Hill. London, - G. Bell & Sons, 1875. - - =Coleridge=, Samuel Taylor. _Poems_, ed. Derwent and Sara Coleridge. - London, E. Moxon & Co., 1863. - - =Cowper=, William. _Poetical Works_, ed. W. Benham. London, - Macmillan & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) - - =Dryden=, John. _Comedies, Tragedies, and Operas_. London, 1701. - fol. - - ---- ---- _Poetical Works_, ed. W. D. Christie. London, Macmillan - & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) - - =Fletcher=, John. See Beaumont. - - =Goldsmith=, Oliver. _Miscellaneous Works_, ed. Prof. Masson. - London, Macmillan & Co., 1871. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) - - _Gorboduc_, or _Ferrex and Porrex, a Tragedy_, by Thomas Norton and - Thomas Sackville, ed. L. Toulmin Smith. (_Englische Sprach- - und Litteraturdenkmale des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts_, - herausgegeben von K. Vollmöller, I.) Heilbronn, Gebr. Henninger - 1883. 8vo. - - =Hemans=, Felicia. _The Works of Mrs. Hemans, with a Memoir of - her life by her sister_. Edinburgh, W. Blackwood & Sons, 1839. - 7 vols. - - =Herbert=, George. _Works_, ed. R. A. Willmott. London, G. Routledge - & Co., 1854. 8vo. - - =Hood=, Thomas. _Poetical Works_, ed. Thornton Hunt. London, - Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, 1860. 8vo. - - _Hymns, Ancient and Modern, for Use in the Services of the Church_. - Revised and Enlarged Edition. London, n.d. - - =Jonson=, Ben. Chiefly cited from the edition in _Poets_ iv. 532-618 - (see the note prefixed to this list); less frequently (after Wilke, - _Metr. Unters. zu B. J._, Halle, 1884) from the folio edition, - London, 1816 (vol. i), or from the edition by Barry Cornwall, - London, 1842. A few of the references are to the edition of - F. Cunningham, London, J.C. Hotten, n.d. (3 vols.) - - =Keats=, John. _Poetical Works_. London, F. Warne & Co. - (Chandos Classics.) - - =Longfellow=, Henry Wadsworth. _Poetical Works_. Edinburgh, - W. P. Nimmo. 8vo. (Crown Edition.) - - =Lytton.= See Bulwer Lytton. - - =Marlowe=, Christopher. _Works_, ed. A. Dyce. London, 1850. - 3 vols. 8vo. - - ---- ---- _Works_, ed. F. Cunningham. London, F. Warne & Co., - 1870. 8vo. - - =Massinger=, Philip. _Plays_, ed. F. Cunningham. London, F. - Warne & Co., 1870. 8vo. - - =Milton=, John. _Poetical Works_, ed. D. Masson. London, Macmillan - & Co., 1874. 3 vols. 8vo. - - ---- ---- _English Poems_, ed. R.C. Browne. Second Edition. - Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1872. 3 vols. 8vo. - - =Moore=, Thomas. _Poetical Works_. London, Longmans, 1867. 8vo. - - =Morris=, William. _Love is Enough_. Third Edition. London, - Ellis & White, 1873. 8vo. - - =Norton=, Thomas. See _Gorboduc_. - - =Percy=, Thomas. _Reliques of Ancient Poetry_. London, H. Washbourne, - 1847. 3 vols. 8vo. - - =Poe=, Edgar Allan. _Poetical Works_. London, Sampson Low, Son - & Co., 1858. 8vo. - - =Pope=, Alexander. _Poetical Works_, ed. A. W. Ward. London, - Macmillan & Co., 1870. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) - - =Rossetti=, Dante Gabriel. _Poems_. London, F. S. Ellis, 1870. - - =Sackville=, Thomas, and Norton, Thomas. See _Gorboduc_. - - =Scott=, Sir Walter. _Poetical Works_, ed. F. T. Palgrave. London, - Macmillan & Co., 1869. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) - - =Shakespeare=, William. _Works_, ed. W. G. Clark and W. Aldis - Wright. London and Cambridge, Macmillan & Co., 1866. - 8vo. (Globe Edition.) - - =Shelley=, Percy Bysshe. _Poetical Works_. London, Chatto & - Windus, 1873-1875. 3 vols. 8vo. (Golden Library.) - - =Sidney=, Sir Philip. _Arcadia_. London, 1633. fol. - - ---- ---- _Complete Poems_, ed. A. B. Grosart. 1873. 2 vols. - - =Southey=, Robert. _Poetical Works_. London, Longman, Orme, - Brown, Green & Longmans, 1837. 10 vols. 8vo. - - =Spenser=, Edmund. _Complete Works_, ed. R. Morris. London, - Macmillan & Co., 1869. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) - - =Surrey=, Henry Howard, Earl of. _Poems_. London, Bell & Daldy. - 8vo. (Aldine Edition.) - - =Swinburne=, Algernon Charles. _Poems and Ballads_. Third Edition. - London, J. C. Hotten, 1868. 8vo. - - ---- ---- _Poems and Ballads, Second Series_. Fourth Edition. - London, Chatto & Windus, 1884. 8vo. - - ---- ---- _A Century of Roundels_. London, Chatto & Windus, - 1883. 8vo. - - ---- ---- _A Midsummer Holiday and other Poems_. London, - Chatto & Windus, 1884. 8vo. - - =Tennyson=, Alfred. _Works_. London, Kegan Paul & Co., 1880. - 8vo. - - =Thackeray=, William Makepeace. _Ballads and The Rose and the - Ring_. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1879. 8vo. - - =Tusser=, Thomas. _Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie_, ed. - W. Payne and S.J. Herrtage, English Dialect Soc., 1878. - - =Wordsworth=, William. _Poetical Works_, ed. W. Knight. Edinburgh, - W. Paterson, 1886. 8 vols. 8vo. - - =Wyatt=, Sir Thomas. _Poetical Works_. London, Bell & Daldy. - (Aldine Edition.) The references marked N. are to vol. ii. of - _The Works of Surrey and Wyatt_, ed. Nott, London, 1815. - 2 vols. 4to. - - - - - ERRATA - - - P. 268. In the references to Bulwer, _for_ p. 227 _read_ p. 147; _for_ - p. 217 _read_ p. 140; _for_ p. 71 _read_ p. 45; _for_ p. 115 - _read_ p. 73. - - P. 315, l. 14. _For_ p. 123 _read_ p. 78. - - P. 340, l. 34. _For_ p. 273 _read_ p. 72. - - P. 353, l. 15. _For_ 89 _read_ 5. - - P. 381, l. 12. _For_ ii. 137-40 _read Poetical Works_, London, 1891, - pp. 330-32. - - - - - BOOK I. THE LINE - - - - - PART I. THE NATIVE METRE - - - - - CHAPTER I - - GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF - METRE AND THE STRUCTURE OF VERSE - - -§ =1.= The study of English Metre is an integral part of English -Philology. It is indispensable to the investigator of the history of -the language, since it supplies sometimes the only (or at all events -the surest) means of restoring the older pronunciation of word-stems, -and of inflexional terminations. In many cases, indeed, the very -existence of such terminations can be proved only by the ascertained -requirements of metre. As an aid to the study of English literature -in its aesthetic aspects the science of metre is no less important. -It exhibits the gradual development of the artistic forms of poetical -composition, explains the conditions under which they took their rise, -and by formulating the laws of their structure affords valuable help in -the textual criticism of poems which have been transmitted in a corrupt -or imperfect condition. - -§ =2.= The object of the science of metre is to describe and analyse the -various rhythmical forms of speech that are characteristic of poetry in -contradistinction to prose. - -Poetry is one of the fine arts, and the fine arts admit of a division -into Plastic and Rhythmic; the Plastic arts comprehending Sculpture, -Architecture, and Painting, the Rhythmic arts, on the other hand, -comprehending Dancing, Music, and Poetry. The chief points of difference -between these classes are as follows. In the first place, the -productions of the Plastic arts can be enjoyed by the beholder directly -on their completion by the artist without the interposition of any help, -while those of the Rhythmic arts demand, after the original creative -artist has done his work, the services of a second or executive artist, -who is usually termed the performer, in order that these productions may -be fully enjoyed by the spectator or hearer. A piece of music requires -a singer or player, a pantomime a dancer, and poetry a reciter or actor. -In early times the function of executive artist was commonly discharged -by the creative artist himself. In the second place, the Plastic arts -have no concern with the relations of time; a work of painting or -sculpture presents to the beholder an unchanging object or represents a -single moment of action. The Rhythmic arts, on the other hand, are, in -their very essence, connected with temporal succession. Dancing implies -a succession of movements of the human body, Music a succession of -inarticulate sounds, Poetry a succession of articulate sounds or words -and syllables. The Plastic arts, therefore, may be called the arts of -space and rest, and the Rhythmic arts the arts of time and movement. In -this definition, it must be remembered, the intrinsic quality of the -movements in each of these rhythmical arts is left out of account; in -the case of poetry, for instance, it does not take into consideration -the choice and position of the words, nor the thought expressed by them; -it is restricted to the external characteristic which these arts have in -common. - -§ =3.= This common characteristic, however, requires to be defined -somewhat more precisely. It is not merely succession of movements, but -succession of different kinds of movement in a definite and recurring -order. In the dance, the measure, or succession and alternation of quick -and slow movements in regular and fixed order, is the essential point. -This is also the foundation of music and poetry. But another elementary -principle enters into these two arts. They are not founded, as dancing -is, upon mere silent movements, but on movements of audible sounds, -whether inarticulate, as in music, or articulate, as in poetry. These -sounds are not all on a level in respect of their audibility, but vary -in intensity: broadly speaking, they may be said to be either loud or -soft. There is, it is true, something analogous to this in the movements -of the dance; the steps differ in degree of intensity or force. Dancing -indeed may be looked upon as the typical form and source of all rhythmic -movement. Scherer brings this point out very well.[1] He says: 'Rhythm -is produced by regular movements of the body. Walking becomes dancing by -a definite relation of the steps to one another--of long and short in -time or fast and slow in motion. A regular rhythm has never been reached -by races among which irregular jumping, instead of walking, has been -the original form of the dance. Each pair of steps forms a unity, and a -repetition begins with the third step. This unity is the bar or measure. -The physical difference between the comparative strength of the right -foot and the weakness of the left foot is the origin of the distinction -between elevation and depression, i.e. between relatively loud and -soft, the "good" and the "bad" part of the measure.' - -Westphal[2] gives a similar explanation: 'That the stamp of the foot or -the clap of the hands in beating time coincides with the strong part -of the measure, and the raising of the foot or hand coincides with the -weak part of it, originates, without doubt, in the ancient orchestic.' -At the strong part of the bar the dancer puts his foot to the ground and -raises it at the weak part. This is the meaning and original Greek usage -of the terms 'arsis' and 'thesis', which are nowadays used in an exactly -opposite sense. _Arsis_ in its ancient signification meant the raising -of the foot or hand, to indicate the weak part of the measure; _thesis_ -was the putting down of the foot, or the stamp, to mark the strong part -of the measure. Now, however, it is almost the universal custom to use -_arsis_ to indicate the syllable uttered with a raised or loud voice, -and _thesis_ to indicate the syllable uttered with lower or soft voice. -From the practice of beating time the term _ictus_ is also borrowed; it -is commonly used to designate the increase of voice which occurs at the -strong, or so-called rhythmical accent. - -All rhythm therefore in our dancing, poetry, and music, comes to us from -ancient times, and is of the same nature in these three arts: it is -regular order in the succession of different kinds of motion. - -§ =4.= The distinction between prose and poetry in their external -aspects may be stated thus: in prose the words follow each other in an -order determined entirely, or almost entirely, by the sense, while in -poetry the order is largely determined by fixed and regular rhythmic -schemes. - -Even in prose a certain influence of rhythmical order may be sometimes -observable, and where this is marked we have what is called rhythmical -or artistic prose. But in such prose the rhythmic order must be so -loosely constructed that it does not at once obtrude itself on the ear, -or recur regularly as it does in poetry. Wherever we have intelligible -words following each other in groups marked by a rhythmical order -which is at once recognizable as intentionally chosen with a view to -symmetry, there we may be said to have poetry, at least on its formal -side. Poetical rhythm may accordingly be defined as a special symmetry, -easily recognizable as such, in the succession of syllables of differing -phonetic quality, which convey a sense, and are so arranged as to be -uttered in divisions of time which are symmetrical in their relation to -one another. - -§ =5.= At this point we have to note that there are two kinds of -phonetic difference between syllables, either of which may serve as a -foundation for rhythm. In the first place, syllables differ in respect -of their _quantity_; they are either 'long' or 'short', according to the -length of time required to pronounce them. In the second place, they -differ in respect of the greater or less degree of force or stress with -which they are uttered; or, as it is commonly expressed, in respect of -their _accent_. - -All the poetic rhythms of the Indogermanic or Aryan languages are -based on one or other of these phonetic qualities of syllables, one -group observing mainly the quantitative, and the other the accentual -principle. Sanskrit, Greek, and Roman poetry is regulated by the -principle of the quantity of the syllable, while the Teutonic nations -follow the principle of stress or accent.[3] With the Greeks, Romans, -and Hindoos the natural quantity of the syllables is made the basis of -the rhythmic measures, the rhythmical ictus being fixed without regard -to the word-accent. Among the Teutonic nations, on the other hand, the -rhythmical ictus coincides normally with the word-accent, and the order -in which long and short syllables succeed each other is (with certain -exceptions in the early stages of the language) left to be determined by -the poet's sense of harmony or euphony. - -§ =6.= Before going further it will be well to define exactly the -meaning of the word _accent_, and to give an account of its different -uses. Accent is generally defined as 'the stronger emphasis put on -a syllable, the stress laid on it', or, as Sweet[4] puts it, 'the -comparative force with which the separate syllables of a sound-group -are pronounced.' According to Brücke[5] it is produced by increasing -the pressure of the breath. The stronger the pressure with which the -air passes from the lungs through the glottis, the louder will be the -tone of voice, the louder will be the sound of the consonants which -the stream of air produces in the cavity of the mouth. This increase of -tone and sound is what is called 'accent'. Brücke seems to use tone and -sound as almost synonymous, but in metric we must distinguish between -them. Sound (_sonus_) is the more general, tone ([Greek: tonos]) -the more specific expression. Sound, in this general sense, may have -a stronger or weaker tone. This strengthening of the tone is usually, -not invariably, accompanied by a rise in the pitch of the voice, just -as the weakening of the tone is accompanied by a lowering of the pitch. -In the Teutonic languages these variations of stress or accent serve to -bring into prominence the relative importance logically of the various -syllables of which words are composed. As an almost invariable rule, the -accent falls in these languages on the root-syllable, which determines -the sense of the word, and not on the formative elements which modify -that sense. This accent is an expiratory or stress accent. - -It must be noted that we cannot, using the term in this sense, speak -of the accent of a monosyllabic word when isolated, but only of its -sound; nor can we use the word _accent_ with reference to two or more -syllables in juxtaposition, when they are all uttered with precisely -the same force of voice. The term is significant only in relation -to a _variation_ in the audible stress with which the different -syllables of a word or a sentence are spoken. This variation of stress -affects monosyllables only in connected speech, where they receive an -accentuation relative to the other words of the sentence. An absolute -uniformity of stress in a sentence is unnatural, though the amount -of variation in stress differs greatly in different languages. 'The -distinctions of stress in some languages are less marked than in others. -Thus in French the syllables are all pronounced with a nearly uniform -stress, the strong syllables rising only a little above the general -level, its occurrence being also uncertain and fluctuating. This makes -Frenchmen unable without systematic training to master the accentuation -of foreign languages.'[6] English and the other Teutonic languages, on -the other hand, show a marked tendency to alternate weak and strong -stress. - -§ =7.= With regard to the function which it discharges in connected -speech, we may classify accent or stress under four different -categories. First comes what may be called the syntactical accent, -which marks the logical importance of a word in relation to other -words of the sentence. In a sentence like 'the birds are singing', the -substantive 'birds' has, as denoting the subject of the sentence, the -strongest accent; next in logical or syntactical importance comes the -word 'singing', denoting an activity of the subject, and this has a -comparatively strong accent; the auxiliary 'are' being a word of minor -importance is uttered with very little force of voice; the article -'the', being the least emphatic or significant, is uttered accordingly -with the slightest perceptible stress of all. - -Secondly, we have the rhetorical accent, or as it might be called, the -subjective accent, inasmuch as it depends upon the emphasis which the -speaker wishes to give to that particular word of the sentence which he -desires to bring prominently before the hearer. Thus in the sentence, -'you have done this,' the rhetorical accent may fall on any of the four -words which the speaker desires to bring into prominence, e.g. '_yóu_ -(and no one else) have done this,' or 'you _háve_ done this (though you -deny it), or you have _dóne_ this' (you have not left it undone), or, -finally, 'you have done _thís_' (and not what you were told). This kind -of accent could also be termed the emphatic accent. - -Thirdly, we have the rhythmical accent, which properly speaking belongs -to poetry only, and often gives a word or syllable an amount of stress -which it would not naturally have in prose, as, for instance, in the -following line of _Hamlet_ (III. iii. 27)-- - - _My lord, he's going to his mother's closet_, - -the unimportant word 'to' receives a stronger accent, due to the -influence of the rhythm, than it would have in prose. Similarly in the -following line of Chaucer's _Troilus and Cryseide_, l. 1816-- - - _For thóusandés his hóndes máden dýe_, - -the inflexional syllable _es_ was certainly not ordinarily pronounced -with so much stress as it must have here under the influence of the -accent as determined by the rhythm of the line. Or again the word -'writyng', in the following couplet of Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ -(Prol. 325-6)-- - - _Therto he couthe endite and make a thing, - Ther couthe no wight pynche at his writyng_, - -was certainly not pronounced in ordinary speech with the same stress on -the last syllable as is here demanded both by the rhythm and rhyme. - -As a rule, however, the rhythmical accent in English coincides with the -fourth kind of accent, the etymological or word-accent, which we now -have to deal with, and in greater detail. - -Just as the different words of a sentence are pronounced, as we have -seen, with varying degrees of stress, so similarly the different -syllables of a single word are uttered with a varying intensity of -the force of the breath. One of the syllables of the individual word -is always marked off from the rest by a greater force of tone, and -these others are again differentiated from each other by subordinate -gradations of intensity of utterance, which may sometimes be so weak as -to lead to a certain amount of indistinctness, especially in English. -In the Teutonic languages, the root-syllable, as the most important -element of the word, and that which conveys the meaning, always bears -the chief accent, the other syllables bearing accents which are -subordinate to this chief accent. As the etymology of a word is always -closely associated with the form of the root-syllable, this syllabic -accent may be called the etymological accent. It naturally happens that -this syllabic accent coincides very often with the syntactical accent, -as the syntactical stress must be laid on the syllable which has the -etymological accent. - -The degrees of stress on the various syllables may be as many in -number as the number of the syllables of the word in question. It is -sufficient, however, for purposes of metre and historical grammar, to -distinguish only four degrees of accent in polysyllabic words. These -four degrees of syllabic and etymological accent are as follows: 1. -the chief accent (_Hochton_, _Hauptton_); 2. the subsidiary accent -(_Tiefton_, _Nebenton_); 3. the absence of accent, or the unaccented -degree (_Tonlosigkeit_); 4. the mute degree, or absence of sound -(_Stummheit_). These last three varieties of accent arise from the -nature of the Teutonic accent, which is, it must always be remembered, -a stress-accent in which the volume of breath is expended mainly on the -first or chief syllable. The full meaning of these terms can most easily -be explained and understood by means of examples chosen either from -English or German, whose accentual basis is essentially the same. In the -word, _wonderful_, the first syllable has the chief accent (1), the last -has the subsidiary accent (2), and the middle syllable is unaccented -(3). The fourth or mute degree may be seen in such a word as _wondrous_, -shortened from _wonderous_. This fuller form may still be used, for -metrical purposes, as a trisyllable in which the first syllable has the -chief accent, the last the subsidiary accent, and the middle syllable -is unaccented, though audible. The usual pronunciation is, however, in -agreement with the usual spelling, disyllabic, and is _wondrous_; in -other words, the vowel _e_ which originally formed the middle syllable, -has been dropped altogether in speech as in writing. From the point of -view of the accent, it has passed from the unaccented state to the state -of muteness; but may be restored to the unaccented, though audible, -state, wherever emphasis or metre requires the full syllable. We have -the line: 'And it grew wondrous cold,' for which we might have 'The cold -grew wonderous'. In other cases the vowel is retained in writing but is -often dropped in colloquial pronunciation, or for metrical convenience. -Thus, in Shakespeare, we find sometimes the full form-- - - _why the sepulchre - Has oped his ponderous and marble jaws._ - Hamlet, I. iv. 50. - -and sometimes the curtailed form-- - - _To draw with idle spiders' strings - Most ponderous and substantial things._ - Measure for Measure, III. ii. 290. - -This passing of an unaccented syllable into complete muteness is very -frequent in English, as compared with other cognate languages. It -has led, in the historical development of the language, to a gradual -weakening, and finally, in many instances, to a total loss of the -inflexional endings. Very frequently, an inflexional vowel that has -become mute is retained in the current spelling; thus in the verbal -forms _gives_, _lives_, the _e_ of the termination, though no longer -pronounced, is still retained in writing. Sometimes, in poetical texts, -it is omitted, but its position is indicated by an apostrophe, as in the -spellings _robb'd_, _belov'd_. In many words, on the other hand, the -silent vowel has ceased to be written, as in _grown_, _sworn_, of which -the original forms were _growen_, _sworen_. - -§ =8.= Written marks to indicate the position of the accent were -employed in early German poetry as early as the first half of the -ninth century, when they were introduced, it is supposed, by Hrabanus -Maurus of Fulda and his pupil Otfrid. The similar marks that are found -in certain Early English MSS., as the _Ormulum_, are usually signs of -vowel-quantity. They may possibly have sometimes been intended to denote -stress, but their use for this purpose is so irregular and uncertain -that they give little help towards determining the varying degrees of -accent in words during the earliest stages of the language. For this -purpose we must look for other and less ambiguous means, and these -are found (in the case of Old English words and forms) first, in the -alliteration, secondly, in comparison with related words of the other -Teutonic languages, and, thirdly, in the development in the later stages -of English itself. After the Norman Conquest, the introduction of rhyme, -and of new forms of metre imitated from the French and mediaeval Latin -poetry, affords further help in investigating the different degrees of -syllabic accent in Middle English words. None of these means, however, -can be considered as yielding results of absolute certainty, chiefly -because during this period the accentuation of the language was passing -through a stage of transition or compromise between the radically -different principles which characterize the Romanic and Teutonic -families of languages. This will be explained more fully in a subsequent -chapter. - -Notwithstanding this period of fluctuation the fundamental law of -accentuation remained unaltered, namely, that the chief accent falls on -the root of the word, which is in most cases the first syllable. For -purposes of notation the acute (´) will be used in this work to denote -the chief accent, the grave (`) the subsidiary accent of the single -word; to indicate the rhythmical or metrical accent the acute alone will -be sufficient. - -§ =9.= In English poetry, as in the poetry of the other Teutonic -nations, the rhythmical accent coincides normally with the syllabic or -etymological accent, and this, therefore, determines and regulates the -rhythm. In the oldest form of Teutonic poetry, the original alliterative -line, the rhythm is indicated by a definite number of strongly accented -syllables, accompanied by a less definite number of syllables which -do not bear the same emphatic stress. This principle of versification -prevails not only in Old English and Old and Middle High German poetry, -but also, to a certain extent, in the period of Middle English, where, -in the same manner, the number of beats or accented syllables indicates -the number of 'feet' or metrical units, and a single strongly accented -syllable can by itself constitute a 'foot'. This practice is a feature -which distinguishes early English and German poetry, not only from -the classical poetry, in which a foot or measure must consist of at -least two syllables, but also from that of the Romanic, modern German, -and modern English languages, which has been influenced by classical -example, and in which, accordingly, a foot must contain one accented and -at least one unaccented syllable following one another in a regular -order. The classical terms 'foot' and 'measure' have, in their strict -sense, relation to the quantity of the syllables, and can therefore -be applied to the modern metres only by analogy. In poetry which is -based on the principle of accent or stress, the proper term is _bar_ -(in German _Takt_). The general resemblances between modern accentual -and ancient quantitative metres are, however, so strong, that it is -hardly desirable to discontinue the application of old and generally -understood technical terms of the classical versification to modern -metres, provided the fundamental distinction between quantity and accent -is always borne in mind. - -Setting aside for the present the old Teutonic alliterative line, in -which a 'bar' might permissibly consist of a single syllable, we may -retain the names of the feet of the classical quantitative versification -for the 'bars' of modern versification, using them in modified senses. A -group consisting of one unaccented followed by an accented syllable may -be called an _iambus_; one accented followed by an unaccented syllable a -_trochee_; two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable an -_anapaest_; one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables -a _dactyl_. These four measures might also be described according to -the length of the intervals separating the accents, and according as -the rhythm is _ascending_ (passing from an unaccented to an accented -syllable) or _descending_ (passing from an accented to an unaccented -syllable). We should then have the terms, (1) _ascending disyllabic_ -(iambus), (2) _descending disyllabic_ (trochee), (3) _ascending -trisyllabic_ (anapaest), and (4) _descending trisyllabic_ (dactyl).[7] -But we may agree with Prof. Mayor that 'it is certainly more convenient -to speak of iambic than of ascending disyllabic'.[8] It is, however, -only in the case of these four feet or measures that it is desirable to -adhere to the terminology of the ancient metres, and as a matter of fact -iambus, trochee, anapaest, and dactyl are the only names of classical -feet that are commonly recognized in English prosody.[9] As to the -employment in the treatment of English metre of less familiar technical -terms derived from classical prosody, we agree with Prof. Mayor, when -he says: 'I can sympathize with Mr. Ellis in his objection to the -classicists who would force upon us such terms as _choriambic_ and -_proceleusmatic_ to explain the rhythm of Milton. I do not deny that -the effect of his rhythm might sometimes be represented by such terms; -but if we seriously adopt them to explain his metre, we are attempting -an impossibility, to express in technical language the infinite variety -of measured sound which a genius like Milton could draw out of the -little five-stringed instrument on which he chose to play.' The use of -these and other classical terms is justifiable only when we have to deal -with professed imitations of ancient forms of verse in English. - -Whatever names may be chosen to denote the metrical forms, the _measure_ -or _foot_ always remains the unity which is the basis of all modern -metrical systems, and of all investigation into metre. For a line or -verse is built up by the succession of a limited number of feet or -measures, equal or unequal. With regard to the limit of the number of -feet permissible in a line or verse, no fixed rule can be laid down. -In no case must a line contain more feet than the ear may without -difficulty apprehend as a rhythmic whole; or, if the number of feet is -too great for this, the line must be divided by a _pause_ or _break_ -(caesura) into two or more parts which we may then call rhythmical -_sections_. This break is a characteristic mark of the typical Old -English alliterative line, which is made up of two rhythmical sections. -The structure of this verse was at one time obscured through the -practice of printing each of these sections by itself as a short line; -but Grimm's example is now universally followed, and the two sections -are printed as parts of one long line.[10] Before entering into a -detailed consideration of the alliterative long line, it will be needful -to make a few general remarks on rhyme and its different species. - -§ =10.= Modern metre is not only differentiated from metre of the -classical languages by the principle of _accent_ as opposed to -_quantity_; it has added a new metrical principle foreign to the ancient -systems. This principle is Rhyme. Instances of what looks like rhyme are -found in the classical poets from Homer onwards, but they are sporadic, -and are probably due to accident.[11] - -Rhyme was not in use as an accessory to metre in Latin till the -quantitative principle had given way to the accentual principle in the -later hymns of the Church, and it has passed thence into all European -systems of metre. - -In our poetry it serves a twofold purpose: it is used either simply -as an ornament, or as a tie to connect single lines into the larger -metrical unity of stanza or stave, by the recurrence of similar sounds -at various intervals. - -In its widest sense rhyme is an agreement or consonance of sounds in -syllables or words, and falls into several subdivisions, according to -the extent and position of this agreement. As to its position, this -consonance may occur in the beginning of a syllable or word, or in the -middle, or in both middle and end at the same time. As to its extent, -it may comprehend one or two or more syllables. Out of these various -possibilities of likeness or consonance there arise three chief kinds -of rhyme in this wide sense, alliteration, assonance, and end-rhyme, or -rhyme simply in the more limited and usual acceptation of the word. - -§ =11.= This last, end-rhyme, or full-rhyme, or rhyme proper, consists -in a perfect agreement or consonance of syllables or words except in -their initial sounds, which as a rule are different. Generally speaking, -the agreement of sounds falls on the last accented syllable of a word, -or on the last accented syllable and a following unaccented syllable or -syllables. End-rhyme or full-rhyme seems to have arisen independently -and without historical connexion in several nations, but as far as -our present purpose goes we may confine ourselves to its development -in Europe among the nations of Romanic speech at the beginning of the -Middle Ages. Its adoption into all modern literature is due to the -extensive use made of it in the hymns of the Church. Full-rhyme or -end-rhyme therefore is a characteristic of modern European poetry, and -though it cannot be denied that unrhymed verse, or blank verse, is much -used in English poetry, the fact remains that this metre is an exotic -product of the Renaissance, and has never become thoroughly popular. Its -use is limited to certain kinds of poetic composition, whereas rhyme -prevails over the wider part of the realm of modern poetry. - -§ =12.= The second kind of rhyme (taking the word in its broader sense), -namely, vocalic assonance, is of minor importance in the treatment of -English metre. It consists in a similarity between the vowel-sounds -only of different words; the surrounding consonants do not count. The -following groups of words are assonant together: _give_, _thick_, -_fish_, _win_; _sell_, _step_, _net_; _thorn_, _storm_, _horse_. This -kind of rhyme was very popular among the Romanic nations, and among them -alone. Its first beginnings are found in the Latin ecclesiastical hymns, -and these soon developed into real or full-rhyme.[12] It passed thence -into Provençal, Old French, and Spanish poetry, and has continued in use -in the last named. It is very rarely found in English verse, it has in -fact never been used deliberately, as far as we know, except in certain -recent experiments in metre. Where it does seem to occur it is safest to -look upon it as imperfect rhyme only. Instances are found in the Early -English metrical romances, Lives of Saints, and popular ballad poetry, -where the technique of the metre is not of a high order; examples such -as _flete_, _wepe_; _brake_, _gate_; _slepe_, _ymete_ from _King Horn_ -might be looked on as assonances, but were probably intended for real -rhymes. The consistent use of the full-rhyme being difficult, the poets, -in such instances as these, contented themselves with the simpler -harmony between the vowels alone, which represents a transition stage -between the older rhymeless alliterative verse, and the newer Romanic -metres with real and complete rhyme. Another possible form of assonance, -in which the consonants alone agree while the vowels may differ, might -be called _consonantal assonance_ as distinguished from _vocalic -assonance_, or assonance simply. This form of assonance is not found in -English poetry, though it is employed in Celtic and Icelandic metres.[13] - -§ =13.= The third species of rhyme, to use the word still in its widest -sense, is known as alliteration (German _Stabreim_ or _Anreim_). It is -common to all Teutonic nations, and is found fully developed in the -oldest poetical monuments of Old Norse, Old High German, Old Saxon, and -Old English. Even in classical poetry, especially in the remains of -archaic Latin, it is not unfrequently met with, but serves only as a -means for giving to combinations of words a rhetorical emphasis, and is -not a formal principle of the metre bound by strict rules, as it is in -Teutonic poetry. Alliteration consists in a consonance or agreement of -the sounds at the beginning of a word or syllable, as in _love_ and -_liking_, _house_ and _home_, _woe_ and _weal_. The alliteration of -vowels and diphthongs has this peculiarity that the agreement need -not be exact as in 'apt alliteration's artful aid', but can exist, at -least in the oldest stages of the language, between all vowels -indiscriminately. Thus in the oldest English not only were _ellen_ and -_ende_, _[=æ]nig_ and _[=æ]r_, _[=e]ac_ and _[=e]age_ alliterations, but -_age_ and _[=i]del_, _[=æ]nig_ and _ellen_, _eallum_ and _æðelingum_ -were employed in the strictest forms of verse as words which perfectly -alliterated with each other. - -This apparent confusion of vowel-sounds so different in their quantity -and quality is probably to be explained by the fact that originally in -English, as now in German, all the vowels were preceded by a 'glottal -catch' which is the real alliterating sound.[14] The harmony or -consonance of the unlike vowels is hardly perceptible in Modern English -and does not count as alliteration. - -The most general law of the normal alliterative line is that three or at -least two of the four strongly accented syllables which occur in every -long line (two in each section) must begin with an alliterative letter, -for example, in the following Old English lines: - - _=w=ereda =w=uldorcining | wordum h[=e]rigen._ Gen. 2. - - _=m=[=o]dum lufien | he is =m=ægna sp[=e]d._ Gen. 3. - - _=æ=sc bið =o=ferh[=e]ah | =e=ldum d[=y]re._ Run. 26. - - _on =a=ndsware | and on =e=lne strong._ G[=u]. 264. - -or in early Modern English: - - _For =m=yschefe will =m=ayster us | yf =m=easure us forsake._ - Skelton, Magnif. 156. - - _How sodenly =w=orldly | =w=elth doth dekay._ ib. 1518. - - _I am your =e=ldest son | =E=sau by name._ Dodsl. Coll. ii. 249. - -The history of the primitive alliterative line follows very different -lines of development in the various Teutonic nations. In Old High -German, after a period in which the strict laws of the verse were -largely neglected, it was abandoned in favour of rhyme by Otfrid (circa -868). In Old English it kept its place as the only form of verse -for all classes of poetical composition, and continued in use, even -after the introduction of Romanic forms of metre, during the Middle -English period, and did not totally die out till the beginning of the -seventeenth century. The partial revival of it is due to the increased -interest in Old English studies, but has been confined largely to -translations. As an occasional rhetorical or stylistic ornament of both -rhymed and unrhymed verse, alliteration has always been made use of by -English poets. - -NOTES: - - [1] _Zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_, zweite Ausgabe, p. - 624, Berlin, 1868. - - [2] _Metrik der Griechen_, 1ª, 500. - - [3] It should be remarked that in Sanskrit, as in the classical - languages, that prominence of one of the syllables of a word, - which is denoted by the term 'accent', was originally marked - by pitch or elevation of tone, and that in the Teutonic - languages the word-accent is one of stress or emphasis. - - [4] _Handbook of Phonetics_, § 263. - - [5] _Die physiologischen Grundlagen der neuhochdeutschen Verskunst_, - 1871, p. 2. - - [6] Sweet, _Handbook of Phonetics_, Oxford, 1877, p. 92. - - [7] Cf. _Transactions of the Philological Society_, 1875-6, London, - 1877, pp. 397 ff.; _Chapters on English Metre_, by Prof. J. B. - Mayor, 2nd ed., pp. 5 ff. - - [8] _Transact._, p. 398. - - [9] They are used by Puttenham, _The Arte of English Poesy_, 1589, - Arber's reprint, p. 141. - - [10] J. Grimm's ed. of _Andreas and Elene_, 1840, pp. lv ff. - - [11] Cf. Lehrs, _de Aristarchi studiis Homericis_, 1865, p. 475. - - [12] Cf. J. Huemer, _Untersuchungen über die ältesten - lateinisch-christlichen Rhythmen_, Vienna, 1879, p. 60. - - [13] In the Icelandic terminology this is _skothending_, Möbius, - _Háttatal_, ii, p. 2. - - [14] Cf. Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 18. 2. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE ALLITERATIVE VERSE IN OLD ENGLISH - - -§ =14. General remarks.= It is highly probable that alliteration -was the earliest kind of poetic form employed by the English people. -There is no trace in the extant monuments of the language of any -more primitive or simpler system. A predilection for alliteration -existed even in prose, as in the names of heroes and families like -Scyld and Sceaf, Hengist and Horsa, Finn and Folcwald, pairs that -alliterate in the same way as the family names of other Teutonic -nations: the names of the three sons of Mannus, Ingo, Isto, Irmino, -conform to this type.[15] The earliest monuments of Old English -poetry, as the fragmentary hymn of Cædmon in the More MS. (Cambridge) -and the inscription on the Ruthwell Cross, are composed in the long -alliterative line. The great body of Old English verse is in this -metre, the only exceptions being the 'Rhyming Poem' (in the _Exeter -Book_),[16] and a few other late pieces, in which alliteration and -rhyme are combined. This Old English poetry, therefore, together with -the Old Norse and Old Saxon remains (the _Heliand_ with 5,985 lines, -and the recently discovered fragment of the Old Saxon _Genesis_, edited -by Zangemeister and Braune, 1894, with 335 lines), affords ample and -trustworthy material for determining the laws of the alliterative verse -as used by the Teutonic nations. In comparison with these the remains -of Old High German alliterative verse are both scanty and lax in -structure. - -§ =15. Theories on the metrical form of the alliterative line.= -Notwithstanding their comparative scantiness, the Old High German -fragments (_Hildebrandslied_, _Wessobrunner Gebet_, _Muspilli_ and two -magical formulae, with a total of some 110 lines) formed the basis -of the earliest theories of the laws of the accentuation and general -character of the original alliterative line. They were assumed to have -preserved the features of the primitive metre, and conclusions were -drawn from them as to the typical form of the verse. When examined -closely, the Old High German remains (and this is true also of the -longer monuments in Old Saxon) are found to differ widely from Old -Norse and Old English verse in one respect. While the general and -dominating features of the line remain the same, the Old High German -and Old Saxon lines are much longer than the Old Norse or Old English -lines. In Old Norse or Old English the half line frequently contains no -more than four syllables, in marked contrast to Old High German and Old -Saxon, where the half line or section is considerably longer. - -The first attempt at a theory of the metrical structure of the -alliterative line was made by Lachmann. He based his theory on the -form of verse created by Otfrid, in imitation of Latin models, which -consists of a long line of eight accents, separated by leonine rhyme -into two sections each of four accents alternately strong and weak.[17] -The laws of the rhyming and strophic verse of Otfrid were applied by -Lachmann to the purely alliterative verses of the Old High German -_Hildebrandslied_, and this system of scanning was further applied by -his followers to the alliterative verse of Old English, the true nature -of which was long misunderstood on the Continent. In England itself a -sounder view of the native alliterative verse was propounded by Bishop -Percy as early as 1765, in his _Essay on the Metre of Pierce Plowman_ -published along with his well-known _Reliques of Ancient English -Poetry_, not to speak of the earlier writings of G. Gascoigne (1575) -and James VI (1585). But the number and authority of some of Lachmann's -followers are such that some detailed account of their theories must be -given.[18] - -§ =16. The four-beat theory= of the alliterative verse, based on -the assumption that each of the two sections must have had four -accented syllables to bring out a regular rhythm, was applied by -Lachmann himself only to the Old High German _Hildebrandslied_,[19] -while on the other hand he recognized a freer variety with two chief -accents only in each section, for the Old Norse, Old Saxon, and Old -English. The four-beat theory was further applied to the Old High -German _Muspilli_ by Bartsch,[20] and to the rest of the smaller -relics of Old High German verse by Müllenhoff.[21] The next step was -to bring the Old Saxon _Heliand_ and the Old English _Beowulf_ under -this system of scansion; and this was taken by M. Heyne in 1866 and -1867. But the metre of _Beowulf_ does not differ from that of the -other alliterative poems in Old English, and these in their turn -were claimed for the four-beat theory by Schubert,[22] but with this -important modification, made before by Bartsch, that side by side with -the usual four-beat sections there were also to be found sections of -three beats only. One obvious difficulty in applying the theory of -four strongly marked beats to the Old English half-lines or hemistichs -is this, that in Old English these hemistichs consist in very many -cases of not more than four syllables altogether, each one of which -would on this theory have an accent to itself. To meet these cases E. -Jessen[23] started the theory that in certain cases pauses had to be -substituted for 'beats not realized'. A further modification of the -four-beat doctrine was introduced by Amelung,[24] who maintained that -in the metre of the _Heliand_ each hemistich had two primary or chief -accents and two secondary or subordinate accents. In order to bring the -verse under this scansion he assumes that certain syllables admitted -of being lengthened. He further regarded the _Heliand_ verse as a -metre regulated by strict time, and not as a measure intended for free -recitation and depending only on the number of accented syllables. - -A few other more recent attempts at solving the problem must be -mentioned before we pass on to explain and discuss Sievers's system in -the next paragraph. The views of Prof. Möller of Copenhagen[25] have -found an adherent in Lawrence, from whose book[26] we may quote the -following summary of Möller's theory. According to Prof. Möller the -hemistich consists theoretically of two measures (_Takte_), each of four -_morae_ ×´ × `× × (a _mora_, ×, being the time required for one short -syllable), and therefore the whole verse of four measures, thus: - - ×´ × `× × | ×´ × `× × || ×´ × `× × | ×´ × `× × ||. - -Where, in a verse, the _morae_ are not filled by actual syllables, their -time must be occupied by rests (represented by r*) in reciting, by -holding on the note in singing.[27] A long syllable, ----, is equivalent -to two _morae_. Thus v. 208 of _Beowulf_ - - _súnd-wùdu. s[=ó]htè. sécg. w[=í]sàde_. - -would be symbolically represented as follows: - - -´ `× × | -´ `× r || -´ rr | -´ `× ×. - -According to this system the pause at _secg_ will be twice as long as -that at _s[=o]hte_, whilst at _wudu_ there will be no real pause and the -point will merely indicate the end of the measure. - -Others reverted to the view of Bartsch and Schubert that there could -be hemistichs with only three accents alongside of the hemistichs with -the normal number of four. Among these may be mentioned H. Hirt,[28] -whose view is that three beats to a hemistich is the normal number, -four being less usual, the long line having thus mostly six beats, -against the eight of Lachmann's theory; K. Fuhr,[29] who holds that -every hemistich, whether it stands first or second in the verse, has -four beats if the last syllable is unaccented (_klingend_; in that case -the final unaccented syllable receives a secondary rhythmical accent, -for example, _f[=é]ond máncýnnès_) and has three beats if it is accented -(_stumpf_, for example, _fýrst fórð gew[=á]t_, or _múrnénde m[=ó]d_, &c.); -and B. ten Brink,[30] who calls the hemistichs with four beats full or -'complete' (e.g. _h[=ý]ràn scóldè_, but admits hemistichs with three beats -only, calling them 'incomplete' from the want of a secondary accent -(e.g. _twélf wíntra t[=í]d, h[=á]m ges[=ó]hte_, &c.). The four-beat theory -was reverted to by M. Kaluza, who endeavours to reconcile it with the -results of Sievers and others.[31] A somewhat similar view is taken by -R. Kögel.[32] Trautmann[33] takes Amelung's view that certain words and -syllables must be lengthened in order to get the four accented syllables -necessary for each hemistich. Thus, according to Trautmann's scansion, - - _sprécað f[æ´]geré befóran_ - -would run ×´ × | ×´ × | ×´ × | )´ × and - - _ónd þú him méte sýlest_ - -would also have the formula ×´ × | ×´ × | ×´ × | )´ ×, - -_ond_ being protracted to two units. Another instance of this -lengthening would, on this theory, occur in the final syllable of -the word _radores_ in the hemistich _únder rádorès rýne_, while in -a section like _g[=u]ð-rinc monig_, or _of fold-gr[æ´]fe_, the words -_rinc_ and _of_ would be extended to two, and _g[=u]ð_ and _fold_ would -each be extended to four units, in order to fit in with the scansion -×´ × | ×´ × | ×´ × | )´ ×. Most of the partisans of the four-beat -theory for the hemistich agree in making two of these beats primary, -and two secondary; Trautmann, however, does not seem to recognize any -such difference in the force of the four accents. All the supporters -of the four-beat theory have this in common, that the rhythm of the -verse is assumed to be based on time (_taktierend_), but in other -respects differ widely from each other; Hirt, for example, in his -last discussion of the subject,[34] claiming that his own view is -fundamentally different from that of Kaluza, which again he looks on as -at variance with those of Möller and Heusler. - -§ =17. The two-beat theory=, on the other hand, is that each of the -two hemistichs of the alliterative line need have only two accented -syllables. In England this view was taken by two sixteenth-century -writers on verse, George Gascoigne[35] who quotes the line, - - _No wight in this world, that wealth can attain_, - -giving as the accentual scheme ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´; and by King James -VI, whose example is-- - - _Fetching fude for to feid it fast furth of the Farie._[36] - -In 1765, Percy, in his _Essay on Pierce Plowman's Visions_, pointed -out 'that the author of this poem will not be found to have invented -any new mode of versification, as some have supposed, but only to have -retained that of the old Saxon and Gothick poets, which was probably -never wholly laid aside, but occasionally used at different intervals'. -After quoting[37] two Old Norse, he gives two Old English verses:-- - - _Sceop þa and scyrede scyppend ure_ (Gen. 65), - _ham and heahsetl heofena rices_ (ib. 33); - -he continues: 'Now if we examine the versification of Pierce Plowman's -Visions' (from which he quotes the beginning-- - - _In a somer season | when softe was the sonne - I schop me into a schroud | a scheep as I were, &c._) - -'we shall find it constructed exactly by these rules', which are, in -his own words, 'that every distich [i.e. complete long line] should -contain at least three words beginning with the same letter or sound; -two of these correspondent sounds might be placed either in the first or -second line of the distich, and one in the other, but all three were not -regularly to be crowded into one line.' He then goes on to quote further -specimens of alliterative verse from _Pierce the Ploughman's Crede_, -_The Sege of Jerusalem_, _The Chevalere Assigne_, _Death and Liffe_ and -_Scottish Fielde_, which latter ends with a rhyming couplet: - - _And his ancestors of old time | have yearded theire longe - Before William conquerour | this cuntry did inhabitt. - Jesus bring them to blisse | that brought us forth of bale, - That hath hearkened me heare | or heard my tale._ - -Taken as a whole his dissertation on the history of alliterative verse -is remarkably correct, and his final remarks are noteworthy: - - Thus we have traced the alliterative measure so low as the - sixteenth century. It is remarkable that all such poets as used this - kind of metre, retained along with it many peculiar Saxon idioms, - particularly such as were appropriated to poetry: _this deserves the - attention of those who are desirous to recover the laws of the ancient - Saxon poesy, usually given up as inexplicable:_ I am of opinion that - they will find what they seek in the metre of Pierce Plowman. About - the beginning of the sixteenth century this kind of versification - began to change its form; the author of _Scottish Field_, we - see, concludes his poem with a couplet of rhymes; this was an - innovation[38] that did but prepare the way for the general admission - of that more modish ornament. When rhyme began to be superadded, - all the niceties of alliteration were at first retained with it: the - song of Little John Nobody exhibits this union very closely.... To - proceed; the old uncouth verse of the ancient writers would no longer - go down without the more fashionable ornament of rhyme, and therefore - rhyme was superadded. This correspondence of final sounds engrossing - the whole attention of the poet and fully satisfying the reader, the - internal imbellishment of alliteration was no longer studied, and thus - was this kind of metre at length swallowed up and lost in our common - burlesque alexandrine, now never used but in songs and pieces of low - humour, as in the following ballad; and that well-known doggrel: - - 'A cobler there was and he lived in a stall'. - -Now it is clear that this verse is of exactly the same structure as the -verses quoted by Gascoigne: - - _No wight in this world that wealth can attayne, - Ùnléss hè bèléue, thàt áll ìs bùt vaýne_, - -where the scheme of accents is Gascoigne's own, showing that he read -them as verses of four accents in all, two in each hemistich. They show -the same rhythmical structure as the 'tumbling' or alliterative line -given by James VI[39] (1585): - - _Fetching fude for to feid it fast furth of the Farie_, - -and described by him as having 'twa [feit, i.e. syllables] short, -and ane lang throuch all the lyne', in other words with four accented -syllables in the verse. - -Percy detected very acutely that the Middle English alliterative line -stood in close connexion with the Old English alliterative line, and -suggested as highly probable that the metre of _Pierce Plowman_ would -give a key to the rhythm of that older form of verse, which would have -to be read with two accented syllables in the hemistich, and therefore -four in the whole line. - -Had this essay of Percy's been known to Lachmann's followers, many -of the forced attempts at reconciling the Old English verse with a -scheme that involved a fixed number of syllables in the line would not -have been made. Lachmann himself, it must be remembered, admitted the -two-beat scansion for Old Norse, Old Saxon, and Old English. Meanwhile -other investigators were at work on independent lines. In 1844 A. -Schmeller, the editor of the _Heliand_, formulated the law that, in -the Teutonic languages, it is the force with which the different -syllables are uttered that regulates the rhythm of the verse, and not -the number or length of the syllables (which are of minor importance), -and established the fact that this alliterative verse was not meant to -be sung but to be recited.[40] He does not enter into the details of -the rhythm of the verse, except by pointing out the two-beat cadence -of each section. Somewhat later, W. Wackernagel[41] declared himself -in favour of the two-beat theory for all Teutonic alliterative verse. -In every hemistich of the verse there are according to Wackernagel two -syllables with a grammatical or logical emphasis, and consequently a -strong accent, the number of less strongly accented syllables not being -fixed. The two-beat theory was again ably supported by F. Vetter[42] -and by K. Hildebrand, who approached the subject by a study of the Old -Norse alliterative verse,[43] and by M. Rieger in his instructive essay -on Old Saxon and Old English versification.[44] In this essay Rieger -pointed out the rules prevailing in the poetry of those two closely -related Teutonic nations, dealt with the distribution and quality of the -alliteration, the relation of the alliteration to the noun, adjective, -and verb, and to the order of words, with the caesura and the close of -the verse, and, finally, with the question of the accented syllables and -the limits of the use of unaccented syllables.[45] Other scholars, as -Horn, Ries, and Sievers, contributed further elucidations of the details -of this metre on the basis of Rieger's researches.[46] - -Next to Rieger's short essay the most important contribution made to -the accurate and scientific study of alliterative verse was that made -by Sievers in his article on the rhythm of the Germanic alliterative -verse.[47] In this he shows, to use his own words, 'that a statistical -classification of groups of words with their natural accentuation in -both sections of the alliterative line makes it clear that this metre, -in spite of its variety, is not so irregular as to the unaccented -syllables at the beginning or in the middle of the verse as has been -commonly thought, but that it has a range of a limited number of -definite forms which may be all reduced to five primary types.' These -five types or chief variations in the relative position of the accented -and unaccented syllables are, as Sievers points out, of such a nature -and so arbitrarily combined in the verse, that they cannot possibly be -regarded as symmetrical feet of a line evenly measured and counted by -the number of syllables. 'The fundamental principle, therefore, of the -structure of the alliterative line, as we find it in historical times, -is that of a free change of rhythm which can only be understood if the -verse was meant to be recited, not to be sung.'[48] Soon after the -publication of Sievers's essay on the rhythm of the Germanic verse, the -first part of which contained a complete classification of all the forms -of the line occurring in _Beowulf_, other scholars applied his method -and confirmed his results by examining in detail the other important -Old English texts; Luick dealt with _Judith_,[49] Frucht with the poems -of Cynewulf,[50] and Cremer with _Andreas_, &c.[51] Sievers himself, -after contributing to the pages of Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen -Philologie_ a concise account of his theories and results, expounded -them in greater detail in his work on Old Germanic Metre[52] in which -he emphasizes the fact that his five-type theory cannot properly be -called a theory at all, but is simply an expression of the rules of the -alliterative verse obtained by a statistical method of observation. In -spite of the criticisms of his opponents, Möller, Heusler, Hirt, Fuhr, -and others, he maintained his former views. In principle these views are -in conformity with the manner of reading or scanning the alliterative -verse explained by English writers on the subject from the sixteenth -century downwards, though their terminology naturally is not the same as -Sievers's. We may, therefore, accept them on the whole as sound. - -It would be out of place here to enter into the question of prehistoric -forms of Teutonic poetry. It will be enough to say that in Sievers's -opinion a primitive form of this poetry was composed in strophes or -stanzas, intended to be sung and not merely to be recited; that at -a very early period this sung strophic poetry gave way to a recited -stichic form suitable to epic narrations; and that his five-type forms -are the result of this development. As all the attempts to show that -certain Old English poems were originally composed in strophic form[53] -have proved failures, we may confidently assent to Sievers's conclusion -that the alliterative lines (as a rule) followed one upon another in -unbroken succession, and that in historic times they were not composed -in even and symmetrical measures (_taktierend_), and were not meant to -be sung to fixed tunes. - -The impossibility of assuming such symmetrical measures for the Old -English poetry is evident from the mere fact that the end of the line -does not as a rule coincide with the end of the sentence, as would -certainly be the case had the lines been arranged in staves or stanzas -meant for singing. The structure of the alliterative line obeys only the -requirements of free recitation and is built up of two hemistichs which -have a rhythmical likeness to one another resulting from the presence -in each of two accented syllables, but which need not have, and as a -matter of fact very rarely have, complete identity of rhythm, because -the number and situation of the unaccented syllables may vary greatly in -the two sections. - -§ =18. Accentuation of Old English.= As the versification of Old -English is based on the natural accentuation of the language, it will -be necessary to state the laws of this accentuation before giving an -account of the five types to which the structure of the hemistich has -been reduced. - -In simple polysyllables the chief or primary accent, in this work marked -by an acute (´), is as a rule on the root-syllable, and the inflexional -and other elements of the word have a less marked accent varying from -a secondary accent, here marked by a grave (`), to the weakest grade -of accent, which is generally left unmarked: thus _wúldor_, _héofon_, -_w[=í]tig_, _wúnode_, _[æ´]ðelingas_, &c. - -In the alliterative line, as a general rule, only syllables with the -chief accent carry either the alliterating sounds or the four rhythmical -accents of the verse. All other syllables, even those with secondary -accent, count ordinarily as the 'theses' (_Senkungen_) of the verse[54]: - - _síndon þ[=a] =b=éarwas =b=l[=é]dum gehóngene - =w=lítigum =w=[æ´]stmum: þ[=æ]r n[=o] wániað [=ó] - =h=[=á]lge under =h=éofonum =h=óltes fr[æ´]twe_. - Phoenix 71-73. - -In compound words (certain combinations with unaccented prefixes -excepted) the first element of the compound (which modifies or -determines the meaning of the second element) has the primary -accent, the second element having only a secondary accent, e.g. -_wúldor-c[`y]ning_, _h[=é]ah-sètl_, _s[=ó]ð-f[`æ]st_.[55] If therefore -the compound has, as is mostly the case, only one alliterative sound, -that alliteration must necessarily fall on the first part of the -compound: - - _=w=[=í]tig =w=úldorcyning =w=órlde and héofona._ Dan. 427. - -Sometimes it happens that in hemistichs of no great length the second -part of the compound carries one of the two rhythmical accents of the -hemistich, e.g. - - _on =h=[=é]ah-sétle =h=éofones wáldend._ Cri. 555. - -and in a particular form of alliteration[56] it may even contain one of -the alliterating sounds, as in the verse: - - _hwæt! we =G=[=á]r=d=éna in =g=[=e]ar=d=águm._ Beow. 1. - -The less strongly accented derivational and inflexional suffixes, though -they are not allowed to alliterate, may occasionally have the rhythmical -accent, on condition that they immediately follow upon a long accented -syllable, e.g. - - _mid =W=ýlfíngum, þ[=a] hine =W=ára cýn._ Beow. 461. - - _ne méahte ic æt =h=ílde mid =H=rúntínge._ ib. 1659. - -The rhythmical value of syllables with a secondary accent will be -considered more fully later on. - -These general rules for the accent of compound words formed of noun -+ noun or adjective + noun require modification for the cases where -a prefix (adverb or preposition) stands in close juxtaposition with -a verb or noun. The preposition standing before and depending on a -noun coalesces so closely with it that the two words express a single -notion, the noun having the chief accent, e.g. _onwég_, _[=a]wég_ -(away), _ætsómne_ (together), _ofd[=ú]ne_ (down), _toníhte_ (to-night), -_onmíddum_ (amid); examples in verse are: - - _geb[=a]d =w=íntra =w=órn [=æ]r he on=w=ég hwúrfe._ Beow. 264. - - _=s=[=í]d æt=s=ómne þ[=a] ge=s=úndrod w[æ´]s._ Gen. 162. - -But while the prepositional prefix thus does not carry the alliteration -owing to its want of accent, some of the adverbs used in composition are -accented, others are unaccented, and others again may be treated either -way. When the adverbial prefix originally stood by itself side by side -with the verb, and may in certain cases still be disjoined from it, it -has then the primary accent, because it is felt as a modifying element -of the compound. When, however, the prefix and the verb have become so -intimately united as to express one single notion, the verb takes the -accent and the prefix is treated as proclitic, and there is a third -class of these compounds which are used indifferently with accent on the -prefix or on the verb. - -Some of the commonest prefixes used in alliteration are[57]: _and_, -_æfter_, _eft_, _ed_, _fore_, _forð_, _from_, _hider_, _in_, _hin_, -_mid_, _mis_, _niðer_, _ong[=e]an_, _or_, _up_, _[=u]t_, _efne_, as in -compounds like _ándswarian_, _íngong_, _[æ´]fterweard_, &c.: - - _on =á=ndswáre and on =é=lne stróng._ G[=u]. 264. - - _=[æ´]=ðel[=i]c =í=ngong =é=al wæs gebúnden._ Cri. 308. - - _and =[=é]=ac þ[=a]ra =ý=fela =ó=rsorh wúnað._ Met. vii. 43. - - _=ú=plang gest[=ó]d wið =Í=srah[=é]lum._ Ex. 303. - -Prefixes which do not take the alliteration are: _[=a]_, _ge_, _for_, -_geond_, _oð_, e.g. - - _[=a]=h=[=o]n and [=a]=h=ébban on =h=[=é]ahne b[=é]am._ Jul. 228. - - _h[æ´]fde þ[=a] ge=f=óhten =f=órem[=æ]rne bl[=æ´]d._ Jud. 122. - - _=b=rónde for=b=[æ´]rnan ne on =b=[=æ´]l hládan._ Beow. 2126. - -The following fluctuate: _æt_, _an_, _b[=i]_ (_big_), _bi_ (_be_), _of_, -_ofer_, _on_, _t[=o]_, _under_, _þurh_, _wið_, _wiðer_, _ymb_. These are -generally accented and alliterate, if compounded with substantives or -adjectives, but are not accented and do not alliterate if compounded -with verbs or other particles,[58] e.g. _óferh[=e]ah_, _óferh[=y]d_, -but _ofercúman_, _oferb[=í]dan_. The following lines will illustrate -this: - - (_a_) prefixes which alliterate: - - _þ[=a]ra þe þurh =ó=ferh[=ý]d =ú=p[=a]st[=í]geð._ Dan. 495. - - _=á=tol is þ[=i]n =ó=ns[=e]on hábbað we =é=alle sw[=á]_. - Satan 61. - - _=ý=mbe-síttendra =[=æ´]=nig þ[=á]ra._ Beow. 2734. - - (_b_) prefixes which do not alliterate: - - _oððæt he þ[=a] =b=ýsgu ofer=b=íden hæfde._ G[=u]. 518. - - _ne wíllað [=e]ow on=d=r[=æ´]dan =d=[=é]ade f[=é]ðan_ - Exod. 266. - - _=s=ýmbel ymb=s=[=æ´]ton =s=[=æ´]grunde n[=é]ah_. - Beow. 564.[59] - -When prepositions precede other prepositions or adverbs in composition, -the accent rests on that part of the whole compound which is felt to be -the most important. Such compounds fall into three classes: (i) if a -preposition or adverb is preceded by the prepositions _be_, _on_, -_t[=o]_, _þurh_, _wið_, these latter are not accented, since they only -slightly modify the sense of the following adverb. Compounds of this -kind are: _be[=æ´]ftan_, _befóran_, _begéondan_, _behíndan_, _beínnan_, -_benéoðan_, _búfan_, _bútan_, _onúfan_, _onúppan_, _t[=o]fóran_, -_wiðínnan_, _wið[=ú]tan_, _undernéoðan_.[60] Only the second part of the -compound is allowed to alliterate in these words: - - _he =f=[=é][=a]ra súm be=f=óran géngde._ Beow. 1412. - - _ne þe be=h=índan l[=æ´]t þonne þu =h=éonan cýrre._ Cri. 155. - -Most of these words do not seem to occur in the poetry. - -(ii) In compounds of _þ[=æ]r_ + preposition the preposition is accented -and takes the alliteration: - - _sw[=á] he þ[=æ]r=í=nne =á=ndlangne d[æ´]g._ Beow. 2115. - - _þe þ[=æ]r=ó=n síndon =[=é]=ce drýhten._ Hy. iv. 3. - -(iii) _weard_, as in _æfterweard_, _foreweard_, _hindanweard_, -_niðerweard_, _ufeweard_, &c., is not accented: - - _=h=wít =h=índanweard and se =h=áls gr[=é]ne._ Ph. 298. - - _=n=íodoweard and úfeweard and þæt =n=ebb líxeð._ ib. 299. - - _=f=[=é]ðe-géstum =f=lét ínnanweard._ Beow. 1977. - - -§ =19. The secondary accent.= The secondary or subordinate accent is of -as great importance as the chief or primary accent in determining the -rhythmical character of the alliterative line. It is found in the -following classes of words: - -(i) In all compounds of noun + noun, or adjective + noun, or adjective -+ adjective, the second element of the compound has the subordinate -accent, e.g. _h[=e]ah-sètl, g[=ú]ð-rinc, hríng-nèt, s[=ó]ð-f[`æ]st_. -Syllables with this secondary accent are necessary in certain cases -as links between the arsis and thesis, as in forms like _þégn -Hr[=ó]ðg[=à]res_ (-´ | -´ `× ×) or _fýrst fórð gew[=à]t_ (-´ | -´ × `×). - -(ii) In proper names like _Hr[=ó]ðg[`=a]r_, _B[=é]owùlf_, _Hýgel[`=a]c_, -this secondary accent may sometimes count as one of the four chief -metrical accents of the line, as in - - _=b=éornas on =b=láncum þ[=æ]r wæs =B=éowúlfes._ Beow. 857. - -contrasted with - - _=é=orl Béowùlfes =é=alde l[=á]fe._ Beow. 797. - -(iii) When the second element has ceased to be felt as a distinct -part of the compound, and is little more than a suffix, it loses the -secondary accent altogether; as _hl[=á]ford_, _[=æ´]ghwylc_, _ínwit_, -and the large class of words compounded with -_l[=i]c_ and _sum_. - - _þæt he =H=éardr[=é]de =h=l[=á]ford w[=æ´]re._ Beow. 2375. - - _=l=úfsum and =l=[=í]ðe =l=[=é]ofum monnum._ Cri. 914. - -(iv) In words of three syllables, the second syllable when long and -following a long root-syllable with the chief accent, has, especially -in the early stage of Old English, a well-marked secondary accent: -thus, _[=æ´]rèsta_, _[=ó]ðèrra_, _sémnìnga_, _éhtènde_; the third -syllable in words of the form _[æ´]ðelìnga_ gets the same secondary -accent. This secondary accent can count as one of the four rhythmic -accents of the line, e.g. - - _þ[=a] =[=æ´]=réstan =[=æ´]=lda cýnnes._ G[=u]. 948. - - _=s=ígefolca =s=w[=é]g oð þæt =s=émnínga._ Beow. 644. - -Words of this class, not compounded, are comparatively rare, but -compounds with secondary accent are frequent. - -These second syllables with a marked secondary accent in the best -examples of Old English verse mostly form by themselves a member of the -verse, i.e. are not treated as simple theses as in certain compositions -of later date, e.g. - - _d[=ý]gelra gescéafta._ Creat. 18. - - _[=á]genne brðor._ Metr. ix. 28. - -(v) After a long root-syllable of a trisyllabic word a short second -syllable (whether its vowel was originally short or long) may bear one -of the chief accents of the line, e.g. _b[=o]cère_, _bíscòpe_: - - _þ[=æ]r bíscéopas and b[=ó]céras._ An. 607. - -or may stand in the thesis and be unaccented, as - - _gódes bísceope þ[=a] spræc g[=ú]ðcýning._ Gen. 2123. - -This shows that in common speech these syllables had only a slight -secondary accent. - -(vi) Final syllables (whether long or short) are as a rule not accented -even though a long root-syllable precede them. - -§ =20. Division and metrical value of syllables.= Some other points -must be noticed with reference to the division and metrical value of the -syllables of some classes of words. - -The formative element _i_ in the present stem of the second class -of weak verbs always counts as a syllable when it follows a long -root-syllable, thus _fund-i-an_, _fund-i-ende_ not _fund-yan_, &c. In -verbs with a short root-syllable it is metrically indifferent whether -this _i_ is treated as forming a syllable by itself or coalescing as -a consonant with the following vowel, so that we may divide either -_ner-i-an_, or _ner-yan_; in verbs of the first and third class the -consonantal pronunciation was according to Sievers probably the usual -one, hence _neryan_ (_nerian_), _lifyan_ (_lif[zh]an_), but for verbs -of the second class the syllable remained vocalic, thus _þolian_.[61] - -In foreign names like _Assyria_, _Eusebius_, the _i_ is generally -treated as a vowel, but in longer words possibly as a consonant, as -_Macedonya_ (_Macedonia_). As to the epenthetic vowels developed from a -_w_, the question whether we are to pronounce _gearowe_ or _gearwe_, -_bealowes_ or _bealwes_ cannot be decided by metre. Syllabic _l, m, n_ -_([lo], [mo], [no])_ following a short root-vowel lose their syllabic -character, thus _s[)e]tl_, _hr[)æ]gl_, _sw[)e]fn_ are monosyllables, -but _er_ coming from original _r_ as in _wæter_, _leger_ may be -either consonantal or vocalic. After a long root-syllable vocalic -pronunciation is the rule, but occasionally words of this kind, as -_túngl_, _b[=ó]sm_, _t[=á]cn_, are used as monosyllables, and the -_l_, _m_, and _n_ are consonants. Hiatus is allowed; but in many -cases elision of an unaccented syllable takes place, though no fixed -rule can be laid down owing to the fluctuating number of unaccented -syllables permissible in the hemistich or whole line. In some cases -the metre requires us to expunge vowels which have crept into the -texts by the carelessness of copyists, e.g. we must write _[=é]ðles_ -instead of _[=é]ðeles_, _éngles_ instead of _éngeles_, _d[=é]ofles_ -instead of _d[=é]ofeles_, and in other cases we must restore the older -and fuller forms such as _[=ó]ðerra_ for _[=ó]ðr[=a]_, _e[=ó]were_ -for _[=é]owre_.[62] The resolution of long syllables with the chief -accent in the arsis, and of long syllables with the secondary accent -in the thesis, affects very greatly the number of syllables in the -line. Instead of the one long syllable which as a rule bears one of the -four chief accents of the verse, we not unfrequently meet with a short -accented syllable plus an unaccented syllable either long or short -( )´ ×´). This is what is termed the resolution of an accented syllable. -A word accordingly like _fároðe_ with one short accented syllable and -two unaccented syllables has the same rhythmical value as _f[=ó]ron_ -with one long accented and one unaccented syllable, or a combination -like _se þe wæs_ is rhythmically equivalent to _sécg wæs_. - -§ =21.= We now come to =the structure of the whole alliterative line=. -The regular alliterative line or verse is made up of two hemistichs -or sections. These two sections are separated from each other by a -pause or break, but united by means of alliteration so that they form -a rhythmical unity. Each hemistich must have two syllables which -predominate over the rest in virtue of their logical and syntactical -importance and have on this account a stronger stress. These stressed -syllables, four in number for the whole line, count as the rhythmical -accents of the verse. The force given to these accented syllables is -more marked when they carry at the same time the alliteration, which -happens at least once in each hemistich, frequently twice in the first -and once in the second hemistich, and in a number of instances twice in -both hemistichs. The effect of the emphasis given to these four words or -syllables by the syntax, etymology, rhythm, and sometimes alliteration, -is that the other words and syllables may for metrical purposes be -looked upon as in comparison unaccented, even though they may have a -main or secondary word-accent. - -In certain cases, in consequence of the particular structure of the -hemistich, there is found a rhythmical secondary accent, generally -coinciding with an etymological secondary accent, or with a -monosyllable, or with the root-syllable of a disyllabic word. Sievers -looks on these syllables as having in the rhythm of the verse the nature -of a minor arsis (_Nebenhebung_); they rather belong to the class -of syllables standing in thesis but with a slight degree of accent -(_tieftonige Senkung_). - -The two sections of the alliterative line rarely exhibit a strict -symmetry as to the number of the unaccented syllables and their position -with regard to the accented syllables. In the great majority of cases -their similarity consists merely in their having each two accented -syllables, their divergence in other respects being very considerable. -It is to be noted that certain combinations of accented and unaccented -syllables occur with more frequency in one hemistich than in the other, -or are even limited to one of the two hemistichs only. - -Besides the ordinary or normal alliterative line with four accents, -there exists in Old English and in other West-Germanic poetry a variety -of the alliterative line called the _lengthened line_ (_Schwellvers_ or -_Streckvers_). In this line each hemistich has three accented syllables, -the unaccented syllables standing in the same relation to the accented -ones as they do in the normal two-beat hemistich. - -§ =22. The structure of the hemistich in the normal alliterative -line.= The normal hemistich consists of four, seldom of five members[63] -(_Glieder_), two of which are strongly accented (arses), the others -unaccented or less strongly accented (theses). Each arsis is formed, -as a rule, of a long accented syllable (-), but the second part of a -compound, and (less frequently) the second syllable with a secondary -accent of a trisyllabic or disyllabic word, is allowed to stand as an -arsis. By resolution a long accented syllable may be replaced by two -short syllables, the first of which is accented. This is denoted by the -symbol )´ ×. The less strongly accented members of the hemistich fall -into two classes according as they are unaccented or have the secondary -accent. This division depends ultimately on the logical or etymological -importance of the syllables. Unaccented syllables (marked in Sievers's -notation by ×) whether long or short by etymology, are mostly -inflexional endings, formative elements, or proclitic and enclitic words. - -Secondarily accented verse-members, mostly monosyllabic and -long (denoted by `×, and occasionally, when short, by `)), are -root-syllables in the second part of compounds, long second syllables -of trisyllabic words whose root-syllable is long, and other syllables -where in ordinary speech the presence of a secondary accent is -unmistakable. The rhythmical value of these syllables with secondary -accent is not always the same. When they stand in a foot or measure -of two members and are preceded by an accented syllable they count -as simply unaccented, and the foot is practically identical with the -normal type represented by the notation -´ × (as in the hemistich -_w[=í]sra wórda_), but these half-accented syllables may be called -_heavy_ theses, and the feet which contain them may be denoted by the -formula -´ `×, as in _w[=í]sf[´æ]st wórdum_ (-´ `× | -´ ×). A hemistich -like the last is called by Sievers strengthened (_gesteigert_), -or if it has two heavy unaccented syllables in both feet, doubly -strengthened, as in the section _g[=ú]ðrìnc góldwlànc_ (-´ `× | -´ -´×). In these examples the occurrence of a heavy unaccented syllable -is permissible but not necessary; but in feet or measures of three -members they are obligatory, being required as an intermediate degree -between the arsis and thesis, or strongly accented and unaccented -member, as in _þégn Hr[=ó]ðg[=á]res_ (-´| -´ × `×), or _fýrst fórð -gew[=à]t_ (-´ | -´ × × `×), or _h[=é]al[´=æ]rna m[´=æ]st_ (-´ × `× | -´). -In these cases Sievers gives the verse-member with this secondary -accent the character of a subordinate arsis, or beat (_Nebenhebung_). -But it is better, in view of the strongly marked two-beat swing of the -hemistich, to look on such members with a secondary accent as having -only the rhythmical value of unaccented syllables, and to call them -_theses_ with a slight accent. The two-beat rhythm of the hemistich -is its main characteristic, for though the two beats are not always -of exactly equal force[64] they are always prominently distinguished -from the unaccented members of the hemistich, the rhythm of which would -be marred by the introduction of an additional beat however slightly -marked. - -Cases in which the two chief beats of the hemistich are not of exactly -the same force occur when two accented syllables, either both with -chief accent or one with chief and the other with secondary accent, -stand in immediate juxtaposition, not separated by an unaccented -syllable. The second of these two accented syllables may be a short -syllable with chief accent, instead of a long syllable as is the rule. -But in either case, whether long or short, this second beat following -at once on the first beat is usually uttered with somewhat less force -than the first, as can be seen from examples like _geb[=ú]n h[æ´]fdon_, -Beow. 117; _t[=o] h[=á]m fáran_, 121; _mid [=æ´]rd[æ´]ge_, 126. The -second beat rarely predominates over the first. The cause of this -variation in the force of the two beats is to be sought in the laws of -the syntactical accent. - -In other respects verse-members with a secondary accent obey the same -laws as those with a primary accent. They usually consist of one long -syllable, but if a member which has the arsis immediately precedes, a -short syllable with a secondary accent may be substituted. Resolution -of such verse members is rare, which shows that they are more closely -related to the thesis than to the arsis of the hemistich. One unaccented -syllable is sufficient to form the thesis (×), but the thesis may also -have two or more unaccented syllables (× ×, × × × ..), their number -increasing in proportion to their shortness and the ease with which they -can be pronounced, provided always that no secondary accent intervenes. -All of these unaccented syllables are reckoned together as one thesis, -as against the accented syllable or arsis. The single components of such -a longer thesis may exhibit a certain gradation of force when compared -with one another, but this degree of force must never equal the force -with which the arsis is pronounced, though we sometimes find that, -owing to the varying character of the syntactical or sentence accent, -a monosyllable which in one case stands in the thesis, may in another -connexion bear the secondary or even the primary accent. - -§ =23.= The number of the unaccented syllables of the thesis was -formerly believed to depend entirely on the choice of the individual -poet.[65] Sievers first put this matter in its right light by the -statistics of the metre.[66] He showed that the hemistich of the Old -English alliterative line is similar to the Old Norse four-syllable -verse, and is as a rule of a trochaic rhythm (-´ × -´ ×). The proof of -this is that in _Beowulf_, for instance, there are 592 hemistichs of -the type -´ × | -´ × (as _h[=ý]ran scólde_, 10), and that in the same -text there are 238 of the type -´ × × | -´ × (as _g[=ó]de gewýrcean_, -20; _h[=é]old þenden l[=í]fde_, 57), making 830 hemistichs with -trochaic or dactylic rhythm, as against eleven hemistichs of similar -structure but with an unaccented syllable at the beginning, × | -´ -× (×) | -´ ×, and even four or five of these eleven are of doubtful -correctness. From these figures it seems almost beyond doubt that in -the type -´ × (×) | -´ × the licence of letting the hemistich begin -with an unaccented syllable before the first accented syllable was, -generally speaking, avoided. On the other hand, when the first accented -syllable is short with only one unaccented syllable as thesis ()´ ×), -we find this initial unaccented syllable to be the rule, as _genúmen -h[æ´]fdon_ Beow. 3167 (× | )´ × | -´ ×), of which form there are 130 -examples, while, as Rieger noticed, )´ × | -´ × is rare, as in _cýning -m[=æ´]nan_ Beow. 3173. It is perhaps still more remarkable that while -the form -´ × × | -´ × occurs some 238 times, a verse of the form × | -)´ × × | -´ × is never found at all. The numerical proportion of the -form -´ × | -´ × (592 cases) to -´ × × | -´ × (238 cases) is roughly -5 to 2, and that of × | )´ × | -´ × (130 cases) to × | )´ × × | -´ × -(no cases) is 130 to nothing. The quantity of the second arsis is, as -bearing on the prefixing of unaccented syllables to the hemistich, much -less important than the quantity of the first arsis. Hemistichs of the -type -´ × | )´ × occur 34 times, and in 29 cases the last unaccented -syllable is a full word, either a monosyllable or a part of a compound. -The same type, with an initial unaccented syllable × | -´ × | )´ × also -occurs 34 times, but then the last syllable is quite unaccented. The -proportion of the form -´ × | -´ × to the form × | -´ × | -´ × is 592 -to 11, and that of the form -´ × | )´ × to × -´ × | )´ × is 34 to 34, a -noticeable difference. - -Further, it was formerly supposed that the number of unaccented -syllables following the accented syllable was indifferent. This is not -the case. The form -´ × × |-´ × is found 238 times, and the form -´ × -| -´ × × only 22 times. Many of the examples of the latter form are -doubtful, but even counting all these the proportion of the two forms -is 11 to 1. - -If the two accented syllables are not separated by an unaccented -syllable, that is to say, if the two beats are in immediate -juxtaposition, then either two unaccented syllables must stand after -the second arsis, thus -´ | -´ × × (a form that occurs 120 times in -_Beowulf_), or an unaccented syllable must precede the first arsis and -one unaccented syllable must follow the second arsis, thus × -´ | -´ × -(127 times in _Beowulf_), or with the second arsis short × -´ | )´ × -(257 times); the form -´ | -´ × does not occur. - -From these statistics it results that hemistichs of the form -´ × |-´ -× are met with about 17 times to one occurrence of the form -´ × | )´ -×, and that on the other hand, the form × -´ | )´ × is about twice as -frequent as × -´ | -´ ×. - -§ =24. The order of the verse-members in the hemistich.= Every -hemistich consists of two feet or measures, each containing an accented -syllable. Usually these two feet or measures together contain four -verse members, seldom five. In the hemistich of four members, which -first falls to be considered, the measures may consist of two members -each (2+2), or one may contain one member and the other three (1+3 or -3+1). A measure of one member has a single accented syllable only (-´); -a measure of two members has an accented and an unaccented syllable, -which may stand either in the order -´ × or × -´; a measure of three -members has one accented and two unaccented syllables, one of which has -a secondary accent, and the order may be either -´ × `× or -´ × `×. -Measures of two members may be grouped in three different ways so as to -form a hemistich: i. -´ × | -´ × (descending rhythm); ii. × -´ | × -´ -(ascending); iii. × -´ | -´ × (ascending-descending)[67]; i. and ii. -are symmetrical, iii. is unsymmetrical, but as the number of members in -the feet of these three types (2+2 members) is the same, we may call -them, as Sievers does, types with equal feet (_gleichfüssige Typen_), -while the others (1+3 members or 3+1 members) may be called types with -unequal feet, or measures. - -The normal hemistich, then, which consists of four verse-members, will -fall, according to the relative position of these measures or feet, into -the following five chief types: - - =a.= Types with equal feet (2+2 members) - - 1. A. -´ × | -´ × double descending. - - 2. B. × -´ | × -´ double ascending. - - 3. C. × -´ | -´ × ascending-descending. - - =b=. Types with unequal feet - - 4. D. {-´ | -´ `× ×} - {-´ | -´ × `×} (1+3 members). - - 5. E. {-´ `× × | -´} - {-´ × `× | -´} (3+1 members). - -Theoretically type E might be looked on as a type with equal feet, if -divided thus, -´ × | × -´, but by far the greatest number of instances -of this type show at the beginning of the hemistich one trisyllabic -word which forbids such a division of feet, as _wéorðm[`y]ndum þ[=á]h_, -Beow. 8.[68] Types like × × -´ - and `× × -´ -´, which we might -expect to find, do not occur in Old English poetry. In addition to -these ordinary four-membered hemistichs there are others lengthened -by the addition of one syllable, which may be unaccented, or have the -secondary accent. These extended forms (_erweiterte Formen_)[69] may -be composed either of 2+3 members or of 3+2 members. These extended -hemistichs must be carefully distinguished from the hemistichs which -have one or more unaccented syllables _before_ the first accented -syllable, in types A, D, and E; such a prefix of one or more syllables -is called an _anacrusis_ (Auftakt).[70] - -The simple five types of the hemistich admit of variation: i. by -extension (as above); ii. by resolution ()´ × for -´) and shortening -of the long accented syllable ()´); iii. by strengthening of thesis -by means of a secondary accent (_Steigerung_); iv. by increase in -the number of unaccented syllables forming the thesis; also (less -frequently) v. by variation in the position of the alliteration, and -vi. by the admission of anacruses; the varieties produced by the -last-mentioned means are not sub-types but parallel forms to those -without anacruses. - -In describing and analysing the different combinations which arise -out of these means of variation, and especially the peculiar forms of -the sub-types, the arrangement and nomenclature of Sievers will be -followed.[71] - - - Analysis of the verse types. - - I. _Hemistichs of four members_. - -§ =25. Type A= has three sub-types, A1, A2, A3. - -=The sub-type A1= (-´ × | -´ ×) is the normal form with alliteration -of the first arsis in each hemistich, or with alliteration of both -arses in the first hemistich and one in the second, and with syllables -in the thesis which are unaccented according to the usual practice -of the language; examples are, _þ[=é]odnes þêgnas_ An. 3, _h[=ý]ran -scólde_ Beow. 106, _gómban gýldan_ Beow. 11. This is the commonest of -all the types; it occurs in Beowulf, according to Sievers, 471 times -in the first and 575 times in the second hemistich, and with the like -frequency in the other poems. - -The simplest modification of this type arises from the resolution of -one or two long accented syllables. Examples of resolution of the first -arsis are very numerous, _cýninga wúldor_ El. 5, _scéaðena þr[=é]atum_ -Beow. 4, _séofon niht swúncon_ Beow. 517,[72] _níðer gew[=í]teð_ Beow. -1361. Examples of the resolution of the second arsis are less numerous, -as _wúldor cýninge_ El. 291, _éllen frémedon_ Beow. 3, _Scýldes -éaferan_ Beow. 19, _óft gefrémede_ Beow. 165; resolution of both in the -same hemistich is rare, but is found, as _gúmena géogoðe_ An. 1617, -_m[æ´]genes Déniga_ Beow. 155, _gúmum ætg[æ´]dere_ Beow. 1321. - -The chief type is further modified by making the thesis after the first -arsis disyllabic (rarely trisyllabic); the formula is then -´ × × | - ×. -This modification is frequent, as _ríhta gehwýlces_ El. 910, _g[=ó]de -gewýrcean_ Beow. 20, _swéordum [=a]swébban_ An. 72, _súnnan ond -m[=ó]nan_ Beow. 94, _f[=ó]lce t[=o] fr[=ó]fre_ Beow. 14, _w[=é]ox under -wólcnum_ Beow. 8. - -Resolution of the arsis may be combined with this disyllabic thesis, as -(in the first arsis) _wérum on þ[=a]m wónge_ An. 22, _éotenas ond ýlfe_ -Beow. 112, or (in the second arsis) _h[=á]lig of héofenum_ An. 89, -_hélpe gefrémede_ Beow. 551, or (in both) _dúguðe ond géoguðe_ Beow. -160, _h[æ´]leð under héofenum_ Beow. 52. - -The first thesis rarely exceeds two syllables; a thesis of three -syllables is occasionally found, as _s[æ´]gde se þe c[=ú]ðe_ Beow. 90, -_hw[=í]lum hie geh[=é]ton_ Beow. 175, and this can be combined with -resolution of the first arsis, as _swéotulra ond ges[=ý]nra_ An. 565, -_bítere ond gebólgne_ Beow. 1431; or with resolution of the second -arsis, as _[=ú]tan ymbe [æ´]ðelne_ An. 873, _w[=í]ge under w[æ´]tere_ -Beow. 1657; or with resolution of both, as _réceda under róderum_ Beow. -310. Examples of thesis of four syllables are (in the first thesis) -_séalde þ[=a]m þe h[=e] wólde_ Beow. 3056, _sécge ic þ[=e] t[=o] -s[=ó]ðe_ Beow. 591. A thesis with five syllables is still less common, -as _l[=æ´]ddon hine þ[=a] of lýfte_ G[=u]. 398, _st[=ó]pon þ[=a] t[=o] -þ[=æ]re st[=ó]we_ El. 716. - -The cases in which the second thesis has two syllables are rare and to -some extent doubtful, as _wúndor sc[=é]awian_ Beow. 841 and 3033.[73] - -The anacrusis before the type -´ × (×) | -´ × is also of rare -occurrence: examples are _sw[=a] s[=æ´] beb[=ú]geð_ Beow. 1224, or, -with resolution of the first arsis, _sw[=a] w[æ´]ter beb[=ú]geð_ -Beow. 93. Most of the instances occur in the first hemistich; in -this position the anacrusis may be polysyllabic (extending sometimes -to four syllables), sometimes with resolution of the arsis, or with -polysyllabic thesis. Examples: _forc[=ó]m æt cámpe_ An. 1327, _gew[=a]t -æt w[=í]ge_ Beow. 2630; with resolution, _[=a]bóden in búrgum_ An. -78; _genéred wið n[=í]ðe_ Beow. 828; disyllabic anacrusis _ic wæs -éndes[=æ´]ta_ Beow. 241; with resolution, _þ[=æ]r wæs h[æ´]leða -hléahtor_ Beow. 612; trisyllabic anacrusis, _oððe him Óngenþ[=é]owes_ -Beow. 2475; four-syllable anacrusis, _þæt we him þ[=a] g[=ú]ðgeatwa_ -Beow. 2637; monosyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, as _in -m[=æ´]gðe gehw[=æ´]re_ Beow. 25, _[=a]blénded in búrgum_ An. 78; -disyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, _ge æt h[=á]m ge on -hérge_ Beow. 1249; trisyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, _þ[=u] -scealt þ[=a] f[=ó]re gef[=é]ran_ An. 216; monosyllabic anacrusis -with trisyllabic thesis, _gemúnde þ[=a] s[=e] g[=ó]da_ Beow. 759; -monosyllabic anacrusis with resolution of first arsis and trisyllabic -thesis, _ne mágon hie ond ne m[=ó]ton_ An. 1217; with resolution of -second arsis, _gew[=á]t him þ[=a] t[=o] wároðe_ Beow. 234; disyllabic -anacrusis, _ne geféah he þ[=æ]re f[=æ´]hðe_ Beow. 109; combined with -thesis of four syllables, _ofsl[=ó]h þ[=a] æt þ[=æ]re s[æ´]cce_ Beow. -1666. - -=The sub-type A2= is type A with strengthened thesis (i.e. a thesis -with secondary accent) and with alliteration on the first arsis only. -This sub-type has several varieties: - -(i) A2a, with the _first_ thesis strengthened (-´ `× | -´ ×); frequent -in the second hemistich. The second arsis may be either long or short -(-´ `× | -´ ×, or -´ `× | )´ ×). We denote -´ `× | -´ × by A2_a l_ and --´ `× | )´ × by A2_a sh_, or, for brevity, A2 _l_, A2 _sh_. Examples -of A2_l_ are, _gódspèl [=æ´]rest_ An. 12, _w[=í]sf[`æ]st wórdum_ Beow. -626, _hríngnèt b[=æ´]ron_ Beow. 1890; with resolution of the first -arsis, _médusèld b[=ú]an_ Beow. 3066; with resolution of the second -arsis, _g[=á]rsècg hlýnede_ An. 238, _hórdbùrh h[æ´]leða_ Beow. 467; -with resolution of both, _fréoðobùrh f[æ´]gere_ Beow. 522; with -resolution of the strengthened thesis, _súndwùdu s[=ó]hte_ Beow. 208; -resolution of the first arsis and thesis, _m[æ´]genwùdu múndum_ Beow. -236; resolution of the first thesis and the second arsis, _g[=ú]ðsèaro -gúmena_ Beow. 328. - -Examples of A2 _sh_ are numerous, as _w[=æ´]rf[`æ]st cýning_ An. 416, -_g[=ú]ðrìnc mónig_ Beow. 839, _þr[=é]an[`=y]d þólað_ Beow. 284; it -is exceptional to find the second arsis short when the thesis which -precedes has no secondary accent, as _Hr[=é]ðel cýning_ Beow. 2436, -_Hrúnting náma_ Beow. 1458, _[æ´]ðeling bóren_ Beow. 2431; with -resolution of the first arsis, _séaronèt séowað_ An. 64, _snótor cèorl -mónig_ Beow. 909, _síger[=ò]f cyning_ Beow. 619, _mágodrìht micel_ Beow. -67, &c. Most of the hemistichs which fall under this head have double -alliteration. - -(ii) A2 _b_, with the _second_ thesis strengthened (-´ × | -´ `×). -Most of the cases of this type occur in the first hemistich; when they -occur in the second hemistich the measure -´ `× is usually a proper -name, not a real compound. Examples: _Gréndles g[=ú]ðcr[`æ]ft_ Beow. 127, -_l[=é]ofa B[=é]owùlf_ Beow. 855; with resolution of the first arsis, -_gámol ond g[=u]ðr[=è]ow_ Beow. 58; with resolution of the second arsis, -_béorna béaducr[`æ]ft_ An. 219; with resolution of both, _séfa sw[=a] -séarogrìm_ Beow. 595; with resolution of the strengthened thesis, _lónd -ond l[=é]odb[`y]rig_ Beow. 2472; with resolution of both the second arsis -and thesis _m[=æ´]g ond mágoþègn_ Beow. 408.[74] - -This type may still further be varied by a first thesis of two or more -syllables, _[=ú]t on þæt [=í]glànd_ An. 15, _fólc oððe fr[=é]obùrh_ -Beow. 694, _réste hine þ[=a] r[=ú]mhèort_ Beow. 1800; by resolution of -the first arsis, _glídon ofer g[=a]rsècg_ Beow. 515, of the second, -_l[=á]d ofer lágustr[=è]am_ An. 423, _sýmbel on sélefùl_ Beow. 620; by -resolution of the thesis with secondary accent, _éahtodon éorlscìpe_ -Beow. 3173; the anacrusis is rarely found, as _ges[=á]won séledr[=è]am_ -Beow. 2253, and double alliteration (in the first hemistich) is the -rule in this form of type A. - -(iii) A2 _ab_, with both theses strengthened -´ `× | -´ `×, -_b[=á]nh[=ù]s bl[=ó]df[`=a]g_ An. 1407, _g[=ú]ðrìnc góldwlànc_ -Beow. 1882, _[=æ´]nl[=ì]c áns[`=y]n_ Beow. 251; with resolution of -first arsis, _wlítes[=è]on wr[æ´]tl[=ì]c_ Beow. 1651, and of the -second arsis, _gl[=é]awm[=ò]d góde l[=è]of_ An. 1581, _g[=ù]ðswèord -géatol[=ì]c_ Beow. 2155, and of both first and second arsis, -_héorowèarh hétel[=ì]c_ Beow. 1268; with resolution of the first -(strengthened) thesis, _n[=ý]dwràcu n[=í]ðgrìm_ Beow. 193; with -resolution of both the first arsis and the first thesis, _býrelàde -br[=ý]d gèong_ G[=u]. 842; with resolution of the second strengthened -thesis, _égesl[=ì]c éorðdràca_ Beow. 2826; with resolution of the first -and second thesis, _fýrdsèaru f[=u]slìcu_ Beow. 232. This form of the -type has also as a rule double alliteration. - -=The sub-type A3= is type A with alliteration on the second arsis only -and is limited almost entirely to the first hemistich. A strengthened -thesis occurs only after the second arsis; this sub-type might -therefore be designated A3 _b_. - -Verses falling under this head, with their alliteration always on the -last syllable but one, or (in the case of resolution) on the last -syllable but two, are distinguished by the frequent occurrence of -polysyllabic theses extending to five syllables, in marked contrast -to types A1 and A2 where theses of one or two syllables are the -rule, longer theses the exception. In A3, however, shorter theses -are met with along with the usual resolutions: a monosyllabic thesis -in _hw[=æ´]r se =þ=[=é]oden_ El. 563, _[=é]ow h[=e]t sécgan_ Beow. -391; with resolution of first arsis, _wúton n[=u] éfstan_ Beow. 3102; -with resolution of the second arsis, _þús me =f=[æ´]der m[=i]n_ El. -528, _íc þæt =h=ógode_ Beow. 633; with disyllabic thesis, _h[=é]ht -þ[=a] on =ú=htan_ El. 105, _h[æ´]fde se =g=[=ó]da_ Beow. 205; with -resolution of the first arsis, _þánon he ge=s=[=ó]hte_ Beow. 463; -with resolution of the second arsis, _wéarð him on =H=éorote_ Beow. -1331; with strengthened second thesis, _éart þ[=u] s[=e] =B=[=é]owùlf_ -Beow. 506; with trisyllabic thesis, _gíf þ[=e] þæt ge=l=ímpe_ El. 441, -_fúndon þ[=a] on =s=ánde_ Beow. 3034; with resolution of the first -arsis, _hw[æ´]ðere m[=e] ge=s=[=æ´]lde_ Beow. 574, of the second -arsis, _sýððan ic for =d=úgeðum_ Beow. 2502; with strengthened second -thesis, _n[=ó] h[=e] þone =g=ífst[=ò]l_ Beow. 168; with thesis of -four syllables, _swýlce h[=i] m[=e] ge=b=léndon_ Cri. 1438, _hábbað -w[=e] t[=o] þ[=æ]m =m=[=æ´]ran_ Beow. 270; with resolution of the -first arsis, _útan [=u]s t[=o] þ[=æ]re =h=[=ý]ðe_ Cri. 865; with -resolution of the first and second arsis, _þóne þe him on =s=wéofote_ -Beow. 2296; with strengthened second thesis, _n[=ó] þ[=y] [=æ]r þone -=h=éaðorìnc_ Beow. 2466; with thesis of five syllables, _sýððan h[=e] -hine to =g=[=ù]ðe_ Beow. 1473; with thesis of six syllables, _h[=ý]rde -ic þæt h[=e] þone =h=éalsb[=è]ah_ Beow. 2173. These forms are also -varied by monosyllabic anacrusis combined with monosyllabic thesis, -_þe [=é]ow of =w=érgðe_ El. 295, _þæt híne on =ý=lde_ Beow. 22; with -strengthened second thesis, _þæt híne s[=e]o =b=rímw[`y]lf_ Beow. 1600; -with disyllabic thesis, _ne þéarft þ[=u] sw[=a] =s=w[=í]ðe_ El. 940, -_gespr[æ´]c þ[=a] s[=e] =g=[=ó]da_ Beow. 676; the same with resolution -of the first arsis, _gewítan him þ[=a] =g=óngan_ Cri. 533; disyllabic -anacrusis and disyllabic thesis, _ne gefr[æ´]gn ic þ[=a] =m=[=æ´]gðe_ -Beow. 1012; with resolution of the second arsis, _geséah h[=e] in -=r=écede_ Beow. 728; with strengthened second thesis, _ge swýlce s[=e]o -=h=érep[=à]d_ Beow. 2259; monosyllabic anacrusis with trisyllabic -thesis, _on hwýlcum þ[=a]ra =b=[=é]ama_ El. 851; with four-syllable -thesis, _gew[=í]teð þonne on =s=ealman_ Beow. 2461; with resolution of -the first arsis, _ne m[=á]gon h[=i] þonne ge=h=[=ý]nan_ Cri. 1525; with -resolution of the second arsis, _ges[=á]won þ[=a] æfter =w=[æ´]tere_ -Beow. 1426. The last measure may be shortened exceptionally to )´ ×, as -_w[æ´]s m[=i]n =f=[æ´]der_ Beow. 262. - -On the whole type A seems to occur more frequently in the first than in -the second hemistich; in Beowulf out of the 6366 hemistichs of which the -poem consists, 2819 fall under this type, and of these 1701 are first -and 1118 second hemistichs.[75] - -§ =26. The chief type B=, × -´ | × -´, has apart from resolutions -only one form. But as the second thesis may consist of either one or -two syllables, we may distinguish between two sub-types, B1 (with -monosyllabic second thesis) and B2 (with disyllabic second thesis). The -commonest variation of the type occurs in the first thesis, which may -be polysyllabic. - -(i) The simplest form, sub-type B1, × -´ | × -´, is not very common; -according to Sievers there are only 59 instances in the whole of -Beowulf, as _ond H[=á]lga tíl_ Beow. 61, _þ[=a]m h[=á]lig gód_ An. -14; with resolution of the first arsis _in séle þ[=a]m h[=é]an_ Beow. -714, and of the second arsis, _þurh r[=ù]mne séfan_ Beow. 278, and of -both, _[=æ]r súmeres cýme_ El. 1228. Hemistichs of this type, on the -other hand, with a disyllabic first thesis are not uncommon, _syððan -fúrðum w[=é]ox_ Beow. 914, _him p[=a] Scýld gew[=á]t_ Beow. 26; with -resolution of the first arsis, _under Héorotes hr[=ó]f_ Beow. 403; with -resolution of the second, _þæt s[=e]o céaster híder_ An. 207, and of -both, _æfter h[æ´]leða hrýre_ Beow. 2053; a trisyllabic first thesis -is also common, _þ[=e]ah þe h[=e] [=á]tres drýnc_ An. 53, _oð þæt him -éft onw[=ó]c_ Beow. 56, _s[=e] þe on hánda b[æ´]r_ Beow. 495; with -resolution of the first arsis, _forðan h[=i]e m[æ´]genes cr[æ´]ft_ -Beow. 418; of the second arsis, _ond h[=u] þ[=y] þríddan d[æ´]ge_ El. -185; of both, _þæt h[=e] þ[=a] géoguðe wíle_ Beow. 1182; with first -thesis of four syllables, _ne h[=y]rde ic s[=í]ð ne [=æ´]r_ El. 240, -_swylce h[=i]e æt Fínnes h[=á]m_ Beow. 1157; with first thesis of five -syllables (rare) _siððan h[=e] hire fólmum hr[=á]n_ Beow. 723, and with -resolution of second arsis _þonne h[=y] him þurh m[=í]nne nóman_ Cri. -1351. - -(ii) The sub-type B2, or B with disyllabic second thesis, is rarely -found when the first thesis has only one syllable, _þe drýhtnes -bib[=ó]d_ Cri. 1159, _þ[=u] w[=á]st gif hit is_ Beow. 272, _þ[=a]m -w[=í]fe þ[=a] wórd_ Beow. 640; with resolution of the first arsis, -_þurh dároða gedrép_ An. 1446, and of the second, _þurh níhta genípu_ -G[=u]. 321; it is commoner with a disyllabic first thesis, _þ[=a] of -wéalle geséah_ Beow. 229, _h[=e] þæs fr[=ó]fre geb[=á]d_ Beow. 76; with -resolution of the first arsis, _mid his h[æ´]leða gedríht_ Beow. 663, -_ofer wároða gewéorp_ An. 306; with trisyllabic first thesis, _þonne -h[=e] [=æ´]r oððe s[=í]ð_ El. 74, _wes þ[=u] [=u]s l[=á]rena g[=ó]d_ -Beow. 269; with resolution of the first arsis, _þ[=e]ah h[=e] þ[=æ]r -mónige geséah_ Beow. 1614, and of the second arsis, _þæt n[=æ]fre -Gréndel sw[=a] féla_ Beow. 592; with first thesis of four and five -syllables, _hwæðre h[=e] in br[=é]ostum þ[=a] gít_ An. 51, _þæs be hire -s[=e] wílla gelámp_ Beow. 627. - -Verses with trisyllabic second thesis are extremely rare and -doubtful.[76] It should be noticed that, in this second type too, the -thesis seldom consists of a second part of a compound, as _hine fýrwìt -br[æ´]c_ Beow. 232, the exceptions are proper names, as _n[=u] ic -B[=é]owùlf þéc_ Beow. 947, _ne wearð Hérem[=ò]d sw[=á]_ Beow. 1710. - -Type B, according to Sievers, occurs 1014 times in Beowulf, -of which 293 are in the first hemistich and 721 in the second. - -§ =27. The Type C= has three sub-types: (i) C 1, the normal type -× -´ | -´ ×, without resolution, as _oft Scýld Sc[=é]fing_ Beow. 4, -_geb[=ù]n h[æ´]fdon_ 117. Here too the first thesis may consist of two, -three, four, or five syllables, _þæt h[=i]e [=æ´]ghwýlcne_ An. 26, -_þone gód sénde_ Beow. 13, _ofer hrónr[=á]de_ Beow. 10, _[=æ]r h[=e] -onwég hwúrfe_ Beow. 264, _mid þ[=æ]re w[æ´]lfýlle_ Beow. 125, _þe ic -him t[=ó] s[=é]ce_ El. 319 _þ[=a]ra þe mid B[=é]owúlfe_ Beow. 1052, -_oð þæt hine sémnínga_ An. 821, _þ[=a]ra þe h[=e] him míd h[æ´]fde_ -Beow. 1625, _swylce h[=i]e ofer s[=æ´]e c[=ó]mon_, An. 247. (ii) C 2 -is the normal type C with resolution of the first arsis, and is of -such frequent occurrence that it may be looked on as a special type, -_on hérefélda_ An. 10, _forscrífen h[æ´]fde_ Beow. 106, _in wórold -w[=ó]cun_ Beow. 60; a less common form is that with resolution of the -first and second arsis, _t[=o] brímes fároðe_ Beow. 28, _sw[=a] féla -fýrena_ Beow. 164; sometimes with resolution of the second arsis only, -_t[=o] s[=æ´]es fároðe_ An. 236 and 1660, _for fr[=é]an égesan_ An. -457, but not in Beowulf. The first thesis may have two, three, or four -syllables, _þ[=a] wið góde wúnnon_ Beow. 113, _ofer lágustr[=æ´]te_; -with two resolutions, _ic þæs wíne Déniga_ Beow. 350, _h[=u] s[=e] -mága frémede_ An. 639, _þæt him his wínem[=á]gas_ Beow. 65, _ne h[=i]e -h[=u]ru wínedríhten_ Beow. 863. (iii) C 3 is type C with short second -arsis, × -´ | )´ ×, and is pretty common, _in g[=é]ardágum_ Beow. -1, _of f[=é]orwégum_ Beow. 37; the first thesis may have from two -to five syllables, _þæt wæs g[=ó]d cýning_ Beow. 11, _þæt h[=i]e in -b[=é]orséle_ Beow. 482, _s[=e] þe hine d[=é]að nímeð_ Beow. 441, _ne -meaht þ[=u] þæs s[=í]ðf[æ´]tes_ An. 211, _þonne h[=e] on þæt sínc -stárað_ Beow. 1486. Resolution seems to be avoided, though it occurs -here and there, _of hlíðes nósan_ Beow. 1892, _on þ[=æ]m méðelstéde_ -Beow. 1083. Thesis with secondary accent is not found. The number of -hemistichs of type C in Beowulf is, according to Sievers, 564. - -§ =28. The type D= always ends with a disyllabic thesis, of which -the first is generally the second syllable of a compound and has the -secondary accent. There are four sub-types. (i) D 1 is the normal form, --´ | -´ `× ×, as _hélm [æ´]lwìhta_ An. 118, _f[=é]ond mánc[`y]nnes_ -Beow. 164, _w[=í]gwéorðùnga_ Beow. 176, _wéard Scýldìnga_ Beow. 95, -_lándbúèndum_ Beow. 95, _hríng gýldènne_, Beow. 2810, _hóf m[=ó]dìgra_ -Beow. 312, _fr[=é]an [=ù]sèrne_ Beow. 3003. The chief variations arise -from resolution of the first arsis, _cýning [æ´]lmìhtig_ El. 145, -_f[æ´]der álwàlda_ Beow. 316, _mérel[=í]ðènde_ Beow. 255, _flótan -[=é]owèrne_ Beow. 294, _cýning [=æ´]nìgne_ Beow. 1851, or of the -second arsis, _h[=é]an hýgeg[=è]omor_ An. 1089, _m[=æ´]g Hígel[=à]ces_ -Beow. 738 and 759; resolution of first and second arsis, _hláden -hérew[`=æ]dum_ Beow. 1898, _néfan Hérer[=ì]ces_ Beow. 2207. Hemistichs -like _wiht unh[=æ]lo_ Beow. 120, which have compounds with _un_, may -be read _wíht únh[æ´]lo_ according to type D 2, or _wíht unh[=æ´]lo_ -according to type A, -´ × | -´ × (Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, -x. 251, and Kluge in _Paul's Grundriss_, i², p. 1051). (ii) D 2 is -the same form, but with the thesis short and with secondary accent, --´ | -´ `) × _béorht bl[æ´]dgìfa_ An. 84, _l[=é]of lándfrùma_ Beow. -31, _str[=é]am [=ú]t þònan_ Beow. 2546, _r[=æ´]d éahtèdon_ Beow. 172; -with resolution of the first arsis, _m[æ´]gen sámnòde_ El. 55, _mága -Héalfdènes_ Beow. 189; with resolution of the second arsis, _hórd -ópenìan_ Beow. 3057, the only example. (iii) D 3 is the normal type, -but with short second arsis (rare), -´ | )´ `× ×, _éorðcýnìnga_ El. -1174; with resolution of the first arsis, _rádorcýnìnges_ El. 624. -(iv) D 4 has the form -´ | -´ × `×, and is closely allied to the type -E (-´ `× × | -´), as it has the secondary accent on the last syllable -of the thesis (Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 256), _br[=é]ost -ínnanwèard_ An. 649, _hólm [=ù]p ætb[`æ]r_ Beow. 519, _fýrst fórð -gew[=á]t_ ib. 210; varied by resolution of the first arsis, _géaro -g[=ù]ðe fràm_ An. 234, _flóta f[=á]mighèals_ Beow. 218, _súnu d[=é]að -fornàm_ Beow. 2120; by resolution of the second arsis, _wlánc Wédera -l[=ò]od_ 341, and of both first and second arsis, _wlítig wéoruda -h[=è]ap_ An. 872; and resolution of the last thesis with secondary -accent, _w[=ó]p úp [=a]hàfen_ Beow. 128, _wúnað wíntra fèla_ Ph. 580. -Certain hemistichs which may belong to this sub-type admit of an -alternative accentuation, and may belong to the following type; for -example, _scop hwlum sang_ Beow. 496 may be read -´ | -´ × `×, or as E --´ `× × | -´, so _werod eall [=a]r[=a]s_ Beow. 652. - -§ =29. The type E= has two sub-types, distinguished by the position of -the syllable bearing the secondary accent; this syllable is generally -the second syllable of a compound or the heavy middle syllable of a -trisyllabic word with a long root-syllable. - -E1 has the form -´ `× × | -´, the syllable with secondary accent -standing first in the thesis, _m[=ó]dsòrge w[æ´]g_ El. 61, _wéorðm[`y]ndum -þ[=á]h_ Beow. 8, _S[=ù]ðdèna fólc_ Beow. 463, _[=é]htènde w[æ´]s_ -Beow. 159, _h[=æ´]ðènra hýht_ Beow. 179, _[=æ´]nìgne þónc_ Cri. 1498, -_wórdhòrd onléac_ Beow. 259, _úplàng [=a]st[=ó]d_ Beow. 760, _scóp -hw[=ì]lum sáng_ Beow. 496 (cf. above, § 29); varied by resolution of -the first arsis, _héofonr[=ì]ces weárd_ El. 445, _Scédelàndum ín_ -Beow. 19, _wlítebèorhtne wáng_ Beow. 93, _lífigènde cw[=ó]m_ Beow. -1974, _[æ´]ðelìnges w[=é]ox_ El. 12, _médofùl ætb[æ´]r_ Beow. 625, -_dúguð èall [=a]r[=á]s_ Beow. 1791; resolution of the second arsis -is rare, _t[=í]r[=è]adge h[æ´]leð_ An. 2 (the MS. reading _[=e]adige_ -must be corrected to _[=e]adge_, see Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 459 on -these middle vowels after long root-syllable), _hélþègnes héte_ Beow. -142; resolution of both is rare, _sélewèard [=a]séted_ Beow. 668, -_wínedr[`y]hten fr[æ´]gen_ An. 921; resolution of the accented thesis, -_gl[=é]dègesa grím_ Beow. 2651. - -E2 has the last syllable of the thesis with secondary accent, and -is very rare, -´ × `× | -´, _mórðorbèd str[=é]d_ Beow. 2437; with -resolution of last arsis, _g[=é]omorgìdd wrécen_ An. 1550, _b[=æ´]ron -[=ù]t hr[æ´]ðe_ An. 1223. - - - II. _Hemistichs of five members._ - -§ =30.= Hemistichs of five members (extended) occur much more rarely -than the normal types of four members. The extended types are denoted by -the letters A*, B*, C*, &c. - -=Type A*= has two sub-types distinguished by the position of the -syllable with the secondary accent. - -(i) A*1, -´ `× × | -´ × occurs chiefly in the first hemistich, -_gódbèarn on gálgan_ El. 719; with resolution of first arsis, -_géolorànd t[=o] g[=ú]ðe_ Beow. 438; with thesis of two unaccented -syllables following on the secondary accent, _gl[æ´]dm[=ò]d on gesíhðe_ -Cri. 911, _f[æ´]str[æ´]dne geþ[=ó]ht_ Beow. 611; with final thesis -strengthened by secondary accent, _g[=á]stl[=ì]cne góddr[=è]am_ G[=u]. -602, _gámolfèax ond g[=ú]ðr[=ò]f_ Beow. 609. - -(ii) A*2 -´ × `× | -´ × may possibly occur in _m[=á]ððumf[`æ]t -m[=æ´]re_ Beow. 2405, _wúldorl[=è]an wéorca_ Cri. 1080; with resolution -of the thesis with secondary accent, _mórðorbèalo mága_ Beow. 1079. -Possibly, however, the syllables _um_ in _m[=a]ððum_ and _or_ in -_wuldor_ and _morðor_ are to be written _m_ and _r_, so that the -scansion of the hemistich would be A2 -´ `- | -´ × and -´ >`) ×< | -´ -×.[77] - -=Type B*= `× × -´ | × -´ does not seem to occur in O.E. poetry, though -it does in Old Norse. - -=Type C*= in the forms `× × -´| -´ ×, `× × )´ × | -´ ×, × × -´ | )´ × -are also not found in O.E. - -=Type D*= on the other hand does occur, but almost exclusively in -the first hemistich. It has three sub-types: (i) D*1 -´ × | -´ × ×, -_s[=í]de s[=æ´]n[`æ]ssas_ Beow. 223, _áldres órw[=è]na_ Beow. 1002; -with resolution of the first arsis, _[æ´]ðeling [=á]nh[`=y]dig_ -Beow. 2668; more commonly with resolution of the second arsis, -_m[=æ´]ton mérestr[`æ]ta_ Beow. 514; with resolution of both, _lócene -léoðos[`y]rcan_ Beow. 1506. (ii) D*2 -´ × | -´ `) ×, _m[=æ´]re -méarcstàpa_ Beow. 103, _éaldor Éastdèna_ Beow. 392; with resolution of -the first arsis, _[æ´]ðele órdfrùma_ Beow. 263; with resolution of the -second arsis, _m[=ó]dges mérefàran_ Beow. 502, _B[=é]owulf máðelòde_ -Beow. 505, &c. (iii) D*3 -´ × | )´ `× × is not found. (iv) D*4 -´ × | --´ × `× is rare, _gr[=é]tte G[=é]ata l[=è]od_ Beow. 625, _þr[=ý]ðl[=i]c -þégna h[=è]ap_ Beow. 400; with resolution of first arsis, _éaforan -éllors[=ì]ð_ Beow. 2452; with resolution of the second, _[=ý]ðde -éotena c[`y]n_ Beow. 421; with resolution of the secondarily accented -syllable, _w[=í]n of wúndorfàtum_ Beow. 1163; this type is varied -by anacrusis, _ongínneð g[=é]omorm[=ò]d_ Beow. 2045, and by anacrusis -together with disyllabic thesis in the second foot, _oferswám þ[=a] -síoleða bigòng_ Beow. 2368. - -=Type E*= does not occur in O.E. poetry.[78] - -§ =31.= To assign the different hemistichs of a poem to these various -types we have to follow as a regulating principle the natural word -accent and syntactical accent of each sentence. In some cases the -similarity or relation with one another of the types renders it a -matter of difficulty to determine exactly to what particular type a -hemistich may belong. Systematic investigations as to the principles -which govern the combinations of the five types in pairs to form the -long line have not yet been made. From such observations as have -been made it would appear that by preference hemistichs of different -rhythmical structure (ascending and descending) were combined with -a view to avoid a monotonous likeness between the two halves of the -verse.[79] - -§ =32.= The combination of two hemistichs so as to form a long line -is effected by means of alliteration, one at least of the two fully -accented syllables being the bearer of an alliterative sound. In no -case is an unaccented syllable or even a syllable with a secondary -accent allowed to take part in the alliteration. This fact, that -secondarily accented syllables are debarred from alliterating, is -another proof that it is better to look on them as belonging to the -thesis rather than to the arsis of the verse. - - - =The Principles of Alliteration.= - -§ =33. Quality of the Alliteration.= It is an all but invariable -rule that the correspondence of sounds must be exact and not merely -approximate. A _g_ must alliterate to a _g_, not to a _c_, a _d_ to -a _d_, not to a _t_, and so on. There is, however, one remarkable -exception, namely, that no distinction is made between the guttural _c_ -(as in _c[=u]ðe_) and the palatal _c_ (as in _c[=e]osan_), nor between -the guttural _g_ (as in _god_) and the palatal _g_ (as in _gierede_), -not even when the latter represents Germanic _j_ (as in _geong_, -_g[=e]ar_). With exceptions hereafter to be noted, a consonant followed -by a vowel may alliterate with itself followed by another consonant: -thus _c[=u]ðe_ alliterates not only with words like _cyning_, but -with words like _cræft_, _cwellan_; and _h[=u]s_ alliterates not -only with _heofon_ but with _hl[=e]apan_, _hn[=æ]gan_, &c. The fact -that different vowels, as _[=i]_, _[=u]_, and _æ_ in _[=i]sig ond -[=u]tf[=u]s æðelinges fær_ Beow. 33, alliterate together is only an -apparent exception to the strictness of the rule, as it is really -the glottal catch or _spiritus lenis_[80] before all vowels which -alliterates here. Wherever a vowel seems to alliterate with an _h_ we -are justified in assuming a corruption of the text, as in _óretmecgas -æfter h[æ´]leðum frægn_ Beow. 332, where Grein improves both sense and -metre by substituting _æðelum_ for _hæleðum_; other examples are Beow. -499, 1542, 2095, 2930. In some cases where foreign names beginning with -_h_ occur we occasionally find instances of this inexact alliteration, -as _Hólofernus únlyfigendes_ Jud. 180 and 7, 21, 46, contrasted with -_Hólofernus hógedon [=a]ninga_ 250; in later works as in Ælfric's -_Metrical Homilies_ we find alliteration of _h_ with a vowel not only -in foreign names but with native words, as - - _and he =[=æ´]=fre his fýrde þam =h[=æ´]=lende bet[=æ´]hte._ - Ælfr. Judges[81] 417. - -and _h_ before consonants (viz. _r, l, w_) is disregarded as - - _and h[=e] hig [=a]hrédde of þ[=a]m =r=[=é]ðan þ[=é]owte._ - Ælfr. Judges 16. - - _on h=w=ám his stréngð wæs and his =w=úndorl[=ì]ce míht_. - ibid. 306. - -It is important to observe that the combinations _st_, _sc_, _sp_ are -not allowed to alliterate with each other or with words beginning -with _s_ not followed by a consonant, but _st_ can alliterate only -with _st_, _sc_ only with _sc_, _sp_ only with _sp_; thus _spere_ and -_scyld_, _stillan_ and _springan_, _s[=æ]_ and _styrman_ do not count as -alliterations. The invariable practice is seen in the following lines:-- - - _h[=e]t =st=r[=é]amfare =st=íllan, =st=órmas réstan._ An. 1578. - - _he =sc=[=é]af þ[=a] mid þam =sc=ýlde, þæt se =sc=éatt - t[=o]b[æ´]rst - and þæt =sp=ére =sp=réngde, þæt hit =sp=ráng ong[=é]an._ - Byrhtnoth 136-7. - -In later times this rule was not so strictly observed. The metrical -Psalms alliterate _sc_ with _s_ and _sw_ with _s_, as - - _hi hine him =s=ámnuncga =sc=éarpum str[=é]lum_. Ps. lxiii. 4. - - _on þ[=í]ne þ[=a] =s=w[=í]ðran, ond þe ne =sc=éaðeð [=æ´]nig_. - Ps. xc. 7. - -but _sp_ and _st_ do not alliterate with each other or with _s_. In -Ælfric all these combinations of consonants alliterate indifferently -with each other or with _s_ + another consonant or with simple _s_, as -in - - _wið þ[=á]m þe h[=e]o be=s=w[=í]ce =S=ámson þone =s=trángan_. - Ælfr. Judges 308. - -Sometimes in Ælfric the alliterating letter does not stand at the -beginning of the word, - - _and h[=e] hæfde héora ge=w=éald ealles t=w=éntig g[=é]ara_. - ibid. 85. - -and the alliteration may even fall on an unaccented particle as in - - _=f=rám his gel[=e]afan and his [=æ] =f=ors[=a]won._ ibid. 51. - -For a full account of Ælfric's alliteration the reader may be referred -to an interesting essay by Dr. Arthur Brandeis, _Die Alliteration in -Aelfric's metrischen Homilien_, 1897 (Programm der Staatsrealschule im -VII. Bezirk in Wien). - -§ =34. Position of the alliterative words.= Out of the four accented -syllables of the line two at least, and commonly three, must begin with -an alliterative sound, and this alliteration still further increases -the stress which these syllables have in virtue of their syntactical -and rhythmical accent. - -The position of these alliterative sounds in the line may vary in the -same way as their number. The general laws which govern the position -of the alliteration are the following:--(i) One alliterating sound -_must_, and two _may_ occur in the first hemistich; (ii) In the second -hemistich the alliterating sound (called the head-stave[82]) must fall -on the first of the two accented syllables of that hemistich, and the -second accented syllable in the second hemistich does not take part in -the alliteration at all; (iii) When there are three alliterating sounds -in the whole line two of them must be in the first hemistich and only -one in the second. Examples of lines with three alliterating sounds: - - _=s=éolfa he ge=s=étte =s=únnan ond m[=ó]nan._ Sat. 4. - - _=ú=fan ond =[=ù]=tan him wæs =[=æ´]=ghw[=æ]r w[=á]._ Sat. 342. - -Lines with only two alliterative sounds, the first of which may coincide -with either of the accented syllables of the first hemistich (the second -of course coinciding with the first accented syllable of the second -hemistich) are very common: - - _=h=[=é]afod éalra =h=[=é]ahgescéafta._ Gen. 4. - - _h[=i] hýne þ[=a] æt=b=[=æ´]ron to =b=rímes fároðe._ Beow. 28. - -If the first hemistich contains only one alliterative sound this -alliteration generally falls on the more emphatic of the two accented -syllables of the hemistich which is usually the first, as - - _on =f=l[=ó]des [=æ´]ht =f=éor gew[=í]tan._ Beow. 42. - -In the type A the single alliteration of the first hemistich not -unfrequently falls on the second accented syllable, such cases being -distinguished, as A3 - - _þ[=á] wæs on =b=úrgum =B=[=é]owulf Scýldinga._ Beow. 53. - -In types C and D the single alliteration of the first section must -always fall on the first accented syllable which in these types is -more emphatic than the second. In types B and E alliteration on the -second arsis would bring the alliteration too near to the end of the -hemistich, and is therefore rare. - -Double alliteration in the first hemistich occurs in all of the five -types, and chiefly when the two accented syllables have equally strong -accents. It is, therefore, least common in C × -´ | -´ × where the -first arsis predominates over the second, and is most frequent in the -strengthened hemistichs, in D, E, A2, and in the five-membered D* -types, where it is the rule.[83] - -A third form of alliteration, though much less important and frequent -than these two, occurs when the second accented syllable of the second -hemistich shares in alliteration, in addition to the first accented -syllable. There are then two different pairs of alliterative sounds -distributed alternately between the two hemistichs. The commonest form -of this double alliteration of the whole line is represented by the -formula a b | a b, as - - _hwæt! we =G=[=á]r=d=éna in =g=[=é]ar=d=águm._ Beow. 1. - - _=Sc=ýldes =é=aferan =Sc=édelandum =í=n._ Beow. 19. - - _=h=ílde=w=[=æ´]þnum ond =h=éaðo=w=[=æ´]dum._ Beow. 39; - -less commonly by the formula a b | b a: - - _þ[=a] =w=[=æ´]ron =m=ónige þe his =m=[=æ´]g =w=ríðon._ - Beow. 2982. - _=h=w[=í]lum for =d=úguðe =d=óhtor =H=r[=ó]ðg[=à]res._ - Beow. 2020; - -verses corresponding to the formula a a | b b are not found in early -poetry. No doubt certain instances of this double alliteration may be -accidental, but others seem intentional. - -The foregoing rules as to alliteration are strictly observed in the -early and classic poetry, but in later times certain licences crept in. -Three of these may be noticed. (i) The second accented syllable of the -second hemistich is allowed to carry the alliteration instead of the -first accented syllable, - - _=l=[=á]stas =l=égde oðð[æ´]t h[=e] ge=l=[=æ´]dde._ Gen. 2536. - - -(ii) Both accented syllables of the second hemistich alliterate with one -accented syllable of the first hemistich,[84] - - _me =s=éndon t[=ó] þ[=e] =s=[=æ´]men =s=nélle._ Byrhtnoth 29. - -(iii) The four accented syllables of the line all alliterate together, - - _=G=ódwine ond =G=ódw[=i]g =g=[=ù]de ne =g=[=ý]mdon._ - Byrhtn. 192. - -In the majority of cases the same alliterative letter is not employed in -two successive lines, but we find cases like - - _þ[=a] t[=o]=b=r[=æ´]d Sámson =b=[=é]gen his éarmas - þæt þ[=a] r[=á]pas to=b=úrston þe he mid ge=b=únden wæs._ - Ælf. Judges 269; - -and earlier in Andreas 70, 197, 372, 796, 815, 1087, &c., or in Beowulf -403, 489, 644, 799, 865, 898, &c. - -And even three lines in succession, as - - _swýlce he [=a]=f=[=é]dde of =f=íxum tw[=á]m - ond of =f=[=í]f hl[=á]fum =f=[=í]ra cýnnes - =f=[=í]f þ[=ù]sendo; =f=[=é]ðan s[=æ´]ton._ An. 589 ff. - -This usage, which in Middle English became very popular, is noticeably -frequent in the poem of Judith, probably with a view to emphasis. Many -examples of such pairs of verses are to be found collected by Dr. A. -Brandeis from Ælfric. - -The unaccented words may begin with the same letter as the accented -words which bear the alliteration proper,[85] as - - _ne h[=i]e huru =h=éofona =h=élm =h=érian ne c[=ù]ðon._ - Beow. 182, - -or one of the unaccented words may begin with the same letter as an -accented word which does not alliterate, as - - _þæt fram =h=[=á]m gefr[=æ´]gn =H=ígel[=a]ces bégn._ Beow. 194; - -this of course has nothing to do with alliteration, though in later -times it was often mistaken for it. - -Verses without any alliteration at all, as - - _he hélpeð þéarfan swýlce [=e]ac w[=æ´]dlan._ Ps. lxxi. 13, - -occur only in late OE. poetry like Ælfric's Homilies, and when rhyme was -beginning to creep in. - -§ =35. Alliteration in relation to the parts of speech and to the order -the order of words.= Both alliteration and the whole structure of the -alliterative line depend in the first place on the natural or -etymological accent of the single words, and next on the syntactical -accent which these words bear in their relation to one another in the -sentence. Just as only the accented syllable of a single word can take -part in the alliteration, so only can those words take part in it which -are marked out in the sentence as important and therefore strongly -accented. - -The relative degree of stress is influenced at times by the rhetorical -accent, but generally speaking we find a certain gradation of accent -among the accented words depending on their intrinsic and not on their -rhetorical importance in building up the sentence. - -Two general principles may be laid down: (1) If the syntactical value -of the two accented syllables of the hemistich is not equal, then the -word which has the stronger accent of the two is chosen to alliterate. -In the second hemistich it is always the first accented word (the 'head -stave'), in the first hemistich it is generally the first accented -word, though the second accented word may alliterate as well. (2) If -the two accented syllables of the section are equal in syntactical -value, then the first alliterates, and when double alliteration is -allowed the second may also alliterate. - -The various grammatical classes of words are treated in regard to the -alliteration in the following way:-- - -=Nouns=, including adjectives and the infinitives and participles of -verbs, have the strongest accent of all words in the sentence. A noun -therefore takes precedence over the other parts of speech among which -it occurs and has the alliteration, as - - _n[=é] in þ[=a] =c=éastre be=c=úman méahte._ An. 931. - - _híre þ[=a] =Á=dam =a=ndswárode._ Gen. 827. - -If two nouns occur in the same hemistich it is always the first which -alliterates, - - _=h=[=ù]sa s[=é]lest. Wæs s[=e]o =h=w[=í]l micel._ Beow. 146. - - _=l=ánge hw[=í]le. Him wæs =l=[=í]ffr[=é]a._ Beow. 16. - - _=g=éongum ond éaldum, swylc him =g=ód séalde._ Beow. 72. - -The only exceptions are when a special rhetorical emphasis is given to -the second word. - -When a noun and two adjectives or two nouns and an adjective occur in -the same hemistich, one of these is always subordinated to the other, -and the two together are treated as a combination. In such cases, where -there is double alliteration in the hemistich, the position of the -alliterating words may be either _a a x_, or _a x a_, the subordinate -element (_x_) standing either in the last or the second place in the -hemistich, - - _=b=éorht =b=[=é]acen Gódes =b=rímu swáðredon._ Beow. 570. - - _=t=wélf wintra t[=í]d =t=órn geþólode._ Beow. 147. - -In the case of single alliteration, it is always the first of the nouns -or adjectives which alliterates. - -=The verb= (excluding the infinitive and participles) is usually less -strongly accented than the noun. It may therefore precede or follow the -noun or adjective without alliteration, either in the arsis or thesis, -as - - _l[=é]t se =h=éarda =H=ígel[=a]ces þégn._ Beow. 2977. - - _him þ[=a] =Sc=ýld gew[=á]t t[=o] ge=sc=[æ´]p-hw[=í]le._ - Beow. 26. - - _gew[=a]t þ[=a] =t=wélfa súm =t=órne gebólhen._ Beow. 2401. - -On the other hand, when a hemistich consists only of one noun and one -verb, the verb may alliterate, as - - _=g=[=ó]dne ge=g=ýrwan cwæð h[=e] =g=[=ù]ð-cýning._ Beow. 199. - _=h=w[=é]tton =h=íger[=o]fne =h=[=æ´]l sc[=é]awedon._ Beow. 204. - -When a substantive and an adjective are closely combined, a verb in the -same hemistich may alliterate, as - - _=b=ýreð =b=l[=ó]dig wæl, =b=ýrgean þénceð._ Beow. 448. - - _=s=éofon niht =s=wúncon; h[=e] þ[=e] æt =s=únde oferfl[=á]t._ - Beow. 517. - -In formulas consisting of noun+verb the noun predominates over the verb -and takes the alliteration, as - - _=w=érodes =w=[=í]sa =w=órdhord onl[=é]ac._ Beow. 259. - -But if the verb is emphatic it may alliterate though there is a noun in -the same hemistich; this occurs chiefly in the second hemistich, as - - _ond be =h=éalse genám; =h=rúron him t[=é]aras._ Beow. 1872. - - _=g=rýrel[=ì]cne =g=íst. =G=ýrede hine Beowulf._ ib. 1441, - -but a few instances are found in the first hemistich, as - - _ge=m=únde þ[=a] se =g=[=ó]da =m=[=æ´]g Hígel[=á]ces._ - Beow. 758. - -When one of two verbs in the hemistich is subordinate to the other the -verb in the subordinate clause alliterates, having a stronger accent -than the verb in the main clause, - - _mýnte þæt h[=e] ge=d=[=æ´]lde [=æ]r þon =d=[æ´]g cw[=ó]me._ - Beow. 731. - -If the two verbs are co-ordinate the first alliterates, - - _=w=órolde l[=í]fes: =w=ýrce s[=e] þe m[=ó]te._ Beow. 1387; - -in the first hemistich both verbs commonly alliterate, - - _=s=éomade ond =s=ýrede =s=ínnìhte h[=é]old._ Beow. 161. - -=The adverb.= Adverbs of degree like _micle_, _sw[=i]ðe_, _ful_, &c., -are commonly found in the thesis, and even if they stand in the arsis -they usually do not alliterate, as - - _=ó=ftor mícle þonne on =[=æ´]=nne s[=í]ð._ Beow. 1580. - -When adverbs of this kind have a special rhetorical emphasis they may of -course alliterate, as - - _éfne sw[=a] =m=ícle sw[=a] bið =m=[=æ´]gða cræft._ Beow. 1284. - - _ac h[=e] is =s=nél and =s=wíft and =s=w[=í]ðe l[=é]oht._ - Phoen. 317. - -Adverbs which modify the meaning of the word which they precede -alliterate, as - - _=[=æ´]=scholt =ú=fan gr[`=æ]g: wæs s[=e] =[=í]=renþr[=é]at._ - Beow. 330. - -Adverbial prepositions preceding the verb also alliterate, - - _h[=e]t þ[=a] =[=ú]=p béran =[=æ´]=ðelìnga gestr[=é]on._ - Beow. 1920, - -but not when they follow the verb, - - - _=G=[=é]at wæs =g=l[æ´]dm[=o]d, =g=éong s[=ò]na t[=ó]._ - Beow. 1785. - -Adverbs derived from nouns are more strongly accented than the verb -which they modify and therefore alliterate, - - - _[=a]légdon þ[=a] t[=o]=m=íddes =m=[=æ´]rne þ[=é]oden._ - Beow. 3141. - -=Pronouns= (and pronominal adjectives like _monig, eall, fela_) are -usually enclitic, and precede or follow the noun without alliterating, -as - - _manigu =[=ó]=ðru gescéaft =é=fnsw[=ì]ðe hím._ Metr. xi. 44. - - _ealne =m=íddangéard [=o]ð =m=érestr[=é]amas._ Dan. 503. - - _fela ic =m=ónna gefr[æ´]gn =m=[=æ´]gðum wéaldan._ Wid. 10. - -With a special rhetorical accent they may alliterate even if they -precede the noun, - - _on =þ=[=æ´]m d[´æ]ge =þ=ýsses l[=í]fes._ Beow. 197. - -The pronoun _self_ and the pronouns compounded with the prefix _[=æ]_ -(_[=æ]ghw[=a]_, _[=æ]ghwylc_, &c.) are usually accented, and alliterate -if they form the first arsis of the hemistich, as - - _=s=[=é]lran ge=s=[=ó]hte þ[=æ]m be him =s=elfa d[=é]ah._ - Beow. 1840. - - _h[æ´]fde =[=æ´]=ghwæðer =é=nde gef[=é]red._ Beow. 2845. - -=Prepositions, conjunctions, and particles= are not as a rule accented, -but prepositions if followed by an enclitic pronoun take the accent and -alliterate, as - - _=é=aldum =é=arne and =[=æ´]=fter þón._ Phoen. 238. - _nis =ú=nder m[=é] =[=æ´]=nig =[=ó]=ðer._ Riddle xli. 86. - -Whether words of these classes, standing in the first arsis of the first -hemistich along with another alliterating word, were intended also to -alliterate is somewhat uncertain, but it is probable that they were so, -as in - - _mid þ[=y] =m=[=æ´]stan =m=[æ´]genþr[`y]mme cýmeð._ Crist 1009. - -These laws of accentuation are strictly observed only in the older -poetry; by the end of the tenth century, in Byrhtnoth, the Metres of -Boethius and the Psalms, they are frequently neglected. - -§ =36. Arrangement and relationship of verse and sentence.= The -following rules hold good in general for the distribution of the -sentence or parts of the sentence between the hemistichs of the verse. -Two distinct pauses occur in every alliterative line, one (commonly -called the caesura) between the first and second hemistichs, the -other at the end of the line, and these pauses are determined by the -syntactical construction; that is to say, they coincide with the end -of a clause or lesser member of the sentence. The hemistich must -contain such parts of the sentence as belong closely together; and such -coherent parts, as, for example, a pronoun and noun to which it refers -or adverb with adjective, must not be separated from one another by the -caesura, unless the pronoun or adverb is placed in the second arsis of -the hemistich, as - - _=w=ýrd æfter þíssum =w=órdgeméarcum._ Gen. 2355. - - _gif ge wíllað =m=[=í]nre =m=íhte gel[=é]fan._ Sat. 251. - -In Beowulf this separation of closely connected words is permitted only -if the word standing in the arsis alliterates at the same time. Longer -parts of a sentence may be separated both by the caesura and the pause -at the end of the line. The syntactical connexion between the parts of a -sentence thus broken up makes the unity of the parts clear, and when the -division occurs in the caesura between the two halves of the verse, the -alliteration common to both hemistichs serves further to emphasize this -unity. - -The single alliterative lines are connected with one another by the -prevailing usage of ending the sentence not at the end of the completed -line, but at the end of the first hemistich or in the middle of the -line, and of beginning a new sentence with the second hemistich. The -great variety of expression, and the predilection for paraphrase by -means of synonyms which is so characteristic of OE. poetry, contribute -to make such breaks in the line easy. Whatever may be the explanation, -it is certainly the fact that in the OE. poetry the metrical and -syntactical members do sometimes coincide, but at other times overlap in -a way which does not admit of being reduced to rule.[86] - - - The Lengthened Verse. - -§ =37.= Besides the normal four-beat line (with two beats to -each hemistich) there is in OE. and Old Saxon another variety, -the =lengthened line= (_Schwellvers_) with three beats in each -hemistich.[87] These verses occur in almost all OE. poems, either -isolated or more commonly in groups, and occasionally we find lines with -one hemistich of two beats and the second hemistich of three, like. - - _=g=[=á]stes dúgeðum þ[=æ´]ra þe mid =g=[=á]res órde._ Gen. 1522, - -and _Jud._ 96, _Crist_ 1461, &c., or with a lengthened hemistich of -three beats and a normal hemistich of two beats, like - - _=b=[=æ´]ron =b=rándas on =b=rýne =b=l[=á]can f[=ý]res._ - Dan. 246, - -and _Sat._ 605, _Gnom. Ex._ 200, &c. - -In the _Psalms_ and in Cynewulf's _Juliana_ they are wanting entirely, -in Cynewulf's _Elene_ out of 1321 verses there are only fourteen -lengthened whole lines, and three lengthened hemistichs. Examples -of groups of these lengthened verses will be found in _Gen._ 44-46, -1015-1019, 2167-2169, 2854-2858; _Exodus_ 569-573, _Dan._ 59-106, -203-205, 226-228, 238-246, 262-271, 435-438, 441, 448, 452-458; -_Judith_ 2-12, 16-21, 30-34, 54-61, 63-68, 88-99, 272-274, 289-291, -338-349; _Satan_ 202, 232, 237, 605, _Crist_ 621, 889, 922, 1050, -1382-1386, &c., and in many of the smaller poems.[88] - -Lengthened verses of a looser type occur in _Salomon and Saturn_, and -_Genesis_ B; they have unusually long theses of four or five unaccented -syllables after the first accented syllable, as - - _[=æ´]nne hæfde h[=e] sw[=a] sw[=í]ðne gewórhtne._ Gen. 252, - -or have equally long anacruses before the first accented syllable, as - - _þæt w[=e] him on þ[=a]m lánde l[=á]ð gefrémedon._ Gen. 392.[89] - -It is not always possible to draw a sharp distinction between regular -lines with somewhat long first theses and lengthened lines. The general -tone and rhythm of the passage in question help to determine whether we -have the normal or the lengthened line before us. The lengthened line -occurs in places where the sense demands a solemn and slow rhythm, in -other cases where the movement of the passage is quicker we may assume -a normal four-beat line with a long anacrusis, or a polysyllabic thesis -in the middle of the hemistich. What distinguishes clearly undoubted -examples of the lengthened verse is that in each hemistich we find -three beats and three feet of equal and independent value. But, as in -the usual two-beat hemistich of the normal line, both beats need not -be equally strong, so in the three-beat hemistich the three beats do -not always stand on the same footing as regards stress, nor does the -position of the stronger beat require to be always the same in the -two hemistichs. The beats which are accompanied by alliteration are, -generally speaking, stronger than those without alliteration. In the -employment of alliteration and in the structure of the hemistich the -lengthened line is closely allied to the normal line. - -=Alliteration.= 1. The first hemistich has commonly two alliterative -sounds, which fall as a rule on the first and second beats: - - _ge=s=[=e]oð =s=órga m[=æ´]ste._ Crist 1209; - -more rarely on the second and third beats, as in - - _w[=æ´]ron hyra =r=[=æ´]das =r=[=í]ce._ Dan. 497; - -sometimes on the first and third beats, as - - _=l=[=í]f h[=e]r mén for=l=[=é]osað._ Rhyming Poem 56. - -Now and then we find hemistichs with three alliterations: - - _=d=ól bið s[=e] þe him =d=ríhten ne on=d=r[=æ´]deð._ Seafarer 106, - - _=þ=[=ý] sceal on =þ=[=é]ode ge=þ=[=é]on._ Gnom. Ex. 50; - -and others with one alliteration only, in which case the alliteration -falls more rarely on the first beat, as - - _=c=ýning sceal r[=í]ce héaldan =c=éastra b[=e]oð féorran ges[=ý]ne._ - Gnom. Ex. 1, - -than on the second, as - - _þæt s[=e] w[=æ´]re =m=íhta wáldend s[=e] þe h[=í]e of þ[=a]m - =m=írce genérede._ - Dan. 448. - -2. In the second hemistich the chief alliterative sound, the head-stave, -generally falls on the second accented syllable, as in the last example, -and only exceptionally on the first accented syllable, as - - _=St=[=ý]ran sceal mon =st=róngum m[=ó]de. =St=órm oft hólm - gebríngeð._ - Gnom. Ex. 51. - -§ =38. The origin and structure of the lengthened verse.= It is clear -from the comparative infrequency and the special use to which it is put -that the lengthened line must be looked upon as originating in some way -from the normal four-beat line. Two explanations of its development have -been given. The first, which is Sievers's original view,[90] is that a -foot or measure with the form -´ . . . (i.e. one accented syllable plus -several unaccented ones) was prefixed to one of the five normal types; -hence -´ × prefixed to A would give the form -´ × | -´ × -´ ×, and - × -prefixed to B would give -´ × | × -´ × -´. The other explanation, given -by Luick,[91] is that the lengthened hemistich is due to a blending of -several types of the normal kind in this way. The hemistich starts with -the beginning of one of the normal types A, B, C, then with the second -accented syllable another type is begun and continued, as if the poet -found the original beginning inadequate to express his emotion. - -The manner in which the blending of two normal types results in new -lengthened types of three beats will be seen in the following -illustrations: - - A -`× -´ × - +C × -´ -´ × - -------------- - gives AC -´ × -´ -´ ×; - - A -´ × -´ × - +D -´ -´ `× × - -------------- - gives AD - × -´ -´ `× ×; - - B × -´ × -´ - +C × -´ -´ × - ------------- - gives BC × -`× -´ -´ ×; - - B × -´ × -´ - +A -´ × -´ × - -------------- - gives BA × -´ × -´ × -´ ×; - - C × -´ -´ × - +A -´ × -´ × - -------------- - gives CA × -´ -´ × -´ ×; - - A -´ × -´ × - +A -´ × -´ × - -------------- - gives AA -´ × -´ × -´ ×. - -As Prof. Sievers himself[92] has accepted this theory (or, at least, -has recognized it as a convenient method of exhibiting the structural -varieties of the lengthened line), we shall adopt it here. - -Of the fifteen different possible combinations of the original types, -some do not actually occur, but with the sub-types to be taken into -consideration we get no less than eighteen different types of the -regular lengthened whole line, and these again admit of variations by -means of resolution of accented syllables, polysyllabic theses, &c. - -Only the most commonly occurring forms of the lengthened hemistich will -be given here; for the others the reader may be referred to Sievers.[93] - -§ =39.= By far the most common type is =A A= (some 525 examples), - - -´ × . . . -´ × . -´ ×, - -as in - - _=w=éaxan =w=[=í]tebr[=ó]gan._ (_H[æ´]fden h[=i]e - =w=r[=ó]htget[=é]me_). Gen. 45; - -or with resolution of the first accented syllable in the first -hemistich, - - _=s=únu mid =s=wéordes écge._ Gen. 2857, - -and in the second hemistich, - - _=f=éla bið =f=ýrwet-géornra._ Gnom. Ex. 102; - -with resolution of the second accented syllable in the second hemistich, - - _þ[=æ´]r þ[=u] þólades =s=íððan._ Crist 1410; - -or of each of the three accented syllables in the second hemistich, - - _hýre þæs =f=[=æ´]der on róderum._ Jud. 5. - -The chief variation of this type arises from the prolongation of -the first thesis, which may run from one to six syllables. At the -same time the usual resolutions may be introduced, as in the -following examples: Ordinary type, -´ × × || -´ × | -´ ×, very common, - - _=g=rímme wið =g=ód gesómnod._ Gen. 46; - -with resolution of the first accented syllable, - - _=r=éced ofer =r=[=é]adum gólde._ Gen. 2404; - -with resolution of the last two accented syllables, - - _=sn=[=ù]de þ[=a] =sn=óteran ídese._ Jud. 55; - -type with trisyllabic thesis, -´ × × × || -´ × |-´ ×, - - _=m=[=é]da syndon =m=ícla þ[=í]na._ Gen. 2167; - -with resolution of the first accented syllable, - - _wíton hyra =h=ýht mid drýhten._ G[=u]. 61; - -thesis of four to six syllables, (-´ × . . . . . || -´ × | -´ ×), - - _=[=æ´]=leð h[=y] mid þ[=y] =éa=ldan l[=í]ge._ Crist 1547, - - _=s=íððan h[=e] hæfde his g[=á]st on=s=énded._ Cross 49, - - _=b=étre him w[=æ]re þæt h[=e] =b=r[=ó]ðor [=á]hte_. Gnom. Ex. 175. - -Less frequently the second foot has two unaccented syllables, and in -that case the first foot has either one or sometimes two unaccented -syllables, thus - - (i) -´ × || -´ × × | -´ ×, or (ii) -´ × × || -´ × × | -´ ×, - - as (i) _sa[=á] þ[=u] =Á=bele w[=ù]rde._ Gen. 1019; - -with resolution of the first arsis, - - _=s=ígor and =s=[=ó]ðne gel[=é]afan._ Jud. 89. - - (ii) _=r=ínca t[=o] =r=[=ù]ne gegángan._ Jud. 54. - - -=Type A2A=, -´ `× -´ × -´ ×, which is type AA with secondary accent on -the first thesis, occurs, according to Sievers, some twenty times, and -always in the first hemistich. Examples are, - - _=w=[=æ´]rf[`æ]st =w=íllan m[=í]nes._ Gen. 2168; - -with resolution of the last arsis, - - _=þ=éarlm[=ò]d =þ=[=é]oden gúmena._ Jud. 66; - -with disyllabic second thesis, - - _=f=r[=é]obèarn =f=[æ´]ðmum beþéahte._ Gen. 2867. - -=Type A*A=, -´ . `× × | -´ × . | -´ ×, which is AA strengthened and with -disyllabic first thesis, is nearly as common as A2A, and is always in -the first hemistich, as for example, - - _=[=á]=rl[=è]as of =[=é]=arde þ[=í]num._ Gen. 1019, - - _=b=éalofùl his =b=éddes n[=é]osan._ Jud. 63; - -with trisyllabic first thesis, - - _=h=r[=é]ohm[=ò]d wæs s[=e] =h=[=æ´]ðena þ[=é]oden._ Dan. 242. - - -=Type AB=, -´ × . . . -´ × . -´, some thirty instances equally -distributed between the first and second hemistichs. Examples are, - - _=é=orðan =[=ý]=ðum þéaht._ Riddle xvii. 3, - - _=w=[æ´]sceð his =w=[=á]rig hr[æ´]gl._ Gnom. Ex. 99. - -=Type AC=, -´ × . . . -´ -´ ×, about twenty-nine instances, of which -more than the half occur in the first hemistich, as - - _=h=ríncg þæs =h=[=é]an lándes._ Gen. 2854, - - _=w=lítige t[=o] =w=óruldnýtte._ Gen. 1016. - -=Type AD=, -´ × . . -´ -´ × `×, is rarer, occurring about twelve times, -apparently only in the first hemistich, as - - _=b=éalde =b=ýrnwíggènde._ Jud. 17, - _=J=[=ù]das hire on=g=[=é]n þíngòde._ El. 609. - -=Type A E=, -´ × . . -´ `× × . -´, somewhat more common than the last, -and in both hemistichs, as - - _=s=wéord and =s=w[=á]tigne hélm._ Jud. 338, - _s[æ´]gde him =ú=nl[`=y]tel spéll._ Gen. 2405. - -=Type B A=, × . -´ × . . . -´ × . -´ ×, about 120 instances, has as its -simplest form, × -´ × -´ × -´ ×, as - - _[=a]=l=[=æ´]ton =l=[=í]ges gánga._ Dan. 263; - -with disyllabic thesis after the first arsis, × -´ × × -´ × -´ ×, as - - _[=a]=w=ýrged t[=o] =w=[=í]dan áldre._ Gen. 1015; - -with trisyllabic thesis, × -´ × × × -´ × -´ ×, as - - _h[=y] =t=w[=é]gen sceolon =t=[=æ´]fle ymbsíttan._ Gnom. Ex. 182; - -the initial thesis or anacrusis is rarely disyllabic. - -=Type B B=, × . -´ × . . . -´ ×. -´, about nine times and mostly in the -first hemistichs, as - - _ge=b=[=í]dan þæs h[=e] ge=b=[=æ´]dan ne m[=æ´]g._ Gnom. Ex. 105; - -with resolution of two of the accented syllables, - - _ofer=c=úmen bið h[=e] [=æ´]r h[=e] [=a]=c=wéle._ Gnom. Ex. 114. - -=Type B C=, × . . -´ × . . . -´ -´ ×, nearly as common as the last and -nearly always in the first hemistich, as - - _and n[=á]hte =é=aldf[=é]ondum._ Dan. 454, - - _be=g=óten of þæs =g=úman s[=í]dan._ Cross 49. - -=Type B D=, × . -´ × . . -´ -´ `× ×, about sixteen times, and in either -hemistich, as - - _on =é=orðan =ú=nsw[=æ´]sl[=ì]cne._ Jud. 65, - - _a=l=[=é]don h[=i]e þ[=æ]r límw[=é]rìgne._ Cross 63. - -=Type C A=, × -´ -´ ×. -´ ×, with some fifteen examples, of which eight -are in the first hemistich, as - - _ge=s=[=é]oð =s=órga m[=æ´]ste._ Crist 1209, - - _t[=o] =c=wále =c=níhta f[=é]orum._ Dan. 226. - -=Type C C=, × . . . . -´ -´ [=)´] ×, occurs only nine times, of which -six are in the second hemistich, as - - _þæt wæs =g=ód [æ´]lmíhtig._ Cross 396; - -with resolution of the first accented syllable, - - _ne s[=e] =b=rýne =b=[=é]tm[æ´]cgum._ Dan. 265, - - _þ[=e] þæt =w=éorc stáðoláde._ And. 800. - -Other combinations are given by Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, -§ 95, but these occur so rarely or are so doubtful that they need not -be mentioned here. A few lengthened hemistichs have four beats, as - - _engel in þone ófn ínnan becw[=ó]m._ Dan. 238, - -and others in Sievers's _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 96. - - - Formation of Stanzas and Rhyme. - -§ =40.= OE. poetry is mainly narrative, and does not run into any kind -of recurring stanza or strophe, but is entirely stichic. Traces of an -arrangement of lines so as to form a stanza are found in D[=e]or, the -Runic Poem, the Psalms and Hymns, the so-called First Riddle, and in -the Gnomic verses of the Exeter Book, which may be compared to the Old -French 'tirades'.[94] - -On the other hand, end-rhyme of the two hemistichs, combined with -alliteration, is not very uncommon, though in most cases it seems only -an incidental ornament, as - - _=f=ýlle ge=f=[=æ´]gon; =f=[æ´]gere geþ[=æ´]gon._ Beow. 1014. - - _=w=órd-gyd =w=récan ond ymb =w=ér sprécan._ Beow. 3172. - -In the Rhyming Poem of the Exeter Book we have eighty-seven lines in -which the first and second hemistichs rhyme throughout, and in some -passages of other poems, noticeably in the _Elene_, vv. 114-115, and -vv. 1237-1251, in which Cynewulf speaks in his own person, or Crist -591-595, And. 869-871, 890, G[=u]thl. 801, Phoen. 15-16, 54-55; -assonance is found not unfrequently alongside of perfect rhyme, as in -G[=u]thl. 802, Phoen. 53. These places are sufficient to prove a -systematic and deliberate use of rhyme, which serves to accentuate -the lyrical tone of the passages. - -Monosyllabic rhymes such as _n[=a]n: t[=a]n_ (Rhym. Poem 78), _r[=a]d: -geb[=á]d_ (ib. 16), _onl[=á]h: onwr[=á]h_ (ib. 1) are called masculine, -and disyllabic rhymes like _wóngum: góngum_ (ib. 7), _géngdon: méngdon_ -(ib. 11), or trisyllabic _hlýnede: dýnede_ (ib. 28), _swínsade: mínsade_ -(ib. 29), _bífade: hlífade_ (ib. 30), are called feminine. - -According to their position in the hemistich, rhymes fall into two -classes (_a_) interior rhymes like _hónd rónd gef[=è]ng_ Beow. 2609, -_st[=í]ðm[=ò]d gest[=ó]d_ Beow. 2567, in compounds _wórd-hòrd ont[=é]ac_ -Beow. 259, in co-ordinate formulae like _þ[=a] wæs s[=æ´]l and m[=æ´]l_ -Beow. 1008, _wórdum and bórdum_ El. 24, _grund ond sund_ And. 747, and -as so-called grammatical rhymes _l[=a]ð wið l[=a]ðum_ Beow. 440, _béarn -æfter béarne_, Gen. 1070; (_b_) sectional rhymes joining the two halves -of one line, as - - _=s=écgas mec =s=[=æ´]gon =s=ýmbel ne [=a]l[=æ´]gon._ Rhym. P. 5; - -not unfrequently, very often in the Rhyming Poem, two, three, four or -more alliterative lines are connected in this fashion. - -The OE. end rhymes are either (_a_) complete rhymes as _hond: rond_, -_gef[=æ´]gon: geþ[=æ´]gon_, or (_b_) assonances, in which only the -vowels correspond, as _wæf: læs_ El. 1238; _wr[=á]ðum: [=á]rum_ Crist. -595; _lúfodon: wúnedon_ And. 870; that the assonances are not -accidental is clear from the fact that they occur alongside of perfect -rhymes.[95] - - -NOTES: - - [15] Tacitus, _Germania_, cap. 2. - - [16] Grein-Wülker, iii. 1, p. 156. - - [17] The influence of the Latin system on Otfrid is clear from his own - words, I. i. 21. - - [18] For a review of recent metrical theories see Sievers, - _Altgermanische Metrik_, 1893, pp. 2-17, and his article on metre - in Paul's _Grundriss_, ii. 2. - - [19] Cf. Lachmann, 'Über althochdeutsche Betonung und Verskunst,' - _Schriften_, ii. 358 ff., and 'Über das Hildebrandslied', _ib._, - ii. 407 ff. - - [20] _Germania_, iii, p. 7. - - [21] _Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum_, i, p. 318, and _de Carmine - Wessofontano_, 1861, p. 10. - - [22] _De Anglo-Saxonum arte metrica_, 1871. - - [23] 'Grundzüge der altgermanischen Metrik,' _Zeitschrift für deutsche - Philologie_, ii. 114 ff. - - [24] _Ibid._, iii. 280 ff. - - [25] _Zur althochdeutschen Alliterationspoesie_, Kiel and Leipzig. - - [26] John Lawrence, _Chapters on Alliterative Verse_, London, 1893; - reviewed by K. Luick, _Anglia_, Beiblatt iv, pp. 193, 201. - - [27] Möller's own notation; Lawrence's sign for the rest is a small - point, and his sign for the end of a section is a thick point. - - [28] _Untersuchungen zur westgermanischen Verskunst_ I, Leipzig, 1889; - 'Zur Metrik des alts. und althochd. Alliterationsverses,' - _Germania_, xxxvi. 139 ff., 279 ff.; 'Der altdeutsche Reimvers - und sein Verhältnis zur Alliterationspoesie,' _Zeitschrift für - deutsches Altertum_, xxxviii. 304 ff. - - [29] _Die Metrik des westgermanischen Alliterationsverses_, Marburg, - 1892. - - [30] Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_, ed. I, ii. i. - 518. - - [31] _Der altenglische Vers_: I. _Kritik der bisherigen Theorien_, - 1894; II. _Die Metrik des Beowulfliedes_, 1894; III. _Die Metrik - der sog. Caedmonischen Dichtungen_, &c., 1895. This last part is - by F. Graz. These are reviewed by K. Luick, _Anglia_, Beiblatt - iv. 294; M. Trautmann, ib., iv. 131; vi. 1-4; Saran, _Zeitschrift - für deutsche Philologie_, xxvii. 539. - - [32] _Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur_, 1894, i. 228, and - _Ergänzungsheft zu Band I, Die altsächsische Genesis_, 1895, - p. 28 ff. - - [33] 'Zur Kenntniss des germanischen Verses, vornehmlich des - altenglischen,' in _Anglia_, Beiblatt v. 87 ff. - - [34] _Z. f. d. A._, xxxviii. 304. - - [35] _Certayne notes of Instruction concerning the making of verse or - ryme in English_, 1575; Arber's reprint, London, 1868, p. 34. - - [36] _Ane Schort Treatise, conteining some Revlis and Cautelis to be - obseruit and eschewit in Scottis poesie_, 1585, pp. 63 ff. of - Arber's reprint. The scheme would be ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ `. - - [37] From Hickes's _Antiq. Literat. Septentrional._, tom. i, p. 217. - - [38] It is now well known that this innovation was introduced much - earlier. - - [39] From Alexander Montgomery, _The Flyting_, &c., l. 476. - - [40] 'Über den Versbau der alliterierenden Poesie, besonders der - Altsachsen,' _Bay. Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-histor. - Classe_, iv. 1, p. 207 ff. - - [41] _Litteraturgeschichte_, p. 45 ff., second ed., p. 57. - - [42] _Über die germanische Alliterationspoesie_, Vienna, 1872, and - _Zum Muspilli_, &c., Vienna, 1872. - - [43] 'Über die Verstheilung der Edda,' _Zeitschr. für deutsche Phil._, - Ergänzungsband, p. 74. - - [44] _Die Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_, Halle, 1876, reprinted - from _Z. f. d. Ph._, vol. vii. - - [45] The author's larger work on English Metre was indebted in - paragraphs 28-33 to Rieger's essay; succeeding paragraphs (34-39) - of the same work exhibited in detail the further development or - rather decay of the Old English alliterative line. - - [46] C. R. Horn, _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, v. 164; J. Ries, - _Quellen und Forschungen_, xli. 112; E. Sievers, _Zeitschr. - f. deutsche Phil._, xix. 43. - - [47] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, x, 1885, pp. 209-314 and 491-545. - - [48] Sievers, Paul's _Grundriss_, ii. 1, p. 863, or ii. 2, p. 4, - second ed. - - [49] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, xi. 470. - - [50] Ph. Frucht, _Metrisches und Sprachliches zu Cynewulfs Elene, - Juliana und Crist_, Greifswald, 1887. - - [51] M. Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchung der altengl. - Gedichte Andreas, Gûðlâc, Phoenix_, Bonn, 1888. - - [52] _Altgermanische Metrik_, Halle, 1893. - - [53] Mainly by H. Möller, _Das Volksepos in der ursprünglichen - strophischen Form_, Kiel, 1883. - - [54] Besides the unaccented syllables of polysyllabic words, many - monosyllables, such as prepositions, pronouns, &c., are - unstressed, and occur only in the theses. - - [55] This rule applies to modern English also, as in words like - _bírth-rìght_. - - [56] If this cross alliteration is intentional. See Sievers, _Altger. - Metrik_, p. 41. - - [57] See Koch, _Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache_, Weimar, - 1863, i. 156. - - [58] Compare Streitberg, _Urgermanische Grammatik_, 1900, § 143, - p. 167, or Wilmanns, _Deutsche Grammatik_, 1897, i, p. 407, - § 349. - - [59] For exceptions to these rules see _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 43, - 45. - - [60] Koch adds _wið[æ´]ftan_, _wiðfóran_, _wiðnéoðan_. - - [61] Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 225, and _Angelsächsische Grammatik³_, - §§ 410, 411, 415. - - [62] For details on these points and on the question of the treatment - of forms in which vowel contraction is exhibited in the MSS. see - Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, §§ 74-77, and _Beiträge_, x. - 475 ff. - - [63] 'Elements,' Sweet, _Anglo-Saxon Reader_, § 365. - - [64] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 9, 3. 4. - - [65] See, for example, Rieger, _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_, - p. 62. - - [66] _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 209. - - [67] For the type -´ × × | -´ see below, § 29, and Sievers, - _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262. - - [68] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262. - - [69] As Sievers calls them, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 13. 2; they are - marked A*, B*, &c. - - [70] The notation of Sievers for hemistichs with anacrusis - (_auftaktige Verse_) is aA, aD, aE, &c. - - [71] Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, pp. 33 ff. - - [72] It must be remembered that _ea_, _eo_, &c., are diphthongs, and - have not the value of two vowels. - - [73] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 233. - - [74] Here _n_ counts as a syllable, see Sievers, _Angelsächsische - Gram._,§ 141, and _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 79. - - [75] See the statistics in Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, - p. 290. - - [76] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 241 and 294. - - [77] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 85, 2, Anm. 3. - - [78] Cf. Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 15, 3 c, and § 116. 9. - - [79] See Max Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchungen der - altenglischen Gedichte Andreas, G[=u]ðl[=a]c, Phoenix_, &c., 1888, - pp. 31 ff.; Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 86; and chiefly - Eduard Sokoll, 'Zur Technik des altgermanischen - Alliterationsverses,' in _Beiträge zur neueren Philologie_, - Vienna, 1902, pp. 351-65. - - [80] But on this last expression see Sievers, _Phonetik_^4, § 359. - - [81] Edited by Grein in _Anglia_, ii. 141 ff. - - [82] The Old Norse _hofuðstafr_, Germ. _Hauptstab_. The alliterations - in the first hemistich are called in Old Norse _stuðlar_ (sing. - _stuðill_) 'supporters', Germ. _Stollen_ or _Stützen_. - - [83] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 20. - - [84] This is not very common in poetry of the more regular metrical - structure, but is found in Ælfric's lines, in which we find - hemistichs without any alliterating letter, and others where the - alliteration is continued in the following line; two-thirds, - however, of his lines are formed quite correctly. - - [85] Snorri, the Icelandic metrician, permits this in the case of - certain monosyllabic words, but looks on it as a licence (_leyfi - en eigi rétt setning_, H[=a]ttatal, p. 596). - - [86] The subject of the preceding paragraphs was first investigated by - M. Rieger in his essay _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_, - p. 18, where many details will be found. - - [87] Cf. Sievers in _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii. 455; K. Luick, - _ib._, xiii. 389, xv. 441; F. Kaufmann, _ib._, xv. 360; Sievers, - in _Paul's Grundriss_, pp. 891 ff., and in _Altgermanische - Metrik_, §§ 88-96. - - [88] In _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii, pp. 454, 455, Sievers gives a - list of the undoubted regular lengthened verses occurring in OE. - poetry. - - [89] Sievers discusses the lengthened verses of these poems in - _Beiträge_, xii. 479. - - [90] _Beiträge_, xii. 458. - - [91] _Beiträge_, xiii. 388, xv. 445. - - [92] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 94. 3. - - [93] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 95. - - [94] See Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 97. - - [95] For other subdivisions of rhyme see Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, - §§ 99-102, with the treatises on the subject, and Bk. II, sect. - ii, ch. 1 of this work. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREER - FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN LATE - OLD ENGLISH AND EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH - - - A. Transitional Forms. - -=§ 41. Increasing frequency of Rhyme.= The alliterative line was, as -we have seen, the only kind of verse known in English poetry down to -the end of the Old English period. In the eleventh century, however, -the strict conventions which governed the use of alliteration began -to be relaxed and, at the same time, end-rhyme began to invade the -alliterative line, and by this means it was resolved in the course of -time into two separate lines. The process by which this came about is -of great importance in enabling us to follow the further development of -English versification. It has two varieties:-- - -1. Systematic combination of end-rhyme and alliteration. - -2. Unintentional or accidental combination of rhyme and alliteration. - -The former--the intentional combination of rhyme with -alliteration--never became popular in Old English; indeed, the few -examples previously quoted are all that have been preserved. In these -examples the hemistichs of each line conform to the ancient rules with -regard to their rhythmic and alliterative structure, but are more -uniform in type than was usual in the older poetry, and are more closely -paired together by the use of final rhyme, which occurs in all its three -varieties, monosyllabic, disyllabic, and trisyllabic. - - _=w=úniende =w=[=æ´]r =w=ílbec bisc[=æ´]r. - =s=céalcas w[=æ]ron =sc=éarpe, =sc=ýl wæs héarpe, - =hl=[=ù]de =hl=ýnede; =hl=éoðor dýnede._ Rhyming Poem 26-28. - -The rhythm of the verse is mostly descending, Type A being the prevalent -form, while Types D and E occur more rarely. The Types B and C, however, -are also found. Possibly this kind of verse was formed on the model of -certain Mediaeval Latin rhymed verses, or, somewhat more probably, on -that of the Old Norse 'runhenda', as this poetic form may have been -made known in England by the Old Norse poet, Egil Skallagrimsson, who in -the tenth century had lived in England and twice stayed at the court of -King Æõelstan. - -§ =42.= Of greater interest than this systematic combination of -alliteration and rhyme is the irregular and more or less unintentional -occurrence of rhyme which in the eleventh century is found frequently in -the native metre. - -Isolated instances of rhyme or assonance may be met with even in the -oldest Old English poems. For certain standing expressions linked by -such a similarity of sound, mostly causing interior rhyme (i.e. rhyme -within a hemistich), were admitted now and then in alliterative poetry, -e.g. - - _siþþan ic =h=ónd and rónd | =h=ébban míhte._ Beow. 656. - - _=s=[=æ´]la and m[=æ´]la; | þat is =s=[=ó]d métod._ ib. 1611. - -In other cases such rhymes are to be found at the end of two hemistichs, - - _Hr[=ó]ðg[=a]r máðelode, | =h=ílt sc[=é]awode._ Beow. 1687. - - _=W=ýrmum bewúnden, | =w=ítum gebúnden._ Judith 115. - -Examples of this kind occur not unfrequently in several early OE. -poems, but their number increases decidedly in the course of time from -_Beowulf_, _Andreas_, _Judith_, up to _Byrhtnoth_ and _Be D[=o]mes -dæge_. - -From the two last-mentioned poems, still written in pure alliterative -verse, a few examples of rhyming-alliterative verses, or of simply -rhymed verses occurring accidentally among the normal alliterative -lines, may also be quoted here: - - _=B=ýrhtn[=o]ð máðelode, | =b=órd háfenode._ Byrhtn. 42. - - _[=æ´]fre embe =st=únde | he =s=éalde sume wúnde._ ib. 271. - - _þ[=æ]r þ[=a] w[æ´]terbúrnan | sw[=é]gdon and úrnon._ Dom. 3. - - _=i=nnon þam gemónge | on =[=æ´]=nlicum wónge._ ib. 6. - - _n[=ù] þ[=u] scealt =g=r[=é]otan, | t[=é]aras =g=[=é]otan._ - ib. 82. - -Thus it may be taken for granted that end-rhyme would have come into -use in England, even if Norman-French poetry had never been introduced, -although it is certainly not to be denied that it only became popular in -England owing to French influence. - -But can this influence explain the gradually increasing use of -end-rhyme in some OE. poems written shortly before the Norman Conquest -(as e.g. _Byrhtnoth_, _Be D[=o]mes dæge_, the poetical passage in the -_Saxon Chronicle_ of the year 1036), or are we to attribute it to -the influence of mediaeval hymn poetry, or, lastly, to the lingering -influence of the above-mentioned Old Norse 'runhenda'? It is not easy to -give a decided answer to these questions. - -In any case it would appear that towards the end of the Old English -period combined Mediaeval Latin and French influence on English metre -became of considerable importance on account of the constantly growing -intercourse between the British isles and the continent. This may -be seen in the more frequent use of rhyme, as indeed was only to be -expected in consequence of the increasing popularity of Norman-French -and Mediaeval-Latin poetry in England and the reception of Norman-French -words into the language. - -This combination of alliteration and rhyme, however, only becomes -conspicuous to a considerable extent for the first time in the -above-mentioned passage of the _Saxon Chronicle_, and in another passage -of the year 1087.[96] - -The chief difference between these verses and those of the _Rhyming -Poem_ is this, that the former have not such a symmetrical structure as -the latter, and that rhyme and alliteration are not combined in all of -them, but that regular alliterative lines, rhyming-alliterative lines, -and lines with rhyme only occur promiscuously, as e.g. in the following -lines (4-7) of the above-mentioned passage of the _Chronicle_ of the -year 1036: - - _=s=úme h[=i] man =b=énde, | =s=úme h[=i] man =b=lénde, - =s=úme man =h=ámelode | and =s=úme =h=[=é]anl[=i]ce =h=[æ´]ttode; - ne wearþ =d=r[=é]orl[=i]cre =d=[=æ´]d | ge=d=[=ó]n on þisan éarde, - siððan Déne c[=ó]mon | and h[=e]r frýð n[=á]mon_. - -The verses of the year 1087 of the _Saxon Chronicle_ have a similar -but on the whole less rhythmical structure. In some of the lines the -hemistichs are neither joined by alliteration, nor by end-rhyme, but -merely by the two-beat rhythm of each of them; cf. 11. 1-5: - - _Castelas he let wyrcean | and earme men swiðe swencean. - Se cyng wes swa swiðe stearc | and benam of his under-þeoddan - manig marc goldes | and ma hundred punda seolfres; - þat he nam be wihte | and mid mycelan unrihte - of his =l=and=l=eode | for =l=itelre neode._[97] - -On the other hand, the poetical piece of the _Saxon Chronicle_ on -Eadweard of the year 1065 is written in perfectly regular alliterative -lines. - -These two ways of treating the old alliterative line which occur in -the latter part of the _Saxon Chronicle_, and which we will call the -progressive and the conservative treatment, indicate the course which -this metre was to take in its further development. Out of the long -alliterative line, separated by the caesura into two hemistichs, again -connected by rhyme, there sprang into existence a short rhyming couplet. -This was by no means identical with the three-beat couplet evolved from -two rhyming hemistichs of a line on the model of the French Alexandrine, -nor with the short four-beat couplets modelled on the French _vers -octosyllabe_, but had points of similarity enough to both, especially to -the former one, to be easily used in conjunction with them, as several -Early English poems show. - -The conservative treatment of the old alliterative line, which probably -at no time was altogether discontinued, was revived in the thirteenth -and especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when it -degenerated again in the same way as the progressive line had done -several centuries before. - - - =B. The 'Proverbs of Alfred' and Layamon's 'Brut'.= - -§ =43.= The first subject which we have to consider here is the further -development of the progressive form of the alliterative line, the -representatives of which[98] are closely connected in their rhythmic -form with the two specimens of the poetical parts of the _Saxon -Chronicle_ quoted above. From _Alfred's Proverbs_ we take No. xv (ll. -247-66): - - _Þus queþ Alured: - Ne schal-tu néuere þi =w=íf | by hire =w=lýte chéose,_ 247-8 - _for néuer none þínge | þat heo tó þe brýngeþ; - ac leorne hire =c=úste, | heo =c=úþeþ hi wel sóne; - for móny mon for =á=yhte | =ú=vele i=á=uhteþ, - and ófte mon of =f=áyre | =f=rákele ichéoseþ._ 255-6 - _Wó is him þat =ú=vel wìf | brýngeþ to his cótlýf; - só is him alýve | þat úvele ywýueþ. - For hé schal uppen éorþe | dréori i-wúrþe. - Mónymon síngeþ | þat wíf hom brýngeþ - Wíste he hwat he bróuhte | wépen he mýhte._ 265-6 - -The metre of Layamon's _Brut_ may be illustrated by the following -passage (ll. 13841-13882): - - _Þa =á=nswerede þe =ó=ðer | þat was þe =á=ldeste bróðer - 'Lust me nú, lauerd =k=íng | and ích þe wullen =c=úðen - what =c=níhtes we béoð, | and whanene we i=c=úmen séoð. - Ich hátte =H=éngest, | =H=órs is mi bróðer; - we beoð of =Á=lemáinne, | =á=ðelest alre lónde;_ 13849-50 - _of þat =í=lken =[æ´]=nde | þe =Á=ngles is iháten. - Béoð in ure lónde | sélcùðe tíðènde: - vmbe =f=íftène [gh]ér | þat =f=ólc is isómned, - al ure =l=édene fólc, | and heore =l=óten wérpeð; - uppen þán þe hit =f=áleð, | he scal =u=áren of lónde;_ 13859-60 - _bil[æ´]uen scullen þa =f=íue, | þa séxte scal =f=órð-lìðe - =ú=t of þan =l=éode | to =ú=ncùðe =l=ónde; - ne beo he ná swa =l=eof mon | vorð he scal =l=íðen. - For þer is fólc swiðe =m=úchel, | =m=[æ´]re þene heo wálden; - ba =w=íf fareð mid chílde | swa þe déor =w=ílde;_ 13869-70 - _[æ´]ueralche [gh]ére | heo béreð chíld þère. - þat beoð an us =f=éole | þat we =f=[æ´]ren scólden; - ne míhte we bi=l=[æ´]ue | for =l=íue ne for d[æ´]ðe, - ne for náuer nane þínge, | for þan fólc-kìnge. - =þ=ús we uerden =þ=ére | and for =þ=í beoð nu hére,_ 13879-80 - _to séchen vnder =l=úfte | =l=ónd and godne =l=áuerd._ - -These extracts illustrate only the general metrical character of the -two literary monuments, the versification of which in many passages -considerably deviates from the type here exhibited. It frequently shows -a still more arbitrary mixture of the different kinds of verse, or a -decided preference for some of them over the others. But the examples -given will suffice to show that here, as in the two passages from the -_Saxon Chronicle_ quoted above, we have four different kinds of verse -distinguished by the different use of rhyme and alliteration, viz.: - -1. Regular alliterative lines, which are very numerous, and at least in -the first half of Layamon's _Brut_, possibly throughout the poem, form -the bulk, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 247-8, Layamon, 13847-8, 13851-2, 13855-6, -13859-60, 13867-8, 13881-2, or - - _=B=úte if he =b=éo | in =b=óke iléred._ Prov. iii. 65-6. - - _þat his =b=lód and his =b=rain | =b=á weoren todáscte._ - Lay. 1468-9. - -2. Rhyme (or assonance) and alliteration combined; equally numerous, -e.g. _Prov._ xv. 253-4, Lay. 13841-2, 13845-6, 13869-70, &c., or - - _Þat þe =ch=íriche habbe grýþ | and the =ch=éorl beo in frýþ._ - Prov. v. 93. - - _his =s=édes to =s=ówen, | his =m=édes to mówen._ ib. 95. - - _biuóren wende =H=éngest, | and =H=órs him alre =h=[æ´]ndest._ - Lay. 13973-4. - - _Heo cómen into =h=álle | =h=[æ´]ndeliche álle._ ib. 13981-2. - -3. Verses with rhyme (or assonance) only, without alliteration, also not -unfrequent, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 249-50 ff., or Lay. 13853-4, &c. - - _And his plóuh beo idrýue | to ure álre bihóue._ Prov. v. 97-8. - - _þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilýche._ ib. iv. 80-1. - - _On Itál[gh]e heo comen to lónde, | þer Róme nou on stóndeþ._ - Lay. 106-7. - - _fele [gh]ér under súnnan | nas [gh]et Róme biwónnen._ ib. 108-9. - -4. Four-beat verses without either rhyme or alliteration, occurring -comparatively rarely, and in most cases probably to be attributed to -corruption of the text. Examples: - - _he may béon on élde | wénliche lórþeu._ Prov. vi. 101-2. - - _we habbeð séoue þúsund | of góde cníhten._ Lay. 365-6. - -It is certain that these four different forms of verse cannot have been -felt by the poets themselves as rhythmically unlike; their rhythmic -movement must have been apprehended as essentially one and the same. - -§ =44. Nature and origin of this metre. Theories of Trautmann and -Luick.= We need not here discuss the theory of Prof. Trautmann, who -endeavours to show that the hemistichs of Layamon's verse were composed -in imitation of the four-beat short-lined metre in which the Old High -German poet Otfrid had written his religious poem _Krist_, a form which, -according to Trautmann and his followers, had been frequently employed -in late Old English and early Middle English poetry. References to the -criticisms of this hypothesis, by the present writer and others, are -given by G. Körting in his _Encyklopädie der Englischen Philologie_, p. -388, and by K. Luick in Paul's _Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie_, -ed. 2, II. ii. 152. The author of this book, in his larger work on the -subject (_Englische Metrik_, i. §§ 67-73), has shown, as English and -German scholars had done before him, that Layamon's verse has its roots -in the Old English alliterative line. Twelve years after the publication -of that work this theory received further confirmation at the hands of -Prof. Luick, who has shown in Paul's _Grundriss_ (l.c.) that the five -types of the Old English alliterative line, discovered by Prof. Sievers, -reappear (although in a modified form) in the lines of Layamon's _Brut_. -But we are unable wholly to agree with Prof. Luick's view on the origin -and nature of this metre. - -In order to explain the origin of Layamon's verse he starts from the -hypothesis of Prof. Sievers[99] that the Old Germanic alliterative -verse, as historically known, which was intended to be _recited_, -and therefore not restricted to uniformity of rhythm, originated -from a primitive Old Germanic verse meant to be sung, and therefore -characterized by rhythmic regularity. According to Prof. Luick this -primitive metre, although not represented by any extant example in Old -English, had never quite died out, and forms the basis of the metre of -Layamon and his predecessors in early Middle English. For this ingenious -hypothesis, however, no real evidence exists. On the contrary, the fact -that the beginnings of the peculiar kind of metre used by Layamon can be -traced back to purely alliterative Old English poems, where they occur -amongst regular alliterative lines, and therefore undoubtedly must be -of the same rhythmical structure, seems to be decisive against Prof. -Luick's theory. - -For the same reason it is impossible to follow Prof. Luick in regarding -Layamon's line as having an even-beat rhythm, and containing not only -two primary accents, but two secondary accents as well. A further strong -objection to this view is to be found in the circumstance, that in -the early part of Layamon's _Brut_, although rhyme already occurs not -unfrequently, alliterative lines decidedly predominate; in the passage -consisting of forty long lines (ll. 106-185, quoted in our _Altenglische -Metrik_, pp. 152-3), we have thirty-three regular alliterative lines and -only five rhymed lines, two of which are alliterative at the same time. -Even in the middle portion of Layamon's _Chronicle_, where the poet, as -Prof. Luick thinks, must have attained to a certain skill in handling -his metre, alliterative lines are in some passages quite as numerous as -rhymed ones. In the passage quoted above (p. 68), for example, which -consists of twenty-one long lines, eleven of them are alliterative and -ten are rhymed. On the other hand, in the continuation of this passage -(quoted _Altengl. Metrik_, p. 156), containing twenty-nine long lines, -the reverse is the case, the number of alliterative lines being only -seven, and that of rhymed and assonant lines twenty-two in all; of the -latter, however, eleven are alliterative at the same time. - -While then it might be admissible to speak of progressive neglect of -alliteration and of increasing predilection for end-rhyme on the part of -the poet, as he advances with his work, it is not in accordance with the -facts to assert that 'alliteration had ceased to play its former part, -and had been reduced to the level of a mere ornament of the verse'. -On the contrary, in the first part of the _Chronicle_ alliteration is -the predominant form, and, as the work advances, it is still used to a -considerable extent as a means to connect the two hemistichs or short -lines so as to form one long line. The strict laws formerly observed in -the use of alliteration, it is true, are not unfrequently disregarded, -chiefly with respect to the head-stave, which often falls on the fourth -accented syllable of the long line; and other licences (first occurring -in Ælfric's _Metrical Homilies_) may be met with. Nevertheless both -_Alfred's Proverbs_ and Layamon's _Brut_ (as is sufficiently shown by -the many specimens quoted in our _Altenglische Metrik_, pp. 150 ff.), -contain a great number of perfectly regular alliterative lines. The fact -that, in the second half of Layamon's _Chronicle_, end-rhyme is used -more and more frequently as a means to connect the two hemistichs, is -with much more probability to be explained by the continual occupation -of the poet with the Norman-French original poem, and by the increasing -influence which its short octosyllabic couplets must naturally have -exercised upon his own rhythms, than by a supposed intention of the -poet to write in 'primitive Germanic four-beat song-metre', the very -existence of which is hypothetical. Furthermore, the fact that in -some (not all or even most) of the passages, where end-rhyme is used -almost exclusively, e.g. in the passage quoted above (ll. 13883-940), -an even-beat rhythm is distinctly noticeable, can be explained quite -naturally by the influence of the Norman-French original, the -even-measured verses of which the poet was translating. - -But even supposing that Layamon _intended_ to use the primitive Germanic -four-beat song-metre in his translation of Wace's _Chronicle_, although -it certainly was not intended for singing, what can have been his reason -for composing the first half of his work, and a very considerable -portion of the rest, in a rhythmical form which only to a small extent -shows the peculiarities of a rhyming even-beat metre, whereas the main -part of it consists of the native unevenly stressed alliterative verse? -It is quite incorrect to say that the author in the course of his work -not unfrequently fell back into the alliterative verse. The fact is -just the opposite: the author started by using the native alliterative -verse to which he was accustomed, and gradually came to adopt the -rhymed verse of the Norman-French chronicle which he was translating, -without, however, entirely giving up the former metre. Alliteration -and end-rhyme, which he used sometimes separately and sometimes in -combination, were evidently looked upon by Layamon as equally legitimate -means for connecting his hemistichs or short lines. - -§ =45. Number of stresses.= Quite as unfounded as the assertion that -Layamon's verse is of an even-beat nature is the other assertion that it -contains two primary and two secondary accents, and that the second of -these secondary accents in verses with disyllabic endings may fall on a -syllable which by its etymology ought to have no accent. - -This statement is refuted by the treatment of rhyme in Layamon's _Brut_ -and in some earlier poems of a similar form or containing the same kind -of verse. - -Not only in the _Brut_, but also in several Old English and earlier -Middle English poems, we meet both with regular rhymes and with simple -assonances and other still more imperfect correspondences in sound -intended to serve as rhymes. - -Examples of actual rhyme in the _Brut_ are the monosyllabic pairs: -_seon: beon_ 13837-8, _king: þing_ 13883-4, _cniht: riht_ 13887-8; -besides inexact rhymes like _mon: an[=a]n_ 13605-6, 13615-16, _mon: -d[=o]n_ 13665-6, 13677-8, _w[=i]n: in_ 14349-50, 14998-9, _chin: w[=i]n_ -14994-5; disyllabic rhymes: _icúmen: gúmen_ 13787-8, _g[=ó]de: fl[=ó]de_ -13791-2, _s[=ó]hten: r[=ó]hten_ 13803-4, _[=ó]ðer: br[=ó]ðer_ 13841-2, -_ch[=ì]lde: w[=í]lde_ 13870-1, _p[=é]re: h[=é]re_ 13871-2, _hálle: álle_ -13981-2. We see no reason to accent these last-mentioned rhymes -differently from similar rhymes occurring in Old English poems, as e.g. -_wédde: asp[=é]dde_ Andr. 1633, _wúnne: blúnne_ ib. 1382, _bewúnden: -gebúnden_ Jud. 115, _stúnde: wúnde_ Byrhtn. 271, &c. - -Examples of the more numerous group formed by assonances are _t[=o]: -id[=o]n_ 13801-2, _lond: gold_ 13959-60, _strong: lond_ 13969-70, and -disyllabic assonances like _cníhten: kínges_ 13793-4, _wólden: londe_ -13821-2, &c. - -These are strictly parallel with instances like _wæf: læs_ El. 1238, -_onl[=á]g: h[=a]d_ ib. 1246, or like _wr[=á]ðum: [=á]rum_ Crist 595, -_lýre: cýme_ Phoen. 53, _r[=æ´]dde: t[=æ´]hte_ By. 18, _fl[=á]nes: -gen[=a]me_ ib. 71, _hl[=é]orum: t[=é]arum_ Be D[=o]mes dæge 28, &c., and -must, in our opinion, be metrically interpreted in exactly the same way. -That is to say, the root-syllable must, not only in real assonances like -_cníhten: kínges_, _lónde: strónge_, but also in consonances like -_Péohtes: cníhtes_, _mónnen: ínnen_, be looked upon as the chief part of -the rhyme, and the flexional endings, whether rhyming correctly or -incorrectly, must be regarded as forming only an unessential, -unaccented, indistinctly heard part of the rhyme, just as they -admittedly do in the similar Old English assonances quoted above. - -Now, as it is inconsistent with the two-beat rhythm of the hemistich in -Old English verse, to attribute a secondary accent to those endings, -although they were in some cases more distinctly pronounced than the -Middle English endings, it is impossible to suppose that the Middle -English endings bore a secondary accent. A further objection is that -although the syllables which, according to Luick's theory, are supposed -to bear a secondary accent are of course usually preceded by a long -root-syllable, it not unfrequently happens that a disyllabic word with -long root-syllable rhymes with one having a short root-syllable, in -which case the ending is not suited to bear a secondary accent at all, -e.g. _flú[gh]en: únnif[=ó]ge_ 14043-4, _to-fóren: gr[=é]ten_ 14071-2, -_s[=æ´]res: wólde_ 14215-16, _fáreð: iu[=é]ren_ 14335-6, _icúmen: -Þréoien_ 14337-8, _lágen_ (=_laws_)_: lónde_ 14339-40, _húnden: lúuien_ -14480-1, _scóme: s[=ó]ne_ 14604-5, _cúmen: hálden_ 14612-13, _scípe: -br[=ó]hte_ 14862-3, _fáder: unr[=æ´]des_ 14832-3, _fáder: r[=æ´]des_ -14910-11, _f[=ó]ten: biscópen_ 14821-2, _iw[=í]ten: scipen_ 14251-2, -_w[=í]ten: wenden_ 15060-1, _gúme: bis[=í]den_ 15224-5, _fréondscìpe: -séoluen_ 15226-7, _wúde: wéien-l[=æ´]len_ 15508-9, _ibóren: béarne_ -15670-1, _bi[gh]áte: wéorlde-r[=í]che_ 15732-3, _scáðe: fólke_ 15784-5, -_biswíken_ (pret. pl.): _cráften_ 29016-17, _a[gh]íuen: [gh]élden_ -29052-3, _biuóren: f[=ù]sen_ 29114-15, _súne: p[=é]ode_ 29175-6, -_idríuen: kíner[=í]chen_ 29177-18, _grúpen_ (pret. pl.): _m[=ù][gh]en_ -29279-80, _stúden_ (=_places_)_: bérnen_ 29285-6, &c. - -The only cases in which a secondary accent seems to be required for an -unaccented final syllable are such rhymes as the following:--_hálì: -forþí_ 13915-16 (cf. _Altengl. Metrik_, p. 160); _men: cómèn_ -13997-8 (MS. B: _men: here_), _men: dédèn_ 13975-6, _isómned wés: -lóndès_ 25390-1, and so forth.[100] But rhymes of this kind are in -comparison to the ordinary disyllabic or feminine endings so very rare -(occurring, for the most part, in lines which admit of a purely -alliterative scansion, or which have come down to us in an incorrect -state), that they have no bearing on the general rhythmic accentuation -of those final syllables, or on the rhythmic character of Layamon's -verses in general (cf. p. 78, end of § 47). - -§ =46. Analysis of verse-types.= In turning now to a closer examination -of the rhythmic structure of the metre in Layamon's _Brut_ and in the -somewhat earlier _Proverbs of Alfred_, we are glad to find ourselves -more nearly than hitherto (though still not altogether) in agreement -with the views of Prof. Luick. - -It is no small merit of his to have shown for the first time that the -five types of rhythmic forms pointed out by Sievers as existing in the -alliterative line are met with also in each of the four forms of verse -of Layamon's _Brut_ and of the _Proverbs_. And here it is of interest -to note that not only are the normal types of frequent occurrence -(chiefly in the _Proverbs_), but the extended types also, especially -in Layamon's _Brut_, are met with even more frequently. - -On account of our limited space only a few examples of each of the five -types can be given in this handbook. - -Instead of quoting hemistichs or isolated short lines as examples of -each of the single types A, B, C, D, E, we prefer always to cite two -connected short lines, and to designate the rhythmic character of the -long line thus originating by the types of the two hemistichs, as -follows: A + A, A* + B, B* + C, C* + E, &c., where A*, B*, C* signify -the extended types, to be discussed more fully below, and A, B, C, &c., -the normal types. This mode of treatment is necessary in order that our -examples may adequately represent the structure of the verse. The short -lines are always connected--either by alliteration, by rhyme (or -assonance), or by both combined, or sometimes merely by identity of -rhythm--into pairs. These pairs of short lines are regarded by Luick as -even-measured couplets, while we regard them as alliterative long lines; -but on either view each of them forms a coherent unity. We believe that -an examination of the couplet or long line as an undivided whole will -show unmistakably that the assumption of the even-measured character -of Layamon's verse is erroneous, or at least that it applies only in -certain cases, when the metre is strongly influenced by Romanic -principles of versification. The examples are for the most part the same -as those which Prof. Luick has quoted,[101] but we have in all cases -added the complementary hemistichs, which are generally of somewhat -greater length: - - A + A: _Ich =h=átte =H=éngest, | =H=órs is my bróðer._ - Lay. 13847-8. - - A*+ A: _and ích be wulle =r=[æ´]chen | déorne =r=únen._ - ib. 14079-80. - - B + A: _þær þa s[æ´]xisce mén | þæ s[æ´] isóhten._ ib. 14738-9. - - B(E?) + A: _hw hi héore =l=íf | =l=éde schólde._ Prov. i. 15-16. - - A + B: _=l=ónges =l=ýves, | ac him =l=ýeþ þe wrénch._ ib. x. 161-2. - - B*+ A: _vmbe =f=íftene [gh]ér | þat =f=ólc is isómned._ - Lay. 13855-6. - - B + C: _and eoure =l=éofue gódd | be [gh]e tó =l=úteð._ - ib. 13891-2. - - B + C: _ne wurð þu néver so =w=ód, | ne so =w=ýn-drúnke._ - Prov. xi. 269-70. - - A + C: _mi gást hine i=w=dárðeð | and =w=írð stílle._ Lay. 17136-7. - - C + C: _for þat wéorc stóndeð | inne Írlónde._ ib. 17176-7. - - A*+ D: _=k=ómen to þan =k=ínge | wíl-tíþende._ ib. 17089-90. - - D + A*: _vólc únimete | of móni ane lónde._ ib. 16188-9. - - E + E: _fíf þusend mén | wúrcheð þer ón._ ib. 15816-17. - - B*+ E: _þæt he héfde to iwíten | séouen hundred scíþen._ ib. 15102-3. - - D + *A: _for nys no =w=rt =u=éxynde | a =w=úde ne a =w=élde._ - Prov. x. 168-9. - - A*+ D: _þat =é=uer mvwe þas =f=éye | =f=úrþ =ý=p-holde._ ib. 170-1. - -It is easy to observe that it is only when two identical types, like -A + A, C + C, E + E, are combined, that an even-beat rhythm (to some -extent at least) can be recognized; in all the other combinations this -character is entirely absent. - -§ =47. Extended types.= We now turn to the more numerous class of such -couplets or long lines which in both their component hemistichs exhibit -extended variations of the five types, resulting from anacrusis or from -the insertion of unstressed syllables in the interior of the line. These -verses, it is true, are somewhat more homogeneous, and have a certain -resemblance to an even-beat rhythm in consequence of the greater number -of unaccented syllables, one of which (rarely two or more) may, under -the influence of the even-beat metre of the Norman-French original, have -been meant by the poet to be read with a somewhat stronger accentuation. -We are convinced, however, that in feminine endings, in so far as these -are formed, which is usually the case, by the unaccented endings _-e_, -_-en_, _-es_, _-eþ_, &c., these final syllables never, or at most only in -isolated cases, which do not affect the general character of the rhythm, -have a stronger accent or, as Prof. Luick thinks, form a secondary -arsis. As little do we admit the likelihood of such a rhythmic -accentuation of these syllables when they occur in the middle of the -line, generally of such lines as belong to the normal types mentioned -above. - -It is convenient, however, to adopt Luick's formulas for these common -forms of Layamon's verse, with this necessary modification, that we -discard the secondary accent attributed by him to the last syllable of -the types A, C, D, accepting only his types B and E without any change. -We therefore regard the normally constructed short lines of Layamon's -metre--so far as they are not purely alliterative lines of two accents, -but coupled together by rhyme or assonance, or by alliteration and rhyme -combined--as belonging to one or other of the following two classes: -(1) lines with four accents and masculine or monosyllabic endings (types -B and E); and (2) lines of three accents and feminine or disyllabic -endings (types A, C, D). In this classification those unaccented -syllables which receive a secondary stress are, for the sake of brevity, -treated as full stresses--which, indeed, they actually came to be in the -later development of the metre, and possibly to some extent even in -Layamon's own verse. - -Assuming the correctness of this view, the chief types of Layamon's -verse may be expressed by the following formulas, in which the bracketed -theses are to be considered optional: - - Type A: (×) -´ (×) `× × -´ ×. - Type B: (×) `× × -´ (×) `× × -´. - Type C: (×) `× × -´ -´ ×. - Type D: (×) -´ × -´ `× ×. - Type E: × -´ (×) `× × `× × -´. - -As these types may be varied by resolutions in the same way as the -primary types, there arise various additional formulas such as the -following: - - A: (×) )´ × (×) × -´ ×. - B: (×) `× × -´ (×) `× × )´ ×. - C: (×) `× × )´ × -´ ×, &c. - -Other variations may be effected by disyllabic or even polysyllabic -theses in the beginning ('anacruses') or in the middle of the verse -instead of monosyllabic theses. - -Apart from these another frequently occurring variation of type C must -be mentioned which corresponds to the formula (×) `× × -´ × -´ ×, and may -be designated (with Professors Paul and Luick) as type Cª, because the -position of its accented syllables points to type C, while on the other -hand it bears a certain resemblance to type A. - -The following examples, many of which have been quoted before by Luick, -may serve to illustrate these types of short lines or rather hemistichs -and their combination in couplets or long lines, in which a normal -hemistich is often followed by a lengthened one and vice versa: - - A* + A*: _Stróng hit ìs to rówe | ayèyn þe sée þat flóweþ._ - Prov. x. 145-6. - - A* + A*: _And swá heo gùnnen wénden | fórð tò þan kínge._ - Lay. 13811-12. - - A*+ A*: _ne míhte wè bil[æ´]ue | for líue nè for d[æ´]þe._ - ib. 13875-6. - - B + A*: _ùmbe =f=íftène [gh]er | þat =f=ólc is isómned._ - ib. 13855-6. - - A* + C*: _[æ´]veràlche [gh]ére | heo bèreð chíld þére._ ib. 13871-2. - - B* + B*: _þèr com =H=éngest, þèr com =H=órs, | þèr com míni mòn - ful óht._ - ib. 14009-10. - - B* + B*: _ànd þe clérek ànd þe knýht, | he schùlle démen èuelyche - ríht._ - Prov. iv. 78-9. - - Cª+ C*: _þèr þes =c=níhtes =c=ómen | bifòren þan fólc-=k=ínge._ - Lay. 13817-18. - - C* + A*: _[gh]ìf heo gríð sóhten, | and of his fréondscipe róhten?_ - ib. 13803-4. - - C* + Cª: _hìt beoð tíðénde | ìnne S[æ´]xe lónde._ ib. 14325-6. - - A* + C*: _for he wólde wìð þan kínge | hòlden rúnínge._ ib. 14069-70. - - A* + D*: _heo s[æ´]den tò þan kínge | néowe tíðènden._ ib. 13996-7. - - A* + D*: _and míd him bròuhte hére | an húndred ríd[`æ]ren._ - ib. 15088-9. - - E* + B*: _H[æ´]ngest wès þan kìnge léof | ànd him Líndesà[gh]e géf._ - ib. 14049-50. - -Types with resolutions: - - A* + A*: _and þ=ú=s þìne =d=ú[gh]eþe | stílle hè for=d=émeð._ - ib. 14123-4. - - A* + B*: _Wóden hèhde þa h[æ´]hste là[gh]e | an ùre [æ´]ldèrne - d[æ´][gh]en._ - ib. 13921-2. - -The first hemistich of the last line offers a specimen of a variation -of the ordinary types with feminine endings (chiefly of A, C, and -Cª), designated by Prof. Luick as A1, C1, Cª1, and showing the -peculiarity that instead of the ending -´ × somewhat fuller forms occur, -consisting either of two separate words or of a compound word, and -thus corresponding either to the formula -´ `×, or, if there are three -syllables, to the formula -´ × `×, or in case of a resolution (as in the -above example) to the formula -´ × )´ ×. We differ from Prof. Luick, -however, in admitting also endings corresponding to the formula )´ `× ×. - -As a rule, if not always, such forms of verse are occasioned by the -requirements of rhyme. This is not the case, it is true, in the -following purely alliterative line: - - A1* + A*: _þe kíng sòne úp stòd | and sétte hine bì him séoluen_. - Lay. 14073-4. - -but in other verses it is so, e.g.: - - B* + A1*: _Ah of éou ich wùlle iwíten | þurh sóðen èouwer wúrðscìpen._ - ib. 13835-6. - -and similarly (not corresponding to -´ × `×, as Prof. Luick thinks): - - A1* + B*: _bìdden us to fúltúme | þàt is Críst gòdes súne._ - ib. 14618-19. - -but the formula -´ × `× is represented by the following verses: - - A1* + A1*: _þe =þ=únre heo [gh]ìven =þ=únresd[æ´]i | for=þ=í þat - hèo heom helpen m[`æ]i._ - ib. 13929-30. - - A1* + A1*: _þe =éo=rl ànd þe =é=þel[`y]ng | ib=ú=reþ ùnder gódne - kìng_. - Prov. iv. 74-5. - - C1* + Cª1*: _nès þer nán crístindòm, | þèr þe kíng þat máide nòm._ - Lay. 14387-8. - -In the last but one of these examples this accentuation is corroborated -in the Jesus College MS. by the written accent on the word _gódne_, -whereby not only the rhyme _-lyng: king_ is shown to be an unaccented -one, but at the same time the two-beat rhythm of the hemistich is proved -as well as that of the preceding hemistich. Moreover, the alliteration -in all these examples is a further proof of the two-beat character of -their rhythm. - -§ =48.= It was owing to the use of these two more strongly accented -syllables in each verse which predominate over the other syllables, -whether with secondary accents or unaccented, that the poets, who wrote -in this metre, found it possible to regard the different kinds of verse -they employed as rhythmically equivalent. These were as follows: (1) -purely alliterative lines with hemistichs of two stresses, (2) extended -lines of this kind with secondary accents in the middle of the -hemistich, (3) rhyming-alliterative or merely rhyming lines with a -feminine ending and a secondary accent in the middle of the verse, or -with a masculine ending and two secondary accents, one on the last -syllable, as is also the case with the corresponding verses mentioned -under the second heading. These two last-mentioned verse-forms are very -similar to two popular metres formed on the model of Romanic metres. The -former of them--the hemistich with three stresses (one of which is -secondary) and feminine ending, together with the much rarer variety -that has a masculine ending--resembles the sections of the Alexandrine; -and the hemistich with a masculine ending (more rarely a feminine) and -four stresses (two of which have secondary accents only) is similar to -the short four-beat couplet, and also to the first section of the -Septenary line (the second section being similar to the former -three-beat group). It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that this -metre of Layamon in its different forms (that of the purely alliterative -line included) is in several Middle English poems, chiefly in _The -Bestiary_, employed concurrently (both in separate passages and in the -same passage) with the above-mentioned foreign metres formed on Romanic -or mediaeval-Latin models. By this fact the influence of the Romanic -versification on the origin and development of this form of the native -verse gains increased probability.[102] - -The limits of our space do not permit of further discussion of this -peculiar metre, which, as presented in the extant examples, appears -rather as in process of development than as a finished product, and of -which a complete understanding can be attained only by elaborate -statistical investigation. - - - C. The progressive form of the alliterative line, - rhymed throughout. 'King Horn.' - -§ =49.= The further development of the Layamon-verse is very simple and -such as might naturally be expected from its previous history. - -The use of final rhyme becomes constant, and consequently alliteration, -although remnants of it still are noticeable even in short lines -connected together, becomes more and more scarce.[103] - -The unaccented syllables are interposed between the accented ones with -greater regularity; and among the unaccented syllables the one (or, -in some sub-species of the verse, more than one) which is relatively -stronger than the rest receives full metrical stress, or at least nearly -approaches the fully-stressed syllables in rhythmical value. - -This form of the metre is represented by a short poem[104] consisting -of only twelve lines, belonging to the first half of the thirteenth -century, and by the well-known poem _King Horn_[105] (1530 lines) which -belongs to the middle of the same century. - -The prevailing rhythmical form of this poem is exemplified by the -following verses, which for the sake of convenience we print here, not -in the form of couplets (as the editors, quite justifiably, have done), -but in that of long lines as they are written in the Harleian MS.: - - _Hórn þu àrt wel kéne | and þat is wèl iséne._ 91-2. - _Þe sé bigàn to flówe | and Hórn chìld to rówe._ 117-18. - -This form occurs in more than 1300 out of the 1530 short lines of which -the poem consists. It is evident that the rhythm of these lines is -nearly the same as in the following taken from earlier poems: - - _[=æ´]fre embe stúnde | he séalde sume wúnde._ Byrhtn. 271. - - _ínnon þ[=a]m gemónge | on [=æ´]nlicum wónge._ Dom. 6. - - _súme hi man bénde | súme hi man blénde._ Chron. 1036. 4. - - _þát he nam be wíhte | and mid mýcelan unríhte._ ib. 1087. 4. - - _wiþ póuere and wiþ ríche | wiþ álle monne ilýche._ Prov. 375-6. - - _ne míhte we bil[æ´]ve | for líve ne for d[æ´]þe._ Lay. 13875-6. - -If those syllables which have the strongest accent in the unaccented -parts of these verses are uttered a little more loudly than was usual -in the alliterative line the rhythm becomes exactly the same as in the -corresponding verses of King Horn, where the three-beat rhythm already -has become the rule. - -This rule, however, is by no means without exceptions, and even the old -two-beat rhythm (which may have been the original rhythm) is, in the -oldest form of the poem, sometimes clearly perceptible, rarely, it is -true, in both hemistichs, as e.g. in the following line: - - _Hi sló[gh]en and fú[gh]ten | þe ní[gh]t and þe ú[gh]ten._ 1375-6, - -but somewhat oftener in one of them, as in the following: - - _Hi wénden to wísse | of hère líf to mísse._ 121-2. - - _So schál þi náme sprínge | from kínge to kínge._ 211-12. - - _In Hórnes ilíke | þú schalt hùre beswíke._ 289-90. - - _Hi rúnge þe bélle | þe wédlak fòr to felle._ 1253-4. - -Of this type of verse a great many examples are of course to be met -with in the earlier alliterative poems: - - _wúldres wédde | w[=í]tum [=a]sp[=é]dde._ An. 1633. - - _wýrmum bewúnden, | w[=í]tum gebúnden._ Jud. 115. - - _r[=á]d and r[=æ´]dde | ríncum t[=æ´]hte._ Byrhtn. 18. - - _on míddan geh[=æ´]ge | éal sw[=a] ic sécge._ Dom. 4. - - _þat lónd to léden | mid láweliche déden._ Prov. 75-6. - - _þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilíche._ ib. 80-1. - - _bivóren þan kínge | fáirest àlre þínge._ Lay. 14303-4. - -The third type (three beats with masculine ending), which is of rarer -occurrence, is represented by the following lines: - - _Þú art grèt and stróng, | fáir and èuene lóng._ 93-4. - - _Þu schàlt be dúbbed kníght | are còme séue ní[gh]t._ 447-8. - - _Léue at hìre he nám | and into hálle cám._ 585-6. - -As corresponding lines of earlier poems may be quoted: - - _éarn [=æ´]ses gèorn, | wæs on éorþan cýrm._ Byrhtn. 107. - - _þat þe chírche hàbbe grýð | and þe chéorl bèo in frýð._ Prov. 93-4. - - _lóuerd kìng wæs hæil! | for þine kíme ìch æm v[æ´]in._ - Lay. 14309-10. - -The fourth type (four beats with masculine ending), which occurs -somewhat oftener, has the following form: - - _Ófte hàdde Hòrn beo wó, | ac nèure wúrs þan hìm was þó._ 115-16. - - _Þe stúard wàs in hèrte wó, | fòr he núste whàt to dó._ 275-6. - -The corresponding rhythm of the earlier poems occurs in verses like: - - _and his gef[=é]ran he fordr[=á]f, | and sume míslice of sl[=ó]h._ - Chr. 1036. 2. - - _þe éorl ànd þe éþelìng | ibúreþ ùnder gódne kìng._ Prov. 74-5. - - _and sélde wùrþ he blýþe and glèd | þe món þat ìs his wíves quèd._ - ib. 304-5. - - _þe þúnre heo [gh]ìven þúnres d[`æ]i, | forþí þat hèo heom hélpen - m[`æ]i._ Lay. 13931-2. - -The fifth type (four beats with feminine endings) is represented -by the following verses: - - _To déþe hè hem álle brò[gh]te, | his fáder dèþ wel dére hi bò[gh]te._ - 883-4. - - _Tomóre[gh]e bè þe fí[gh]tinge, | whàne þe lí[gh]t of dáye sprìnge._ - 817-18. - -As corresponding verses of earlier poems we quote: - - _=s=úme hi man wiþ f[=é]o =s=éalde, | =s=úme hr[=e]owlice - [=a]cwéalde._ Chron. 1036. 3. - - _and sóttes bòlt is sóne iscòte, | forþí ich hòlde híne for dòte._ - Prov. 421-2. - - _in þ[`æ]re s[æ´] heo fùnden utláwen, | þa kénneste þa wèoren ò þon - dáwen._ Lay. 1283-4. - -The circumstance that these different types of verse occur in different -poems promiscuously makes it evident that they must all have been -developed from one original rhythmical form. It is clear that this -fundamental type can only be found in the old two-beat alliterative -hemistich, the more so as this kind of verse is the very metre in which -the earlier poems _Byrhtnoth_ and _Be D[=o]mes Dæge_ for the greatest part -are written, and which is exemplified in about a third part of the -poetical piece of the _Saxon Chronicle_ of 1036 and a fifth part of the -later-piece of 1087, and again very frequently in _Alfred's Proverbs_ -and in Layamon's _Brut_, and which still can be traced as the original -rhythm of _King Horn_. - -§ =50.= The evidence of the metre of this poem, showing its affinity to -the alliterative line and its historical origin from it, is so cogent -that it is unnecessary to discuss the theories of Prof. Trautmann and -the late Dr. Wissmann, both of whom, although from different points of -view, agree in ascribing a four-beat rhythm to this metre.[106] - -The frequent use again in this poem of the types of line occurring in -Layamon's _Brut_, as pointed out by Prof. Luick (l. c.), puts the close -connexion of the metre of _King Horn_ with that form of the alliterative -line beyond doubt. We cannot, however, in conformity with the view we -have taken of Layamon's verse, agree with Prof. Luick in assigning a -secondary accent to the last syllable of the feminine ending of the -ordinary three-beat verse, in which the greater part of _King Horn_ is -written. Prof. Luick himself does not insist upon that particular point -so strongly for this poem as he did for the earlier poems written in a -similar metre. - -The following examples serve to show that the same extended types of -line which were found to be the commonest in Layamon's _Brut_ (cp. -p. 77) recur as the most usual types also in this poem: - - A + C: _Álle bèon he blíþe | þat tò my sóng lýþe!_ 1-2. - - A + A: _A sáng ihc schàl [gh]ou sínge | of Múrr[`y] þè kínge._ 2-3. - - A + A: _He fónd bì þe strónde, | aríued òn his lónde_, 35-6. - - B + C: _Àll þe dáy and àl þe n[=í][gh]t, | tìl hit spráng dái - lì[gh]t._ 123-4. - - B + B: _Fàirer nis nón þàne he wás, | hè was brí[gh]t sò þe - glás._ 13-14. - - C + C: _Bì þe sé síde, | ase hè was, wóned ( )´ ×) ríde._ 33-4. - - C + A: _Of þìne méstére, | of wúde and òf rivére._ 229-30. - - D + A: _Schípes fíftène | with sárazìn[e]s kéne._ 37-8. - - C + A: _Þe chìld him ánswérde, | sóne so hè hit hérde._ 199-200. - - B + E: _Hè was whít sò þe flúr, | róse-rèd was hìs colúr._ 15-16. - -In most cases we see that identical or similar types of verse are -connected here so as to form a couplet (printed by us as one long line). -Even where this is not so, however, the two chief accents in each short -line serve to make all the different forms and types of verse occurring -in this poem sound homogeneous. This admits of a ready explanation, -as the poem, in which no stanzaic arrangement can be detected, although -styled a 'song' (line 2), was certainly never meant to be sung to a -regular tune. On the contrary, it was undoubtedly recited like the -'Song' of Beowulf--probably not without a proper musical -accompaniment--by the minstrels. - -At all events the treatment of the words with regard to their rhythmic -use in this poem does not deviate from that of Layamon. - -§ =51.= The two poems are of the same period, and in both the -etymological and syntactical accentuation of natural speech forms the -basis of the rhythmic accentuation. Monosyllabic words and the accented -syllables of polysyllabic words having a strong syntactical accent are -placed in the arsis; unaccented inflectional syllables as a rule form -the theses of a verse; second parts of compounds and fully sounding -derivative syllables are commonly used for theses with a somewhat -stronger accent, and may, if placed in the arsis, even bear the -alliteration, or, if they are less strongly accented, the rhyme: - - _Þèr þas =c=níhtes =c=ómen | bi=f=òren þan =f=ólc-=k=ínge._ - Lay. 13818-19. - - _Ah of éou ich wùlle i=w=íten | þurh =s=óðen èouwer =w=úrðscìpen._ - ib. 13835-6. - - _A móre[gh]e bò þe dáy gan sprìnge, | þe kíng him ròd an húntìnge._ - Horn 645-6. - - _He wàs þe faíréste, | ànd of wít þe béste._ ib. 173-4. - -Unaccented inflexional syllables as a rule stand in the thesis of a -verse. Only in exceptional cases, which admit of a different explanation -(see above, pp. 74 and 76), they may bear the rhythmical accent if the -rhyme demands it. - -That a thesis in Layamon's _Brut_ and in _Alfred's Proverbs_ may be -disyllabic or even trisyllabic both in the beginning and the middle of a -line is evident from the many examples quoted above. - -In _King Horn_, where the division of the original long lines into two -short ones has been carried out completely, and where the rhythm of the -verse has consequently become more regular, the thesis, if not wanting -entirely, as usually the case, in the types C, D, E, is generally -monosyllabic. But, as the following examples, _faírer ne mì[gh]te_ 8, -_þe paíns còme to lónde_ 58, _þanne schólde withùten óþe_ 347, will -show, disyllabic theses do also occur, both after the first and second -arsis, and in the beginning of the line. - - -NOTES: - - [96] Some less important examples, of which the metrical character is - not quite clear, are mentioned by Luick, Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. - 2, II. ii. p. 144. - - [97] In this passage and for the future we refrain from indicating the - quantity of the vowels. The rhythmic accentuation is omitted, as - being very uncertain in this passage. - - [98] Viz. the so-called _Proverbs of King Alfred_ (ed. by R. Morris, - E.E.T.S., vol. XLIX), and Layamon's _Brut_, ed. by Sir Frederic - Madden, London, 1847, 2 vols. - - [99] Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 10, and _Altgermanische - Metrik_, p. 139. - - [100] On the nature of these rhymes, cf. § 53 and the author's paper, - 'Metrische Randglossen,' in _Englische Studien_, x. 192 ff., - chiefly pp. 199-200. - - [101] In Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. pp. 145-7. - - [102] Cf. our remarks in Book I, Part II, on the Septenary Verse in - combination with other metres. - - [103] Cf. Wissmann, _King Horn_, pp. 59-62, and _Metrik_, i, pp. - 189-90. - - [104] _Signs of Death_ in _Old Engl. Misc._ (E. E. T. S.), p. 101. - - [105] Cf. Hall's edition (Clar. Press, 1901), pp. xlv-l, where our - views on the origin and structure of the metre are adopted. - - [106] See Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 156. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN ITS CONSERVATIVE - FORM DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES - - - A. The alliterative verse without rhyme. - -§ =52.= The progressive or free form of the alliterative line came to an -end as early as the middle of the thirteenth century, when it broke up -into short rhyming couplets. The stricter form was for nearly three -centuries longer a very popular metre in English poetry, especially in -the North-Western and Northern districts of England and in the adjacent -lowlands of Scotland. The first traces, however, of its existence after -the Norman Conquest are to be found in the South of England, where some -poetical homilies and lives of saints were written at the end of the -twelfth and in the beginning of the thirteenth century which are of the -same character, both as to their subjects and to their metre, as the -poetical paraphrases and homilies written by Ælfric. These poems are -_Hali Meidenhad_ (a poetical homily), the legends of _St. Marharete_, -_St. Juliana_, and _St. Katherine_. These poems have been edited for -the Early English Text Society, Nos. 18, 13, 51, 80; the first three -by Cockayne as prose-texts, the last by Dr. Einenkel, who printed it in -short couplets regarded by him as having the same four-beat rhythm -(Otfrid's metre) which he and his teacher, Prof. Trautmann, suppose to -exist in Layamon and _King Horn_.[107] The Homilies have no rhymes. - -The form of these homilies and legends occasionally exhibits real -alliterative lines, but for the most part is nothing but rhythmical -prose, altogether too irregular to call for an investigation here. -Some remarks on passages written in a form more or less resembling -alliterative verse may be found in our _Englische Metrik_, vol. i, § 94. - -It is quite out of the question to suppose these Southern works, with -their very irregular use of alliteration and metre, to have had any -influence on the metrical form of the very numerous alliterative poems -written in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Midland and -Northern districts of England. It is, however, not at all likely that -alliterative poetry should have sprung up there without any medium of -tradition, and that it should have returned to the strict forms of the -Old English models. Nor can we assume that it was handed down by means -of oral tradition only on the part of the minstrels from Old English -times down to the fourteenth century. The channel of tradition of the -genuine alliterative line must be sought for in documents which for the -most part have been lost. - -A few small remnants, however, have been preserved, viz. a charm in a -MS. of the twelfth century (cf. Zupitza, _Zeitschrift für deutsches -Altertum_, xxxi. 49), a short poem, entitled 'Ten Abuses', belonging -to the same period (E. E. T. S. 49, p. 184), a prophecy of five lines -contained in the chronicle of Benedict of Peterborough (_Rerum -Britannicarum Scriptores_, 49, ii. 139), finally a prophecy ascribed -to Thomas of Erceldoune (E.E. T. S., vol. 61, xviii, _Thom. of Erc._, -ed. by A. Brandl, p. 26). But these pieces, treated by Prof. Luick in -Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, p. 160, are either too short or -are too uncertain in text to admit of our making definite conclusions -from them. - -But from the middle of the fourteenth century onward we have a large -number of poems composed in regular alliterative verse, e.g. _King -Alisaunder_ (Als.) and _William of Palerne_ (W.), both in E. E. T. S., -Extra-Ser. No. 1; _Joseph of Arimathie_ (J.A.), E. E.T. S. 44; _Sir -Gawain and the Green Knight_ (Gr.), E.E. T. S. 4; _Piers Plowman_ -(P. P.), by W. Langland, E. E. T. S., Nos. 17, 28, 30, 38, 54; _Pierce -the Plowman's Crede_ (P. P. Cr.), E. E. T. S. 30; _Richard the Redeles_ -(R. R.), E. E. T. S. 54; _The Crowned King_ (Cr. K.), ibid.; _The -Destruction of Troy_, E. E.T. S. 39, 56; _Morte Arthure_, E. E. T. S. 8; -_Cleanness_ and _Patience_, E. E. T. S. 1; _The Chevalere Assigne_, -E. E.T. S., Extra-Ser. 6; and others of the end of the fifteenth and the -beginning of the sixteenth centuries: see Prof. W. W. Skeat's list in -'Bishop Percy's Folio MS.', London, 1867 (ed. Furnivall and Hales), vol. -iii, p. xi, and many recent publications of the Early English Text -Society. - -On the =structure of this metre= the opinions of scholars differ a good -deal less than on that of the progressive or free form of the -alliterative line. Yet there are a few adherents of the four-beat theory -who apply it to the alliterative line of this epoch, amongst others -Rosenthal ('Die alliterierende englische Langzeile im 14. Jahrhundert,' -_Anglia_, i. 414 ff.). The two-beat theory, on the other hand, has been -upheld also for this form of the alliterative line by Prof. W. W. Skeat, -_Essay on Alliterative Poetry_, Percy Folio MS. 1867 (ed. Furnivall and -Hales), by the present writer in _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 195-212, and -by Prof. Luick, _Anglia_, xi, pp. 392-443 and 553-618, and subsequently -in Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, pp. 161-3. - -§ =53. The use and treatment of the words in the verse= is on the -whole the same as in the Old English period. The chief divergence is, -that in this period of the language the difference between long and -short syllables was lost, in consequence of the lengthening of short -vowels in open syllables which had taken place in the interval, and -that consequently the substitution of a short accented syllable and -an unaccented one for a long accented syllable (the so-called -resolution) was no longer admissible. Otherwise syllables with a primary -accent, syllables with a secondary accent, and unaccented syllables are -treated just as in the Old English poetry. Accented syllables are as -a rule placed in the arsis, as are also second parts of compounds. Other -syllables with secondary accent (derivative and inflectional syllables) -are only in exceptional cases placed in the arsis of a verse. - -It is of special interest, however, to notice that words of Romanic -origin which in the course of time had been introduced into the language -are in many cases accented according to Germanic usage. Words of which -the last syllable was accented in French have in their Middle-English -form the chief accent thrown on a preceding, frequently on the first, -syllable, and in consequence of this the originally fully accented -syllable in trisyllabic words receives the secondary accent and is -treated in the rhythm of the verse in the same way as syllables with -a secondary accent in English words. The laws, too, which in Old English -affect the subordination and position of the parts of speech in their -relationship to the rhythm of the verse and to the alliteration, remain, -generally speaking, in force. It is remarkable that 'if an attributive -adjective is joined to a substantive, and a verb to a prepositional -adverb, the first part of these groups of words still has the chief -accent' (Luick). The relationship, on the other hand, of verse and -sentence is changed. While in Old English poetry run-on-lines were -very popular and new sentences therefore frequently began in the -middle of a line, after the caesura, we find that in Middle English, as -a rule, the end of the sentence coincides with the end of the line. -Hence every line forms a unity by itself, and the chief pause falls at -the end, not, as was frequently the case in Old English times, after the -caesura. - -§ =54. Alliteration.= On the whole, the same laws regarding the -position of the alliterative sounds are still in force as before; it is -indeed remarkable that they are sometimes even more strictly observed. -In the _Destruction of Troy_, e.g. triple alliteration according to the -formula _a a a x_ is employed throughout. - - _Now of =T=róy forto =t=élle | is myn en=t=ént euyn, - Of the =st=óure and þe =st=rýfe, | when it di=st=róyet wás._ - Prol. 27-8. - -Alongside of this order of alliteration we find in most of the other -poems the other schemes of alliteration popular in Old English times, -e.g. _a x a x, x a a x, a b a b, a b b a_: - - _In þe =f=órmest yére, | that he =f=írst réigned._ Als. 40. - - _Þénne gonne I =m=éeten | a =m=érvelous svévene._ P. P. Prol. 11. - - _I had =m=índe on my =s=lépe | by =m=éting of =s=wéuen._ Als. 969. - - _And =f=ónd as þe =m=éssageres | hade =m=únged be=f=óre._ W. 4847. - -Irregularities, however, in the position of the alliteration are -frequently met with, e.g. parallel alliteration: _a a, b b_: - - _What þis =m=óuntein be=m=éneþ | and þis =d=érke =d=ále._ P. P. i. 1; - -or the chief alliterative sound (the 'head-stave') may be placed in the -last accented syllable (_a a x a_): - - _'Now be =C=ríst,' quod the =k=íng, | '[gh]if I míhte =c=hácche._ - ib. ii. 167; - -or it may be wanting entirely, especially in _William of Palerne_: - - _Sche =k=ólled it ful =k=índly | and áskes is náme._ W. 69; - -and there are even found a certain number of verses without any -alliteration at all in _Joseph of Arimathie_: - - _Whan Jóseph hérde þer-of, | he bád hem not demáy[gh]en._ J. A. 31. - -In such cases it may sometimes be noticed that a line which has no -internal alliteration is linked by alliteration with a preceding or with -a following line, in the same way as was to be observed already in the -last century of the Old English period (cf. p. 50): - - _Bot on the =C=ristynmes dáye, | whene they were álle =s=émblyde, - That =c=ómliche =c=ónquerour | =c=ómmaundez hym =s=elvyne._ - Morte Arth. 70-1. - -Again an excess of alliteration is found, which happens in different -ways, either by admitting four alliterative sounds in one line -(_a a a a_) as was sometimes done even in Old English: - - _In a =s=ómer =s=éson | when =s=ófte was þe =s=ónne._ P. P. Prol. 1; - -or by retaining the same alliterative sound in several consecutive -lines, e.g.: - - _þenne was =C=ónscience i=c=léþet | to =c=ómen and apéeren_ - _tofore the =k=ýng and his =c=óunsel, | =c=lérkes and óþure._ - _=k=néolynge =C=ónscience | to the =k=ýng lóutede._ - ib. iii. 109-11; - -or, finally, by allowing the somewhat more strongly accented syllables -of the theses to participate in the alliteration: - - _and was a =b=íg =b=old =b=árn | and =b=réme of his áge._ W. 18. - -By the increasing use of this kind of alliteration it ultimately -degenerated so much that the real nature of it was completely forgotten. -This is evident from the general advice which King James VI gives in his -_Revlis and Cavtelis to be observit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie_ -(Arber's Reprint, p. 63): - - Let all your verse be _Literall_, sa far as may be, quhatsumeuer kynde - they be of, but speciallie _Tumbling_ verse [evidently the - alliterative line] for flyting. Be _Literall_ I meane, that the maist - pairt of your lyne sall rynne vpon a letter, as this tumbling lyne - rynnis vpon F. - - _Fetching fade for to feid it fast furth of the Farie._[108] - -He then gives a description of this kind of verse which makes it evident -that he looked upon 'tumbling verse' as a rhythm of two beats in each -hemistich or four beats in the full line, for he says: - - [Gh]e man observe that thir Tumbling verse flowis not on that fassoun - as vtheris dois. For all vtheris keipis the reule quhilk I gave - before, to wit the first fute short the secound lang and sa furth. - Quhair as thir hes twa short and are lang throuch all the lyne quhen - they keip ordour, albeit the maist pairt of thame be out of ordour - and keipis na kynde nor reule of Flowing and for that cause are - callit Tumbling verse. - -King James VI was a contemporary of the last poets who wrote in -alliterative lines in the North and therefore undoubtedly had heard such -poems read by reciters who had kept up the true tradition of their -scansion. We have here then the very best proof we can desire not only -of the four-beat rhythm of the line, but also of the fact that -unaccented words, although they may alliterate intentionally, as they -do often in poems of the fifteenth century, or unintentionally, as -earlier, do not get a full accent in consequence of the alliteration, as -some scholars have thought, but remain unaccented.[109] - -As to the quality of the alliteration the same laws on the whole still -prevail as in Old English poetry, but are less strictly observed. Thus -frequently voiced and unvoiced sounds alliterate together, and the -aspiration is neglected; _f_ alliterates with _v_, _v_ with _w_, _w_ -with _wh_, _s_ with _sh_ or with combinations of _s_ and other -consonants, _g_ with _k_, _h_ with _ch_: - - _=h=értes and =h=índes | and =ó=þer bestes mánye._ W. 389. - - _of =f=álsnesse and =f=ásting | and =v=óuwes ibróken._ - P. P. Prol. 68. - - _bat he =w=íst =w=íterly | it was the =v=óis of a childe._ W. 40. - - _to a=c=órde wiþ þe =k=íng | and =g=ráunte his wílle._ ib. 3657. - - _I =s=áyle now in þe =s=ée | as =sch=íp boute mást._ ib. 567. - - _such =ch=ástite withouten =ch=árite | worþ =cl=áymed in hélle!_ - P. P. i. 168. - -On the other hand, sometimes (as e.g. in the _Alisaunder_ fragments) -greater strictness may be noticed in regard to alliteration of vowels, -as only the same vowels[110] are allowed to alliterate: - - _wiþ þé =é=rldam of =É=nuye | =é=uer forto láste._ P. P. ii. 63. - -Later on, in the fifteenth century, vocalic alliteration in general -falls into disuse more and more. - -§ =55. Comparison of Middle English and Old English alliterative -verse.= With regard to the rhythmic structure of the verse the Middle -English alliterative line is not very different from the corresponding -Old English metre. Two beats in each hemistich are, of course, the -rule, and it has been shown by Dr. K. Luick, in a very valuable -paper on the English alliterative line in the fourteenth, fifteenth, -and sixteenth centuries,[111] that all the different types which -Prof. Sievers has discovered for the two sections of the Old English -alliterative line occur here again, but with certain modifications. - -The modifications which the five chief types have undergone originated -in the tendency to simplify their many varieties exactly in the same way -as the Old English inflexional forms of the language were simplified and -generalized in the Middle English period. - -Only three of the five old types, viz. those with an even number of -members (A, B, C), are preserved in the second section of the verse, -and those not in their original forms. They show further a certain -tendency to assimilate to each other. - -In types B and C the variations with disyllabic anacrusis occurred most -frequently, as was also the case in type A, and verses of this kind now -become predominant. Furthermore, in the Old English alliterative line, -endings consisting of an accented and an unaccented syllable (feminine -endings) prevailed; and type B was the only one of the symmetrical -types ending with an accented syllable. In Middle English the use of -feminine endings goes so far that the original type B has disappeared -altogether and given place to a new type with an unaccented last -syllable corresponding to the form × × -´ × -´ ×. - -Prof. Luick very properly calls this type BC, holding that it -originated from the variations × × -´ × >)`×< and × × >)`×< -´ × of -the old types B and C in consequence of the lengthening of the -originally short accented syllable. Verse-ends with two unaccented -syllables, which might have arisen in the same way from -´ × = >)´ ×< ×, -did not become popular; and verse-ends with one unaccented syllable -predominated. Lastly, an important feature of the later verse-technique -deserves notice, that a monosyllabic anacrusis (an initial unaccented -syllable) is generally allowed in types where it was not permitted in -the Old English alliterative line. The consequence of these changes -is that the rhythm of the verse which was in Old English a descending -rhythm, becomes in Middle English ascending, and is brought into line -with the rhythm of the contemporary even-beat metres. - -This is the state of development presented by the Middle English -alliterative line in one of the earliest poems of this group, viz. in -the fragments of _King Alisaunder_, the versification of which, as a -rule, is very correct. - -Here the three types only which we have mentioned occur in the second -hemistich. - -Type A is most common, corresponding to the formula (×) -´ × × -´ ×: - - _=l=órdes and óoþer_ 1, _=d=éedes of ármes_ 5, _=k=íd in his tíme_ - 11, _=t=érme of his lífe_ 16, - -or with anacrusis: - - _or =st=érne was hólden_ 10, _and =s=óne beráfter_ 25. - -More than two unaccented syllables may occur _after_ the first accented -syllable. These two peculiarities seldom occur together in one and the -same second hemistich (though frequently in the first hemistich); but -there are some examples: - - _is =t=úrned too him álse_ 165, _and =p=ríkeden abóute_ 382, _hee - =f=áred òn in háste_ 79; - -in this last example with a secondary accent on the word _òn_ as -also in the verse: _þe =m=éssengères þei cámme_ 1126. - -Type C, (×) × × -´ -´ ×: - - _was þe mán hóten_ 13, _þat his =k=íth ásketh_ 65, _as a =k=íng - shólde_ 17, _withoute =m=íscháunce_ 1179. - -Type BC, (×) × × -´ × -´ ×: - - _or it =t=ýme wére_ 30, _in his =f=áders life_ 46, _of þis =m=éry - tále_ 45, _þat þei no =c=ómme þáre_ 507. - -The same types occur in the first hemistich; but type C disappears almost -entirely, and in the other two the last syllable not unfrequently is -accented, especially if a considerable number of unaccented syllables -occur in the middle of the hemistich; such verses may be looked upon as -remnants of types B and E: - - _þo was =c=róuned =k=íng_ 28, _hee made a =u=éry =u=ów_ 281, _and - =w=édded þat =w=íght_ 225, _þe =b=érn couth þerbý_ 632, &c. - -Type D also seems to occur sometimes: - - _=m=óuth =m=éete þertò_ 184, _what =d=éath =d=rý[e] thou shàlt_ 1067. - -Besides these types the first hemistich has, as in Old English times, -some forms of its own. The succession of syllables -´ × × -´ × (type A) -is extended either by several unaccented syllables before the first -accented one (polysyllabic anacrusis) or by the insertion of a -secondary accent between the two main accented syllables, or after the -second accented syllable, with a considerable number of medial -unaccented syllables. - - (_a_) _That ever =st=éede be=st=róde_ 10, - _Hee brought his ménne to þe =b=órowe_ 259. - - (_b_) _And =ch=éued fòrthe with þe =ch=ílde_ 78, - _Þe =c=ómpanìe was =c=árefull_ 359. - - (_c_) [Greek: a]. _=G=lísiande as =g=óldwìre_ 180, - _Þei =c=raked þe =c=ournales_ 295. - - [Greek: b]. _Hue =l=óued so =l=écherìe_ 35, - _And =Ph=ílip þe =f=érse kìng_ 276. - - [Greek: g]. _=St=ónes =st=írred þei þò_ 293, - _Þe =f=ólke too =f=áre with hìm_ 158. - -The examples under (_a_) show the tendency noticeable already in the -first hemistich of the Old English alliterative line to admit anacrusis. -The examples under (_b_) and (_c_) may be looked upon as extended forms -of types E and D. - -§ =56.= Several poems of somewhat later date deviate more frequently -from these types than the _Alisaunder_ fragments, chiefly in the -following points: - -The end of the hemistich sometimes consists of an accented syllable -instead of an unaccented one; the thesis is sometimes monosyllabic -instead of polysyllabic, especially in A, or the anacrusis may be -polysyllabic instead of monosyllabic. Secondary accents are introduced -more frequently into the second hemistich also, but by poets whose -technique is careful they are admitted only between the two accented -syllables. Owing to these licences, and to the introduction of -polysyllabic theses, the rhythm of the verse sometimes becomes very -heavy. - -Belonging to this group are _William of Palerne_, _Joseph of Arimathie_, -both belonging to the middle of the fourteenth century, the three -editions of William Langland's _Vision concerning Piers Plowman_, of -somewhat later date, and a few minor poems. The _Romance of the -Chevelere Assigne_, written in the East Midland district, at the end of -the fourteenth century, and the works of the Gawain-poet, viz. _Sir -Gawain and the Green Knight_, _Cleanness_, _Patience_, and the _Legend -of St. Erkenwald_ (Horstmann, _Altengl. Legenden_, 1881, p. 265), form -the transition to another group of poems belonging to the North of -England, but differing somewhat from the preceding with regard to their -metre. - -The most important amongst these is Langland's great work, but it is at -the same time most unequal in respect to its versification. In many -passages, especially in the beginning of the several Passus, as they are -called, the flow of the verses is very regular; in other passages the -theses are frequently of such great length, and the arsis stands out so -indistinctly, that the rhythm of the verse can only be made out with -difficulty. Some examples taken from the B-text (c. 1377) may serve to -illustrate this: - -Extended second hemistich (Type A): - - _To =b=óres and to =b=róckes | þat =b=réketh adòwn myne hégges._ - vi. 31. - - _And so I =t=rówe =t=réwly | by þat men =t=élleth of chárite._ - xv. 158. - - _Ac [gh]ut in =m=ány mo =m=áneres | =m=én offènden þe hóligòste._ - xvii. 280. - -Extended first hemistich (Type A): - - _=L=éue him nòu[gh]t, for he is =l=écherous | and =l=íkerous of - tónge._ - vi. 268. - - _=L=áboreres þat haue no =l=ánde | to =l=ýue on but her hándes._ - ib. 309. - - _'Now, by þe =p=éril of my soúle!' quod Pieres, | 'I shal a=p=éyre - [gh]ou álle!'_ - vi. 173. - -Such verses obviously contain only two beats in each hemistich, -although at the same time some of the syllables forming the thesis may -have a somewhat stronger accent than others. For as a rule such extended -verses are succeeded by a normal line, clearly bringing out again the -general four-beat rhythm, as is the case with the line (A + A) following -immediately upon the last-mentioned example: - - _And =h=óuped after =h=únger | þat =h=érd hym atte fírste._ - vi. 174. - -Type A is in _Piers Plowman_ the usual one, but the types C and BC -frequently occur. In the following examples we have type C in the second -hemistich: - - _And hadden =l=éue to =l=ye | al here =l=ýf áfter._ Prol. 49. - - _I seigh =s=ómme that =s=éiden | þei had y=s=óu[gh]t =s=éyntes_. - ib. 50; - -in the first hemistich it occurs rarely: - - _Ac on a =M=áy =m=órnynge | on =M=áluerne húlles._ ib. 5. - -Type B C is frequently to be met with in both hemistichs; e.g. in the -first: - - _In a =s=ómer =s=éson, | whan =s=óft was the =s=ónne._ ib. 1. - - _And as I =l=áy and =l=éned | and =l=óked in þe wáteres._ ib. 9; - -in the second: - - _=B=ídders and =b=éggeres | fast a=b=óute [gh]éde._ ib. 40. - - _=W=énten to =W=álsyngham, | and here =w=énches áfter._ ib. 54. - -Masculine endings, however (originating from the dropping of the final -_-e_ in the last words of the types A and C, as e.g. in _and =d=rédful -of síght_ Prol. 16, _=c=ristened þe =k=ýnge_ xv. 437, _as þe kýng híght_ -iii. 9), occur very rarely here. They are, on the other hand, -characteristic forms in another group of alliterative poems. - -§ =57.= These belong to the =North of England= and the adjacent parts -of the Midlands. - -In these districts the final _e_ had by this time become silent, or was -in the course of becoming so. Thus many verses of West-Midland poems -were shortened in the North by omitting the final _-e_, and then these -forms were imitated there. Hence the middle of the line was much less -modified than the end of it. - -Types A, C, B C, therefore, occur not only in the ordinary forms with -unaccented syllables at the end, but also, although more rarely, with -accented ones, viz. corresponding to the schemes: - - A1, (×) -´ × × -´, C1, (×) × × -´ -´, BC1, (×) × × -´ × -´. - -These forms of the hemistich first occur in the _Destruction of Troy_, -a poem written in a West-Midland dialect very like to the Northern -dialect, and in the North-English poems, _Morte Arthure_ and _The Wars -of Alexander_ (E. E. T. S., Extra-Ser. 47). Examples of these types -(taken from the first-mentioned poem) are: of type A1 in the second -hemistich, _for =l=érning of ús_ 32, _þat =ó=nest were =á=y_ 48; with a -polysyllabic thesis, _and =l=ympit of the sóthe_ 36; with a secondary -accent, _with =c=léne mèn of wít_ 790; without anacrusis,[112] _=l=émond -as góld_ 459, _=b=léssid were Í_ 473; in the first hemistich, with -disyllabic anacrusis, _þat ben =d=répit with =d=éth_ 9, _þat with the -=G=rékys was =g=rét_ 40; without anacrusis, _=B=ýg y-noghe vnto =b=éd_ -397, _=T=rýed men þat were =t=áken_ 258, &c.; examples for C1 (only -occurring in the second hemistich), _þat he =f=óre with_ 44, _into your -=l=ond hóme_ 611, _ye have =s=áid well_ 1122, _þat ho =b=órne wás_ 1388, -_of my =c=órs hás_ 1865; examples for B C1, in the second hemistich -(of rare occurrence), _when it de=st=róyet wás_ 28, _and to =s=órow -bróght_ 1497, _þere þe =c=ítie wás_ 1534. - -The same modification of types took place later in other parts of the -Midlands, as appears from two works of the early sixteenth century, -_Scottish Field_ and _Death and Life_ (Bishop Percy's Folio MS., -edited by Furnivall and Hales, i. 199 and iii. 49). The last -North-English or rather Scottish poem, on the other hand, written in -alliterative lines without rhyme, Dunbar's well-known Satire, _The twa -mariit wemen and the wedo_, has, apart from the normal types occurring -in the North-English poems, many variants, chiefly in the first -hemistich, which are characterized by lengthy unaccented parts both at -the beginning of the line, before the second arsis, and after it; -frequently too syllables forming the thesis have a secondary accent and -even take part in the alliteration, as e.g. in the following examples: - - _=[gh]=aip and =[gh]=íng, in the =[gh]=ók | ane =[gh]=éir for to - dráw._ 79. - - _Is =b=àir of =b=lís and =b=áilfull, | and greit =b=árrat wírkis_. - 51. - -Sometimes the second hemistich participates in this cumulation of -alliterating words, which not unfrequently extends over several, even as -many as six or seven consecutive lines: - - _He =g=ráythit me in =g=áy silk | and =g=údlie arráyis, - In =g=ównis of in=g=ránit clayth | and =g=reit =g=óldin chén[gh]eis_. - 365-6. - -This explains how King James VI came to formulate the metrical rule -mentioned above (p. 89) from the misuse of alliteration by the last -poets who used the alliterative line, or the alliterative rhyming -line to be discussed in the next paragraph, which shares the same -peculiarity. - - - B. The alliterative line combined with rhyme. - -§ =58.= In spite of the great popularity which the regular alliterative -line enjoyed down to the beginning of the Modern English period, -numerous and important rivals had arisen in the meantime, viz. the many -even-beat rhymed kinds of verse formed on foreign models; and these -soon began to influence the alliterative line. The first mark of this -influence was that end-rhyme and strophic formation was forced upon -many alliterative poems. In a further stage the alliterative line was -compelled to accommodate its free rhythm of four accents bit by bit -to that of the even-beat metres, especially to the closely-related -four-foot iambic line, and thus to transform itself into a more or -less regular iambic-anapaestic metre. The alliterative line, on the -other hand, exercised a counter influence on the newer forms of verse, -inasmuch as alliteration, which was formerly peculiar to native -versification, took possession in course of time to a considerable -extent of the even-beat metres, especially of the four-foot iambic -verse. But by this reciprocal influence of the two forms of verse the -blending of the four-beat alliterative line with that of four equal -measures and the ultimate predominance of the even-beat metres was -brought about more easily and naturally. - -Alliterative-rhymed lines, the connexion of which into stanzas or -staves will be treated of in the second part of this work under the -heading of the 'Bob-wheel-stanza', were used during the Middle English -period alike in lyric, epic, and dramatic poetry. - -§ =59. Lyrical stanzas.= The earliest stanzas written in alliterative -rhyming lines were lyrical. - -We must distinguish between isometric and anisometric stanza forms. -In the former the whole stanza consists of four-beat alliterative -lines, commonly rhyming according to a very simple scheme (either _a a -a a_ or _a b a b_). In the latter four-beat long lines as a rule are -combined with isolated lines of one measure only and with several of -two measures to form the stanza. The two-beat verses frequently have a -somewhat lengthened structure (to be discussed further on sections on -the epic stanzas), in consequence of which many of them having theses -with secondary accents can be read either as even-beat verses of three -measures or as three-beat verses on the model of those in _King Horn_. -The four-beat alliterative lines, on the other hand, are mostly of more -regular structure, the distances between the first and second arsis -not being so unequal and the theses as a rule being disyllabic. The -anacrusis too in these verses admits of a somewhat free treatment. -The difference, however, between the first and second hemistich is -less conspicuous than it was in those forms of the Middle English -alliterative line before mentioned. Alliteration, on the other hand, is -abundantly used. - -The main rhythmic character of the verse is again indicated here by -the frequent occurrence of the types A and A1. The types BC, BC1, -C, C1, however, likewise occur pretty often, and the two last types -present serious obstacles to the assumption that the lines of these -poems were ever recited with an even beat. But how exactly these poems -were recited or to what sort of musical accompaniment can hardly be -definitely decided in the absence of external evidence. - -The first verses of a West-Midland poem of the end of the thirteenth -century (Wright's _Political Songs_, p. 149) may serve as a specimen: - - _Ich herde =m=én vpo =m=óld | =m=áke muche =m=ón, - Hou hé beþ i=t=éned | of here =t=ílýnge: - =G=óde [gh]eres and córn | bóþe beþ a=g=ón, - Ne képeþ here no =s=áwe | ne no =s=óng =s=ýnge._ - -The second hemistichs in ll. 2 and 4 belong to type C. In other poems -also, with lines of more regular rhythm (chiefly type A), this type -may be met with now and then, e.g. in a poem published in Wright's -_Specimens of Lyric Poetry_, p. 25, especially in the second hemistich, -e.g. _haueþ þis =m=ái =m=ére_, line 9, _and þe =g=ýlófre_, line 40, -_þat þe =b=ór =b=éde_, line 44. - -It is not difficult to distinguish such rhymed four-beat alliterative -lines from those of four measures which have fairly regular -alliteration, for the long line of the native metre always has a -somewhat looser fabric, not the even-beat rhythmic cadence peculiar -to the iambic verse of four measures, and, secondly, it always has a -caesura after the first hemistich, whereas the even-beat verse of four -measures may either lack distinct caesura or the caesura may occur in -other places in the verse as well as after the second arsis. This will -be evident by comparing the following four-beat verses of the last -stanza of a poem in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 31: - - _=R=íchard | =r=óte of =r=ésoun =r=ýght, - =r=ýkeníng of =r=ým ant =r=ón, - Of =m=áidnes =m=éke þóu hast =m=ýht, - on =m=ólde y hólde þe =m=úrgest =m=ón;_ - -with the following first four-beat alliterative lines of another poem -(ibid. p. 25): - - _Ichot a =b=úrde in a =b=óure, | ase =b=éryl so =b=rýght, - Ase =s=áphir in =s=élver | =s=émly on =s=ýht, - Ase =i=áspe þe =g=éntil, | þat =l=émeþ wiþ =l=ýht, - Ase =g=érnet in =g=ólde, | and =r=úby wel =r=ýht._ - -In similar lines are written several other poems, as _=M=on in þe -=m=one_ (ibid. p. 110); _Of =r=ibaudz y =r=yme_ (Wright's _Pol. Songs_, -p. 237); and five songs by Laurence Minot (nos. ii, v, ix, x, xi), -written in the middle of the fourteenth century. - -§ =60.= In other poems the four-beat long lines used in the main part -of the stanza are followed by shorter lines forming the cauda, which in -part are of a variable rhythmic cadence either of three beats (or three -measures) or of two beats, as e.g. in the well-known poem in Percy's -_Reliques_, ii, p. 1.[113] The first stanza may be quoted here: - - _Sitteþ alle stílle | and hérkneþ to mé: - Þe kýng of Alemáigne, | bi mi léauté, - Þrítti þousent pound | áskede hé - Forte máke þe pées | in þé countré, - Ant só he dùde móre. - Ríchard, - þah þou be éuer tríchard, - Trícchen shàlt þou néuer mòre._ - -In the following stanzas of this poem the four-beat rhythm, although -rarely marked by regular alliteration, is (in the main part or 'frons') -still more distinctly recognizable, in spite of several rhythmically -incorrect lines. - -Second hemistichs of the type C1 are not infrequent, e.g. _opon -swývýng_ 9, _sire Édwárd_ 46, _o þy lýárd_ 47. Lines 5 and 7 are of a -two-beat rhythm, l. 8 probably as well (cf. our scansion). - -There is a decided similarity in regard to structure and versification -between this stanza and that of a poem in Wright's _Pol. Songs_, p. -153, although the long lines are divided in the middle by interlaced -rhyme. This may be illustrated by its second stanza: - - _Nou haþ =p=rúde þe =p=rís | in éuervche =p=láwe, - By mony =w=ýmmon o=w=ís | y =s=úgge mi =s=áwe. - For [gh]ef a =l=ády =l=ýue ìs | =l=éid after =l=áwe, - Vch a strúmpet þat þer ís | such =d=ráhtes wol dráwe. - In prúde - Vch a =s=créwe wol hire =sh=rúde, - Þoh he nábbe nout a smók | hire fóule ers to húde._ - -There is no line here corresponding to l. 5 of the preceding poem. -Otherwise, however, the _cauda_ of this poem is of a similar structure -to that of the preceding one, at least in this and possibly in the -following stanzas, whereas the last line of the first stanza has a -two-beat rhythm, and in the others the last lines probably are to be -scanned with three beats. The second line of the _cauda_ of the first -stanza of this poem belongs to type C. Another poem (Wright's _Polit. -Songs_, p. 155; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. iv) shows a very artificial form of -stanza, either corresponding to the formula _a a4 b2 c c4 b2 d d4 b2 e -e4 b2 f f g g g f2_ (if we look upon the verses as four-beat and -two-beat lines, which the poet probably intended), or corresponding to -the formula _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4 b3 e e4 b3 f f g g g f2_ (if we look -upon the _frons_ as consisting of ordinary tail-rhyme-stanza lines of -four and three even-beat measures). - -The four- and two-beat cadence of the verses comes out still more -clearly in the stanzas of another poem (Wright's _Pol. Songs_, p. 187; -Ritson, _Anc. Songs_, i. 51; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. v), the rhymes of -which follow the scheme _a a a4 b2 c c c4 b2_ (extended -tail-rhyme-stanzas). Some of its long lines, it is true, admit of being -read as even-beat verses of three measures, e.g. _and béo huere -chéuentéyn_ 20, _and móni anóþer swéyn_ 24, but the true scansion in all -probability is _and béo huere chéuente[`y]n_ (or _chèuentéyn_): _ant -móni anòþer swéyn_, in conformity with the scansion of the following -lines _to cóme to parís: þourh þe flóur de lís_ 52-6, or _wiþ éorl and -wiþ knýht: with húem forte fýht_ 124-8. - -As a first step to the epic forms of stanza to be considered in the next -paragraph a poem of the early fourteenth century (Wright's _Pol. Songs_, -p. 212; Ritson, _Anc. Songs_, p. 28; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. vi) may be -quoted: - - _=L=ýstne, =L=órdinges, | a newe sóng ichulle bigýnne - Of þe =t=ráytours of Scótland, | þat =t=áke beþ wyþ gýnne. - Món þat loveþ fálsnesse, | and nule néuer blýnne, - Sóre may him dréde | þe lýf þat he is ýnne,_ - - _Ich vnderstónde: - Sélde wes he glád, - Þat néuer nes asád - Of nýþe ant of ónde._ - -The fifth line has one arsis only (as appears more clearly from that -in the second stanza: _wiþ Lóue_), thus corresponding to the -above-mentioned poems (pp. 99, 100); the other lines of the _cauda_ -have two stresses. - -Prof. Luick[114] looks upon the long lines of this poem and of several -others (e.g. Wright's _Pol. Songs_, pp. 69 and 187) as doubled native -verses of the progressive or Layamon form, but rhyming only as long -lines. This can hardly be, as the rhythmic structure of these verses -does not differ from that of the other poems quoted above, which belong, -according to Prof. Luick himself, to the class of the normal, lyric -rhyming-alliterative lines. - -§ =61. Narrative verse.= Alliterative-rhyming verses occur in their -purest form in narrative poetry, especially in a number of poems -composed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in stanzas of -thirteen lines, and republished recently in a collective edition by the -Scottish Text Society in vol. 27 under the title _Scottish Alliterative -Poems_ (ed. by F.J. Amours, Edinburgh, 1892). The poems contained in -this collection are _Golagras and Gawane_ (also in _Anglia_, ii. 395), -_The Book of the Howlat_ by Holland, _Rauf Coil[gh]ear_ (also in E. E. -T. S., Extr.-Ser. vol. xxxix), _The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne -Wathelyne_, _The Pistill of Susan_ (also in _Anglia_, i. 93). Douglas's -_Prologue_ to the Eighth Book of his translation of the _Aeneid_ -(although written in the beginning of the sixteenth century) likewise -belongs to this group, as do also the poems of John Audelay, composed in -Shropshire in the fifteenth century (Percy Soc. xiv, p. 10 ff.), and a -poem _Of Sayne John the Euaungelist_ (E. E. T. S. 26, p. 87) written in -stanzas of fourteen lines in the North of England. The stanzas of all -these poems--generally speaking--consist of two unequal parts, the -_frons_ written in alliterative lines, rhyming according to the formula -_a b a b a b a b_, and the _cauda_ which contains five or six lines, the -first of which may either be a long line as in the _frons_, or, as in -_The Pistill of Susan_, a short one-beat one, with four two-beat -sectional verses following. Only in the last-mentioned poem does the -_cauda_ consist of six two-beat sectional verses. - -The rhythm of this alliterative-rhyming metre may first be illustrated -by the opening lines of _Golagras and Gawane_: - - I. - - _In the =t=ýme of Árthur, | as =t=réw men me =t=áld, - The king =t=úrnit on ane =t=ýde | =t=ówart =T=úskane, - Hym to =s=éik our the =s=éy, | that =s=áiklese wes =s=áld, - The =s=ýre that =s=èndis all =s=éill, | =s=úthly to =s=áne; - With =b=ánrentes, =b=árounis, | and =b=érnis full =b=áld, - =B=ìggast of =b=áne and =b=lúde | =b=réd in =B=rítàne. - Thei =w=álit out =w=érryouris | with =w=ápinnis to =w=áld, - The =g=àyest =g=rúmys on =g=rúnd, | with =g=éir that myght =g=áne; - =D=úkis and =d=ígne lòrdis, | =d=óuchty and =d=éir, - =S=émbillit to his =s=úmmòvne, - =R=énkis of grete =r=énòvne, - =C=ùmly =k=íngis with =c=róvne - Of góld that wes cléir._ - - II. - - _Thus the =r=óyale can remóve, | with his =R=óund Tábill, - Of all =r=íches maist =r=íke, | in =r=íall a=rr=áy. - Wes neuer =f=úndun on =f=óld, | but =f=én[gh]eing or =f=ábill, - Ane =f=àyrar =f=lóure on ane =f=éild | of =f=résche men, in fáy;_ &c. - - -Lines like the four last quoted illustrate the normal structure of the -rhyming-alliterative verse, especially the relationship of rhyme and -alliteration to each other in monosyllabic and disyllabic words. It will -be seen that the rhyming syllable, as a rule the root-syllable, or at -least the accented syllable of the word, at the same time carries the -fourth accent of the line, and in consequence the fourth alliterative -sound. In all other respects the rhymed-alliterative verse is -structurally similar to that without rhyme, and it is therefore evident -that rhyme exercises no decisive influence on the rhythm of the verse. -In this comparatively pure form--if we do not take into account the -secondary accents occurring in the first hemistichs of the stanza in the -later poem--are written the great majority of the lines in the earliest -of poems mentioned above, viz. _The Awntyrs off Arthure_. - -§ =62.= The relation, however, between rhyme and alliteration and -consequently the relation of the rhythmic accentuation of the words to -their natural accentuation is less clear in the first stanza quoted -above. The following verses rhyming together may serve to elucidate -this: - - _Than schir =G=áwyne the =g=áy, | =g=úde and =g=ráciùs.... - =J=óly and =g=éntill, | and full =ch=éuailrús._ - Gol. 389, 391. - - _Ouer heor =h=édes gon =h=ýng - Þe =w=ínce and þe =w=éderl[`y]ng._ - Susan, 101-2; - -or the verses _Gol._ 648, 650, 654: - - _Thus =é=ndit the =á=uynantis | with mékil h=ó=nòur; - Thair =b=ódeis wes =b=éryit | =b=áith in ane hòur, - Ane =ú=thir heght =É=dmond, | that =p=róuit =p=áramòur._ - -In the first couplet the last syllable of the word _gráciùs_, although -bearing only a secondary accent and forming the last thesis of the -verse, rhymes with the last syllable of the word _=ch=éuailrús_, which -likewise in ordinary speech has a secondary accent, but here is the -bearer of the fourth metrical accent of the verse. In the second -couplet the syllable _lyng_ of the word _wéderl[`y]ng_, which has a -secondary accent and forms part of the thesis, rhymes with the word -_hyng_ which has the rhythmical accent. In the last group of verses the -last syllable of the words _paramour_, _honour_ having secondary accents -rhymes with the word _hour_, the bearer of the last rhythmical accent. -Similar rhymes occur even in Modern English poetry, e.g. in the works -of Thomas Moore: _Váin were its mélod[`y], Róse, without thée_ or _Whát -would the Róse bè Únsung by thée?_[115] - -It also frequently happens that all the rhyming syllables, which have a -secondary accent and occur in the thesis of a verse, belong to -trisyllabic words, while the accented syllables in the arsis, whether -alliterating or not, do not take part in the rhyme, e.g.: - - _Þou brak gódes Comáundement, - To slé such an Ínnocent - With ény fals júggement._ Susan, 321-3. - -Similar unaccented rhymes are also met with in disyllabic words: - - _'In fáith,' said Schir Rólland, - 'That is fúll euill wýn land - To háue quhill thow ar léuand.'_ Rauf Coil[gh]ear, 917-19. - -Other rhymes of the same kind are _sémbland: léuand_, _conséntand: -endúrand_, Gol. 428 ff., &c. - -In all such cases the natural accentuation of the words is not -interfered with by the rhythm of the verse. - -The kind of irregular rhyme most frequently occurring, however, is that -which is formed by the unaccented syllable of a disyllabic word (the -first syllable of which alliterates and bears the last arsis of the -verse) rhyming with a monosyllabic word which likewise bears the fourth -rhythmical accent of another alliterative line (or the second of a short -line forming part of the cauda) and takes part in the alliteration as -well, as e.g. in the rhymes _=T=úskane: sane: =B=rítane: gane_ and -_=s=úmmovne: =r=énovne: =c=rovne_ of the above-mentioned stanza of the -poem _Golagras and Gawane_. - -It is not likely that a complete shifting of accent in favour of the -rhyming syllable ever took place, as the first syllables of the words -usually take part in the alliteration, and therefore have a strongly -marked accent. Sometimes, it is true, in the poems of this epoch, -unaccented syllables do participate in the alliteration, and in the case -of the words _Tuskane_, _Britane_, _summovne_, _renovne_ their Romance -origin would explain the accent on the last syllable; but these words, -both as to their position and as to their treatment in the line, are -exactly on a par with the Germanic rhyme-words in ll. 870-2: - - _For he wes =b=ýrsit and =b=éft, | and =b=ráithly =b=lédand ... - And wáld that he nane =h=árm hynt | with =h=árt and with =h=ánd._ - -In both cases we thus have 'accented-unaccented rhymes' (cf. Chapter I -in Book II), which probably were uttered in oral recitation with a -certain level stress. This is probable for several reasons. First it is -to be borne in mind that Germanic words in even-beat rhythms of earlier -and contemporary poems were used in the same way, e.g.: - - _Quhen thái of Lórne has séne the kíng - Set ín hymsélff sa grét helpíng._ Barbour, Bruce, iii. 147-8. - - _And bád thame wénd intó Scotlánd - And sét a sége with stálward hánd._ ib. iv. 79-80. - -Only in these cases the rhythmical accent supersedes the word accent -which has to accommodate itself to the former, while in the uneven-beat -rhythm of the four-beat alliterative line the word-accent still -predominates. In the even-beat lines, therefore, the rhythmical accent -rests on the last syllable of a disyllabic rhyme-word, but in the -alliterative lines it rests on the penultimate. In the case of words of -Romance origin, however, which during this period of the language could -be used either with Germanic or with Romanic accentuation, the -displacement of the word-accent by the rhythmic accent in -non-alliterative words may in these cases have been somewhat more -extensive; cf. e.g. rhymes like _rage: curáge: suáge_ Gol. 826-8; _day: -gay: journáy_ ib. 787-9; _assáill: mettáill: battáil_ R. -Coil[gh]ear, 826-8, &c. (but _[gh]one =b=érne in the =b=áttale_ Gol. -806). - -As a rule, however, for these too the same level-stress accentuation -must be assumed as for the rhyme-words of the first stanza of _Golagras_ -quoted above (p. 102). - -§ =63.= This is all the more probable because, in these -alliterative-rhyming poems, there are many sectional verses -corresponding to the old types C and C1, these answering best the -combined requirements of alliteration and of end-rhyme, for which -frequently one and the same Germanic or Romanic word had to suffice in -the second hemistich, as e.g. in the following sectional verses rhyming -together:--_What is þi góod réde: for his =k=ní[gh]théde: (by =cr=ósse -and by =cr=éde)_ Awnt. of Arth. 93-7; (_and =b=láke to þe =b=óne): as a -=w=ómáne_ ib. 105-7; _en=c=lósed with a =c=rowne: of the =t=résóne_ ib. -287-91; _of ane fáir =w=éll: =t=éirfull to =t=éll: with ane =c=ástéll: -=k=éne and =c=rúèll_, or, as Prof. Luick scans, _kéne and cruéll_ (but -l. 92 _=c=rúel and =k=éne_) Gol. 40-6; _at the mýddáy: (=w=ént thai -thar wáy)_ Howl. 665-7. &c. - -Also in the even-beat metres the influence of this type is still -perceptible; cf. rhymes like - - _Súmwhat óf his clóþíng - Fór þe lóue of héuene kýng._ Rob. Mannyng, Handl. Sinne, 5703-4. - -which are of frequent occurrence. - -For the rest both in these alliterative-rhyming poems and in the poems -with alliteration only the types A and A1, B C and B C1 are frequent. -These alliterative-rhyming lines have this feature in common with the -pure alliterative lines, that the first hemistich differs materially -from the second in having often an anacrusis of several syllables -(initial theses) and somewhat lengthened theses in the middle of the -line, and in permitting such theses with only a secondary accent to take -part in the alliteration. All this tends to give a somewhat heavy -rhythmic cadence to the whole line. - -§ =64.= The same difference is perceptible, as Prof. Luick was the first -to show (_Anglia_, xii, pp. 438 ff.), in the single two-beat lines of -the _cauda_, the three first (ll. 10-12 of the whole stanza) having the -looser structure of the extended first hemistichs of the long lines, -while the last two-beat line (line 13 of the whole stanza) has the -normal structure (commonly type A, A1, as e.g. _Birnand =th=rétty -and =th=ré_ Gol. 247; _Of góld that wes cléir_ ib. 1) of second sections -of the long line, as is evident from the first stanza of _Golagras and -Gawane_ quoted above (p. 102). In this concluding line, however, other -types of verse peculiar to the second hemistich of long lines may also -be met with, as e.g. C, C1, BC, BC1, e.g.: _For thi mánhéde_ Awnt. of -Arth. 350; _Withoutin dístánce_ Gol. 1362; _As I am tréw kníght_ Gol. -169; _Couth na léid sáy_ ib. 920; _In ony ríche réime_ ib. 1258, _Quhen -he wes líghtit dóun_ ib. 130. - -In other poems the group of short lines rhyming according to the scheme -_a a a b_ and forming part of the _cauda_ is preceded neither by a long -alliterative line nor by a one-beat half section of it (as in _Susan_), -but by a complete two-beat sectional verse, which then, in the same way -as the last verse rhyming with it, corresponds in its structure to that -of the second hemistich of the long line; as e.g. in _The Tournament of -Tottenham_ (Ritson's _Ancient Songs_, i. 85-94), rhyming on the scheme -_A A A A b c c c b_ (the capitals signifying the long lines), and in -_The Ballad of Kynd Kittok_, possibly by W. Dunbar (Laing, ii. 35, 36; -Small, i. 52, 53; Schipper, 70). - -In _Sayne John the Euaungelist_ the 'cauda' has the structure of a -complete tail-rhyme-stanza, the order of rhymes of the whole stanza -being _A B A B A B A B c c d c c d_. - -§ =65.= In connexion with this it is particularly interesting to note -that such two-beat sections of the alliterative line are also used by -themselves for whole poems written in tail-rhyme-stanzas (as was first -shown by Prof. Luick, _Anglia_, xii, pp. 440 ff.); cf. e.g. the -translation of the _Disticha Catonis_ (E.E.T.S. 68), the two first -stanzas of which may be quoted here: - - _If þóu be made wíttenèsse, - For to =s=áy þat =s=óþ ìs, - =S=áue þine honóur, - Als míkil, as þou may fra bláme, - Lame þi fréndis sháme, - And sáue fra dishonóur._ - - _For-sóþ =f=lípers, - And alle =f=áls =f=láters - I réde, sone, þou =f=lé; - For þen sálle na gode mán, - Þat any góde lare cán, - Þár-fore blame þé._ - -In the same stanza _The Feest_ (Hazlitt, _Remains_, iii. 93) is written. - -Still more frequently such lines were used for extended -tail-rhyme-stanzas rhyming on the scheme _a a a b c c c b d d d b e e e -b_, as e.g. in a poem, _The Enemies of Mankind_, of the beginning of -the fourteenth century, published by Kölbing (_Engl. Studien_, ix. 440 -ff.). - -The first stanza runs as follows: - - _Þe =s=ìker =s=óþe who so =s=éys, - Wiþ =d=ìol =d=réye we our =d=áys - And =w=àlk máni =w=il =w=áys - As =w=ándrand =w=í[gh]tes. - Al our =g=ámes ous a=g=ás, - So mani =t=énes on =t=ás - Þurch =f=ónding of =f=ele =f=ás, - Þat =f=ást wiþ ous =f=í[gh]tes. - Our =f=lèsche is =f=óuled wiþ þe =f=énd; - Þer we =f=índe a =f=als =f=rénde: - Þei þai =h=éuen vp her =h=énde, - Þai no =h=óld nou[gh]t her =h=í[gh]tes. - Þis er =þ=ré, þat er =þ=rá, - [Gh]ete þe =f=érþ is our =f=á, - =D=èþ, þat =d=érieþ ous swá - And =d=íolely ous =d=í[gh]tes._ - -Here, again, the difference between the lines on the pattern of the -first hemistich of the long line, which form the body of the stanza (_a -a a, b b b, c c c, d d d_), and those on the pattern of the second -hemistich used as tail-rhyme lines (_b, b, b, b_) is plainly -recognizable. - -The same is the case in other poems written in this form of stanza, as -e.g. in the Metrical Romances, _Sir Perceval_, _Sir Degrevant_ -(Halliwell, _Thornton Romances_, Camden Society, 1844, pp. 1, 177) and -others; cf. Luick, _Anglia_, xii, pp. 440ff., and Paul's _Grundriss_, ii -a, p. 1016. But in these later works, one of the latest of which -probably is the poem _The Droichis Part of the Play_, possibly by Dunbar -(Laing, ii. 37; Small, ii. 314; Schipper, 190), the two-beat lines are -frequently intermingled and blended with even-beat lines, which from the -beginning of the fifth stanza onward completely take the place of the -two-beat lines in the last-mentioned poem. Likewise in the -'Bob-wheel-staves', i.e. stanzas of the structure of those -sixteenth-century stanzas quoted above (§§ 60, 61), the _cauda_, as is -expressly stated by King James VI in his _Revlis and Cavtelis_, is -written in even-beat lines of four and three measures, though the main -part of the stanza (the _frons_) is composed in four-beat -rhyming-alliterative lines (cf. Luick, _Anglia_, xii, P. 444). - -§ =66.= In the contemporary =Dramatic Poetry= this mixture of four-beat -(or two-beat) alliterative lines with lines of even measures is still -more frequent, and may be used either strophically or otherwise. - -In the first place, we must note that in the earlier collections of -Mystery Plays (_Towneley Mysteries_, _York Plays_, and _Ludus -Coventriae_) the rhyming alliterative long line, popular, as we have -seen, in lyric and in narrative poetry, is also used in the same or -cognate forms of stanzas. - -But the form of verse in these Mysteries, owing to the loss of regular -alliteration, cannot with propriety be described as the four-beat -alliterative long line, but only as the four-beat long line. In many -instances, however, the remnants of alliteration decidedly point to the -four-beat character of this rhythm, as e.g. in the following stanza of -the _Towneley Mysteries_ (p. 140): - - _Moste =m=ýghty =M=áhòwne | =m=éng you with =m=ýrthe, - Both of búrgh and of tówne | by =f=éllys and by =f=ýrthe; - Both =k=ýng with =c=równe | and =b=árons of =b=írthe, - That =r=ádly wylle =r=ówne, | many =g=réatt =g=ríthe - Shalle be hápp; - Take =t=énderly in=t=ént - What =s=óndes ar =s=ént, - Els =h=ármes shall ye =h=ént - And =l=óthes you to =l=ap._ - -In this form of stanza the different groups of lines or even single -lines are frequently, as e.g. in the so-called _Processus Noe_ (the -_Play of the Flood_), very skilfully divided between several persons -taking part in the dialogue. The interlaced rhyme in the long lines -connects it with the stanza form of the lyric poem quoted above (p. -100), and the form of the 'cauda' relates it to that of the lyric poem -quoted (p. 101), and in this respect is identical with that of _The -Pistill of Susan_. - -The rhythmic treatment of the verses is, both with regard to the -relation between rhyme and the remnants of alliteration and to the use -of the Middle English types of verse, on the whole the same as was -described in §§ 62-4 treating of this form of verse in narrative poetry. -The types A and A1, B C and B C1, are chiefly met with; now and then, -however, type C1 also occurs in the second hemistich, as e.g. in the -verses _that wold vówch sáyf_ 172, _of the tént máyne_ 487, _wille com -agáne sóne_ 488, of the _Play of the Flood_ mentioned above. - -But in the 'cauda' the difference explained in § 65 between first and -second short lines forming the close of a stanza is often very regularly -observed. - -In other places of the _Towneley Mysteries_ similar stanzas are written -in lines which have almost an alexandrine rhythm (cf. _Metrik_, i. 229), -while, on the other hand, in the _Coventry Mysteries_ we not -unfrequently meet with stanzas of the same form written in lines which, -in consequence of their concise structure, approach even-beat lines of -four measures, or directly pass into this metre. The intermixture of -different kinds of line is even carried here to such a length that to a -_frons_ of four-beat lines is joined a _cauda_ of even-beat lines of -four or three measures corresponding to King James VI's rule quoted -above (p. 108) for such stanzas; and on the other hand to a _frons_ of -even-beat lines of four measures is joined a _cauda_ of two-beat short -lines. - -§ =67.= The distinctly four-beat line, however, still forms the staple -of the different kinds of verse occurring in these poems, and was also -used in them for simple forms of stanza. In the further development of -dramatic poetry it remained much in use. Skelton's Moral Play -_Magnificence_, and most of the Moralities and Interludes contained in -Dodsley's _Old Plays_ (ed. Hazlitt), vols. i-iv, are written chiefly in -this popular metre. As a rule it rhymes here in couplets, and under the -influence of the even-beat measures used in the same dramatic pieces it -gradually assumes a pretty regular iambic-anapaestic or -trochaic-dactylic rhythm. This applies for the most part to the humorous -and popular parts; allegorical and historical personages are made to -converse in even-beat verses. - -Verses of an ascending (iambic-anapaestic) rhythm were especially -favoured, as might be expected from the fact that the Middle English -alliterative line in the preceding centuries usually begins with one or -two unaccented syllables before the first accented one. - -Of the different types used in the Middle English alliterative line type -C (C1), which does not harmonize well with the even-beat tendency of -the rhythm, and which is only very seldom if at all to be met with even -in the _Coventry Plays_, becomes very rare and tends to disappear -altogether, type A (A1) and (although these are much less frequent) -type B C (B C1) alone remaining in use. - -§ =68.= Of the more easily accessible pieces of Bishop John Bale -(1495-1563) his _Comedye Concernynge Thre Lawes_, edited by A. Schröer -(_Anglia_, v, pp. 137 ff., also separately, Halle, Niemeyer, 1882) is -written in two-beat short lines and four-beat long lines, and his _King -Johan_ (c. 1548) (edited by Collier, Camden Society, 1838) entirely in -this latter metre. The latter play has a peculiar interest of its own, -containing as it does lines which, as in two Old English poems (cf. pp. -123, 124), consist either half or entirely of Latin words. Now, as the -accentuation of the Latin lines or half-lines admits of no uncertainty, -the four-beat scansion of the English verses of this play and of the -long lines in _The Three Lawes_ is put beyond doubt, though Schröer -considers the latter as eight-beat long lines on the basis of the -four-beat theory of the short line. - -Some specimens may serve to illustrate the nature of these 'macaronic' -verses, e.g.: - - _A péna et =c=úlpa | I desíre to be =c=lére._ p. 33. - - _In nómine pátris, | of all that éver I hárd._ p. 28. - - _Iudicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam._ p. 6. - -Other verses of the same kind occur, pp. 5, 6, 53, 62, 78, 92. - -But apart from this irrefutable proof of the four-beat scansion of the -long line, the rhythmic congruity of it with the rhyming alliterative -lines discussed in § 67 can easily be demonstrated by the reoccurrence -of the same types, although a difference between the first and the -second hemistich no longer seems to exist. - -Type A, of course, is the most frequent, and occurs in many sub-types, -which are distinguished chiefly by monosyllabic, disyllabic, or -polysyllabic anacruses, disyllabic or polysyllabic theses between the -first and second arsis, and monosyllabic, disyllabic, or trisyllabic -theses after the latter. The most usual form of this type corresponds -to the scheme (×) × -´ × × -´ ×, while the form -´ × × -´ × is rarer. -Type A1 likewise admits of polysyllabic anacruses and theses, -corresponding mostly to the formula (×) × -´ × × -´, less frequently to --`× × -´. Type B C (×) × × -´ × -´ × is rare, type B C1 (×) × × -´ × --´, on the other hand, very common; type C (×) × × -´ -´ × still occurs -now and then, but type C1 (×) × × -´ -´ has become exceedingly scarce. - -§ =69.= Statistical investigations as to the frequency of occurrence, -and especially on the grouping of these different types are still -wanting, and would contribute greatly toward the more exact knowledge of -the development of the iambic-anapaestic and the trochaic-dactylic metre -out of the four-beat verse. Of course in such an investigation the use -of anacrusis in the types A and A1 should not be neglected. According -to the presence or absence of anacrusis in the two hemistichs four -different kinds of line may be distinguished: - -1. Lines with anacrusis in both hemistichs. These are the most numerous -of all, and are chiefly represented by the combinations of types A(A1) -+ A(A1), A(A1) + B C1(B C): - - A + A : _For by méasure, i wárne you, | we thýnke to be gýdyd._ - Skelt. Magn. 186. - - A + A1 : _For =m=ýschefe wyl =m=áyster vs, | yf =m=éasure vs forsáke._ - ib. 156. - - A1 + B C: _Full gréat I do abhór | this your wícked sáying._ - Lusty Juventus, Dodsl. ii. 72. - - A1 + B C1: _You may =s=áy you were =s=íck, | and your héad did áche, - That you lústed not this níght | any súpper máke._ - Jack Juggler, ib. ii. 119. - - A1 + A1 : _And you nóthing regárd | what of mé may betíde?_ - Jacob and Esau, ib. ii. 216. - - A1 + B C1: _Our láwes are all óne, | though you do thré apére._ - Bale, Laws, line 63. - - A + A1 : _Whome =d=áyly the =d=éuyll | to great sýnne doth allúre._ - ib. 747. - - A1 + B C1: _By hým haue I góte | thys fowle dyséase of bódye,_ - - A1 + A : _And, ás ye se hére, | am now thrówne in a léprye._ - ib. 749-50. - - A1 + B C : _Regárde not the pópe, | not yet hys whórysh kýngedom._ - ib. 770. - - A1 + A1 : _Such lúbbers, as háth | dysgysed =h=éads in their - =h=óodes._ Bale, Johan, p. 2. - - A + A : _Peccávi mea cúlpa: | I submýt me to yowr hólynes._ - ib. p. 62. - - A + A : _With =á=ll the =ó=fsprynge, | of =Á=ntichristes - generácyon._ ib. p. 102. - - A + B C1 : _Maister Ráufe Royster =D=óyster | is but =d=éad and gón._ - Roister Doister, I. i. 43. - - C + A : _And as thré téachers, | to hým we yow dyréct._ - Bale, Laws, l. 67. - - C + B C1 : _Of their =f=írst =f=rédome, | to their most hýgh decáye._ - ib. 82. - - A1 + C1 : _Such an óther is nót | in the whóle sóuth._ ib. 1066. - -2. Lines with anacrusis in the first section and without it in the -second. These are almost exclusively represented by the combination -A(A1) + A(A1); rarely by B C1(B C) + A(A1): - - A + A1 : _For wélthe without méasure | =s=ódenly wyll =s=lýde._ - Skelton, Magn. 194. - - A + A1 : _Howe sódenly =w=órldly | =w=élth dothe dekáy,_ - - A + A1 : _How =w=ýsdom thórowe =w=ántonnesse | =v=ányisshyth a=w=áy._ - ib. 2579-80. - - A + A1 : _Behóld, I práy you, | sée where they áre._ - Four Elements, Dodsl. i. 10. - - BC + A1 : _I am your =é=ldest són, | =É=sau by my náme._ - Jacob and Esau, ib. ii. 249. - -3. Lines without anacrusis in the first section and with anacrusis in -the second; likewise chiefly represented by the types A (A1) + A (A1), -rarely by A (A1) + B C (B C1): - - A + A1 : _Méasure contínwyth | prospérite and wélthe._ - Skelton, Magn. 142. - - A1 + A : _Méasure and Í | will néuer be devýdyd._ ib. 188. - - A + A1 : _=S=íghing and =s=óbbing | they =w=éep and they =w=áil._ - Gammer Gurton's Needle, Prol. - - A + A : _Ésau is gíven | to =l=óose and lewd =l=íving._ - Jacob and Esau, Dodsl. ii. 196. - - A1 + A1 : _Líving in this =w=órld | from the =w=ést to the éast._ - Roister Doister, III. iii. 28. - - A + A1 : _Chárge and enfórce hym | in the wáyes of vs to go._ - Bale, Laws, line 102. - - A + A : _Quáerite judícium, | subveníte opprésso._ - Bale, Johan, p. 6. - - A + B C : _=F=ór by con=f=éssion | the holy =f=áther knóweth._ - ib. p. 11. - - A + B C1: _=D=ó they so in =d=éde? | Well, they shall not =d=ó so - lónge._ ib. p. 97. - -4. Lines without anacrusis in either section, so that they are wholly -dactylic in rhythm, only represented by A (A1) + A1 (A): - - - A + A : _Sáncte Francísse | óra pro nóbis!_ - Bale, Johan, p. 25. - - A + A : _Péace, for with my spéctables | vádam et vidébo._ - ib. p. 30. - - A + A : _Sýr, without ány | lónger délyaunce._ - Skelton, Magn. 239. - - A + A1 : _Wín her or lóse her, | =t=rý you the =t=ráp._ - Appius and Virginia, Dodsl. iv. 132. - - A + A1 : _Líkewise for a cómmonwealth | óccupied is hé._ - Four Elements, ib. i. 9. - - A + A1 : _Whát, you sáucy | málapert knáve._ - Jack Juggler, ib. ii. 145. - -The numerical preponderance of types A + A1 is at once perceptible, and -usually these two types of hemistichs are combined in this order to form -a long line. - -The result is that in the course of time whole passages made up of lines -of the same rhythmical structure (A + A1) are common in the dramatic -poetry of this period, as e.g. in the Prologue to _Gammer Gurton's -Needle_: - - _As Gámmer Gúrton, with mánye a wýde stítch, - Sat pésynge and pátching of Hódg her mans bríche, - By chánce or misfórtune, as shée her gear tóst, - In Hódge lether brýches her néedle shee lóst._ - -Possibly this preference of the type A1 in the second half line may -go back to the influence of the difference between the rhythmical -structure of the first and the second hemistich of the alliterative line -in early Middle English poetry. - -§ =70.= This view derives additional probability from the manner -in which lines rhythmically identical with the alliterative hemistich -are combined into certain forms of stanza which are used -in the above-mentioned dramatic poems, especially in Bale's -_Three Lawes_. - -For in this play those halves of tail-rhyme stanzas, which form the -'wheels' of the alliterative-rhyming stanzas previously described (§§ 61 -and 66) as used in narrative poetry and in the mysteries, are completed -so as to form entire tail-rhyme stanzas (of six or eight lines) similar -to those mentioned in § 65. This will be evident from the following -examples: - - _With holye óyle and wátter, - I can so =cl=óyne and =cl=átter, - That I =c=án at the látter - Manye súttelties contrýve. - I can worke wýles in báttle, - If I do ónes but spáttle, - I can make =c=órn and =c=áttle, - That =th=éy shall never =th=rýve._ ll. 439-446. - - _I have chármes for the plówgh, - And álso for the cówgh, - She shall geue mýlke ynówgh, - So lóng as I am pléased. - Apace the mýlle shall gó, - So shall the crédle dó, - And the músterde querne alsó - No mán therwith dyséased._ ll. 463-470. - -The difference in rhythm which we have previously pointed out between -the lines of the body of the stanza (corresponding to first halves of -the alliterative line) and those of the tail (corresponding to second -halves) may again be observed in most of the stanzas of this play, -although not in all of them. - -In other passages the sequence of rhymes is less regular; e.g. in ll. -190-209, which rhyme according to the formulas _a a a b c c b_, _d d b e -e b_, _e e e f g g f_. - -§ =71.= Lastly, we must mention another kind of verse or stave -originating in the resolution of the four-beat alliterative line into -two sections, and their combination so as to form irregular tail-rhyme -stanzas, viz. the so-called Skeltonic verse. This kind of verse, -however, was not invented (as is erroneously stated in several Histories -of English Literature) by Skelton, but existed before him, as is evident -from the preceding remarks. The name came to be given to the metre from -the fact that Skelton, poet laureate of King Henry VII, was fond of this -metre, and used it for several popular poems. - -In Skelton's metre the strict form of the alliterative four-beat line -has arrived at the same stage of development which the freer form had -reached about three hundred years earlier in Layamon's _Brut_, and -afterwards in _King Horn_. That is to say, in Skelton's metre the long -line is broken up by sectional rhyme into two short ones. The first -specimens of this verse which occur in the _Towneley Mysteries_, in the -_Chester Plays_, and in some of the Moralities, e.g. in _The World and -the Child_ (Dodsl. i), resemble Layamon's verse in so far as long lines -(without sectional rhymes) and short rhyming half-lines occur in one and -the same passage. On the other hand, they differ from it and approach -nearer to the strophic form of the alliterative line (as occurring in -the Miracle Plays) in that the short lines do not rhyme in couplets, but -in a different and varied order of rhyme, mostly _a b a b_; cf. the -following passage (l. c., p. 247): - - _Ha, há, now Lúst and Líking is my náme. - Í am =f=résh as =f=lówers in Máy, - Í am =s=émly-=s=hápen ín =s=áme, - And =p=róudly a=pp=áreled in =g=árments =g=áy: - My =l=óoks been full =l=óvely to a =l=ády's eye, - And in =l=óve-=l=ónging my héart is sore sét. - Might I =f=índ a =f=óode that were =f=áir and =f=rée - To lie in héll till dómsday for =l=óve I would not =l=ét, - My =l=óve for to wín, - All =g=áme and =g=lée, - All =m=írth and =m=élody, - All rével and ríot, - And of =b=óast will I never =b=lín_, &c. - -In Skelton's _Magnificence_ the short lines rhyme in couplets like those -of _King Horn_, in a passage taken from p. 257 (part of which may be -quoted here): - - _Nowe lét me se abóut, - In áll this rówte, - Yf I cán fynde óut - So sémely a snówte - Amónge this prése: - Éven a hole mése-- - Péase, man, péase! - I réde, we séase. - So farly fáyre as it lókys, - And her bécke so comely crókys, - Her naylys shárpe as tenter hókys! - I haue not képt her yet thre wókys - And howe stýll she dothe sýt!_ &c., &c. - -In other poems Skelton uses short lines of two beats, but rhyming in a -varied order under the influence, it would seem, of the strophic system -of the virelay, which rhymes in the order _a a a b b b b c c c c d_. But -the succession of rhymes is more irregular in the Skeltonic metre, as e. -g. in the passage: - - _What cán it auáyle - To drýue fórth a snáyle, - Or to máke a sáyle - Of an hérynges táyle; - To rýme or to ráyle, - To wrýte or to endýte, - Eyther for delýte, - Or élles for despýte; - Or bókes to compýle - Of dívers maner stýle_, &c. Colin Cloute (i. 311). - -In other cases short bob-lines of one beat only interchange with -two-beat rhythms, as e.g. in Skelton's poem _Caudatos Anglos_ (i. 193): - - _Gup, Scót, - Ye blót: - Laudáte - Caudáte, - Sét in bétter - Thy péntaméter. - This Dúndás, - This Scóttishe ás, - He rýmes and ráyles - That Énglishman have táyles. - Skeltónus laureátus, - Ánglicus nátus, - Próvocat Músas - Cóntra Dúndas - Spurcíssimum Scótum - Úndique nótum_, &c. - -The mingling of Latin and English lines, as in this passage, is one of -the characteristic features of the Skeltonic verse. - -In some passages, as e.g. in the humorous poems _Phyllyp Sparowe_ and -_Elinour Rummyng_, the three-beat rhythm seems to prevail. In such cases -it probably developed out of the two-beat rhythm in the same way as in -_King Horn_. - - _Yet óne thynge ìs behýnde - That nów còmmeth to mýnde; - An épytàphe I wold háue - For Phýll[`y]ppes gráue; - But fór I àm a máyde, - Týmorous, hàlf afráyde, - That néuer yèt asáyde - Of Elycònys wéll, - Whère the Múses dwell;_ &c. - Phyllyp Sparowe (i. 69). - -Skelton's verse was chiefly used by poets of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries for satirical and burlesque poetry. One of its -chief cultivators was John Taylor, the Water-poet. A list of Skeltonic -poems is given in Dyce's edition of Skelton's poems, i. introduction, -pp. cxxviii-cxxix. - - - =C. Revival of the old four-beat alliterative verse - in the Modern English period.= - -§ =72.= If after what precedes any doubt were possible as to the -scansion of the verses quoted on p. 113 from the Prologue to the Early -Modern English comedy of _Gammer Gurton's Needle_, this doubt would be -removed at once by the following couplet and by the accents put over the -second line of it by the sixteenth-century metrician, George -Gascoigne[116]: - - _No =w=ight in this =w=orld | that =w=ealth can attayne, - Unlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne._ - -For the rhythm of these lines is perfectly identical with that of the -lines of the above-mentioned prologue, and also with that of the -alliterative line quoted ten years later (A. D. 1585), and called -tumbling-verse by King James VI in his _Revlis and Cavtelis_, viz.: - - _Fetching fúde for to féid it | fast fúrth of the Fárie._ - -This is the very same rhythm in which a good many songs and ballads of -the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are written, as e.g. the -well-known ballad of _King John and the Abbot of Canterbury_, which -begins with the following stanzas[117]: - - _An áncient stóry | I'le téll you anón - Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn; - And he rúled Éngland | with máine and with míght, - For he díd great wróng, | and maintéin'd little ríght._ - - _And I'le téll you a stóry, | a stóry so mérrye, - Concérning the Abbot | of Cánterbúrye; - How for his hóuse-kéeping, | and hígh renówne, - They rode póst for him | to faire Lóndon tówne._ - -This four-beat rhythm, which (as is proved by the definition King James -VI gives of it) is the direct descendant of the old alliterative line, -has continued in use in modern English poetry to the present day. - -It occurs in the poem _The recured Lover_, by Sir Thomas Wyatt, one of -the earliest Modern English poets, where it is intermixed sometimes with -four-feet rhythms, as was the case also in several Early English poems. -The general rhythm, however, is clearly of an iambic-anapaestic nature. -Fifteen years after the death of Wyatt Thomas Tusser wrote part of his -didactic poem _A hundred good points of Husbandry_ in the same metre. In -Tusser's hands the metre is very regular, the first foot generally being -an iambus and the following feet anapaests: - - _Whom fáncy persuádeth | amóng other cróps, - To háve for his spénding, | suffícient of hóps, - Must wíllingly fóllow, | of chóices to chóose. - Such léssons appróved, | as skílful do úse._ - -The four beats of the rhythm and the regular occurrence of the caesura -are as marked characteristics of these verses as of the earlier -specimens of the metre. - -Spenser has written several eclogues of his _Shepheard's Calendar_ in -this metre (February, May, September), and Shakespeare uses it in some -lyric pieces of his _King Henry IV_, Part II, but also for dialogues, as -e.g. _Err._ III. i. 11-84. In more modern times Matthew Prior -(1664-1715) wrote a ballad _Down Hall_ to the tune, as he says, of _King -John and the Abbot of Canterbury_, which clearly shows that he meant to -imitate the ancient popular four-beat rhythm, which he did with perfect -success. In other poems he used it for stanzas rhyming in the order _a b -a b_. Swift has used the same metre, and it became very popular in -Scottish poetry through Allan Ramsay and Robert Burns, one of whose most -famous poems is written in it, viz.: - - _My héart's in the Híghlands, | my héart is not hére; - My héart's in the Híghlands, | a-chásing the déer; - Chásing the wíld deer | and fóllowing the róe, - My héart's in the Híghlands | wheréver I gó._ - -Sir Walter Scott used it frequently for drinking-songs, and Thomas Moore -wrote his _Letters of the Fudge Family_ in it. - -By Coleridge and Byron this metre was used in the same way as by Wyatt, -viz. intermixed with regular four-foot verse according to the subject, -the four-beat iambic-anapaestic rhythm for livelier passages, the pure -iambic for passages of narration and reflection. Byron's _Prisoner of -Chillon_ and his _Siege of Corinth_ are good specimens of this kind of -metre.[118] On the other hand the regular four-foot rhythm, as will be -shown below, if it is of a looser structure, develops into a kind of -verse similar to the iambic-anapaestic rhythm--an additional reason for -their existing side by side often in one poem. - -A few variations of this metre remain to be mentioned, which occur as -early as Tusser. The first variety arises from interlaced rhyme, by -which the two four-beat verses are broken up into four two-beat verses -rhyming in the order _a b a b_. - - _If húsbandry brággeth - To gó with the bést, - Good húsbandry bággeth - Up góld in his chést._ - -On the model of these stanzas others were afterwards formed by Tusser -consisting of three-beat verses of the same rhythm. The same verse was -used for eight-line stanzas rhyming _a b a b c d c d_ by Nicholas Rowe, -Shenstone, Cowper, and in later times by Thackeray in one of his -burlesque poems (_Malony's Lament_ in _Ballads_, _the Rose and the -Ring_, &c., p. 225). For examples of these variations see the sections -treating of the iambic-anapaestic verses of three and two measures. - -§ =73.= In modern times a few attempts have been made to revive the old -four-beat alliterative line without rhyme, but also without a regular -use of alliteration. These attempts, however, have never become -popular. - -The following passage from William Morris's dramatic poem _Love is -enough_ may give an idea of the structure of this kind of verse: - - _Fáir Master =Ó=liver, | thóu who at =á=ll times - Mayst =ó=pen thy héart | to our lórd and máster, - =T=éll us what =t=ídings | thou hást to delíver; - For our =h=éarts are grown =h=éavy, | and whére shall we túrn to, - If thús the king's =g=lóry, | our =g=áin and salvátion, - Must =g=ó down the wínd | amid =g=lóom and despáiring._ - -The rhythm, together with the irregular use of alliteration, places -these four-beat alliterative lines on the same level with those of the -dramatic poems of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. - -The same kind of versification is found in Longfellow's translation of -the late Old English poem on _The Grave_, and in James M. Garnett's -translations of _Beowulf_ and Cynewulf's _Elene_. On the other hand, -George Stephens, in his translation of the Old English poem on _The -Phoenix_, published 1844, not only adheres strictly to the laws of -alliteration, but confines himself to Germanic words, sometimes even -using inflexional forms peculiar to Middle English. - -§ =74.= We shall conclude this survey of the development of the -four-beat alliterative line by giving a series of examples in reversed -chronological order, beginning with writers of the present day and -ending with the earliest remains of Old English poetry, in order to -illustrate the identity in rhythmic structure of this metre in all -periods of its history. - -Nineteenth Century, End: - - _For níne days the kíng | hath slépt not an hóur - And táketh no héed | of soft wórds or beseéching._ - W. Morris. - -Nineteenth Century, Beginning: - - _So that =w=íldest of =w=áves, | in their ángriest móod, - Scarce =b=réak on the =b=oúnds | of the lánd for a róod._ - Byron, Siege of Corinth, 382-4. - -Eighteenth Century, End: - - - _My =h=éart's in the =H=íghlands, | my =h=éart is not =h=ére; - My =h=éart's in the =H=íghlands, | a-chásing the déer._ Burns. - -Eighteenth Century, Middle: - - _A cóbbler there wás, | and he líved in a stáll._[119] - -Eighteenth Century, Beginning (1715): - - _I síng not old Jáson | who trável'd thro' Gréece - To kíss the fair máids | and posséss the rich fléece._ - Prior, Down-Hall, to the tune of King John and the Abbot. - -Seventeenth Century, Beginning (or Sixteenth Century, End): - - _An áncient stóry | I'le téll you anón - Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn._ - King John and the Abbot of Canterbury. - -Sixteenth Century, End (1585): - - _Fetching =f=úde for to =f=éid it | fast =f=úrth of the - =F=árie._[120] - Montgomery. - -Sixteenth Century (1575): - - _No =w=íght in this =w=órld | that =w=éalth can attáyne - Un=l=ésse hè bè=l=éve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne._[121] - G. Gascoigne. - -Sixteenth Century (before 1575): - - _As =G=ámmer =G=úrton, | with mánye a wyde stýche, - Sat =p=ésynge and =p=átching | of Hódg her mans brýche._ - Gammer Gurton's Needle. - -Sixteenth Century, Middle (about 1548): - - _Such lúbbers as =h=áth | dysgysed =h=éads in their hóods._ - Bale (_died_ 1563), King Johan, p. 2. - - _Thýnke you a Róman | with the Rómans cannot lýe?_ - ibid. p. 84. - - _For as =C=hríste ded say to Péter, | =C=áro et sánguis - Non revelávit tíbi | sed =P=áter meus celéstis._ - ibid. pp. 92-3. - - _A péna et =c=úlpa | I desýre to be =c=lére, - And thén all the dévylles | of héll I wold not fére._ - ibid. p. 33. - - _Judicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam: - Defénde the wýdowe, | whan she ís in dystrésse._ - ibid. p. 6. - - _Sáncte Domínice, | óra pro nóbis. - Sáncte pyld mónache, | I be-shrów vóbis. - Sáncte Francísse, | óra pro nóbis._ - ibid. p. 25. - -Sixteenth Century, Beginning: - - _Apón the =m=ídsummer évin, | =m=írriest of níchtis._ - Dunbar, Twa Mariit Wemen, 1. - -Fifteenth Century, Second Half: - - _In the =ch=éiftyme of =Ch=árlis, | that =ch=ósin =ch=íftane._ - Rauf Coil[gh]ear, 1. - -Fifteenth Century, ? First Half: - - _In the =t=ýme of Árthour, | as =t=réw men me =t=áld_. - Golagras and Gawane, 1. - -Fourteenth Century, End: - - _Moste =m=ýghty =M=áhowne | =m=éng you with =m=ýrthe, - Both of búrgh and of tówne, | by =f=éllys and by =f=ýrthe._ - Towneley Mysteries, p. 140. - - _Oute, alás, I am góne! | oute apón the, mans wónder!_ - ibid. p. 30. - -Fourteenth Century, Second Half: - - _In a =s=ómer =s=éson, | whan =s=óft was the =s=ónne._ - Piers Plowman, Prol. 1. - - _Þen com a =v=óis to Jóseph | and séide him þise =w=órdes._ - Joseph of Arimathie, 21 (about 1350). - -Fourteenth Century, Beginning: - - _Ich herde =m=én vpo =m=óld | =m=áke much =m=ón._ - Wright's Pol. Songs. - - _=L=ýstneþ =L=órdynges, | a newe sóng ichulle bigýnne._ - ibid. p. 187. - -Thirteenth Century, Middle: - - _Álle =b=èon he =b=líþe | þat tò my sóng líþe: - A =s=óng ihc schàl you =s=ínge | of Múrry þe kínge._ - King Horn, 1-4. - -Thirteenth Century, Beginning: - - _And swá heo gùnnen wénden | fórð tò þan kínge._ - Layamon, 13811-12. - - _Vmbe =f=íftene [gh]ér | þat =f=ólc is isómned._ - ibid. 13855-6. - -Twelfth Century: - - _þat þe =ch=íriche hàbbe grýþ | and þe =ch=éorl bèo in frýþ - his =s=édes to =s=ówen, | his =m=édes to =m=ówen._ - Proverbs of Alfred, 91-4. - - _=b=úte if he =b=éo | in =b=óke iléred._ ibid. 65-6. - -Eleventh Century, End: - - _þat he nám be wíhte | and mid mýcelan únrìhte._ - Chron. an. 1087. - -Eleventh Century, First Half: - - _súme hi man =b=énde, | =s=úme hi man =b=lénde._ - Chron. an. 1037. - - _ne wearð =d=re[=ó]rlìcre =d=[=æ´]d | ge=d=[=ó]n on þisan éarde._ - ibid. - -Eleventh Century, Beginning: - - _se of [æ´]ðelre =w=[æ´]s | vírginis párt[=u] - =c=l[=æ´]ne a=c=énned, | =C=hrístus in órbem._ - Oratio Poetica, ed. Lumby. - - _hwæt! ic =[=á]=na s[æ´]t | =í=nnan béarwe, - mid =h=élme beþéaht, | =h=ólte t[=o]-míddes, - þ[=æ]r þ[=a] w[æ´]terbúrnan | sw[=é]gdon and úrnon, - on míddan geh[æ´]ge, | éal =s=w[=a] ic =s=écge._ - Be D[=o]mes Dæge. - - _þæt =S=ámson se =s=tránge | sw[=a] of=s=l[=é]an míhte - =[=á]=n þ[=u]send mánna | mid þæs =á=ssan cínb[=á]ne._ - Ælfric, Judges, 282-3. - -Tenth Century, End: - - _[=æ´]fre embe =s=túnde | he =s=éalde sume wúnde, - þ[=a] h=w=[=í]le þe h[=e] =w=[=æ´]pna | =w=éaldan m[=ó]ste._ - Byrhtnoth, 271-2. - -Ninth Century: - - _=w=ýrmum be=w=únden, | =w=ítum gebúnden, - =h=éarde ge=h=[=æ´]fted | in =h=élle brýne._ Judith, 115-16. - -Eighth Century: - - _=h=[=á]m and =h=[=é]ahsètle | =h=éofena r[=í]ces._ Genesis, 33. - - _=w=úldre bi=w=únden | in þ[=æ]re =w=lítigan býrig. - háfað [=u]s [=a]=l=[=ý]fed | =l=[=ù]cis áuctor - þæt w[=e] =m=[=ó]tun h[=é]r | =m=éru[=é]r[=i][122] - =g=[=ó]dd[=æ]dum be=g=íetan | =g=áudia in c[=æ´]l[=o]._ - Phoenix, 666-9. - - _on=f=[=é]ngon =f=úlwihte | and =f=réoðow[=æ´]re - =w=úldres =w=édde | w[=í]tum [=a]sp[=é]dde._ Andreas, 1632-3. - - _þ[=æ]r wæs =b=órda ge=b=réc | and =b=éorna geþréc - =h=éard =h=ándgeswìng | and =h=érga gríng, - sýððan h[=e]o =é=arhfære | =[=æ´]=rest m[=é]tton._ Elene, 114-16. - - _=b=úgon Þ[=a] t[=o] =b=énce | =b=l[=æ´]d-[=á]gènde - =f=ýlle ge=f=[=æ´]gon. | =f=[æ´]gene geþ[=æ´]gon - =m=édofull =m=ánig | =m=[=á]gas þ[=á]ra._ Beowulf, 1013-15. - -Seventh Century: - - _nu scýlun =h=érgan | =h=éfænr[=i]cæs uárd, - =m=étudæs =m=[æ´]cti | end his =m=[=ó]dgidanc._ Cædmon's Hymn. - -§ =75.= The evidence contained in this chapter, with regard to the -continuous survival, in its essential rhythmical features, of the Old -English native verse down to modern times, may be briefly summed up as -follows:-- - -1. In the oldest remains of English poetry (_Beowulf_, _Elene_, -_Andreas_, _Judith_, _Phoenix_, &c.) we already find lines with combined -alliteration and rhyme intermixed with, and rhythmically equivalent to, -the purely alliterative lines, exactly as we do in late Old English and -early Middle English poems such as _Byrhtnoth_, _Be D[=o]mes Dæge_, -_Oratio Poetica_, _Chronicle_ an. 1036, _Proverbs of Alfred_, and -Layamon's _Brut_. - -2. In some of these poems, viz. the _Phoenix_ and the _Oratio Poetica_, -Latin two-beat hemistichs are combined with English hemistichs of -similar rhythm to form regular long lines, just as is done in Bale's -play of _Kinge Johan_ (sixteenth century). - -3. The lines of this play agree in the general principle, and frequently -in the details of their rhythmical structure, with alliterative-rhyming -long lines which occur in lyric and epic poems of the same period, and -which two contemporary metrists, Gascoigne and King James VI, recognized -(independently of each other) as lines of four accents. - -4. The rhythm of these sixteenth-century lines is indistinguishable from -that of a four-accent metre which is popular in English and German -poetry down to the present day. - -These facts appear to leave no room for doubt that the Germanic metre -has had a continuous history in English poetry from the earliest times -down to the present, and that the long line, in Old and Middle English -as in Modern English, had four accents (two in each hemistich). The -proof acquires additional force from the fact, established by recent -investigations, that the most important of the metrical types of the Old -English hemistich are found again in Middle and Modern English poetry. - - -NOTES: - - [107] This view has been combated by the author. The stages of the - discussion are to be found in articles by Einenkel, _Anglia_, - v. Anz. 47; Trautmann, _ibid._ 118; Einenkel's edition of _St. - Katherine_, E. E. T. S. 80; the author's 'Metrische - Randglossen', _Engl. Studien_, ix. 184; _ibid._ 368; and - _Anglia_, viii. Anz. 246. According to our opinion Otfrid's - verse was never imitated in England, nor was it known at all in - Old or Middle English times. - - - [108] This line is inaccurately quoted by King James from the poet - Alexander Montgomerie, who lived at his court. It should read - as follows:-- - - _Syne fetcht food for to feid it, | foorth fra the Pharie._ - Flyting 476. - - [109] Cf. the writer's paper 'Zur Zweihebungstheorie der - alliterierenden Halbzeile' in _Englische Studien_ v. 488-93. - - [110] Cf. _Chapters on Alliterative Verse_ by John Lawrence, D. Litt. - London: H. Frowde. 1893. 8º (chapter iii). - - [111] 'Die englische Stabreimzeile im 14., 15., 16. Jahrhundert' - (_Anglia_, xi. 392-443, 553-618). - - [112] Prof. Luick, in his longer treatise on the subject (_Anglia_, - xi. 404), distinguishes between two forms of this type with - anacrusis (× -´ × × -´) and without (-´ × × -´), which he - calls A1 and A2, a distinction he has rightly now abandoned - (Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 165). - - [113] Also printed in Ritson's _Ancient Songs_, i, p. 12; Wright's - _Pol. Songs_, p. 69; Mätzner's _Altenglische Sprachproben_, i, - p. 152; Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen, Pol. Lieder_, - no. i. - - [114] Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, p. 158. - - [115] Cf. _Metrik_, ii. 146; and Luick, _Anglia_, xii. 450, 451. - - [116] See G. Gascoigne, _Certayne Notes of Instruction concerning the - making of verse or ryme in English_, 1575, in Arber's - _Reprints_, together with _The Steele Glas_, &c., London, 1868, - 8vo, p. 34. - - [117] Bürger's version _Der Kaiser und der Abt_ introduces a regular - alternation of masculine and feminine couplets not observed in - the original metre which he is copying. - - [118] Cf. the chapter on the four-foot iambic verse. - - [119] Recognized by Bishop Percy (1765) as rhythmically equivalent to - - _In a sómer séason, | when sóft was the sónne - I shópe me into shróudes, | as I a shépe wére_ - (Piers Plowman). - and - - _H[=á]m and h[=é]ahsetl | héofena r[=í]ces_ - (Gen. 33). - - _Sc[=é]op þ[=a] and scýrede | scýppend [=ù]re_ - (ibid. 65). - - [120] This alliterative-rhyming long line is scanned by the - contemporary metrist King James VI in the manner indicated by - the accents. - - [121] The second of these lines is thus marked by Gascoigne as having - four stresses. - - [122] We retain the MS. reading; see Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, - p. 17. - - - - - PART II. FOREIGN METRES - - - - - DIVISION I. THE FOREIGN METRES IN GENERAL - - - - - CHAPTER V. INTRODUCTION - - -§ =76.= It was not till about 150 years after the Norman Conquest that -foreign metres were introduced in English literature under the influence -of French and Low Latin versification. For these, too, the general law -observed in all accentual poetry holds good, viz. that the word-accent -and the syntactical accent must coincide with the rhythmical accent. -This rule, however, was easier to observe in the old native four-beat -alliterative metre, in which the proportion and order of accented and -unaccented syllables admit of many variations, than in metres consisting -of equal measures, which follow stricter rules in that respect. In the -older native verse accordingly we seldom find deviations from this -fundamental rule, whereas in the newer foreign metres they are more -frequent and striking. - -The ordinary native alliterative metre was founded, as we have seen, on -the principle that four accented syllables had to occur in each long -line, together with an undefined number of unaccented ones, the position -and order of those different syllables admitting many variations. The -new metres constructed on foreign models during the Middle English -period differ from the earlier rhythmic forms by the regularity of the -alternation of unaccented and accented syllables and by the uniformity -of their feet or measures; they are accordingly styled even-measured or -even-beat verses. - -Four different kinds are to be distinguished, viz. ascending and -descending disyllabic measures, and ascending and descending trisyllabic -measures, commonly called _iambic_, _trochaic_, _anapaestic_, and -_dactylic_ measures. In Middle English poetry, however, only iambic -rhythms were used. The three other kinds of rhythms did not come in till -the beginning of the Modern English period. - -With regard to the development of various even-measured rhythms from -these four different kinds of feet, it will suffice to consider the -iambic and trochaic metres only, as these are the most important, and -the formation of the anapaestic and the dactylic metres is to be -explained in the same way. - -§ =77.= According to the number of feet we may classify =the different -kinds of line=--retaining the classical nomenclature--as dimeters, -trimeters, tetrameters, &c.; (one meter always consisting of _two_ -iambic or trochaic, or anapaestic feet), so that, for instance, an -iambic tetrameter contains eight iambic feet. Lines or rhythmical -sections consisting of complete feet, i.e. of an equal number of -accented and unaccented syllables, are called _acatalectic_ or -_complete_ lines (dimeters, trimeters, &c.). If, however, the last foot -of a line or of a rhythmical section be characterized by the omission of -the last syllable, i.e. by a pause, the line is called _catalectic_ or -_incomplete_. The following examples will serve to illustrate the -meaning of these terms: - -Acatalectic iambic tetrameter: - - _Y spéke óf Ihésu, Márie sóne, | of álle Kínges hé is flóur, - Þat súffred déþ for ál man-kín, | he ís our álder créatóur._ - Seynt Katerine, i. ll. 89-92.[123] - - _Come lísten tó my móurnful tále, | ye ténder héarts and lovers déar; - Nor wíll you scórn to héave a sígh, | nor wíll you blúsh to shéd a - téar._ Shenstone, Jenny Dawson. - -Catalectic iambic tetrameter: - - _Ne sólde nó man dón a fírst | ne sléuhþen wél to dónne; - For mány man behóteð wél, | þet hít for[gh]ét wel sóne._ - Moral Ode, ll. 36-7. - - _They cáught their spéares, their hórses rán, | as thóugh there hád - been thúnder, - And strúck them éach amídst their shíelds, | wherewíth they bróke - in súnder._ - Sir Lancelot du Lake, ll. 65-8.[124] - -Acatalectic trochaic tetrameter (not represented in Middle -English): - - _Wérther hád a lóve for Chárlotte, | súch as wórds could néver - útter; - Wóuld you knów how fírst he mét her? | shé was cútting bréad - and bútter._ - Thackeray, Sorrows of Werther, ll. 1, 2. - -Catalectic trochaic tetrameter: - - _Áh! what pléasant vísions háunt me, | ás I gáze upón the séa: - Áll the óld romántic légends, | áll my dréams come báck to mé!_ - Longfellow, Secret of the Sea, ll. 1, 2. - -A line in which the whole last foot is supplied by a pause is called -_brachycatalectic_. - -Brachycatalectic iambic tetrameter: - - _The Brítons thús depárted hénce, | seven Kíngdoms hére begóne, - Where díverselý in dívers bróils | the Sáxons lóst and wón._ - Warner, Albion's England.[125] - -Brachycatalectic trochaic tetrameter: - - _Hásten, Lórd, to réscue mé | and sét me sáue from tróuble; - Sháme thou thóse who séek my sóul, | rewárd their míschief dóuble._ - Translation of Psalm lxix. - -If both rhythmical sections of a tetrameter are brachycatalectic -we get one of the four varieties of the Middle English Alexandrine--the -only one that has continued in use in Modern English poetry. - -Alexandrine: - - _Mid ývernésse and prúde | and ýssing wés that ón; - He núste nouht þát he wés | bóþe gód and món._ - The Passion of our Lord, ll. 35, 36. - - _Of Álbion's glórious ísle | the wónders whílst I wríte, - The súndry várying sóils, | the pléasures ínfiníte._ - Drayton, Polyolbion, ll. 1, 2. - -These are the principal forms of rhythmical sections made up -of disyllabic feet that occur in Middle English and Modern -English Poetry. - -§ =78. The breaking up of these long lines= (consisting of two -rhythmical sections) into shorter lines is usually effected by rhyme. -Thus, if both rhythmical sections of the acatalectic tetrameter are -divided by what is called leonine rhyme we get the short four-foot -couplet imitated from the French _vers octosyllabe_, as in the -following verses taken from the Middle English _A lutel soth sermon_ -(ll. 17-20): - - _He máde him ínto hélle fálle, - And éfter hím his chíldren álle; - Þér he wás fortó ure dríhte - Hine bóhte míd his míhte._ - -A Modern English example is-- - - _Amóngst the mýrtles ás I wálk'd, - Lóve and my síghs thus íntertálk'd: - 'Téll me,' said Í in déep distréss, - 'Where I may fínd my shépherdéss.'_ - Carew, Poets, iii, p. 703. - -Another stanza of four lines is formed when the first rhythmical -sections of two tetrameters rhyming together are also connected in the -corresponding place (viz. before the caesura) by another species of -rhyme, called _interlaced_ or _crossed_ rhyme (_rime entrelacée_): - - _I spéke of Ihésu of hévene withín; - Off álle kýngys he is flóur; - Þat súffryd déþ for álle mankýn, - He ís our alle créatóur._ - Saynt Katerine, ii, ll. 89-92. - -Cf. these verses with an earlier version of the same legend (quoted p. -127), where only the second sections are connected by rhyme. - -A Modern English example is-- - - _When yóuth had léd me hálf the ráce - That Cúpid's scóurge had máde me rún; - I lóoked báck to méte the pláce - From whénce my wéary cóurse begún._ - Surrey, Restless Lover, p. 4, ll. 1-4. - -Corresponding short trochaic lines result from the acatalectic trochaic -tetrameter broken by leonine or inserted rhyme. In Middle English -poetry, however, they occur but very seldom in their pure form, i.e. -with disyllabic rhymes; in most cases they have monosyllabic or -alternate monosyllabic and disyllabic rhymes. - -In like manner the catalectic iambic tetrameter is broken up by inserted -rhyme into two short verses, viz. one of four feet with a monosyllabic -ending, and one of three feet with a disyllabic ending, as in the -following examples: - - _Bytwéne mérsh and áverýl, - When spráy bigínneþ to sprínge, - Þe lútel fóul haþ híre wýl - On hýre lúd to sínge._ - - Wright's Spec. of Lyric Poetry, p. 27. - - _A chíeftain tó the híghlands bóund - Cries: 'Bóatman, dó not tárry, - And Í'll give thée a sílver póund - To rów us ó'er the férry.'_ - Campbell, Lord Ullin's Daughter, ll. 1-4. - -A tetrameter brachycatalectic in both sections may also be broken up -either by leonine or by inserted rhyme. The following examples -illustrate respectively these two methods: - - _Wiþ lónging ý am lád, - On mólde y wáxe mád, - Y gréde, y gróne, vnglád - For sélden ý am sád._ - Wright's Spec. of Lyric Poetry, p. 29. - - _Lo, Ióseph, ít is Í, - An ángelle sénd to thé; - We, léyf, I práy the, whý? - What ís thy wýlle with mé?_ - Towneley Mysteries, p. 135. - -In the same manner the verse of four feet mentioned above is broken up -into two lines of two feet, and the two-feet line into two lines of one -foot, as in the following examples: - - _Moost góod, most fáir, - Or thíngs as ráre, - To cáll you's lóst; - For áll the cóst ... &c._ - Drayton, An Amouret Anacreontic (Poets, iii. 582). - - _What shóuld I sáy - Since fáith is déad, - And trúth awáy - From mé is fléd?_ - Wyatt, p. 130. - - _For míght is ríht, | _I ám the kníght, - Líht is níght, | I cóme by níght._ - And fíht is flíht._ | The Nutbrowne Mayd, - Wright's Political Songs, | line 33. - p. 254. | - -§ =79.= In the fourteenth century the =heroic verse= was added to these -Middle English metres; a rhyming iambic line of five feet, formed after -the model of the French line of ten syllables, e.g.: - - _A kníght ther wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._ - Chaucer, Prol. 43. - -Finally, the verse used in the =tail-rhyme staves= (_rime couée_) must -be mentioned. As this verse, however, usually appears only in that form -in which it is broken up into three short ones which compose one half of -the stave, its origin will be more properly discussed in the second -Book, treating of the origin and form of the different stanzas. To begin -with, however, it was simply a long line of three rhythmical sections. -Indications of this are here and there found in the way in which it is -arranged in MSS. and early printed books, e.g. in the first version of -the _Legend of Alexius_,[126] where it is written in triple columns on -the large folio pages of the Vernon MS. in the Bodleian Library: - - _Sítteþ stílle withóuten stríf, | And Í will télle yóu the líf | - Óf an hóly mán. - Álex wás his ríght náme, | To sérve gód thought hím no sháme, | - Therof néver hé ne blán._ - -§ =80.= These are the simplest forms of verse used in Middle English -poetry; they can be varied, however, in many ways. First, they are not -restricted to monosyllabic or masculine endings or rhymes, but like -their French models, admit also of disyllabic or feminine rhymes. -Further, the caesura, where it occurs at all, may be masculine as well -as feminine. The septenary line, however, in its strict form admits only -of monosyllabic caesura and disyllabic ending. - -Caesura and rhyme are in this respect closely analogous. For the -difference between the two kinds of caesura and between the two kinds of -rhyme is, that in the case of a masculine caesura or rhyme the pause -occurs immediately after the last accented syllable of the rhythmical -section, whereas in the case of a feminine caesura or rhyme an -unaccented syllable (sometimes even two or more unaccented -syllables[127]) follows upon the last accented one before the pause -takes place. Combinations of masculine caesura with masculine or with -feminine line-endings or rhymes, or the reverse, are, of course, allowed -and of frequent occurrence. - -We quote in the first place some Middle English and Modern English -examples of masculine caesura in the Septenary, in the Alexandrine, in -lines of five and of four measures and--for the sake of comparison--in -the four-beat verse: - - _They cáught their spéares, their hórses rán, | as thóugh there - hád been thúnder._ - Percy's Rel. (cf. p. 127). - - _The lífe so shórt, so fráil, | that mórtal mén live hére._ - Wyatt, p. 155. - - _A kníght there wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._ - Chaucer, Prol. l. 43. - - _For wánt of wíll | in wóe I pláin._ - Wyatt, p. 44. - - _For wómen are shréws, | both shórt and táll._ - Shakesp. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 36. - -Of the feminine caesura there are two different kinds, viz. the -so-called _Epic_ and _Lyric_ caesura.[128] In the Epic caesura in Iambic -metre the pause occurs, as in the feminine rhyme, after a supernumerary -syllable which follows upon the last accented one of the section the -next iambic foot following upon it in the usual manner. In the Lyric -caesura in Iambic metre, on the other hand, the pause occurs within a -foot, i.e. after the regular unaccented syllable of an iambic foot. - -These three different kinds of caesura may be more simply defined as -follows: In the ordinary iambic line the caesura occurring after a -regular unaccented syllable is a feminine Lyric one (thus: . . . ) -´ ) -| -´ ) -´ . . .); the caesura occurring after an accented syllable is a -masculine one (thus: . . . ) -´ | ) -´ ) -´ . . .); and that which -occurs after a supernumerary unaccented syllable immediately following -upon an accented one is a feminine Epic caesura (thus: . . . ) -´ ) | ) --´ ) -´ . . .). - -These different kinds of caesura strictly correspond to their French -models. The Epic caesura, which to some extent disturbs the regular -rhythmic flow of a verse, is by far the least frequent in metres of -equal feet. - -In the alliterative line, on the other hand, as this metre does not -consist of equal feet, the feminine caesura, which is, from a rhythmical -point of view, identical with the Epic, is commonly used both in the Old -English and in the Middle English period, being produced by the natural -quality of the types A, C, D, and by the resolution of the last accented -syllable in the types B and D (of the Old English verse). For this -reason it also occurs more frequently than the other kinds of caesura in -the Modern English four-beat line. - -This may be illustrated by the following examples: - - Epic caesura: - - _To Cáunterbúry | with fúl devóut couráge._ - Chaucer, Prol. line 22. - - _He knóweth how gréat Atrídës | that made Troy frét._ - Wyatt, p. 152. - - _And yét there ís anóther | between those héavens twó._ - Wyatt, p. 161. - - _Witóuten grúndwall | to bé lastánd: stand._ - Cursor Mundi, line 125. - - Lyric caesura: - - _Þer hé was fóurty dáwes | ál withúte méte._ - Passion, line 29. - - _Se séttled hé his kíngdom | ánd confírmd his ríght._ - Spenser. Faerie Queene, II, x. 60. - - _And wél we wéren ésed | átte béste._ - Chaucer, Prol. 29. - - _Þat álre wúrste | þát hi wúste._ - Owl and Night., line 10. - - _And Í should háve it | ás me líst._ - Wyatt, p. 30. - -All three kinds of caesura will have to be treated systematically later -on in connexion with the iambic rhyming verse of five measures, the -character of which they affect very much. - -§ =81.= The variety caused by the different kinds of caesura in the -structure of the metres of equal measures, formed on the principle of a -regular alternation of unaccented and accented syllables, is much -increased by other causes arising from the different nature of Romanic -and Germanic versification. These variations came into existence, partly -because the poets, in the early days of the employment of -equal-measured rhythms, found it difficult, owing to want of practice, -to secure the exact coincidence of the word-accent and the metrical -accent, partly because for linguistic or (in the case of the later -poets) for artistic reasons they considered it unnecessary to do so. -They therefore either simply suffered the discord between the two kinds -of accentuation to remain, or, in order to avoid it, permitted -themselves licences that did violence either to the rhythmic laws of the -verse itself, or to the customary pronunciation of the words as regards -the value of syllables (i.e. their being elided or fully sounded) or -word-accent. - -The changes which the equal-measured rhythms have undergone and still -undergo from the causes mentioned thus have relation partly to the -rhythmic structure of the verse itself, partly to the value of -syllables, and partly to the word-accent. From these three points of -view we shall first consider the iambic equal-measured rhythm in general -(this being the only species used in Middle English, and the one which -in Modern English is of most frequent occurrence and influences all the -rest), before we proceed to examine its individual varieties. - - -NOTES: - - [123] Horstmann, _Altenglische Legenden_, _Neue Folge_, p. 244. - - [124] Percy's _Reliques_, I. ii. 7. - - [125] Quoted in _Chambers's Cyclop. of Eng. Lit._, i. 242. - - [126] Ed. by J. Schipper, _Quellen und Forschungen_, xx. - - [127] In the 'tumbling'--or, to use the German name, the 'gliding' - (_gleitend_) caesura or rhyme. - - [128] For the introduction and explanation of these technical terms - cf. Fr. Diez, 'Über den epischen Vers,' in his _Altromanische - Sprachdenkmale_, Bonn, 1846, 8vo, p. 53, and the author's - _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 438, 441; ii, pp. 24-6. - - [129] The occurrence of this licence in Chaucer's heroic verse has - been disputed by ten Brink (_Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, - p. 176) and others, but see _Metrik_, i. 462-3, and - Freudenberger, _Ueber das Fehlen des Auftaktes in Chaucer's - heroischem Verse_, Erlangen, 1889. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - VERSE-RHYTHM - - -§ =82.= As in Greek and Latin metre, so also in the equal-measured -rhythms of Middle and Modern English, it is a general law that the -beginning or end of a metrical foot should, so far as possible, not -coincide with the beginning or end of a word, but should occur in the -middle, so that the individual feet may be more closely connected with -each other. When this law is not observed, there arises what is -technically called _diaeresis_, that is to say, the breaking up of the -line into separate portions, which as a rule renders the verse -inharmonious. On this account lines composed entirely of monosyllables -are to be avoided. This law is more frequently neglected in Modern -English poetry than in that of earlier times, because the rarity of -inflexional endings makes its constant observance difficult. - -Even in Middle English poems, however, we often find lines, especially -if they are short, which are composed of monosyllabic words only. - -These observations may be illustrated by the following examples: - -(_a_) Lines with diaeresis: - - _Ne ís no quéne so stárk ne stóur._ - Wright's Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 87, l. 4. - - _And hé was clád in cóote and hóod of gréne._ - Chaucer, Prol. line 103. - - _Had cást him óut from Héaven with áll his hóst._ - Milton, Parad. L. i. 37. - - _Had shóok his thróne. What thóugh the fíeld be lóst?_ - ib. 105. - -(_b_) Lines without diaeresis: - - _Nou shrínkeþ róse and lýlie flour._ - Wright's Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 87, line 1. - - _And smále fówles máken mélodíe._ - Chaucer, Prol. line 9. - - _And réassémbling óur afflícted pówers._ - Milton, Parad. L. i. 186. - -§ =83.= With regard to modulation, too, the lines with diaeresis differ -from those without it. In lines with diaeresis all syllables or words -with a rhythmic accent upon them are pronounced with nearly the same -stress, while in lines without diaeresis the difference between the -accented syllables is more noticeable. The two following examples taken -from Milton's _Paradise Lost_ will serve to illustrate this, the -difference of stress being indicated by different numbers under the -accented syllables: - - _Had cást him óut from Héaven with áll his hóst_ - 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 - - _And réassémbling óur afflícted pówers._ - 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 2 - -As a general rule, the syllables which stand in an arsis are, just -because they bear the metrical stress, of course more strongly accented -than those which stand in a thesis. - -Occasionally, however, a thesis-syllable may be more strongly accented -than an arsis-syllable in the same line which only carries the -rhythmical accent, but neither the word-accent nor the logical accent of -the sentence. - -Thus in the following line from _Paradise Lost_-- - - _Irreconcileable to our grand Foe_, - -the word _grand_, although it stands in a thesis, is certainly, because -of the rhetorical stress which it has, more strongly accented than the -preceding word _our_ or the syllable _-ble_, both of which have the -rhythmical accent. Milton's blank verse abounds in such resolved -discords, as they might be called. In not a few cases, however, they -remain unresolved. This occurs chiefly in lines where the short -unaccented syllables or unimportant monosyllabic words must be -lengthened beyond their natural quantity in order to fit in with the -rhythm of the verse, as in the following lines: - - _Of Thámuz yéarly wóunded: thé love-tále._ Par. L. i. 452. - - _Únivérsal repróach far wórse to béar._ Par. L. vi. 34. - -On the other hand long syllables standing in a thesis may be shortened -without harshness, e.g. the words _brought_ and _our_ in the following -line: - - _Brought déath intó the wórld and áll our wóe._ - -§ =84.= With regard to the treatment of the rhythm the Middle English -even-beat metres in some respects are considerably different from the -Modern English metres, the reason being that the earlier poets, as yet -inexperienced in the art of composing in even-beat measures, found it -more difficult than Modern English poets to make the rhythmic accent -coincide with the word-accent and the syntactic-accent (cf. pp. 126-7, -134). - -Certain deviations from the ordinary iambic rhythm which partly disturb -the agreement of the number of accented and unaccented syllables in a -line are more frequent in Middle English than in Modern English poetry. -One of these licences is the =suppression of the anacrusis= or the -absence of the first unaccented syllable of the line, or of the second -rhythmical section, e.g. - - _Þán sche séyd: [gh]e trówe on hím | þát is lórd of swíche pousté._ - Horstmann's Altengl. Legend. N. F., p. 250, ll. 333-4. - - _Gíf we léornið gódes láre, - Þénne ofþúncheþ hít him sáre._ Pater Noster, 15-16. - - _Únnet líf ic hábbe iléd, | and [gh]íet, me þíncð, ic léde._ - Moral Ode, l. 5. - - _Twénty bóokes, | clád in blák and réde._ Chaucer, Prol. 294.[129] - - _Sóme, that wátched | wíth the múrd'rer's knífe._ - Surrey, p. 59. - - _Góod my Lórd, | give mé thy fávour stíll._ - Shakesp. Temp. iv. i. 204. - - _Nórfolk sprúng thee, | Lámbeth hólds thee déad._ Surrey, p. 62. - - _Vor mánies mánnes sóre iswínch | hábbeð ófte unhólde._ - Moral Ode, Ms. D. l. 34. - - _Enhástyng hím, | tíl he wás at lárge._ - Lydgate, Story of Thebes, 1075. - - _The tíme doth páss, | yét shall nót my lóve!_ Wyatt, p. 130. - -While this metrical licence may mostly be attributed to want of -technical skill in Middle English poets, it is frequently employed in -the Modern English period, as the last example shows, with distinct -artistic intention of giving a special emphasis to a particular word. -Several Middle English poets, however, make but scant use of this -licence, e.g. the author of _The Owl and the Nightingale_ and Gower, -while some of them, as Orm, never use it at all. - -§ =85.= These latter poets, on the other hand, make very frequent use of -another kind of rhythmical licence, viz. =level stress= or _hovering -accent_, as Dr. Gummere calls it; i.e. they subordinate the word-accent -or the syntactic accent to the rhythmic accent, and so far violate the -principal law of all accentual metre, which demands _that those three -accents should fall on one and the same syllable_. - -This licence is found chiefly in metres of a certain length, e.g. in the -Septenary or in the iambic five-foot line, but not so frequently in -shorter metres, as the resulting interruption of the flow of the rhythm -is not so perceptible in long as in short lines. - -The least sensible irregularity of this kind occurs when the -(syntactically) less emphatic of two consecutive monosyllabic words is -placed in the arsis, as in the following lines: - - _For whý this ís more thén that cáuse is._ - Chaucer, H. of Fame, 20. - - _There ís a róck in thé salt flóod._ Wyatt, p. 144. - - _Now seemeth féarful nó more thé dark cáve._ ib. p. 210. - -If the accented syllable of a word consisting of two or more syllables -is placed in the thesis, and the unaccented one in the arsis, the -licence is greater. This is a licence often met with in Middle English -poetry, as e.g.: - - _I wílle not léyf you álle helpléss | as mén withóuten fréynd._ - Towneley Myst. p. 182. - - _Of clóth-makýng | she hádde súch an háunt._ Chaucer, Prol. 447. - - _With blóod likewíse | ye múst seek yóur retúrn._ Surrey, p. 117. - -The effect is still more harsh, if inflexional endings are used in this -way, though this does not often occur. The following are examples: - - _Þa béodes hé b=eo=d=é=þ therínne._ Pater Noster, 23. - - _Annd á[gh][gh] =a=fft=érr= þe Góddspell stánnt._ Orm. 33. - - _All þúss iss þátt h=a=llgh=é= g=o=ddsp=é=ll._ ib. 73. - -In most cases dissonant rhythmical accentuations of this sort are caused -by the rhyme, especially in Middle English poetry, e.g.: - - _Sównynge alwáy th' encrés of his wynnýnge. - He wólde the sée were képt for ény thínge._ - Chaucer, Prol. 275. - -Cf. also: _thing: wr+i+t+ý+ng_ ib. 325-6; _br+e+mst+óo+n: non_ ib. -629-30; _+a+le-st+á+ke: cake_ ib. 667-8; _g+o+dd+é+sse: gesse_ Chaucer, -Knightes Tale, 243-4; _herde: +a+nsw+é+rde_ ib. 265-6; _ass+e+mbl+ý+nge: -thynge_ Barclay, Ship of Fools, p. 20; similar examples are even to be -met with in early Modern English poetry, e.g.: _n+o+th+í+ng: bring_ Sur. -15; _bem+oa+n+í+ng: king_ Wyatt, 206; _w+e+lf+á+re: snare_ ib. 92; -_g+oo+dn+é+ss: accéss_ ib. 209; _m+a+n+é+re: chere_ Surrey, 124, &c. - -Sometimes it may be doubtful how a line should be scanned. In some cases -of this kind the usage of the poet will decide the question; we know, -for instance, that Orm never allows the omission of the first unaccented -syllable. Where decisive evidence of this kind is wanting, the verse -must be scanned in such a manner as to cause the least rhythmical -difficulty. If a compound, or a word containing a syllable with -secondary accent, does not fit in with the rhythmical accent, it is to -be read, as a rule, with level stress when it occurs in the middle of a -line (and, of course, always when it is the rhyme-word). On the other -hand, if according to the rhythmical scheme of the line an unaccented -syllable would be the bearer of the rhythmical stress, we must in most -cases assume suppression of the anacrusis. - -It would not be admissible therefore to scan: - - _Love, thát l+i+v+é+th | and réigneth ín my thóught_, - Surrey, p. 12. - -but: - _Lóve that líveth | and réigneth ín my thóught._ - -The licence of displacement of accent is an offence against the -fundamental law of accentual verse, and therefore becomes more and more -rare as the technique of verse becomes more perfect. - -§ =86=. Another metrical licence, which is not inadmissible, is -=the absence of a thesis in the interior of a line=. This -licence is not of the same origin in Middle English as in Modern -English poetry. - -In Middle English it generally appears to be a relic of the -ancient alliterative verse (Types C and D) and to be analogous -to the similar usage of the contemporary Middle English alliterative -line, as e.g.: - - _Ne léve nó mán to múchel | to chílde ne to wíue._ - Moral Ode, line 24. - - _Þet ís al sóth fúl iwís._ Pater Noster, 2. - - _hálde wé gódes lá[gh]e._ ib. 21. - - _Óf the próphéte | that hátte Séynt Iohán._ Passion, 26. - -Not unfrequently, also, this licence is caused by the rhyme, as in the -following examples: - - _Myd Hárald Árfáger, | kýng of Nórthwéy: eye._ Rob. of Glouc. 22. - - _As wás king Róbert of Scótlánd: hand._ Barbour, Bruce, 27. - - _And gúd Schyr Iámes of Dóuglás: was._ ib. 29. - - _Súmwhat óf his clóþíng: king._ - Rob. Mannyng, Handlyng Sinne, l. 5703. - -The same manner of treatment may be found applied to words which end in -_-lyng_, _-esse_, _-nesse_, and similar syllables, and which have a -secondary accent on the last syllable and the chief accent on the -preceding root-syllable. - -In Modern English verse the absence of a thesis between two accented -syllables sometimes arises from phonetic conditions, i.e. from the pause -which naturally takes place between two words which it is difficult to -pronounce successively. This pause supplies the place of the missing -thesis, as e.g. in the following lines: - - _And fírst cléns us fróm the fíend._ Townl. Myst. p. 9. - - _An óld témple there stánds, | whereás some tíme._ Surrey, p. 142. - - _And scórn the Stóry | thát the Kníght tóld._ Wyatt, p. 192. - -In other instances the emphasis laid upon a particular word compensates -for the absence of the unaccented syllable, especially, if the accented -syllable is long: e.g. - - _And thóu, Fáther, | recéive intó thy hánds._ Surrey, p. 142. - - _Júst as you léft them | áll prísoners, sír._ Shak. Temp. V. i. 8. - - _My ówn lóve, | my ónly déar._ Moore. - - _Mórning, évening, | nóon and night - Práise Gód, | sang Théocríte._ R. Browning, ii. 158. - -This licence is of frequent occurrence in even-beat measures. - -§ =87.= Another metrical peculiarity caused by the influence of the -rhythm is the =lengthening= of a word by the introduction of an -unaccented extra syllable, commonly an _e_, to supply a thesis lacking -between two accented syllables. - -This occurs in Middle English and in Modern English poetry also. (i) In -disyllabic words, commonly those with a first syllable ending with a -mute, the second beginning with a liquid, e.g.: - - _Of Éng(e)lónd | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ Chauc. Prol. 16. - - _If yóu will tárry, | hóly píl(e)grím_. - Shakesp. All's Well, III. v. 43. - -(ii) In Modern English poetry only in certain monosyllabic words ending -in _r_ or _re_, preceded by a diphthong, as e.g. in _our_, _hour_, -_fire_, &c., e.g.: - - _So dóth he féel | his fíre mánifóld._ Wyatt, 205. - -This peculiarity will be mentioned again in the next chapter. - -§ =88.= Another deviation from the regular iambic line is the =inversion -of the rhythm=; i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus at the -beginning of a line or after the caesura. The rhythmical effect of this -licence has some resemblance to that of the suppression of anacrusis. In -both cases the rhythmic accent has to yield to the word-accent. But -while in the latter case the whole verse becomes trochaic in consequence -of the omission of the first syllable, in the former the trochaic -cadence affects one foot only (generally the first), the rest of the -verse being of a regular iambic rhythm. Hence the number of syllables in -each line is the same as that in all the other regular lines (including -those with level stress), whereas verses with suppressed anacrusis may -easily be distinguished from the former by their smaller number of -syllables. On the other hand, the number of syllables (being the same in -both cases) affords no help in distinguishing between change of -word-accent and inversion of rhythm. Which of these two kinds of licence -is to be recognized in any particular case can be determined only by the -position which the abnormal foot occupies in the line. Inversion of -rhythm (i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus) occurs, as a -rule, only at the beginning of a line or hemistich, where the flow of -the rhythm has not begun, so that the introduction of a trochee does not -disturb it. If, therefore, the discord between normal word-stress and -iambic rhythm occurs in any other position in the line, it must be -regarded as a case of level stress. - -The following examples will serve to illustrate the difference between -these three species of metrical licence: - -Omission of anacrusis: - - _Herknet tó me góde men_. Hav. 1. 7 syll. - - _Nórfolk sprúng thee, Lámbeth hólds thee déad._ - Surrey, p. 62. 9 " - -Level stress: - - _A stálw+o+rþí man ín a flok_. Hav. 24. 8 " - - _And Rýpheús that mét thee bý m+oo+nlíght._ - Surrey, p. 126. 10 " - -Inversion of rhythm: - - _Míchel was súch a kíng to préyse_. Hav. 60. 8 " - - _Míldly doth flów alóng the frúitful fíelds._ - Surrey, p. 145. 10 " - - _Shróuding themsélves únder the désert shóre._ - Surrey, p. 113. 10 " - -Inversion of rhythm may be caused in the interior of a rhythmical series -only when a particularly strong emphasis is laid upon a word, e.g. to -express an antithesis or for similar reasons: - - _That íf_ góld ruste | _whát shal ýren dó?_ Chaucer, Prol. 500. - - _And wé'll_ nót fail | _When Dúncan ís asléep._ - Shakesp. Macb. I. vii. 61. - -We may distinguish between two kinds of inversion of rhythm, viz. (i) -_natural_ inversion, and (2) _rhetorical_ inversion. The former is -caused by word-accent, the latter by the rhetorical accent, as -illustrated by the last examples. The second kind differs very clearly -from level stress, as the word in question or the first syllable of it -(see the second line of the following quotation) is to be uttered with -an unusually strong emphasis, e.g.: - - Síck, or _in héalth, | in évil fáme or góod._ Surrey, p. 17. - - Lústy _of scháip,_ lýght of _delíveránce_. - Dunbar, Thriss. and Rois 95. - -In the second example inversion of rhythm occurs (as it often does) -twice over, viz. at the beginning of the verse and after the caesura. - -Not unfrequently also two inversions of rhythm follow immediately upon -one another, e.g.: - - Wórldly gládnes | _is mélled wíth affráy_. - Lydgate, Min. Poems, xxii, line 11. - - Réigned óver | _so mány péoples and réalms._ Surrey, p. 135. - -Such verses, however, may also be looked upon as instances of the -omission of anacrusis combined with epic caesura. - -This would be the only admissible explanation in verses the first -accented word of which is a word which usually does not bear an accent -or is not accented rhetorically, e.g.: - - _Óf the wórdes | that Týdeús had sáid._ - Lydgate, St. of Thebes, line 1082. - - _Tó have líved | áfter the cíty táken._ Surrey, p. 139. - -But in a line with an emphasized first word inversion of rhythm is the -more probable explanation: e.g. - - _Nát astónned, | nor ín his hérte afférde._ - Lydgate, St. of Thebes, line 1069. - - _Gód, that séndeth, | withdráweth wínter shárp._ Surrey, p. 58. - -§ =89. Disyllabic or polysyllabic thesis.= Another important deviation -from the regular iambic rhythm, which is clearly to be distinguished -from the double thesis caused by inversion of rhythm, consists in the -use of two or sometimes even more unaccented syllables instead of one to -form a regular thesis of a verse. This irregularity, which is almost as -common in Modern English as it is in Early English poetry, may occur in -any part of the verse. If it occurs in the first foot, it may be called -disyllabic or polysyllabic anacrusis, as in the following examples: - - _Gif we clépieþ híne féder þénne._ Pater Noster, 19. - - _Se þe múchel vól[gh]eð hís iwíl, | him sélue hé biswíkeð._ - Moral Ode, 15. - - _To purvéie þám a skúlkyng, | on þe Énglish éft to ríde._ - Rob. Mannyng, Chron. p. 3, l. 8. - - _With a thrédbare cópe, | as ís a póure scolér._ - Chaucer, Prol. 260. - - _And why thís is a revelációun._ Chaucer, H. of Fame, l. 8. - - _My comáundemént that kéeps trulý, | and áfter ít will dó._ - Towneley Myst. p. 182. - - _There was néver nóthing | móre me páin'd._ Wyatt, p. 57. - - _I beséech your Gráces | bóth to párdon mé._ - Shakesp. Rich. III, I. i. 84. - - _By thy lóng grey béard and glíttering éye._ - Coleridge, Anc. Mar. l. 3. - -This metrical licence may occur also immediately after the caesura, -e.g.: - - _Wel láte he léteþ úfel wéorc | þe hit né may dón na máre._ - Moral Ode, 128. - - _And thríes hádde sche bén | at Ierúsalém._ Chauc. Prol. 463. - - _My wíll confírm | with the spírit of stéadfastnéss._ - Wyatt, p. 220. - - _But thén we'll trý | what these dástard Frénchmen dáre._ - Shakesp. 1 Hen. VI, I. iv. 111. - -It most frequently occurs, however, in the interior of the rhythmical -sections, and there it is found in any of the feet, except the last, as -will be seen by the following examples: - - _Intó þis ðhísternesse hér benéðen._ Gen. and Exod. 66. - - _For þér we hit míhte fínden éft | and hábben búten énde._ - Moral Ode, 52. - - _In Wéssex was thán a kíng, | his náme wás Sir Íne._ - Rob. Mannyng, Chron. p. 2, l. 1. - - _Of Éngelónd | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ Chauc., Prol. 16. - - _So fervent hót, | thy díssolute lífe._ Surrey, p. 68. - - _And Windsor, alás! | doth cháse me fróm her síght._ ib. p. 14. - - _Succéeding his fáther Bólingbróke, | did réign._ - Shakesp. 1 Hen. VI, II. v. 83. - -§ =90.= Unaccented extra syllables are found also before a caesura or at -the end of the line. In the former case they constitute what is known as -_epic caesura_, in the latter they form feminine or double endings (if -there is only one extra syllable) or tumbling endings (if there are two -extra syllables). In both cases this irregularity is softened or -excused, so to say, by the pause, except where the accented or masculine -ending of the hemistich is required by the very nature of the metre, -viz. in the first acatalectic half of the Septenary line. It does, -however, not unfrequently occur in some Early Middle English poems -written in Septenary metre, e.g. in the _Moral Ode_ and several others, -but this may be only owing to want of skill or carelessness on the part -of the authors of these poems. The following example taken from the -_Moral Ode_ may serve to illustrate this: - - _Nis nán wítnesse éal se múchel, | se mánnes ágen héorte._ 114. - -In the _Ormulum_ irregularities of this kind never occur, a certain -proof that Orm thought them metrically inadmissible, and felt that an -extra syllable at the end of the first hemistich would disturb the flow -of the rhythm. - -Epic caesura certainly is more in place, or at any rate more common, in -other kinds of verse, especially in the Middle English Alexandrine -formed after the Old French model, e.g.: - - _Untó the Ínglis kínges, | þat hád it ín þer hónd._ - Robert Mannyng, Chron. p. 2, l. 4. - -In the four-foot and five-foot rhymed verse, and especially in blank -verse, it is of frequent occurrence: - - _Why thís a fántom, | why thése orácles._ Chauc. H. of F. 11. - - _To Cáunterbúry, | with fúl devóut coráge._ id. Prol. 22. - - _What shólde he stúdie | and máke hym séluen wóod?_ ib. 184.[130] - - _So crúel príson | how cóuld betíde, alás._ Surrey, p. 19. - - _O míseráble sórrow! | withóuten cúre._ Wyatt, p. 124. - - _With hídden hélp or vántage, | or thát with bóth._ - Shakesp. Macb. I. iv. 113. - - _But hów of Cáwdor? | The tháne of Cáwdor líves._ ib. I. iii. 72. - - _But thís delíver'd, | he sáw the ármies jóin._ - Fletcher, Loyal Subj. II. i. 333. - - _For íf my húsband táke you, | and táke you thús._ - id. Rule a Wife, v. 495. - - _By vísion fóund thee ín the Témple, | and spáke._ - Milton, Par. Reg. i. 256. - - _Creáted húgest | that swím the Ócean-stréam._ id. Par. L. i. 202. - - _And chíefly thóu, O Spírit! | that dóst prefér._ ib. i. 17. - - _Have fílled their víals | with sálutáry wráth._ - Coleridge, Relig. Musings, 84. - -§ =91.= Double or feminine endings are more frequent than epic caesuras, -especially in Middle English poetry. They become rarer, however, in the -course of time in Modern English in consequence of the gradual -disappearance of the inflexional endings, e.g.: - - _Þet wé don álle hís ibéden, - Ánd his wílle fór to réden._ Pater Noster, 7-8. - - _Tó my wýtte | that cáuseth swévenes - Éyther on mórwes | ór on évenes._ Chauc. H. of Fame, 3-4. - - _Áfter Éthelbért | com Élfríth his bróther, - Þat was Égbrihtes sónne, | and [gh]it ther wás an óþer._ - Robert Mannyng, Chron. p. 21, ll. 7-8. - - _Withóuten óther cómpainýe | in yóuthe, - But therof néedeth nóught | to spéke as nóuthe._ - Chauc. Prol. 461-2. - - _And ín her síght | the séas with dín confóunded?_ Sur. p. 164. - - _Or whó can téll thy lóss, | if thóu mayst ónce recóver._ - Wyatt, p. 154. - - _Lie there, my árt. | Wípe thou thine eyes; have cómfort._ - Shakesp. Temp. 1. ii. 25. - - _The dífference 'twíxt the covetous | ánd the pródigall._ - Ben Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 12. - - _Nothing at áll! | I'll téach you tó be treacherous._ - Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 255. - - _Nó, Sir, | I dáre not leave her | tó that sólitariness._ - id. Rule a Wife, iv. 479. - - _What yóung thing's thís?-- | Good mórrow, béauteous géntlewoman._ - id. Loy. Subj. v. ii. 402. - -The two last quotations are noteworthy because the number of extra -syllables after the last accented one is two, three, or even four, a -peculiarity which is one of the characteristics of Fletcher's -versification. Other poets, e.g. Shakespeare, preferred feminine -endings in some periods of their literary career, so that it is possible -to use the proportion of masculine and feminine endings occurring in a -play, compared with others of the same poet, as a means of ascertaining -the date of its origin. - -It is also to be observed that in certain epochs or kinds of poetry -feminine endings are more in favour than in others. In the eighteenth -century they are very scarce, whereas they become more frequent again in -the nineteenth century. Byron and Moore especially use them copiously in -their satirical and humorous poems to produce burlesque effects. - -§ =92.= Another metrical licence also connected with the end of the line -is what is known as the =enjambement= or _run-on line_--that is to say, -the carrying over of the end of a sentence into the following line. - -The rule that the end of a line must coincide with the end of a -sentence, is, from the nature of the case, more difficult to observe -strictly--and, consequently, the run-on line is more readily -admitted--in verse composed of short lines (which often do not afford -room for a complete sentence) than where the lines are longer. In blank -verse, also, the run-on line is more freely allowed than in rhymed -verse, where the pause at the end of the line is more strongly marked. - -Generally speaking, enjambement is not allowed to separate two short -words that stand in close syntactical connexion and isolated from the -rest of the sentence, though examples of this do occur (especially in -the older poets) in which an adjective is separated from its -substantive: - - _I wíll yive hím the álderbéste - Yífte, that éver he abóod his líve._ Chauc. Blaunche, 246. - - _My lúte awáke, perfórm the lást - Lábour, that thóu and Í shall wáste._ Wyatt, p. 29, - -or a verb from its subject or object, formed by a monosyllabic word: - - _To téllen shórtly, whán that hé - Was ín the sée, thús in this wíse._ Chauc. Blaunche, 68. - - _Me néed not lóng for tó beséech - Hér, that hath pówer me tó commánd._ Wyatt, p. 31. - -But if, on the other hand, two closely connected parts of a sentence are -each of them long enough to fill up two measures, they may be separated -by enjambement: - - _Whan Zéphirús eek wíth his swéte bréethe - Enspíred háth in évery hólte and héethe - The téndre cróppes, ánd the yónge sónne - Háth in the Rám his hálfe cóurs irónne_, &c. Chauc. Prol. 5-8. - - _There áre a sórt of mén, whose vísagés - Do créam and mántle líke a stánding pónd._ - Shakesp. Merch. I. i. 88-9. - -The admissibility or inadmissibility, however, of run-on lines depends -on many different and complicated considerations, for which the reader -may be referred to ten Brink, _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, §§ -317-20, and to our own larger work, vol. ii, pp. 59-62. - -In Shakespeare's versification, and probably also in that of other -poets, the more or less frequent use of run-on lines is characteristic -of certain periods of their literary career, and is therefore looked -upon as a valuable help in determining the date of the different plays -(cf. § 91). The largest percentage of run-on lines probably occurs in -Milton's epics. - -§ =93.= The judicious use of run-on lines is often resorted to for -the purpose of avoiding monotony. Another metrical licence connected -with the line-end, which is adopted for the same purpose, is -=rhyme-breaking=. This occurs chiefly in rhyming couplets, and consists -in ending the sentence with the first line of the couplet, instead of -continuing it (as is usually done) till the end of the second line. Thus -the close connexion of the two lines of the couplet effected by the -rhyme is broken up by the logical or syntactic pause occurring at the -end of the first line. This is used rarely, and so to say unconsciously, -by the earlier Middle English poets, but is frequently applied, and -undoubtedly with artistic intention, by Chaucer and his successors. -The following passage contains examples both of rhyme-breaking and of -the more normal usage: - - _A Yéman hádde he, ánd servántz namó - At thát tyme, fór him líste ríde sóo; - And hé was clád in cóte and hóod of gréne: - A shéf of pécok árwes bríght and shéne - Únder his bélt he bár ful thríftilý. - Wél koude he drésse his tákel yémanlý;_ &c. - Chauc. Prol. ll. 101-6. - -Rhyme-breaking may, of course, also take place in other metres, as e.g. -in four-foot iambic verses: - - _Which hópe I kéep full súre in mé, - As hé, that áll my cómfort ís. - On yóu alone, which áre my blíss,_ &c. - Surrey, pp. 79-80. - -Chapman, in his translation of Homer, often uses it in Septenary -verses as well as in five-foot iambic verses. In certain stanzas -rhyme-breaking at particular places is a strict rule, as e.g. in the -Rhyme-Royal stanza (_a b a b . b c c_), in the ballade-stanza of eight -lines (_a b a b . b c b c_), and also between the two quatrains of the -regular Italian sonnet. - -On the other hand this licence is rare in the works of the poets of the -eighteenth century who wrote under French influence, and in modern times -(especially at the present day) it seems to be rather avoided than -intentionally admitted. - -§ =94.= Another peculiarity of frequent but irregular occurrence in -even-beat verse is =alliteration=, a feature which is derived from the -old native metre, and is still (consciously or unconsciously) employed -by many poets as an ornament of their verse. - -The arbitrary use of alliteration in the freer form of the long line has -been already discussed. - -In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it is mostly used merely to -give a stronger emphasis to those words of the verse which bear the -logical and rhythmical accent,[131] but even as early as this we can -observe a decided predilection for accumulated alliteration. Sometimes -the same alliterative sound is retained through several successive -lines. In other instances a fourth alliterating word is admitted in the -line (as in the example referred to above). In the fifteenth and -sixteenth centuries this striving after accumulation of alliteration was -carried to such a length that it became a rule that as many words in the -line as possible, whether accented or not, should begin with the same -letter. This accounts for King James VI's metrical rule quoted above (p. -89), that in 'Tumbling verse' the line is to be 'literal'. Even Chaucer, -in spite of his well-known hostile attitude to regular alliterative -poetry,[132] allowed his diction to be influenced strongly by it, e.g.: - - _I =w=réche_, =w=hích that =w=épe and =w=áylle thús_, - =W=as =w=hílom =w=ýf to =k=ýng =C=apáneús_. - Kn. Tale, ll. 73-4. - - _And =h=é =h=im =h=úrtleth wíth =h=is =h=órs adóun_. - ib. line 1758. - -This accumulation of alliterative sounds occurs in the works of many -Modern English poets, some of whom, as Peele and Shakespeare, have -themselves ridiculed it, but were unable, or were not careful, to avoid -it altogether in their own practice. - - _And wíth =sh=arp =sh=rílling =sh=ríekes | doe bóotlesse crý_. - Spens. F. Q. I. iii. 127. - - _=W=hich =w=íth a rúshy =w=éapon | Í =w=ill =w=óund_. - Peele, Old Wifes Tale, p. 467. - - _Théy =l=ove =l=éast that =l=ét men know their =l=óve_. - Shak. Rom. i. 3. - - For particulars see _Neuengl. Metrik_, pp. 68-76, and the following - treatises: - - _Die Alliteration im Layamon_, by K. Regel; _Germanistische Studien_, - ed. K. Bartsch, Vienna, 1874, i. 172 ff. - - _Die Alliteration bei Chaucer_, by Dr. F. Lindner, _Jahrbuch f. rom. - und engl. Literatur_, N. Ser. ii, p. 311 ff. - - _Die Alliteration in den Werken Chaucers mit Ausschluss der - Canterbury Tales_, by E. Petzold. Dissertation, Marburg, 1889. - - _Die alliterierenden Sprachformeln in Morris's Early English - Alliterative Poems und im Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight_, by Joh. - Fuhrmann. Dissertation, Kiel, 1886. - - Prof. Dr. K. Seitz, _Die Alliteration im Englischen vor und bei - Shakspere_, and _Zur Alliteration im Neuenglischen_. - Realschulprogramme i-iii, Marne, 1875, Itzehoe, 1883, 1884. - - M. Zeuner, _Die Alliteration bei neuenglischen Dichtern_. - Dissertation, Halle, 1880. - - _Die stabreimenden Wortverbindungen in den Dichtungen Walter - Scott's_, by Georg Apitz. Dissertation, Breslau, 1893. - - -NOTES: - - [130] We therefore hold ten Brink to be wrong in asserting - (_Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, § 307, 3. Anm.) that no - redundant or hypermetrical syllable is permissible in the - caesural pause of Chaucer's iambic line of five accents, - although he recognizes that in lines of four accents Chaucer - admits the very same irregularity, which moreover has remained - in use down to the present day. Cf. Skeat, _Chaucer Canon_, - Oxford, 1900, pp. 31-3, and Schipper in Paul's _Grundriss_, - ed. 2, II. ii, pp, 217-18. On this point, as also on several - others, Miss M. Bentinck Smith, the translator of ten Brink's - work, is of our opinion (cf. her Remarks on Chapter III of ten - Brink's _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_ in _The Modern - Language Quarterly_, vol. v, No. 1, April, 1902, pp. 13-19). A - contrary view with regard to 'extra syllables' in the heroic - and the blank-verse line (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) - is taken by A. P. van Dam and Cornelis Stoffel, _Chapters on - English Printing, Prosody, and Pronunciation_ (1550-1700), - Heidelberg, 1902 (Anglistische Forschungen herausgegeben von - Dr. Johannes Hoops, Heft 9), pp. 48-113. - - [131] Cf. the lines from Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 31, - quoted on p. 98. - - [132] Cf. _Parson's Prologue_, 42-3. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THE METRICAL TREATMENT OF SYLLABLES - - -§ =95.= As the root-syllables of words (leaving out of account the words -of Romanic origin) almost universally retain their full syllabic value, -whether occurring in arsis or in thesis, they require no notice in this -chapter. We therefore confine our remarks to the formative and -inflexional syllables, which, though as a rule found only in thesis, -admit of being treated metrically in three different ways. (1) A -syllable of this kind may retain its full value, so as to form by itself -the entire thesis of a foot. (2) It may be slurred, so that it combines -with another unaccented syllable to form a thesis. (3) It may lose its -syllabic value altogether, its vowel being elided and its consonantal -part (if it has any) being attracted to the root-syllable. By the -last-mentioned process, as is well known, the number of inflexional -syllables has been greatly reduced in Modern as compared with Middle and -Old English. - -The inflexional endings which in Middle English (we are here considering -chiefly the language of Chaucer) have ordinarily the value of -independent syllables are the following:-- - -_-es_ (_-is_, _-us_) in the gen. sing. and the plur. of the substantive, -and in certain adverbs. - -_-en_ in the nom. plur. of some substantives of the weak declension, in -certain prepositions, in the infinitive, in the strong past participle, -in the plur. of the pres. of strong verbs, and in the pret. plur. of all -verbs. - -_-er_ in the comparative. - -_-est_ in the superlative and the 2nd person pres. - -_-eth_ (_-ith_) in the 3rd person pres. sing., in the plur. pres. and -plur. imperative. - -_-ed_ (_-id_, _-ud_) in the past participles of weak verbs, and often in -the 1st and 3rd person sing. and the whole plur. pret. of the weak verbs -with short root-syllable, instead of the fuller endings _-ede_, _-eden_, -which also occur; in weak verbs with long root-syllable the endings are -_-de_, _-den_. - -_-edest_, or _-dest_ in the 2nd pers. sing. pret. of the weak verb. - -_-e_ in a certain number of inflexional forms of the verb (as e.g. in -the inf. and in the past part. of strong verbs, where _n_ is dropped), -and of the substantive and adjective, and as an ending of Romanic words, -&c. - -Of all these endings only the comparative and superlative suffixes -_-er_, _-est_ are preserved in an unreduced state in Modern English. The -final _-e_ has disappeared in pronunciation (with some exceptions -occurring in Early Modern English). The important suffixes _-en_, _-es_, -_-ed_, _-est_ (2nd pers. sing.), _-eth_ (for which _-s_, the northern -ending, instead of _-es_, is commonly substituted) have been contracted -through syncope so as to form one syllable with the root, except where -the nature of the final consonant of the stem prevents syncope, e.g. in -_-es_ and _-est_ after sibilants, in _-ed_ after dentals, in _-en_ after -_v_, _s_, _t_, _d_, _k_ (as in _houses_, _ended_, _risen_, _written_, -_hidden_, _broken_, _driven_). As, however, these are always full -syllables they may here be disregarded. The ending _-edest_ has been -shortened into _-edst_. - -It is to be observed that the syncopation of the vowel (_e_) of the -inflexional endings was not so nearly universal in Early Modern English -as it is at present; and further, that it is still much less prevalent -in poetry than in prose, because the poets for metrical reasons often -preserve the fuller endings when in ordinary speech they are no longer -used.[133] In examining the metrical treatment of the Early English -inflexional endings, we shall therefore have occasion to consider the -usage of the present day, notwithstanding the fact that some of these -endings are obsolete in modern prose. - -The chief difference between Early and Modern English with regard to the -treatment of the inflexions is that in Early English poetry the full -pronunciation is the rule--in accordance with the practice in ordinary -speech--and the syncopation of the vowel (_e_, rarely _i_ or _u_) is the -exception; while in Modern English it is the shortened pronunciation -that is normal, the full syllabic form being used only exceptionally as -a poetic licence. - -§ =96.= The first point that requires notice is the treatment of the -unaccented _e_ of words of three and four syllables in Middle English. -The following observations are founded on those of ten Brink, _Chaucer's -Sprache und Verskunst_, § 256. - -1. If each of the two last syllables of a trisyllabic word has -an unaccented _e_, one of them is generally elided or slurred over under -the influence of the rhythmical accent. Thus the past tense singular of -the weak verbs _clepede_, _werede_, _makede_, _lovede_ may be scanned -either _clepte_, _werde_, _made_, _lovde_, or _cleped_, _wered_, -_maked_, _loved_. Just in the same way the plural forms _clepeden_, -_makeden_, &c., may be read either _clepten_, _maden_, &c., or _cleped_, -_maked_, &c.; likewise the plural endings of nouns _faderes_, _hevenes_ -may be pronounced _fadres_, _hevnes_ or _faders_, _hevens_. In Early -Middle English, however, and also in the language of Chaucer, exceptions -to this rule are found, trisyllabic scansion occurring chiefly in the -plur. pret., e.g.: - - _Þatt úre Lóverrd Iésu Chríst, swa þóledé þe déofell._ - Orm. 11822. - - _I dórste swére, they wéyedén ten póunde._ - Chauc. Prol. 454. - - _Yélledén_, id. N. Pr. Tale, 569; _wónedén_, - id. Leg. 712, &c. - -The _e_ following upon an unaccented syllable which is capable of -receiving the accent, whether in a word of Teutonic or Romanic origin, -is commonly mute. E.g. _banere_, _manere_, _lovere_, _ladyes_, -_housbondes_, _thousandes_ are generally to be pronounced in verse (as, -indeed, they were probably pronounced in prose) as, _baner_, _maner_, -_lover_, _ladys_, _housbonds_, _thousands_. But this _e_, on the other -hand, not unfrequently remains syllabic, especially in the _Ormulum_, -where it is dropped only before a vowel or _h_. E.g. _cneolénn -meoklík(e) annd lútenn_ 11392, _meocnéss(e) is þrínne kíness_ 10699, -_Forr án godnéss(e) uss háveþþ dón_ 185. Before a consonant or at the -end of a line, however, it is always sounded: _Ennglísshe ménn to láre_ -279, _God wórd and gód tiþénnde_ 158, _forrþí birrþ áll Cristéne fóllc_ -303. _Goddspélless háll[gh]he láre_ 14, 42, 54, _þa Góddspelléss neh -álle_ 30. Other examples are: _And þó þet wéren gítserés_ Moral Ode, -MS. D. l. 269; _For thóusandés his hóndes máden dýe_ Chauc. Troil. v, -1816; _enlúminéd_ id. A B C 73. - -In words of four syllables a final _e_ which follows upon an unaccented -syllable with a secondary accent may at pleasure either become mute or -be fully pronounced. So words like _óutrydère_, _sóudanèsse_, -_émperòures_, _árgumèntes_ may be read either as three or four -syllables. Examples of _e_ sounded: _Bifórr þe Rómanísshe kíng_ Orm. -6902; _Annd síkerrlíke trówwenn_ ib. 11412; _þurrh háll[gh]he -góddspellwríhhtess_ ib. 160; _Till híse lérninngcníhhtess_ ib. 235; -_Annd þúrrh þin góddcunndnésse_ ib. 11358; _An Gódd all únntod[æ´]ledd_ -ib. 11518; _I glúternésse fállenn_ ib. 11636; _þurrh fl[æ´]shes -únntrummnésse_ ib. 11938; _in stránge ráketé[gh]e_ Moral Ode, 281; _a -thíng(e) unstédeféste_ ib. 319; _bifóre héovenkínge_ ib. 352, &c. -Examples of _e_ mute: _And þá, þe úntreownéss(e) dide þán_ Moral Ode, -267; _þéosternéss(e) and éie_ ib. 279. Orm has it only before vowels or -_h_: _Forr són se glúternéss(e) iss d[æ´]d_ 11663, &c. - -§ =97. Special remarks on individual inflexional endings.= - -_-es_ (gen. sing., nom. plur., and adverbial) is in disyllables (a) as a -rule treated as a full syllable, e.g. _Ac þét we dóþ for gódes lúue_ -Moral Ode 56; _from éuery shíres énde_ Chauc. Prol. 15; _And élles -cértain wére thei to blame_ ib. 375; (b) seldom syncopated or slurred -over, e.g. _Ure álre hláuerd fór his þrélles_ Moral Ode, 189; _He mákede -físses in þére sé_ ib. 83; _I sáugh his sléves purfíled_ Chauc. Prol. -193; _The ármes of dáun Arcíte_ id. Kn. Tale, 2033; _Or élles it wás_ -id. Sq. Tale, 209. - -In trisyllables the reverse is the case; only Orm, who always, as is -well known, carefully counts his syllables, treats the ending as a full -syllable. Otherwise syncopation or slurring over of the last syllable is -the rule in these words: _a sómeres dáy_ Chauc. Sq. Tale, 64; -_Gréyhoundes he hádde_ id. Prol. 190; _hóusbondes át that tóun_ id. Kn. -Tale, 78; _the távernes wél_ id. Prol. 240. - -In Modern English in all these cases elision of the _-e_ is the rule, -those, of course, excepted in which the _-e_ is still sounded at the -present day (after sibilants, dentals, &c.) and which therefore we need -not discuss here. The use of _-es_ as a full syllable is otherwise quite -exceptional, chiefly occurring in the Early Modern English poets, who -use the sounded _e_, occasionally, to gain an unaccented syllable, e.g.: - - _The níghtës cár the stárs abóut doth bríng._ Surrey, p. 15. - - _Sometíme to líve in lóvës blíss._ Wyatt, p. 119. - - _That líke would nót for áll this wórldës wealth._ - Spens. F. Q. I. ix. 31. - - _The héat doth stráight forsáke the límbës cóld_. Wyatt, p. 205. - - _Bé your éyës yét moon-próofe._ Ben Jonson, i. 979. - -The usual sound of these words is _night's_, _love's_, _world's_, -_limbs_, _eyes_, and so in all similar cases. - -The syncopation of the _-e_ in the adverbial _-es_ is indicated, as is -well known, by the spelling, in certain cases: e.g. in _else_, _hence_, -_thence_, whence (instead of the Middle English forms _elles_, _hennes_, -&c.); but even in words where it is preserved in writing, as e.g. in -_whiles_, _unawares_, it has become mute and has, as a rule, no metrical -value in Modern English poetry. The archaic _certes_, however, is still -always treated as a disyllabic, e.g. - - _I wáil, I wáil, and certës that is trúe._ - Mrs. Browning, i, p. 55. - -§ =98.= The ending _-en_ (plur. nom. of nouns; prepositions; infinitive; -strong past part.; plur. pres. and pret. of verbs) is in Middle English -(a) commonly treated as a full syllable during the first period, and -later on mostly, although not always, to avoid hiatus, before vowels and -_h_, e.g. _His éyen stépe_ Chauc. Prol. 201; _Bifórenn Críst allmáhhtig -Gódd_ Orm. 175; _Befóren ánd behýnde_ Alexius, ii. 393; _abóven álle -nációuns_ Chauc. Prol. 53; _þú schalt béren hím þis ríng_ Floris and -Blanch. 547; _Fór to délen with no swích poráille_ Chauc. Prol. 247; -_bifrórenn_ Orm. 13856; _forlórenn_ ib. 1395; _Sche wás arísen ánd al -rédy díght_ Chauc. Kn. T. 183; _Hir hósen wéren óf fyn scárlet reed_ id. -Prol. 456; _For thís ye knówen álso wél as I_ ib. 730; _Swa þátt -te[gh][gh] shúlenn wúrrþen þ[æ´]r_ Orm. 11867; _þatt háffdenn cwémmd -himm í þiss líf_ ib. 210; _Ál þet wé misdíden hére_ Moral Ode, 99; (b) -syncopated or slurred, especially in later times, after the _n_ has been -dropped already in prepositions and verbal inflexions, e.g. _His póre -féren he delde_ Alexius, ii. 210; _Hálles and bóures_, _óxen and plóugh_ -ib. 12; _Bifórr þe Rómanísshe kíng_ (instead of _biforenn_) Orm. 6902; -_Hastów had fléen al nýght_ Chauc. Manc. Prol. 17; _She bóthe hir yónge -chíldren untó hir cálleþ_ id. Cl. T. 1081; _is bórn: þat wenten hím -bifórn_ id. Man of Lawes T. 995-7; _withínne a lítel whýle_ id. Sq. T. -590; _And únderfóngen his kínedóm_ Flor. and Blanch. 1264; _þei máde -sówen in þát cité_ Alexius, i. 577; _Bíddeþ his mén cómen him nére_ ib. -134; _Hórn_: _i-bórn_ King Horn, 137-8; _forlóren_: _Hórn_ ib. 479-80; -_Was rísen and rómede_ Chauc. Kn. T. 207; _my líef is fáren on lónde_ -id. N. Pr. T. 59; _And fórth we ríden a lítel móre than páas_ id. Prol. -825; _þei drýven him ófte tó skornínge_ Alexius, i. 308; _þei rísen alle -úp with blíþe chére_ ib. 367; _þei cásten upón his cróun_ ib. 312; _And -wíssheden þat hé were déd_ Alexius, ii. 335, &c. - -In Modern English this ending is much more rare, and is hardly ever used -as a full syllable of the verse. The plural ending _-en_ of the -substantive occurs now and then in Wyatt's and Surrey's verse, as e.g. -in _éyen_ instead of _éyes_, both in rhyme, e.g. _éyen_: _míne_ Sur. 14, -and in the interior of the line, ib. 126, 128; Wyatt 8, 17, &c. - -Prepositions ending in _-en_ are scarcely ever used now; sometimes the -archaic _withóuten_ is to be met with in some Early Modern English -poets, and then, of course, as a trisyllable: _withóuten dréad_ Sur. 95; -_withóuten énd_ Spenser, F. Q. II. ix. 58. The obsolete infinitives in -_-en_ may also be found sometimes in the writings of the same and other -early Modern English poets: _in váyn_: _sáyen_ Sur. 31; _his flócke to -víewën wíde_ Spenser, F. Q. I. i. 23; _to kíllën bád_ Shak. Pericles, -II. Prol. 20. Likewise certain antiquated plural forms of the verb in -_-en_: _dischárgën cléan_ Sur. 30; _fen_: _lífedën_ Spenser, F. Q. II. -x. 7; _and wáxën ín their mírth_ Shak. M. N. Dr. II. i. 56. - -It is only the _-en_ of the past participle that is at all often after -certain consonants treated as a full syllable, e.g. _the frózen héart_ -Sur. 1; _gótten out_ ib. 10; _the strícken déer_ ib. 54; _hast táken -páin_ Wyatt, 99. Here the full forms are preserved in the ordinary -language. It is only exceptionally that participles that have undergone -shortening, as _come_, reassume their _n_ and regain an extra syllable, -e.g. _tíll he cómën háth_ West (Poets, ix. 484). Contracted forms like -_grown_, _known_, _drawn_, always remain monosyllabic, even in verse, -and words like _fallen_, _swollen_, which are normally disyllabic, are -often contracted in poetry: as _grown_ Sur. 13; _known_ ib. 45; _swoln_ -ib. 8; _befallen_ ib. 26; _drawn_ Wyatt, 160. Complete contraction is -effected either by elision of the final consonant of the stem, e.g. -_ta'en_ (instead of _taken_) Sur. 44, or by slurring of the ending, e.g. -_hath gíven a pláce_ Sur. 108; _is béaten with wínd and stórm_ ib. 157, -&c. - -§ 99. The comparative and superlative endings _-er_, _-est_ are, as a -rule, syllabic. _Hórn is fáirer þáne beo hé_ King Horn, 330; _No lénger -dwélle hý ne mýghte_ Alexius, ii. 85; _But ráther wólde he yéven_ Chauc. -Prol. 487. - -These endings are treated, moreover, as full syllables in the unaccented -rhymes _H[æ´]ngest_: _f[æ´]irest_ Layamon, 13889-90; _H[æ´]ngest_: -_héndest_ ib. 13934-5. If an inflexional _-e_ is added to such words, so -as to make them trisyllables, it is commonly elided or apocopated, e.g. -_Fór he ís the fáireste mán_ Horn, 787; _hire grétteste óoth_ Chauc. -Prol. 120; _The férreste in his párisshe_ ib. 494. Slurring or -syncopation takes place in the following examples, _Sche móst wiþ hím no -lénger abíde_ Sir Orfeo, line 328; _No lénger to héle óf he bráke_ -Alexius, ii. 127; more rarely in the superlative, _Annd állre láttst he -wúndedd wáss_ Orm. 11779, 11797; _Was thóu not fárist of ángels álle?_ -Towneley Myst. p. 4. - -In Modern English these endings are treated similarly. The -comparative-ending _-er_ is mostly syllabic on account of the phonetic -nature of the final _r_, and even if slurred, it does not entirely lose -its syllabic character, e.g.: - - _The nígher my cómfort ís to mé._ Surrey, p. 37. - - _Or dó him míghtier sérvice ás his thrálls._ - Milton, Par. L. i. 149. - -The ending of the superlative _-est_, too, is commonly syllabic, e.g. - - _In lóngest níght, or ín the shórtest dáy._ Surrey, p. 16. - - _Now léss than smállest dwárfs, in nárrow róom._ - Milton, P. L. i. 779. - -Nevertheless many examples of syncopation are found, chiefly in the -writings of the Early Modern English poets: e.g. _the méekest of mínd_ -Sur. 77; _the swéet'st compánions_ Shak. Cymb. V. v. 349; _the stérn'st -good níght_ id. Macb. II. ii. 4. Such forms are often used by Ben -Jonson. - -§ =100.= The ending _-est_ (2nd pers. pres. sing. ind. and pret. sing. -of weak verbs) is in Middle English generally syllabic: _Annd -sé[gh][gh]est swíllc annd swíllc was þú_ Orm. 1512; _Annd [gh]íff þu -fé[gh]esst þréo wiþ þréo, þa fíndesst tú þær séxe_ id. 11523-4; _That -bróughtest Tróye_ Chauc. N. Pr. T. 408; _Thow wálkest nów_ id. Kn. T.; -_þat gód þat þóu þénkest do mé_ Alexius, ii. 304; _Hou mý[gh]test þóu -þus lónge wóne_ Alexius, i. 445; _And wóldest névere ben aknówe_ ib. -461. - -Frequently, however, syncopation or slurring also occurs: _[gh]iff þú -se[gh][gh]st tátt tu lúfesst Gódd_ Orm. 5188; _Þu wénest þat éch song -béo grislích_ Owl and Night. 315; _Þu schríchest and [gh]óllest to þíne -fére_ ib. 223; _Thou knówest him well_ Chauc. Blaunche, 137; _Trówest -thou? by our Lórd, I wíll thee sáy_ ib. 551; _þou mý[gh]test have bén a -grét lordíng_ Alexius, i. 511. - -In Modern English syncopation is extremely common, e.g. _Now knówest -thou áll_ Sur. 27; _That mákest but gáme_ Wyatt, 30, &c.; but the full -syllabic pronunciation (in accordance with the modern prose usage) is -also frequent, both in the poetry of the sixteenth century, e.g. _What -frámëst thóu_ Sur. 158; _And lóokëst tó commánd_ Shak. H. VI. I. i. 38; -and in that of recent times, e.g.: - - _Súch as thou stándëst, pále in thé drear líght_. - Mrs. Browning, i. 4. - - _Wan Scúlptor, wéepëst thóu to táke the cást?_ - Tennyson, Early Sonn. 9. - -§ =101.= The ending _-eth_, in the North _-es_, _-is_ (3rd pers. sing. -pres., plur. pres., and 3rd pers. sing. imperative), is in most cases -syllabic in Middle English, especially before the fifteenth century; -e.g. _It túrrneþþ hémm till sínne_ Orm. 150; _þat spékeþþ óff þe -déofell_ ib. 11944; _þat [æ´]fre annd [æ´]fre stándeþþ ínn_ ib. 2617; -_þánne hi cumeþ éft_ Moral Ode, 236; _Hi wálkeþ éure_ ib. 239; _So -príkeþ hem natúre_ Chauc. Prol. 11; _Cómeþ álle nów to mé_ Alexius, ii. -337; _Ánd a-fóngeþ [gh]óure méde_ ib. 375. - -But already in the earlier portion of this epoch of the language -slurring or syncopation is often to be met with, and it became gradually -more and more frequent. _Boc sé[gh][gh]þ þe bírrþ wel [gh]émenn þé_ Orm. -11373, 11981; _Annd á[gh][gh] afftérr þe góddspell stánnt_ ib. 33; _And -thínkeþ, here cómeþ my mórtel énemý_ Chauc. Kn. T. 785; _Comeþ nér, -quoth hé_ id. Prol. 839; _þat háveþ traváille_ Alexius, i. 350; _Thai -háldis this lánd agáyne resóune_ Barbour's Bruce, i. 488. - -In Modern English the endings _-eth_ and _-es_ (_'s_) were at first used -promiscuously; later _-eth_ is employed, if a full syllable is required, -_-es_ (_'s_) if syncopation is intended; but this rule is not strictly -observed. - -The dropping of _e_ on the whole is the more usual: e.g. _begins_ Sur. -1; _seems_ ib. 2; _learns_ Wyatt, 1; also if written _-eth_: _On hím -that lóveth not mé_ Wyatt, 57; _that séeth the héavens_ Sur. 2. -Treatment as a full syllable is less usual: _But áll too láte Love -léarnëth mé_ Sur. 5; _Lóve that lívëth and réignëth ín my thóught_ Sur. -12. Shakespeare and his contemporaries still use it somewhat frequently -(cf. Hertzberg in _Shakspeare-Jahrb._ xiii, pp. 255-7), and occasional -instances are found even in later poets, as for instance in Keats, who -rhymes: _death: ouershádowéth_, p. 336; Chr. Rossetti, _déath: -fashionéth_ p. 28, ii. ll. 5-6. - -§ =102.= The ending _-ed_, in the North _-id_, _-it_ (past part. of weak -verbs), is, as a rule, syllabic in Middle English: e.g. _Min Dríhhtin -háfeþþ lénedd_ Orm. 16; _Annd ícc itt háfe fórþedd té_ ib. 25; _Annd -t[æ´]rfore háfe icc túrrnedd ítt_ ib. 129; _ipróved ófte síthes_ Chauc. -Prol. 485; _hadde swówned wíth a dédly chére_ ib. Kn. T. 55; _Nóu is -Álex dwélled þóre_ Alexius, i. 121; _Lóverd, iþánked bé þou áy_ ib. 157; -_A wéile gret quhíle thar duellyt hé_ Barbour, Bruce, i. 359. - -But slurring and syncopation likewise are of frequent occurrence: _þatt -háffdenn cwémmd himm í þiss líf_ ib. 211; _þet scúlle béo to déþe idémd_ -Moral Ode, 106; _His lónge héer was kémbd behýnde his bák_ Chauc. Kn. T. -1285; _Fulfíld of íre_ ib. 82; especially in words with the accent on -the antepenultima, e.g. _Ybúried nór ibrént_ ib. 88; _and hán hem -cáried sófte_ ib. 153; _And ben yhónowrid ás a kýng_ Alexius, i. 5, 12 -(MS. N). - -In this ending, too, syncopation (_-ed_, _'d_, _t_) is the rule already -in the earliest Modern English poets: _offer'd_ Sur. 6; _transgrést_ ib. -11; _that prómised wás to thée_ ib. 35. The use of it as a full -syllable, however, is very frequently to be met with, chiefly in -participles used as adjectives: _the párchëd gréen restórëd ís with -sháde_ Sur. 1; _by wéll assúrëd móan_ Wyatt, 4; _but ármëd síghs_ ib. 4; -_false féignëd gráce_ ib. 4. The dramatists of the Elizabethan time (cf. -_Engl. Metrik_, ii. 336) similarly often use the full ending; and even -in modern poets it is not uncommon: _where wé've involvëd óthers_ Burns, -Remorse, l. 11 ; _The chármëd God begán_ Keats, Lamia, p. 185, &c. - -§ =103.= The ending _-ed_ (_-od_, _-ud_) of the 1st and 3rd pers. sing. -pret. and the whole plur. pret. of weak verbs, which is shortened from -_-ede_, _-ode_, _-ude_, _-eden_, _-oden_, _-uden_ (cf. § 96), is in -Middle English usually syllabic: e.g. _Mést al þét me líked(e) þó_ -Moral Ode, 7 ; _Oure lóverd þát al máked(e) iwís_ Pop. Science, 2; _He -énded(e) and cléped(e) yt Léicestre_ Rob. of Glouc., p. 29; _The fáder -hem lóued(e) álle ynó[gh]_ ib.; _Híre overlíppe wýpud(e) sché so cléne_ -Chauc. Prol. 107; _An óutridére þat lóved(e) vénerýe_ ib. 165; _Ne máked -hím a spíced cónsciénce_ ib. 526; _þei préced évere nére and nére_ -Alexius, i. 583 (MS. V). - -As several of these examples show, slurring occasionally takes place, so -that the ending forms part of a disyllabic thesis, but real syncopation -never occurs; cf. further: _Ánd asségit it rýgorouslý_ Barbour, Bruce, -i. 88; _and évere I hóped(e) of be to hére_ Alexius, ii. 482. - -With regard to these endings from the beginning of the Modern English -epoch onward syncopation (_[e]d_, _'d_, _t_) is the rule; _defied_ Sur. -10; _sustain'd_ ib. 15; _opprest_ Wyatt, 107. But the full syllable not -infrequently occurs: _I lóokëd báck_ Sur. 4; _I néver próvëd nóne_ -Wyatt, 39. It is characteristic of Spenser's archaistic style, and is -often met with in the Elizabethan dramatists; Shakespeare, however, uses -it much more frequently in his earlier than in his later plays. The more -recent poets admit it in single cases: _said_: _vánishéd_ Keats, Lamia, -p. 202. - -§ =104.= The final _-e_ is treated in Modern English poetry in the same -manner as in Modern High German: it may be either used as a thesis, or -be slurred over, or become quite silent. In Middle English, however, the -treatment of the final _-e_ depends much more on the following word than -on the etymological origin of the _-e_. It becomes mute, of course, -mostly before _h_ or a vowel, but is generally preserved (as a thesis) -or slurred before a consonant. This rule has, however, many exceptions. - -Orm and other poets of the beginning of the thirteenth century give the -final _e_ its full syllabic value in certain classes of words in which -Chaucer[134] in the second half of the fourteenth century generally -slurs it. - -These words are the pronouns _hire_, _oure_, _[gh]oure_, _here_, _myne_, -_thyne_ (also spelled without _e_), if they do not stand in rhyme; the -plural forms _thise_, _some_, _swiche_, _whiche_; the past part. of -strong verbs with an originally short root, the inflexional _n_ being -apocopated, e.g. _come_, _write_, _stole_; the 2nd pers. sing. of the -strong pret., e.g. _bare_, _tooke_, except such words as _songe_, -_founde_, and others of the same group; the preterites _were_ and -_made_; the nouns _sone_, _wone_; the French words in _-ye_, _-aye_, -_-eye_, and, finally, the words _before_, _tofore_, _there_, _heere_. - -In most of these cases it is easy enough to give examples of the -syllabic use of the _-e_, both from the earliest and from later poets: -_Off úre sáwless néde_ Orm. 11402; _þatt úre Láferrd Iésu Críst_ ib. -11403, 11803, &c.; _[gh]érne hy þónkede óure dríghte_ Alexius, ii. 35; -_Annd [gh]úre sáwless fóde íss éc_ Orm. 11691, &c.; _þatt [gh]úre -préostess háll[gh]henn_ ib. 11694; _Till híse déore þéowwess_ ib. 11556; -_Att álle þíne néde_ ib. 11366, 11914, &c.; Owl and Nightingale, 220, -221, &c.; _Cástel gód an míne ríse_ ib. 175, 282; _Forgíve hémm hére -sínne_ Orm. 86; _Annd wílle iss híre þrídde máhht_ ib. 11509; _For híre -héorte wás so grét_ Owl and N. 43, 44, &c.; _At súme síþe hérde ich -télle_ ib. 293; _þése wíkkede fóde_ ib. 333; _And máde mé wíþ him ríde_ -Sir Orfeo, 153. &c. - -All these words may, however, also be found with slurring or syncopation -of the _e_, even in Early Middle English: _Annd þéowwtenn wél wiþþ áll -þin máhht_ Orm. 11393; _þa w[æ´]re he þ[æ´]r bik[æ´]chedd_ ib. 11628; -_Annd súme itt áll forrwérrþenn_ ib. 11512; _Min héorte atflíhþ and fált -mi túnge_ Owl and N. 37; _þár þe úle sóng hir tíde_ ib. 26, 441; _þat -ich schúlle tó hire fléo_ ib. 442; _he wére ischóte_ ib. 23, 53, &c. In -later Middle English this is more common: _An ýmage óf hire sóne_ -Alexius i. 105; _þeróf to gód þei máde here móne_ ib. 32; _Sómme þat óf -þe ínne wére_ Alexius ii. 325; _Fáste þey wére ysóught þoróugh_ ib. 14; -_And lóke síre at [gh]óure pilgríme_ ib. 394; _And thére our óst bigán_ -Chauc. Prol. 827; _Entúned ín hire nóse_ ib. 123; _Nought gréveth ús -youre glórie ánd honóur_ id. Kn. T. 59; _þúrgh yóure géntilnésse_ ib. -62; _ánd hire fálse whéel_ ib. 67; _And pílgryms wére they álle_ Chauc. -Prol. 26, 59; _At níght was cóme intó that hóstelríe_ ib. 23; _With hím -ther wás his sóne, a yóung squyér_ ib. 79; _In mótteléye and hígh_ ib. -271; _cómpanýe in yóuthe_ ib. 461; _no vílanýe is ít_ ib. 740, &c. - -§ =105.= The following examples serve to show the arbitrary use of the -final _-e_ in other words, either (_a_) syllabic, or (_b_) slurred or -syncopated. - -=1. Infinitive=, (a) _And stónde úpe gódes knýght_ Alexius ii. 269; _to -télle yów áll the condícióun_ Chauc. Prol. 38. (b) _to táke our wéy_ ib. -34; _Mén mote [gh]eve sílver_ ib. 232. - -=2. Past part.= of strong verbs, (a) _ydráwe né ybóre_ Sq. T. 336; _þó -þe chíld ybóre wás_ Alexius ii. 37; (b) _Ybóre he wás in Róme_ ib. 6; -_Though hé were cóme agáin_ Chauc. Sq. T. 96; _ycóme from hís viáge_ id. -Prol. 77, &c. - -=3.= Various =inflexional endings of the verb=, (a) _þát ich réde wé -begínne_ Cant. Creat. E. 225; _And yét I hópe, pár ma fáy_ Chauc. Sir -Thopas l. 2010; _and máde fórward_ id. Prol. 33; _and wénte fór to dóon_ -ib. 78; _yet hádde hé but lítel góld in cóffre_ ib. 298; _And séyde tó -her þús_ Alexius i. 69; _gládly wólde préche_ Chauc. Prol. 480. (b) -_devóutly wólde he téche_ ib. 481; _I trówe ther nówher nón is_ ib. 524; -_I trówe some mén_ id. Sq. T. 213; _So hádde I spóken_ id. Prol. 31; -_hádde he bé_ ib. 60; _if thát sche sáwe a móus_ ib. 144; _chíldren -betwéen them hédde þei nóne_ Alexius i. 31; _Bote méte fóunde þe[gh] nón -saundóute_ Cant. Creat. O. 62. - -=4. Inflexional endings of Germanic substantives=, (a) _His nékke whít_ -Chauc. Prol. 238; _Of wóodecráft_ ib. 210; _whán the sónne wás to réste_ -ib. 30; _a spánne bróod_ ib. 155; _At méte wél itáught_ ib. 127; _Ne óf -his spéche dáungeróus_ ib. 517; _As wéll in spéche ás in cóntenánce_ -id. Sq. T. 93; _of sínne léche_ Alexius i. 59; _He [gh]éde tó a -chírche-héi_ ib. 97; _ál for lóve míne_ Alexius ii. 87; _of héwe bríght_ -ib. 100; _while gód in érþe máde mán_ Cant. Creat. E. 26. (b) _Tróuthe -and honóur_ Chauc. Prol. 46; _Thát no drópe ne fílle_ ib. 131; _In hópe -to stónden_ ib. 88; _And bý his sýde a swérd_ ib. 112; _tó the pýne of -hélle_ Cant. Creat. O. 240; _þurch príde þat ín his wórd was lí[gh]t_ -ib. E. 14. - -=5. Romanic substantives=, (a) _átte síege hádde he bé_ Chauc. Prol. -56; _ín hire sáuce dépe_ ib. 129; _Is sígne thát a mán_ ib. 226. (b) -_And báthed éuery véyne in swích licóur_ ib. 3; _of áge he wás_ ib. 81; -_his bénefíce to hýre_ ib. 507. - -=6. Adjectives.= (a) Chiefly after the definite article, pronouns, and -in plural forms: _and ín the Gréte Sée_ Chauc. Prol. 59; _The téndre -cróppes ánd the yónge sónne_ ib. 7; _his hálfe cóurs irónne_ ib. 8; -_wíth his swéete bréethe_ ib. 5; _to séken stráunge strondes_ ib. 13; -_the férste ni[gh]t_ Alexius i. 55; _þat ílke dáy_ ib. 159; _þe déde -córs_ ib. 420; _Póuere mén to clóþe and féde_ ib. 10, 13, 93, &c.; -_cómen of hýe kínne_ Alex. ii. 99; _with mílde stévene_ ib. 72; _annd -álle fúle lússtess_ Orm. 11656. (b) Chiefly after the indefinite -article, but in other cases as well: _Annd álle þe fl[æ´]shess -kággerlé[gh][gh]c_ Orm. 11655; _a fáyr forhéed_ Chauc. Prol. 254; _as ís -a póure scolér_ ib. 260; _as méke as ís a máyde_ ib. 69; _a shéef of -pécock árwes bríght and kéne_ ib. 104. - -=7. Adverbs and prepositions.= (a) _Míldelíche hé him grétte_ Alexius -ii. 296; _Ríght abóute nóne_ ib. 387; _And sófte bróu[gh]te hém obédde_ -ib. 23; _Ful ófte time_ ib. 52; _Ful lúde sóngen_ Chauc. Sq. T. 55; -_Abóute príme_ id. Kn. T. 1331; _abóue érpe_ Cant. Creat. E. 573. (b) -_Fáste þei wére ysóught þorúgh_ Alexius ii. 14; _And éek as lóude as -dóth_ Chauc. Prol. 171; _Ther ís namóre to séyne_ ib. 314; _stílle as -ány stóon_ id. Sq. T. 171; _Abóute this kýng_ id. Kn. T. 1321; _Chíldren -betwéne hem hédde þei nóne_ Alexius i. 31; _wiþýnne a whýle_ Cant. -Creat. O. 29; _[gh]if [gh]ít oure lórd abóue þe ský_ ib. O. 186. - -=8. Numerals.= (a) _she hádde fýve_ Chauc. Prol. 460; _Fúlle séventéne -[gh]ére_ Alexius i. 179, 187, 321; _of fíue þóusende wínter and ón_ -Cant. Creat. E. 462; _nóþer férste tíme ne lást_ ib. O. 356. (b) _and -fíue and twénti wínter and mó_ ib. E. 463; _táken þe ténde part óf þy -gúod_ ib. O. 332; _álle þe béstis_ ib. 173; _For séventene [gh]ér hít is -gán_ Alexius i. 194. - -§ =106.= In poems written in more southern dialects the final _-e_ -retains its syllabic value later than in those of the North, in -agreement with the actual usage of the dialects of these districts. _Sir -Tristrem_ (c. 1300) has still many syllabic _e_'s in thesis; in the -_Cursor Mundi_ (c. 1320) and the _Metrical Homilies_ (c. 1330) they are -not so numerous, and they are still rarer in the poems of Laurence Minot -(c. 1352) and of Thomas of Erceldoune. The editor of the last-mentioned -poet, Prof. Alois Brandl, rejects the syllabic final _-e_ altogether in -opposition to ten Brink and Luick. In Barbour's _Bruce_ (c. 1375) it is -entirely silent.[135] - -But in the later poetry of the North, which was largely under the -influence of southern English models, chiefly of Chaucer, many -inflexional endings, especially various kinds of final _-e_, have a -metrical value. King James I, one of the most eminent Scottish poets, -e.g., is a strict follower of Chaucer in this respect, both in -versification and language.[136] This will be shown by the following -examples: _Myn éyen gán to smért_ stanza 8; _To séken hélp_ 99; _that -néver chánge wóld_ 83; _That féynen óutward_ 136; _That ménen wéle_ 137; -_We wéren áll_ 24; _Lýke to an hérte schápin vérilý_ 48; _Thús sall on -thé my chárge béne iláid_ 120; _in lúfe fór a whíle_ 134; _Now, swéte -bírd, say ónes tó me pépe, I dée for wó; me thínk thou gýnnis slépe_ 57; -_And ón the smále gréne twístis sát_ 33; _Withín a chámber, lárge, równ, -and fáire_ 77. - -Other Scottish poets, like Dunbar, use the final _e_ in the same way, -but much more sparingly: _Amáng the gréne ríspis ánd the rédis_ Terge -56; _And gréne lévis dóing of déw doun fléit_ Thrissil and Rois 49; -_scho sénd the swífte Ró_ ib. 78; _when Mérche wés with váriand wíndis -past_ ib. 1. - -Only the inflexional endings of substantives and of verbs are used by -Dunbar somewhat more frequently as full syllables, e.g.: _Had máid the -bírdis to begín thair hóuris_ Thrissil and Rois 5; _of flóuris fórgit -néw_ ib. 18; _the blástis óf his hórne_ ib. 34; _In át the wíndow lúkit -bý the dáy_ ib. 10; _And hálsit mé_ ib. 11; _Bálmit in déw_ ib. 20; _The -pérlit dróppis schúke_ Terge 14. Even Lyndesay still uses certain full -endings now and then in this way: _Éleméntis: intént is_ Monarchie -247-8; _thay cán nocht ús it: abúsit_ Satire 2897-8; _Quhow Í ressávit -cónfort_ Monarchie 132; _Lyke áurient péirles ón the twístis háng_ ib. -136. But the final _-e_ is hardly ever found in his verses forming a -thesis. - -On the other hand some contemporary authors of the South, reckoned as -included in the Modern English period, continue to admit in several -cases the syllabic final _-e_, but this can only be regarded as an -exception. E. g. _The sótë séason, that búd and blóom forth bríngs_ -Surrey, p. 3; _Thát the Gréeks bróught to Tróyë tówn_ ib. 21; _Hersélf -in shádow óf the clósë níght_ ib. 138; _Agáinst the búlwark óf the -fléshë fráil_ Wyatt 207; _But tréated áfter á divérsë fáshion_ ib. 7. - -Spenser does not seem to admit syllabic final _-e_, in spite of his -archaic style. - -§ =107.= Like the inflexional syllables, the suffixes of derivatives may -be treated in a twofold manner. Those of Germanic origin for the most -part call for little remark, as many of them have coalesced with the -root of the word, and others, as e.g. the syllables _-ing_, _-ness_, -_-y_, _-ly_, can, on account of their phonetic character, only be -metrically treated as full syllables. Only a few fluctuate in their -metrical treatment, as e.g. _-en_, _-er_, _-le_, mostly after a -consonant; these will be dealt with in the section on the slurring of -syllables. - -Of much greater importance are the formative endings of Romanic origin, -especially those which begin with an _i_, _e_, or _u_ + a vowel, as -_-iage_, _-ian_, _-iaunt_, _-iance_, _-ience_, _-ient_, _-ier_, _-ioun_, -_-ious_, _-eous_, _-uous_, _-ial_, _-ual_, _-iat_, _-iour_. Such endings -may either have their full value, or be slurred in rhythm, i.e. they may -be treated either as disyllabic or as monosyllabic. - -The full forms do not occur frequently in the interior of the line, but -mostly in the last foot, where the endings bear the last arsis and offer -a convenient rhyme. Hence we conclude, that the slurred pronunciation -(synizesis) had in the later Middle English period already become -general in ordinary speech, although the full value is in rhyme-words -certainly more common: e.g. _viáge: pílgrimáge_ Chaucer, Prol. 77-8; -_langáge: márriáge_ ib. 211-12; _térciáne: báne_ N. Pr. Tale 139-40; -_córdiál: spéciál_ Prol. 443-4; _ethériáll: impériáll_ Lyndesay, -Monarchie 139-40; _curát: licénciát_ Chauc. Prol. 219-20; _láste: -ecclésiáste_ ib. 707-8; _réverénce: cónsciénce_ ib. 225-6; _offénce: -páciénce_ Kn. T. 225-6; _dísposícióun: cónstellációun_ ib. 229-30; -_prisóun: compássióun_ ib. 251-2; _áscendént: páciént_ Prol. 117-18; -_obédiént: assént_ ib. 851-2; _óriént: résplendént_ Lyndesay, -Monarchie 140-2; _glorióus: précióus_ ib. 28-32, 44-5, 48-52, 75-9, -151-2, &c.; _ymágynációun: impréssióun: illusióun_ James I, Kingis -Quair, st. 12; _nációun: mýlióun: méncióun_ ib. st. 78. Slurred -endings: _Ful wél bilóved and fámuliér was hé_ Chauc. Prol. 215; _And -spéciallý_ ib. 15; _a cúrious pýn_ ib. 196; _Perpétuellý, not ónly fór -a yéer_ Kn. T. 600; _Suspécious wás the_ Clerk's T. 540; _This sérgeant -cám_ ib. 575, 582, &c. - -Later on slurring becomes more frequent, mainly in the North, e.g. in -Dunbar's poems: _with váriand wíndis pást_ Thrissil and Rois 1; _wíth -ane órient blást_, ib. 3; _So bústeous ár the blástis_ ib. 35; _ane -ínhibítioun tháir_ ib. 64 (but _condítióun: renówn: fassóun_ 79-82); _A -rádius crówn_ ib. 132; Lyndesay, Monarchie: _On sénsuall Lúste_ 9; _Lyke -áurient péirles_ 136; _and búrial bémes_ 142; _his régioun áuroráll_ -148; _Quhilk sítuate ár_ 166; _melódious ármonýe_ 195; _off thát -mellífluous, fámous_ 232; _And síc vaine súperstítioun tó refúse_ 242; -_The quhílk gaif sápience_ 249. - -In the Modern English period of the language slurring of such syllables -is the rule, in conformity with the actual pronunciation in prose, -contrary to the usage of Chaucer and other Early Middle English poets. -Only exceptionally the unshortened use obtains chiefly in earlier Modern -English, as the following examples show: - - _To wóe a máid in wáy of márriáge._ - Shakesp. Merch. II. ix. 13. - - _My búsiness cánnot bróok this dálliánce._ id. Err. IV. i. 59. - - _Becáme the áccents óf the váliánt._ id. 2 Henry IV, II. iii. 25. - - _And yét 'tis álmost 'gáinst my cónsciénce._ id. Haml. v. ii. 307. - - _I dó volítient, nót obédiént._ Mrs. Browning, i, p. 6. - - _The véry chúrches are fúll of sóldiers._ - Coleridge, Piccolomini. i. sc. 1. - - _And áfter hárd condítións of péace._ Surrey, p. 173. - - _Áll the sad spáces óf oblívión._ Keats, p. 257. - - _But Brútus sáys he wás ambítióus._ - Shakesp. Caesar, III. ii. 91. - - _And lóoking róund I sáw, as úsuál._ D. G. Rossetti, i. p. 64. - -For other examples cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 40. - -§ =108.= By the side of this artificial attribution of full syllabic -value to Romanic endings which in ordinary pronunciation are contracted, -there are many examples of the opposite process, namely the contraction, -for metrical purposes, of words that are ordinarily pronounced in full. -Both these devices serve the same purpose, that of adjusting the number -of syllables to the requirements of the rhythm. - -In the former case a syllable which commonly is pronounced quickly and -indistinctly is uttered more distinctly and more slowly than in ordinary -speech. In the latter, a couple of successive syllables or words are -uttered more indistinctly and quickly than in ordinary speech, -frequently so much so that a syllable may be entirely suppressed. Hence -the slurring of syllables results, according to the degree of -contraction, either in a disyllabic thesis, or in the complete -coalescence of two syllables. The former takes place if the final -unaccented vowel of a polysyllable is run into the following unaccented -word consisting of, or beginning with, a vowel, e.g.: - - _For mány a mán | so hárd is óf his hérte._ Chauc. Prol. 229. - - _Nowhér so bísy a mán | as hé ther nás._ ib. 321. - - _Wél coude she cárie a mórsel | ánd wel képe._ ib. 130. - - _With múchel glórie | and grét solémpnitée._ id. Kn. T. 12. - - _Oh! háppy are théy | that háve forgíveness gótt._ - Wyatt 211. - - _My kíng, my cóuntry I séek, | for whóm I líve._ - ib. 173. - - _Sórry am Í | to héar what Í have héard._ - Shakesp. 2 Henry VI, II. i. 193. - -In cases like these it cannot be supposed that there is actual elision -of a syllable, by which _many a_, _busy a_, _carie a_, _glorie and_, -_happy are_, _country I_, _sorry am_, would be reduced to regular -disyllabic feet. In several of the instances such an assumption is -forbidden not only by the indistinctness of pronunciation which it would -involve, but also by the caesura. - -Further, we find both in Middle and in Modern English poetry many -examples of similar sequences in which there is neither elision nor -slurring, the syllable ending with a vowel forming the thesis, and the -following syllable beginning with a vowel forming the arsis. Hiatus of -this kind has always been perfectly admissible in English verse. - - _And yít he wás but ésy óf dispénse._ Chaucer, Prol. 441. - - _Mówbray's síns so héavy ín his bósom._ - Shakesp. Rich. II, I. ii. 50. - -§ =109.= The second possibility, viz. complete amalgamation of two -syllables, may occur if a word with an initial vowel or _h_ is preceded -by a monosyllabic word, standing in thesis, e.g. _th'estat_, _th'array_ -Chauc. Prol. 716; _th'ascendent_ ib. 117; _t'allege_ (_to allege_) Kn. -T. 2142; _nys_ (_ne ys_) ib. 43. Even in Modern English poetry such -contractions occur rather frequently: _Th'altar_ Sur. 118; _t'assay_ -Wyatt 157; _N'other_ ib. 21; often also the words are written in full, -although the first vowel is metrically slurred or elided: _the<->ónly -darling_ Shakesp. All's Well, II. i. 110. Yet in all such cases the -entire loss of the syllable must not be assumed unless the distinctness -of the pronunciation--which must be the only guide in such matters, not -the silent reading with the eyes--be sufficiently preserved.[137] - -Accordingly words like _the_, _to_ are not so often contracted with the -following word, as _ne_, the amalgamation of which, with the verb to -which it belongs, is in accordance with normal Middle English usage: -_nas_ = _ne was_, _nil_ = _ne wil_, _nolde_ = _ne wolde_, _noot_ = _ne -woot_, _niste_ = _ne wiste_, e.g.: - - _There nas no dore that he nolde heve of harre._ - Chauc. Prol. 550. - -Neither in Middle English nor in Modern English poetry, however, is -there any compulsion to use such contractions for the purpose of -avoiding the _hiatus_, which never was prohibited. They merely serve the -momentary need of the poet. Forms like _min_ and _thin_, it is true, are -regularly used by Middle English poets before vowels, and _my_ and _thy_ -before consonants, and Chaucer applies--according to ten Brink--_from_, -_oon_, _noon_, _an_, _-lych_, _-lyche_ before vowels, and _fro_, _a_, -_o_, _no_, _-ly_ before consonants. But many examples of epic caesura -show that ten Brink goes too far in maintaining that hiatus was strictly -avoided, e.g.: _Whan théy were wónnë; | and ín the Gréete sée_ Prol. -59. This is still more clearly shown by verses in which the final _-e_ -forms a necessary thesis before a vowel, e.g.: - - _Fro the senténcë | óf this trétis lýte._ - Sir Thopas 2153. - - _Than hád yóur tálë | ál be tóld in váyn._ - N. Pr. Prol. 3983. - -§ =110.= Slurring or contraction is still more frequently the result of -indistinct pronunciation or entire elision of a vowel in the interior of -a word. This is especially the case with e (or another vowel) in the -sequence: conson. + _e_ + _r_ + vowel or _h_, where _e_ is slurred over -or syncopated: e.g. _And báthed év(e)ry véin_ Chauc. Prol. 3; _Thy -sóv(e)rein témple wól I móst honóuren_ Kn. T. 1549; and _év(e)ry trée_ -Sur. 9; _the bóist(e)rous wínds_ Sur. 21; _if ám(o)rous fáith_ Wyatt 15; -_a dáng(e)rous cáse_ Sur. 4, &c. The full pronunciation is, of course, -here also possible: _and dángeróus distréss_ Sur. 150. Slurring of a -vowel is also caused by this combination of sounds formed by two -successive words: _a bétre envýned mán_ Chauc. Prol. 342; _Forgétter of -páin_ Wyatt 33. Other words of the same kind are _adder_, _after_, -_anger_, _beggar_, _chamber_, _silver_, _water_, &c.[138] The same rule -applies to the group _e_ + _l_ + vowel or _h_ (also _l_ + _e_ + vowel or -_h_): _hire wýmpel<->ipynched was_ Chauc. Prol. 151; _At mány a -nóble<->arríve_ ib. 60; _nóble<->and hígh_ Wyatt 55; _the néedle his -fínger prícks_ Shak. Lucrece 319. - -If a consonant takes the place of the vowel or _h_ at the end of such a -group of sounds, we have a disyllabic thesis instead of slurring: _With -hórrible féar as óne that gréatly dréadeth_ Wyatt 149; _The cómmon -péople by númbers swárm to ús_ Shak. 3 Hen. VI, IV. ii. 2. Similar -slurrings are to be found--although more seldom and mainly in Modern -English poetry--with other groups of sounds, e.g.: _én'mies sword_ Sur. -137; _théat'ner_ ib. 162; _prís'ners_ ib. 12. The vowel _i_, also, is -sometimes slurred; _Incónt(i)nent_ Wyatt, 110; _dést(i)ny_ ib. 8, &c. In -all these cases we must of course recognize only slurring, not -syncopation of the vowel; and in general these words are used with their -full syllabic value in the rhythm of a verse. - -Another kind of slurring--occurring almost exclusively in Modern English -poetry--is effected by contraction of a short vowel with a preceding -long one, so that a disyllabic word becomes monosyllabic, e.g., -_flower_, _lower_, _power_, _tower_, _coward_, _prayer_, _jewel_, -_cruel_, _doing_, _going_, _being_, _seeing_, _dying_, _playing_, -_praying_, _knowing_, &c.: _Whose pówer divíne_ Sur. 118; _prayer: -prayr_ Wyatt 26; _His crúel despíte_ Sur. 7. - -All these words are, of course, not less frequently used as disyllables -sometimes even when their usual pronunciation is monosyllabic, e.g.: - - _How óft have Í, my déar and crúël foe._ Wyatt 14. - - _I'll práy a thóusand práyërs fór thy death._ - Shak. Meas. III. i. 146. - - _There ís no pówer ín the tóngue of mán._ id. Merch. IV. i. 241. - -§ =111.= Other groups of sounds which allow slurring are: vowel + _r_ + -vowel, where the second vowel may be slurred, e.g., _spirit_, _alarum_, -_warrant_, _nourish_, _flourish_, &c.; _My fáther's spírit in árms!_ -Shak. Haml. I. ii. 255; _flóurishing péopled tówns_ id. Gentl. V. iv. 3; -_I wárrant, it wíll_ id. Haml. I. ii. 243. In the group vowel + _v_ + -_e(i)_+cons. the _v_ is slurred, if a consonant appears as the initial -sound of the following word, and _e(i)_ if the following word begins -with a vowel. Such words are: _heaven_, _seven_, _eleven_, _devil_, -_even_, _ever_, _never_, &c.; e.g., _and é'en the whóle_ Wyatt 80; _had -néver his fíll_ id. 108; _disdáin they né'er so múch_ Shak. 1 Hen. VI, -V. iii. 98; _and drível on péarls_ Wyatt 195. These words have, of -course, not less frequently their full syllabic value: _Of Héaven -gátes_ Wyatt 222; _Then sét this drível óut of dóor_ Sur. 79. Also _th_ -between vowels may be subjected to slurring, as in _whether_, _whither_, -_hither_, _thither_, _either_, _neither_, _rather_, _further_, &c.; -e.g., _go ásk him whíther he góes_ Shak. 1 Hen. VI, II. iii. 28; _Good -Sír, say whéther you'll ánswer mé or nót_, id. Caes. V. iv. 30; _Whether -óught to ús unknówn_ id. Haml. II. ii. 17. - -When a syllabic inflexional ending forms one thesis with a following -syllable, as in _The ímages of revólt_ Shak. Lear, II. iv. 91; _I hád -not quóted him_ id. Haml. II. i. 112, &c., it is preferable to assume a -disyllabic thesis rather than a slurring. Sometimes, however, the _-ed_ -of past participles (rarely of preterites) of verbs ending in _t_ is -actually cut off, as _torment_ instead of _tormented_ Wyatt 137; -_deject_ instead of _dejected_ Shak. Haml. III. i. 163. - -Contractions of another kind--partly to be explained by negligent -colloquial pronunciation--are: _ta'en_ (=_taken_) Wyatt 182; _I'll_ (=_I -will_) Shak. Tempest, II. ii. 419; _carry 'em_ (=_carry them_) id. 2 -Hen. VI, I. iv. 76, &c.; _Ma(d)am_ id. Gent. II. i. 6; _in's_ (=_in -his_), _doff_ (=_do off_), _dout_ (=_do out_), _o' the_ (=_of the_), -_w'us_ (=_with us_), _let's_ (=_let us_), _thou'rt_ (=_thou art_), &c., -&c. - -Finally, we have to mention the apocopation, for metrical reasons, of -unaccented prefixes, as _'bove_ (_above_), _'cause_ (_because_), -_'longs_ (_belongs_), &c., which on the whole cannot easily be -misunderstood.[139] - -§ =112=. A contrast to these various forms of shortening is presented by -the =lengthening= of words for metrical purposes, which we have already -in part discussed in the preceding chapter (see for examples § 87). -Disyllabic words are made trisyllabic by inserting an _e_ (or rarely -_i_) between mute and liquid, e.g., _wond_(_e_)_rous_, _pilg_(_e_)_rim_, -_count_(_e_)_ry_, _breth_(_e_)_ren_, _ent_(_e_)_rance_, _child(e)ren_, -_Eng_(_e_)_land_, _troub_(_e_)_lous_, _light_(_e_)_ning_, -_short_(_e_)_ly_, _jugg_(_e_)_ler_, &c.[140] - -Among the monosyllabic words or accented endings of words which admit of -a disyllabic pronunciation for the sake of metre we have mainly to -consider such as have a diphthong in their root, as _our_, _sour_, -_devour_, _hour_, _desire_, _fire_, _ire_, _sire_, _hire_, _squire_, -_inquire_, &c., or such as approach diphthongal pronunciation and -therefore admit of being treated as disyllables, e.g., _dear_, _fear_, -_hear_, _near_, _tear_, _clear_, _year_. The disyllabic use of words of -the latter class is very rare, though a striking example is afforded by -the rhyme _see her: clear_ Mrs. Browning, iii, p. 57. Some other words, -phonetically analogous to these, but popularly apprehended as containing -a simple long vowel, as _fair_, _fare_, _are_, _here_, _there_, _rare_, -_sphere_, _were_, _more_, _door_, _your_, are added to the list by -Abbott, but with doubtful correctness (cf. _Metrik_, ii. 115-17). - - -NOTES: - - [133] In the reading of the Bible and Liturgy the older syllabic - pronunciation of certain endings is still common, and it is - occasionally heard in sermons, where a more elevated and - poetical kind of diction is admissible than would be used in - secular oratory. - - [134] See ten Brink, _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, § 260. - - [135] Cf. Luick, _Anglia_, xi. 591-2. - - [136] Cf. King James I, _The Kingis Quair_, ed. by W. W. Skeat, - 1883-4. - - [137] Cf. _Metrik_, ii. 101-3 _note_. - - [138] Cf. Ellis, _E. E. Pr._, i. 367-8. - - [139] A long list of the words so treated is to be found in Abbott, - _Shakespearian Grammar_, § 460. - - [140] Cf. Abbott, § 477; Ellis, _E. E. Pr._, iii. 951-2; _Metrik_, - ii, 117-18. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -WORD-ACCENT - - -§ =113.= In discussing the English Word-accent and its relationship to -rhythmic accent it is necessary to consider the Middle English and the -Modern English periods separately, for two reasons. First, because the -inflexional endings which play an important part in Middle English are -almost entirely lost in Modern English, and secondly, because the -word-accent of the Romanic element of the language differs considerably -in the Middle English period from what it became in Modern English. In -the treatment of each period it will be convenient to separate Germanic -from Romanic words. - - -I. Word-accent in Middle English. - -=A. Germanic words.= The general laws of Germanic accentuation of -words, as existing in Old English, have been mentioned above (cf. §§ 18, -19). The same laws are binding also for Middle English and Modern -English. - -The main law for all accentual versification is this, that verse-accent -must always coincide with word-accent. This holds good for all even-beat -kinds of verse, as well as for the alliterative line. - -The language in all works of the same date and dialect, in whatever -kinds of verse they may be written, must obey the same laws of -accentuation. For this reason the results derived from the relation in -which the word-accent and the metrical value of syllables stand to the -verse-accent, with regard to the general laws of accentuation, and -especially those of inflexional syllables, must be the same for the -language of all even-beat kinds of verse as for that of the contemporary -alliterative line, or the verse of Layamon's _Brut_ and other works -written in a similar form of verse and derived from the ancient native -metre. - -Now, when we wish to ascertain the state of accentuation of forms of -words no longer spoken the evidence supplied by the even-beat rhythms is -especially valuable. This is so, chiefly because it is much more -difficult to make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent in this -kind of rhythm, in which it is essential that accented and unaccented -syllables should alternate continuously, than in the alliterative line, -which allows greater freedom both in the relative position of accented -and unaccented syllables and in the numerical proportion between the -unaccented and the accented syllables. - -In the alliterative line the position of the rhythmic accent depends on -the accent of the words which make up the verse. In the even-beat metres -on the other hand the regular succession of thesis and arsis is the -ruling principle of the versification, on which the rhythmic accent -depends, and it is the poet's task to choose his words according to that -requirement. The difficulties to be surmounted in order to bring the -word-accent into conformity with the verse-accent will frequently drive -the poet using this kind of rhythm to do violence to the accented and, -more frequently still, to the unaccented syllables of the word. He will -be induced either to contract the unaccented syllables with the accented -ones, or to elide the former altogether, or to leave it to the reader to -make the word-accent agree with the verse-accent by making use of level -stress, or by slurring over syllables, or by admitting disyllabic or -even polysyllabic theses in a verse. On the other hand, the poet who -writes in the native alliterative long line or in any of its descendants -is allowed as a rule to use the words required for his verse in their -usual accentuation or syllabic value, or at least in a way approximating -very closely to their ordinary treatment in prose. Hence those -unaccented syllables which, in even-beat rhythms, are found to be -subjected to the same treatment (i.e. to be equally liable to slurring, -elision, syncopation, or apocopation, according to the requirements of -the verse) must be presumed to have been at least approximately equal in -degree of accentual force. - -Now when we examine the relation between word-accent and verse-accent in -certain poetical works of the first half of the thirteenth century, viz. -the _Ormulum_ (which on account of its regularity of rhythm is our best -guide), the _Pater Noster_, the _Moral Ode_, the _Passion_, and other -poems, we arrive at the following results:-- - -§ =114.= The difference in degree of stress among inflexional endings -containing an _e_ (sometimes _i_ or another vowel) which is alleged by -some scholars--viz. that such endings (in disyllabic words) have -secondary stress when the root-syllable is long, and are wholly -unaccented when it is short--has no existence: in both cases the endings -are to be regarded as alike unaccented. For we find that in even-beat -measures (especially in the _Ormulum_) these endings, whether attached -to a long or to a short root-syllable, are treated precisely alike in -the following important respects:-- - -1. Those inflexional endings which normally occur in the thesis, and -which are naturally suited for that position, are found in the arsis -only in an extremely small number of instances, which must undoubtedly -be imputed to lack of skill on the part of the poet, as e.g. in -_hall[gh]hé_ Orm. 70, _nemmnéd_ ib. 75, whereas this is very frequent in -those disyllabic compounds, the second part of which really has a -secondary accent, as e.g. _larspéll_ ib. 51, _mannkínn_ ib. 277. - -2. It is no less remarkable, however, that such syllables as those last -mentioned, which undoubtedly bear a secondary accent, are never used by -Orm to form the catalectic end of the septenary verse, evidently because -they would in consequence of their specially strong accent annul or at -least injure the regular unaccented feminine verse-ending. On the other -hand, inflexional endings and unaccented terminations containing an _e_ -are generally used for that purpose, as on account of their lightness of -sound they do not endanger in any way the feminine ending of the -catalectic section of the verse. In any case, inflexional syllables -following upon long root-syllables cannot have the same degree of -stress, and cannot be used for the same rhythmic functions, as the -end-syllables of disyllabic compounds, which undoubtedly bear a -secondary accent. - -The _regular_ rhythmic employment of the two last-mentioned groups of -syllables proves their characteristic difference of stress--the former -being wholly unaccented, the latter bearing a secondary accent. Further -inquiry into the _irregular_ rhythmic employment of the two similar -classes of inflexional endings, those following upon long -root-syllables, and those following upon short ones, tends to prove no -less precisely that they do not differ in degree of stress, and so that -they are both unaccented. For it is easy to show that with regard to -syncope, apocope, elision, and slurring they are treated quite in the -same way. - -Elision of the final _-e_ before a vowel or an _h_ takes place quite in -the same way in those inflexional syllables following upon long -root-syllables as it does in those less numerous syllables which follow -upon short ones, e.g. _Annd [gh]étt ter tákenn mar[e.] inóh_ Orm. 37; -_Wiþþ áll[e.] swillc rím[e.] alls hér iss sétt_ ib. 101; _For áll þat -[æ´]fr[e.] onn érþ[e.] is néd_ ib. 121; _a wíntr[e.] and éc a lóre_ -Moral Ode 1; _Wel lóng[e.] ic hábbe chíld ibíen_ ib. 3; _Icc háf[e.] itt -dón forrþí þatt áll_ Orm. 115, &c. It is the same with apocopation: -_Forr gluternésse wácneþþ áll Galnésses láþe strénncþe, Annd áll[e.] þe -fl[æ´]shess kággerle[gh][gh]c Annd álle fúle lússtess_ Orm. 11653-6; cf. -also: _þatt hé wass hófenn úpp to kíng_ ib. 8450, and _wass hófenn úpp -to kínge_ ib. 8370; _o fáderr hállf_ ib. 2269, and _o fáderr hállfe_ -2028, &c.; similarly with syncopation, cf. _[gh]iff þú se[gh][gh]st -tátt_ ib. 5188, and _annd sé[gh][gh]est swíllc_ ib. 1512; _þet scúlen -bén to déaþe idémd_ Moral Ode 106; _for bétere is án elmésse bifóren_ -ib. 26, &c.; and again with the slurring of syllables following upon -long as well as upon short root-syllables, as the following examples -occurring in the first acatalectic sections of septenary verse will show -sufficiently: _Ál þet bétste þét we héfden_ Moral Ode 51; _Gódes wísdom -ís wel míchel_ ib. 213, &c. - -Now as a syllable bearing a secondary accent cannot become mute, as an -unaccented syllable does, if required, it is evident that those -inflexional syllables which follow upon long root-syllables and -frequently do become silent cannot bear that secondary accent which has -been ascribed to them by several scholars; on the contrary, all -syllables subject in the same way to elision, apocope, syncope, and -slurring must have the same degree of stress (i.e. they must be alike -unaccented) whether preceded by short or by long root-syllables. - -Other terminations of disyllabic words which, though not inflexional, -consist, like the inflexional endings, of _e_ + consonant, are treated -in the same way, e.g. words like _fader_, _moder_, _finger_, _heven_, -_sadel_, _giver_, &c. Only those inflexional and derivational endings -which are of a somewhat fuller sound, as e.g., _-ing_, _-ling_, _-ung_, -_-and_, _-ish_, and now and then even the comparative and superlative -endings _-er_, _-est_, and the suffixes _-lic_, _-lich_, _-ly_, _-y_, -may be looked upon as bearing a secondary accent, as they may be used at -will either in the arsis of the verse or lowered to the state of -unaccented syllables as the thesis. - -§ =115.= In a trisyllabic simple word the root-syllable, of course, has -the primary accent, and of the two following syllables, that which has -the fuller sound, has the secondary accent, as in _áskedèst_, -_wrítìnge_, _dággère_, _clénnèsse_, _híèste_. If, however, the two last -syllables are equally destitute of word-accent, as e.g. in _clepede_, -_lufede_, they are both metrically unaccented; and, as mentioned before -(cf. § 96), may be shortened either to _lufde_, _clepte_, or to _lufed_, -_cleped_. If they are used, however, as trisyllables in the iambic -rhythm they naturally admit of the metrical accent on the last syllable. - -It is the same with compounds of nouns or adjectives. The first syllable -takes the chief accent, and of the two others that has the secondary -accent which is the root-syllable of the second part of the compound, as -in _fréendshìpe_, _shírrève_, but _wódecràft_, _bóldel[`y]_. - -In verbal compounds the primary accent, in conformity with the Old -English usage, generally rests on the root-syllable of the verb, while -the first and last syllable are mostly unaccented, as e.g. _alihten_, -_bisechen_, _forgiven_, _ibidden_, _ofþunchen_. In denominatives, which -in Old English have the primary accent on the first syllable, as e.g. -_ándswarian_, both kinds of accentuation are allowed: _ánswere_ and -_answére_. - -In disyllabic and trisyllabic compounds of nouns with certain prefixes, -partly accented in Old English, as e.g. _al-_, _un-_, _for-_, _mis-_, -_y-_, _a-_, _bi-_, the primary accent does not rest on these syllables, -but on the second syllable, this being the root-syllable of the word, -e.g. _almíhti_, _forgétful_, _unhéele_, _bihéeste_; the first syllable -in this case bears a secondary accent if it has a determinative -signification, as e.g. _al-_, _mis-_, _un-_, but it is unaccented if it -is indifferent to the meaning, as e.g. _a-_, _y-_, _bi-_. - -§ =116.= A peculiar rhythmical position is held by those words which we -may call parathetic compounds.[141] To these belong certain compound -nouns formed by two words of almost the same weight from a syntactical -and metrical point of view, as e.g. _goodman_, _goodwyf_, _longswerd_, -and also by similar composite particles, as e.g. _elleswhere_, _also_, -_into_, _unto_. Although the regular colloquial pronunciation was -probably in the Middle English period, as it is in Modern English, with -the accent on the first syllable, they may be pronounced with the accent -on the second syllable, or at least with level stress, as e.g. -_g+oo+dm+á+n_, _+a+ls+ó+_, _+i+nt+ó+_, &c. To this class also belong -certain compounds of adverbs with prepositions, as e.g. _herein_, -_therefore_, _thereof_, the only difference being that the usual accent -rests here on the last syllable, but may be placed also on the first, as -in _hereín_ and _hérein_, _thereóf_ and _théreof_, &c. - -§ =117.= These gradations of sound in the different words regulate their -rhythmical treatment in the verse. In disyllabic words as a rule the -syllable with the primary accent is placed in the arsis of the verse, -the other syllable, whether it be an unaccented one, or have a secondary -accent, is placed in the thesis. Such words as those described in the -preceding section may much more easily be used with level stress than -others. In that case the rhythmical accent rests on the syllable which -has the secondary accent, while the syllable which in ordinary speech -has the chief accent is used as a thesis. - -The ordinary as well as the abnormal use of one and the -same word will be illustrated by the following example:-- - - _O mánnkinn swá þatt ítt mannkínn._ Orm. 277. - -With regard to the rhythmical treatment of trisyllables two classes of -such words are to be distinguished, namely, (1) those in which the -syllable bearing the primary accent is followed or (rarely) preceded by -a syllable bearing a secondary accent, as e.g. _gódspèlles_, _énglìshe_, -and (2) those in which the syllable bearing the primary accent is -preceded or followed by a syllable wholly unaccented, as e.g. -_bigínnen_, _òvercóme_, _crístendòm_, _wéathercòck_. In the latter case -level stress is hardly ever met with, as the natural word-accent would -be interfered with to an intolerable extent by accentuations like -_cristéndom_, _weathércock_, _ovércome_, _bíginnén_, _fórgottén_, -_béhavióur_, &c. - -Words like these therefore can in regular iambic or trochaic verse be -used only with their natural accentuation, and hence those syllables -which either have the primary or the secondary accent are always placed -in the arsis, and the unaccented ones in the thesis, e.g.: _To wínnenn -únnder Crísstenndóm_ Orm. Ded. 137; _off þátt itt wáss bigúnnenn_ ib. -88; _Though the séas thréaten, théy are mércifúl_ Shakesp. Temp. V. 178; -_Ónly compóund me wíth forgótten dúst_ id. 2 Hen. IV, IV. v. 116, &c. On -the other hand, when primary and secondary accent occur in two adjacent -syllables level stress is very common, in Middle English, especially -between the first and the second syllable, as _g+o+dspélles háll[gh]he -láre_ Orm. 14, more rarely between the second and the third syllable, as -_þa Góddsp+e+ll+é+ss neh álle_ ib. 30; it also occurs in Chaucer's -poems, as _For thóus+a+nd+é+s his hóndes máden dýe_ Troil. v. 1816; in -the same way Modern English words are treated to fit the rhythm, as e.g. -_mídsùmmer_, _faíntheàrted_, in _Farewéll_, _f+á+int-h+éa+rted ánd -degénerate kíng_ Shak. 3 Hen. VI. I. i. 138; _And górgeous ás the sún at -míds+u+mm+é+r_ 1 Hen. IV, IV. i. 102. With the more recent poets this -latter kind of rhythmical accentuation becomes the more usual of the -two, although the nature and the meaning of the compound word always -play an important part in such cases. - -With regard to their accentuation and metrical employment words of four -syllables also fall into three classes: 1. Inflected forms of words -belonging to the first group of trisyllables, like _crístendómes_, which -can be used in the rhythm of the verse only with their natural -accentuation; 2. words like _fordémde_ (first and last syllable -unaccented, the second syllable having the chief accent) with a -determinative prefix, as e.g. _únfordémde_; these likewise are used in -the rhythm of the verse according to their natural accentuation; 3. -words of the third group with a prefix which either has the secondary -accent, or is unaccented, as _ùnwíslìce_ or _iwítnèsse_; the metrical -usage of these is regulated according to the rules for the trisyllabic -words. The same is to be observed with regard to words of five and six -syllables like _únderstándìnge_, _únimételiche_, which, however, are -only of rare occurrence. - -§ =118. B. Romanic words.= It was not till the thirteenth and fourteenth -centuries that Romanic words passed in considerable numbers into the -English language; and they were then accommodated to the general laws of -accentuation of English. The transition, however, from Romanic to -Germanic accentuation certainly did not take place at once, but -gradually, and earlier in some districts and in some classes of society -than in others; in educated circles undoubtedly later than amongst the -common people. The accentuation of the newly introduced Romanic words -thus being in a vacillating state, we easily see how the poets writing -at that period in foreign even-beat rhythms, of whom Chaucer may serve -as a representative, could use those words with whichever accentuation -best suited their need at the moment, admitting the Romanic accentuation -chiefly in rhymes, where it afforded them great facilities, and the -usual Germanic accentuation mostly in the interior of the line. A few -examples will suffice to illustrate this well-known fact. We arrange -them in five classes according to the number of syllables in the words; -the principles of metrical accentuation not being precisely identical in -the several classes. - -=Disyllabic words.= I. Words whose final syllable is accented in French. -They are used in even-beat rhythms (1) with the original accentuation, -e.g. _prisóun: raunsóun_ Kn. T. 317-18; _pítouslý: mercý_ ib. 91-2; -_pitóus: móus_ Prol. 143-4; (2) with the accent on the first syllable -according to the accentuation which had already become prevalent in -ordinary English speech, e.g. _This prísoun cáusede me_ Kn. T. 237; -_With hérte pítous_ ib. 95; _But wé beséken mércy ánd socóur_ ib. 60. - -II. Words having in French the accent on the first syllable, the last -syllable being unaccented. These words, partly substantives or -adjectives, as _people_, _nombre_, _propre_, partly verbs, as _praye_, -_suffre_, _crie_ (in which case the accentuation of the sing. of the -present tense prevails), are always used in verse with the original -accentuation, the second unaccented syllable either (1) forming a full -thesis of the verse, as in _the péple préseth thíderward_ Kn. T. 1672; -_bý his própre gód_ Prol. 581, or (2) being elided or slurred and -forming only part of the thesis, as in _the nómbre and éek the cáuse_ -ib. 716; _and crýe as hé were wóod_ ib. 636. - -As a rule also the original and usual accent is retained by disyllabic -words containing an unaccented prefix, as in _accord_, _abet_, _desyr_, -_defence_, &c. Only words composed with the prefix _dis-_ occur with -either accentuation, as _díscreet_ and _discréet_. - -§ =119. Trisyllabic words.= I. Words, the last syllable of which in -French has the chief accent, the first having a secondary accent. In -these words the two accents are transposed in English, so that the first -syllable bears the chief accent, the last the secondary accent, and both -of them as a rule receive the rhythmical accent: _émperóur_, _árgumént_. -But if two syllables of such a word form a disyllabic thesis, generally -the last syllable which has the secondary accent is lowered to the -unaccented grade: _árgument_, _émperour_. - -II. Words which in French have the chief accent on the middle syllable, -the last being unaccented. These are sometimes used with the original -accentuation, mostly as feminine rhymes, e.g.: _viságe: uságe_ Prol. -109-10; _chére: manére_ ib. 139-40; _penánce: pitánce_ ib. 233-4; -_poráille: vitáille_ ib. 247-8; _prudénce: senténce_ ib. 305-6; -_offíce: áccomplíce_ Kn. T. 2005-6, &c.; more rarely in the interior of -the verse, where the last syllable may either form a thesis as in _Ál -your plesánce férme and stáble I hólde_ Cl. T. 663, or part of it, being -elided or slurred, as in _The sáme lúst was híre plesánce alsó_ ib. 717. -In other instances, mostly in the interior of the verse, they have the -accent on the first syllable, the last being always elided or slurred: -_And sáugh his vísage was in anóther kýnde_ Kn. T. 543; _He fél in -óffice wíth a chámberléyn_ ib. 561. - -Verbs ending in _-ice_ (_-isse_), _-ishe_, _-ie_, as e.g. _chérisse_, -_púnishe_, _stúdie_, _cárrie_, _tárrie_, nearly always have the accent -on the first syllable, the last syllable being elided or apocopated, -except where it is strengthened by a final consonant, as e.g. -_chérishëd_, _tárriëd_. If the first syllable of a trisyllabic word be -formed by an unaccented particle, the root-syllable of the word, in -this case the middle one, likewise retains the accent, as e.g. in -_despíse_, _remaíne_. - -§ =120. Four-syllable words= of French origin when they are -substantives or adjectives frequently have disyllabic or trisyllabic -suffixes such as: _-age_, _-iage_, _-ian_, _-iant_, _-aunce_, _-iance_, -_-iaunce_, _-ence_, _-ience_, _-ient_, _-ier_, _-ioun_, _-ious_, -_-eous_, _-uous_, _-ial_, _-ual_, _-iat_, _-iour_, _-ure_, _-ie (-ye)_. -As most of these words already have a trochaic or iambic rhythm, they -are used without difficulty in even-beat disyllabic verses, chiefly in -rhymes, and then always with their full syllabic value, as e.g.: -_pílgrimáge: coráge_ Prol. 11-12; _hóstelrýe: cómpanýe_ ib. 23-4; -_resóun: condícióun_ ib. 37-8; _chývalrýe: cúrtesýe_ ib. 45-6; -_chívachíe: Pícardíe_ ib. 185-6; _cónsciénce: réverénce_ ib. 141-2; -_tóun: conféssióun_ ib. 217-18; _curát: licénciát_ 219-20; _góvernáunce: -chévysáunce_ ib. 291-2, &c. In the interior of a verse also the words -not ending in an unaccented _e_ are always metrically treated according -to their full syllabic value, e.g.: _That héeld opínyóun that pléyn -delýt_ Prol. 337; _Of hís compléxióun he wás sangwýn_ ib. 333. In those -words, on the other hand, which end in an unaccented _e_, this vowel is -in the interior of the verse generally elided or apocopated: _no vílanýe -is ít_ ib. 740; _ín that óstelríe alíght_ ib. 720; _So móche of -dáliáunce and fáir langáge_ ib. 211; _And ál was cónsciénce and téndre -hérte_ ib. 150. - -Further shortenings, however, which transform an originally -four-syllable word into a disyllabic one, as in the present -pronunciation of the word _conscience_, do not take lace in Middle -English before the transition to the Modern English period. In -Lyndesay's _Monarchie_ we meet with accentuations of this kind, as e.g.: - - _The quhílk gaif sápience tó king Sálomóne._ 249. - - _Be tháy contént, mak réverence tó the rést._ 36. - -In a similar way adjectives ending in _-able_ and verbs ending in -_-ice_, _-ye_ adapt themselves to the disyllabic rhythm, and likewise -verbs ending in _-ine_ (Old French _-iner_); only it must be noticed -that in the preterite and in the past participle verbs of the latter -class tend to throw the accents on the antepenultimate and last -syllables, e.g. _enlúminéd_, _emprísonéd_. - -=Words of five syllables= almost without exception have an iambic rhythm -of themselves and are used accordingly in even-beat verses, as e.g. -_expériénce_; the same is the case with words which have Germanic -endings, like _-ing_, _-inge_, _-nesse_, e.g. _discónfytýnge_. - -The rhythmic accentuation of foreign proper names both in disyllables -and in polysyllables varies. Thus we may notice the accentuations -_Junó_, _Plató_, _Venús_, and, on the other hand, _Júno_, _Pláto_, -_Vénus_; _Arcíte_, _Athénes_, and _Árcíte_, _Áthenes_; _Antónie_ and -_Ántoníe_. Wherever in such cases level stress may help to smooth the -rhythm it certainly is to be assumed in reading. - - -II. Word-accent in Modern English. - -§ =121.= Modern English accentuation deviates little from that of the -Old English and Middle English; the inflexional endings, however, play a -much less important part; further, in many cases the Romanic -accentuation of Middle English is still in existence, or at least has -influence, in words of French or Latin origin. This is evident from many -deviations in the rhythmic accentuation of such words from the modern -accentuation which we here regard as normal, though it is to be noted -that in the beginning of the Modern English epoch, i.e. in the sixteenth -century, the actual accentuation in many cases was still in conformity -with the earlier conditions. - -Only these real and apparent anomalies are noticed here. We have first -to consider the =Romanic endings= _-ace_, _-age_, _-ail_, _-el_, _-ain_, -_-al_, _-ance_, _-ence_, _-ant_, _-ent_, _-er_, _-ess_ (Old French -_-esse_), _-ice_, _-ile_, _-in_, _-on_, _-or_, _-our_, _-une_, _-ure_, -_-y(e)_ (in disyllabic words). As the final _e_ has become mute, all -these endings are monosyllabic. - -In the works of the earlier Modern English poets some words ending in -these syllables are only exceptionally used with the accent on the last -syllable according to the Old French or Middle English accentuation, the -Modern English accentuation being the usual one; others are employed -more frequently or even exclusively with the earlier accentuation, e.g. -_paláce_ Sur. 174, _bondáge_ Wyatt 224, _traváil_ Sur. 82, Wyatt 19, -_certáin_ ib. 179, _mountáin_ Sur. 37, _chieftáin_ ib. 112, _cristál_ -Wyatt 156, _presénce_ ib. 81, _grievánce_ ib. 55, _penánce_ ib. 209, -_balánce_ ib. 173, _pleasánt_ ib. 130, _tormént_ (subst.) ib. 72, -_fevér_, _fervóur_ ib. 210, _mistréss_ ib. 109, _richés_ ib. 209, -_justíce_ ib. 229, _servíce_ ib. 177, _engíne_ Sur. 130, _seasón_ ib. -149, _honóur_ ib. 166, _armóur_ 148, _colóur_: _therefóre_ Wyatt 6, -_terrór_: _succóur_ ib. 210, &c., _fortúne_: _tune_ ib. 152, Sur. 115, -_measúre_ Wyatt 125, _natúre_: _unsúre_ ib. 144, _glorý_: _mercý_ ib. -208. - -In almost all these cases and in many other words with the same endings -this accentuation seems to be due to the requirements of the rhythm, in -which case level stress must be assumed. - -§ =122.= It is the same with many other disyllabic words, especially -those both syllables of which are almost of equal sound-value and degree -of stress, as in cases in which two different meanings of one and the -same word are indicated by different accentuation, a distinction not -unfrequently neglected in the metrical treatment of these words. - -So the following adjectives and participles are used by Shakespeare and -other poets with variable accentuation: _complete_, _adverse_, _benign_, -_contrived_, _corrupt_, _despised_, _dispersed_, _distinct_, _distract_, -_diverse_, _eterne_, _exact_, _exhaled_, _exiled_, _expired_, _express_, -_extreme_, _famous_, _insane_, _invised_, _misplaced_, _misprised_, -_obscure_, _perfect_, _profane_, _profound_, _remiss_, _secure_, -_severe_, _sincere_, _supreme_, _terrene_; and so are also the many -adjectives and participles compounded with the prefix _un-_, as e.g. -_unborn_, _unchaste_, _unkind_, &c. (cf. Alexander Schmidt, -_Shakespeare-Lexicon_). - -Substantives and verbs are treated in a similar way, e.g. _c+o+mf+ó+rt_ -(subst.) Wyatt 14, _r+e+c+ó+rd_ ib. 156, _d+i+sc+ó+rd_ Sur. 6, -_c+o+nfl+í+ct_ ib. 85, _p+u+rch+á+se_ ib. 58, _m+i+sch+íe+f_ Wyatt 78, -_s+a+fegu+á+rd_ ib. 212, _M+a+d+á+me_ ib. 149, _pr+o+m+é+ss_ ib. 25. So -also in Shakespeare (cf. Alexander Schmidt, l.c.): _+á+cc+e+ss_, -_+a+sp+é+ct_, _c+o+mm+é+rce_, _c+o+ns+ó+rt_, _c+o+ntr+á+ct_, -_c+o+mp+á+ct_, _+e+d+í+ct_, _i+nst+í+nct_, _+ou+tr+á+ge_, _pr+e+c+é+pts_, -_c+é+m+e+nt_, _c+ó+nd+u+t_ (vb.), _c+ó+nf+i+ne_, _p+ú+rs+ue+_, -_r+é+l+a+pse_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 62). - -§ =123.= Trisyllabic and polysyllabic words, too, of French or Latin -origin are still used frequently in the beginning of the Modern -English period with an accentuation contrary to present usage. -Words e.g. which now have the chief accent on the second syllable, -the first and third syllable being unaccented, are often used with -the rhythmical accents on these two syllables, e.g.: _c+ó+nf+e+ss+ó+r_ -Meas. IV. iii. 133, _c+ó+nt+i+n+úe+_ Wyatt 189; _d+é+p+a+rt+ú+re_ -ib. 129; _r+é+p+e+nt+á+nce_ ib. 205, _+é+nd+ea+v+óu+r_ ib. 232; -_d+é+t+e+st+á+ble_ John III. iv. 29, _rh+éu+m+a+t+í+c_ Ven. 135, &c. -Likewise in words the first and third syllables of which are now -accented and the second unaccented, the rhythmical accent is placed on -this very syllable, e.g. _charácter_ Lucr. 807, _confíscate_ Cymb. V. v. -323, _contráry_ Wyatt 8, _impórtune_ Ant. IV. xv. 19, _oppórtune_ Temp. -IV. i. 26, _perséver_ All's Well IV. ii. 37, _prescíence_ Troil. I. iii. -199, _siníster_ Troil. IV. v. 128. Certain verbs also in _-ise_, _-ize_ -are used with fluctuating accentuation; Shakespeare e.g. always has -_advértise_ Meas. i. 142, _authórise_ Sonn. 35, _canónize_ Troil. II. -ii. 202; sometimes also _solémnize_ Temp. v. 309 (cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ -64, 65). - -Foreign proper names especially in many cases are subject, as in earlier -times, to variable accentuation, as e.g.: _Ajáx_ Sur. 129, _Cæsár_ -Wyatt 191, _Cató_ ib. 191, the more usual accentuation also occurring in -the writings of the same poets; similarly _Átridés_ Sur. 129 and -_Atríde_ ib. 116, _Cárthages_ ib. 149 and _Cartháge_ 175. Shakespeare -has always the unclassical _Andrónicus_, _Hypérion_, _Cleopátra_, but -for rhythmical reasons _N+ó+rth+a+mpt+ó+n_ Rich. III, II. iv. 1 instead -of _Northámpton_, and so in several other cases (cf. _Metrik_, ii. -§ 67). - -§ =124.= Amongst the =Germanic vocables= the parathetic compounds -chiefly call for notice, as their accentuation in common speech also -approaches level stress, and for this reason they may be used with -either accentuation. This group includes compounds like _moonlight_, -_welfare_, _farewell_, and some conjunctions, prepositions, and -pronouns, as _therefore_, _wherefore_, _something_, _nothing_, -_sometimes_, _into_, _unto_, _towards_, _without_, as e.g.: _thérefore_ -Wyatt 24, &c., _therefóre_ ib. 42, _nóthing_ Rich. II, II. ii. 12, -_nothíng_ Rich. III, I. i. 236, _únto_ Sur. 125, _untó_ Sur. 117 (cf. -_Metrik_, ii. § 58). - -Greater arbitrariness in the treatment of word-accent, explained best by -the influence of Middle English usage, is shown in the rhythmical -accentuation of the final syllable _-ing_ in words like _endíng_: -_thing_ Wyatt 27; and of the suffixes _-ness_, _-ly_, _-y_, _-ow_, e.g. -_goodnéss_: _excéss_ Wyatt 206, _free_: _trulý_ 147; _borrów_: _sorrów_: -_overthrów_ ib. 227. Less admissible still are such accentuations with -the endings _-er_, _-est_, used on the whole only by the earlier Modern -English poets, e.g. _earnést_ Wyatt 11, _aftér_ ib. 207, and least of -all with inflexional endings, e.g. _scornéd_ Sur. 170, _causéth_ Wyatt -33 (cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 59-61). - -As a rule, however, such unnatural accentuations can be avoided by -assuming the omission of a thesis at the beginning or in the interior of -a line. With regard to trisyllabic and polysyllabic words the remarks on -pp. 176-7 are to be compared. - - - - - DIVISION II - - VERSE-FORMS COMMON TO THE MIDDLE AND - MODERN ENGLISH PERIODS - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - LINES OF EIGHT FEET, FOUR FEET, TWO FEET, - AND ONE FOOT - - -§ =125.=. Among the metres introduced into Middle English poetry in -imitation of foreign models, perhaps the oldest is the four-foot verse, -rhyming in couplets. This metre may be regarded as having originally -arisen by halving the eight-foot line, although only an isolated example -of this, dating from about the middle of the thirteenth century, quoted -above (p. 127), is known in Middle English poetry. This, however, serves -with special clearness to illustrate the resolution, by means of -inserted rhyme, of the eight-foot long-line couplet into four-foot lines -rhyming alternately (cf. § 78). - -In the manuscript the verses, though rhyming in long lines, are written -as short lines, with intermittent rhyme _a b c b d b e b_, just as the -example of Modern English eight-foot iambic verse, quoted before (p. -127), is found printed with this arrangement, as is indeed generally the -case with most long-line forms of that type. This metre calls for no -other remarks on its rhythmical structure than will have to be made with -regard to the four-foot verse. - -§ =126.= The four-foot line, rhyming in couplets, first appears in a -paraphrase of the _Pater Noster_ of the end of the twelfth century,[142] -doubtless in imitation of the Old French _vers octosyllabe_ made known -in England by Anglo-Norman poets, such as Gaimar, Wace, Benoit, &c. - -This French metre consists of eight syllables when the ending is -monosyllabic, and nine when it is disyllabic. - -The lines are always connected in couplets by rhyme, but masculine and -feminine rhymes need not alternate with one another. - -It is exactly the same with the Middle English four-foot line, except -that the rising iambic rhythm comes out more clearly in it, and that, -instead of the Romanic principle of counting the syllables, that of the -equality of beats is perceptible, so that the equality of the number of -syllables in the verses is not so strictly observed. Hence, all the -deviations before mentioned from the strict formal structure of -even-beat verses occur even in this early poem, and quite regularly -constructed couplets are indeed but rare in it. Examples of this type -are the following: - - _Ah, láverd gód, her úre béne, - Of úre súnne máke us cléne, - Þet hé us [gh]éue alswá he méi, - Þet ús bihóueð úlche déi._ ll. 167-170. - -The first ten lines of the poem give a sufficient idea of the structure -of the verse, and its characteristics: - - _Ure féder þét in héouene ís, - Þet ís all sóþ fúl iwís! - Weo móten tó þeos wéordes iséon, - Þet to líue and to sáule góde béon, - Þet wéo beon swá his súnes ibórene, - Þet hé beo féder and wé him icórene, - Þet wé don álle hís ibéden - Ánd his wílle fór to réden. - Lóke weo ús wið hím misdón - Þurh béelzebúbes swíkedóm._ - -Here we find almost all the rhythmical licences to be found in even-beat -metres. Thus we have suppression of the anacrusis in line 8 and again in -two consecutive lines, such as 15, 16: - - _Gíf we léornið gódes láre, - Þénne of-þúnceð hít him sáre;_ - -and very often in the course of the poem, e.g. ll. 22, 29, 30, 37, &c., -so that it acquires a loose, iambic-trochaic cadence; further, the -absence of an unaccented syllable in the middle of the line (line 2); -inversion of accent in line 9, and again in line 81, _Láverd he ís of -álle scáfte_; two unaccented syllables at the beginning and in the -interior of the verse in 4; light slurrings ll. 1, 3, 5; only ll. 7 and -10 are regularly constructed throughout. The same proportion of regular -to irregular verses runs through the whole poem, in which, besides the -licences mentioned, that of level stress is also often to be met with, -especially in rhymes like _w+u+rþ+í+ng: héovenkíng_ 99-100; _h+a+t+í+ng: -king_ 193-4, 219-20; _fóndúnge: swínkúnge_ 242-3. - -§ =127.= The treatment of the caesura in this metre also deserves, -special mention, for this, as has already been stated, is one of the -chief points in which the four-foot even-beat metre differs from the -four-stress metre, as represented either by the old alliterative long -line or by the later non-alliterating line. For there must be a caesura -in every four-beat verse, and it must always be found in one definite -place, viz. after the second beat next to any unaccented syllable or -syllables that follow the beat, the line being thus divided into two -rhythmically fairly equal halves. On the other hand, for the four-foot -verse, not only in this, its earliest appearance, but in the rest of -Middle and Modern English literature, the caesura is not obligatory, and -when it does occur it may, theoretically speaking, stand in any place in -the line, although it most frequently appears after the second foot, -particularly in the oldest period. - -The caesura may (§ 80) be of three kinds: - -(1) Monosyllabic or masculine caesura: - - _Ne képeð he nóht | þet wé beon súne._ 18. - -(2) Disyllabic or feminine caesura, two kinds of which are to -be distinguished, viz. - - (_a_) Lyric caesura, within a foot: - - _And [gh]éfe us míhte | þúrh his héld._ 240. - - (_b_) Epic caesura caused by a supernumerary unaccented - syllable before the pause: - - _Ure gúltes, láverd, | bon ús for[gh]éven._ 173. - -These three kinds of caesura, the last of which, it is true, we meet -here only sporadically, may thus in four-foot verse also occur _after_, -as well as _in_ the other feet. Thus we find in the very first line, a -lyrical caesura after the first foot: - - _Ure féder | þét in héouene ís._ - -This, however, seldom happens in the oldest examples, in which caesuras -sharply dividing the line are rare, enjambement being only seldom -admitted. Examples of verses without caesuras are to be found, among -others, in the following: _Þúrh béelzebúbes swíkedóm_ 10, _Intó þe -þósternésse héllen_ 104. As a rule, in the four-foot verse as well as in -French octosyllabics, a pause does not occur until the end, on account -of the shortness of this metre, which generally only suffices for one -rhythmic section, while in four-beat verse a regular division into two -rhythmic sections, and consequently the constant occurrence of a -caesura, is rendered possible by the greater number of unaccented -syllables. - -The end of the line may, in any order, have either a masculine rhyme, as -in ll. 1-4, 9, 10, or a feminine rhyme, as in ll. 7 and 8. There occur -besides, but seldom, trisyllabic rhymes, such as those in ll. 5-6, or -_súnegen: múnegen_ 141-2. - -§ =128.= This metre continued to be very popular in Middle and Modern -English poetry, and is still extensively used. As a rule its structure -constantly remained the same; nevertheless we may, in both periods, -distinguish between two well-marked ways of treating it. It was, for -instance, at the end of the thirteenth and in the first half of the -fourteenth century, very freely handled in the North of England in the -_Surtees Psalter_, further by Robert Mannyng in his _Handlyng Sinne_, -and by Richard Rolle de Hampole in his _Pricke of Conscience_. Their -treatment of this verse is characterized, for instance, by the -remarkably frequent occurrence of two and even three unaccented -syllables at the beginning and in the middle of the line, e.g.: - - _In þi rightwísenésses biþénke I sál - Þine sághes nóght forgéte withál._ - Psalm cxviii, v. 16. - - _And rékened þe cústome hóuses echóne, - At whých þey had góde and at whýche nóne._ - Mannyng, Handlyng Sinne, ll. 5585-6. - -Other rhythmical licences, such as the omission of unaccented syllables -in the middle of a verse, and inversion of accent, are frequent in these -compositions. Level stress, on the other hand, for the most part is -found only in rhyme, as _sh+e+nsh+é+pe_: _kepe_ Hampole 380-1; _come_: -_b+o+ghs+ó+me_ ib. 394-5. - -The other extreme of strict regularity in the number of syllables is -exhibited in another group of North English and Scottish compositions of -the fourteenth century, such as the _Metrical Homilies_, the _Cursor -Mundi_, Barbour's _Bruce_, Wyntoun's _Chronykyl_. The metrical licences -most frequent here are level stress, suppression of the anacrusis, and -the omission of unaccented syllables in the middle of the line, in the -_Metrical Homilies_. The rhythm is, however, as a rule, strictly iambic, -and the number of syllables eight or nine, according as the rhymes are -masculine or feminine. - -§ =129.= The contemporaneous literary productions of the Midlands and -South written in this metre generally observe a mean between the free -and the strict versification of the two northern groups. - -These are inter alia _The Story of Genesis and Exodus_, _The Owl and -Nightingale_, _The Lay of Havelok_, _Sir Orfeo_, _King Alisander_, -several compositions of Chaucer's,[143] as, for instance, _The Book of -the Duchesse_, _The House of Fame_, Gower's _Confessio Amantis_, and -others. The last work, as well as _The Owl and Nightingale_, is written -in almost perfectly regular iambic verses, in which the syllables are -strictly counted. The other compositions more frequently admit the -familiar rhythmical licences and have a freer movement, but none to the -same extent as the _Pater Noster_. In artistic perfection this metre -presents itself to us in Chaucer, who was particularly skilful in -employing and varying the enjambement. A short specimen from his _House -of Fame_ (ll. 151-74) will illustrate this: - - _Fírst sawgh I thé destrúccióun - Of Tróy, thórgh the Gréke Synóun, - Wíth his fálse fórswerýnge, - And his chére and hís lesýnge - Máde the hórs broght into Tróye, - Thorgh whích Tróyens lost ál her joýe. - And áfter thís was gráve, allás, - How Ílyóun assáyled wás - And wónne, and kýnge Pr+iá+m ysláyne - And Políte his sóne, certáyne, - Dispítouslý of dáun Pirr+ú+s, - And néxt that sáwgh I hów V+e+n+ú+s, - Whan thát she sáwgh the cástel brénde, - Dóune fro the hévene gán descénde, - And bád hir sóne Enéas flée; - And hów he fléd, and hów that hé - Escáped wás from ál the prés, - And tóoke his fáder, Ánch+i+sés, - And báre hym ón hys bákke awáy, - Crýinge 'Allás and wélawáy!' - The whíche Anchíses ín hys hónde - Báre the góddes óf the lónde, - Thílke thát unbrénde wére. - And Í saugh néxt in ál hys fére_, &c. - -§ =130.= Four-foot verses often occur also in Middle English in -connexion with other metrical forms, especially with three-foot verses, -e.g. in the Septenary, which is resolved by the rhyme into two short -lines, and in the tail-rhyme stanza, or _rime couée_ (cf. §§ 78, 79). - -In these combinations the structure of the metre remains essentially the -same, only there are in many poems more frequent instances of -suppression of the anacrusis, so that the metre assumes a variable -cadence, partly trochaic, partly iambic. At the end of the Middle -English period the four-foot verse was, along with other metrical forms, -employed by preference in the earlier dramatic productions, and was -skilfully used by Heywood, among others, in his interlude, _The Four -P.'s_.[144] - -§ =131.= In he Modern English period this metre has also found great -favour, and we may, as in the case of other metres, distinguish between -a strict and a freer variety of it. The strict form was, and is, mostly -represented in lyric poetry, in verses rhyming in couplets or in cross -rhyme. The rhythm is generally in this case (since the separation -between iambic and trochaic verse-forms became definitely established) -strictly iambic, generally with monosyllabic rhymes. - -A greater interest attaches to the freer variety of the metre, which is -to be regarded as a direct continuation of the Middle English four-foot -verse, inasmuch as it was practised by the poets of the first Modern -English period in imitation of earlier models, and has been further -cultivated by their successors down to the most recent times. The -characteristic feature in this treatment of the four-foot verse is the -frequent suppression of the anacrusis, by which it comes to resemble the -four-beat verse, along with which it is often used. But whilst the -latter generally has an iambic-anapaestic or trochaic-dactylic -structure, and is constantly divided by the caesura into two halves, the -Modern English four-foot verse of the freer type has, as a rule, an -alternately iambic and trochaic rhythm, with a rare occurrence of -caesuras. Shakespeare and other dramatists often employ this metre for -lyrical passages in their dramas. Of longer poems in the earlier period -Milton's _L'Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_ are conspicuous examples. - -The following passage from _L'Allegro_ (ll. 11-16) may serve as a -specimen: - - _But cóme thou Góddess fáir and frée, - In héaven yclépt Euphrósyné, - Ánd by mén héart-easing Mírth, - Whom lóvely Vénus, át a bírth, - Wíth two síster Gráces móre, - To ívy-crównëd Bácchus bóre_, &c. - -The structure of the verse is essentially iambic, though the iambic -metre frequently, by suppression of the initial theses, as in the -thirteenth and fifteenth lines of this passage, falls into a trochaic -cadence. Pure trochaic verses, i.e. those that begin with an accented -syllable and end with an unaccented one, occur in these two poems, in -couplets, only once, _L'Allegro_ (ll. 69-70): - - _Stráight mine éye hath cáught new pléasures, - Whíles the lándscape róund it méasures._ - -With masculine endings such couplets are frequent, e.g. _Il Penseroso_, -67-8: - - _Tó behóld the wándering móon, - Ríding néar the híghest nóon;_ - -further, ll. 75-6, 81-2, 141-2, &c. - -As a rule, pure iambic lines rhyme together, or an iambic with a line -that has a trochaic cadence, as, for instance, in the above specimen, -_L'Allegro_, 13-14 and 15-16. - -Besides initial truncation there also occur here the other metrical -licences observed in iambic rhythm. - -§ =132.= Many sections of the narrative poems of Coleridge, Scott, and -Byron, e.g. the latter's _Siege of Corinth_, are written in this form, -with which, in especially animated passages, four-beat verses often -alternate. Cf., for instance, the following passage, xvi, from the -last-named poem: - - _Stíll by the shóre Alp mútely músed, - And wóo'd the fréshness níght diffúsed. - There shrínks no ébb in that tídeless séa, - Which chángeless rólls etérnallý; - So that wíldest of wáves, in their ángriest móod, - Scarce bréak on the bóunds of the lánd for a róod; - And the pówerless móon behólds them flów - Héedless if she cóme or gó: - Cálm or hígh, in máin or báy, - Ón their cóurse she háth no swáy._ - -Lines 5-7 can be at once recognized as four-stress verses by the -iambic-anapaestic rhythm, as well as by the strongly-marked caesura, -which, in the four-foot verses 4, and especially 8 and 10, is entirely -or almost entirely absent (cf. pp. 98-9); and both metrical forms, the -calmer four-foot verse and the more animated four-stress metre, are in -harmonious agreement with the tone of this passage. - -Four-foot lines, forming component parts of metrically heterogeneous -types of stanzas, such, for instance, as the tail-rhyme stave, are -generally more regularly constructed than in the Middle English period. - -§ =133.= Among the metrical forms which took their rise from the -four-foot line, the most noteworthy are the two-foot and the one-foot -verse, the former the result of halving the four-foot verse, the latter -of dividing the two-foot verse, as a rule, by means of the rhyme. These -verse-forms only seldom occur in the Middle English period, as a rule in -anisometrical stanzas in connexion with verses of greater length. Thus, -in the poem in Wright's _Specimens of Lyric Poetry_, p. 38, composed in -the entwined tail-rhyme stanza, the short lines have two accents: -_wiþóute stríf: y wýte, a wýf_ 10-12; _in tóune tréwe: while ý may -gléwe_ 4-6. The eighteen-lined enlarged tail-rhyme stave of the ballad, -_The Nut-brown Maid_ (Percy's _Reliques_, iii. 6), also consists of two- -and three-foot lines; in this case the two-foot lines may be conceived -as the result of halving the first hemistich of the septenary line. - -In Modern English two-foot lines are also rare and are chiefly found in -anisometrical stanzas. They do occur, however, here and there in -isometrical poems, either written in couplets or in stanzas of lines -rhyming alternately; as, for instance, in Drayton, _An Amouret -Anacreontic_: - - _Most góod, most fáir, - Or thíngs as ráre - To cáll you's lóst; - For áll the cóst - Wórds can bestów, - Só póorly shów - Upón your práise - That áll the wáys - Sénse hath, come shórt,_ &c. - -The commonest rhythmical licences are inversion of accent and initial -truncation. In stanzas verses of this sort occur, for the most part it -seems, with the rhyme-order _a b c b_, for instance in Burns, _The Cats -like Kitchen_, and Moore, _When Love is Kind_, so that these verses -might be regarded as four-foot lines rhyming in couplets. - -§ =134.= One-foot lines, both with single and with double ending, -likewise occur in Middle English only as component parts of -anisometrical stanzas, as a rule as _bob_-verses in what are called -_bob-wheel_ staves; as, for instance, in a poem in Wright's _Songs and -Carols_ (Percy Society, 1847), the line _With áye_ rhyming with the -three-foot line _Aye, áye, I dár well sáy_; in the _Towneley Mysteries_, -the verse _Alás_ rhyming with _A góod máster he wás_; in an _Easter -Carol_ (Morris, _An Old Engl. Miscellany_, pp. 197-9), the line _So -strónge_ rhyming with _Jóye hím wit sónge_, or _In lónde_ and _of hónde_ -rhyming with _Al with jóye þat is fúnde_. - -Metrical licences can naturally only seldom occur in such short lines. - -One-foot iambic lines occur also in the Modern English period almost -exclusively in anisometrical stanzas. A little poem entitled _Upon his -Departure hence_, in Herrick's _Hesperides_, may be quoted as a -curiosity, as it is written in continuous one-foot lines of this kind, -rhyming in triplets: - - _Thus Í_, _As óne_ _I'm máde_ _I' the gráve,_ _Where téll_ - _Passe bý_, _Unknówn_, _A sháde_ _There háve,_ _I dwéll._ - _And díe_, _And góne_, _And láid_ _My cáve:_ _Farewéll._ - -One-foot lines with feminine ending are employed by Moore as the middle -member of the stanza in the poem _Joys of Youth, how fleeting_. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE SEPTENARY, THE ALEXANDRINE, AND THE - THREE-FOOT LINE - - -§ =135. The Septenary= is a favourite Middle English metre, going back -to a Mediaeval Latin model. It cannot, however, be definitely determined -whether this is to be found in the (accentual) catalectic iambic -tetrameter, an example of which is preserved, among other instances, in -the _Planctus Bonaventurae_ (1221-74) printed by Mone in his _Latin -Hymns of the Middle Ages_, which begins as follows: - - _O crux, frutex salvificus, | vivo fonte rigatus, - Quem flos exornat fulgidus, | fructus fecundat gratus_, - -or possibly in another Latin metre which was a far greater favourite -with the Anglo-Norman Latin poets. This is the (accentual) -brachycatalectic trochaic tetrameter, which frequently occurs, among -other instances, in the poems ascribed to Walter Map, e.g. in the still -popular verses: - - _Mihi est propositum | in taberna mori, - Vinum sit appositum | morientis ori._ - -The result of an attempt to adopt this metre in Middle English might, on -account of the preference of the language for iambic rhythm, very -naturally be to transform it into the iambic catalectic tetrameter by -the frequent addition of an unaccented opening syllable at the beginning -of each half-line. Probably the latter verse-form was the model, as may -be seen from Leigh Hunt's Modern English translation of the Latin -drinking-song just quoted.[145] - -Moreover, many mediaeval Latin verses also have a wavering rhythm -resulting in a form at times characterized by level stress, e.g. - - _Fortunae rota volvitur; | descendo minoratus, - Alter in altum tollitur | nimis exaltatus. - Rex sedet in vertice, | caveat ruinam, - Nam sub axe legimus | 'Hecubam' reginam._ - Carmina Burana, lxxvii. - -§ =136.= These verses correspond pretty exactly, in their metrical -structure, to the opening lines of the _Moral Ode_, which, as far as is -known, is the earliest Middle English poem in septenary lines, and dates -from the twelfth century: - - _Íc am élder þánne ic wés, | a wíntre and éc a lóre; - ic éaldi móre þánne ic déde: | mi wít o[gh]hte tó bi móre. - Wel lónge ic hábbe chíld ibíen | on wórde ánd on déde; - þé[gh]h ic bí on wíntren éald, | to [gh]íung ic ám on réde._ - -The other common licences of even-beat metre which affect the rhythm of -the line, the metrical value of syllables, and the word-accent, also -occur in the _Moral Ode_. Suppression of the anacrusis is very often met -with; it occurs, for instance, in the first hemistich, in lines 1 and 4 -above; in the second hemistich, _ér ic hít iwíste_ l. 17, in both, _þó -þet hábbeð wél idón | éfter híre míhte_, l. 175; so that a pure iambic -couplet seldom occurs, although the iambic rhythm is, on the whole, -predominant. The omission of unaccented syllables in the middle of the -line is also often found (although many verses of this kind probably -require emendation), as _Ne léve nó mán to múchel_ 24; also in the -second hemistich, as _and wól éche dede_ 88. Transpositions of the -accent are quite usual at the beginning of the first as well as of the -second hemistich: _Elde me ís bestólen ón_ 17; _síððen ic spéke cúðe_ 9. -Level stress is also not absent: _For bétere is án elmésse bifóre_ 28. -We often meet with elision, apocope, syncope, slurring of syllables, and -the use of a disyllabic thesis both at the beginning of the line and in -other positions: _þo þet wél ne dóeþ þe wíle he mú[gh]e_ 19; _nís hit -búte gámen and glíe_ 188. A noteworthy indication of want of skill in -the handling of the Septenary in this first attempt is the frequent -occurrence of a superfluous syllable at the close of the first -hemistich, which should only admit of an acatalectic ending, e.g.: _Hé -scal cúme on úuele stéde | búte him Gód beo mílde_ 26; _Eíðer to lútel -ánd to múchel | scal þúnchen éft hem báthe_ 62, &c. The end of the -second hemistich, on the other hand, in accordance with the structure of -the metre, is in this poem always catalectic. - -§ =137.= The irregularity of the structure of the Septenary rhyming line -of the _Moral Ode_ stands in marked contrast with the regularity of the -rhymeless Septenary verse of the _Ormulum_. The first hemistich here is -always acatalectic, the second catalectic, and the whole line has never -more nor less than fifteen syllables. - -Hence the only metrical licences that occur here are elision, syncope, -and apocope of the unaccented _e_ of some inflexional endings, and the -very frequent admission of level stress in disyllabic and polysyllabic -words, which are to be found in all places in the line: - - _Icc þátt tiss Énnglissh háfe sétt | +E+nnglísshe ménn to láre, - Icc wáss þær þ[æ´]r I crísstnedd wáss | +O+rrmín bi náme némmnedd, - Annd ícc +O+rrmín full ínnwarrdlí[gh] | wiþþ múð annd éc wiþþ - hérrte._ - Dedic. 322-7. - -In all such cases, in the versification of Orm, whose practice is to -count the syllables, there can only be a question of level stress, not -of inversion of accent. _Ennglisshe_ at the beginning of the second -hemistich of the above line, 322, is no more an example of inversion of -rhythm than in the hemistich _Icc háfe wénnd inntill +E+nnglíssh_ l. 13. - -§ =138.= After the _Moral Ode_ and the _Ormulum_ the Septenary often -occurs in combination with other metres, especially the Alexandrine, of -which we shall speak later on. - -In some works of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Septenary -was, however, employed in a fairly unmixed form, as, for instance, in -the _Lives of Saints_, ed. Furnivall, 1862, the _Fragment of Popular -Science_, ed. Wright in _Popular Treatises on Science_, London, 1841, -and several others. - -The most important deviation from the Septenary of Orm and of the _Moral -Ode_ is the frequent occurrence of long lines with a masculine instead -of the usual feminine ending. Both forms are to be found in the opening -lines of the _Fragment of Popular Science_: - - _The rí[gh]te pút of hélle ís | amídde the úrþe wiþínne, - Oure Lóverd þát al mákede iwís, | quéinte ís of gýnne, - Héuene and úrþe ymákede iwís, | and síþþe alle þíng þat ís, - Úrpe is a lútel húrfte | a[gh]én héuene iwís._ - -It may fairly be assumed that the structure of the Alexandrine (which, -according to French models, might have either a masculine or a feminine -ending) may have greatly furthered the intrusion of monosyllabic feet -into the Septenary verse, although the gradual decay of the final -inflexions may likewise have contributed to this end. For the rest, all -the rhythmic licences of the Septenary occurring in the _Moral Ode_ are -also to be met with here; as, for instance, the suppression of the -anacrusis in the first hemistich of l. 4 of the passage quoted, and in -the second of l. 2, and the omission of the unaccented syllable in the -second hemistich of the fourth line, the inversion of accent and -disyllabic thesis in the first hemistich of the third line, and other -licences, such as the anapaestic beginning of the line, &c., in other -places in these poems (cf. _Metrik_, i, p. 246). - -§ =139.= In lyrical poems of this time and in later popular ballad poetry -the Septenary is employed in another manner, namely, in four-lined -stanzas of four- and three-foot verse, rhyming crosswise, each of which -must be looked on as consisting of pairs of Septenaries with middle -rhyme inserted (interlaced rhyme), as is clearly shown by the Latin -models of these metrical forms quoted above (p. 192). Latin and English -lines are thus found connected, so as to form a stanza, in a poem of the -fifteenth century: - - _Fréeres, fréeres, wó [gh]e bé! - Mínistrí malórum, - For mány a mánnes sóule bringe [gh]é - Ad póenas ínfernórum._ Political Poems, ii. 249. - -In many lyrical poems of the older period some stanzas rhyme in long -lines, others rhyme in short lines, which shows the gradual genesis of -the short-lined metre, rhyming throughout. Thus, in the poem in Wright's -_Spec. of Lyr. P._, p. 90, the opening verses of the first stanza rhyme -in long lines: - - _My déþ y lóue, my lýf ich háte, | fór a léuedy shéne, - Héo is bríht so daíes líht, | þat ís on mé wel séne_, - -whereas those of the second rhyme in short lines: - - _Sórewe and sýke and dréri mód | býndeþ mé so fáste, - Þát y wéne to wálke wód, | [gh]ef hít me léngore láste._ - -Instances of this kind are frequent; but the four lines of the single -stanzas are never completely rhymed throughout as short-lines, as, for -instance, is the case in the opening parts or 'frontes' of the stanzas -of the poems in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. P._, pp. 27 and 83, the lines of -which are far more regularly constructed. The rhymes are in these -compositions still generally disyllabic. - -The metrical structure of the old ballads _The Battle of Otterborn_ and -_Chevy Chase_ is similar to that of the poem just quoted. In those -ballads some original long lines are provided with middle rhyme, others -not, so that the stanzas partly rhyme according to the formula _a b c -b_, partly according to the formula _a b a b_. The versification is, -moreover, very uneven, and the endings are, as a rule, if not without -exception, masculine: - - _Sir Hárry Pérssy cam to the wálles, - The Skóttish óste for to sé; - And sáyd, and thou hast brént Northómberlónd, - Full sóre it réwyth mé._ - -The ballads of the end of the Middle English period are generally -composed in far more regular lines or stanzas. The feminine endings of -the Septenary are, however, as a rule replaced by masculine endings, -whether the lines rhyme crosswise or only in the three-foot verses. Cf. -the ballad, _The Lady's Fall_ (Ritson, ii. 110), which, however, was -probably composed as late as the Modern English period: - - _Mark wéll my héavy dóleful tále, - You lóyal lóvers áll, - And héedfullý béar in your bréast - A gállant lády's fáll._ - -§ =140.= In Modern English the Septenary has been extensively used, both -in long and in short rhyming lines. One special variety of it, -consisting of stanzas of four lines, alternately of eight and six -syllables (always with masculine ending), is designated in hymn-books by -the name of Common Metre. - -In the long-lined form this metre occurs at the beginning of this period -in poems of some length, as, for instance, in William Warner's _Albion's -England_, and in Chapman's translation of the _Iliad_. Here, too, the -ending of the line is almost without exception masculine, and the -rhythm, on the whole, pretty regular, although this regularity, -especially in Chapman, is, in accordance with the contemporary practice, -only attained by alternate full pronunciation and slurring of the same -syllables (Romanic _-ion_, _-ious_, &c., and Germanic _-ed_, &c.) and by -inversion of accent. The caesura is always masculine at the end of the -first hemistich, but masculine or feminine minor caesuras are often met -with after the second or in the third foot, sometimes also after the -first or in the second: - - _Occásioned thús: | Chrýses the príest || cáme to the fléet to - búy._ i. 11. - - _To plágue the ármy, | ánd to déath || by tróops the sóldiers - wént._ ib. 10. - -Secondary caesuras also occur, though less frequently, in other places -in the line, particularly in the second hemistich: - - _But íf thou wílt be sáfe begóne. || This sáid, | the séa-beat - shóre._ ib. 32. - - _All mén in óne aróse and sáid: || Atrídes, | nów I sée._ - ib. 54. - -These last examples suffice to show the rich variety of the caesura, -which may be referred perhaps to the influence of blank verse, in the -management of which Chapman displays great skill, and to the frequent -use which he makes of the enjambement. Rhyme-breaking also sometimes -occurs in his verse. Occasionally three consecutive lines rhyme -together, as in W. Warner, whose versification is otherwise extremely -regular, similar to that of lyrical poetry. In this branch of poetry the -Septenary, with the simple rhyme-order _a b c b_ and especially with the -more artistic form _a b a b_, has continued to be very popular from the -time of Wyatt down to the present day. The three-foot line has naturally -in most instances a masculine ending, but lines also occasionally occur -with feminine rhyme. In many poems the feminine rhyme is, moreover, -regularly employed in this metre; as, for instance, in Burns's _To John -Taylor_ (p. 158): - - _With Pégasús upón a dáy, - Apóllo wéary flýing, - Through frósty hílls the jóurney láy, - On fóot the wáy was plýing._ - -In ballad poetry, on the other hand, the Septenary metre tends to assume -a somewhat freer construction, similar to, though not so capricious as -that in the old ballads edited by Percy. A well-known example is offered -by Coleridge's _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_: - - _It ís an áncient Márinér, | And he stoppeth óne of thrée: - 'By thy lóng grey béard and glíttering éye, | Now whérefore - stópp'st thou mé?'_ - -Two unaccented opening syllables and two unaccented syllables in the -middle of the line are, in particular, often met with. - -§ =141. The Septenary in combination with other metres.= After its -occurrence in the _Moral Ode_ and the _Ormulum_ the Septenary, as we -have seen, appears at first very seldom by itself, but generally in -connexion with other metres, especially the old long line in its freer -development, the four-foot metre (though more rarely), and, -particularly, the Alexandrine. - -The Middle English Alexandrine was constructed on the model of the Old -French Alexandrine--except for the use of Teutonic licences in even-beat -rhythm--and it thus possessed four different types, which the following -examples from _On god Ureison of ure Lefdi_[146] may serve to -illustrate. We give the corresponding Old French metrical types from the -_Roman d'Alixandre_ (Bartsch, _Chrestomathie de l'ancien français_, p. -175). - - _a._ Masculine caesura with masculine line-ending: - - _En icele forest, | dont voz m'oëz conter._ 24. - - _Nim nu [gh]éme to mé, | so me bést a béo ðe béo._ 129. - - _b._ Feminine (epic) caesura with masculine line-ending: - - _nesune male choze | ne puet laianz entrer._ 25. - - _vor þín is þé wurchípe, | [gh]if ich wrécche wel iþéo._ 130. - - _c._ Masculine caesura with feminine line-ending: - - _Moult fut biaus li vregiers | et gente la praële._ 1. - - _Þine blísse ne méi | nówiht únderstónden._ 31. - - _d_. Feminine (epic) caesura with feminine line-ending: - - _Moult souëf i flairoient | radise et canele._ 2. - - _Vor ál is gódes ríche | an únder þíne hónden._ 32. - -Alexandrines of this sort, particularly of the last type, are -found in a group of poems of the close of the twelfth, or beginning -of the thirteenth century, intermingled with Septenaries, -and also, though more seldom, combined with four-beat alliterative -rhyming long lines and with four-foot verses. Such poems -are _On god Ureison of ure Lefdi_ (quoted above), _A lutel soth -sermon_ (_Old English Miscellany_, ed. R. Morris, pp. 186 ff.), -and _A Bestiary_ (ib. pp. 1-25). - -The following lines from _A lutel soth sermon_ may serve to illustrate -this mixture: - - _Hérknied àlle góde mèn, | and stílle sìtteþ adún, - And ích ou wùle téllen | a lútel sòþ sermún. - Wél we wìten álle, | þag ìch eou nó[gh]t ne télle, - Hu ádam ùre vórme fàder | adún vel ìnto hélle. - Schómeliche hè vorlés | þe blísse þàt he hédde; - To [gh]ívernèsse and prúde | nóne nèode he nédde. - He nòm þen áppel òf the tré | þat hìm forbóde wás: - So reúþful dède idón | néuer nòn nás. - He máde him ìnto hélle fàlle, | and éfter hìm his chíldren àlle; - Þér he wàs fort ùre dríhte | hìne bóhte mìd his míhte. - He hìne alésede mìd his blóde, | þàt he schédde upòn the róde, - To déþe he [gh]èf him fòr us álle, | þó we wèren so strònge - at-fálle. - Álle bácbìteres | wéndet to hélle, - Róbberes and réueres, | and þe mónquélle, - Léchurs and hórlinges | þíder sculen wénde, - And þér heo sculen wúnien | évere buten énde._ - -Here we have Septenaries (ll. 1, 4, 7) and Alexandrines (ll. 2, 3, 5, 6, -8) intermixed in ll. 1-8, eight-foot long lines resolved by means of -_sectional rhyme_ into four-foot lines in ll. 9-12, and four-beat -rhyming alliterative long lines of the freer type in ll. 13-16. The easy -intermixture of metres may be explained by the fact that in all these -different long-lined metrical forms four _principal stresses_ are -prominent amid the rest, as we have indicated by accents (´). - -§ =142.= In the _Bestiary_ this mixture of metrical forms has assumed -still greater proportions, inasmuch as alongside of the long-lined -rhyming Septenaries and alliterative long lines there are found also -Layamon's short-lined rhyming verses and Septenary lines resolved into -short verses by middle rhyme. - -The following passages may more closely illustrate the metrical -construction of this poem; in the first place, ll. 384-97: - - _A wìlde dér is, þàt is =f=úl | of =f=éle wíles, - =F=óx is hère tó-nàme, | for hìre quéðscípe; - Húsebondes hìre =h=áten, | for hère =h=árm-dédes: - þe =c=óc and tè =c=apún | ge fècheð ófte ìn ðe tún, - And te =g=ándre ànd te =g=ós, | bì ðe =n=écke and bì ðe =n=óz, - =H=áleð is tò hire =h=óle; | forðí man hìre =h=átieð, - =H=átien and =h=úlen | bòðe mén and fúles._ - -Here we have unmistakable long lines of the freer type. - -In other passages the alliterative long lines pass into Septenaries, as, -for instance, ll. 273-98: - - _ðe =m=íre =m=úneð us | =m=éte to tílen, - =l=óng =l=ívenoðe, | ðis =l=ítle wíle - ðe we on ðis =w=érld =w=únen: | for ðanne we óf =w=énden, - ðánne is ure =w=ínter: | we sulen =h=únger =h=áuen - and =h=árde súres, | buten we ben wár =h=ére. - Do wé forðí so dóð ðis dér, | ðánne wé be dérue - Ón ðat dái ðat dóm sal bén, | ðát ít ne us hárde réwe_: - * * * * * - _þe córn ðat gé to cáue béreð, | áll ge it bít otwínne, - ðe láge us léreð to dón gód, | ánd forbédeþ us sínne_, &c. - -In a third instance (ll. 628-35) Septenary and four-foot lines run into -one another: - - _Hú he résteð him ðis dér, - ðánne he wálkeð wíde, - hérkne wú it télleð hér, - for hé is ál unríde. - A tré he sékeð to fúligewís - ðát is stróng and stédefast ís, - and léneð hím tr+o+stl+í+ke ðerbí, - ðánne he ís of wálke w+e+r+í+._ - -In many passages in the poem one or other of these different types of -verse occurs unmixed with others. Thus we have short couplets in the -section 444-5; in ll. 1-39 alliterative rhymeless verse, occasionally of -marked archaic construction, concluding with a hemistich (39) which -rhymes with the preceding hemistich so as to form a transition to the -following section (ll. 40-52), which again consists of four-foot and -Septenary verses. These are followed by a section (ll. 53-87) in which -four-foot and three-foot lines (that is to say, Alexandrines) rhyming in -couplets are blended; and this is succeeded by a further section (ll. -88-119) mostly consisting of Septenaries resolved by the rhyme into -short lines. (Cf. _Metrik_, i, §§ 79-84.) - -Hence we may say that the poet, in accordance with his Latin model -(likewise composed in various metres), has purposely made use of these -different metrical forms, and that the assertion made by Trautmann and -others,[147] that the Septenary of the _Ormulum_ and the _Moral Ode_, -which is contemporary with Layamon, represents the final result of the -development of Layamon's verse (the freer alliterative long line), must -be erroneous. - -§ =143.= In _On god Ureison of ure Lefdi_, on the other hand, the -alliterative long lines play only an insignificant part, a part which is -confined to an occasional use of a two-beat rhythm in the hemistichs and -the frequent introduction of alliteration. Septenaries and Alexandrines -here interchange _ad libitum_. - -The following short passage (ll. 23-34) will suffice to illustrate these -combinations of metres: - - _Nís no wúmmen ibóren | þét þe béo ilíche, - Ne nón þer nís þin éfning | wiðínne héoueríche. - Héih is þi kínestól | onúppe chérubíne, - Biuóren ðíne léoue súne | wiðínnen séraphíne. - Múrie dréameð éngles | biuóren þín onséne, - Pléieð and swéieð | and síngeð bitwéonen. - Swúðe wél ham líkeð | biuóren þe to béonne, - Vor heo néuer né beoð séad | þi uéir to iséonne. - Þíne blísse ne méi | nówiht únderstónden, - Vor ál is gódes ríche | anúnder þíne hónden. - Álle þíne uréondes | þu mákest ríche kínges; - Þú ham [gh]íuest kínescrúd, | béies and góldrínges._ - -Lines 26 and 34, perhaps also 25 and 30, are Septenaries, l. 28 is the -only line of the poem which contains two beats in both hemistichs -(hemistichs of this sort are further found in the first hemistich of ll. -3, 12, 44, 72, 77, and in the second of ll. 30, 45, 46, 52, and 70); the -remaining lines of this passage are most naturally scanned as -Alexandrines. - -§ =144.= Now, this unsystematic combination of Alexandrines -and Septenaries is a metre which was especially in vogue in the -Middle English period. In this metrical form two religious -poems, _The Passion of our Lord_ and _The Woman of Samaria_ -(Morris, _Old English Miscellany_), were composed so early as -the beginning of the thirteenth century. From the first we -quote ll. 21-4: - - _Léuedi þu bére þat béste chíld, | þat éuer wés ibóre; - Of þe he mákede his móder, | vor hé þe hédde ycóre. - Ádam ánd his ófsprung | ál hit wére furlóre, - Ýf þi súne nére, | ibléssed þu béo þervóre._ - -Many lines of these poems may be scanned in both ways; -in the third line of the preceding extract, for instance, we may -either take the second syllable of the word _ofsprung_, in the manner -of the usual even-beat rhythm, to form a thesis (in this case -hypermetrical, yielding an epic caesura), or we may regard it as -forming, according to ancient Germanic usage, a fourth arsis of -the hemistich, which would then belong to a Septenary. At any -rate, this scansion would, in this case, be quite admissible, as -indeed the other licences of even-beat rhythm all occur here. - -It is in this metre that the South English Legends of Saints (_Ms. -Harleian_ 2277) and other poems in the same MS., as the _Fragment on -Popular Science_ (fourteenth century), are written. The same holds good -for Robert of Gloucester's Rhyming Chronicle (cf. _Metrik_, i, §§ 113, -114). Mätzner (in his _Altengl. Sprachproben_, p. 155), and Ten Brink -(_Literaturgeschichte_, i, pp. 334, 345) concur in this opinion, while -Trautmann (in _Anglia_, v, Anz., pp. 123-5), on a theory of metrical -accentuation which we hold to be untenable, pronounces the verses to be -Septenaries. - -The following passage (Mätzner, _Altengl. Sprachproben_, i, p. 155) may -serve to illustrate the versification of Robert of Gloucester: - - _Áftur kýng Báthulf | Léir ys sóne was kýng, - And régned síxti [gh]ér | wél þoru álle þýng. - Up þe wáter of Sóure | a cíty óf gret fáme - He éndede, and clépede yt Léicestre, | áftur is ówne náme. - Þre dó[gh]tren þis kýng hádde, | þe éldeste Górnorílle, - Þe mýdmost hátte Régan, | þe [gh]óngost Córdeílle. - Þe fáder hem lóuede álle ynó[gh], | ác þe [gh]óngost mést: - For héo was bést an fáirest, | and to háutenésse drow lést. - Þó þe kýng to élde cóm, | álle þré he bró[gh]te - Hys dó[gh]tren tofóre hým, | to wýte of hére þóu[gh]te._ - -§ =145.= At the end of the thirteenth century the Septenary and -Alexandrine were, however, relegated to a subordinate position by the -new fashionable five-foot iambic verse. But we soon meet them again in -popular works of another kind, viz. in the Miracle Plays, especially in -some plays of the _Towneley Collection_, like the _Conspiratio et -Capcio_ (p. 182), and actually employed quite in the arbitrary sequence -hitherto observed, Alexandrine sometimes rhyming with Alexandrine, -Septenary with Septenary, but, more frequently, Alexandrine with -Septenary. A passage from the Towneley Mysteries may make this clear: - - _Now háve ye hárt what Í have sáyde, | I gó and cóm agáyn, - Therfór looke yé be páyde | and álso glád and fáyn, - For tó my fáder I wéynd, | for móre then Í is hé, - I lét you wýtt, as fáythfulle fréynd, | or thát it dóne bé. - That yé may trów when ít is dóne, | for cértes, I máy noght nów - Many thýnges so sóyn | at thís tyme spéak with yóu._ - -This metre is also employed in many Moral Plays with a similar liberty -in the succession of the two metrical forms. - -But we may often observe in these works, as, for instance, in Redford's -_Marriage of Wit and Science_ (Dodsley, ii, p. 325 sq.), that -Alexandrines and Septenaries are used interchangeably, though not -according to any fixed plan, so that sometimes the Septenary and -sometimes the Alexandrine precedes in the couplet, as, for instance, in -the last four lines of the following passage (Dodsley, ii, p. 386): - - _O lét me bréathe a whíle, | and hóld thy héavy hánd, - My gríevous fáults with sháme | enóugh I únderstánd. - Take rúth and píty ón my pláint, | or élse I ám forlórn; - Let nót the wórld contínue thús | in láughing mé to scórn. - Mádam, if Í be hé, | to whóm you ónce were bént, - With whóm to spénd your tíme | sometíme you wére content: - If ány hópe be léft, | if ány récompénse - Be áble tó recóver thís | forpássed négligénce, - O, hélp me nów poor wrétch | in thís most héavy plíght, - And fúrnish mé yet ónce agáin | with Tédiousnéss to fíght._ - -§ =146.= In other passages in this drama, e.g. in the speech of _Wit_, -p. 359, this combination (Alexandrine with Septenary following) occurs -in a sequence of some length. It existed, however, before Redford's -time, as a favourite form of stave, in lyrical as well as in narrative -poetry, and was well known to the first Tudor English prosodists under -the name of _The Poulter's Measure_.[148] - -The opening lines of Surrey's _Complaint of a dying Lover_ (p. 24) -present an example of its cadence: - - _In wínter's just retúrn, | when Bóreas gán his réign, - And évery trée unclóthed fást, | as Náture táught them pláin: - In místy mórning dárk, | as shéep are thén in hóld, - I híed me fást, it sát me ón, | my shéep for tó unfóld._ - -Brooke's narrative poem _Romeus and Juliet_, utilized by Shakespeare for -his drama of the same name, is in this metre. Probably the strict iambic -cadence and the fixed position of the caesura caused this metre to -appear especially adapted for cultured poetry, at a time when rising and -falling rhythms were first sharply distinguished. It was, however, not -long popular, though isolated examples are found in modern poets, as, -for instance, Cowper and Watts. Thackeray uses it for comic poems, for -which it appears especially suitable, sometimes using the two kinds of -verse promiscuously, as Dean Swift had done before him, and sometimes -employing the Alexandrine and Septenary in regular alternation. - -§ =147. The Alexandrine= runs more smoothly than the Septenary. The -Middle English Alexandrine is a six-foot iambic line with a caesura -after the third foot. This caesura, like the end of the line, may be -either masculine or feminine. - -This metre was probably employed for the first time in Robert Mannyng's -translation of Peter Langtoft's rhythmical Chronicle, partly composed in -French Alexandrines. The four metrical types of the model mentioned -above (p. 198) naturally also make their appearance here. - - _a. Méssengérs he sent | þórghout Ínglónd_ - _b. Untó the Ínglis kýnges | þat hád it ín þer hónd._ - p. 2, ll. 3-4. - _c. Áfter Éthelbért | com Élfríth his bróther,_ - _d. Þát was Égbrihtes sónne, | and [gh]ít þer wás an óþer;_ - p. 21, ll. 7-8. - -The Germanic licences incidental to even-beat rhythm are strikingly -perceptible throughout. - -In the first line we have to note in both hemistichs suppression of the -anacrusis, in the second either the omission of an unaccented syllable -or lengthening of a word (_Ing(e)lond_). The second line has a regular -structure: in the third the suppression of the anacrusis is to be noted -and the absence of an unaccented syllable in the second hemistich. The -last line has the regular number of syllables, but double inversion of -accent in the first hemistich. A disyllabic thesis at the beginning or -in the middle of the line also frequently occurs. - - _To purvéie þám a skúlking, | on the Énglish éft to ríde_; - p. 3, l. 8. - - _Bot soiórned þám a whíle | in rést a Bángóre_; - p. 3, l. 16. - - _In Wéstsex was þán a kýng, | his náme wás Sir Íne_; - p. 2, l. 1. - -There is less freedom of structure in the Alexandrine as used in the -lyrical poems of this period, in which, however, the verse is generally -resolved by middle rhyme into short lines, as may be seen from the -examples in § 150. - -§ =148.= The structure of the Alexandrine is, on the other hand, -extremely irregular in the late Middle English Mysteries and the Early -English Moral Plays, where, so far as we have observed, it is not -employed in any piece as the exclusive metre, but mostly occurs either -as the first member of the above-mentioned _Poulter's Measure_, and -occasionally in uninterrupted sequence in speeches of considerable -length. We cannot therefore always say with certainty whether we have in -many passages of _Jacob and Esau_ (Dodsley's _Old Plays_, ed. Hazlitt, -vol. ii, pp. 185 ff.) to deal with four-beat lines or with unpolished -Alexandrines (cf. Act II, Sc. i). In other pieces, on the other hand, -the Alexandrine, where it appears in passages of some length, is pretty -regularly constructed, as, for instance, in Redford's _Marriage of Wit -and Science_ (Dodsley, ii, pp. 325 ff.), e.g. in Act II. Sc. ii (pp. -340-1): - - _How mány séek, that cóme | too shórt of théir desíre: - How mány dó attémpt, | that daíly dó retíre. - How mány róve abóut | the márk on évery síde: - How mány think to hít, | when théy are much too wíde: - How mány rún too fár, | how mány light too lów: - How féw to góod efféct | their trávail dó bestów!_ &c. - -The caesura and close of the line are in this passage, which comprises -eighteen lines, monosyllabic throughout. - -§ =149.= In Modern English the Alexandrine is also found in a long-lined -rhyming form, as, for instance, in the sixteenth century in certain -poems by Sidney, but notably in Drayton's _Polyolbion_. - -The Modern English Alexandrine is particularly distinguished from the -Middle English variety by the fact that the four types of the Middle -English Alexandrine are reduced to one, the caesura being regularly -masculine and the close of the line nearly always so; further by the -very scanty employment of the Teutonic rhythmical licences; cf. the -opening lines of the _Polyolbion_ (_Poets_, iii. pp. 239 ff.): - - _Of Álbion's glórious ísle | the wónders whílst I wríte, - The súndry várying sóils, | the pléasures ínfiníte, - Where héat kills nót the cóld, | nor cóld expéls the héat, - The cálms too míldly smáll, | nor wínds too róughly gréat_, &c. - -Minor caesuras seldom occur, and generally in the second hemistich, as, -e.g., minor lyric caesuras after the first foot: - - _Wise génius, | bý thy hélp || that só I máy descrý._ - 240 a; - -or masculine caesura after the second foot: - - _Ye sácred bárds | that to || your hárps' melódious stríngs._ - ib. - -Enjambement is only sporadically met with; breaking of the rhyme still -more seldom. - -Less significance is to be attached to the fact that Brysket, in a poem -on Sidney's death, entitled _The Mourning Muse of Thestylis_ (printed -with Spenser's works, Globe edition, p. 563), makes Alexandrines rhyme -together, not in couplets, but in an arbitrary order; further, that -Surrey and Blennerhasset occasionally composed in similarly constructed -rhymeless Alexandrines (cf. _Metrik_, ii, p. 83). - -Of greater importance is the structure of the Alexandrine when used as -the concluding line of the Spenserian stanza and of its imitations. - -It is here noteworthy that the lyric caesura, unusual in Middle English, -often occurs in Spenser after the first hemistich: - - _That súch a cúrsed créature || líves so lóng a spáce._ - F. Q. I. i. 31; - -as well as in connexion with minor caesuras: - - _Upón his fóe, | a Drágon, || hórriblé and stéarne._ - ib. I. i. 3. - -The closing line of the Spenserian stanza is similarly handled by other -poets, such as Thomson, Scott, Wordsworth, while poets like Pope, Byron, -Shelley, and others admit only masculine caesuras after the third foot. -By itself the Alexandrine has not often been employed in Modern English. - -Connected in couplets it occurs in the nineteenth century in -Wordsworth's verse, e.g. in _The Pet Lamb_ (ii. 149), and is in this use -as well as in the Spenserian stanza treated by this poet with greater -freedom than by others, two opening and medial disyllabic theses as well -as suppression of anacrusis, being frequently admitted, while on the -other hand the caesura and close of the verse are always monosyllabic. - -§ =150. The three-foot line= has its origin theoretically, and as a -rule also actually, in a halving of the Alexandrine, and this is -effected less frequently by the use of leonine than by cross rhyme. - -Two Alexandrine long lines are, for instance, frequently resolved in -this metrical type into four three-foot short lines with crossed rhymes, -as, e.g., in Robert Mannyng's _Chronicle_, from p. 69 of Hearne's -edition onwards. - -From our previous description of the four types of the Middle English -Alexandrine, determined by the caesura and the close of the verse, it is -clear that the short verses resulting from them may rhyme either with -masculine or feminine endings, as, e.g., on p. 78, ll. 1, 2: - - _Wílliam the Cónqueróur_ _Óut of his fírst erróur_ - _Chángis his wícked wíll;_ _repéntis óf his ílle_. - -In accordance with the general character of the metre the verses in this -Chronicle are, even when rhyming as short lines, printed as long lines, -especially as this order of rhymes is not consistently observed in all -places in which they occur. - -In lyrical poetry this metre is naturally chiefly found arranged in -short lines, as in the following examples: - - Wright's Spec. of L. P., 97: Minot, ed. Hall, 17: - _Máyden móder mílde,_ _Tówrenay, [gh]ów has tíght_ - _oiéz cel óreysóun;_ _To tímber tréy and téne_ - _from sháme þóu me shílde, A bóre, with brénis bríght_ - _e dé ly málfelóun._ _Es bróght opón [gh]owre gréne_. - -With another order of rhymes these verses are also met -with in tail-rhyme stanzas of different kinds, as, for instance, -in Wright's _Spec. of L. P._, p. 41: - - _Of a món mátheu þóhte,_ _In márewe mén he sóhte,_ - _þo hé þe wýn[gh]ord wróhte;_ _at únder mó he bróhte,_ - _and wrót hit ón ys bóc,_ _and nóm, ant nón forsóc_. - -As a rule, the verses in such lyrical compositions intended to be sung -are more regularly constructed than in those of narrative poetry, where -the usual Germanic metrical licences occur more frequently. - -In Modern English the three-foot verse has remained a favourite, chiefly -in lyrical poetry, and occurs there as well with monosyllabic as with -disyllabic rhymes, which may either follow one another or be crossed, -e.g.: - - Surrey, p. 128: Surrey, p. 39: - _Me líst no móre to síng_ _Though Í regárded nót_ - _Of lóve, nor óf such thing,_ _The prómise máde by mé;_ - _How sóre that ít me wríng;_ _Or pássed nót to spót_ - _For whát I súng or spáke,_ _My fáith and hónestý:_ - _Mén did my sóngs mistáke._ _Yét were my fáncy stránge_, &c. - -We seldom find three-foot verses with disyllabic rhymes throughout. -There is, on the other hand, in lyrical poetry a predilection for -stanzas in which disyllabic rhymes alternate with monosyllabic, as, for -instance, in Sheffield, _On the Loss of an only Son_: - - _Our mórning's gáy and shíning, - The dáys our jóys decláre; - At évening nó repíning, - And níght's all vóid of cáre. - A fónd transpórted móther - Was óften héard to crý, - Oh, whére is súch anóther - So bléss'd by Héaven as Í?_ &c. - -Rhythmical licences, such as suppression of the anacrusis, seldom occur -in such short lines. The species of licence that is most frequent -appears to be inversion of accent. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - THE RHYMED FIVE-FOOT VERSE - - -§ =151.= Among all English metres the five-foot verse may be said to be -the metre which has been employed in the greatest number of poems, and -in those of highest merit. - -Two forms can be distinguished, namely, the rhymed and the rhymeless -five-foot verse (the latter being known as _blank verse_), which are of -equal importance, though not of equal antiquity. - -The rhymed five-foot verse was known in English poetry as far back as -the second half of the thirteenth century, and has been a favourite -metre from Chaucer's first poetic attempts onward to the present, whilst -the blank verse was first introduced into English literature about the -year 1540 by the Earl of Surrey (1518-47), and has been frequently -employed ever since that time. The rhymed five-foot verse was, and has -continued to be, mainly preferred for lyrical and epic, the blank verse -for dramatic poetry. The latter, however, has been employed e.g. by -Milton, and after him by Thomson and many others for the epic and allied -species of poetry; while rhymed five-foot verse was used during a -certain period for dramatic poetry, e.g. by Davenant and Dryden, but by -the latter only for a short time. - -=Rhymed five-accent verse= occurs in Middle English both in poems -composed in stanza form and (since Chaucer's _Legend of Good Women_, c. -1386) in couplets. - -This metre, apart from differences in the length of the line and in -number of accents, is by no means to be looked upon as different from -the remaining even-stressed metres of that time. For, like the Middle -English four-foot verse and the Alexandrine, it derives its origin from -a French source, its prototype being the French decasyllabic verse. This -is a metre with rising rhythm, in which the caesura generally comes -after the fourth syllable, as e.g. in the line: - - _Ja mais n'iert tels | com fut as anceisors._ Saint Alexis, l. 5. - -To this verse the following line of Chaucer's corresponds -exactly in point of structure: - - _A kníght ther wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._ - Cant. Tales, Prol. 43. - -§ =152.= The English verse, like the French decasyllabic, admits -feminine caesuras and feminine line-endings, and the first thesis -(anacrusis) may be absent; there are, therefore, sixteen varieties -theoretically possible. - - I. Principal Types. - - 1. ) - ) - | ) - ) - ) - 10 syll. - 2. ) - ) - ) | ) - ) - ) - 11 " - 3. ) - ) - | ) - ) - ) - ) 11 " - 4. ) - ) - ) | ) - ) - ) - ) 12 " - - II. With Initial Truncation - (omission of the first thesis). - - 5. - ) - | ) - ) - ) - 9 syll. - 6. - ) - ) | ) - ) - ) - 10 " - 7. - ) - | ) - ) - ) - ) 10 " - 8. - ) - ) | ) - ) - ) - ) 11 " - - III. With Internal Truncation - (omission of the thesis after - the caesura). - - 9. ) - ) - | - ) - ) - 9 syll. - 10. ) - ) - ) | - ) - ) - 10 " - 11. ) - ) - | - ) - ) - ) 10 " - 12. ) - ) - ) | - ) - ) - ) 11 " - - IV. With both Initial and Internal - Truncation. - - 13. - ) - | - ) - ) - 8 syll. - 14. - ) - ) | - ) - ) - 9 " - 15. - ) - | - ) - ) - ) 9 " - 16. - ) - ) | - ) - ) - ) 10 " - -This table at the same time also contains the formal exposition, and -indeed possibly the actual explanation (by suppression of the thesis -following the epic caesura), of such lines as may be regarded as lines -with lyric caesura, and are identical with these in regard to rhythm and -number of syllables. To this class belong the forms given under 10, 12, -14, and 16. - -The following examples will serve to illustrate these sixteen types: - - I. Principal Types. - - 1. _A kníght ther wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._ Prol. 43. - - 2. _What schúlde he stúdie, | and máke himsélven wóod?_ ib. 184. - - 3. _But thílke téxt | held hé not wórth an óystre._ ib. 182. - - 4. _To Cáunterbúry | with fúl devóut coráge._ ib. 22. - - II. With Initial Truncation. - - 5. _Úpon whích | he wíl auénged bé._ - Lydgate, Story of Thebes, 1086. - - 6. _Óf the wórdes | that Týdeús had sáid._ ib. 1082. - - 7. _Fró the kíng | he gán his fáce tóurne._ ib. 1068. - - 8. _Nát astónned, | nor ín his hért aférde._ ib. 1069. - - III. With Internal Truncation after the caesura. - - 9. _A stérne pás | thórgh the hálle he góth._ ib. 1072. - - 10. _And whích they wéren, | ánd of whát degré._ Chaucer, Prol. 40. - - 11. _And yét therbý | sháll they néuer thrýve?_ - Barclay, Ship of Fooles, p. 20. - - 12. _And máde fórward | érly fór to rýse._ Chaucer, Prol. 33. - - IV. With Initial Truncation and Truncation after the caesura. - - 13. _Ín al hást | Týdeús to swé._ Lydgate, Story of Thebes, 1093. - - 14. _Twénty bókes, | clád in blák and réed._ Chaucer, Prol. 294. - - 15. _Spáred nát | wómen gréet with chýlde._ - Lydgate, Guy of Warwick, 16. - - 16. _Fór to délen | wíth no súch poráille._ Chaucer, Prol. 247. - -In this five-foot metre all the Germanic licences of the even-beat -rhythm may occur in the same way as in the other even-beat metres. The -caesura, for instance, may occur in both (or all three) varieties in the -five-foot verse of Chaucer and of many other poets, either after or -within any of the remaining feet. Hence the structure of this metrical -form gains to an extraordinary degree in complexity. - -By the mere fact that the variations adduced above may also occur after -the first, third, and fourth foot, the number of verse-forms produced by -the above-mentioned types of caesura in combination with initial -truncation and the different kinds of verse-ending rises to sixty-four, -to say nothing of the other metrical licences due to inversion of -accent, level stress, and the presence of hypermetrical unaccented -syllables at the beginning, or in the middle and the end of the line. At -any rate, the varieties of even-beat metres, especially of the five-foot -verse, resulting from these metrical licences, are much more numerous -than those connected with the five main types of the alliterative -hemistich. The great diversity of rhythm allowed by this metrical theory -has, indeed, been objected to, but evidently without sufficient reason, -and, as it seems, only because of the unfamiliarity of the idea. - -§ =153.= This variable position of the caesura is, however, not found in -the earliest specimens of this metre presented to us in the two poems in -the Harl. MS. 2253 dating from the second half of the thirteenth -century, which are edited in Wright's _Specimens of Lyric Poetry_, Nos. -xl and xli (wrongly numbered xlii).[149] These are written in tripartite -eight-lined, anisometrical stanzas of the form _a4 b3 a4 b3 c5 c5 d7 -d5_, in which the fifth, sixth, and eighth lines are evidently of five -feet. Ten Brink,[150] it is true, says that he has not been able 'to -convince himself that this was a genuine instance of a metre -which--whether in origin or character--might be identified with -Chaucer's heroic verse, although in isolated instances it seems to -coincide with it'. According to my conviction, there is not the -slightest doubt as to the structure of these verses as lines of five -feet, and Ten Brink has not expressed any opinion as to the nature of -the verse to which they must otherwise be referred.[151] - -In both these poems there occur only verses of the type indicated by the -formulas 3, 4, 7, 12: - - 3. _His hérte blód | he [gh]éf for ál monkúnne._ xl. 35. - - 4. _Upón þe róde | why núlle we táken héde?_ ib. 27. - - 7. _[Gh]éf bou dóst, | hit wól me réowe sóre._ xli. 20. - - 12. _Bote héo me lóuye, | sóre hil wól me réwe._ ib. 27. - -Among the Germanic licences the presence of a disyllabic initial or -internal thesis is most noticeable in these which are, so far as is -known, the earliest five-foot verses in English poetry; as, e.g. in xli. -33, 34: - - _Ase stérres beþ in wélkne, | and gráses sóur ant suéte; - Whose lóueþ vntréwe, | his hérte is sélde séete._ - -§ =154.= The main difference between Chaucer's five-foot verse and these -early specimens of this metre is that the caesura does not always occupy -a fixed place in it, but is liable to shift its position.[152] It is -either masculine, epic, or lyric, and occurs chiefly after the second or -in and after the third foot, or in the fourth, so that there are thus -(in Chaucer's verse and that of most of the following poets) =six main -types of caesura=: - -1. Masculine (monosyllabic) caesura after the second foot; the principal -kind (types 1 and 3): - - _Whan Zéphirús | eek wíth his swéte bréethe._ Prol. 5. - -2. Feminine (disyllabic) epic caesura after the second foot; far rarer -(types 2 and 4): - - _To Cáunterbúry[153] | with fúl devóut coráge._ ib. 22. - -3. Feminine (disyllabic) lyric caesura in the third foot; more frequent -than the preceding (types 10 and 12): - - _And máde fórward | érly fór to rýse._ ib. 83. - -4. Masculine (monosyllabic) caesura after the third foot (first -subordinate type to 1 and 3 = 1a and 3a): - - _That slépen ál the níght | with ópen éye._ ib. 10. - -5. Feminine (disyllabic) epic caesura after the third foot, rare (first -subordinate type to 2 and 4 = 2a and 4a): - - _Ther ás he wás ful mérye | and wél át ése._ Nonne Pr. T. 438. - -6. Feminine lyric caesura in the fourth foot (first subordinate type to -10 and 12 = 10a and 12a): - - _An ánlas ánd a gípser | ál of sílk._ Prol. 357. - -Besides these six principal caesuras we also find all the three types -occurring in rarer instances in the corresponding remaining positions of -the verse, namely, after the first or in the second foot, and after the -fourth or in the fifth foot. Enjambement often gives rise to logical -caesuras in unusual positions, alongside of which another metrical -caesura is generally noticeable in one of the usual positions: - - _Byfél, || that ín that sésoun | ón a dáy._ Prol. 18. - - _In Sóuthwerk | át the Tábard || ás I láy._ ib. 20. - - _Farwél, || for Í ne máy | no lénger dwélle._ Kn. T. 1496. - - _O régne, || that wólt no félawe | hán with thé._ ib. 766. - - _Now cértes, || Í wol dó | my díligénce._ Prioresse T. 1729. - - _Is ín this lárge | wórlde ysprád || --quod shé._ ib. 1644. - - _To Médes ánd | to Pérses yíuen || quod hé._ Monkes T. 3425. - - _And sófte untó himsélf | he séyde | : Fý._ Kn. T. 915. - -By the various combinations of such principal and subordinate caesuras -the number of the varieties of this metre is increased to an almost -unlimited extent. Many lines also are devoid of the caesura completely, -or, at most, admit, under the influence of the general rhythm, a light -metrical caesura without any strict logical need, as, for instance, when -it occurs after a conjunction or a preposition, as in the verses: - - _By fórward ánd | by cómposícióun._ Prol. 848. - - _That Í was óf | here félaweschípe anón._ ib. 32. - -§ =155.= The end also of the line may be either masculine or feminine. -Both kinds occur side by side on a perfectly equal footing, the feminine -endings probably somewhat oftener in Chaucer's verse owing to the -numerous terminations consisting of _e_ or _e_ + consonant which were -still pronounced at his time. Besides the variety in the caesura and the -end of the verse, the well-known licences of even-beat rhythm play a -considerable part; as, for instance, inversion of accent, ordinary and -rhetorical, at the beginning of the verse and after the caesura: rédy -_to wénden_ Prol. 21; Sýngynge _he wás_ ib. 91; Schórt _was his góune_ -ib. 93; Tróuthe _and honóur_, frédom _and cóurteisíe_ ib. 46. - -Although omission of the anacrusis is on the whole unfrequent, it yet -undoubtedly occurs (cf. p. 137, footnote): - - _Ál besmótered | wíth his hábergeóun._ Prol. 76. - - _Gýnglen ín a | whístlyng wýnd as clére._ ib. 170. - -Disyllabic theses are often found initially and internally. - - _With a thrédbare cópe | as is a póure schóler._ Prol. 262. - - _Of Éngelónd, | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ ib. 16. - -Similar rhythmical phenomena are caused by the slurring of -syllables, such, e.g., as _Many a, tharray_ from _the array_, &c., &c., -in regard to which reference should be made to the chapter on -the metrical value of syllables. - -Level stress occurs most frequently in Chaucer in rhyme: _f+i+ft+é+ne_: -_Trámasséne_ 61-2; _d+a+gg+é+re_: _spere_ 113-14; _thing_: _wr+i+t+ý+ng_ -325-6. Enjambement and rhyme-breaking are used by him with great skill -(cf. §§ 92, 93). - -§ =156.= In later Middle English this metre on the whole retained the -same character, and individual poets vary from one another only in a few -points. - -Of Gower's five-foot verse only short specimens are preserved. Like his -four-foot verse, they are very generally regular. Inversion of accent is -the licence he most often employs. Gower uses almost exclusively the -masculine caesura after the second foot and the lyric caesura in the -third foot. But epic caesura also occasionally occurs in his verse: - - _Fór of batáille | the fínal énde is pés._ Praise of Peace, 66. - -A decline in the technique of the five-foot verse begins with Lydgate -and Hoccleve. - -These writers deprived the caesura of its mobility and admitted it -almost exclusively after the second beat. Hoccleve uses hardly any -caesuras but the masculine and lyric, whilst in Lydgate's verse epic -caesura is often met with (cf. p. 211). Both indulge in the licences of -initial truncation and omission of the unaccented syllable after the -caesura (cf. l. c.) as well as level stress and the admission of several -unaccented syllables at the beginning of the verse and internally; there -are even cases of the omission of unaccented syllables in the middle of -the verse: - - _Of hárd márble | they díde anóther máke._ Min. P., p. 85, 24. - -The slight license of inversion of accent is also taken advantage -of. - -Stephen Hawes and Barclay again imparted to this line greater freedom -with regard to the caesura. And yet the metre exhibits under their -hands, in consequence of the frequent occurrence of disyllabic initial -and internal theses, a somewhat uneven rhythm. - -The ablest of the successors of Chaucer, in technique as in other -respects, are the Scots: Blind Harry, Henrysoun, King James I, Douglas, -and Dunbar. The verse of Dunbar, in particular, stands on an equality -with Chaucer's in rhythmical euphony, while David Lyndesay often -struggles with difficulties of form, and, by frequent use of level -stress, offends against the first principle of even-beat rhythm, viz. -the coincidence of the metrical accent with the natural accentuation of -the word and sentence. - -§ =157.= In Modern English the rhymed five-foot verse remains -essentially the same as in the Middle English period. Feminine rhymes -are indeed rarer than in Middle English poetry in consequence of the -disuse of flexional endings. - -For the same reason, and owing to the advance in technical execution, -the epic caesura is also rarer. Still, examples of this as well as of -the other kind of caesuras employed by Chaucer are found in Modern -English: - - I. _The níghtingále | with féathers néw she síngs._ Sur. p. 3. - - II. _The sóte séason | that búd and blóom forth bríngs._ ib. p. 3. - - III. _Itsélf from trávail | óf the dáys unrést._ ib. p. 2. - - IV. _The sún hath twíce brought fórth | his ténder gréen._ - - V. _He knóweth how gréat Atrídes, | that máde Troy frét._ - Wyatt, 152. - - VI. _At lást she ásked sóftly, | whó was thére._ ib. 187. - -In positions nearer to the beginning or the end of the line the -different kinds of caesura are also rare in Modern English, and occur -mostly in consequence of enjambements. - -In Wyatt's poems epic caesuras are found in comparatively large number; -in Spenser, on the other hand, they are probably entirely lacking, owing -to a finer feeling for the technique of the verse. - -Inversions of accent occur in the usual positions and at all times with -all the poets. Level stress, on the other hand, is more frequently -detected in such poets as do not excel in technical skill, as, for -instance, in Wyatt and Donne, who also admit initial truncation, and -more rarely the omission of a thesis in the middle of the line. In their -poems disyllabic theses also often occur initially and internally, while -more careful poets more rarely permit themselves these licences. To -Wyatt's charge must be laid further the unusual and uncouth licence of -unaccented rhyme, such rhymes, for example, as _begínnìng: eclípsìng_, -p. 56, 1-3; _dréadèth: séekèth_, _inclósèd: oppréssèd_ 54, &c. In -other poets this peculiarity is hardly ever found. - -§ =158.= In narrative poetry the five-foot verse rhyming in couplets, -_heroic verse_, was a favourite metre. As a close in the sense coincides -with that of each couplet, this metre tends to assume an epigrammatic -tone, especially since enjambement seldom occurs after the Restoration. -To avoid the monotony thus occasioned, many Restoration poets linked -three verses together by one and the same rhyme, whereby the regular -sequence of couplets was then interrupted wherever they pleased. -Sometimes such threefold rhymes (_triplets_) serve the purpose of laying -a special stress on particular passages, a practice which is, moreover, -to be observed as early as in some contemporaries of Shakespeare, e.g. -in Donne. A somewhat freer structure than that of the heroic verse is, -as a rule, exhibited by the five-foot line when employed in poems in -stanza form. In this verse a considerable part is played by enjambement. -This also holds good for the rhymed five-foot verse employed in dramatic -poetry, which usually rhymes in couplets, though alternate rhymes are -occasionally used. - -After Lyly's _The Maid's Metamorphosis_, entirely written in heroic -verse, this metre was chiefly employed by Shakespeare and his -contemporaries for prologues and epilogues. Rhymed five-foot verses -frequently occur in Shakespeare's earlier dramas, e.g. in _Romeo and -Juliet_, where their technical structure is found to be fairly strict. -In his later dramas, on the other hand, e.g. in the Prologue and -Epilogue to _Henry VIII_, the heroic verse is, on the analogy of the -freer treatment of his later blank verse, also more loosely constructed. -Enjambement, and the caesuras connected with it after the first and -fourth accents, are often met with. - -§ =159.= Dryden's dramatic heroic verse does not differ essentially from -that of his satirical poems and translations. After Dryden returned to -blank verse for dramatic writing, heroic verse ceased to be employed for -this purpose. Rhymed verse, rhyming in couplets and stanzas, however, -still continued to be in vogue in lyrical, satirical, didactic, and -narrative poetry. - -Pope's heroic verse is still more uniformly constructed than that of -Dryden. Both poets hardly ever employ any caesura but the masculine and -the lyric after the second and third beat, and the end of the line is -almost exclusively masculine. Initial truncation or the absence of an -unaccented syllable internally is hardly to be met with in their poems. -The earlier diversity in the structure of this line was (under the -influence of the French models whom they closely imitated) considerably -restricted. Even transposition of accent occurs comparatively seldom, so -that the word-accent generally exactly coincides with the rhythmical -accent. Enjambement is, however, employed more frequently by Dryden than -by Pope; and the former, moreover, occasionally admits at the close of a -triplet a verse of six feet, while Pope, in his original poems, -completely avoids triplets as well as six-accent lines. The breaking of -rhyme both poets purposely exclude. - -A similar uniform character is exhibited by the heroic verse of most of -the poets of the eighteenth century. It is not before the nineteenth -century that this metre, in spite of the persistence of individual -poets, e.g. Byron, in adhering to the fashion set by Pope, again -acquires greater freedom. Shelley and Browning, for instance, are fond -of combining lines of heroic verse by enjambement so as to form periods -of some length. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and others again admit -couplets and triplets with occasional six-foot lines at the close. But -the caesura remains nearly always restricted to the places which it -occupies in Pope's verse, and the close of the line is masculine. Keats -only often indulges in feminine rhymes. - -It is, however, remarkable that such rhymes more often occur in -five-foot verses combined in stanzas when employed for satirical and -comic compositions, as e.g. in Byron's _Beppo_ and _Don Juan_. In these -poems the disyllabic thesis, the slurring of syllables, and other -rhythmical licences, also more frequently occur. - -NOTES: - - [141] See ten Brink, _The Language and Metre of Chaucer_ (English - transl.), § 280, where the metrical treatment of these words - is described. The German term used by ten Brink is - _Anlehnungen_. - - [142] _Old English Homilies_, ed. R. Morris, First Series, Part I, - E.E.T.S., No. 29, pp. 55-71. - - [143] Cf. Charles L. Crow, _On the History of the Short Couplet in - Middle English_. Dissert., Göttingen, 1892. - - [144] Cf. _John Heywood als Dramatiker_, von Wilh. Swoboda, 1888, p. - 83 ff. - - [145] Cf. our metrical notes ('Metrische Randglossen') in _Engl. - Studien_, x, p. 192 seq. - - [146] In _Old English Homilies_, ed. R. Morris, pp. 190ff. - - [147] Trautmann, _Anglia_, v, Anz., p. 124; Einenkel, ibid., 74; - Menthel, _Anglia_, viii, Anz., p. 70. - - [148] According to Guest (ii. 233) 'because the poulterer, as - Gascoigne tells us, giveth twelve for one dozen and fourteen - for another'. - - [149] These poems are also printed in Böddeker, _Altengl. - Dichtungen_, Geistl. Lieder, xviii, Weltl. Lieder, xiv. - - [150] _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, § 305, note. - - [151] The verses he calls five-foot lines have, on the other hand, - decidedly not this structure, but are four-foot lines with - unaccented rhymes; for a final word in the line, such us - _wrécfúl_, as is assumed by Ten Brink, with the omission of an - unaccented syllable between the last two accents, would be - utterly inconsistent with the whole character of this metre. - - [152] According to Ten Brink, _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, - § 305, the shifting character of Chaucer's caesura was chiefly - caused by his acquaintance with the Italian _endecasillabo_. - This influence may have come in later, but even in Chaucer's - early _Compleynt to Pitee_ (according to Ten Brink, - _Geschichte der englischen Literatur_, ii. p. 49, his first - poem written under the influence of the French decasyllabic - verse) the caesura is here moveable, though not to the same - extent as in the later poems. The liability of the caesura to - shift its position was certainly considerably increased by the - accentual character of English rhythm. On the untenableness of - his assertion, that in Chaucer's five-accent verse the epic - caesura is unknown, cf. p. 145 (footnote), _Metrik_, ii. 101-3 - note, and Schipper in Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, pp. - 217-21. - - - - - DIVISION III - - VERSE-FORMS OCCURRING IN MODERN ENGLISH - POETRY ONLY - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - BLANK VERSE - - -§ =160. The Beginnings of Modern English Poetry.= Puttenham, in his -_Arte of English Poesie_, i. 31, speaks of Surrey and Wyatt as having -originated the modern period of English poetry. This is true in so far -as their poems are the first to show clearly--especially in metrical -form--the influence of the spirit of the Renaissance, which had been -making itself felt in English Literature for some time past. The new -tendencies manifested themselves not only in the actual introduction of -new rhythms and verse-forms borrowed from Classical and Italian poetry, -but also in the endeavour to regulate and reform the native poetry -according to the metrical laws and peculiarities of foreign models, -especially of the ancient classics. - -There were, indeed, several features of classical poetry which invited -imitation, and the introduction of which produced the chief differences -between Modern English and Middle English versification. These features -are: - -First, the quantitative character of the ancient rhythms as opposed to -the accentual character of English verse. Secondly, the strict -separation of rising and falling rhythms. In Middle English we have only -the rising rhythm, which, however, sometimes becomes a falling one if -the first thesis is wanting. Finally, the absence of rhyme in the poetry -of the ancients, whereas in late Middle English poetry--apart from some -North-English and Scottish productions written in the conservative, -rhymeless form of the alliterative line--rhyme is all but universal. - -§ =161.= The heroic couplet, the most popular and most important metre -in later Middle English poetry, was, naturally, first of all influenced -by the new classical movement. - -It was the Earl of Surrey who, by dispensing with the rhyme, first -transformed this metre into what is now known as Blank Verse. He adopted -the unrhymed decasyllabic line as the most suitable vehicle for his -translation of the second and fourth books of the _Aeneid_, written -about 1540. In so doing, he enriched modern literature with a new form -of verse which was destined to take a far more important place in -English poetry than he can have foreseen for it. In its original -function, as appropriate to the translation of ancient epic poetry, it -has been employed by many late writers, e.g. by Cowper in his version -of Homer; but this is only one, and the least considerable, of its many -applications. Shortly after Surrey's time blank verse was used for court -drama by Sackville and Norton in their tragedy of _Gorboduc_ (1561), and -for popular drama by Marlowe in _Tamburlaine the Great_ (1587). - -From the latter part of the sixteenth century onwards it has continued -to be the prevailing metre for dramatic poetry, except for a short time, -when its supremacy was disputed by the heroic couplet used by Lord -Orrery, Davenant, Dryden, and others. Meanwhile blank verse had also -become the metre of original epic poetry through Milton's use of it in -his _Paradise Lost_; and in the eighteenth century it was applied to -descriptive and reflective poetry by Thomson and Young. - -It is uncertain whether Surrey invented it himself on the basis of his -studies in classical rhymeless poetry, or whether he was influenced by -the example of the Italian poet Trissino (1478-1550), who, in his epic -_Italia liberata dai Goti_ and in his drama _Sofonisba_, introduced into -Italian poetry the rhymeless, eleven-syllabled verses known as _versi -sciolti_ (sc. _della rima_, i.e. freed from rhyme). There are at least -no conclusive grounds for accepting the latter view, as there are some -peculiarities in Surrey's blank verse which are not met with in -Trissino, e.g. the occurrence of incomplete lines, which may have been -introduced after the model of the unfinished lines found occasionally -amongst Vergil's Latin hexameters. - -Blank verse being in its origin only heroic verse without rhyme,[154] we -may refer for its general rhythmical structure to what we have said on -this metre. The rhythmical licences of this and the other iambic metres -discussed in §§ 82-8 are common also to blank verse. But in addition to -these, blank verse has several other deviations from the normal rhymed -five-foot iambic verse, the emancipation from rhyme having had the -effect of producing greater variability of metrical structure. It is for -this reason it has been thought advisable to treat heroic verse and -blank verse in separate chapters. - -At first, it is true, the two metres are very similar in character, -especially in Surrey; with the further and independent development of -blank verse, however, they diverge more and more. - -§ =162.= In conformity with Surrey's practice in his heroic verse, -which, as we have seen, usually had masculine rhymes, his blank verse -has also as a rule masculine endings, and is thus distinguished not only -from Chaucer's heroic verse, which frequently had feminine endings, but -from the blank verse of later poets like Shakespeare and some of his -contemporaries. - -As to the principal kinds of the caesura after the second and third foot -there is no material difference between Surrey's blank verse and the -heroic verse of the same period (cf. §§ 154, 157). - -The Epic caesura occurs occasionally after the second foot, e.g.: - - _Líke to the ádder | with vénomous hérbes féd._ - p. 131; - -but apparently not after the third, although it does not seem to have -been avoided on principle, as we often find lyric caesuras in this -place, and even after the fourth foot: - - _His tále with ús | did púrchase crédit; || sóme - Trápt by decéit; | some fórced bý his téars._ - p. 120. - -The run-on line (or enjambement) is already pretty frequently used by -Surrey (35 times in the first 250 lines), and this is one of the chief -distinctions between blank verse and heroic verse. In most instances the -use of run-on lines is deliberately adopted with a view to artistic -effect. The same may be said of the frequent inversion of rhythm. On the -other hand, it seldom happens that the flow of the metre is interrupted -by level stress, missing thesis, or the use of a disyllabic thesis at -the beginning or in the interior of the verse.[155] - -As to the peculiarities of the word-stress and the metrical treatment of -syllables in Surrey, the respective sections of the introductory remarks -should be consulted. Apart then from the metrical licences, of which it -admits in common with heroic verse, the most important peculiarities of -Surrey's blank verse are the masculine endings, which are almost -exclusively used, and the frequent use of run-on lines. - -Cf. the opening lines of the fourth book of his _Aeneid_: - - _But nów the wóunded Quéen, | with héavy care, - Throughóut the véins | she nóurishéth the pláie, - Surprísëd wíth blind fláme; | and tó her mínd - 'Gan éke resórt | the prówess óf the mán, - And hónour óf his ráce: | whíle in her bréast - Imprínted stáck his wórds, | and píctures fórm. - Né to her límbs | care gránteth quíet rést. - The néxt mórrow, | with Phóebus' lámp the éarth - Alíghted cléar; | and éke the dáwning dáy - The shádows dárk | 'gan fróm the póle remóve: - When áll unsóund, | her síster óf like mínd - Thús spake she tó: | 'O! Síster Ánne, what dréams - Be thése, | that mé torménted | thús affráy? - What new guést is thís, | that tó our réalm is cóme? - Whát one of chéer? | how stóut of héart in árms? - Trúly I thínk | (ne váin is mý belíef) - Of Góddish ráce | some óffspring shóuld he bé.'_ - -§ =163.= With regard to the further development of this metre in the -drama of the second half of the sixteenth and the first half of the -seventeenth centuries we must restrict ourselves to a brief summary of -its most important peculiarities, for details referring the reader to -_Metrik_, ii, pp. 256-375; for bibliography see ib., pp. 259-60. - -The employment of blank verse in the court drama hardly brought about -any change in its structure. In _Gorboduc_, apart from a few instances -in which a line is divided in the dialogue between two speakers -(generally two and three feet) and the occasional (for the most part no -doubt accidental) use of rhyme, the blank verse is exceedingly similar -to that of Surrey, having masculine endings with hardly any exceptions. - -This character was maintained by blank verse in all the other court -plays of this time, only occasionally rhyming couplets are used at the -end of a scene in Gascoigne's _Iocasta_, and prose passages now and then -occur in Lyly's _The Woman in the Moon_. - -The next and greatest step in the further development of the metre was -its introduction into the popular drama by no less a poet than Marlowe -in his drama _Tamburlaine the Great_ (1587). Marlowe's mastery over this -metrical form was supreme. His skill is shown in his use of the -inversion of accent, particularly the rhetorical inversion, to give -variety to his rhythm, e.g.: - - _Áh, sacred Máhomet, | thóu that hast seen - Míllions of Túrks | pérish by Támburláine._ Tam, ii, p. 213. - - _But stíll the pórts were shút: | víllain, I sáy._ ib., p. 206. - - _And hágs hówl for my déath | at Cháron's shóre._ Vol. ii. 255. - -In his practice with regard to the caesura, the suppression of the -anacrusis, and the use of disyllabic theses in the interior of the -verse, he differs little from his predecessors. One distinctive feature -of his verse is that he usually gives their full syllabic value to the -Teutonic inflexional endings (_-ed_, _-est_), as well as to the Romanic -noun- and adjective-suffixes; as _-iage_, _-iance_, _-ion_, _-eous_, -_-ial_ &c. (cf. §§ 102-7). - -By a frequent use of these endings as full syllables which is not always -in conformity with the spoken language of his time, his verse obtains a -certain dignity and pathos; cf. the following lines: - - _Yét in my thóughts | shall Chríst be hónouréd._ Tamb. ii, p. 148. - - _They sáy, | we áre a scáttered | nátión._ Jew of M. I, Sc. i. - - _These métaphýsics | óf magíciáns._ Faust. I, Sc. ii. - -Allied with this is the fact that Marlowe still has a great predilection -for masculine endings, although feminine endings are also met with now -and then, especially in his later plays. Run-on lines do not often -occur, but many two- and three-foot lines as well as heroic couplets are -found at the end of longer speeches, scenes, and acts. - -The blank verse of Greene, Peele, Kyd, and Lodge has a similar structure -to that of Marlowe, especially as regards the prevalence of masculine -endings. The verse of Greene and Peele, however, is rather monotonous, -because generally the caesura occurs after the second foot. On the other -hand, the metre of Kyd and Lodge stands in this respect much nearer to -that of Marlowe and in general shows greater variety.[156] - -§ =164. The blank verse of Shakespeare=,[157] which is of great interest -in itself, and moreover has been carefully examined during the last -decades from different points of view, requires to be discussed somewhat -more fully. - -It is of the first importance to notice that Shakespeare's rhythms have -different characteristic marks in each of the four periods of his career -which are generally accepted.[158] For the determination of the dates of -his plays the metrical peculiarities are often of great value in the -absence of other evidence, or as confirming conclusions based on -chronological indications of a different kind; but theories on the dates -of the plays should not be built solely upon these metrical tests, as -has been done, for instance, by Fleay. Such criticisms, generally -speaking, have only a subordinate value, as, amongst others, F.J. -Furnivall has shown in his treatise _The Succession of Shakespeare's -works and the use of metrical tests in settling it_ (London, Smith, -Elder & Co., 1877. 8º). - -The differences in the treatment of the verse which are of greatest -importance as distinctive of the several periods of Shakespeare's work -are the following: - -§ =165.= In the first place the numerical proportion of the rhymed and -rhymeless lines in a play deserves attention. Blank verse, it is true, -prevails in all Shakespeare's plays; but in his undoubtedly earlier -plays we find a very large proportion of rhymed verse, while in the -later plays the proportion becomes very small. - -Some statistical examples, based on careful researches by English and -German scholars, may be quoted to prove this; for the rest we refer to -the special investigations themselves. - -In _Love's Labour's Lost_, one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, we have -1028 rhymed lines and 579 unrhymed. In _The Tempest_, one of his last -plays, we find 1458 unrhymed and only two rhymed five-foot lines. In the -plays that lie between the dates of these two dramas the proportion of -rhymed and unrhymed verse lies between these two numbers. In _Romeo and -Juliet_, e.g. (which belongs to the end of Shakespeare's first period, -though Fleay thought it a very early play) we have 2111 unrhymed and 486 -rhymed five-foot lines; in _Hamlet_ (belonging to the third period) -there are 2490 unrhymed and 81 rhymed lines. - -In many cases, however, the use of rhyme in a play is connected with its -whole tone and character, or with that of certain scenes in it. The -frequency of rhymes in _Romeo and Juliet_ finds its explanation in the -lyrical character of this play. For the same reason _A Midsummer Night's -Dream_, although it is certainly later than _Love's Labour's Lost_ and -_Romeo and Juliet_, shows a larger proportion of rhymed lines (878 -blank: 731 rhymes). This seems sufficient to show that we cannot rely -exclusively on the statistical proportion of rhymed and unrhymed verses -in the different plays in order to determine their chronological order. - -§ =166.= The numerical proportion of feminine and masculine endings is -of similar value. In the early plays we find both masculine and feminine -endings; the masculine, however, prevail. The number of feminine endings -increases in the later plays. On this point Hertzberg has made accurate -statistical researches. According to him the proportion of feminine to -masculine endings is as follows: - -_Love's Labour's Lost_ 4 per cent., _Romeo and Juliet_ 7 per cent., -_Richard III_ 18 per cent., _Hamlet_ 25 per cent., _Henry VIII_ 45·6 per -cent.[159] This proportion, however, as has been shown by later -inquiries,[160] does not depend solely on the date of the composition, -but also on the contents and the tone of the diction, lines with -masculine endings prevailing in pathetic passages, and feminine endings -in unemotional dialogue, but also in passionate scenes, in disputations, -questions, &c. - -§ =167.= The numerical proportion of what are called 'weak' and 'light' -endings to the total number of verses in the different plays is -similarly of importance. These are a separate subdivision of the -masculine endings and are not to be confused with the feminine. They are -formed by monosyllabic words, which are of subordinate importance in the -syntactical structure of a sentence and therefore stand generally in -thesis (sometimes even forming part of the feminine ending of a line), -but which under the influence of the rhythm are used to carry the arsis. -To the 'weak' endings belong the monosyllabic conjunctions and -prepositions if used in this way: _and_, _as_, _at_, _but_ (_except_), -_by_, _for_, _in_, _if_, _on_, _nor_, _than_, _that_, _to_, _with_; as -e.g. in the three middle lines of the following passage taken from -_Henry VIII_ (III. ii. 97-101): - - _What thóugh I knów her vértuous - And wéll desérving? | Yét I knéw her fór - A spléeny Lútheran, | ánd not whólsome tó - Our cáuse, | that shé should lýe | i' th' bósom óf - Our hárd-rul'd kíng._ - -The 'light' endings include a number of other monosyllabic words, viz. -articles, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, that are used by Shakespeare in a -similar way. - -These are, according to Ingram, _am_, _are_, _art_, _be_, _been_, _but_ -(=_only_), _can_, _could_, _did_(2), _do_(2), _does_(2), _dost_(2), -_ere_, _had_(2), _has_(2), _hast_(2), _have_(2), _he_, _how_(3), _I_, -_into_, _is_, _like_, _may_, _might_, _shall_, _shalt_, _she_, _should_, -_since_, _so_(4), _such_(4), _they_, _thou_, _though_, _through_, -_till_, _upon_, _was_, _we_, _were_, _what_(3), _when_(3), _where_(3), -_which_, _while_, _whilst_, _who_(3), _whom_(3), _why_(3), _will_, -_would_, _yet_ (=_tamen_), _you_. - -According to Ingram, the words marked (2) are to be regarded as light -endings 'only when used as auxiliaries'; those marked (3), 'when not -directly interrogative'; those marked (4), 'when followed immediately by -_as_.' _Such_ belongs to this class, 'when followed by a substantive -with an indefinite article, as _Such a man_.' - -There are hardly any weak or light endings in the first and second -periods of Shakespeare's work. In the third they occur now and then and -become more frequent in the last period. So we have e.g. in _Antony and -Cleopatra_ (1600) 3·53 per cent.; in _The Tempest_ (1610) 4·59 per -cent.; in _Winter's Tale_ (1611) 5·48 per cent. - -In the application of this test we must chiefly keep in mind that these -two groups of words are only to be considered as 'weak' and 'light' -endings when they form the last arsis of the line, as is the case in the -lines quoted from _Henry VIII_; but they are to be looked upon as part -of a disyllabic or feminine ending if they form a supernumerary thesis -following upon the last arsis: - - _Upón this groúnd; | and móre it woúld contént me._ - Wint. II. i. 159. - -§ =168.= Intimately connected with the quality of the line-endings is -the proportion of unstopt or 'run-on' and 'end-stopt' lines, or the -frequent or rare use the poet makes of enjambement. Like the feminine, -weak, and light endings, this metrical peculiarity also occurs much more -rarely in Shakespeare's earlier than in his later plays. According to -Furnivall's statistics, e.g. in _Love's Labour's Lost_ one run-on line -occurs in 18·14 lines; in _The Tempest_, on the other hand, we have one -run-on line in 3·02 lines; in _Winter's Tale_ the proportion rises to -one in 2·12. - -As in the later plays run-on lines are often the result of the use of -weak and light endings, we may perhaps assume with Hertzberg that at -times the poet deliberately intended to give a greater regularity to the -verse, if only by introducing the more customary masculine endings. From -this point of view, then, both the weak and light endings and the run-on -lines would have much less importance as metrical and chronological -tests than they otherwise might have had. - -§ =169.= But there is another peculiarity of Shakespeare's rhythms -noticed by Hertzberg which is of greater value as a metrical test; viz. -the use of the full syllabic forms of the suffixes _-est_, and -especially of _-es_ or _-eth_ in the second and third pers. sing., as -well as that of _-ed_ of the preterite and of the past participle. These -tests are all the more trustworthy because they do not so much arise -from a conscious choice on the part of the poet as from the historical -development of the language. This is indicated by the fact that the -slurring of these endings prevails more and more in the later plays. - -According to Hertzberg's statistics the proportion of fully sounded and -slurred _e_ is as follows: - - _1 H. VI._ _T. Andr._ _1 H. IV._ _H. VIII._ - - 3 Pers. Sing. 15·58% 6·4% 2·25% 0% - Pret. and P.P. 20·9% 21·72% 15·41% 4·2% - -It thus appears that in this respect also there is a decided progress -from a more archaic and rigorous to a more modern usage. - -These are the five chief distinctive marks of Shakespeare's verse in the -different periods of his dramatic work. Besides these, Fleay has pointed -out some other characteristics distinctive of the first period, namely, -the more sparing use of Alexandrines, of shortened verses, and of prose, -and the more frequent use of doggerel verses, stanzas, sonnets, and -crossed rhymes. - -§ =170.= There are, however, some other rhythmical characteristics that -have not yet been sufficiently noticed by English or German scholars, -probably because they cannot be so easily represented by means of -statistics. - -The caesura is of special importance. Although from the first -Shakespeare always allowed himself a great degree of variety in the -caesura, he prefers during his first and second period the masculine and -lyrical caesura after the second foot; in his third period, in _Macbeth_ -especially, both the masculine and lyrical caesura occur as frequently -after the third foot, and side by side with these the epic caesura after -the second and third foot pretty often (§ 90); during the fourth period -a great many double caesuras occur corresponding to the numerous run-on -lines.[161] - -The old-fashioned disyllabic pronunciation of certain Romanic -terminations (as _-ion_, _-ier_, _-iage_, _-ial_, &c.), so often met -with in Marlowe, is not uncommon in Shakespeare, chiefly in his early -plays, but also in those of later date (cf. § 107). - -As to inversion of rhythm (cf. § 88), it is a noteworthy feature that -during the first period it occurs chiefly in the first foot and -afterwards often in the third also. - -Disyllabic theses may be found in each of the five feet, sometimes even -two at the same time: - - _Having Gód, her cónscience, | ánd these bárs agaínst me._ - R. III, I. ii. 235. - - _Succéeding his fáther Bólingbróke, | did réign._ - 1 H. VI, II. v. 83. - - _But thén we'll trý | what these dástard Frénchmen dáre._ - 1 H. VI, I. iii. 111. - - _Thén is he móre behólding | to yóu than Í._ - R. III, III. i. 107. - - _Pút in their hánds | thy brúising írons of wráth._ - R. III, V. iii. 110. - - _My survéyor is fálse; | the ó'ergreat cárdinál._ - H. VIII, I. i. 222. - -Disyllabic or polysyllabic line-endings are likewise of frequent -occurrence: - - _I dáre avóuch it, sír, what, fífty fóllowers?_ Lear, II. iv. 240. - - _To yóur own cónscience, sír, befóre Políxenes._ Wint. III. ii. 47. - -Slurring and other modifications of words to make them fit into the -rhythm are very numerous and of great variety in Shakespeare; we have -referred to them before, §§ 108-11; here only some examples may be -repeated, as _(a)bove_, _(be)cause_, _(ar)rested_, _th' other_, _th' -earth_, _whe(th)er_, _ha(v)ing_, _e(v)il_, _eas(i)ly_, _barb(a)rous_, -_inn(o)cent_, _acquit_ for _acquitted_, _deject_ for _dejected_, &c. - -On the other hand, many lengthenings also occur, as _wrest(e)ler_ A. Y. -L. II. ii, 13; _pilg(e)rim_ All's Well, III. v. 43, &c. (Cf. §§ 87, -112.) - -In some monosyllabic words, as _fear_, _dear_, _hear_, _wear_, _tear_, -_year_, it is not always necessary to assume with Abbott (§§ 480-6) a -disyllabic pronunciation, e.g. _déàr_, _yéàr_. On the contrary, in many -cases it is more probable that the emphasis laid on the monosyllable -takes the place of the missing thesis, e.g.: - - _The kíng would spéak with Córnwall: | the déar fáther._ - Lear, II. iv. 102. - - _Déar my lórd, | íf you in yóur own próof._ Ado, IV. i. 46. - - Hor. _Whére my lórd? | Haml. In my mínd's éye, Horátio._ - Ham. I. ii. 185. - -The two last examples also show the absence of the first thesis, which -often occurs in Shakespeare; frequently, as in these cases, it is -compensated by an extra stress laid on the first accented syllable (cf. -§ 84); e.g.: - - _Stáy! | the kíng has thrówn | his wárder dówn._ - Rich. II, I. iii. 118. - - _Upón your Gráce's part; | bláck and féarful._ - All's Well, III. i. 4. - -For the same reason a thesis is sometimes wanting in the interior of a -line: - - _Of góodly thóusands. | Bút, for áll thís._ Macb. IV. iii. 44; - -or for phonetic reasons (cf. § 86): - - _A thírd thínks, | withóut expénse at áll._ 1 Hen. VI, I. i. 76. - -With respect to the word-stress and the metrical value of syllables -there are in Shakespeare many archaic peculiarities. Some of those we -have already dealt with; for the rest the reader must consult the works -in which they are specially discussed. - -§ =171.= Of great interest are the other metres that occur in -combination with blank verse in Shakespeare's plays. - -Alexandrines are frequently met with, especially where one line is -divided between two speakers: - - Macb. _I'll cóme to yóu anón._ | Murd. _We áre resólved, my lórd._ - Macb. III. i. 139. - - Macb. _Hów does your pátient, dóctor?_ | Doct. _Nót so síck, my lórd._ - ib. V. iii. 37; - -but also in many other cases: - - _Hów dares thy hársh rude tóngue | sound thís unpléasing néws?_ - R. II, III. iv. 74. - - _And thése does shé applý | for wárnings, ánd porténts._ - Caes. II. ii. 80. - -Frequently, however, such apparent Alexandrines can easily be read as -regular five-foot lines, for which they were certainly intended by the -poet, by means of the ordinary metrical licences, as slurring, double -theses, epic caesuras, or feminine endings[162]; e.g.: - - _I had thóught, my lórd, | to have léarn'd his héalth of yóu._ - R. II, II. iii. 24. - - _I prómise you, | Í am afráid | to héar you téll it._ - R. III, I. iv. 65. - - _O'erbéars your ófficers; | the rábble cáll him lórd._ - Haml. IV. v. 102. - -Among the blank verse lines in Shakespeare's plays there are sometimes -interspersed examples of the native four-beat long line. This occurs, -apart from lyrical passages, most frequently in the early plays, e.g. -in _Love's Labour's Lost_ and in _The Comedy of Errors_, III. i. 11-84, -from which the following specimen is taken: - - Ant. E. _I thínk thou art an áss._ | - - Dro. E. _Marry, só it doth appéar - By the wróngs I súffer | and the blóws I béar. - I should kíck, being kíck'd; | and, béing at that páss, - You would kéep from my héels | and bewáre of an áss._ - - Ant. E. _You're sád, Signior Bálthasar: | pray Gód our chéer - May ánswer my good wíll | and your good wélcome hére._ - -Occasionally these verses exhibit a somewhat more extended -structure, so that they might pass for Alexandrines; mostly, -however, a line of this type is connected by rhyme with an -unmistakable four-beat line; cf. - - _If thóu hadst been, Drómio, | to dáy in my pláce, - Thou wouldst have changed thy fáce for a náme, | or thy náme - for an áss._ - Com. of Err. III. i. 47. - -For this reason the second line also is to be scanned somehow or -other in conformity with the general four-beat rhythm of the passage; -possibly we should assume an initial thesis of five syllables. In -lyrical passages four-beat lines are often combined also with four-foot -iambic verse of the freer type (cf. § 132); e.g. in the following -passage from _Midsummer Night's Dream_, II. i. 2-7: - - _Over híll, over dále, | thorough búsh, thorough bríer, - Over párk, over pále, | thorough flóod, thorough fíre, - I do wánder évery whére, - Swífter thán the móon's sphére; - Ánd I sérve the fáiry quéen, - To déw her órbs upón the gréen_, &c. - -The two first lines belong to the first, the following to the latter -species. Sometimes the rhythm of such rhymed four-foot verses is purely -trochaic, e.g. in the witches' song in Macbeth, IV, sc. i. - -There are also unrhymed iambic lines of four feet, which usually have a -caesura in the middle; e.g.: - - _The mátch is máde, | and áll is dóne._ Shrew, IV. iv. 46. - - _Befóre the kíngs | and quéens of France._ Hen. VI, I. vi. 27. - -Not unfrequently, however, such verses only apparently have four feet, -one missing foot or part of it being supplied by a pause (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 164): - - _He's tá'en_ ) -´ (_Shout_). || _And hark! | they shóut for jóy._ - Caes. V. iii. 32. - - Mal. _As thóu didst léave it._ -´ || Serg. _Dóubtful it stóod._ - Macb. I. ii. 7. - - _Thínk on lord Hástings._ -´ || _Despáir and díe!_ - Rich. III, V. iii. 134. - -Isolated two- and three-foot lines occur mostly at the beginning or at -the end of a speech, or in pathetic passages of monologues; this usually -causes a somewhat longer pause, such as is suitable to the state of -feeling of the speaker. - -Short exclamations as _Why_, _Fie_, _Alack_, _Farewell_ are often to be -regarded as extra-metrical. - -Prose also is often used for common speeches not requiring poetic -diction.[163] - -§ =172.= One passage from an early play of Shakespeare, and another, -chosen from one of his last plays, will sufficiently exhibit the -metrical differences between these periods of his work. (For other -specimens cf. _Metrik_, ii, §166.) - - Capulet. _But Móntagúe | is bóund as wéll as Í, - In pénaltý alíke; | and 'tis not hárd, I thínk, - For mén so óld as wé | to kéep the péace._ - - Paris. _Of hónouráble réckoning | áre you bóth; - And píty 'tís | you líved at ódds so lóng. - But nów, my lórd, | what sáy you tó my súit?_ - - Capulet. _But sáying ó'er | what Í have sáid befóre: - My child is yét | a stránger ín the wórld; - She hás not séen | the chánge of fóurteen yéars: - Let twó more súmmers | wíther ín their príde, - Ére we may thínk her rípe | to bé a bríde._ - - Paris. _Yóunger than shé | are happy móthers máde._ - - Capulet. _And tóo soon márr'd | are thóse so éarly máde. - The éarth hath swállow'd | áll my hópes but shé, - Shé is the hópeful lády | óf mý éarth: - But wóo her, géntle Páris, | gét her héart, - My wíll to hér consént | is bút a párt_; &c. - - Romeo and Juliet, I. ii. 1-19. - - Miranda. _Íf by your árt, | my déarest fáther, you háve - Pút the wild wáters |ín this róar, | alláy them. - The ský, it séems, | would póur down stínking pítch, - Bút that the séa, | móunting to the wélkin's chéek, - Dáshes the fíre óut. | Ó, I have súffered - With thóse thát I saw súffer: | a bráve véssel, - Who hád, no dóubt, | some nóble créature ín her, - Dash'd áll to píeces. | Ó, the crý did knóck - Agáinst my véry héart. | Poor sóuls, they pérish'd. - Had Í been ány gód of pówer, | I wóuld - Have súnk the séa | withín the éarth, | or ére - It shóuld the góod ship | só have swállow'd | ánd - The fráughting sóuls withín her._ | - - Prospero. _Bé collécted: - No móre amázement: | téll your píteous héart - There's nó harm dóne._ | - - Miranda. _O wóe the dáy!_ - - Prospero. _No hárm! - Í have done nóthing | bút in cáre of thée, - Of thée, my déar one, | thée, my dáughter, | whó - Art ígnoránt of whát thou árt, | nought knówing - Of whénce I ám, | nór that I ám more bétter - Than Próspero, | máster óf a fúll poor céll, - And thý no gréater fáther._ | - - Miranda. _Móre to knów - Did néver méddle wíth my thóughts._ | &c. - - Tempest, I. ii. 1-22. - -§ =173.= The further development of blank verse can be dealt with here -only very briefly. - -For the dramatic blank verse of Shakespeare's contemporaries and -immediate successors see _Metrik_, vol. ii, §§ 167-78, and the works -there enumerated. The reader may also be referred to various special -treatises[164] of later date, which supply detailed evidence in the main -confirming the correctness of the author's former observations. - -In this place we mention only the characteristic peculiarities of the -most important poets of that group. - -=Ben Jonson's blank verse= is not so melodious as that of Shakespeare. - -There is often a conflict between the logical and the rhythmical stress, -as e.g.: - - _Be éver cáll'd | the fóuntayne óf selfe-lóve._ - Cynthia's Rev. I. ii. - -Theses of two and even more syllables likewise occur in many verses, -e.g.: - - _Sir Péter Túb was his fáther, | a saltpétre mán._ - Tale of a Tub, I. 22; - -frequently also feminine or even disyllabic unaccented endings are used: - - _The dífference 'twíxt | the cóvetous ánd the pródigal._ - Staple of News, I. iii. 39. - -These licences often give to his verse an uneven and rugged rhythm. - -There are only slight differences from Shakespeare's usage with regard -to the caesura, inversion of accent, &c. Run-on lines, as well as rhyme -and the use of prose, are common in his plays; some of his comedies are -almost entirely written in prose. - -§ =174.= In =Fletcher=, on the contrary, run-on lines, rhymed verses, -and prose are exceedingly rare. - -Feminine and gliding endings, however (sometimes of three, and even of -four supernumerary syllables), are often used; in some plays even more -often than masculine ones. (For specimens cf. § 91.) - -Feminine endings, combined with disyllabic or polysyllabic first thesis, -are common; now and then we find epic caesuras or other theses in the -interior of the line: - - _They are too hígh a méat that wáy, | they rún to jelly._ - Loyal Subj. I. i. 371. - - _A cóach and four hórses | cánnot dráw me fróm it._ - ib. III. ii. 361. - - _Thís was hard fórtune; | but íf alíve and táken._ - Hum. Lieut, I. i. 7. - - _You máy surpríse them éasily; | they wéar no pístols._ - Loyal Subj. I. ii. 314. - -It deserves particular notice that in such feminine endings or epic -caesuras, where the superfluous thesis consists of one monosyllabic -word, this very often has something of a subordinate accent: - - _And lét sóme létters | tó that énd be féign'd tòo._ - Mad Lov. III. 268. - - _That spírits háve no séxes, | I belíeve nòt._ - ib. 272. - - _You múst look wondrous sád tòo.-- | I néed not lóok sò._ - ib. V. iii. 105. - -The following passage from _The Maid's Tragedy_[165] shows the character -of Fletcher's rhythms: - - Mel. _Fórce my swoll'n héart no fúrther; | Í would sáve thee. - Your gréat maintáiners áre not hére, | they dáre not: - 'Wóuld they were áll, and árm'd! | I wóuld speak lóud; - Here's óne should thúnder tó them! | will you téll me? - Thou hást no hópe to 'scápe; | Hé that dares móst, - And dámns awáy his sóul | to dó thee sérvice, - Wíll sóoner fetch méat | fróm a húngry líon, - Than cóme to réscue thée; | thou'st déath abóut thee. - Who hás undóne thine hónour, | póison'd thy vírtue, - Ánd, of a lóvely róse, | léft thee a cánker?_ - - Evadne. _Lét me consíder._ | - - Mel. _Dó, whose chíld thou wért, - Whose hónour thóu hast múrder'd, | whose gráve open'd - And só pull'd ón the góds, | thát in their jústice - They múst restóre him | flésh agáin, | and lífe, - And ráise his drý bònes | tó revénge his scándal._ - -§ =175.= There are no plays extant written by =Beaumont= alone; plays, -however, from Fletcher's pen alone do exist, and we can thus gain a -clear insight into the distinctive features of his rhythm and style, and -are so enabled to determine with some prospect of certainty the share -which Beaumont had in the plays due to their joint-authorship. This has -been attempted with some success by Fleay, and especially by Boyle.[166] - -The characteristics of Beaumont's style and versification may be summed -up as follows: - -He often uses prose and verse, rhymed and unrhymed verses in the same -speech; feminine endings occur rarely, but there are many run-on lines; -occasionally we find 'light' and 'weak' endings; double theses at the -beginning and in the interior of the line are met with only very seldom. -His verse, therefore, is widely different from Fletcher's; cf. the -following passage from _The Maid's Tragedy_ (II. i, pp. 24-5): - - Evadne. _I thánk thee, Dúla; | 'wóuld, thou cóuld'st instíl - Sóme of thy mírth | intó Aspátiá! - Nóthing but sád thòughts | ín her bréast do dwéll: - Methínks, a méan betwíxt you | wóuld do wéll._ - - Dula. _Shé is in lóve: | Háng me, if Í were só, - But Í could rún my cóuntry. | Í love, tóo, - To dó those thíngs | that péople ín love dó._ - - Asp. _It wére a tímeless smíle | should próve my chéek: - It wére a fítter hóur | for mé to láugh, - When át the áltar | thé relígious príest - Were pácifýing | thé offénded pówers - With sácrifíce, than nów. | Thís should have béen - My níght; and áll your hánds | have béen emplóy'd - In gíving mé | a spótless ófferíng - To yóung Amíntor's béd, | as wé are nów - For yóu. | Párdon, Evádne; 'wóuld, my wórth - Were gréat as yóurs, | ór that the kíng, or hé, - Or bóth thought só! | Perháps, he fóund me wórthless: - But, tíll he díd so, | ín these éars of míne, - These crédulous éars, | he póur'd the swéetest wórds - That árt or lóve could fráme. | Íf he were fálse, - Párdon it Héaven! | ánd if Í did wánt - Vírtue, | you sáfely máy | forgíve that tóo; - For Í have lóst | nóne that I hád from yóu._ - -§ =176.= Fewer peculiarities appear in the verse of =Massinger=, who -(according to Fleay and Boyle) wrote many plays in partnership with -Beaumont and Fletcher; for this reason his verse has been examined by -those scholars in connexion with that of Beaumont and Fletcher. Like -Fletcher, Massinger uses a great many feminine endings; but he has many -run-on lines as well as 'light' and 'weak' endings. In contradistinction -to Beaumont's practice, he seldom uses prose and rhyme, but he has a -great many double endings. His verse is very melodious, similar on the -whole to that of Shakespeare's middle period. - -The following passage may serve as an example: - - Tib. _It ís the dúchess' bírthday, | ónce a yéar - Solémnized wíth all pómp | and céremóny; - In whích the dúke is nót his ówn, | but hérs: - Nay, évery dáy, indéed, | he ís her créature, - For néver mán so dóated;-- | bút to téll - The ténth part óf his fóndness | to a stránger, - Would árgue mé of fíction._ | Steph. _Shé's, indéed, - A lády óf most éxquisite fórm._ | Tib. _She knóws it, - And hów to príze it._ | Steph. _I néver héard her tainted - In ány póint of hónour._ | Tib. _Ón my lífe_ - She's cónstant tó his béd, | and wéll desérves - His lárgest fávours. | Bút, when béauty is - Stámp'd on great wómen, | gréat in bírth and fórtune, - And blówn by flátterers | gréater thán it ís, - 'Tis séldom únaccómpaníed | with príde; - Nor ís she thát way frée: | presúming ón - The dúke's afféction, | ánd her ówn desért, - She béars hersélf | with súch a májestý, - Lóoking with scórn on áll | as thíngs benéath her, - That Sfórza's móther, | thát would lóse no párt - Of whát was ónce her ówn, | nor hís fair síster, - A lády tóo | acquáinted wíth her wórth, - Will bróok it wéll; | and hówsoé'er their háte - Is smóther'd fór a tíme, | 'tis móre than féar'd - It wíll at léngth break óut._ | Steph. _Hé in whose pówer it ís, - Turn áll to the bést._ | Tib. _Come, lét us tó the cóurt; - We thére shall sée all bráverý and cóst, - That árt can bóast of._ | Steph. _I'll béar you cómpaný._ - - Massinger, Duke of Milan, I. i. end. - -The versification of the other dramatists of this time cannot be -discussed in this place. It must suffice to say that the more defined -and artistic blank verse, introduced by Marlowe and Shakespeare, was -cultivated by Beaumont, Massinger, Chapman, Dekker, Ford, &c.; a less -artistic verse, on the other hand, so irregular as sometimes to -approximate to prose, is found in Ben Jonson and Fletcher, and to a less -degree in Middleton, Marston, and Shirley. (Cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 171-8.) - -§ =177. The blank verse of Milton=, who was the first since Surrey to -use it for epic poetry, is of greater importance than that of the minor -dramatists, and is itself of particular interest. Milton's verse, it is -true, cannot be said to be always very melodious. On the contrary, it -sometimes can be brought into conformity with the regular scheme of the -five-foot verse only by level stress and by assigning full value to -syllables that in ordinary pronunciation are slurred or elided (see § -83). - -Generally, however, Milton's blank verse has a stately rhythmical -structure all its own, due to his masterly employment of the whole range -of metrical artifices. In the first place, he frequently employs -inversion of accent, both at the beginning of a line and after a -caesura; sometimes together with double thesis in the interior of the -line, as e.g.: - - _Báck to the gátes of Héaven; | the súlphurous háil._ - Par. Lost, I. 171. - -Quite peculiar, however, to Milton's blank verse is the extensive use he -makes of run-on lines, and in connexion with the great variety in his -treatment of the caesura. - -Milton has more than 50 per cent. run-on lines; sometimes we have from -three to six lines in succession that are not stopt. - -As to the caesura, we mostly have masculine and lyric caesura (more -seldom epic caesuras) after the second or third foot; besides, we have -frequent double caesuras (generally caused by run-on lines), about 12 -per cent.[167] - -Finally, as the third peculiarity of Milton's epic blank verse, the -almost exclusive use of masculine endings deserves mention. The number -of feminine endings in the various books of _Paradise Lost_ and of -_Paradise Regained_ is only from 1 to 5 per cent.; in _Samson -Agonistes_, on the other hand, we have about 16 per cent., nearly as -many as in the plays of Shakespeare's second period.[168] - -The following example (_Paradise Lost_, V. 1-25) may illustrate Milton's -blank verse: - - _Now Mórn, | her rósy stéps | in the éastern clíme - Adváncing, | sówed the éarth with órient péarl, - When Ádam wáked, so cústomed; | fór his sléep - Was áery líght, | from púre digéstion bréd, - And témperate vápours blánd, | which the ónly sóund - Of léaves and fúming rílls, | Auróra's fán, - Líghtly dispérsed, | ánd the shrill mátin sóng - Of bírds on évery bóugh. | So múch the móre - His wónder wás | to fínd unwákened Éve, - With trésses díscompósed, | and glówing chéek, - As thróugh unquíet rést. | Hé, on his síde - Léaning half ráised, | with lóoks of córdial lóve - Hung óver hér enámoured, | ánd behéld - Béauty | which, whéther wáking | ór asléep, - Shot fórth pecúliar gráces; | thén, with vóice - Míld as when Zéphyrús | on Flóra bréathes, - Her hánd soft tóuching, | whíspered thús:-- | 'Awáke, - My fáirest, mý espóused, | my látest fóund, - Heaven's lást best gíft, | my éver-néw delíght! - Awáke! | the mórning shínes, | ánd the fresh fíeld - Cálls us; | we lóse the príme | to márk how spríng - Our ténded plánts, | how blóws the cítron gróve, - What dróps the mýrrh, | and whát the bálmy réed, - How Náture páints her cólours, | hów the bée - Síts on the blóom | extrácting líquid swéet._' - -§ =178. The dramatic blank verse of the Restoration= is strongly -influenced by the heroic verse of the same period, and is on this -account very different from the blank verse of Shakespeare and his -contemporaries. - -For this period the blank verse of Dryden is most interesting; he uses -it with great skill, but also with great restriction of its former -licences. - -Even the number of the inversions of accent decreases considerably and -is only about 12 per cent. We find scarcely any examples of double -thesis, slurring of syllables, missing theses in the beginning or in the -interior of the line, &c. - -The caesura, which is the chief means by which variety is imparted to -the metre, is generally masculine or lyric, and as a rule occurs after -the second or third foot; occasionally we have double caesuras. Epic -caesuras are rare, if they occur at all. Feminine endings are frequent, -their proportion being about 25 to 28 per cent. Light and weak endings -are rarely to be found amongst the masculine endings, nor are run-on -lines (about 20 per cent.) frequently used by Dryden. - -Most of the characteristic features of his blank verse will be found -exemplified in the following extract: - - Emperor. _Márry'd! | I'll nót belíeve it; || 'tís impósture; - Impróbable | they shóu'd presúme t'attémpt, - Impóssible | they shóu'd efféct their wísh._ - - Benducar. _Have pátience tíll I cléar it._ | - - Emperor. _Í have nóne: - Go bíd our móving Pláins of Sánd | lie stíll, - And stír not, | whén the stórmy Sóuth blows hígh: - From tóp to bóttom | thóu hast tóss'd my Sóul, - And nów 'tis ín the mádness | of the Whírl. - Requír'st a súdden stóp? | unsáy thy lýe, - That máy in týme do sómewhat._ | - - Benducar. _Í have dóne. - For, sínce it pléases yóu | it shóu'd be fórg'd - 'Tis fít it shóu'd: | Fár be it fróm your Sláve, - To ráise distúrbance | ín your Sácred Bréast._ - - Emperor. _Sebástian ís my Sláve | as wéll as thóu; - Nor dúrst offénd my Lóve, | but thát Presúmption ..._ - - Benducar. _Most súre he óught not._ | - - Emperor. _Thén all méans were wánting; - No Príest, no Céremónies | óf their Séct: - Or, gránt we thése defécts | cou'd bé supplý'd, - Hów cou'd our Próphet dó | an áct so báse, - Só to resúme his Gífts, | and cúrse my Cónquests, - By máking mé unháppy! | Nó, the Sláve - That tóld thee só absúrd a stóry, | lý'd._ - - Dryden, Sebastian, III. - -The blank verse of Lee, Otway, N. Rowe, and Addison[169] is -of similar structure. - -§ =179.= Blank verse was treated even more strictly by =Thomson= in _The -Seasons_. Thomson followed Dryden with regard to his treatment of the -caesura and the inversion of accent, but made no use at all of feminine -endings. Cf. the following passage from _Summer_: - - _From bríghtening fíelds of éther | fáir disclós'd, - Chíld of the sún, | refúlgent Súmmer cómes, - In pride of yóuth, | and félt through náture's dépth: - He cómes atténded | bý the súltry hóurs, - And éver-fánning bréezes, | ón his wáy; - Whíle, from his árdent lóok, | the túrning Spríng - Avérts her blúshful fáce; | and éarth, and skíes - All smíling, | to his hót domínion léaves. - Hénce let me háste | intó the míd-wood sháde, - Where scárce a sún-beam | wánders through the glóom; - And ón the dárk-green gráss, | besíde the brínk - Of háunted stréam, | that bý the róots of óak - Rólls o'er the rócky chánnel,| líe at lárge, - And síng the glóries | óf the círcling yéar._ - -The blank verse of Young (_Night Thoughts_), Cowper (_The Task_), and -other less important poets of the eighteenth century is of a similar -uniform structure; cf. _Metrik_, ii, §193. - -§ =180.= In the =blank verse of the nineteenth century= we find both -tendencies, the strict and the free treatment of this verse-form; -according to their predominant employment in epic and dramatic poetry -respectively, we may call them the epic and the dramatic form of the -verse. They may be chiefly distinguished by the peculiarities to be -observed in the blank verse of Milton and Thomson on the one hand, and -of Dryden on the other; i.e. by the admission or exclusion of feminine -endings. - -The strict form of the epic blank verse, with masculine endings, is -preferred in the narrative or reflective poems of Coleridge, Wordsworth, -Southey, Shelley, Keats, W.S. Landor, Longfellow, D. G. Rossetti, Mrs. -Browning, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Tennyson, Swinburne, and -Edwin Arnold.[170] - -The free form is represented, mainly, in the dramatic verse of the same -and other poets, being used by Coleridge (in his translation of _The -Piccolomini_), Wordsworth, Southey, Lamb, Byron, Shelley, W.S. Landor, -Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, and others.[171] - - -NOTES: - - [153] For the accentuation of the word cf. _inter alia_ rhymes such - as _mérie: Cáunterbúry_, Prol. 801-2, and Schipper, l.c., pp. - 217-18. - - [154] This definition is also given by Milton in his introductory - note on 'The Verse' prefixed in 1668 to _Paradise Lost_. - - [155] Cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 132-5. - - [156] Cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 136-46. - - [157] Cf. on this subject the essays and treatises by T. Mommsen, - Abbott, Furnivall, Ingram, Hertzberg, Fleay, A.J. Ellis (_On - Early English Pronunciation_, iii), &c. (quoted _Metrik_, ii, - p. 259); besides G. König, _Der Vers in Shakspere's Dramen_, - Strassburg, Trübner, 1888, 8º (_Quellen und Forschungen_, - 61); _Der Couplet-Reim in Shakspere's Dramen_ (Dissertation), - von J. Heuser, Marburg, 1893, 8; H. Krumm, _Die Verwendung des - Reims in dem Blankverse des englischen Dramas zur Zeit - Shaksperes_, Kiel, 1889; H. Conrad, _Metrische Untersuchungen - zur Feststellung der Abfassungszeit von Shakspere's Dramen_ - (_Shakespeare-Jahrbuch_, xxx. 318-353); _William Shakespeare, - Prosody and Text_, by B. A. P. van Dam and C. Stoffel, Leyden, - 1900, 8º; _Chapters on English Printing Prosody, and - Pronunciation_ (1550-1700), by B.A.P. van Dam and C. Stoffel, - Heidelberg, 1902 (_Anglistische Forschungen_, ix). - - [158] I. 1587-1592; II. 1593-1600; III. 1600-1606; IV. 1606-1613; - according to Dowden. - - [159] Cf. Furnivall, p. xxviii. - - [160] Cf. Mayor, _Chapters on English Metre_, pp. 174-7. - - [161] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 154. - - [162] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 161. - - [163] Cf. N. Delius, _Die Prosa in Shakespeares Dramen_ (Jahrbuch d. - deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, v. 227-73). - - [164] Cf. the Halle dissertations by _Hannemann_ (on Ford, Oxford, - 1889); _Penner_ (on Peele, Braunschweig, 1890); _Knaut_ (on - Greene, 1890); _Schulz_ (on Middleton, 1892); _Elste_ (on - Chapman, 1892); _Kupka_ (on Th. Dekker, 1893); _Meiners_ (on - Webster, 1893); _Clages_ (on Thomson and Young, 1892); and the - criticism of some of them by Boyle, _Engl. Studien_, xix. - 274-9. - - [165] IV. i, p. 66, cf. _Engl. Studien_, v, p. 76. - - [166] _Engl. Studien_, iv-vii. - - [167] On the many combinations of the three kinds of caesura in the - different places of the verse, cf. _Metrik_, ii, pp. 28-31. - - [168] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 179-185. | - - [169] See _Englische Metrik_, ii, §§ 188-90. - - [170] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 195-201. - - [171] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 202-6. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - TROCHAIC METRES - - -§ =181.= Trochaic metres, which, generally speaking, are less common in -English poetry than iambics, were not used at all till the Modern -English Period. The old metrical writers (Gascoigne, James VI, W. Webbe) -only know rising metres. - -Puttenham (1589) is the first metrician who quotes four-foot trochaic -lines; similar verses also occur during the same period in Shakespeare's -_Love's Labour's Lost_, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, and other plays. - -Whether they were introduced directly on foreign models, or originated -indirectly from the influence of the study of the ancients by means of a -regular omission of the first thesis of the iambic metres, we do not -know. It is likewise uncertain who was the first to use strict trochaic -verses deliberately in English, or in what chronological order the -various trochaic metres formed in analogy with the iambic ones entered -into English poetry. - -The longest trochaic lines, to which we first turn our attention, seem -to be of comparatively late date. - -The =eight-foot trochaic line=, more exactly definable as the -acatalectic trochaic tetrameter (cf. § 77), is the longest trochaic -metre we find in English poetry. As a specimen of this metre the first -stanza of a short poem by Thackeray written in this form has been quoted -already on page 127. As a rule, however, this acatalectic feminine line -is mingled with catalectic verses with masculine endings, as e.g. in the -following burlesque by Thackeray, _Damages Two Hundred Pounds_: - - _Só, God bléss the Spécial Júry! | príde and jóy of Énglish gróund, - Ánd the háppy lánd of Éngland, | whére true jústice dóes abóund! - Brítish júrymén and húsbands, | lét us háil this vérdict próper: - Íf a Brítish wífe offénds you, | Brítons, yóu've a ríght to whóp her._ - -While the catalectic iambic tetrameter is a line of seven feet (the last -arsis being omitted), the catalectic trochaic tetrameter loses only the -last thesis, but keeps the preceding arsis; and on this account it -remains a metre of eight feet. - -Rhyming couplets of this kind of verse, when broken up into short lines, -give rise to stanzas with the formulas _a ~ b c ~ b4, d ~ e ~ f ~ e ~4_, -or, if inserted rhymes are used, we have the form _a ~ b a ~ b4_ -(alternating masculine and feminine endings), or _a ~ b ~ a ~ b ~4_ (if -there are feminine endings only). In both these cases the eight-foot -rhythm is distinctly preserved to the ear. But this is no longer the -case in another trochaic metre of eight feet, where the theses of both -the fourth and the eighth foot are wanting, as may be noticed in -Swinburne, _A Midsummer Holiday_, p. 132: - - _Scárce two húndred yéars are góne, | ánd the wórld is pást awáy - Ás a nóise of bráwling wínd, | ás a flásh of bréaking fóam, - Thát behéld the sínger bórn | whó raised úp the déad of Róme; - Ánd a míghtier nów than hé | bíds him tóo rise úp to-dáy;_ - -still less when such lines are broken up by inserted rhyme in stanzas of -the form _a b a b4_. In cases, too, where the eight-foot trochaic -verse is broken up by leonine rhyme, the rhythm has a decided four-foot -cadence on account of the rapid recurrence of the rhyme. - -§ =182.= The =seven-foot trochaic line= is theoretically either a -brachycatalectic tetrameter with a feminine or a hypercatalectic -trimeter with a masculine ending. An example of the first kind we had on -p. 128. A more correct specimen is the following line from the same -poem: - - _Hásten, Lórd, who árt my Hélper; | lét thine áid be spéedy._ - -The verses quoted on p. 128 are incorrect in so far as the caesura -occurs at an unusual place, viz. in the middle of the fourth foot, -instead of after it, as in the example just quoted. - -They show, however, the origin of a pretty frequently occurring -anisorhythmical stanza, which is derived from this metre by means of the -use of inserted rhyme; lines 1 and 3 having a trochaic, lines 2 and 4, -on the other hand, an iambic rhythm; cf. e.g. the following stanza from -a poem by Suckling (_Poets_, iii. 741): - - _Sáy, but díd you lóve so lóng? - In trúth I néeds must bláme you: - Pássion did your júdgement wróng, - Or wánt of réason sháme you._ - -When there are masculine rhymes throughout, the stanza is felt -distinctly as consisting of alternate lines of four and three feet (_a4 -b3 a4 b3_). - -The seven-foot rhythm, however, remains, if the three-foot half-lines -only have masculine endings, and the four-foot half-lines remain -feminine; as is the case in Swinburne's poem _Clear the Way_ (_Mids. -Hol._, p. 143): - - _Cléar the wáy, my lórds and láckeys, | yóu have hád your dáy. - Hére you háve your ánswer, Éngland's | yéa against your náy; - Lóng enóugh your hóuse has héld you: | up, and cléar the wáy!_ - -This, of course, is likewise the case, if the verses are broken up into -stanzas by inserted rhyme (_a4 b3 a4 b3_). - -More frequently than this correct seven-foot verse, with either a -feminine or masculine ending, we find the incorrect type, consisting of -a catalectic and a brachycatalectic dimeter, according to the model of -the well-known Low Latin verse: - - _Mihi est propositum | in taberna mori_, - -which is often confounded with the former (cf. § 135). The following -first stanza of a poem by Suckling (_Poets_, iii. 471) is written in -exact imitation of this metre: - - _Óut upón it, Í have lóved | thrée whole dáys tógether; - Ánd am líke to lóve three móre, | íf it próve fair wéather._ - -Although only the long lines rhyme, the stanza is commonly printed in -short lines (_a4 b3 ~ c4 b3 ~_). Still more frequently we find -short-lined stanzas of the kind (_a4 b3 ~ a4 b3 ~_) as well as the other -sub-species with masculine rhymes only: _a4 b3 a4 b3_. - -§ =183.= The =six-foot trochaic line= occurs chiefly in Modern English, -and appears both in acatalectic (feminine) and catalectic (masculine) -form; e.g. in Swinburne _The Last Oracle_ (_Poems and Ballads_, ii. 1): - - _Dáy by dáy thy shádow | shínes in héaven behólden, - Éven the sún, the shíning | shádow óf thy fáce: - Kíng, the wáys of héaven | befóre thy féet grow gólden; - Gód, the sóul of éarth | is kíndled wíth thy gráce._ - -Strictly the caesura ought to occur after the third foot, as it does in -the first line; generally, however, it is within the third foot, and so -this metre as well as the stanza formed by insertion of rhyme acquires -an anisorhythmical character, as e.g. in the following quatrain by -Moore: - - _Áll that's bríght must fáde,-- - The bríghtest stíll the fléetest; - Áll that's swéet was máde - But to be lóst when swéetest._ - -When masculine rhymes are used throughout, the six-foot rhythm is -preserved in anisorhythmical stanzas of this kind just as well as when -lines like the first of those in the example quoted above, _Day by day_, -&c., are broken up by inserted rhymes (_a ~ b ~ a ~ b3 ~_); or again -when they have masculine endings in the second half-lines (_a ~ b a ~ -b3_). If the first half is masculine, however, and the second feminine -(or if both have masculine endings on account of a pause caused by the -missing thesis), the verses have a three-foot character, e.g. in Moore: - - _Whíle I tóuch the stríng, - Wréathe my bróws with láurel, - Fór the tále I síng - Hás for ónce a móral._ - -§ =184.= The =five-foot trochaic line= also occurs both in acatalectic -(feminine) and catalectic (masculine) form, and each of them is found in -stanzas rhyming alternately, as e.g. in Mrs. Hemans's _O ye voices_ -(vii. 57): - - _Ó ye vóices róund | my ówn hearth sínging! - Ás the wínds of Máy | to mémory swéet, - Míght I yét retúrn, | a wórn heart brínging, - Wóuld those vérnal tónes | the wánderer gréet?_ - -Such verses, of course, can be used also in stanzas with either -masculine or feminine endings only. - -As in the five-foot iambic verse, the caesura generally occurs either -after the second or third foot (in which case it is feminine), or -usually within the second or third foot (masculine caesura). - -In a few cases this metre is also used without rhyme; e.g. in Robert -Browning's _One Word More_ (v. 313-21); feminine endings are used here -throughout; run-on lines occasionally occur, and the caesura shows still -greater variety in consequence. A specimen is given in _Metrik_, ii, § -217. - -§ =185.= The =four-foot trochaic line= (discussed above in its -relationship to the eight- and seven-foot verse) is the most frequent of -all trochaic metres. It likewise occurs either with alternate feminine -and masculine rhymes or with rhymes of one kind only. We find it both in -stanzas and in continuous verse. The latter form, with feminine rhymes -only, we have in Shakespeare's _Tempest_, IV. i. 106-9: - - _Hónour, ríches, márriage-bléssing, - Lóng contínuance, ánd incréasing, - Hóurly jóys be stíll upón you! - Júno síngs her bléssings ón you_, &c. - -With masculine endings only it is found in _Love's Labour's Lost_, IV. -iii. 101: - - _Ón a dáy--aláck the dáy!-- - Lóve, whose mónth is éver Máy, - Spíed a blóssom pássing fáir - Pláying ín the wánton áir._ - -As in the five-foot verse, here also the caesura if used at all may fall -at different places; mostly its place is after or within the second -foot. - -Generally speaking this metre is used in continuous verse in such a way -that masculine and feminine couplets are intermixed without regular -order;[172] when it is used in stanzas the forms previously mentioned in -§ 181 are usually adopted. - -This metre is used also, in an unrhymed form and with feminine endings -throughout, in Longfellow's _Song of Hiawatha_, in which there are -noticeably more run-on lines than in rhymed four-foot trochaics. - -§ =186.= The =three-foot trochaic line=, both with feminine and with -masculine endings, has been discussed in previous sections (§§ 182-3) so -far as it is derived from seven- and six-foot verse. It may also be -derived from the six-foot metre through the breaking up of the line by -means of leonine rhyme, as in the following rhyming couplets: - - _Áge, I dó abhór thee, - Yóuth, I dó adóre thee; - Yóuth ís fúll of spórt, - Áge's bréath is shórt._ - Passionate Pilgrim, No. 12. - -§ =187. Two-foot trochaic lines= generally occur among longer lines of -anisometrical stanzas; but we also find them now and then without longer -lines in stanzas and poems. Feminine verses of this kind, which may be -regarded as four-foot lines broken up by leonine rhyme, we have in -Dodsley (_Poets_, xi. 112): - - _Lóve comméncing, - Jóys dispénsing; - Béauty smíling, - Wít beguíling_; - -and masculine ones in a short poem, possibly by Pope, _To Quinbus -Flestrin, the Man-Mountain_ (p. 481): - - _Ín a máze, - Lóst, I gáze, - Cán our éyes - Réach thy síze? - Máy my láys - Swéll with práise_, &c. - -§ =188. One-foot trochaic lines= seem only to occur among longer -verses in regular stanzas, as e.g. in a stanza of Addison's opera -_Rosamund_ (I. ii. 38): - - _Túrning, - Búrning, - Chánging, - Ránging._ - -We even find sometimes a line consisting of a single (of course -accented) syllable in Swinburne, as e.g. in his poem in trochaic verse, -_A Dead Friend_ (_A Century of Roundels_, pp. 12-19): - - _Góne, O géntle héart and trúe, - Friénd of hópes forgóne, - Hópes and hópeful dáys with yóu, - Góne?_ - -It is common to all these trochaic metres that their structure, -especially that of the longer ones, is (except for the varying caesura) -very regular, and that they have only very few rhythmical licences, -chiefly slight slurring. - - -NOTES: - - [172] For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 218. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - IAMBIC-ANAPAESTIC AND TROCHAIC-DACTYLIC - METRES - - -§ =189.= The =iambic-anapaestic rhythm= has been touched on before in -connexion with the four-stressed verse (cf. § 72) which was developed -from the alliterative long line, and which at the end of the Middle -English and in the beginning of the Modern English period, under the -growing influence of the even-beat metres, had assumed more or less -regular iambic-anapaestic character. - -When during the same period a definitive separation of the rising and -falling rhythms took place, the even-measured rhythm of this -four-stressed modern metre became more conspicuous and was made up -frequently, although not always, of a regular series of -iambic-anapaestic measures. It was thus differentiated still more -distinctly from the uneven-beat Old and Middle English long line, the -character of which mainly rested on the four well-marked beats only. It -deserves notice further that it was not until the Modern English period -that the rest of the iambic-anapaestic and trochaic-dactylic metres (the -eight-, seven-, six-, five-, four-, three-, and two-foot verses) were -imitated from the then common corresponding iambic rhythms. - -In the sixteenth century Puttenham quotes four-foot dactylics, and in -his time the dactylic hexameter had already been imitated in English. -But most of the other trisyllabic rising and falling metres, except the -Septenary, occur first in English poetry at the end of the eighteenth -and during the course of the nineteenth century. - -It must also be noted that in many cases, especially in the eight-, -four-, and two-foot verses of this kind (i.e. in those metres that are -connected with the old four-stressed verse), the rising and falling -rhythms are not strictly separated, but frequently intermingle and even -supplement one another. - - - I. Iambic-anapaestic Metres. - -§ =190. Eight-foot iambic-anapaestic verses= rhyming in long lines are -very rare, but appear in the following four-lined stanza of four-foot -verses by Burns, _The Chevalier's Lament_ (p. 343): - - _The smáll birds rejóice in the gr+ée+n l+ea+ves retúrning, - The múrmuring stréamlet winds cléar thro' the vále; - The háwthorn trees blów in the déws of the mórning, - And wíld scatter'd cówslips bedéck the gr+ee+n d+á+le._ - -In this metre each of the two periods begins with an iambic measure and -then passes into anapaests, the feminine ending of the first (or third) -line and the iambic beginning of the second (or fourth) forming together -an anapaest. - -In a poem by Swinburne (_Poems_, ii. 144) four-foot anapaestic and -dactylic lines alternate so as to form anapaestic periods: - - _For a dáy and a níght Love sáng to us, pláyed with us, - Fólded us róund from the dárk and the líght_, &c. - -For other less correct specimens of such combinations of verse cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §225. - -§ =191. The seven-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= would seem to be of -rare occurrence except in the most recent period; in long lines and -masculine rhymes it has been used by Swinburne, as e.g. in _The Death of -Richard Wagner_;[173] we quote the middle stanza: - - _As a vísion of héaven from the hóllows of ócean, | that nóne - but a gód might sée, - Rose óut of the sílence of thíngs unknówn | of a présence, a - fórm, a míght, - And we héard as a próphet that h+éa+rs G+o+d's méssage | agáinst - him, and máy not flée._ - -The occurrence of an iambus or a spondee at the end and sometimes in the -middle of the verse is remarkable, as well as the arbitrary treatment of -the caesura, which does not, as in the iambic Septenary verse, always -come after the fourth foot (as in the second line), but sometimes in -other places; in the first and third lines, for instance, there is a -feminine caesura in the fifth foot. - -More often this Septenary metre occurs in short lines (and therefore -with fixed masculine caesura). In this form it appears as early as the -seventeenth century in a poem by the Earl of Dorset, _To Chloris_: - - _Ah! Chlóris, 'tis tíme to disárm your bright éyes, - And lay bý those térrible glánces; - We líve in an áge that's more cívil and wíse, - Than to fóllow the rúles of románces._ - Poets, vii. 513. - -Another specimen of the same rhythm, very artistically handled (cf. -_Metrik_, i, § 226) is Charles Wolfe's well-known poem _The Burial of -Sir John Moore_. The same metre also occurs with masculine rhymes. - -§ =192.= The =six-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= sometimes occurs in -Modern English poets, as Tennyson, _The Grandmother_, _Maud_, &c., -Robert Browning, _Abt Vogler_, Mrs. Browning, _Confessions_, Swinburne, -_Hymn to Proserpine_, &c. - -We quote the following verses from Tennyson's _Maud_ to illustrate this -metre, which, however, in consequence of the fluctuating proportion of -iambic and anapaestic measures occurring in it is handled very -differently by different poets (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 227): - - _Did he flíng himself dówn? who knóws? | for a vást speculátion - had fáil'd, - And éver he mútter'd and mádden'd, | and éver wánn'd with despáir, - And óut he wálk'd when the wínd | like a bróken wórldling wáil'd, - And the flýing góld of the rúin'd wóodlands | dróve thro' the áir._ - -The caesura is sometimes masculine after the third foot (as in lines 1 -and 3), sometimes feminine in the fourth (line 2) or the fifth (line 4); -so that its position is quite indeterminate. The rhymes are mostly -masculine, but feminine rhymes are also met with, as e.g. in Mrs. -Browning's _Confessions_. Swinburne's verses are printed in long lines, -it is true, but they are broken into short lines by inserted masculine -and feminine rhymes. - -§ =193.= The =five-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= likewise does not occur -till recent times, and is chiefly used by the poets just mentioned. -Rhymed in couplets it occurs in Mrs. Browning's _The Daughters of -Pandarus_, Version II (vol. iv, p. 200): - - _So the stórms bore the dáughters of Pándarus | óut into thráll-- - The góds slew their párents; | the órphans were léft in the háll. - And there cáme, to féed their young líves, Aphrodíte divíne, - With the íncense, the swéet-tasting hóney, the swéet-smelling wíne._ - -The rhythm is here almost entirely anapaestic; the caesura occurs in the -most diverse places and may be either masculine or feminine. The ending -of the line is masculine throughout, as well as in Robert Browning's -_Saul_ (iii. 146-96), but with many run-on lines. - -In Swinburne's _A Word from the Psalmist_ (_A Mids. Holiday_, p. 176) we -have another treatment of this metre. As a rule the line begins with an -anapaest, and continues in pure iambic rhythm: - - _But a lóuder | thán the Chúrch's écho | thúnders - In the éars of mén | who máy not chóose but héar; - And the héart in hím | that héars it léaps and wónders, - With triúmphant hópe | astónished, ór with féar._ - -In other examples it has an iambic or spondaic rhythm at the beginning -and end, with an anapaestic part in the middle, as in _The Seaboard_ -(ib., p. 3) by the same poet: - - _The séa is at ébb, | and the sóund of her útmost wórd, - Is sóft as the l+éa+st w+a+ve's lápse | in a stíll sm+a+ll r+éa+ch. - From báy into báy, | on quést of a góal deférred, - From héadland éver to héadland | and bréach to bréach, - Where éarth gives éar | to the méssage that áll days préach._ - -In _A Century of Roundels_, p. 1, &c., Swinburne uses this metre, which -also occurs in Tennyson's _Maud_, with feminine and masculine endings -alternately. - -§ =194.= The =four-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= is essentially -identical with the four-stressed verse treated of above (§ 72), except -that it has assumed a still more regular, even-beat rhythm in modern -times; generally it begins with an iambus and anapaests follow, as in -the stanza quoted from Burns (§ 190). Occasionally this metre has an -almost entirely anapaestic structure; as e.g. in Moore, _In the Morning -of Life_: - - _In the mórning of lífe, | when its cáres are unknówn, - And its pléasures in áll | their new lústre begín, - When we líve in a bríght-beaming | wórld of our ówn, - And the líght that surróunds us | is áll from withín._ - -In other examples the rhythm is chiefly iambic, intermingled with -occasional anapaests; as e.g. in Moore's _You Remember Ellen_: - - _You remémber Éllen, | our hámlet's príde - How méekly she bléssed | her húmble lót, - When the stránger Wílliam, | had máde her his bríde, - And lóve was the líght | of her lówly cót._ - -Verses like these, which in their structure recall the earlier -four-stressed verses, frequently occur (see §§ 72, 132) mixed with -four-foot verses of a somewhat freer build in the narrative poems of -Coleridge, Scott, and Byron. - -§ =195.= The =three-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= took its origin by -analogy to the corresponding four-foot line, or perhaps to the two-foot -line derived from it by inserted rhymes; it occurs as early as Tusser, -_Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_ (cf. Guest, ii, p. 251): - - _What lóokest thou hérein to háve? - Fíne vérses thy fáncy to pléase? - Of mány my bétters that cráve; - Look nóthing but rúdeness in thése._ - -We have the same metre (two anapaests following the first iambic -measure) in Rowe, Shenstone, Moore, and others, sometimes with alternate -masculine and feminine rhymes. - -§ =196.= The =two-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= sprang from the -breaking-up of the corresponding four-foot (or four-stressed) line by -inserted or leonine rhyme, as we find it even in the Middle English -bob-wheel stanzas; in Modern English we have it in Tusser for the first -time: - - _Ill húsbandry brággeth - To gó with the bést, - Good húsbandry bággeth - Up góld in his chést. - Ill húsbandry lóseth - For lácke of good fénce, - Good húsbandry clóseth - And gaíneth the pénce._ - -This metre is used by Gay, Goldsmith, Scott, Moore, Longfellow, Robert -Browning, and others; it is also found with an anapaest following the -first iambic measure, and either with masculine and feminine rhymes -alternately, as in the example quoted above, or (as is most usual) with -these rhymes in indiscriminate succession. - -§ =197.= The =one-foot iambic-anapaestic verse= occasionally occurs in -the Middle English bob-wheel stanzas. In Modern English we find it only -as an element in anisometrical stanzas, as e.g. in the following -half-stanza of Shelley's _Autumn_ (iii. 65): - - _The ch+í+ll r+ai+n is fálling, the n+í+pt w+o+rm is cráwling, - The rívers are swelling, the thúnder is knélling - For the yéar; - The blithe swállows are flówn, and the lízards each góne - To his dwélling._ - -In Shakespeare's _Midsummer Night's Dream_, III. ii. 448-63 -(apart from the four-foot trochaic end-lines of the half-stanzas), -we also have such verses apparently; the iambic-anapaestic -character being clearly shown by a couplet like the following: - - _When thou wákest, - Thou tákest._[174] - - - II. Trochaic-dactylic Metres. - -§ =198.= These are much rarer than the iambic-anapaestic metres. -Specimens of all of them are quoted, but some are only theoretical -examples invented by, and repeated from, English or American metrists. - -Theoretically the acatalectic dactylic verse in its rhymed form ought -always to have trisyllabic or at least feminine caesura and ending. As a -fact, however, these metres have just as frequently or perhaps more -frequently masculine caesuras and rhymes. - -The =eight-foot trochaic-dactylic verse=, alternating occasionally with -iambic-anapaestic lines, occurs in Longfellow's _The Golden Legend_, -iv:[175] - - Elsie. - - _Ónward and ónward the híghway rúns || to the dístant cíty, | - impátiently béaring - Tídings of húman jóy and disáster, || of lóve and of háte, | - of dóing and dáring!_ - - Prince Henry. - - _This lífe of óurs | is a wíld aeólian hárp | of mány a jóyous - stráin, - But únder them áll there rúns | a lóud perpétual wáil, | as of - sóuls in páin._ - - Elsie. - - _Fáith alóne can intérpret lífe, || and the héart that áches and - bléeds with the stígma - Of pain, | alóne bears the likeness of Chríst, || and cán - comprehénd its dárk enígma._ - -There are, as appears from this specimen, a great many licences in these -verses; the caesura, mostly in the fourth foot, is masculine in lines 1, -5, 6, feminine in 2; so that the second half of the line has an -iambic-anapaestic rhythm. Besides this most of the lines have secondary -caesuras in different places of the verse; iambic-anapaestic verses -(like 3, 4, 6) are decidedly in the minority. The rhymes are both -feminine and masculine, but there is no regular alternation between -them, as might be supposed from the above short specimen. - -§ =199.= The form of the =seven-foot trochaic-dactylic verse= may be -illustrated by the following theoretical specimen, quoted from _The -Grammar of English Grammars_ (p. 880), by Goold Brown: - - _Óut of the kíngdom of Chríst shall be gáthered, | by ángels o'er - Sátan victórious, - Áll that offéndeth, that líeth, that fáileth | to hónour his náme - ever glórious._ - -Verses of this form with masculine endings printed in short lines occur -in a song by Burns (p. 217): - - _Whére are the jóys I have mét in the mórning, | that dánc'd to the - lárk's early sáng? - Whére is the péace that awáited my wánd'ring | at évening the wíld - woods amáng?_ - -§ =200.= The =six-foot trochaic-dactylic verse= may be illustrated by a -theoretical specimen from Goold Brown (p. 880), which is strictly -dactylic, with inserted rhymes: - - _Tíme, thou art éver in mótion, | on whéels of the dáys, years - and áges; - Réstless as wáves of the ócean, | when Eúrus or Bóreas ráges._ - -Generally this metre is combined with iambic-anapaestic verses, as e.g. -in Mrs. Browning's _Confessions_ (iii. 60) mentioned above, § 192, which -is, for the greatest part, written in this form: - - _Fáce to fáce in my chámber, | my sílent chámber, I sáw her: - Gód and shé and I ónly, | there Í sate dówn to dráw her - Sóul through the cléfts of conféssion,-- | spéak, I am hólding - thee fást - As the ángel of résurréction | shall dó it át the lást!_ - -§ =201.= The =five-foot trochaic-dactylic verse= occurs now and then in -Swinburne's _A Century of Roundels_, as e.g. on p. 5: - - _Súrely the thóught | in a mán's heart hópes or féars - Nów that forgétfulness | néeds must hére have strícken - Ánguish, | and swéetened the séaled-up spríngs | of téars_, &c. - -The verses are trochaic with two dactyls at the beginning. The caesura -is variable; masculine in line 1; trisyllabic after the second arsis in -line 2; a double caesura occurs in line 3, viz. a feminine one in the -first foot, a masculine one in the fourth. The rhymes are both masculine -and feminine. - -§ =202.= The =four-foot trochaic-dactylic verse= is mentioned first by -Puttenham (p. 140), and occurs pretty often; seldom unrhymed as in -Southey, _The Soldier's Wife_;[176] mostly rhymed, as e.g. in -Thackeray, _The Willow Tree_ (p. 261): - - _Lóng by the wíllow-trees | váinly they sóught her, - Wíld rang the móther's screams | ó'er the grey wáter: - Whére is my lóvely one? | whére is my dáughter?_ - -For other specimens with occasional masculine rhymes see _Metrik_, ii, -§ 238; amongst them is one from Swinburne's _A Century of Roundels_, of -principally trochaic rhythm. - -§ =203.= The =three-foot trochaic-dactylic verse= with feminine rhymes -occurs in R. Browning, _The Glove_ (iv. 171): - - _Héigho, yawned óne day King Fráncis, - Dístance all válue enhánces! - Whén a man's búsy, why, léisure - Stríkes him as wónderful pléasure._ - -Masculine rhymes occur in a song by Moore: - - _Whére shall we búry our Sháme? - Whére, in what désolate pláce, - Híde the last wréck of a náme, - Bróken and stáin'd by disgráce?_ - -We have a strict dactylic rhythm, extending to the end of the line, in a -short poem, _To the Katydid_, quoted by Goold Brown.[177] - -§ =204. Two-foot dactylic= or =trochaic-dactylic verses= (derived from -the corresponding four-foot verses by means of inserted or leonine -rhyme) are fairly common; generally, it is true, they have intermittent -rhyme (_a b c b_), so that they are in reality four-foot rhyming -couplets, merely printed in a two-foot arrangement, as in Tennyson, _The -Charge of the Light Brigade_ (p. 260). There are, however, also some -poems consisting of real short lines of this metre, i.e. of two-foot -lines with alternately tumbling and feminine or tumbling and masculine -rhymes; as, e.g., in Burns's _Jamie, come try me_ (p. 258), and in -Hood, _The Bridge of Sighs_ (p. 1): - - Burns. Hood. - - _If thou should ásk my love, _Óne more unfórtunate, - Cóuld I dený thee? Wéary of bréath, - Íf thou would wín my love, Rashly impórtunate, - Jámie, come trý me._ Góne to her déath!_ - -Masculine rhymes throughout occur in Thackeray, _The Mahogany Tree_ (p. -51), and in an imitation of the old four-stressed alliterative long line -in Longfellow, _The Saga of King Olaf I_ (p. 546): - - Thackeray. Longfellow. - - _Chrístmas is hére: _Í am the Gód Thor, - Wínds whistle shríll, Í am the Wár God, - Ícy and chíll, Í am the Thúnderer! - Líttle care wé: Hére in my Nórthland, - Líttle we féar My fástness and fórtress, - Wéather withóut, Réign I for éver! - Shéltered abóut Hére amid ícebergs - The Mahógany Trée._ Rúle I the nátions._ - -§ =205. One-foot dactylic verses= are not likely to occur -except in anisometrical stanzas. We are unable to quote any -proper example of them, but the following two four-lined -half-stanzas from Scott's _Pibroch of Donald Dhu_ (p. 488), in -which some of the two-foot lines admit of being resolved into -verses of one foot, may serve to illustrate this metre: - - _Cóme away, _Fáster come, - Cóme away, Fáster come, - Hárk to the summons! Fáster and fáster, - Cóme in your Chíef, vassal, - Wár-array, Páge and groom, - Géntles and cómmons._ Ténant and Máster._ - - -NOTES: - - [173] _A Century of Roundels_, p. 30. - - [174] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 232. - - [175] _Prince Henry and Elsie_, pp. 249-51. - - [176] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 238. - - [177] Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 239. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - NON-STROPHIC, ANISOMETRICAL COMBINATIONS - OF RHYMED VERSE - - -§ =206.= Non-strophic anisometrical combinations of rhymed verse consist -of lines of different metres, rhyming in pairs, and recurring in a -definite order of succession. One of these combinations, known as the -=Poulter's Measure= (Alexandrine + Septenary), already occurs in the -Middle English Period (cf. § 146) and has remained in use down to the -present day. It was at one time extremely popular, and has in the Modern -English Period been imitated in other metres. - -The most common variety of this metre is that in which the verses have -an iambic-anapaestic rhythm; they are usually printed in short lines, as -e.g. in a poem by Charles Kingsley: - - _When Í was a gréenhorn and yóung, - And wánted to bé and to dó, - I púzzled my bráins about chóosing my líne, - Till I fóund out the wáy that things gó._ - -Before his time Burns had composed a poem in the same metre, _Here's a -Health to them that's awa_ (p. 245); and at the end of the seventeenth -century Philips (_Poets_, vi. 560) wrote a _Bacchanalian Song_ in -similar verses. - -In the same metre are the _Nonsense Rhymes_ by Edward Lear,[178] as well -as many other quatrains of a similar kind, the humour of which is often -somewhat coarse. - -An unusual sub-species of this metre, consisting of trochaic verses, -occurs only very rarely in Leigh Hunt, e.g. in _Wealth and Womanhood_ -(p. 277): - - _Háve you séen an héiress ín her jéwels móunted, - Tíll her wéalth and shé seem'd óne, ánd she míght be cóunted? - Háve you séen a bósom wíth one róse betwíxt it? - And díd you márk the gráteful blúsh, whén the brídegroom fíx'd it?_ - -§ =207.= Other anisometrical combinations consist of a five-foot line -followed by one consisting of four, three, or two feet. This form we -find pretty often; Ben Jonson, e.g., uses it (five + four feet) in his -translation of Horace, _Odes_ v. 11 (_Poets_, iv. 596): - - _Háppy is hé, that fróm all búsiness cléar, - Ás the old ráce of mánkind wére, - Wíth his own óxen tílls his síre's left lánds, - And ís not ín the úsurer's bánds; - Nor sóldier-líke, stárted with róugh alárms, - Nor dréads the séa's enráged hárms_, &c. - -He used the reverse order in _Odes_ iv. 1. In Wordsworth's poem _The -Gipsies_ (iv. 68) we have the couplets: _a a5 b b4 c c5 d d4_, &c., but -not divided into stanzas. - -Five- and three-foot lines _a5 a3 b5 b3 c5 c3 d5 d3_, &c., occur in Ben -Jonson, _The Forest, XI. Epode_ (_Poets_, vi, pp. 555-6); and with -reverse order (_a3 a5 b3 b5 c3 c5_, &c.) in his _Epigrams_ (_Poets_, iv. -546). - -The combination of five- and two-foot lines seems to occur in modern -poets only; e.g. in W. S. Landor, _Miscellanies_, clxxv (ii. 649): - - _Néver may stórm thy péaceful bósom véx, - Thou lóvely Éxe! - O'er whóse pure stréam that músic yésterníght - Pour'd frésh delíght, - And léft a vísion for the éye of Mórn - To láugh to scórn_, &c. - -With crossed rhymes (feminine and masculine rhymes, alternately) this -combination occurs in Mrs. Browning, _A Drama of Exile_ (i. 12), where -the scheme is _a ~5 b2 a ~5 b2 c ~5 d2 c ~5 d2_, and in R. Browning, _A -Grammarian's Funeral_ (iv. 270), the formula being _a5 b ~2 a5 b ~2 c5 d -~2 c5 d ~2_, &c. - -§ =208.= Combinations of four- and two-foot lines (masculine and -feminine endings) occur in Ben Jonson, _Epigrams_, cxx (_Poets_, iv. -545); iambic and anapaestic verses similarly combined in R. Browning, -_Prospice_, vi. 152. - -In the same poet we have three- and two-foot iambic-anapaestic lines -with the formula _a ~3 b2 c ~3 b2 d ~3 e2 f ~3 e2_; in _The Englishman -in Italy_ (iv. 186): - - _Fortú, Fortú, my belóved one, - Sit hére by my side, - On my knées put up bóth little féet! - I was súre, if I tried_, &c. - -In Mrs. Browning we find this metre, which might be taken also as -five-foot iambic-anapaestic couplets, broken up by internal rhyme -(according to the formula _a ~3 b2 a ~3 b2 c ~3 d2 c ~3 d2_, &c.) in _A -Drama of Exile_ (i. 3). For other specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 244-8. - -A number of other anisometrical combinations of verses will be mentioned -in Book II, in the chapter on the non-strophic odes. - - -NOTES: - - [178] _Book of Nonsense_, London, Routledge, 1843. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - IMITATIONS OF CLASSICAL FORMS OF VERSE - AND STANZA - - -§ =209. The English hexameter.= Of all imitations of classical metres -in English the best known and most popular is the hexameter. In the -history of its development we have to distinguish two epochs--that of -the first and somewhat grotesque attempts to introduce it into English -poetry in the second half of the sixteenth century, and that of its -revival in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. - -The hexameter was introduced into English poetry by Gabriel Harvey -(1545-1630), who, in his _Encomium Lauri_, attempted to imitate the -quantitative classic verse in the accentual English language, paying -attention as much as possible to the quantity of the English words. - -Sir Philip Sidney followed with some poetical portions of his _Arcadia_ -written in this metre; Stanyhurst (1545-1618) translated the first four -books of Virgil in quantitative hexameters; in 1591 Abraham Fraunce -translated Virgil's _Alexis_, and William Webbe, the metrist, turned -into English the _Georgics_ and two eclogues of the same poet, also in -quantitative hexameters; but all these efforts had little success on -account of the unfitness of English for quantitative treatment. Robert -Greene also employed this metre in some of his minor poems, but followed -the accentual system; on this account he was more successful, but he -found no imitators, and during the latter part of the seventeenth -century the metre fell altogether into disuse. - -In one isolated case about the middle of the eighteenth century it was -revived by an anonymous translator of Virgil's first and fourth -eclogues. But English hexameters did not begin to come into favour again -before the close of the eighteenth century, when the influence of the -study of German poetry began to make itself felt. Parts of Klopstock's -_Messiah_ were translated by William Taylor (1765-1836) in the metre of -the original. He also turned several passages of Ossian into hexameters -(published in June, 1796, in the _Monthly Magazine_), and maintained -that the hexameter, modified after the German fashion by the -substitution of the accentual for the quantitative principle and the use -of trochees instead of spondees, could be used with as good effect in -English as in German. About the same time, Coleridge used the hexameter -in some of his minor poems, _Hymn to the Earth_, _Mahomet_, &c., and -Southey chose this form for his longer poem, _A Vision of Judgement_. - -But it was not till the middle of the nineteenth century that the -English hexameter came into somewhat more extensive use. It was at first -chiefly employed in translations from the German. Goethe's _Hermann und -Dorothea_ has been translated five times at least (for the first time by -Cochrane, Oxford, 1850). The metre has also been employed in -translations of classical poetry, especially Homer and Virgil, and in -original poems, none of which, however, have attained general popularity -except those by Longfellow, especially his _Evangeline_ and _The -Courtship of Miles Standish_. - -§ =210.= The hexameter is a six-foot catalectic verse theoretically -consisting of five successive dactyls and a trochee. But the greatest -rhythmical variety is given to this verse by the rule which allows a -spondee to be used instead of any of the dactyls; in the fifth foot, -however, this rarely occurs. In the sixth foot, moreover, the spondee is -admissible instead of the trochee. The structure of the verse may thus -be expressed by the following formula: - - -´ =)) -´ =)) -´ =)) -´ =)) -´ ) ) -´ =). - -The main difficulty in imitating this metre in English is caused by -the large number of monosyllabic words in the English language, and -especially by its lack of words with a spondaic measurement. - -Some recent attempts to imitate the hexameter in English according -to the principles of quantity have been altogether unsuccessful, as -e.g. Cayley's (_Transactions of the Philological Society_, 1862-3, -Part i, pp. 67-85). Matthew Arnold's method too proved impracticable -(_On Translating Homer_, London, 1862); he attempted and recommended -the regulation of the rhythm of the verse by the accent and at the -same time sought not to neglect the quantity altogether. But the only -successful method of adapting the hexameter to English use is that -adopted by William Taylor, who followed the example of the Germans -in observing only the accentual system and substituting the accentual -trochee for the spondee. Sir John Herschel in his translation of Homer -and Longfellow in his original poems have done the same. - -Even with these modifications a certain harshness now and then is -inevitable in hexameters both in German and particularly in English, -where many lines occur consisting nearly throughout of monosyllables -only, as e.g. the following lines from Longfellow's _Evangeline_: - - _Whíte as the snów were his lócks, and his chéeks as brówn - as the óak-leaves. - Ánd the great séal of the láw was sét like a sún on a - márgin._ - -Other passages, however, prove the English hexameter to be as capable -of harmony as the German if treated in this way; cf. e.g. the -introductory verses of the same poem:[179] - - _Thís is the fórest priméval. The múrmuring pínes and the - hémlocks, - Béarded with móss, and in gárments gréen, indistínct in the - twílight, - Stánd like Drúids of éld, with vóices sád and prophétic, - Stánd like hárpers hóar, with béards that rést on their - bósoms. - Lóud from its rócky cáverns, the déep-voiced néighbouring - ócean - Spéaks, and in áccents discónsolate ánswers the wáil of the - fórest._ - -§ =211.= Besides these repeated attempts to naturalize the hexameter in -English, many other kinds of classical verses and stanzas have been -imitated in English literature from the middle of the sixteenth and -afterwards during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among these -the =Elegiac= verse of the ancients (hexameter alternating with -pentameter) was attempted by Sidney in his _Arcadia_. Of more modern -experiments in accordance with the accentual principle, Coleridge's -translation of Schiller's well-known distich may be quoted: - - _Ín the hexámeter ríses the fóuntains sílvery cólumn, - Ín the pentámeter áye fálling in mélody báck._ - -Swinburne, among others, has written his _Hesperia_ (_Poems and -Ballads_, i, 1868, p. 200) in rhymed verses of this kind: - - _Óut of the gólden remóte wild wést, where the séa without shóre is, - Fúll of the súnset, and sád, if at áll, with the fúllness of jóy, - As a wínd sets ín with the áutumn that blóws from the région of - stóries, - Blóws from a pérfume of sóngs and of mémories belóved fróm a bóy._ - -The third line is remarkable for its anacrusis, which occasionally -occurs also in other English hexameters. - -Sidney in his _Arcadia_, p. 229 (333, xxxvii), also tried the =minor -Asclepiad=, which has the following scheme: - - -´ [)-] -´ ) ) -´ | -´ ) ) -´ ) [)-]. - _Ó sweet wóods, the delíght | óf solitáriness! - Ó how múch I do líke | yóur solitárinesse! - Whére man's mínde hath a fréed | cónsiderátion, - Óf goodnésse to recéive | lóvely diréction_, &c. - -As an example of Spenser's =six-foot iambic line= Guest (ii. 270) -quotes the verses: - - _Nów doe I níghtly wáste, | wánting my kíndely réste, - Nów doe I dáily stárve, | wánting my lívely fóode, - Nów doe I álwayes dýe, | wánting my tímely mírth._ - -In his _Arcadia_, p. 228 (232, xxxvi), Sidney used the =Phaleuciac= -verse of eleven syllables in stanzas of six lines marked by the -recurrence of a refrain. The rhythm is the same as in the -=Hendecasyllabics= of modern poets, in the following lines of -Swinburne (_Poems_, i. 233): - - _Ín the mónth of the lóng declíne of róses - Í behólding the súmmer déad befóre me, - Sét my fáce to the séa and jóurneyed sílent_, &c. - -The same metre was inaccurately imitated by Coleridge (p. 252) who put a -dactyl in the first foot: - - _Héar, my belóvëd, an old Milésian stóry! - Hígh and embósom'd in cóngregáted laúrels, - Glímmer'd a témple upón a bréezy héadland_, &c. - -Finally, the =rhymed Choriambics= may be mentioned, used -also by Swinburne (_Poems_, ii. 141-3): - - _Lóve, what áiled thee to léave lífe that was máde lóvely, we thóught, - with lòve? - Whát sweet vísions of sléep lúred thee awáy, dówn from the líght - abòve? - Whát strànge fáces of dréams, vóices that cálled, hánds that were - ráised to wàve, - Lúred or léd thee, alás, óut of the sún, dówn to the súnless gràve?_ - &c. - -§ =212.= Among the =classical stanzas=, which may appropriately be -discussed in this connexion, the =Sapphic metre= deserves the first -place, as it has been imitated pretty often; its scheme is as follows: - - -´ ) - - -´ | ) ) - ) - - - -´ ) - - -´ | ) ) - ) - - - -´ ) - - -´ | ) ) - ) - - - -´ ) ) - - - -It is certainly not an easy task to write in this form of stanza, as -it is rather difficult in English to imitate feet of three or even two -long syllables (Molossus and Spondee). Yet it has been used by several -poets, as by Sidney and his contemporary, the metrist William Webbe; in -the eighteenth century by Dr. Watts, Cowper, and Southey (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 253); and in later times by Swinburne, from whose _Poems and -Ballads_ a specimen may be quoted: - - _Áll the n[=í]ght sl[=e]ep c[=á]me not up[=ó]n my [=é]yelids, - Sh[=e]d not d[=é]w, n[=o]r sh[=ó]ok nor uncl[=o]sed a f[=é]ather, - Y[=é]t with l[=í]ps sh[=u]t cl[=ó]se and with [=é]yes of [=í]ron - St[=ó]od and beh[=é]ld me._ - -Of other kinds of classical verses and stanzas the =Alcaic metre= has -occasionally been imitated, e.g. by Tennyson. The scheme of the Latin -original is as follows: - - [=)] -´ ) - - | -´ ) ) - ) [)-] - [=)] -´ ) - - | -´ ) ) - ) [)-] - [)-] -´ ) - - -´ ) - [=)] - -´ ) ) - ) ) - ) - [=)] - -Tennyson's poem is an _Ode to Milton_ (p. 281): - - _O m[=í]ghty m[=ó]uth'd [=i]nv[=é]nt[)o]r [)o]f h[=á]rm[)o]n[)i]es, - O sk[=í]lled t[)o] s[=í]ng [=o]f T[=í]me [)o]r Et[=é]rn[)i]ty, - G[=o]dg[=í]ft[)e]d [=ó]rg[=a]n-v[=ó]ice [)o]f Éngl[=a]nd, - M[=í]lt[)o]n, [)a] n[=á]me t[)o] r[)e]s[=ó]únd f[=o]r [=á]g[)e]s._ - -There are besides in Sidney's _Arcadia_, pp. 227 (232, xxxv) and 533, -=Anacreontic stanzas= of varying length, consisting of 3-11 verses and -constructed in this way: - - _My Múse, what áiles this árdour? - To bláse my ónely sécrets? - Alás, it ís no glóry - To síng mine ówne decáid state._ - -§ =213.= In connexion with these imitations of classical verses and -stanzas without rhyme some other forms should be mentioned which took -their rise from an attempt to get rid of end-rhyme. Orm was the first -to make the experiment in his rhymeless Septenary, but he found no -followers in the Middle English period; Surrey, several centuries -later, on the other hand, did achieve success with his blank verse. -In the beginning of the seventeenth century Thomas Campion, in his -_Observations on the Arte of English Poesy_ (London, 1602), tried -to introduce certain kinds of rhymeless verses and stanzas, mostly -trochaic; e.g. trochaic verses of three measures (with masculine -endings) and of five measures (with feminine endings); distichs -consisting of one five-foot iambic and one six-foot trochaic verse -(both masculine); then a free imitation of the Sapphic metre and -other kinds of rhymeless stanzas, quoted and discussed in _Metrik_, -ii, § 254. But these early and isolated attempts need not engage our -attention in this place, as they had probably no influence on similar -experiments of later poets. - -In Milton, e.g., we find a stanza corresponding to the formula _a -b5 c d3_, in his imitation of the fifth Ode of Horace, Book I, used -also by Collins, _Ode to Evening_ (_Poets_, ix. 526): - - _If áught of oáten stóp or pástoral sóng - May hópe, chast Éve, to soóthe thy módest éar - Like thý own sólemn spríngs - Thy spríngs and dýing gáles._ - -Southey uses the same stanza (ii. 145); to him we owe several other -rhymeless stanzas of the form _a b4 c d 3_ (ii. 212), _a3 b c4 d3_ -(ii. 210) (both of anapaestic verses), _a b c4 d3_ (ii. 148), _a3 b -c5 d3_ (ii. 159), _a4 b c3 d5_ (ii. 182), _a b4 c5 d3_ (ii. 187), -_a4 b3 c5 d3_ (ii. 189); all consisting of iambic verses. - -The same poet also uses a stanza of five iambic lines of the form -_a5 b3 c4 d e3_ (iii. 255), and another of the form _a5 b3 c5 d4 e3_ -in his ode _The Battle of Algiers_ (iii. 253): - - _One dáy of dréadful occupátion móre, - Ere Éngland's gállant shíps - Sháll, of their béauty, pómp, and pówer disróbed, - Like séa-birds ón the súnny máin, - Rock ídly ín the pórt._ - -A stanza of similar construction (formula _a b c5 d e3_ is used -by Mrs. Browning in _The Measure_ (iii. 114). - -Various isometrical and anisometrical stanzas of this kind occur in -Lord Lytton's _Lost Tales of Miletus_; one of these consists of three -of Coleridge's Hendecasyllabics, followed by one masculine verse of -similar form, and has the formula _a ~ b ~ c ~ d5_; it is used, e. -g., in _Cydippe_: - - _Fáirest and hárdiest óf the yóuths in Céos - Flóurish'd Acóntius frée from lóve's sweet tróuble, - Púre as when fírst a chíld, in hér child-chórus, - Chánting the góddess óf the silver bów._ - -In another stanza used in _The Wife of Miletus_ an ordinary masculine -blank verse alternates with a Hendecasyllabic; a third of the form _a b -c d4_ consists of trochaic verses. - -Other stanzas of ordinary five- and three-foot verses used by him in -the _Lost Tales_ have the formulas _a b5 c3 d5_, _a b c5 d3_, _a ~ b -~5 c3 d5_. - -In another stanza (_Corinna_), constructed after the formula -_a b4 c d3_, a dactylic rhythm prevails: - - _Gláucon of Lésbos, the són of Euphórion, - Búrned for Corinna, the blúe-eyed Milésian. - Nor móther nor fáther hád she; - Béauty and wéalth had the órphan._ - -Stanzas of a similar kind consisting of trochaic verses are used by -Longfellow; one of the form _a3 b c4 d ~2_ in _To an old Danish Song -Book_, and another which corresponds to the formula _a b5 c2 d5_ in -_The Golden Mile-Stone_. - -Iambic-anapaestic verses of two stresses and feminine ending are found -in Longfellow's poem _The Men of Nidaros_ (p. 579); the arrangement into -stanzas of six lines being marked only by the syntactical order, in the -same way as in Southey's poem _The Soldier's Wife_ (ii. 140), in which, -too, four-foot dactylic verses are combined in stanzas of three lines. -Two-foot dactylic and dactylic-trochaic verses of a similar structure to -those mentioned in Book I, § 73, are joined to rhymeless stanzas of five -lines (the first four have feminine endings, the last a masculine one) -by Matthew Arnold in his poem _Consolation_ (p. 50). Stanzas of five -iambic verses of three and five measures, corresponding to the formula -_a3 b5 c3 d5 e3_ occur in his poem _Growing Old_ (p. 527). In Charles -Lamb's well-known poem, _The Old Familiar Faces_, written in stanzas of -three lines, consisting of five-foot verses with feminine endings, the -division into stanzas is marked by a refrain at the end of each stanza. -For examples of these different kinds of verses the reader is referred -to the author's _Metrik_, ii, §§ 255-8. - -In conclusion it may be mentioned that many of the irregular, so-called -Pindaric Odes (cf. Book II, chap. viii) are likewise written in -rhymeless anisometrical stanzas. - - -NOTES: - - [179] Specimens of earlier hexameter verse with detailed - bibliographical information may be found in our _Metrik_, ii, - §§ 249-50; and especially in C. Elze's thorough treatise on - the subject, _Der englische Hexameter_. Programm des - Gymnasiums zu Danzig, 1867. (Cf. F. E. Schelling, _Mod. Lang. - Notes_, 1890, vii. 423-7.) - - - - - BOOK II. THE STRUCTURE OF STANZAS - - - - - PART I - - - - - CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS - - STANZA, RHYME, VARIETIES OF RHYME - - -§ =214.= The strophe in ancient poetry, and the stanza in mediaeval and -modern analogues and derivatives of that poetic form, are combinations -of single lines into a unity of which the lines are the parts. The word -_strophe_[180] in its literal sense means a turning, and originally -denoted the return of the song to the melody with which it began. The -melody, which is a series of musical sounds arranged in accordance with -the laws of rhythm and modulation, has in poetry its counterpart in a -parallel series of significant sounds or words arranged according to the -laws of rhythm; and the melodic termination of the musical series has -its analogue in the logical completion of the thought. But within the -stanza itself again there are well-marked resting places, divisions -closely connected with the periods or sentences of which the stanza is -made up. The periods are built up of rhythmical sequences which are -combinations of single feet, dominated by a rhythmical main accent. In -shorter lines the end of the rhythmical sequence as a rule coincides -with the end of the verse; but if the line is of some length it -generally contains two or even more rhythmical sequences.[181] The -essential constituents of the stanza are the lines; and the structure of -the stanzas connected together to make up a poem is in classical as well -as in mediaeval and modern poetry subject to the rule that the lines of -each stanza of the poem must resemble those of the other stanzas in -number, length (i.e. the number of feet or measures), rhythmical -structure, and arrangement. (This rule, however, is not without -exceptions in modern poetry.) In the versification of the ancients it -was sufficient for the construction of a strophic poem that its verses -should be combined in a certain number of groups which resembled each -other in these respects. In modern poetry, also, such an arrangement of -the verses may be sufficient for the construction of stanzas; but this -is only exceptionally the case, and, as a rule, only in imitation of the -classic metrical forms (cf. §§ 212-13). The stanza, as it is found in -the mediaeval and modern poetry of the nations of western Europe, -exhibits an additional structural element of the greatest importance, -viz. the connexion of the single lines of the stanza by end-rhyme; and -with regard to this a rule analogous to the previously mentioned law -regarding the equality in number and nature of verses forming a stanza -holds good, viz. that the arrangement of the rhymes which link the -verses together to form stanzas, must be the same in all the stanzas of -a poem. - -§ =215.= Of the three chief kinds of rhyme, in its widest sense -(mentioned § 10), i.e. alliteration, assonance, and end-rhyme, only the -last need be taken into consideration here. There are, indeed, some -poems in Old English in which end-rhyme is used consciously and -intentionally (see §§ 40-1), but it was never used in that period for -the construction of stanzas. This took place first in Middle English -under the influence and after the model of the Low Latin and the Romanic -lyrics. - -The influence of the Low Latin lyrical and hymnodic poetry on the Old -English stanzas is easily explicable from the position of the Latin -language as the international tongue of the church and of learning -during the Middle Ages. The influence of the lyrical forms of Provence -and of Northern France on Middle English poetry was rendered possible by -various circumstances. In the first place, during the crusades the -nations of Western Europe frequently came into close contact with each -other. A more important factor, however, was the Norman Conquest, in -consequence of which the Norman-French language during a considerable -time predominated in the British Isles and acted as a channel of -communication of literature with the continent. One historical event -deserves in this connexion special mention--the marriage in the year -1152 of Henry, Duke of Normandy (who came to the throne of England in -1154), and Eleonore of Poitou, widow of Louis VII of France; in her -train Bernard de Ventadorn, the troubadour, came to England, whither -many other poets and minstrels soon followed him, both in the reign of -Henry and of his successor Richard Coeur de Lion, who himself composed -songs in the Provençal and in the French language. The effect of the -spread of songs like these in Provençal and French in England was to -give a stimulus and add new forms to the native lyrical poetry which was -gradually reviving. At first indeed the somewhat complicated strophic -forms of the Provençal and Northern French lyrics did not greatly appeal -to English tastes, and were little adapted to the less flexible -character of the English tongue. Hence many of the more elaborate -rhyme-systems of Provençal and Northern French lyrical versification -were not imitated at all in English; others were reproduced only in a -modified and often very original form; and only the simpler forms, which -occurred mostly in Low Latin poetry as well, were imitated somewhat -early and with little or no modification. - -§ =216.= The end-rhyme, which is so important a factor in the -formation of stanzas, has many varieties, which may be classified -in three ways: - -A. According to the =number= of the rhyming syllables. - -B. According to the =quality= of these syllables. - -C. According to the =position of the rhyme= in relation to -the line and the stanza. - -Intimately connected with this last point is the use of rhyme -as an element in the structure of the stanza. - -A. With regard to the number of the syllables, rhymes are divided into -three classes, viz.: - -1. The =monosyllabic= or =single rhyme= (also called =masculine=), e.g. -_hand: land_, _face: grace_. - -2. The =disyllabic= or =double rhyme= (also called =feminine=), as -_ever: never_, _brother: mother_, _treasure: measure_, _suppression: -transgression_; or _owe me: know me_ Shakesp. Ven. and Ad. 523-5; -_bereft me: left me_ ib. 439-41. The terms _masculine_ and _feminine_ -originated with the Provençal poets and metrists, who were the first -among the people of Western Europe to theorize on the structure of the -verses which they employed, and introduced these terms in reference to -the forms of the Provençal adjective, which were monosyllabic or -accented on the last syllable in the masculine, and disyllabic or -accented on the last syllable but one in the feminine: _bos-bona_, -_amatz-amada_. - -3. The =trisyllabic, triple=, or =tumbling rhyme=, called _gleitender_ -(i.e. gliding) _Reim_ in German. Of this variety of rhyme, which is -less common than the two others, examples are _gymnastical: -ecclesiastical_ Byron, Beppo, 3; _quality: liberality_ ib. 30; _láugh of -them: hálf of them_ ib. 98. Rhymes like this last, which are made up of -more words than two, might, like those given above under the -disyllables, such as _owe me: know me_, also form a separate sub-species -as =compound rhymes=, as they resemble the broken rhymes (cf. § 217, B. -3) and have, like these, mostly a burlesque effect. - -§ =217.= B. According to the second principle of classification, by the -quality of the rhyming syllables, the species of rhyme are as follows: - -1. The =rich rhyme= (in French _rime riche_), i.e. two words completely -alike in sound but unlike in meaning rhyming with each other. Of this -three special cases are possible: - -_a._ Two simple words rhyming with each other, as _londe_ (inf.)_: -londe_ (noun) K. Horn, 753-4; _armes_ (arms)_: armes_ (weapons) Chaucer, -Compleynt of Mars, ll. 76-7; _steepe_ (adj.)_: steepe_ (inf.) Spenser, -F. Q. I. i. 39; _sent_ (perf.)_: sent_ (_=scent_, noun) ib. 43; _can_ -(noun); _can_ (verb) ib. I. iv. 22, &c. In the earlier Modern English -poetry we find many rhymes of this class between words that are alike or -similar in sound, but of different spelling, as _night: knight_, _foul: -fowl_, _gilt: guilt_, _hart: heart_, &c. (cf. Ellis, 'Shakespere's Puns' -in _Early Engl. Pron._ iii. 920, iv. 1018). - -_b._ A simple and a compound word rhyming together, as _leue: bileue_ K. -Horn, 741-2; _like: sellike_ Sir Tristr. 1222-4; _ymake: make_ Wright's -Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 27, ll. 16-18; _apart: part_ Spenser, F. Q. I. -ii. 21, _hold: behold_ ib. I. iii. 40; here also identity of sound and -difference of spelling is possible, as _renew: knew_ ib. I. iii. 25. - -_c._ Two compound words rhyming together, as _recorde: accorde_ Chaucer, -C. T. Prol. 828-9; _affirmed: confirmed_ Wyatt, p. 98; _expeld: -compeld_ Spenser, F. Q. I. i. 5. - -2. The =identical rhyme=. This is, properly speaking, no rhyme at all, -but only a repetition of the same word intended as a substitute for -rhyme; and therefore was and is avoided by careful and skilful poets; -_sette: sette_ K. Horn, 757-8; _other: other_ Wyatt, p. 45; _down: -down_ ib. p. 194; _sight: sight_ Spenser, F. Q. I. i. 45, &c. - -3. The =broken rhyme= has two sub-species: - -_a._ In the first of these one part of the rhyme is composed of two or -three words (unlike the rhymes spoken of under A. 3, consisting of two -words each), e.g. _time: bi me_ K. Horn, 533-4; _scolis: fole is_, -Chaucer, Troil. i. 634-5; _tyrant: high rent_ Moore, Fudge Fam., Letter -iv; _wide as: Midas_ ib.; _well a day: melody_ ib. x; _Verona: known a_ -Byron, Beppo, 17; _sad knee: Ariadne_ ib. 28; _endure a: seccatura_ ib. -31; _estrangement: change meant_ ib. 53; _quote is: notice_ ib. 48; -_exhibit 'em: libitum_ ib. 70; _Julia: truly a: newly a_ Byron, Don -Juan, ii. 208. - -_b._ In the second sub-species the rhyme to a common word is formed by -the first part only of a longer word, the remainder standing at the -beginning of the following line. This sort of rhyme seems to be unknown -in Middle English literature; modern poets, however, use it not -unfrequently in burlesque, as well as the previously mentioned -sub-species, e.g. _kind: blind-_(_ness_) Pope, Satire iii. 67; -_forget-_(_ful_)_: debt_ ib. iv. 13; _beg: egge-_(_shells_) ib. iv. -104; _nice hence-_(_forward_)_: licence_ Byron, Don Juan, i. 120; -Thackeray, Ballads, p. 133: - - _Winter and summer, night and morn, - I languish at this table dark; - My office window has a corn- - er looks into St. James's Park._ - -4. The =double rhyme=. This is always trisyllabic like that mentioned -under A. 3; but there is a difference between them, in that the two -closing syllables of the gliding rhyme stand outside the regular rhythm -of the verse; while the first and the third syllable of the double rhyme -bear the second last and last arsis of the verse. - - _For dóuteth nóthinge, mýn inténción - Nis nót to yów of reprehénción._ - Chaucer, Troil. i. 683-4. - -This sort of rhyme does on the whole not very often occur in Modern -English poetry, and even in Middle English literature we ought to regard -it as accidental. The same is the case with another (more frequent) -species, namely, - -5. The =extended rhyme=, in which an unaccented syllable preceding the -rhyme proper, or an unaccented word in thesis, forms part of the rhyme, -e.g. _biforne: iborne_ Chaucer, Troil. ii. 296-8; _in joye: in Troye_ -ib. i. 118-19; _to quyken: to stiken_ ib. 295-7; _the Past: me last_ -Byron, Ch. Harold, ii. 96; _the limb: the brim_ ib. iii. 8, &c. - -6. The =unaccented rhyme=, an imperfect kind of rhyme, because only the -unaccented syllables of disyllabic or polysyllabic words, mostly of -Germanic origin and accentuation, rhyme together, and not their accented -syllables as the ordinary rule would demand, e.g. _láweles, lóreless, -námeless_; _wrécful_, _wróngful_, _sínful_ Song of the Magna Charta, ll. -30-2, 66-8; many rhymes of this kind occur in the alliterative-rhyming -long line combined into stanzas.[182] In Modern English we find this -kind of rhyme pretty often in Wyatt[183]; e.g.: - - _Consider well thy ground and thy beginning; - And gives the moon her horns, and her eclipsing._ - p. 56. - - _With horrible fear, as one that greatly dreadeth - A wrongful death, and justice alway seeketh._ - p. 149. - -Such rhymes in dactylic feet, as in the following verses by Moore -(_Beauty and Song_ ll. 1-4), - - _Dówn in yon súmmer vale, - Whére the rill flóws, - Thús said the Níghtingale - Tó his loved Róse_, - -are not harsh, because in this case the unaccented syllable which -bears the rhyme is separated from the accented syllable by a thesis. -A variety of the unaccented rhyme is called the =accented-unaccented=; -examples have been quoted before in the chapter treating of the -alliterative-rhyming long line (§§ 61, 62). In the same place some other -verses of the above-quoted song of Moore are given, showing the -admissibility of rhymes between gliding or trisyllabic and masculine -rhyming-syllables or -words (_mélodý: thée_, _Róse bè: thée_). In these -cases the subordinate accent of the third syllable in _mélody_ or the -word _bè_ in the equally long _Róse bè_ is strong enough to make a rhyme -with _thee_ possible, although this last word has a strong syntactical -and rhythmical accent. As a rule such accented-unaccented rhymes, in -which masculine endings rhyme with feminine endings, are very harsh, as -is often the case in Wyatt's poems (cf. Alscher, pp. 123-6), e.g. - - _So chánced mé that évery pássión - Wherebý if thát I láugh at ány séason._ p. 7. - -§ =218.= C. According to the third principle of classification, by the -position of the rhyming syllable, the varieties of rhyme are as follows: - -1. The =sectional rhyme=, so called because it consists of two rhyming -words within one section or hemistich.[184] This kind of rhyme occurs -now and then even in Old English poetry, but it is usually unintentional -(cf. §§ 40-2), e.g. _s[=æ]la and m[=æ]la_; _þæt is s[=o]ð metod_ Beow. -1611; in Middle English literature it is frequent, as in Barbour's -Bruce: _and till Ingland agayne is gayne_ i. 144, iii. 185; _That eftyr -him dar na man ga_ iii. 166. In Modern English poetry this kind of rhyme -is more frequent, and often intentionally used for artistic effect: - - _Then up with your cup, | till you stagger in speech, - And match me this catch, | though you swagger and screech, - Ah, drink till you wink, | my merry men, each._ - Walter Scott, Song from Kenilworth. - -2. Very closely related to this is the =inverse rhyme= (as -Guest called it), which occurs when the last accented syllable of -the first hemistich of a verse rhymes with the first accented -syllable of the second hemistich: - - _These steps both reach | and teach thee shall - To come by thrift | to shift withall._ Tusser. - -This kind of rhyme is generally met with in the popular national long -line of four stresses. Guest gives a much wider range to it. But when it -occurs in other kinds of verse, as in the iambic verse of four or five -feet, it is not to be looked upon as an intentional rhyme, but only as a -consonance caused by rhetorical repetition (the examples are quoted by -Guest): - - _And art thou gone and gone for ever?_ Burns. - - _I followed fast, but faster did he fly._ - Shak. Mids. III. ii. 416. - -3. The =Leonine[185] rhyme= or =middle rhyme=, which recurs throughout -the Old English _Rhyming Poem_, and is occasionally used in other Old -English poems. This rhyme connects the two hemistichs of an alliterative -line with each other by end-rhyme and, at the same time, causes the -gradual breaking up of it into two short lines; we find it in certain -parts of the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, in Layamon, in the _Proverbs of -Alfred_, and other poems, e.g.: _his sedes to_ sowen, _his medes to_ -mowen Prov. 93-4; _þus we uerden_ þere, _and for þi beoþ nu_ here Lay. -1879-80. See §§ 49, 57-58, 78 for examples from Middle and Modern -English literature of this kind of rhyme (called by the French _rimes -plates_) as well as of the following kind, when used in even-beat -metres. - -4. The =interlaced rhyme= (_rime entrelacée_), by means of which two -long-lined rhyming couplets are connected a second time in corresponding -places (before the caesura) by another rhyme, so that they seem to be -broken up into four short verses of alternate or cross-rhyme (_a b a -b_), e.g. in the latter part of Robert Mannyng's _Rhyming Chronicle_ -(from p. 69 of Hearne's edition), or in the second version of _Saynt -Katerine_ (cf. the quotations, §§ 77, 78, 150). When, however, long -verses without interlaced rhyme are broken up only by the arrangement of -the writer or printer into short lines, we have - -5. The =intermittent rhyme=, whose formula is _a b c b_ (cf. p. 196). -Both sorts of rhyme may also be used, of course, in other kinds of -verse, shorter or longer; as a rule, however, the intermittent rhyme is -employed for shorter, the alternate or cross-rhyme for longer verses, -as, for example, those of five feet. - -6. The =enclosing rhyme=, corresponding to the formula _a b b a_, e.g. -in _spray, still, fill, May_, as in the quartets of the sonnet formed -after the Italian model (cf. below, Book II, chap. ix). This sort of -rhyme does not often occur in Middle English poetry; but we find it -later, e.g. in the tail or veer of a variety of stanza used by Dunbar -and Kennedy in their _Flyting Poem_. - -7. The =tail-rhyme= (in French called _rime couée_, in German -_Schweifreim_), the formula of which is _a a b c c b_. (For a specimen -see § 79.) - -This arrangement of rhymes originated from two long lines of the same -structure, formed into a couplet by end-rhyme, each of the lines being -divided into three sections (whence the name _versus tripertiti -caudati_). This couplet, the formula of which was _- a - a - b || - c -- c - b_, is, in the form in which it actually appears broken up into a -stanza of six short lines, viz. two longer couplets _a a_, _c c_, and a -pair of shorter lines rhyming together as _b b_, the order of rhymes -being _a a b c c b_. (For remarks on the origin of this stanza see § -240.) - -§ =219.= As to the quality of the rhyme, purity or exactness, of course, -is and always has been a chief requirement. It is, however, well known -that the need for this exactness is frequently disregarded not only in -Old and Middle English poetry (cf. e.g. the Old English assonances meant -for rhymes, § 40, or the often very defective rhymes of Layamon, § 45) -but even in Modern English poetry. Many instructive examples of -defective rhymes from Spenser, Sidney, Shakespeare, and Dryden are given -by A.J. Ellis, _On Early Engl. Pronunciation_, iii. 858-74, 953-66, iv. -1033-9. - -From these collections of instances we see how a class of imperfect -rhymes came into existence in consequence of the change in the -pronunciation of certain vowels, from which it resulted that many pairs -of words that originally rhymed together, more or less perfectly, ceased -to be rhymes at all to the ear, although, as the spelling remained -unaltered, they retained in their written form a delusive appearance of -correspondence. These 'eye-rhymes', as they are called, play an -important part in English poetry, being frequently admitted by later -poets, who continue to rhyme together words such as _eye: majesty_ Pope, -Temple of Fame, 202-3; _crowns: owns_ ib. 242-3; _own'd: found_ id. Wife -of Bath, 32-3, notwithstanding the fact that the vowel of the two words, -which at first formed perfect rhymes, had long before been diphthongized -or otherwise changed while the other word still kept its original -vowel-sound. - - -NOTES: - - [180] The word stanza is explained by Skeat, _Conc. Etym. Dict._, as - follows: - - 'STANZA. Ital. stanza, O. Ital. _stantia_, "a lodging, chamber, - dwelling, also _stance_ or staffe of verses;" Florio. So - called from the stop or _pause_ at the end of it.--Low Lat. - _stantia_, an abode.--Lat. _stant-_, stem of pres. pt. of - _stare_.' - - [181] Cf. §§ 8, 223-7. - - [182] Cf. §§ 60-2 and the author's 'Metrische Randglossen, II.', - _Engl. Stud._, x, pp. 196-200. - - [183] Cf. _Sir Thomas Wyatt_, von R. Alscher, Wien, 1886 pp. 119-23. - - [184] By the German metrists it is called _Binnenreim_, or - _Innenreim_. - - [185] So called from a poet Leo of the Middle Ages (c. 1150) who - wrote in hexameters rhyming in the middle and at the end. - Similar verses, however, had been used occasionally in classic - Latin poetry, as e.g. _Quot caelum stellas, tot habet tua Roma - puellas_, Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 59. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE RHYME AS A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT - OF THE STANZA - - -§ =220.= On the model of the Provençal and Northern French lyrics, where -the rhyme was indispensable in the construction of stanzas, rhyme found -a similar employment in Middle English poetry. Certain simple kinds of -stanzas, however, were in their formation just as much influenced by the -Low Latin hymn forms, in which at that time rhyme had long been in -vogue. - -But the rules prescribed for the formation of stanzas by the Provençal -poets in theory and practice were observed neither by the Northern -French, nor by the Middle English poets with equal rigour, although -later on, it is true, in the court-poetry greater strictness prevailed -than in popular lyrical poetry. - -One of the chief general laws relating to the use of rhyme in the -formation of stanzas has already been mentioned in § 214 (at the end). A -few other points of special importance require to be noticed here. - -Both in Middle English and in Romanic poetry we find stanzas with a -single rhyme only and stanzas with varied rhymes. But the use of the -same rhymes throughout all the stanzas of one poem (in German called -_Durchreimung_), so frequent in Romanic literature, occurs in Middle -English poetry only in some later poems imitated directly from Romanic -models. As a rule, both where the rhyme in the same stanza is single and -where it is varied, all the stanzas have different rhymes, and only the -rhyme-system, the arrangement of rhymes, is the same throughout the -poem. It is, however, very rarely and only in Modern English literary -poetry that the several stanzas are strictly uniform with regard to the -use of masculine and feminine rhyme; as a rule the two kinds are -employed. Sometimes, it is true, in the anisometrical 'lays', as they -are called, as well as in the later popular ballads (e.g. in _Chevy -Chace_ and _The Battle of Otterbourne_), we find single stanzas -deviating from the rest in rhyme-arrangement as well as in number of -lines, the stanzas consisting of Septenary lines with cross-rhymes and -intermittent rhymes (_a b a b_, and _a b c b_) being combined now and -then with tail-rhyme. This is found to a still greater extent in lyrical -poetry of the seventeenth century (e.g. Cowley, G. Herbert, &c.) as well -as in odic stanzas of the same or a somewhat later period. - -§ =221.= It does not often happen in Middle English poetry that a line -is not connected by rhyme with a corresponding line in the same stanza -to which it belongs, but only with one in the next stanza. In Modern -English poetry this peculiarity, corresponding to what are called -_Körner_ in German metres, may not unfrequently be observed in certain -poetic forms of Italian origin, as the terza rima or the sestain. Of -equally rare occurrence in English strophic poetry are lines without any -rhyme (analogous to the _Waisen_--literally 'orphans'--of Middle High -German poetry), which were strictly prohibited in Provençal poetry. In -Middle English literature they hardly ever occur, but are somewhat more -frequent in Modern English poetry, where they generally come at the end -of the stanza. On the other hand the mode of connecting successive -stanzas, technically called _Concatenatio_ (rhyme-linking), so -frequently used by the Provençal and Northern French poets, is very -common in Middle English verse. Three different varieties of this device -are to be distinguished, viz.: - -1. The repetition of the rhyme-word (or of a word standing close by it) -of the last line of a stanza, at the beginning of the first line of the -following stanza. - -2. The repetition of the whole last line of a stanza, including the -rhyme-word, as the initial line of the following stanza (not very -common); and - -3. The repetition of the last rhyme of a stanza as the first rhyme of -the following one; so that the last rhyme-word of one stanza and the -first rhyme-word of the next not only rhyme with the corresponding -rhyme-words of their own stanzas, but also with one another. Such -'concatenations' frequently connect the first and the last part (i.e. -the _frons_ and the _cauda_) of a stanza with each other. They even -connect the single lines of the same stanza and sometimes of a whole -poem, with each other, as e.g. in the 'Rhyme-beginning Fragment' in -Furnivall's _Early English Poems and Lives of Saints_, p. 21 (cf. -_Metrik_, i, p. 317). - -§ =222.= Another and more usual means of connecting the single stanzas -of a poem with each other is the =refrain= (called by the Provençal -poets _refrim_, i.e. 'echo'; by German metrists sometimes called -_Kehrreim_, i.e. recurrent rhyme). The refrain is of popular origin, -arising from the part taken by the people in popular songs or -ecclesiastical hymns by repeating certain exclamations, words, or -sentences at the end of single lines or stanzas. The refrain generally -occurs at the end of a stanza, rarely in the interior of a stanza or in -both places, as in a late ballad quoted by Ritson, _Ancient Songs and -Ballads_, ii. 75. - -In Old English poetry the refrain is used in one poem only, viz. in -_Deor's Complaint_, as the repetition of a whole line. In Middle and -Modern English poetry the refrain is much more extensively employed. Its -simplest form, consisting of the repetition of certain exclamations or -single words after each stanza, occurs pretty often in Middle English. -Frequent use is also made of the other form, in which one line is -partially or entirely repeated. Sometimes, indeed, two or even more -lines are repeated, or a whole stanza is added as refrain to each of the -main stanzas, and is then placed at the beginning of the poem (cf. -Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 51). - -In English the refrain is also called _burthen_, and consists (according -to Guest) of the entire or at least partial repetition of the same -words. Distinct from the burthen or refrain is the _wheel_, which is -only the repetition of the same rhythm as an addition to a stanza. In -Middle English poetry especially a favourite form was that in which a -stanza consisting mostly of alliterative-rhyming verses or half-verses -(cf. §§ 60, 61, 66) is followed by an addition (the _cauda_), differing -very much from the rhythmical structure of the main part (the _frons_) -of the stanza, and connected with it by means of a very short verse -consisting of only one arsis and the syllable or syllables forming the -thesis. This short verse is called by Guest _bob-verse_, and the -_cauda_, connected with the chief stanza by means of such a verse, he -calls _bob-wheel_, so that the whole stanza, which is of a very -remarkable form, might be called the _bob-wheel stanza_. The similar -form of stanza, also very common, where the chief part of the stanza is -connected with the 'cauda', not by a 'bob-verse' but by an ordinary long -line, might be called the _wheel-stanza_. These remarks now bring us to -other considerations of importance with regard to the formation of the -stanza, which will be treated of in the next section. - -§ =223. The structure and arrangement of the different parts of the -stanza= in Middle English poetry were also modelled on Low Latin and -especially on Romanic forms. - -The theory of the structure of stanzas in Provençal and Italian is -given along with much interesting matter in Dante's treatise _De vulgari -eloquentia_[186], where the original Romanic technical terms are found. -Several terms used in this book have also been taken from German -metrics. - -In the history of Middle English poetry two groups of stanzas must be -distinguished: _divisible_ and _indivisible_ stanzas (the _one-rhymed_ -stanzas being included in the latter class). The divisible stanzas -consist either of two equal parts (_bipartite equal-membered stanzas_) -or of two unequal parts (_bipartite unequal-membered stanzas_) or -thirdly of two equal parts and an unequal one (_tripartite stanzas_). -Now and then (especially in Modern English poetry) they consist of three -equal parts. These three types are common to Middle and Modern English -poetry. A fourth class is met with in Modern English poetry only, viz. -stanzas generally consisting of _three_, sometimes of _four_ or more -_unequal parts_. - -All the kinds of verse that have been previously described in this work -can be used in these different classes of stanzas, both separately and -conjointly. In each group, accordingly, _isometrical_ and -_anisometrical_ stanzas must be distinguished. Very rarely, and only in -Modern English, we find that even the rhythm of the separate verses of a -stanza is not uniform; iambic and trochaic, anapaestic and dactylic, or -iambic and anapaestic verses interchanging with each other, so that a -further distinction between _isorhythmical_ and _anisorhythmical_ -stanzas is possible. - -§ =224.= The =bipartite equal-membered= stanzas, in their simplest form, -consist of two equal periods, each composed of a prior and a succeeding -member. They are to be regarded as the primary forms of all strophic -poetry. - -The two periods may be composed either of two rhyming couplets or of -four verses rhyming alternately with each other. Specimens of both -classes have been quoted above (§ 78). Such equal-membered stanzas can -be extended, of course, in each part uniformly without changing the -isometrical character of the stanza. - -§ =225.= The =bipartite unequal-membered= stanzas belong to a more -advanced stage in the formation of the stanza. They are, however, found -already in Provençal poetry, and consist of the 'forehead' (_frons_) and -the 'tail' or veer (_cauda_). The _frons_ and the _cauda_ differ -sometimes only in the number of verses, and consequently, in the order -of the rhymes, and sometimes also in the nature of the verse. The two -parts may either have quite different rhymes or be connected together by -one or several common rhymes. As a simple specimen of this sort of -stanza the first stanza of Dunbar's _None may assure in this warld_ may -be quoted here: - - frons: {_Quhome to sall I complene my wo, - { And kyth my kairis on or mo?_ - - { _I knaw nocht, amang riche nor pure, - cauda: { Quha is my freynd, quha is my fo; - { For in this warld may non assure._ - -In literary poetry, however, the tripartite stanzas are commoner than -the bipartite unequal-membered stanzas just noticed; they are as much in -favour as the bipartite, equal-membered stanzas are in popular poetry. -In Provençal and Northern French poetry the principle of a triple -partition in the structure of stanzas was developed very early. Stanzas -on these models were very soon imported into Middle English poetry. - -§ =226.= The =tripartite= stanzas generally (apart from Modern English -forms) consist of two equal parts and one unequal part, which admit of -being arranged in different ways. They have accordingly different names. -If the two equal parts precede they are called _pedes_, both together -the _opening_ (in German _Aufgesang_ ='upsong'); the unequal part that -concludes the stanza is called the _conclusion_ or the _veer_, _tail_, -or _cauda_ (in German _Abgesang_ ='downsong'). If the unequal part -precedes it is called _frons_ (='forehead'); the two equal parts that -form the end of the stanza are called _versus_ ('turns,' in German -_Wenden_). The former arrangement, however, is by far the more frequent. - -There are various ways of separating the first from the last part of the -stanza: (a) by a pause, which, as a rule, in Romanic as well as in -Middle English poetry occurs between the two chief parts; (b) by a -difference in their structure (whether in rhyme-arrangement only, or -both in regard to the kinds and the number of verses). But even then the -two chief parts are generally separated by a pause. We thus obtain three -kinds of tripartite stanzas: - -1. Stanzas in which the first and the last part differ in -_versification_; the lines of the last part may either be longer or -shorter than those of the 'pedes'. Difference in rhythmical structure as -well as in length of line is in Middle English poetry confined to the -_bob-wheel_ stanzas, and is not otherwise common except in Modern -English poetry. - -2. Stanzas in which the parts differ in _number of verses_. The number -may be either greater or smaller in the last part than in the two -'pedes', which, of course, involves at the same time a difference in the -order of the rhymes. Change of length, however, and change of -versification in the last part in comparison with the half of the first -part are generally combined. - -3. Stanzas in which the parts agree in versification but _differ in the -arrangement of the rhymes_; the number of verses in the _cauda_ being -either the same as that of one of the _pedes_, or (as commonly the case) -different from it. - -In all these cases the first and the last part of the stanza may have -quite different rhymes, or they may, in stanzas of more artistic -construction, have one or several rhymes in common. - -If the _frons_ precedes the _versus_, the same distinctions, of course, -are possible between the two chief parts. - -§ =227.= The following specimens illustrate first of all the two chief -kinds of arrangement; i.e. the _pedes_ preceding the _cauda_, and the -_frons_ preceding the _versus_: - - {_With longyng y am lad_, - I. pes: {_On molde y waxe mad_, - { _A maide marreþ me_; - - {_Y grede, y grone, vnglad_, - II. pes: {_For selden y am sad_ - { _Þat semly for te se_. - - { _Leuedy, þou rewe me!_ - cauda: {_To rouþe þou hauest me rad_, - {_Be bote of þat y bad_, - { _My lyf is long on þe_. - - Wright's Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 29. - - {_Jesu, for þi muchele miht_, - frons: { _Þou [gh]ef vs of þi grace, - {Þat we mowe dai and nyht - {Þenken o þi face._ - - {_In myn herte hit doþ me god_, - I. versus: {_When y þenke on iesu blod_, - { _Þat ran doun bi ys syde_, - - {_From is herte doun to is fot_; - II. versus: {_For ous he spradde is herte blod_, - { _His woundes were so wyde_. - - ib. p. 83. - -Theoretically, the second stanza might also be regarded as a stanza -consisting of two _pedes_ and two _versus_, or, in other words, as a -four-part stanza of two equal parts in each half. Stanzas of this kind -occur pretty often in Middle and Modern English poetry. They mostly, -however, convey the effect of a tripartite stanza on account of the -greater extent of the one pair of equal parts of the stanza. - -The tripartition effected only by a difference in the arrangement of -rhymes either in the _pedes_ and the _cauda_, or in the _frons_ and the -_versus_, will be illustrated by the following specimens: - - I. pes: {_Take, oh take those lips away_, - { _That so sweetly were forsworne_; - - II. pes: {_And those eyes, the breake of day_, - { _Lights that doe mislead the morne_. - - cauda: {_But my kisses bring againe_, - {_Seales of love, but seal'd in vaine_. - - Shak., Meas. IV. i. 4. - - frons: {_As by the shore, at break of day_, - {_A vanquish'd Chief expiring lay_, - - I. versus: { _Upon the sands, with broken sword_, - {_He traced his farewell to the Free_; - - II. versus: { _And, there, the last unfinish'd word_ - {_He dying wrote was 'Liberty'_. - - Moore, Song. - -A very rare variety of tripartition that, as far as we know, does not -occur till Modern English times, is that by which the _cauda_ is placed -between the two _pedes_. This arrangement, of course, may occur in each -of the three kinds of tripartition. A specimen of the last kind (viz. -that in which the _cauda_ is distinguished from the _pedes_ by a -different arrangement of rhymes) may suffice to explain it: - - I. pes: {_Nine years old! The first of any_ - {_Seem the happiest years that come_: - - cauda: {_Yet when I was nine, I said_ - {_No such word! I thought instead_ - - II. pes: {_That the Greeks had used as many_ - {_In besieging Ilium_. - - Mrs. Browning, ii. 215. - -Lastly, it is to be remarked that the inequality of Modern English -stanzas, which may be composed of two or three or several parts, admits, -of course, of many varieties. Generally, however, their structure is -somewhat analogous to that of the regular tripartite stanzas (cf. below, -Book II, chap. vi). - -In Romanic poetry the tripartite structure sometimes was carried on also -through the whole song, it being composed either of three or six stanzas -(that is to say, of three equal groups of stanzas), or, what is more -usual, of seven or five stanzas (i.e. of two equal parts and an unequal -part). In Middle English literary poetry, too, this practice is fairly -common;[187] in Modern English poetry, on the other hand, it occurs only -in the most recent times, being chiefly adopted in imitations of Romanic -forms of stanza, especially the _ballade_. - -§ =228. The envoi.= Closely connected with the last-mentioned point, -viz. the partition of the whole poem, is the structural element in -German called _Geleit_, in Provençal poetry _tornada_ (i.e. 'turning', -'apostrophe', or 'address'), in Northern French poetry _envoi_, a term -which was retained sometimes by Middle English poets as the title for -this kind of stanza (occasionally even for a whole poem). The tornada -used chiefly in the ballade is a sort of epilogue to the poem proper. It -was a rule in Provençal poetry (observed often in Old French also) that -it must agree in form with the concluding part of the preceding stanza. -It was also necessary that with regard to its tenor it should have some -sort of connexion with the poem; although, as a rule, its purpose was to -give expression to personal feelings. The tornada is either a sort of -farewell which the poet addresses to the poem itself, or it contains the -order to a messenger to deliver the poem to the poet's mistress or to -one of his patrons; sometimes these persons are directly praised or -complimented. In Middle English poetry the envoi mostly serves the same -purposes. But there are some variations from the Provençal custom both -as to contents and especially as to form. - -§ =229.= We may distinguish _three kinds_ of so-called envois in Middle -English poetry: (1) Real envois. (2) Concluding stanzas resembling -envois as to their form. (3) Concluding stanzas resembling envois as to -their contents. - -The most important are the _real envois_. Of these, two subordinate -species can be distinguished: (_a_) when the form of the envoi differs -from the form of the stanza, as in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. -92, and even more markedly in Chaucer's _Compleynt to his Purse_, a poem -of stanzas of seven lines, the envoi of which addressed to the king -consists of five verses only; (_b_) when the form of the envoi is the -same as that of the other stanzas of the poem, as e.g. in Wright's -_Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 111 (a greeting to a mistress), in Dunbar's -_Goldin Targe_ (address to the poem itself). - -When the poem is of some length the envoi may consist of several -stanzas; thus in Chaucer's _Clerkes Tale_ (stanzas of seven lines) the -envoi has six stanzas of six lines each. - -_Concluding stanzas resembling envois in their form_ are generally -shorter than the chief stanzas, but of similar structure. Generally -speaking they are not very common. Specimens may be found in Wright's -_Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, pp. 38, 47, &c. - -_Concluding stanzas resembling envois in their contents._ An example -occurs in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 31, where the concluding -stanza contains an address to another poet. Religious poems end with -addresses to God, Christ, the Virgin, invitations to prayer, &c.; for -examples see Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 111, and _Hymns to the -Virgin_ (ed. Furnivall, E. E. T. S. 24), p. 39, &c. All these may -possibly fall under this category. - -Even in Modern English poetry the envoi has not quite gone out of use. -Short envois occur in Spenser, _Epithalamium_; S. Daniel, _To the Angel -Spirit of Sir Philip Sidney_ (Poets, iv. 228); W. Scott, _Marmion_ -(Envoy, consisting of four-foot verses rhyming in couplets), _Harold_, -_Lord of the Isles_, _Lady of the Lake_ (Spenserian stanzas); Southey, -_Lay of the Laureate_ (x. 139-74), &c.; Swinburne, _Poems and Ballads_, -i, pp. 1, 5, 141, &c. - -Concluding stanzas resembling envois occur pretty often in poets of the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as Carew, Donne, Cowley, Waller, -Dodsley, &c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, p. 794 note). - - -NOTES: - - [186] See _The Oxford Dante_, pp. 379-400, or _Opere minori di Dante - Alighieri_, ed. Pietro Fraticelli, vol. ii, p. 146, Florence, - 1858, and Böhmer's essay, _Über Dante's Schrift de vulgari - eloquentia_, Halle, 1868. - - [187] See B. ten Brink, _The Language and Metre of Chaucer_, - translated by M. Bentinck Smith. London, Macmillan & Co., - 1901, 8º, § 350. - - - - - PART II - - STANZAS COMMON TO MIDDLE AND MODERN - ENGLISH, AND OTHERS FORMED ON THE - ANALOGY OF THESE - - - - - CHAPTER III - - BIPARTITE EQUAL-MEMBERED STANZAS - - - I. _Isometrical stanzas._ - -§ =230. Two-line stanzas.= The simplest bipartite equal-membered stanza -is that of two isometrical verses only. In the Northern English -translation of the Psalms (_Surtees Society_, vols. xvi and xix) we -find, for the most part, two-line stanzas of four-foot verses rhyming in -couplets, occasionally alternating with stanzas of four, six, eight, or -more lines. - -In Middle English poetry, however, this form was generally used for -longer poems that were not arranged in stanzas. Although it would be -possible to divide some of these (e.g. the _Moral Ode_), either -throughout or in certain parts, into bipartite stanzas, there is no -reason to suppose that any strophic arrangement was intended. - -In Modern English, on the other hand, such an arrangement is often -intentional, as in R. Browning, _The Boy and the Angel_ (iv. 158), a -poem of four-foot trochaic verses: - - _Morning, evening, noon and night - 'Praise God!' sang Theocrite._ - - _Then to his poor trade he turned, - Whereby the daily meal was earned._ - -Similar stanzas in other metres occur in Longfellow, Tennyson, -Thackeray, Rossetti, &c.; among them we find e.g. eight-foot trochaic -and iambic-anapaestic verses (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 3). - -§ =231.= More frequently we find =four-line stanzas=, consisting of -couplets. In Middle English lyric poetry such stanzas of two short -couplets are occasionally met with as early as in the _Surtees Psalms_, -but they occur more frequently in Modern English, e.g. in M. Arnold, -_Urania_ (p. 217), and in Carew, e.g. _The Inquiry_ (Poets, iii): - - _Amongst the myrtles as I walk'd, - Love and my sighs thus intertalk'd: - 'Tell me,' said I, in deep distress, - 'Where I may find my shepherdess.'_ - -Regular alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes is very rarely -found in this simple stanza (or indeed in any Middle English stanzas); -it is, properly speaking, only a series of rhyming couplets with a stop -after every fourth line. - -This stanza is very popular, as are also various analogous four-line -stanzas in other metres. One of these is the quatrain of four-foot -trochaic verses, as used by M. Arnold in _The Last Word_, and by Milton, -e.g. in _Psalm CXXXVI_, where the two last lines form the refrain, so -that the strophic arrangement is more distinctly marked. Stanzas of -four-foot iambic-anapaestic lines we find e.g. in Moore, '_Tis the last -Rose of Summer_, and similar stanzas of five-foot iambic verses in -Cowper, pp. 359, 410; M. Arnold, _Self-Dependence_ (last stanza). - -Less common are the quatrains of four-foot dactylic lines, of three-foot -iambic-anapaestic lines, of six-foot iambic and trochaic lines, of -seven-foot iambic lines, and of eight-foot trochaic lines. But specimens -of each of these varieties are occasionally met with (cf. _Metrik_, ii, -§ 261). - -§ =232.= The double stanza, i.e. that of eight lines of the same -structure (_a a b b c c d d_), occurs in different kinds of verse. With -lines of four measures it is found, e.g. in Suckling's poem, _The -Expostulation_ (Poets, iii. 749): - - _Tell me, ye juster deities, - That pity lover's miseries, - Why should my own unworthiness - Light me to seek my happiness? - It is as natural, as just, - Him for to love whom needs I must: - All men confess that love's a fire, - Then who denies it to aspire?_ - -This stanza comes to a better conclusion when it winds up with a -refrain, as in Percy's _Reliques_, II. ii. 13. One very popular form of -it consists of four-foot trochaic lines, e.g. in Burns, p. 197, M. -Arnold, _A Memory Picture_, p. 23 (the two last lines of each stanza -forming a refrain), or of four-foot iambic-anapaestic lines (Burns, _My -heart's in the Highlands_). Somewhat rarely it is made up of five-foot -iambic or septenaric lines (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 262).[188] - -§ =233.= We have next to consider the stanzas of four isometrical lines -with intermittent rhyme (_a b c b_). As a rule they consist of three- or -four-foot verses, which are really Alexandrines or acatalectic -tetrameters rhyming in long couplets, and only in their written or -printed arrangement broken up into short lines; as, e.g., in the -following half-stanza from the older version of the _Legend of St. -Katherine_, really written in eight-lined stanzas (ed. Horstmann, -_Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge_, Heilbronn, 1881, p. 242): - - _He that made heven and erthe - and sonne and mone for to schine, - Bring ous into his riche - and scheld ous fram helle pine!_ - -Examples of such stanzas of four-foot trochaic and three-foot iambic -verses that occur chiefly in Percy's _Reliques_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § -264), but also in M. Arnold, _Calais Sands_ (p. 219), _The Church of -Brou, I., The Castle_ (p. 13, feminine and masculine verse-endings -alternating), _New Rome_, p. 229, _Parting_, p. 191 (iambic-anapaestic -three-beat and two-beat verses), _Iseult of Ireland_, p. 150 (iambic -verses of five measures); cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 264. - -§ =234.= Stanzas of eight lines result from this stanza by doubling, i. -e. by adding a second couplet of the same structure and rhyme to the -original long-line couplet. Such a form with the scheme _a b c b d b e -b_ meet in the complete stanza of the older _Legend of St. Katherine_ -just referred to: - - _He that made heven and erthe - and sonne and mone for to schine, - Bring ous into his riche - and scheld ous fram helle pine! - Herken, and y you wile telle - the liif of an holy virgine, - That treuli trowed in Jhesu Crist: - hir name was hoten Katerine_, - -This sort of doubling, however, occurs in Modern English poetry more -rarely than that which is produced by adding a second long-lined -couplet, but with a new rhyme, so that when the stanza is arranged in -short lines we have the scheme _a b c b d e f e_. - -A stanza like this of trochaic lines we find in _Hymns Ancient and -Modern_, No. 419: - - _King of Saints, to whom the number - Of Thy starry host is known, - Many a name, by man forgotten, - Lives for ever round Thy Throne; - Lights, which earth-born mists have darkened, - There are shining full and clear, - Princes in the court of heaven, - Nameless, unremembered here._ - -Still more frequent are stanzas of this kind consisting of four-foot and -three-foot iambic lines, or of two-foot iambic-anapaestic and -trochaic-dactylic lines (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 265). - -§ =235.= More popular than the stanza just noticed is that developed -from the long-lined couplets by inserted rhyme. A very instructive -example of this development is given in the later version of the _Legend -of St. Katherine_ (ed. by Horstmann) which is a paraphrase of the older. - -The first half-stanza is as follows: - - _He that made bothe sunne and mone - In heuene and erthe for to schyne, - Bringe vs to heuene, with him to wone, - And schylde vs from helle pyne!_ - -Stanzas like this, which are frequent in Low Latin, Provençal, and Old -French poetry, are very common in Middle and Modern English poetry. -Examples may be found in Ritson's _Ancient Songs_, i, p. 40, Surrey, pp. -37, 56, &c., Burns, p.97, &c., M. Arnold, _Saint Brandan_, p. 165, &c. -Masculine and feminine rhymes do not alternate very often (cf. Percy's -_Reliques_, I. iii. 13). More frequently we find stanzas with refrain -verses, e.g. Wyatt, p. 70. - -Stanzas of this kind consisting of four- or three-foot iambic, trochaic, -iambic-anapaestic, trochaic-dactylic lines, of three-foot iambic lines, -or of two-foot dactylic or other lines are also very common, e.g. in M. -Arnold's _A Modern Sappho_ (with alternating masculine and feminine -verse-endings), _Pis Aller_ (p. 230), _Requiescat_ (p. 21). - -Another stanza of great importance is what is called the elegiac stanza, -which consists of four five-foot verses with crossed rhymes. In Middle -English literature it was only used as a part of the _Rhyme-Royal_ and -of the eight-lined stanza. In Modern English, however, it has been used -from the beginning more frequently; it occurs already in Wyatt (p. 58): - - _Heaven and earth and all that hear me plain - Do well perceive what care doth make me cry - Save you alone, to whom I cry in vain; - Mercy, Madam, alas! I die, I die!_ - -Other examples are found in M. Arnold's poems _Palladium_ (p. 251), -_Revolutions_ (p. 254), _Self Deception_ (p. 225, with alternate -masculine and feminine rhymes). This stanza is very popular throughout -the Modern English period (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 267). - -Stanzas of this kind, however, consisting of trochaic verses, of -six-foot (as in Tennyson's _Maud_), seven- and eight-foot metres are not -very frequently met with (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 269). - -§ =236.= The four-lined, cross-rhyming stanza gives rise by doubling to -the eight-lined (_a b a b a b a b_), which occurs very often in Middle -English, as in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 99, or in the -_Luve-Rone_ by Thomas de Hales, ed. Morris (_Old Eng. Misc._, p. 93), -where both masculine and feminine rhymes are used: - - _A Mayde cristes me bit yorne, - þat ich hire wurche a luue ron: - For hwan heo myhle best ileorne - to taken on oþer soþ lefmon, - Þat treowest were of alle berne - and beste wyte cuþe a freo wymmon; - Ich hire nule nowiht werne, - ich hire wule teche as ic con._ - -Stanzas of this kind are met with also in Modern English, as in Burns -(p. 262); stanzas of four-stressed lines are found in Wright's _Spec. of -Lyr. Poetry_, p. 110, and others of three-foot verses in _Polit. Poems_, -i. 270. - -There is still another mode of doubling, by which the four originally -long-lined verses are broken up by the use of two different inserted -rhymes; the scheme is then: _a b a b c b c b_. This is the stanza to -which the second version of the _Legend of St. Katherine_ has been -adapted in paraphrasing it from the first (cf. §§ 77, 78, 235): - - _He that made bothe sunne and mone - In heuene and erthe for to schyne, - Bringe vs to heuene, with him to wone, - And schylde vs from helle pyne! - Lystnys, and I schal you telle - The lyff off an holy virgyne, - That trewely Jhesu louede wel: - Here name was callyd Kateryne._ - -This stanza occurs, e.g., in Burns (p. 201). Less common is the form of -stanza _a b a b a c a c_ (e.g. in Wyatt, p. 48) resulting from the -breaking up two rhyming couplets of long lines by inserted rhyme (not -from four long lines with one rhyme). - -The common mode of doubling is by adding to a four-lined stanza a second -of exactly the same structure, but with new rhymes. Some few examples -occur in Middle English in the _Surtees Psalter_, Ps. xliv, ll. 11, 12. -Very frequently, however, we find it in Modern English constructed of -the most varying metres, as, e.g., of five-foot iambic verses in -Milton, _Psalm VIII_ (vol. iii, p. 29): - - _O Jehovah our Lord, how wondrous great - And glorious is thy name through all the earth, - So as above the heavens thy praise to set! - Out of the tender mouths of latest birth, - Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou - Hast founded strength, because of all thy foes, - To stint the enemy, and slack the avenger's brow, - That bends his rage thy providence to oppose._ - -More popular are stanzas of this kind consisting of three- or four-foot -iambic, trochaic, and iambic-anapaestic verses, sometimes with alternate -masculine and feminine rhymes. (For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 271.) - -§ =237.= Only very few examples occur of the sixteen-lined doubling of -this stanza, according to the scheme _a b a b c d c d e f e f g h g -h2_; it occurs, e.g., in Moore, _When Night brings the Hour_. Another -form of eight lines (_a b c d . a b c d3_) is met with in Rossetti, -_The Shadows _(ii. 249); it seems to be constructed on the analogy of a -six-lined stanza (_a b c . a b c_), which is used pretty often. This -stanza, which is closely allied to the tail-rhyme stanza described in § -238, consists most commonly of four-foot iambic verses; it occurs, e.g., -in Campbell, _Ode to the Memory of Burns_ (p. 19): - - _Soul of the Poet! whereso'er - Reclaim'd from earth, thy genius plume - Her wings of immortality: - Suspend thy harp in happier sphere, - And with thine influence illume - The gladness of our jubilee._ - -Specimens of forms of stanzas like this, consisting of other kinds of -verse, e.g. of three-foot trochaic-dactylic verse, as in M. Arnold's -_The Lord's Messenger_ (p. 231), are given in _Metrik_, ii, § 272. - -§ =238.= From the four- and eight-lined bipartite equal-membered -isometrical stanzas, dealt with in the preceding paragraphs, it will be -convenient to proceed to the six-lined stanzas of similar structure. To -these belongs a certain form of the tail-rhyme stanza, the nature and -origin of which will be discussed when we treat of the chief form, which -consists of unequal verses. The isometrical six-lined stanzas to be -discussed here show the same structure as the common tail-rhyme stanza, -viz. _a a b c c b_. An example is afforded in a song, Ritson, i. 10: - - _Sith Gabriel gan grete - Ure ledi Mari swete, - That godde wold in hir lighte, - A thousand yer hit isse, - Thre hundred ful iwisse, - Ant over yeris eighte._ - -In Modern English this stanza occurs very often, e.g. in Drayton, _To -the New Year_ (Poets, iii. 579); as a rule, however, it consists of -four-foot iambic verses; e.g. in Suckling in a song (_Poets_, iii. -748): - - _When, dearest, I but think of thee, - Methinks all things that lovely be - Are present, and my soul delighted: - For beauties that from worth arise, - Are like the grace of deities, - Still present with us though unsighted._ - -In this poem all the tail-verses are feminine throughout; in other cases -there are masculine and feminine verses, more often we find masculine or -feminine exclusively; but usually they interchange without any rule. -Examples of these varieties, and also of similar stanzas consisting of -three-foot trochaic verses, of two- and three-foot iambic-anapaestic, -and of five-foot iambic lines are given in _Metrik_, ii, § 273. - -Stanzas of this form consisting of two-stressed verses occurring in -Middle English poems have been quoted in § 65. - -§ =239.= A variety that belongs to Modern English only is that in which -the tail-verses are placed at the head of the half-stanzas, according to -the formula _a b b a c c_. It occurs in Ben Jonson's _Hymn to God_ -(Poets, iv. 561), consisting of two-foot iambic verses; another example, -with four-foot trochaic verses, occurs in Mrs. Browning, _A Portrait_ -(iii. 57); cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 274. - -A twelve-lined stanza, resulting from the doubling of the six-line -stanza, is found only in Middle English poetry, its arrangement of -rhymes being _a a b c c b d d b e e b_; or with a more elaborate -rhyme-order, _a a b a a b c c b c c b_, as in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. -Poetry_, p. 41. - -Still another modification of the simple six-lined stanza consists in -the addition of a third rhyme-verse to the two rhyming couplets of each -half-stanza; so that an eight-lined stanza results with the scheme _a a -a b c c c b_. Two specimens of this kind of stanza, consisting of -two-stressed lines and occurring in Early English dramatic poetry, have -been quoted above, § 70. - -The same stanza of two-foot verses occurs in the _Coventry Mysteries_, -p. 342. In Modern English, too, we find it sometimes, consisting of -three-foot iambic verses, as in Longfellow, _King Olaf's Death Drink_ -(p. 577). Stanzas of five-, four-, and two-foot iambic verses and other -metres are likewise in use. (For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 275.) - -Some rarely occurring extended forms of this stanza are exemplified in -Metrik, ii, § 277, their schemes being _a ~ a ~ b ~ c d ~ d ~ b ~ c4_, -_a ~ b ~ c ~ d e ~ f ~ g ~ d3_, _a b b c a d d c4_, _a a a a b c c c c -b4_. - -Sixteen-lined stanzas of this kind of two-stressed verses (rhyming _a a -a b c c c b d d d b e e e b_) that were frequently used in Middle -English Romances have been quoted and discussed above, § 65. - - II. _Anisometrical Stanzas._ - -§ =240.= In connexion with the last section, the chief species of the -=tail-rhyme stanza= may be discussed here first of all. This stanza, as -a rule, consists of four four-foot and two three-foot verses, rhyming -according to the scheme _a a4 b3 c c4 b3_; cf. the following -specimen (Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 101): - - _Lustneþ alle a lutel þrowe, - [Gh]e þat wolleþ ou selue yknowe, - Unwys þah y be: - Ichulle telle ou ase y con, - Hou holy wryt spekeþ of mon; - Herkneþ nou to me._ - -The last line of each half-stanza, the tail-verse proper, was originally -simply a refrain. The tripartite character of the half-stanza and the -popular origin of the stanza was shown long ago by Wolf, _Über die Lais, -Sequenzen und Leiche_, p. 27 (cf. _Engl. Metrik_, i, pp. 353-7). -According to him this stanza was developed first of all from choruses -sung in turn by the people and from the ecclesiastical responses which -also had a popular origin, and lastly from the sequences and 'proses' of -the middle ages. - -A sequence-verse such as: - - _Egidio psallat coetus | iste laetus | Alleluia_, - -in its tripartition corresponds to the first half of the above-quoted -Middle English tail-rhyme stanza: - - _Lustneþ alle a lutel þrowe | [gh]e þat wolleþ ou selue yknowe | - Unwys þah y be._ - -When two long lines like this, connected with each other by the rhyme of -the last section, the two first sections of each line being also -combined by leonine rhyme, are broken up into six short verses, we have -the tail-rhyme stanza in the form above described. This form was -frequently used in Low Latin poetry, and thence passed into Romanic and -Teutonic literature. - -A form even more extensively used in Middle and Modern English poetry is -that in which the tail-verse has feminine instead of masculine endings. -A Modern English specimen from Drayton's poem _To Sir Henry Goodere_ -(_Poets_, iii. 576) may be quoted; it begins: - - _These lyric pieces, short and few, - Most worthy Sir, I send to you, - To read them be not weary: - They may become John Hewes his lyre, - Which oft at Powlsworth by the fire - Hath made us gravely merry._ - -This, the chief form of the tail-rhyme stanza, has been in use -throughout the whole Modern English period. There has, however, never -been any fixed rule as to the employment of feminine or masculine -rhymes. Sometimes feminine tail-rhymes with masculine couplets are used -(as in the example above), sometimes masculine rhymes only, while in -other instances masculine and feminine rhymes are employed -indiscriminately. - -Iambic-anapaestic verses of four or three measures were also sometimes -used in this form of stanza, as in Moore, _Hero and Leander_. - -There are a great many varieties of this main form; the stanza may -consist, for instance, of four- and two-foot iambic or trochaic lines, -or of iambic lines of three and two, five and three, five and two -measures, according to the schemes _a a b c c4 b2_, _a a3 b2 c c3 b2_, -_a a5 b3 c c5 b3_, _a a5 b2 c c5 b2_, and _a3 b b5 a3 c c5_ (the -tail-verses in front). For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 279. - -§ =241.= The next step in the development of this stanza was its -enlargement to twelve lines (_a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4 b3 e e4 b3_) by -doubling. This form occurs in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, -p. 43: - - _Lenten is come wiþ loue to toune, - Wiþ blosmen and wiþ briddes roune, - Þat all þis blisse bryngeþ: - Dayes e[gh]es in þis dales, - Notes suete of nyhtegales, - Vch foule song singeþ. - Þe þrestlecoc him þreteþ oo; - Away is huere wynter woo, - When woderoue springeþ. - Þis foules singeþ ferli fele, - Ant wlyteþ on huere wynter wele, - Þat al þe wode ryngeþ._ - -We are not in a position to quote a Modern English specimen of this -stanza, but it was very popular in Middle English poetry, both in -lyrics and in legends or romances, and in later dramatic poetry.[189] - -§ =242.= As to the =further development of the tail-rhyme stanza,= the -enlarged forms must first be mentioned. They are produced by adding a -third line to the principal lines of each half-stanza; the result being -an eight-lined stanza of the formula _a a a4 b3 c c c4 b3_. Stanzas -of this form occur in Early Middle English lyrics, e.g. in Wright's -_Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 51 (with a refrain-stanza) and _Polit. -Songs_, p. 187 (four-stressed main verses and two-stressed tail-verses, -the latter having occasionally the appearance of being in three-beat -rhythm). - -A later example is found in Dunbar's poem _Off the Fen[gh]eit Freir of -Tungland_; in the Miracle Plays the form was also in favour. Isometrical -stanzas of this kind have been mentioned above (§§ 238, 239). - -In Modern English poetry this stanza is extensively used. We find it in -Drayton, _Nymphidia_ (Poets, iii. 177), with feminine tail-verses: - - _Old Chaucer doth of Topas tell, - Mad Rablais of Pantagruel, - A later third of Dowsabel, - With such poor trifles playing: - Others the like have laboured at, - Some of this thing and some of that, - And many of they know not what, - But that they must be saying_. - -Other examples of this stanza, as of similar ones, consisting of four- -and three-foot trochaic and iambic-anapaestic verses, are given in -_Metrik_, ii, § 280. - -There are some subdivisions of this stanza consisting of verses of three -and two measures, of four and two measures, four and one measure, five -and two, and five and one measure, according to the formulae _a a a3 b2 -c c c3 b2_, _a a a4 b2 c c c4 b2_, _a a a4 b1 c c c4 b1_, _a a a5 b2 c -c c5 b2_, _a a a5 b1 c c c5 b1_. For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 281. - -The ten-lined tail-rhyme stanza occurs very rarely; we have an example -in Longfellow's _The Goblet of Life_ (p. 114), its formula being _a a a -a4 b3 c c c c4 b3_. - -§ =243.= We find, however, pretty often--though only in Modern -English--certain variant forms of the enlarged eight- and ten-lined -tail-rhyme stanzas, the chief verses of which are of unequal length in -each half-stanza; as in Congreve's poem, _On Miss Temple_ (Poets, vii. -568). In this poem the first verse of each half-stanza is shortened by -one foot, in accordance with the formula _a3 a a4 b3 c3 c c4 b3_: - - _Leave, leave the drawing-room, - Where flowers of beauty us'd to bloom; - The nymph that's fated to o'ercome, - Now triumphs at the wells. - Her shape, and air, and eyes, - Her face, the gay, the grave, the wise, - The beau, in spite of box and dice, - Acknowledge, all excels._ - -Stanzas of cognate form are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, §§ 283-5, -constructed according to the schemes: _a a2 a4 b3 c c2 c4 b3_, _a3 b b4 -c ~2 a3 d d4 c ~2_ (with a varying first rhyme in the chief verses), _a -a b b4 c2 d d e e4 c2_ (ten lines, with a new rhyming couplet in the -half-stanza), _a a b b c3 C2 a a b b c3 C2_ (an analogous twelve-lined -stanza, extended by refrain in each half-stanza), _a b a b5 c3 d e d e5 -c3_ (crossed rhymes in the principal verses). - -Two uncommon variations that do not, strictly speaking, belong to the -isocolic stanzas, correspond to the formulas _a b b5 c2 c d d5 a2_, _a b -a4 c ~2 b a b4 c ~2_. - -§ =244.= Another step in the development of the tail-rhyme stanza -consisted in making the principal verses of the half-stanza shorter than -the tail-verse. Models for this form existed in Low Latin, Provençal, -and Old French poetry (cf. _Metrik_, i, § 366). In Middle English, -however, there are not many stanzas of this form. We have an example in -Dunbar's poem _Of the Ladyis Solistaris at Court_ (_a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 -e3 f f2 e3_): - - _Thir Ladyis fair, - That makis repair, - And in the Court ar kend, - Thre dayis thair - Thay will do mair, - Ane mater for till end, - Than thair gud men - Will do in ten, - For any craft thay can; - So weill thay ken - Quhat tyme and quhen - Thair menes thay sowld mak than._ - -The same rhythmical structure is found in the old ballad, _The Notbrowne -Maid_, in Percy's _Reliques_, vol. ii. In this collection the poem is -printed in twelve-lined stanzas of four- and three-foot verses. Skeat, -however, in his _Specimens of English Literature_, printed it in stanzas -of six long lines. - -In either arrangement the relationship of the metre to the Septenary -verse comes clearly out. - -In Modern English this stanza is also very popular. It occurs in Scott -(p. 460, _a a2 b3 c c2 b3_), Burns (doubled, p. 61, _a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d -d2 e3 f f2 e3_, p. 211, _a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 b3 e e2 b3_). - -Often there are also two- and three-foot iambic-anapaestic -verses combined in stanzas of this kind, as in Cowper (p. 427), -Burns (p. 244), &c. - -Subordinate varieties of this stanza consisting of other verses are -quoted, with specimens, in _Metrik_, ii, §§ 286-8, after the formulas: -_a a4 b5 c c4 b5, a a4 b6 c c4 b6_, _a a3 b5 c c3 b5, a a3 b c c b4_, -_a a2 b4 c c2 b4, a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~ c d ~ d ~ e ~ e ~2 c3_. - -§ =245.= A small group of tail-rhyme stanzas consists of those -in which the second chief verses are shorter than the first. - -Such a variety occurs in a tail-rhyme stanza of four-foot trochaic -verses, the second verse of each half-stanza being shortened by two -measures. It was used by Donne in his translation of Psalm 137 (_Poets_, -iv, 43): - - _By Euphrates' flow'ry side - We did 'bide, - From dear Juda far absented, - Tearing the air with our cries, - And our eyes - With their streams his stream augmented._ - -The same stanza we find in Longfellow, _Tales of a Wayside Inn_, v (p. -552). Similar stanzas are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, § 289, their schemes -being _a3 a2 b3 c3 c2 b3, a3 a2 b5 c3 c2 b5, a4 b3 b2 a4 c3 c2_ (the -tail-rhyme verse put in front). - -§ =246.= There are also some stanzas (_a b4 c3 a b4 c3_) which may be -looked upon as modelled on the tail-rhyme stanza; such a stanza we find -in Mrs. Browning's poem, _A Sabbath morning at Sea_ (iii. 74); its -formula being _a b4 c3 a b4 c3_: - - _The ship went on with solemn face: - To meet the darkness on the deep, - The solemn ship went onward: - I bowed down weary in the place, - For parting tears and present sleep - Had weighed mine eyelids downward._ - -Other stanzas of this kind show the scheme: _a4 b5 c3 a4 b5 c3_, _a b2 -c4 a b2 c4_, _a2 b3 c1 a2 b3 c1_, _a ~ b a ~ b4 c ~6 d~ e d ~ e4 c ~6_; -cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 290. - -A stanza belonging to this group, and consisting of ten lines rhyming -according to the formula _a b a b3 c6 d e d e3 c6_, occurs in M. -Arnold's _Empedocles on Etna_, p. 446 (printed in stanzas of five -lines). - -§ =247.= Another metre, which was equally popular with the tail-rhyme -stanza with its many varieties, is the stanza formed of two Septenary -verses (catalectic tetrameters). In the Middle English period we find it -used with feminine rhymes only; afterwards, however, there are both -feminine and masculine rhymes, and in modern times the feminine ending -is quite exceptional. This metre, broken up into four lines, is one of -the oldest and most popular of equal-membered stanzas. One of its -forms[190] has in hymn-books the designation of _Common Metre_. - -Middle and Modern English specimens of this simple form -have been given above (§§ 77, 78, 136, 138-40); in some of -them the verses rhyme and are printed as long lines; in others -the verses rhyme in long lines but are printed as short ones -(_a b c b_), and in others, again, the verses both rhyme and are -printed as short lines (_a b a b_). - -On the analogy of this stanza, especially of the short-lined rhyming -form, and of the doubled form with intermittent rhyme (which is, -properly speaking, a stanza rhyming in long lines), there have been -developed many new strophic forms. One of the most popular of these is -the stanza consisting alternately of four- and three-foot -iambic-anapaestic verses. In this form is written, e.g. the celebrated -poem of Charles Wolfe, _The Burial of Sir John Moore_ (cf. § 191): - - _Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, - As his corpse to the rampart we hurried; - Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot - O'er the grave where our hero we buried._ - -In other poems there are masculine rhymes only, as in Cowper (p. 429). - -Stanzas of this structure, composed of trochaic verses or of trochaic -mixed with iambic or of dactylic mixed with iambic-anapaestic verses, -are not frequent. (For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 292.) - -§ =248.= Some other analogical developments from this type, however, -occur pretty often; a stanza of alternate four- and two-foot verses (_a4 -b ~2 a4 b ~2_) is used, for example, by Ben Jonson (_Poets_, iv. 545): - - _Weep with me all you that read - This little story; - And know, for whom a tear you shed, - Death's self is sorry._ - -Another of five- and four-foot verses (_a5 b4 a5 b4_) occurs in Cowley, -_The long Life_ (Poets, v. 264): - - _Love from Time's wings hath stol'n the feathers sure, - He has, and put them to his own, - For hours, of late, as long as days endure, - And very minutes hours are grown._ - -Other less common analogous forms are given in _Metrik_, ii, § 298, the -formulas being _a5 b3 a5 b3_, _a3 b5 a3 b5_, _a5 b2 a5 b2_, _a2 b5 a2 -b5_. - -There are also stanzas of anisometrical verses rhyming in couplets, but -they occur very rarely. An example is Donne's _The Paradox_ (Poets, iv. -397), after the scheme _a5 a3 b5 b3_: - - _No lover saith I love, nor any other - Can judge a perfect lover: - He thinks that else none can or will agree - That any loves but he._ - -§ =249.= Pretty often we find--not indeed in middle English, but in -Modern English poetry--eight-lined (doubled) forms of the different -four-lined stanzas. Only doubled forms, however, of the formula _a4 b3 -a4 b3 c4 d3 c4 d3_ are employed with any frequency; they have either -only masculine rhymes or rhymes which vary between masculine and -feminine. An example of the latter kind we have in Drayton's _To his coy -Love_ (Poets, iii. 585): - - _I pray thee, love, love me no more, - Call home the heart you gave me, - I but in vain that saint adore, - That can, but will not save me: - These poor half kisses kill me quite; - Was ever man thus served? - Amidst an ocean of delight, - For pleasure to be starved._ - -Eight-lined stanzas with the following schemes are not common:--_a4 b3 -c4 b3 a4 b3 c4 b3_, _a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 b3 c4 b3_, _a4 b3 a4 b3 a4 b3 a4 -b3_, _a ~3 b4 a ~3 b4 c ~3 d4 c ~3 d4_, _a4 b3 c4 b3 d4 e3 f4 e3._ Only -in the last stanza and in the usual form _a b a b c d c d_ we find -trochaic and iambic-anapaestic verses. An example of the latter sort -which is pretty often met with we have in Cunningham's _The Sycamore -Shade_ (Poets, x. 717): - - _T'other day as I sat in the sycamore shade, - Young Damon came whistling along, - I trembled--I blush'd--a poor innocent maid! - And my heart caper'd up to my tongue: - Silly heart, I cry'd, fie! What a flutter is here! - Young Damon designs you no ill, - The shepherd's so civil, you've nothing to fear, - Then prythee, fond urchin, lie still._ - -For specimens of the other subordinate varieties and of the rare -twelve-lined stanza (_a4 b3 c4 b3 d4 b3 e4 f3 d4 f3 g4 f3_ and _a4 b ~3 -a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3_) see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 295, 296. - -§ =250.= There are also doubled forms of the before-mentioned analogical -development of the Septenary, the schemes of which are as follows: - -_a4 b ~2 a4 b ~2 a4 b ~2 a4 b ~2_, _a3 b ~2 a3 b ~2 c3 d ~2 c3 d ~2_, -_a ~2 b3 a ~2 b3 c ~2 d3 c ~2 d3_, _a ~4 b5 a ~4 b5 c ~4 d5 c ~4 d5_, -and _a5 a4 b5 b4 c5 c4 d5 d4_. - -We must here refer to some eight-lined stanzas which have this common -feature that the two half-stanzas are exactly alike, but the -half-stanzas themselves consist of unequal members. These, however, will -be treated in the next chapter. - -In this connexion may be also mentioned the doubled _Poulter's Measure_, -which occurs somewhat frequently, as in _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, No. -149: - - _Thou art gone up on high, - To mansions in the skies; - And round Thy Throne unceasingly - The songs of praise arise. - But we are lingering here, - With sin and care oppressed; - Lord, send Thy promised Comforter, - And lead us to Thy rest._ - -The same form of stanza was used in Hood's well-known _Song of the -Shirt_ (p. 183). - -Other stanzas of similar structure are given with specimens in _Metrik_, -ii, §§ 300, 301; their formulas are _a4 a4 b2 b5 c4 c4 d2 d5_, _a b a4 -b3 c d c4 d3_ (Moore, _Dreaming for ever_), _a3 b b4 a3 c3 d d4 c3_, _a -b a3 b2 c d c3 d2_, _a3 b2 c4 a2 d3 b2 c4 d2_; in the same place we have -mentioned some ten-lined stanzas of the forms _a a4 b b2 a4 c c4 d d2 -c4_ (Moore, The Young May Moon) and _a3 a2 b5 b2 c4 d3 d2 e5 e2 c4_, -&c. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - ONE-RHYMED INDIVISIBLE AND BIPARTITE - UNEQUAL-MEMBERED STANZAS - - -§ =251.= These different kinds of stanzas may be conveniently treated -together, since they are closely allied with each other, in that both of -them--the indivisible stanzas usually, and the bipartite -unequal-membered stanzas frequently--exhibit a one-rhymed principal -part. - - - I. _One-rhymed and indivisible stanzas._ - -The =one-rhymed stanzas=, taken as a whole, cannot without qualification -be ranged under any of the other kinds of stanza. The four-lined and -eight-lined stanzas of this form, it is true, do for the most part seem -to belong so far as their syntactical structure is concerned to the -bipartite, equal-membered class (_a a, a a; a a a a, a a a a_). But -those of six lines may belong either to the bipartite (_a a a, a a a_) -or to the tripartite class (_a a, a a, a a_). It is even more difficult -to draw a sharp line of distinction when the strophes have an odd number -of lines. - -In no case is there such a definite demarcation between the chief parts -in these one-rhymed stanzas as exists in stanzas with varied rhymes, -whether based upon crossed rhymes or on rhyming couplets. - -=Three-lined stanzas= of the same structure as the four-lined stanzas to -be described in the next section were not used before the Modern period. -They occur pretty often, and are constructed of widely different kinds -of verse; in Drayton's _The Heart_ (Poets, iii. 580) three-foot lines -are used: - - _If thus we needs must go, - What shall our one heart do, - This one made of our two?_ - -Stanzas of this kind, consisting of three-foot trochaic and dactylic -verses, as well as stanzas of four-foot iambic, iambic-anapaestic, -trochaic, and dactylic verses, are also met with in the Modern period. -Even more popular, however, are those of five-foot iambic verses, as e. -g. in Dryden, pp. 393, 400, &c. Stanzas of longer verses, on the other -hand, e.g. six-foot dactylic, seven-foot trochaic, iambic, or -iambic-anapaestic and eight-foot trochaic verses, occur only -occasionally in the more recent poets, e.g. Tennyson, Swinburne, R. -Browning, D.G. Rossetti, &c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 303-4). - -Some other Modern English anisometrical stanzas may also be mentioned, -as one in Cowley with the formula _a5 a4 a5_ in _Love's Visibility_ -(Poets, v. 273): - - _With much of pain, and all the art I knew - Have I endeavour'd hitherto - To hide my love, and yet all will not do._ - -For other forms see _Metrik_, ii, § 305. - -§ =252. Four-lined, one-rhymed stanzas= of four-foot verses (used in Low -Latin, Provençal and Old French poetry, cf. _Metrik_, i, p. 369) are -early met with in Middle English poems, as in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. -Poetry_, pp. 57 and 68. - -The first begins with these verses, which happen to show a prevailing -trochaic rhythm. - - _Suete iesu, king of blysse, - Myn huerte loue, min huerte lisse, - Þou art suete myd ywisse, - Wo is him þat þe shall misse._ - - _Suete iesu, myn huerte lyht, - Þou art day withoute nyht; - Þou [gh]eue me streinþe ant eke myht, - Forte louien þe aryht_. - -This simple form of stanza is also found in Modern English poetry; -apparently, however, only in one of the earliest poets, viz. Wyatt (p. -36). - -It occurs also in Middle English, consisting of four-stressed, -rhyming-alliterative long-lines, as e.g. in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. -Poetry_, p. 237; and of simple four-stressed long lines in Wyatt (p. -147), and Burns (pp. 253, 265, &c.). - -In Middle English poetry Septenary verses are often used in this way on -the Low Latin model (cf. _Metrik_, i, pp. 90, 91, 370), as well as -Septenary-Alexandrine verses, e.g. Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. -93: - - _Blessed be þou, leuedy, ful of heouene blisse, - Suete flur of parays, moder of mildenesse, - Prey[gh]e iesu, þy sone, þat he me rede and wysse - So my wey forte gon, þat he me neuer misse._ - -In Modern English stanzas of this kind, consisting of Septenary verses, -are of rare occurrence. We have an example in Leigh Hunt's _The jovial -Priest's Confession_ (p. 338), a translation of the well-known poem -ascribed to Walter Map, _Mihi est propositum in taberna mori_ (cf. §§ -135, 182). - -Shorter verses, e.g. iambic lines of three measures, are also very -rarely used for such stanzas; e.g. in Donne and Denham (_Poets_, iv. 48 -and v. 611). - -§ =253.= A small group of other stanzas connected with the above may be -called =indivisible stanzas=. They consist of a one-rhymed main part -mostly of three, more rarely of two or four lines, followed by a shorter -refrain-verse, a _cauda_, as it were, but in itself too unimportant to -lend a bipartite character to the stanza. Otherwise, stanzas like these -might be looked upon as bipartite unequal-membered stanzas, with which, -indeed, they stand in close relationship. Three-lined stanzas of this -kind occur in Modern English only; as e.g. a stanza consisting of an -heroic couplet and a two-foot refrain verse of different rhythm: _a a5 -B2_ in Moore's Song: - - _Oh! where are they, who heard in former hours, - The voice of song in these neglected bowers? - They are gone--all gone!_ - -Other stanzas show the formulas _a a5 b3_ and _a a4 b3_. Their structure -evidently is analogous to that of a four-lined Middle English stanza _a -a a4 B3_, the model of which we find in Low Latin and Provençal poetry -(cf. _Metrik_, i. 373) and in Furnivall's _Political, Religious, and -Love Poems_, p. 4: - - _Sithe god hathe chose þe to be his kny[gh]t, - And posseside þe in þi right, - Thou hime honour with al thi myght, - Edwardus Dei gracia_. - -Similar stanzas occur also in Modern English poets: _a a a4 B2_ in -Wyatt, p. 99, _a a a5 B3_ in G. Herbert, p. 18, &c. We find others with -the formula _a a a4 b2 a a a4 b2_ in Dunbar's _Inconstancy of Love_, and -with the formula _a a a4 b3 c c c4 b3 d d d4 b3_, in Dorset (_Poets_, -vi. 512); there are also stanzas of five lines, e.g. _a a a a4 B2_ -(Wyatt, p. 80). - -An older poem in Ritson's _Anc. Songs_, i. 140 (_Welcom Yol_), has the -same metre and form of stanza, but with a refrain verse of two measures -and a two-lined refrain prefixed to the first stanza: _A B4 a a a4 B2 -c c c4 B2_. A similar extended stanza is found in Wyatt (p. 108) _A3 -b b b3 A3 B2_; _A3 c c c3 A3 B2_. There are also in modern poetry -similar isometrical stanzas, as in Swinburne (_Poems_, ii. 108) on the -scheme _a a a b5_, _c c c b5_, _d d d b5_, _e e e f5_, _g g g f5_, _h h -h f5_; in Campbell (p. 73) _a a a b4_, _c c c b4_, _d d d b4_; and in M. -Arnold, _The Second Best_ (p. 49), with feminine endings in the main -part of the stanza, _a ~ a ~ a ~ b4_, _c ~ c ~ c ~ b4_, _d ~ d ~ d ~ -b4_, &c. - - - II. _Bipartite unequal-membered isometrical stanzas._ - -§ =254.= These are of greater number and variety. The shortest of them, -however, viz. =stanzas of four lines=, are found only in Modern English; -first of all, stanzas arranged according to the formula _a a b a_; in -this case _b_ can be used as refrain also, as in Sidney, _Astrophel and -Stella_, Song I (Grosart, i. 75): - - _Doubt you to whom my Muse these notes entendeth, - Which now my breast, surcharg'd to musick lendeth! - To you, to you, all song of praise is due, - Only in you my song begins and endeth._ - -Similar stanzas of four-foot iambic and of two-foot iambic-anapaestic -lines occur in Tennyson, _The Daisy_ (p. 270), and in Longfellow, _King -Olaf and Earl Sigwald_ (p. 573). - -Stanzas with the scheme _a b b a_ also belong to this group, the two -halves not being exactly equal, but only similar to each other on -account of the unequal arrangement of rhymes. - -Such a stanza of four-foot iambic verses occurs in an elegy of Ben -Jonson's (_Poets_, iv. 571): - - _Though beauty be the mark of praise, - And yours of whom I sing be such, - As not the world can praise too much, - Yet is't your virtue now I raise_. - -and notably in Tennyson's _In Memoriam_. Both this stanza and the -similar stanza of trochaic verses are found pretty often (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 311). - -§ =255.= More frequently =five-lined stanzas= occur. One on the scheme -_a b b a a4_, similar to that just mentioned, is used in Sidney, _Psalm -XXVIII_; others, composed in various metres, have a one-rhymed _frons_ -or _cauda_, e.g. _a a a b b3_ in Wyatt, p. 128, _a a b b b4_ in Moore -(_Still when Daylight_) and other poets. Of greater importance are some -stanzas on the formula _a a b a b_; they may be looked upon as -isometrical tail-rhyme-stanzas, shortened by one chief verse; as _a a b -a B4_, often occurring in Dunbar, e.g. in _The Devil's Inquest_, and -in Wyatt, p. 29: - - _My lute awake, perform the last - Labour, that thou and I shall waste, - And end that I have now begun; - And when this song is sung and past, - My lute! be still, for I have done._ - -Another form of this stanza, consisting of five-foot lines with refrain, -occurs in Swinburne, _In an Orchard_ (_Poems_, i. 116), and a variety -consisting of three-foot verses is found in Drayton's _Ode to Himself_ -(Poets, iii, p. 587). More frequently this stanza is found with the two -parts in inverted order (_a b a a b4_), as in Moore: - - _Take back the sigh, thy lips of art - In passion's moment breath'd to me: - Yet, no--it must not, will not part, - 'Tis now the life-breath of my heart, - And has become too pure for thee._ - -There are also five-foot iambic and three-foot iambic-anapaestic and -other lines connected in this way, as in G. Herbert (p. 82); in -Longfellow, _Enceladus_ (p. 595); on the scheme _a b c c b3_ in -Wordsworth, i. 248; and in R. Browning according to the formula _a b c c -b4_ (vi. 77). The allied form of stanza, _a a b b a_, probably -originating by inversion of the two last verses of the former stanza (_a -a b a b_), occurs in Middle English in the poem _Of the Cuckoo and the -Nightingale_.[191] - - _The god of love,--a! benedicite, - How mighty and how greet a lord is he! - For he can make of lowe hertes hye, - And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye, - And harde hertes he can maken free._ - -The same stanza, both of four- and five-foot lines, is frequently -employed by Dunbar; e.g. _On his Heid-Ake, The Visitation of St. -Francis_, &c. We find it also in modern poets, composed of the same, or -of other verses; Moore, e.g., has used it with five-foot -iambic-anapaestic lines, in _At the mid hour of Night_. - -A stanza on the model _a b a b b_ is a favourite in Modern English; it -is formed from the four-lined stanza (_abab_) by repeating the last -rhyme. It consists of the most different kinds of verse; an example is -Carew's _To my inconstant Mistress_ (Poets, iii. 678): - - _When thou, poor excommunicate - From all the joys of love, shall see - The full reward, and glorious fate, - Which my strong faith shall purchase me, - Then curse thine own inconstancy._ - -For other specimens in lines of five, three, and four feet see _Metrik_, -ii. 307. - -Much less common is the form _a b b a b_, which occurs e.g. in -Coleridge's _Recollections of Love_ (_a b b a b4_). - -Five-lined stanzas of crossed rhymes are not very rare; an example of -the form _a b a b a4_ is found in R. Browning's _The Patriot_ (iv. 149): - - _It was roses, roses, all the way, - With myrtle mixed in my path like mad: - The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway, - The church-spires flamed, such flags they had, - A year ago on this very day._ - -For specimens of other forms see _Metrik_, ii, § 318. - -§ =256.= The simplest kind of isometrical stanzas of this group is that -in which the four-lined one-rhymed stanza is extended by the addition of -a couplet with a new rhyme, so that it forms a =six-lined stanza=. A -Latin stanza of this kind consisting of Septenary verses is given in -Wright's _Pol. Poems_, i. 253, and a Middle English imitation of it, ib. -p. 268, in the poem _On the Minorite Friars_. The same stanza composed -of four-stressed verses is used by Minot in his poem _Of the batayl of -Banocburn_ (ib. i. 61): - - _Skottes out of Berwik and of Abirdene, - At the Bannok burn war [gh]e to kene; - Thare slogh [gh]e many sakles, als it was sene; - And now has king Edward wroken it, I wene. - It es wrokin, I wene, wele wurth the while; - War [gh]it with the Skottes, for thai er ful of gile._ - -Here the _frons_ is connected with the _cauda_, which recurs in each -stanza as a kind of refrain, by means of _concatenatio_. Two other poems -of Minot's (v, ix) are written in similar stanzas of six and eight -lines. In the ten-lined stanza of the poem in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. -Poetry_, p. 25, which is of similar structure, we find the doubling of -the _frons_. - -A six-lined stanza of this kind, which has the formula _a a a b B B_ (_B -B_ being refrain-verses), is used by Dunbar in his _Gray-Horse_ poem and -in _Luve Erdly and Divine_. The latter begins: - - _Now culit is Dame Venus brand; - Trew Luvis fyre is ay kindilland, - And I begyn to undirstand, - In feynit luve quhat foly bene; - Now cumis Aige quhair Yowth hes bene, - And true Luve rysis fro the splene._ - -The same kind of stanza occurs in Wyatt, p. 137. Other forms are: _a a b -a b b5_, in Wyatt, p. 71; _a b c c b a4_ in John Scott, _Conclusion_ -(Poets, ix. 773); _a b c b c a4_ in Tennyson, _A Character_ (p. 12): - - _With a half-glance upon the sky - At night he said, 'The wanderings - Of this most intricate Universe - Teach me the nothingness of things.' - Yet could not all creation pierce - Beyond the bottom of his eye._ - -Longer isometrical stanzas are unfrequent, and need hardly be mentioned -here (cf. _Metrik_, ii, p. 556). - - - III. _Bipartite unequal-membered anisometrical stanzas._ - -§ =257. Two-lined and four-lined stanzas.= The shortest stanzas of this -kind consist of two anisometrical lines, rhyming in couplets, e.g. four- -and five-foot, five- and three-foot lines, &c. - -These have been mentioned before (§ 207); but as a rule they are used, -like the heroic couplet, in continuous systems only, without strophic -arrangement. - -The _Poulter's Measure_ (§§ 146, 206) must be mentioned in this place. -This metre, also, is in narrative poetry employed without strophic -arrangement; but in lyrical poetry it is sometimes written in stanzas. -In this case it is mostly printed as a stanza of four lines, even when -rhyming in long lines, i.e. with intermittent rhyme (_a b3 c4 b3_); -e.g. in Tennyson, _Marriage Morning_ (p. 285): - - _Light, so low upon earth, - You send a flash to the sun, - Here is the golden close of love, - All my wooing is done._ - -The division into stanzas is still more distinctly recognizable when -there are crossed rhymes (_a b3 a4 b3_), as e.g. in a song in Percy's -_Reliques_, I. ii. 2, _The Aged Lover renounceth Love_ (quoted by the -grave-digger in Shakespeare's _Hamlet_): - - _I lothe that I did love, - In youth that I thought swete, - As time requires: for my behove - Me thinkes they are not mete._ - -This stanza occurs very frequently (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 321), but is -rarely formed of trochaic verses. - -Another rare variety on the scheme _a ~ b3 c4 b3_ is found in Mrs. -Hemans, _The Stream is free_ (vii. 42), and in M. Arnold's _The Neckan_ -(p. 167). - -Similar to the common _Poulter's Measure_ stanza is another stanza of -iambic-anapaestic verses on the formula _a a3 b4 a3_ (in _b_ -middle-rhyme is used, so that the scheme may also be given as _a a3 b b2 -a3_.)We find it in Burns, the _a_-rhymes being masculine (p. 245) and -feminine (p. 218). - -Four-lined stanzas of two rhyming couplets of unequal length are fairly -common; as e.g. on the model _a a5 b b4_ in Dryden, _Hymn for St. -John's Eve_: - - _O sylvan prophet! whose eternal fame - Echoes from Judah's hills and Jordan's stream, - The music of our numbers raise, - And tune our voices to thy praise._ - -Other schemes that occur are _a a4 b b5_, _a a b4 b5_, _a a b4 b2_, _a -a4 b3 b2_, _a4 a2 b b4_, _a5 a3 b b5_; there are even forms with lines -of unequal length in each part, as e.g.: _a4 a5 b7 b5_, _a7 a4 b2 b6_, -_a5 a3 b5 b4_, _a5 a4 b4 b6_. For examples see _Metrik_, ii (§§ 322-4). - -Enclosing rhymes are also found; and in this case the lines of the same -length usually rhyme together, as in the formula _a3 b b5 a3_ in Mrs. -Hemans, _The Song of Night_ (vi. 94): - - _I come to thee, O Earth! - With all my gifts!--for every flower sweet dew - In bell, and urn, and chalice, to renew - The glory of its birth._ - -Sometimes verses are used partly of unequal length: _a3 b5 b3 a4_ in M. -Arnold, _A Nameless Epitaph_ (p. 232), or _a5 b2 b4 a5_, _a b b4 a3_, -&c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 325). - -§ =258.= Stanzas of this kind frequently occur with crossed rhymes. Most -commonly two longer verses are placed between two shorter ones, or vice -versa; thus we have the formula _a3 b a5 b3_ in Southey's _The Ebb-Tide_ -(ii. 193): - - _Slowly thy flowing tide - Came in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes, - As watchfully I roam'd thy green-wood side, - Perceive its gentle rise._ - -Other forms are _a2 b a3 b2_, _a4 b a5 b4_, _a5 b a4 b5_ (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 326). - -Three isometrical verses and one shorter or longer end-verse can also be -so connected, as e.g. on the scheme _a b a4 b2_ in Pope, _Ode on -Solitude_ (p. 45): - - _Happy the man whose wish and care - A few paternal acres bound, - Content to breathe his native air, - In his own ground_; - -or in Cowper on the model _a b a4 b5_ in _Divine Love endures no Rival_ -(p. 418): - - _Love is the Lord whom I obey, - Whose will transported I perform; - The centre of my rest, my stay, - Love's all in all to me, myself a worm._ - -Similar stanzas both with this and other arrangements of rhymes (as e. -g. _a b a5 b3_, _a b a4 b2_, _a b a3 b5_) are very popular. A specimen -of the first of these formulas is found in M. Arnold's _Progress_ (p. -252), and one of the second in his _A Southern Night_ (p. 294). For -other examples see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 326-7. - -More rarely a short verse begins the stanza (e.g. _a3 b a b5_ in -Mrs. Hemans, _The Wish_, vi. 249), or is placed in the middle on the -scheme _a5 b2 a b5_ (as in G. Herbert, _Church Lock and Key_, -p. 61). For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 328, 329. - -Stanzas of one isometrical and another anisometrical half are not -frequently met with; a specimen of the form _a b4 a5 b2_ is -found in G. Herbert's _Employment_ (p. 51). - -More common are stanzas of two anisometrical halves; in this case either -the two middle or the isolated verses are generally isometrical; e.g. on -the scheme _a5 b a4 b3_ in G. Herbert, _The Temper_ (p. 49): - - _How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymes - Gladly engrave thy love in steel, - If what my soul doth feel sometimes, - My soul might ever feel!_ - -or on _a4 b3 a4 b5_ in Milton, _Psalm V_ (vol. iii, p. 24): - - _Jehovah, to my words give ear, - My meditation weigh; - The voice of my complaining hear, - My king and God, for unto thee I pray._ - -Stanzas like these are very much in vogue, and may be composed of the -most varied forms of verse (cf. _Metrik_, ii; § 330). - -§ =259.= Among the =five-lined stanzas= the first place must be given to -those in which the arrangement of rhymes is parallel, as these are found -in Middle English as well as in Modern English poetry. A stanza of form -_a a a4 b3 b6_ occurs in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 60: - - _Wynter wakeneþ al my care, - nou þis leues waxeþ bare; - ofte y sike ant mourne sare, - when hit cómeþ in my þóht, - óf this wórldes ióie, hóu hit geþ ál to nóht._ - -A similar structure (_a a a4 b3 b5_) is shown in a stanza of a poem -quoted by Ritson, _Ancient Songs_, i. 129; the poem belongs to the -fifteenth century. - -Still more numerous are these stanzas in Modern English; e.g. the form -_a a a3 b b5_ occurs in Herbert, _Sinne_ (p. 58), _a a a3 b4 b3_ in -Shelley (iii. 244), _a a a b4 b5_ in Suckling (_Poets_, iii. 734); a -still more irregular structure (_a4 a5 b b4 b5_) in Cowley, _All for -love_ (Poets, v. 263): - - _'Tis well, 'tis well with them, say I. - Whose short liv'd passions with themselves can die; - For none can be unhappy who, - 'Midst all his ills, a time does know_ - (_Though ne'er so long_) _when he shall not be so_. - -Here again we meet with the stanzas mentioned above, which are partially -characterized by enclosing rhymes, e.g. corresponding to the formula _a -b b a_, as in M. Arnold, _On the Rhine_ (p. 223), or on the scheme _a a -b b4 a5_, as in Byron, _Oh! snatch'd away_, &c. (p. 123): - - _Oh! snatch'd away in beauty's bloom, - On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; - But on thy turf shall roses rear - Their leaves, the earliest of the year; - And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom._ - -For other stanzas on the formulas _a a5 b b4 A3_, _a5 b b4 a5 a4_, _a3 b -b2 a a3_, &c., see _Metrik_ (ii, §§ 332, 333). - -In others the chief part of the stanza shows crossed rhyme, as e.g. on -the scheme _a b a b4 b3_ in Poe, _To Helen_ (p. 205): - - _Helen, thy beauty is to me - Like those Nicean barks of yore - That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, - The weary way-worn wanderer bore - To his own native shore._ - -Other stanzas take the forms _a5 b4 a5 b4 b5_, _a5 b2 a4 b3 b5_, _a4 b3 -a4 b3 b2_, &c. More uncommon are such forms as _a3 b b5 a4 b5, a b5 b3 a -b5_, &c. (For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 334.) - -Stanzas with crossed rhymes throughout, on the other hand, are very -frequent, as e.g. type _a b a b4 a3_ in R. Browning's _By the Fireside_ -(iii. 170): - - _How well I know what I mean to do - When the long dark autumn evenings come; - And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? - With the music of all thy voices, dumb - In life's November too!_ - -There are many other forms, sometimes very complicated, as e.g. _a b a -b5 a3_, _a b5 a2 b a6_, _a3 b a4 b3 a5_, &c. (For examples see _Metrik_, -ii, § 335.) - -§ =260.= The tail-rhyme stanzas shortened by one verse occupy an -important position among the five-lined stanzas. - -These curtailed forms occur as early as the Middle English period, e.g. -in an envoi on the model _a a4 b2 a4 b2_, forming the conclusion of a -poem in six-lined stanzas (_a a a4 b2 a4 b2_), printed in Wright's -_Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 38. - - _Ich wolde ich were a þrestelcok, - A bountyng oþer a lauerok. - Swete bryd! - Bituene hire curtel ant hire smok - Y wolde ben hyd._ - -In Modern English the common form of stanza is much employed, consisting -of four- and three-foot verses, _a a4 b3 a4 b3_; there are many -varieties of this scheme, as _a a b a4 b3_, _a5 a b4 a5 b3_, _a a2 b a4 -b3_, &c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 336). - -A similar form, with shortening in the first half-stanza, also occurs in -Middle English poetry, though only as an envoi of another form of -stanza, viz, in the _Towneley Mysteries_ (pp. 34-323): - - _Vnwunne haueþ myn wonges wet, - Þat makeþ me rouþes rede; - Ne sem i nout þer y am set, - Þer me calleþ me fule flet - And waynoun! wayteglede._ - -This stanza is also frequently used in Modern English, e.g. by Thomas -Moore, _Nay, do not weep_. - -A similar stanza on the model _a4 b2 a a4 b2_ is used by Moore in _Echo_ -(ii. 211): - - _How sweet the answer Echo makes - To music at night, - When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes, - And far away, o'er lawns and lakes, - Goes answering light._ - -We find specimens of this stanza consisting of other metres and of -different structure (isometrical in the first half-stanza), e.g. on -the schemes _a5 b3 a a5 b3_, _a b a a4 b3_, &c. (For specimens see -_Metrik_, ii, § 337.) - -Stanzas of this kind are also formed with three rhymes, e.g. _a b3 c c2 -b4_, _a b3 c c2 b3_, _a ~ b4 c ~ c ~2 b4_, &c. (For specimens cf. -_Metrik_, ii, § 338.) - -Another class of shortened tail-rhyme stanzas, which is deficient not in -one of the rhyming couplets, but in one of the tail-verses, comes in -here. Omission of the first tail-verse, producing a stanza on the scheme -_a a b b c_, occurs in Wordsworth, _The Blind Highland Boy_ (ii. 368): - - _Now we are tired of boisterous joy, - Have romped enough, my little Boy! - Jane hangs her head upon my breast, - And you shall bring your stool and rest; - This corner is your own._ - -Another stanza, which is used in Carew's _Love's Courtship_ (Poets, iii. -707), is formed on the scheme _a a4 b2 c c4_, where the tail-verse of -the second half-stanza is wanting. As to the other varieties, arising -from the use of other metres, cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 338. - -Sometimes stanzas of three rhymes occur, rhyming crosswise throughout, -and of various forms, e.g. _a b a c4 b3_ in Longfellow, _The Saga of -King Olaf_ (p. 565); _a b4 c3 a4 c2_ in Coleridge; _a b a b5 C3_ in -Mrs. Hemans (iv. 119); _a b a b4 C3_ in Moore, _Weep, Children of -Israel_: - - _Weep, weep for him, the Man of God-- - In yonder vale he sunk to rest; - But none of earth can point the sod - That flowers above his sacred breast. - Weep, children of Israel, weep!_ - -For other varieties see _Metrik_, ii, § 339. - -§ =261.= Unequal-membered anisometrical =stanzas of six lines= are only -rarely met with in Middle English, as e.g. _a a4 b b b a2_ in Dunbar's -poem, _Aganis Treason_. - -They occur, on the other hand, very frequently in Modern English, -especially with parallel rhymes on the scheme _a a a a4 B C2_ in _The -Old and Young Courtier_ (Percy's _Rel._ II. iii. 8): - - _An old song made by an aged-old pate, - Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a greate estate, - That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate, - And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate; - Like an old courtier of the queen's, - And the queen's old courtier._ - -For specimens of other stanzas, the rhymes of which are arranged in a -similar way (according to _a5 a a b b4 b5_, or with partly enclosing -rhymes, as _a5 b b b b3 a5_, _a a b b b4 a2_, _a a4 b b b a2_, &c.), see -_Metrik_, ii, § 340. - -Forms based upon the tail-rhyme stanza are very popular; of great -importance is the entwined form on a Provençal model (cf. Bartsch, -_Provenzalisches Lesebuch_, p. 46) which was imitated in Middle English -poetry. It corresponds to the scheme _a a a4 b3 a4 b3_ and gives the -impression, according to Wolf in his book, _Über die Lais_, &c., p. 230, -note 67, that the second part of a common tail-rhyme stanza is inserted -into the first, though it is also possible that it may have been formed -from the extended tail-rhyme stanza _a a a4 b3 a a a4 b3_ by shortening -the second part by two chief verses. The first stanza of a poem in -Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 94, may serve as a specimen: - - _Ase y me rod þis ender day, - By grene wode to seche play, - Mid herte y þohte al on a may, - Suetest of alle þinge; - Lyþe, and ich ou telle may - Al of þat suete þinge._ - -This stanza occurs frequently in the _Towneley Mysteries_, pp. 120-34, -254-69, &c. In Modern English, however, we find it very seldom; as an -example (iambic-anapaestic verses of four and three measures) we may -refer to Campbell's _Stanzas on the battle of Navarino_ (p. 176). - -More frequent in Modern English, on the other hand, is a variety of this -stanza with two-foot tail-verses on the scheme _a a a4 b2 a4 b2_; it is -especially common in Ramsay and Fergusson, and occurs in several poems -of Burns, e.g. in his _Scotch Drink_ (p. 6): - - _Let other Poets raise a fracas - 'Bout vines, an' wines, an' drunken Bacchus, - An' crabbit names an' stories wrack us, - An' grate our lug, - I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us, - In glass or jug._ - -The same form of stanza is used by Wordsworth and by M. Arnold in his -poem _Kaiser Dead_ (p. 495). - -The same stanza sometimes occurs with the order of the parts inverted -like _a4 b3 a a a4 b3_, e.g. in Longfellow's _Voices of the Night_ (p. -40). - -Other unequal-membered varieties of the anisometrical tail-rhyme stanza -correspond to _a a3 b5 a a5 b6_ (cf. the chapter on the Spenserian -stanza and its imitations), _a a b c c4 b3_ (M. Arnold, _Horatian Echo_, -p. 47), _a a b c c3 b5_, _a5 a3 b5 c c b5_, _a4 a2 b4 c2 c5 b4_, _a4 b3 -a c c4 b3_ (entwined _frons_), _a a4 b3 c3 b4 c5_ (entwined _cauda_). - -For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 343. - -Here again we must mention stanzas which in their structure are -influenced by the tail-rhyme stanza and are formed on the scheme _a b c -a b c_; of these we have several examples in G. Herbert, on the scheme -_a b c5 a b4 c5_, e.g. in _Magdalena_ (p. 183): - - _When blessed Marie wip'd her Saviour's feet, - (Whose precepts she had trampled on before) - And wore them for a jewell on her head, - Shewing his steps should be the street, - Wherein she thenceforth evermore - With pensive humblenesse would live and tread._ - -Other stanzas of his correspond to _a5 b4 c3 c4 b3 a5_, _a3 b5 c4 c4 b5 -a3_, &c. In Moore we have a similar stanza: _a b4 c2 b a4 c2_ which is -unequal-membered on account of the arrangement of rhyme (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 344). An unusual form of stanza, which may also be classed under -this head, occurs in M. Arnold's _Human Life_ (p. 40), its formula being -_a3 b4 c a c b5_. - -§ =262. A stanza of seven lines= is used in Dunbar's poem _The -Merchants of Edinborough_, formed on the scheme _a a a b4 B2 a4 B4_; it -is very interesting on account of the duplication of the refrain-verses -(_B2_, _B4_). Apart from the first short refrain-verse the arrangement -of rhymes is the same as it is in the entwined tail-rhyme stanza: - - _Quhy will [gh]e, merchantis of renoun, - Lat Edinburgh, [gh]our nobill toun, - For laik of reformatioun - The commone proffeitt tyne and fame? - Think [gh]e noht schame, - That onie other regioun - Sall with dishonour hurt [gh]our name!_ - -The Modern English stanzas also mostly bear a greater or less -resemblance to the tail-rhyme stanza. This relationship is evident in a -stanza like _a a4 b3 c c c4 b3_, used in Wordsworth, _To the Daisy_ -(iii. 42): - - _Sweet flower! belike one day to have - A place upon thy Poets grave, - I welcome thee once more: - But He, who was on land, at sea, - My Brother, too, in loving thee, - Although he loved more silently, - Sleeps by his native shore._ - -A peculiar form of stanza occurring in M. Arnold's _In Utrumque Paratus_ -(p. 45) with the formula _a5 b3 a c b c5 b3_ likewise belongs to this -group. - -In other instances the longer part comes first on the model _a a a4 b3 c -c4 b3_, e.g. in Mrs. Hemans, _The Sun_ (iv. 251). - -Other stanzas correspond to _a a3 b2 c c c3 B2_ and _a a a b c c2 b3_. - -In other cases the equal-membered tail-rhyme stanza becomes -unequal-membered by adding to the second tail-verse another verse -rhyming with it, the formula being then _a a4 B2 a a4 b B2_ (e.g. in -Longfellow, _Victor Galbraith_, p. 503) or _a a2 b4 c c2 b4 B3_ (in -Moore, _Little man_), or _a a3 b2 c ~ c ~ b b3_ (id., _The Pilgrim_). - -Less closely allied to the tail-rhyme stanza are the forms which are -similar to it only in one half-strophe, e.g. those on the model _a4 b2 -a b c c4 b2_ (Shelley, _To Night_, iii. 62), _a b3 c c2 a a4 b3_ (id. -_Lines_, iii. 86), _a b b4 r2 a R4 r2_ (Tennyson, _A Dirge_, p. 16). For -other examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 347. - -§ =263.= There are also some eight-, nine-, and ten-lined stanzas -similar to the tail-rhyme stanza. An =eight-lined stanza= of the form -_a4 b a5 c2, b4 d d5 c2_ occurs in Herbert, _The Glance_ (p. 18), and -one of the form _a ~ a ~4 B c ~ d c ~ d4 B3_ in Moore's _Thee, thee, -only thee_: - - _The dawning of morn, the daylight's sinking, - The night's long hours still find me thinking - Of thee, thee, only thee. - When friends are met, and goblets crown'd, - And smiles are near, that once enchanted, - Unreach'd by all that sunshine round, - My soul, like some dark spot, is haunted - By thee, thee, only thee._ - -A stanza used by Wordsworth in _Stray Pleasures_ (iv. 12) corresponds to -_a a2 b3 c c d d2 b3_. - -Two stanzas used by M. Arnold correspond to the formulas _a a2 b2 c5 d4 -c3 d4 b2_ (_a a_ printed as one line) in _A Question_ (p. 44), and _a a3 -b5 c c3 d b d3_ in _The World and the Quietist_ (p. 46). - -A =stanza of nine lines= is found in Tennyson's _Lady of Shalott_ (p. -28); it is on the scheme _a a a a b c c c4 b_; one of ten lines in his -_Greeting to the Duchess of Edinburgh_ (p. 261) on the model _a b b a5 -C2 d e e d5 C3_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 349). - -Other stanzas of this kind are related to the Septenary or the -_Poulter's Measure_, e.g. those on the schemes _a4 b3 a b c d c4 d3_, -_a b a4 b3 c d3 c4 d3_, and _a b2 a4 b2 c3 d2 c4 d2_, examples of which, -from Moore, are given in _Metrik_, ii, § 348. - -=Stanzas of eleven= and =twelve lines= are rare. For examples see -_Metrik_, ii, § 350. - -§ =264. The bob-wheel stanzas.= This important class of bipartite -unequal-membered anisometrical stanzas was very much in vogue in the -Middle English period. They consist (see § 222) of a _frons_ (longer -verses of four stresses, or Septenary and Alexandrine verses) and a -_cauda_, which is formed of shorter verses and is joined to the _frons_ -by one or several 'bob-verses', belonging generally to the first part or -'upsong' (in German _Aufgesang_). - -Sometimes it is doubtful whether these stanzas belong to the bipartite -or to the tripartite class, on account of the variety of rhymes in the -_frons_. But as they mostly consist of two quite unequal parts, they -certainly stand in a closer relationship to the bipartite stanzas. - -A simple stanza of this kind on the scheme _A A7 C1 B7_ occurs in -William of Shoreham (printed in short lines on the model _A4 B3 C4 B3 d1 -E4 D3_): - - _Nou here we mote in this sermon of ordre maky sa[gh]e, - Then was bytokned suithe wel wylom by the ealde lawe - To aginne, - Tho me made Godes hous and ministres therinne._ - -A six-lined stanza of Alexandrines and Septenaries on the scheme _A A B -B6 c1 C6_ is found in the poem _On the evil Times of Edward II_ -(Wright's _Polit. Songs_, p. 323). Another variety originated by the -breaking up of the longer verses into short ones by inserted rhyme, as -in the closing stanzas of a poem by Minot (ed. Hall, p. 17) according to -the formula _A B A B A B A B3 c1 A C3_; cf. the last stanza: - - _King Edward, frely fode, - In Fraunce he will noght blin - To make his famen wode - That er wonand tharein. - God, that rest on rode, - For sake of Adams syn, - Strenkith him maine and mode, - His reght in France to win, - And have. - God grante him graces gode, - And fro all sins us save._ - -A similar form of stanza (_A B A B A B A B3 c1 B C3_) is used in the -Romance of _Sir Tristrem_; that of the Scottish poem _Christ's Kirk on -the Green_, however, is formed on the model _A4 B3 A4 B3 A4 B3 b1 B4_. - -§ =265.= Still more common than stanzas of this kind composed of -even-beat verses, are those of four-stressed rhyming verses with or -without alliteration. - -Under this head comes a poem in Wright's _Polit. Songs_, p. 69 (cf. § -60), on the scheme _A A A A4 B3 c1 C3 B4_, or rather _A A A A4 b2 c1 c2 -B4_, the bob-verse being thus inserted in the _cauda_. The common form -comes out more clearly in another poem, ibid., p. 212 (st. 1, quoted pp. -100-1), corresponding to _A A A A4 b1 c c2 b2_, where _A A A A4_ are -verses of four stresses, _b a_ one-stressed bob-verse or the half-verse -of a long line, _c c2 b2_ half-verses of two stresses. - -_The Tournament of Tottenham_ (Ritson's _Anc. Songs_, i. 85-9) is -written in a similar form of stanza with the formula _A A A A4 b c c c -b2_; the cauda consisting of five verses with two stresses only. - -This form of stanza is further developed by connecting the halves of the -long lines with each other by the insertion of rhymes in the same way as -in the stanzas of isometrical verses. An example may be seen in Wright's -_Polit. Songs_, p. 153, the scheme being _A A A A4 b b1 b2_ or _A A A A4 -b1 b2 b4_ (or, with the longer lines broken up, _A B A B A B A B2 c c1 -c2_, or _A B A B A B A B2 c1 c2 C4_, &c.). - -Similar stanzas, especially those on the model _A A A A4 b1 c c c2 b2_ -(_A B A B A B A B2 c1 d d d2 c2_) were much used in the mystery plays, -as e.g. in the _Towneley Mysteries_ (pp. 20-34), even when in the -dialogue the single lines are divided between different speakers (cf. -_Metrik_, i, pp. 390-1). - -The four-stressed long lines sometimes alternate with Alexandrine and -Septenary verses. In these plays stanzas of an eight-lined _frons_ -consisting of long verses, rhyming crosswise and corresponding to _A B A -B A B A B4 c1 d d d2 c2_ are also common: - - _Peasse at my bydyng, ye wyghtys in wold! - Looke none be so hardy to speke a word bot I, - Or by Mahwne most myghty, maker on mold, - With this brande that I bere ye shalle bytterly aby; - Say, wote ye not that I am Pylate, perles to behold? - Most doughty in dedes of dukys of the Jury, - In bradyng of batels I am the most bold, - Therefor my name to you wille I descry, - No mys. - I am fulle of sotelty, - Falshod, gylt, and trechery; - Therefor am I namyd by clergy - As mali actoris._ - -Other stanzas, the first _cauda_-verse of which has four beats (on the -scheme _A B A B A B A B C4 d d d c2_), were also very much in vogue. -Stanzas of this kind occur in the poems _Golagros and Gawane_, _The Buke -of the Howlat_, _Rauf Coil[gh]ear_, and _The Awntyrs of Arthure at the -Terne Wathelyne_ (S. T. S. vol. 28; cf. § 61). An interesting variety of -the common form (with a five-lined _cauda_) we have in the poem _Of -sayne John the Euangelist_ (E. E. T. S., 26, p. 87). The stanza consists -of an eight-lined _frons_ of crossed rhymes and a _cauda_ formed by a -six-lined tail-rhyme stanza[192] of two-beat verses, on the scheme _A B -A B A B A B4 c c d c c d2_. - -As to the rhythmical structure of the half-verses used in the _cauda_ of -the stanza cf. the explanations given in § 64. - -§ =266.= The bob-wheel stanzas[193] were preserved in the North in -Scottish poetry (e.g. Alex. Montgomerie) up to the Modern English -period.[194] It is not unlikely that they found their way from this -source into Modern English poetry, where they are also met with, though -they have not attained any marked popularity. - -It must, however, be kept in mind that the Modern English bob-wheel -stanzas are not a direct imitation of the Middle English. Sometimes they -were influenced probably by the odes, as there is a marked likeness -between these two forms, e.g. in two stanzas of Donne (_Poets_, iv. 24 -and 39) on the schemes _A B A B C C4 d d1 D4_ and _A2 A5 B4 C C5 B4 d1 D -E E5_; or in a stanza of Ben Jonson in an ode to Wm. Sidney (_Poets_, -iv. 558) on the model _A5 B4 c c1 B3 a d d e2 E5_, and in another in -_The Dream_ (iv. 566), _A A4 B3 C C4 A5 A4 B3 b1 D D3 E E4 B5_. - -In this and other cases they consist of even-measured, seldom of -four-stressed verses, as e.g. in Suckling, who seems to have been very -fond of these forms of stanza; cf. the following stanza on the model _A -A4 B3 c c1 b2_ (_Poets_, iii. 736): - - _That none beguiled be by time's quick flowing, - Lovers have in their hearts a clock still going; - For though time be nimble, his motions - Are quicker - And thicker - Where love hath its notions._ - -Other bob-wheel stanzas in Suckling show the schemes _A A4 a2 b b3_ (ib. -iii. 740), _A A A4 B B5 c2 c1 C D4 d2_ (ib. iii. 729), _A A B B4 c1 c d2 -D5_ (ib. 739). - -More similar to the older forms is a stanza of a song in Dryden formed -after _A A B B C4 d d e e2 e3_ (p. 339). - -In Modern poetry such stanzas are used especially by Burns, Scott, and -sometimes by Moore. So we have in Burns a fine simple stanza on the -model _A4 B3 A4 B3 c1 B3_, similar to the Shoreham stanza (cf. § 264): - - _It was a' for our rightfu' king - We left fair Scotland's strand, - It was a' for our rightfu' king - We e'er saw Irish land, - My dear; - We e'er saw Irish land._ - -Similar stanzas occur in Moore on the formula _A4 B3 A4 B3 a1 B3_ in -_Then fare thee well_, on _A4 B ~3 A4 B ~3 c1 B ~3_ in _Dear Fanny_. -Other stanzas by the same poet have a somewhat longer _cauda_, as _A4 B -~3 A4 B ~3 c ~ c ~ d ~ d ~1 A4 C ~3_ or _A B ~ A B ~ C ~ C ~4 d d2 E F ~ -E F ~4_. - -A stanza used by Sir Walter Scott in _To the Sub-Prior_ (p. 461) is -formed on the model _A A B B4 c1 c2 C4_, the _frons_ consisting of -four-stressed verses: - - _Good evening, Sir Priest, and so late as you ride, - With your mule so fair, and your mantle so wide; - But ride you through valley, or ride you o'er hill, - There is one that has warrant to wait on you still. - Back, back, - The volume black! - I have a warrant to carry it back._ - -Most of these stanzas admit of being looked upon as tripartite on -account of the bipartite structure of the _frons_. - -Other stanzas may be viewed as consisting of three unequal parts (if not -regarded as bipartite); such, for instance, is the stanza on the scheme -(_a_) ~ _A_ ~ (_b_) _~ B ~4 c1_ (_d_) _D4 b ~1 e e e c c2 C4_ occurring -in Shelley's _Autumn, A Dirge_ (iii. 65), where the symbols (_a_)and -(_b_) denote middle rhymes. - -Stanzas of this kind are met with also in modern poetry, as e.g. in -Thackeray, Mrs. Browning, and Rossetti (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 353, 354). - - - - - CHAPTER V - - TRIPARTITE STANZAS - - - I. _Isometrical stanzas._ - -§ =267.= In the anisometrical stanzas (which might, as being the older -species, have been treated of first) the distinction between the first -and the last part of the stanza (_frons_ and _cauda_) is marked as a -rule by a difference of metre in them; in isometrical stanzas, on the -other hand, the distinction between the two parts depends solely on the -arrangement of the rhyme. For this reason certain =six-lined stanzas= -consisting of two equal parts and a third of the same structure (the -formula being _a a b b c c4_ or the like), which now and then occur in -the _Surtees Psalter_ (e.g. Ps. xliv, st. 5), cannot strictly be called -tripartite. - -Stanzas like these are, however, not unfrequent in Modern English -poetry, as e.g. in a song of Carew's (_Poets_, iii. 292): - - _Cease, thou afflicted soul, to mourn, - Whose love and faith are paid with scorn; - For I am starv'd that feel the blisses - Of dear embraces, smiles and kisses, - From my soul's idol, yet complain - Of equal love more than disdain._ - -For an account of many other stanzas of the same or similar structure -(consisting of trochaic four-foot lines, iambic-anapaestic lines of four -stresses, or lines of five, six, and seven measures), see _Metrik_, ii, -§§ 355, 356. - -It is only rarely that we find stanzas formed on the scheme _a a a a b -b_ (e.g. in the _Surtees Psalter_, xlix. 21; in Ben Jonson, _Poets_, -iv. 574); or on the formula _a a b b a b4_, as in Swinburne, _Poems_, i. -248. - -One form, analogous to the stanza first mentioned in this section and -used pretty often in Modern English, has crossed rhymes _a b a b a b_. -It occurs with four-foot verses in Byron, _She walks in Beauty_: - - _She walks in beauty, like the night - Of cloudless climes and starry skies: - And all that's best of dark and bright - Meet in her aspect and her eyes; - Thus mellow'd to that tender light - Which Heaven to gaudy day denies._ - -The same stanza of trochaic or iambic-anapaestic metres of three or five -measures is also frequently met with (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 358). - -The tripartite character of a strophe appears somewhat more distinctly -in stanzas formed on the scheme _a b a b b b_, or _a b a b b x_ (cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §359). - -The only stanzas, however, that are in the strictest sense to be -regarded as tripartite are those in which the first and the last part -are clearly distinguished by the arrangement of rhymes, as e.g. in the -type _a b a b c c_. This stanza is very popular in Modern English -poetry; in the Middle English period, however, we find it very rarely -used, as e.g. in the _Coventry Mysteries_, p. 315. - -In Modern English it occurs e.g. in Surrey, _A Prayse of his Love_ (p. -31): - - _Give place, ye lovers, here before - That spend your boasts and brags in vain; - My Lady's beauty passeth more - The best of yours, I dare well sayen, - Than doth the sun the candle light, - Or brightest day the darkest night._ - -This form of stanza is used with lines of the same metres by many other -poets, e.g. by M. Arnold, pp. 195, 197, 256, 318. Similar stanzas of -four-foot trochaic (cf. p. 285), or of four-stressed verses, and -especially of five-foot verses, are very popular. They are found e.g. in -Shakespeare's _Venus and Adonis_, M. Arnold's _Mycerinus_ (first part, -p. 8), &c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 360, 361). - -Similar stanzas, however, in which the _frons_ precedes the _versus_, -according to the formula _a a b c b c_ (cf. p. 285), do not occur -frequently; a rare form, also, is that in which the _cauda_ is placed -between the two _pedes_ (cf. p. 285 and _Metrik_, ii, §362). - -§ =268.= Still more popular than the six-lined stanzas, both in the -Middle and in the Modern English periods, are those =of seven lines=, -which are modelled on Old French lyric poetry, the prevailing type -being that of an Old French ballade-stanza, viz. _a b a b b c c_. But it -is not before the middle of the fifteenth century that we meet with an -example of this stanza consisting of four-foot verses, viz. in Lydgate's -Minor Poems (_Percy Society_, 1840), p. 129; a specimen of four-stressed -verses occurs in the _Chester Plays_, pp. 1-7 and pp. 156-8. We may, -however, take it for granted that this form of stanza was known long -before that time, since four-foot verses were used much earlier than -those of five feet, and a six-lined stanza of five-foot verses occurs -(for the first time, so far as we know) as early as in Chaucer's -_Compleynte of the Dethe of Pite_, and subsequently in many other of his -poems (e.g. _Troylus and Cryseyde_, _The Assembly of Fowles_, _The -Clerkes Tale_) and in numerous other poems of his successors, e.g. in -_The Kingis Quair_ by King James I of Scotland. It has been sometimes -maintained that this stanza was called _rhyme royal_ stanza because that -royal poet wrote his well-known poem in it; this, however, is not so. -Guest long ago pointed out (ii. 359) that this name is to be derived -from the French term _chant-royal_, applied to certain poems of similar -stanzas which were composed in praise of God or the Virgin, and used to -be recited in the poetical contests at Rouen on the occasion of the -election of a 'king'. Chaucer's verses to Adam Scrivener are of this -form and may be quoted as a specimen here (after Skeat's text, p. 118): - - _Adam scriveyn, if euer it thee bifalle - Boece or Troylus to writen newe, - Under thy lokkes thou most haue the scalle, - But after my making thou write trewe. - So oft a day I mot thy werk renewe - Hit to corrects and eek to rubbe and scrape, - And al is through thy negligence and rape._ - -In Modern English this beautiful stanza was very popular up to the end -of the sixteenth century; Shakespeare, e.g., wrote his _Lucrece_ in it; -afterwards, however, it unfortunately fell almost entirely out of use -(cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 364). - -The same form of stanza, composed of two-, three-, or four-foot verses -also occurs almost exclusively in the Early Modern English period (cf. -ib., § 363). - -Some varieties of this stanza, mostly formed of three-, four-, and -five-foot verses, correspond to the schemes _a b a b c c b4_ (e.g. in -Akenside, Book I, Ode iii), _a b a b c b c5_ (Spenser, _Daphnaïda_, p. -542), _a b a b c b c2_ (R. Browning, vi. 41). Other stanzas of seven -lines are _a b a b c c a4_, _a a b b c c a4_, _a a b b a c c4_, _a b a b -C d C3_, _a a b b c c c4_, _a b a b c c c4_, _a b a b c c c5_, _a b a c -c d d5_ (for specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 365, 366). - -§ =269. Eight-lined isometrical stanzas= are also frequently used in the -Middle and Modern English period, though not so often as those of six -and seven lines. - -The scheme _a b a b b a b a_, formed from the simple equal-membered -stanza of eight lines _a b a b a b a b_, it would seem, by inversion of -the last two couplets, is rare in Middle English. We find it in the -_Digby Plays_, consisting of four-foot verses. In Modern English, too, -it is not very common; we have an example in Wyatt, e.g. pp. 118, 135, -and another in the same poet, formed of five-foot verses (_a b a b b a b -a5_), p. 135. - -Much more in favour in the Middle as well as in the Modern English -period is the typical form of the eight-lined stanza, corresponding to -the scheme _a b a b b c b c_. It is formed from the preceding stanza by -the introduction of a new rhyme in the sixth and eighth verses, and it -had its model likewise in a popular ballade-stanza of Old French lyrical -poetry. - -In Middle English poetry this stanza is very common, consisting either -of four-stressed verses (e.g. in _The Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathia_, E. -E. T. S., vol. 44, and _On the death of the Duke of Suffolk_, Wright's -_Polit. Poems_, ii. 232) or of four-foot or five-foot verses. As an -example of the form consisting of four-foot verses we may quote a stanza -from Wright's _Polit. Songs_, p. 246: - - _Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe, - A stounde herkneþ to my song - Of duel, þat deþ haþ diht us newe - Þat makeþ me syke ant sorewe among! - Of a knyht, þat wes so strong - Of wham god haþ don ys wille; - Me þuncheþ þat deþ haþ don vs wrong, - Þat he so sone shal ligge stille._ - -Many other examples occur in later poetry, e.g. in Minot, Lydgate, -Dunbar, Lyndesay, in Wyatt, p. 119, Burns, p. 59, Walter Scott, p. 160, -&c. - -Similar stanzas of two-stressed and three-foot verses are only of rare -occurrence; we find them e.g. in Percy's _Rel._ II. ii. 3; Wyatt, p. -41. - -The same stanza, consisting of five-foot verses, was used by Chaucer in -his _A B C_, the first stanza of which may be quoted here: - - _Almyghty and al merciable Quene, - To whom that al this world fleeth for socour - To have relees of sinne, sorwe, and teene! - Glorious Virgyne, of alle floures flour, - To thee I flee, confounded in errour! - Help, and releve, thou mighty debonaire, - Have mercy of my perilous langour! - Venquysshed m' hath my cruel adversaire._ - -Chaucer uses the same stanza in some other minor poems, and also in _The -Monkes Tale_; besides this we find it often in Lydgate, Dunbar, Kennedy; -more rarely in Modern English poetry; e.g. in Spenser's _Shepheard's -Cal., Ecl. XI_, S. Daniel's _Cleopatra_, &c. - -Now and then some other eight-lined stanzas occur, e.g. one with the -formula _a b a b b c c b_ in Chaucer's _Complaynt of Venus_, and in the -_Flyting_ by Dunbar and Kennedy. The scheme _a a b b c d c d_ is used in -a love-song (_Rel. Ant._ i. 70-4). In the Modern English period we have -stanzas on the schemes _a ~ b a ~ b c c d ~ d ~4_ (in Sidney, _Psalm -XLIII_), _a b a b c c c b4_ (Scott, _Helvellyn_, p. 472), _a ~ b a ~ b c -~ c ~ d ~ d ~2_ (Moore); cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 369-71. - -There are also eight-lined stanzas formed by combination with tail-rhyme -stanzas, as _a a b a a b c c4_, _a a b c c d d b4_, but they are not -frequent; a stanza corresponding to the formula _a a b a a b c c4_ we -have in Spenser, _Epigram III_ (p. 586); and the variety _a a b c c d d -b4_ (the _cauda_ being enclosed by the _pedes_) occurs in Moore. - -The same peculiarity we find in stanzas formed on the scheme _A A b c b -c A A4_ (Moore), or _a a b c b c d d4_ (Wordsworth, ii. 267); cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §§ 372, 373. - -§ =270.= Stanzas of a still larger compass are of rare occurrence in -Middle English poetry. =A nine-lined stanza= corresponding to the -formula _a a b a a b b c c5_ we have in Chaucer's _Complaynt of Mars_; -it seems to be formed from the _rhyme royal_ stanza, by adding one verse -to each _pes_; but it might also be looked upon as a combination with -the tail-rhyme stanza. Another stanza of this kind, with the formula _a -a b a a b b a b5_, is used in Chaucer's _Complaynt of Faire Anelyda_ and -in Dunbar's _Goldin Targe_. - -A similar stanza, corresponding to the formula _a a b c c b d b d4_, -occurs in Modern English poetry in John Scott, _Ode XII_. Other stanzas -used in the Modern English period are formed with parallel rhymes, as e. -g. on the scheme _a a a b b b c c c4_ (Walter Scott, _Lady of the Lake_, -p. 187); forms with crossed rhymes throughout or partly are also used, -as e.g. by Wyatt, p. 121, according to the formula _a b a b c c c d -d5_: - - _My love is like unto th' eternal fire, - And I as those which therein do remain; - Whose grievous pains is but their great desire - To see the sight which they may not attain: - So in hell's heat myself I feel to be, - That am restrain'd by great extremity, - The sight of her which is so dear to me. - O! puissant Love! and power of great avail! - By whom hell may be felt ere death assail!_ - -As to other schemes (_a b a b b c d c d5_, _a b a b b c b c c5_, _a b a -b c d c d R4_, _a b a b c d c d d4_, &c.) cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 374-6. - -§ =271.= A Middle English =stanza of ten lines=, similar to those of -nine lines, is used by Chaucer in the _Envoy_ to his _Complaynt of Mars -and Venus_ (_a a b a a b b a a b5_); another on the model _a b a b b c c -b b b4_is found in a poem _Long Life_ (E. E. T. S., 49, p. 156, quoted -in _Metrik_, i. p. 421). - -Some of the Modern English stanzas again are formed by combination with -different varieties of the tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. one according to -the formula _a a b ~ c c b ~ d d e e4_ in Prior, _The Parallel_ (Poets, -vii. 507): - - _Prometheus, forming Mr. Day, - Carv'd something like a man in clay. - The mortal's work might well miscarry; - He, that does heaven and earth control, - Alone has power to form a soul, - His hand is evident in Harry. - Since one is but a moving clod, - T'other the lively form of God; - 'Squire Wallis, you will scarce be able - To prove all poetry but fable._ - -A stanza of trochaic verses corresponding to a similar scheme, viz. _a a -b c c b d d d b4_, is used by Tennyson in _The Window_ (p. 284). - -Sometimes the scheme is _a b a b c c d e e d4_ (where there are two -_pedes_ forming a _frons_, and a tail-rhyme stanza equivalent to two -_versus_), as in Akenside, Book I, Ode II (_Poets_, ix. 773). - -Some stanzas, on the other hand, have a parallel arrangement of rhymes, -_a a b b c c d d e E_ (_e E_ being the _cauda_) as in Walter Scott, -_Soldier, Wake_ (p. 465); or more frequently crossed rhymes, _a b a b c -d c d e e5_, _a b a b c d c d e e4_, the first eight verses forming the -upsong (_pedes_); or with a four-lined upsong _a a b b c d c d e e4_, _a -a b b c d d e d e3_, _a b a b b c c d c D5_. The last-mentioned form has -been used several times by Swinburne, e.g. _Poems_, ii, pp. 126, 215, -219, &c., in his ballads. For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 379-81. - -§ =272. Stanzas of eleven lines= are very scarce in Middle English -poetry, if used there at all, and even in Modern English very few -examples occur. A stanza of Swinburne's may be mentioned here, imitated -from an Old French ballade- (or rather _chant-royal_) stanza, -corresponding to the formula _a b a b c c d d e d E5_ and used in a -_Ballad against the Enemies of France_ (Poems, ii. 212). Cf. _Metrik_, -ii, §382. - -=Twelve-lined stanzas= are much more frequently used, even in Middle -English poetry; one of four-foot verses according to the scheme _a b a b -a b a b b c b C_ (the stanzas being connected into groups by -_concatenatio_) occurs in the fine fourteenth-century poem, _The Pearl_. -Another of four-stressed verses corresponding to the formula _a b a b a -b a b c d c d_ we have in Wright's _Polit. Songs_, p. 149; one of -four-foot verses together with other forms of stanzas (_a b a b a b a b -a b a b_, _a b a b c d c d e f e f_) we have in the poem on the -_Childhood of Christ_ (ed. Horstmann, Heilbronn, 1878). - -But it is chiefly in Modern English poetry that stanzas of twelve lines -are very common, especially stanzas consisting of three equal parts, -with crossed rhymes. In some of these there is no difference at all in -the structure of the three parts, as e.g. in a stanza by Prior -(_Poets_, vii. 402) on the model _a b a b c d c d e f e f4_; while in -others the refrain (consisting of the four last verses) forms the -_cauda_, as e.g. in Moore's _Song on the Birthday of Mrs. ----_: - - _Of all my happiest hours of joy, - And even I have had my measure, - When hearts were full, and ev'ry eye - Hath kindled with the light of pleasure, - An hour like this I ne'er was given, - So full of friendship's purest blisses; - Young Love himself looks down from heaven, - To smile on such a day as this is. - Then come, my friends, this hour improve, - Let's feel as if we ne'er could sever; - And may the birth of her we love - Be thus with joy remember'd ever!_ - -Now and then certain modifications of this form of stanza are met with, -especially stanzas the four-lined refrain of which forms not only the -end, but also the beginning, of the stanza (but as a rule only in the -first stanza, the others having the refrain only at the end); e.g. _A B -A B c d c d A B A B3_ (st. 1), _d e d e f g f g A B A B3_. (st. 2), _h i -h i k l k l A B A B3_ (st. 3), in Moore, _Drink to her_. - -In other poems Moore uses this type of stanza with lines of four -stresses, as in _Drink of this cup_, and with lines of two stresses, as -in _When the Balaika_. For some rarely occurring stanzas of this kind -see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 385, 386. - -A =stanza of thirteen lines= corresponding to the formula _a b a b b c b -c d e e e d4_ occurs in the Middle English poem _The Eleven Pains of -Hell_ (E. E. T. S., 49, p. 210). Another one on the scheme _a ~ a ~ B c -~ c ~ B d ~ d ~ d ~ b e ~ e ~ B3_ we have in Moore, _Go where glory -waits thee_. - -As to stanzas of fifteen and eighteen lines see _Metrik_, ii, § 387. - - - II. _Anisometrical stanzas._ - -§ =273.= As mentioned before (§ 267) the anisometrical stanzas of the -tripartite class, being older, might have been dealt with before the -isometrical stanzas. This chronological order of treatment, however, -would have been somewhat inconvenient in practice, as it would have -involved the necessity of discussing many of the more complicated -stanzas before the shorter and simpler ones, most of which do not occur -in Middle English, but in Modern poetry only. Moreover, the absence of -certain simple and short forms of stanza constructed in accordance with -the principles which were generally adopted in the Middle English period -is a purely accidental circumstance, which is liable at any moment to be -altered by the discovery of new texts. - -In the following paragraphs, therefore, the stanzas belonging to this -chapter are discussed according to their arrangement of rhymes and to -the length of the lines of which they are composed. - -We begin with certain =stanzas of six lines=, the first part (the -_frons_ or 'upsong') of which is isometrical, the arrangement of rhymes -being parallel. - -A pretty stanza with the scheme _a a b b3 c c4_ presents itself in the -song _The Fairy Queen_ (Percy's _Rel_. III. ii. 26): - - _Come, follow, follow me, - You, fairy elves that be: - Which circle on the greene, - Come, follow Mab, your queene, - Hand in hand let's dance around, - For this place is fairye ground._ - -For similar stanzas conforming to the schemes _a a b b4 c c5_, _a a b b -c4 c5_, _a a b b c ~ c ~5_, _a a b b6 c ~ c ~5_, _a a b b c4 c3_ (in -Moore, _The Wandering Bard_), &c., see _Metrik_, ii, § 389. - -Another group is represented by stanzas of six rhyming couplets of -unequal length, as _a5 a4 b5 b4 c5 c4_ (Sidney, _Psalm XXXIX_), _a6 a3 -b6 b3 c6 c3_ (id. _Psalm II_); or _a5 a2 b5 b2 c c5_, _a4 a5 b4 b5 c -c4_, frequently used by Herbert and Cowley, or _a5 a4 b b3 c5 c4_, _a a -b4 b3 c c4_ (in Moore, _St. Senanus and the Lady_), the two _pedes_ -enclosing the _cauda_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 390-2). - -Similar stanzas with crossed rhymes occur pretty often, especially -stanzas of three Septenary verses broken up by inserted rhyme, according -to the formula _a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3_, as in Moore, _The Gazelle_: - - _Dost thou not hear the silver bell, - Thro' yonder lime-trees ringing? - 'Tis my lady's light gazelle, - To me her love-thoughts bringing,-- - All the while that silver bell - Around his dark neck ringing_. - -For other specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 393. - -§ =274.= More popular are stanzas of a more distinctly tripartite -character, formed on the scheme _a b a b c c_ (which occurs also in the -isometrical group). These stanzas are used in many various forms, as e. -g. one in Cowper, _Olney Hymns_ (p. 25), like _a b a b3 c c4_: - - _By whom was David taught - To aim the deadly blow, - When he Goliath fought, - And laid the Gittite low? - Nor sword nor spear the stripling took, - But chose a pebble from the brook._ - -Numerous other examples are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, § 394, together with -similar stanzas formed according to the schemes _a b ~ a b ~3 c c4_, _a -b a b3 C C4_, _a ~ b a ~ b3 c c5_, _a b a b4 c c5_, _a ~ b a ~ b4 c c6_, -&c. - -The reverse order with regard to the length of the verses in the _pedes_ -and the _cauda_ is also not uncommon, as e.g. in stanzas on the schemes -_a b a b c5 c4_, _a b a b c5 c3_, _a b a b5 c4 c5_, &c. - -Stanzas of this kind are met with chiefly in the earlier Modern English -poets, e.g. in Cowley and Herbert. Shorter lines also are used, e.g. -in stanzas corresponding to the formulas _a b a b4 c c3_, _a b a b4 c -c2_; stanzas like these also occur later, e.g. in Moore. In Cowley, now -and then, a stanza is found with a preceding _frons_ (on the scheme _a -a5 b c b c4_). In Moore we find yet another variety (in _Poor broken -flower_), the _cauda_ of which is enclosed by the _pedes_ (according to -the formula _a ~ b5 c c3 a ~ b5_). - -Another group of stanzas is to be mentioned here, the verses of which -are of different length in the first part, admitting of many various -combinations. Especially stanzas of Septenary rhythm in the first part -are very popular, as e.g. in Cowper's fine poem _The Castaway_ (p. -400), on the scheme _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c4_: - - _Obscurest night involved the sky, - The Atlantic billows roared, - When such a destined wretch as I, - Washed headlong from on board, - Of friends, of hope, of all bereft, - His floating home for ever left._ - -There are many varieties of this form of stanza, as e.g. _a4 b3 a4 b3 c -c5_, _a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 c5_, _a3 b2 a3 b2 c4 c5_, _a4 b2 a4 b2 c c4_, _a5 -b4 a5 b4 c c5_; _a3 b4 a3 b4 c c4_, _a2 b4 a2 b4 c c5_. All these -different schemes were chiefly used by the earlier Modern English poets, -as Browne, Carew, Cowley, Waller, and Herbert. (See _Metrik_, ii, § -397). - -There are some other stanzas of allied structure which may be regarded -as extensions of the Poulter's Measure by the addition of a second -Alexandrine or Septenary verse, their formulas being _a b c b3 d4 d3_ or -_a b3 c4 b3 d4 d3_. For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 398. - -§ =275. Stanzas of seven lines= are very common, and have many diverse -forms. In the first place may be mentioned those which have parallel -arrangement of rhymes, and in which the _frons_ is isometrical. Some of -these forms, used chiefly by the earlier poets, as Cowley, Sheffield, -and others, have the scheme _a a b b c4 c2 c5_ or _a a b b c4 c a5_. -Another variety, with alternate four-and two-foot iambic-anapaestic -lines according to the formula _a a b b4 r r2 R4_, occurs in Moore, -_The Legend of Puck the Fairy_: - - _Would'st know what tricks, by the pale moonlight, - Are play'd by me, the merry little Sprite, - Who wing through air from the camp to the court, - From king to clown, and of all make sport; - Singing, I am the Sprite - Of the merry midnight, - Who laugh at weak mortals, and love the moonlight._ - -Stanzas with an anisometrical first part, e.g. on the model _a4 a5 b4 -b5 c c4 c5_in Donne, _Love's Exchange_ (Poets, iv. 30), are of rare -occurrence. - -Numerous stanzas of this kind have in part crossed rhymes; we find, e. -g., stanzas with the same order of rhymes as in the _rhyme royal, _on -the model _a b a b b c3 c5_ as in S. Daniel, _A Description of Beauty_: - - _O Beauty (beams, nay, flame - Of that great lamp of light), - That shines a while with fame, - But presently makes night! - Like winter's shortliv'd bright, - Or summer's sudden gleams; - How much more dear, so much less lasting beams._ - -Similar stanzas have the schemes _a b a b b3 c c5_, _a b a b c b4 c2_, -_a b a b c c4 R2_, _a b a b c c4 C5_, _a b a b c c4 b3_, _a b a b4 c c2 -a4_, &c. For examples see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 401-3. - -In many stanzas the first and the last part (_frons_ and _cauda_) are -anisometrical. Thus Donne, Cowley, and Congreve furnish many examples of -the formulas _a5 b4 a5 b4 c c4 b5_, _a ~4 b6 a ~4 b5 c c3 c4_, _a4 b5 a4 -b5 c c2 b4_, and later poets make frequent use of similar stanzas -composed of shorter lines after the model of the following by Congreve, -_Poets_, vii. 546 (_a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c c4 b ~3_): - - _Tell me no more I am deceived, - That Cloe's false and common; - I always knew (at least believ'd) - She was a very woman; - As such I lik'd, as such caress'd, - She still was constant when possess'd, - She could do more for no man._ - -For examples of other similar stanzas (_a4 b3 a4 b3 c c b3_, _a4 b3 a4 -b3 C C3 C5_, _a3 b4 a3 b4 c c c4_, _a4 b ~2 a4 b ~2 c c a4_, &c.) see -_Metrik_, ii, §§ 404-6. - - § =276. Eight-lined stanzas= of various kinds are also very popular. -They rarely occur, however, with an isometrical _frons_, composed of -rhyming couplets (_a a b b c c d5 d3_, _a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~4 C ~ C ~2 d ~ d -~4_, _a a b b c c d4 d5_; cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 408, 410); or with -enclosing rhymes in the _cauda_ (_a a b b c d d4 c5_, _a a b b4 c d4 d2 -c4_, ib. § 409); or of an anisometrical structure with parallel rhymes -in both parts (ib. § 411). - -The usual forms show crossed rhymes; either throughout the whole stanza -(in which case the first part is isometrical), or in the first part -only. The first form is represented by the following elegant stanza (_a -b a b5 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3_) in the second of Drayton's _Eclogues_ (Poets, -iii. 590): - - _Upon a bank with roses set about, - Where turtles oft sit joining bill to bill, - And gentle springs steal softly murm'ring out, - Washing the foot of pleasure's sacred hill; - There little Love sore wounded lies, - His bow and arrows broken, - Bedew'd with tears from Venus' eyes; - Oh! grievous to be spoken._ - -Other schemes that occur are: _a b a b c5 d3 c5 d3_, _a b a b c d c4 -d3_, _a b a b c c d4 d3_, _a b a b4 c c2 d d4_, _a b a4 b3 c c d d4_, _a -~ b a ~ b3 c4 d3 d4 d3_, _a b ~ a b ~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3_, _a ~ b c ~ b d -~ e3 f4 e3_, _a ~ b a ~ b3 c d c4 d3_, _a ~ b a ~ b c ~ d c ~4 d5_ (M. -Arnold, p. 2), &c.; for numerous examples see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 412, 414, -415. - -Sometimes stanzas occur, the isometrical part of which forms the -_cauda_, as on the scheme _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d d4_ in Moore, _Sovereign -Woman_: - - _The dance was o'er, yet still in dreams, - That fairy scene went on; - Like clouds still flushed with daylight gleams, - Though day itself is gone. - And gracefully to music's sound, - The same bright nymphs went gliding round; - While thou, the Queen of all, wert there-- - The fairest still, where all were fair._ - -For examples of other forms (_a b a4 b2 c d C D4, a ~3 b4 a ~3 b4 c b c -b4, a4 b3 c4 b3 d e d e3_, &c.) see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 413, 416. - -§ =277.= Very frequently stanzas occur which are of an entirely -anisometrical structure in both parts. To this group belong the first -tripartite anisometrical stanzas of the Middle English period, contained -in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 111 (two songs). Their stanzaic -form (_a4 b3 a4 b3 b b5 c7 c5_) is also of great importance, on account -of the fact that the first five-foot verses as yet known in English -poetry occur in the _cauda_ of these stanzas. The first strophe may -serve as an example: - - _Lutel wot hit anymon, - Hou loue hym haueþ ybounde, - Þat for us oþe rode ron, - Ant bohte vs wiþ is wounde, - Þe loue of hym vs haueþ ymaked sounde, - Ant yeast þe grimly gost to grounde. - Euer ant oo, nyht ant day, hi haueþ vs in is þohte, - He nul nout leose þat he so deore bohte._ - -This stanza is also interesting on account of its regular use of -masculine rhymes in the first and in the third line, and of feminine -rhymes in the others. The structure of the five-measured verses employed -in this stanza has been referred to before (§ 153). - -Very often both main parts, the _upsong_ and the _downsong_, have -crossed rhymes in Modern English, e.g. in a form of stanza with the -scheme _a5 b3 a5 b3 c d5 c3 d2_ in Southey, _To a Spider_ (ii. 180): - - _Spider! thou need'st not run in fear about - To shun my curious eyes; - I wont humanely crush thy bowels out, - Lest thou should'st eat the flies; - Nor will I roast thee with a damn'd delight - Thy strange instinctive fortitude to see, - For there is One who might - One day roast me._ - -A structure analogous to that of the two last-quoted specimens is -exhibited in many stanzas occurring in earlier Modern English poetry, as -in Cowley, Herbert, Browne, Carew (_a5 b4 a5 b4 c4 c5 d4 d5_, _a5 b2 a5 -b2 c4 c3 d5 d2_, _a3 b2 a3 b2 c c4 d d5_, _a4 b2 a4 b2 c3 c2 d d3_); -other forms, corresponding only in the upsong or downsong to the Middle -English stanza quoted above, are _a ~4 b2 a ~3 b2 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3_, _a4 -b ~3 a4 b ~3 b ~2 b ~3 c4 b ~3_, _a4 b3 a4 b3 c d3 c4 d3_, &c., used by -Burns, Moore, and Mrs. Hemans. For examples see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 417, -418. - -§ =278.= The next group consists of stanzas, one main part of which -consists of a half or of a whole tail-rhyme stanza. The first of these -two forms is used e.g. by Burns in the song _She's Fair and Fause_ (p. -204), where the stanza consists of four- and three-foot verses on the -model _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c c4 d3_: - - _She's fair and fause that causes my smart, - I lo'ed her meikle and lang: - She's broken her vow, she's broken my heart, - And I may e'en gae hang. - A coof cam in wi' rowth o' gear, - And I hae tint my dearest dear, - But woman is but warld's gear, - Sae let the bonie lass gang._ - -Other stanzas of this class correspond to the formulas _a4 b3 a4 b3 a a -a4 b3_, _a ~4 b2 a ~4 b3 c ~ c ~ c ~4 b2_, _a3 b2 a3 b2 c c c3 b2_. For -examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 419. - -There is another form of stanza the first part of which according to the -Middle English usage consists of a complete tail-rhyme stanza (cf. the -ten-lined stanzas of this group), while the _cauda_ is formed by a -rhyming couplet, so that its structure corresponds to the scheme _a a4 -b3 a a4 b3 c c4_; it occurs in Spenser, _Epigrams_, ii (p. 586): - - _As Diane hunted on a day, - She chaunst to come where Cupid lay, - His quiver by his head: - One of his shafts she stole away, - And one of hers did close convay - Into the other's stead: - With that Love wounded my Love's hart - But Diane beasts with Cupid's dart._ - -Similar stanzas of other metres are very frequently met with, as e.g. -stanzas corresponding to the formulas _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d5_, _a a3 b2 c -c3 b2 d d6_, _a a2 b3 c c2 b3 b b7_, and _a ~ a ~4 b5 c ~ c ~4 b5 d d5_. -The reverse order (i.e. _frons_ + two _versus_) we have in _a a3 b b2 -c3 b b2 c3_ and _a a5 b b3 c5 d d3 e5_. For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § -420. - -A stanza corresponding to the formula _a b4 c3 a b4 c3 a4 D3_ occurs in -M. Arnold's _The Church of Brou_ (p. 17). - -§ =279.= Among =stanzas of nine lines=, those with parallel rhymes must -again be mentioned first; as e.g. a strophe on the scheme _a a b b c c -d d4 d5_, in Akenside, Book I, Ode X, _To the Muse_ (Poets, ix. 780). -Other stanzas occurring also in more recent poetry (Wordsworth, W. -Scott) are on the schemes _a a b b4 c c2 c d d4_, _a a b b c4 d3 c c4 -d3_, _a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c d D4_. For examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 421. - -Similar stanzas, also with an isometrical first part, but with crossed -rhymes, are not very often met with. The schemes are _a b a b4 c c2 c d -d4_, _a b a b c c d d4 d5_, _a b a b b c b b4 c3_, _a b a b c d c d4 -e2_, _a4 b3 a a4 b3 c ~ d c ~ d4_, &c. Specimens of them are also found -in modern poets, as in Moore, Burns, Walter Scott, &c. For examples see -_Metrik_, ii, § 422. - -More frequently stanzas occur with an anisometrical first and last part -and crossed rhymes in each of them; the schemes are _a4 b5 a4 b5 c4 d3 -c5 d d4_, _a5 b2 a5 b2 c c5 d d2 c4_, _a4 b2 a4 b2 c4 d d2 c c4_. The -most popular, however, are those stanzas in which one or other of the -two main parts consists of Septenary verses; they are of frequent -occurrence in Burns and other modern poets; a stanza on the scheme _a4 -b3 a4 b3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3 r2_, e.g., is found in Burns, _The Holy Fair_ -(p. 14): - - _Upon a simmer Sunday morn, - When Nature's face is fair, - I walked forth to view the corn, - An' snuff' the caller air. - The risin' sun, owre Galston muirs, - Wi' glorious light was glintin; - The hares were hirplin down the furrs, - The lav'rocks they were chantin - Fu' sweet that day._ - -For similar examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 424. - -Other stanzas are formed by combination with a complete or a shortened -tail-rhyme stanza; so that we have schemes like _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d -d4_, _a ~ a ~ b c ~ c ~ b4 d ~ d ~2 b4_, _a a2 b4 c c2 b4 d d2 b4_. They -occur in Carew (_Poets_, iii. 709), Dryden (p. 368), and Thackeray (p. -237). The formula _a4 b3 a4 b3 c d c c4 d3_ we find in Campbell (p. 82), -_a4 b3 a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4_ in Byron's _Ode to Napoleon_ p. 273): - - _'Tis done--but yesterday a King! - And arm'd with Kings to strive-- - And now thou art a nameless thing; - So abject--yet alive! - Is this the man of thousand thrones, - Who strew'd our earth with hostile bones, - And can he thus survive? - Since he, miscall'd the Morning Star, - Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far._ - -For other specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 424, 425. - -§ =280.= Among the =stanzas of ten lines=, those with an isometrical -first part and parallel rhymes may first be mentioned; they correspond -to the schemes _a a b b c d d e e4 c5_, _a a b b c d c d4 f3 f4_, _a a b -b c4 d3 c c c4 d3_, _a a b b4 c d c d2 e e4_, and are found in Akenside, -Wordsworth, and Moore. Next come stanzas with an anisometrical first -part according to the formulas _a5 a4 b5 b4 c c5 d d e4 e5_, _a4 a5 b4 -b5 c d c4 d3 e e5_, _a ~ a ~3 b b4 c ~ c ~3 d d4 e ~ e ~3_, occurring in -Cowley and Campbell (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 427, 428). - -In other stanzas, crossed rhymes are used in the isometrical first part; -they correspond to the formulas _a b a b5 c4 d3 c4 d3 e6 e7_, _a b a b c -c d e d5 E2_, _a b a b c d e5 c3 d e5_, _a b a b c3 c2 d3 d2 e3 e4_, and -are found in Browne, G. Herbert, and Ben Jonson (ib. § 429). - -In modern poetry simpler stanzas of this kind are used; one e.g. on the -scheme _a ~ b ~ a ~ b ~3 c c4 d ~ e ~ d ~ e ~3_ (the _cauda_ being thus -enclosed by the two _pedes_) in Moore's song _Bring the bright Garlands -hither_: - - _Bring the bright garlands hither, - Ere yet a leaf is dying; - If so soon they must wither, - Ours be their last sweet sighing. - Hark, that low dismal chime! - 'Tis the dreary voice of Time. - Oh, bring beauty, bring roses, - Bring all that yet is ours; - Let life's day, as it closes, - Shine to the last through flowers._ - -Similar stanzas corresponding to the formulas _a ~ b a ~ b2 c c4 d ~ e d -~ e2_, _a ~ b ~ a ~ b c ~ d c ~ d2 e e4_, _a b a b c d c d4 e3 e4_ and -_a ~ b a ~ b4 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3_, are used by the same poet in -_With Moonlight Beaming_, _The Young Indian Maid_, _Guess, guess_, and -_from this Hour_. - -Many stanzas of this group with an isometrical first part are formed by -combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, which then generally forms the -_cauda_, as in one of Cunningham's stanzas, viz. in _Newcastle Beer_ -(Poets, x. 729), the stanza consisting of four- and two-stressed verses -on the scheme _a b a b4 c c2 d4 e e2 d4_: - - _When fame brought the news of Great-Britain's success, - And told at Olympus each Gallic defeat; - Glad Mars sent by Mercury orders express, - To summon the deities all to a treat: - Blithe Comus was plac'd - To guide the gay feast, - And freely declar'd there was choice of good cheer; - Yet vow'd to his thinking, - For exquisite drinking, - Their nectar was nothing to Newcastle beer._ - -For examples of many similar forms, e.g. _a b a b c c d e e4 d3_, _a5 b -b4 a5 c c d e e d3_, _a b a b4 c c2 d4 e ~ e ~2 d4_, _a b a b4 c c2 d3 e -e2 d3_, _a b a b3 c ~ c ~1 d3 e ~ e ~1 d2_, see _Metrik_, ii, § 431. - -§ =281.= Stanzas of this kind with an anisometrical first part occur in -the Middle English period: e.g. in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. -83, on the scheme _a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c c4 d ~3 e e4 d ~3_: - - _Jesu, for þi muchele miht - Þou [gh]ef vs of þi grace, - Þat we mowe dai and nyht - Þenken o þi face. - In myn herte hit doþ me god, - When y þenke on iesu blod, - Þat ran doun bi ys syde, - From is herte doun to is fot, - For ous he spradde is herte blod, - His woundes were so wyde._ - -The shorter, Septenary part of the stanza represents the _frons_, the -tail-rhyme stanza, the _versus_. Of a similar form (_a4 b3 a4 b3 a a4 b3 -a b3 a2_) is the stanza of the poem _An Orison of our Lady_ (E. E. T. -S., vol. xlix, p. 158). In Modern English also allied forms occur; one -especially with the scheme _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d e e4 d3_ in Gray, _Ode on -the Spring_ (Poets, x. 215); other forms are _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c2 d3 e e2 -d4_, _a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d e e4 d5_, _a b3 a4 b3 d d4 e3 f f4 e3_. (For -examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 432.) - -The reverse combination, viz. tail-rhyme stanza and Septenary (on the -scheme _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 b3 d4 b3_), also occurs in Middle English -times[195]), e.g. in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 87: - - _Nou skrinkeþ rose and lylie flour, - þat whilen ber þat suete sauour, - in somer, þat suete tyde; - ne is no quene so stark ne stour, - ne no leuedy so bryht in bour, - þat ded ne shal by glyde. - Whose wol fleyshlust forgon, - and heuene blis abyde, - on iesu be is þoht anon, - þat þerled was ys syde._ - -Similar stanzas occur also in Modern English; e.g. one on the formula -_a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d4 e3 d4 e3_ in Burns (p. 255), another on the scheme -_a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d e3 d4 e3_ (=_Poulter's Measure_ in the _cauda_), ib. -p. 189. - -Other ten-line stanzas consisting chiefly of Septenary verses or of -_Poulter's Measure_ correspond to the formulas _a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 d3 c4 d3 -e e4_, _a b3 a4 b3 c d3 c4 d3 e e4_, _a b a4 b3 c d c4 d3 e e3_. For -examples, partly taken from Moore, see _Metrik_, ii, § 435. - -Stanzas of this kind consisting of five-foot verses are rarely met with, -e.g. _a5 b3 a5 b3 c5 d3 c5 d3 e e4_, _a b4 a5 b4 c c d d e e5_, _a5 b3 -a5 b3 c c4 d2 d5 e2 e5_; as in Spenser and Browne (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § -434). - -§ =282.= Stanzas of eleven lines= are also rare. There is one with an -isometrical first part (on the scheme _a b a b5 c c2 c3 d2 d5 x2 d6_) -in Ben Jonson, _Cynthia's Revels_ (Poets, iv. 610); another in -Campbell's _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (st. xxxv-xxxix), corresponding to the -scheme _a b a b4 c3 d d d4 c3 e e4_. - -Other stanzas of an almost entirely anisometrical structure consist of a -combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. a Middle English stanza -on the scheme _a a4 b3 a a4 b3 a4 b3 a a4 b3_, with a regular tail-rhyme -stanza representing the _pedes_, and a shortened tail- rhyme stanza -representing the _cauda_; it occurs in the _Towneley Mysteries_, pp. -221-3. A similar one we have in Phineas Fletcher (_Poets_, iv. 460) on -the formula - - _a ~2 a ~3 b2 e ~2 e ~3 b2 d ~4 e ~ e ~2 d d5_, - -and another one in Leigh Hunt, _Coronation Soliloquy_ (p. 225) which -corresponds to the formula _a a2 b ~3 c c2 b ~3 d d2 e ~3 f4 e ~3_. - -In other stanzas parts only of tail-rhyme stanzas occur, as in a strophe -of the form _a4 b ~3 c4 b ~3 d e d d4 e3 r R4_, used by Wordsworth in -_The Seven Sisters_ (iii. 15): - - _Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald, - All children of one mother: - You could not say in one short day - What love they bore each other. - A garland of seven lilies wrought! - Seven Sisters that together dwell; - But he, bold Knight as ever fought, - Their Father, took of them no thought, - He loved the wars so well. - Sing mournfully, oh! mournfully, - The solitude of Binnorie!_ - -Other stanzas of this kind are formed on the schemes _a4 b2 a4 b2 c c2 -d3 e4 d2 e4 d2_ (Moore, _Love's Young Dream_), _a b b a c c d e e d5 e3_ -(Swinburne, _Ave atque Vale_, Poems, ii. 71). Cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 436, -437. - -§ =283. Stanzas of twelve lines= are very numerous. One of the Middle -English period we have in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 27; it is -formed on the scheme _a4 b3 a4 b3 b b b c3 D D D4 C3_ and is similar to -those ten-lined stanzas mentioned above, which consist of two Septenary -verses and a tail-rhyme stanza; the second part of which, being the -refrain, thus becomes the _cauda_ of the stanza. In the Modern English -period some simple stanzas with an isometrical first part and parallel -rhymes may be mentioned in the first place. These are constructed on the -schemes _a a b b c c d d4 e4 f2 e4 f2_, _a a b b c c d d e e f4 f3_ and -occur in Mrs. Hemans (iv. 171; vii. 155); stanzas of this kind with -crossed rhymes are likewise met with, e.g. _a ~ b a ~ b4 c c3 d5 e e f -f3 d5_ in Burns, p. 188. - -Pretty often we find stanzas for singing, the _cauda_ of which is -enclosed by the _pedes_; in the first stanza the two _pedes_ together -form the refrain, in the others, however, only the last one, e.g. in -stanzas on the schemes _A ~ B A ~ B4 c4 d3 c4 d3 A ~ B A ~ B4_, _e ~ f e -~ f4 g4 h3 g4 h3 A ~ B A ~ B4_ in _Hymns Ancient and Mod._, No. 138, -consisting of trochaic verses: - - _Christ is risen! Christ is risen! - He hath burst His bonds in twain; - Christ is risen! Christ is risen! - Alleluia! swell the strain! - For our gain He suffered loss - By Divine decree; - He hath died upon the Cross, - But our God is He._ - - _Christ is risen! Christ is risen! - He hath burst His bonds in twain; - Christ is risen! Christ is risen! - Alleluia! swell the strain._ - - _See the chains of death are broken; - Earth below and heaven above_, &c. &c. - -Similar stanzas frequently occur in Moore, e.g. stanzas on the models -_A ~ B A ~ B4 c c d3 d2 E ~ B E ~ B4_, and _f ~ g f ~ g4 h h i3 i2 E ~ -B E ~ B4_ (in _Love's light summer-cloud_), _A B ~ A B ~3 c d ~3 c4 d ~3 -A B ~ A B ~3_, _e f ~ e f ~3 g h ~3 g4 h ~3 A B ~ A B ~3_ (in _All -that's bright must fade_). For other examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 441. - -Similar stanzas of Septenary metres, also common in Moore, have the -formulas _a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 d3 c4 d3 E4 F3 E4 F3_ (in _When Time_), _A4 -B3 A4 B3 c4 d3 c4 d3 A4 B3 A4 B3_ (st. i), _d4 e3 d4 e3 f4 g3 f4 g3 A4 -B3 A4 B3_ (st. ii); only in st. i the _cauda_ is in the middle; in the -others it closes the stanza (_Nets and Cages_). - -Other stanzas have the reverse order of verses, as e.g. stanzas on the -schemes _a ~3 b4 a ~3 b4 c ~3 d4 c ~3 d4 E ~3 F4 E ~3 F4_ (_To Ladies' -Eyes_), _A ~3 B4 A ~3 B4 c d c d4 A ~3 B4 A ~3 B4_ (_Oh! Doubt me not_). -This sort of stanza also occurs in Moore with other metres, e.g. -according to the formulas _A4 B2 A4 B2 c3 d2 c3 d2 A4 B2 A4 B2_, _e4 b2 -e4 b2 f3 g2 f3 g3 e4 b2 e4 b2_ (_Not from thee_) and there are still -other varieties in Moore and in some of the more recent poets. Cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §§ 443-5. - -§ =284.= Among the =stanzas of thirteen lines=, one belonging to the -Middle English period has been mentioned above (p. 342, note), which is -formed by combination with a tail-rhyme stanza. - -In the few Modern English stanzas of this length we generally find also -a part of a tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. in the _cauda_ of a stanza -constructed on the formula _a b ~ a b ~ c d ~ c d ~4 E F ~4 g g2 F ~4_ -(Moore, _Lesbia hath_, &c.); or in a stanza like _a ~ b a ~ b4 c c2 b4 d -d2 e f e f4_, deficient in one four-stressed tail-verse as in Moore, -_The Prince's Day_: - - _Tho' dark are our sorrows to-day we'll forget them, - And smile through our tears, like a sunbeam in showers; - There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them, - More form'd to be grateful and blest than ours. - But just when the chain - Has ceas'd to pain_, - _And hope has enwreath'd it round with flowers, - There comes a new link - Our spirits to sink-- - Oh! the joy that we taste, like the light of the poles, - Is a flash amid darkness, too brilliant to stay; - But, though 'twere the last little spark in our souls, - We must light it up now, on our Prince's Day._ - -For other forms of stanzas belonging to this group see _Metrik_, ii, § -447. - -§ =285.= More numerous are =stanzas of fourteen lines=. Judging by the -examples which have come to our knowledge, they are also, as a rule, -formed by combination with a tail-rhyme stanza; as e.g. in a stanza by -Browne (_Poets_, iv. 276) on the scheme _a b a b c a c a5 a a2 b3 c c2 -b3_; another stanza, frequently used by Burns, corresponds to the -formula - - _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 e3 d4 e3 f ~2 g3 h ~2 g3_ - -and occurs, e.g., in his _Epistle to Davie_ (p. 57): - - _While winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw, - And bar the doors wi' driving snaw, - And hing us owre the ingle, - I set me down, to pass the time, - And spin a verse or twa o' rhyme, - In hamely, westlin jingle. - While frosty winds blaw in the drift, - Ben to the chimla lug, - I grudge a wee the Great-folk's gift, - That live sae bien an' snug: - I tent less, and want less - Their roomy fire-side; - But hanker and canker, - To see their cursèd pride._ - -A similar stanza is found in Moore, _The Sale of Loves_, _a4 b ~3 a4 b -~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3 E E2 F ~3 G G2 F ~3_. In other stanzas used by this -poet, the tail-rhyme stanza forms the _cauda_ enclosed by two _pedes_ -(see § 283); e.g. in _Nay, tell me not, dear_, on the scheme _a b a b4 -c c2 d4 e e2 d4 F G F G4_. Another stanza of the form _A B ~ A B ~3 c -c2 d3 e e2 d3 A B ~ A B ~3_, _f g ~ f g ~3 h h2 i3 k k2 i3 A B ~ A B -~3_, is used in _Oft, in the stilly night_. - -As to other forms cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 448. Stanzas, the enclosing -_pedes_ of which are formed by two tail-rhyme stanzas, are discussed -ib. § 449 (schemes: _a a2 b ~3 C C2 b ~3 d ~ d ~3 e e2 f ~3 C C2 f ~3_, -_g g2 h ~3 i i2 h ~3 k ~ k ~3 l l2 m ~3 C C2 m ~3_). - -§ =286.= Some stanzas of still greater extent (not very common) are also -formed by combination with tail-rhyme stanzas. There are a few =stanzas -of fifteen lines=, e.g. one on the model _a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 e3 f f2 -e3 g G3 G4_ in Moore, _Song and Trio_; one on - - _a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~2 c1 d ~ d ~ e ~ e ~2 c1 f ~ f ~ g ~ g ~2 c1_ - -in Shelley, _The Fugitives_ (iii. 55); and one on - - _a ~ a ~ a ~ b c ~ c ~ c ~ b d ~ d ~ d ~ e f ~ f ~2 e4_ - -in Swinburne, _Four Songs in Four Seasons_ (Poems, ii. 163-76). - -Two =stanzas of sixteen lines= occur in Moore on the schemes _a a2 b ~3 -c c2 b ~3 d e d e3 f f2 g ~3 h h2 g ~3_ (_The Indian Boat_), and _a a2 b -~3 c c2 b ~3 d d2 e ~3 f f2 e ~3 G ~4 H H2 G ~3_ (_Oh, the Shamrock_). - -A =stanza of seventeen lines= - - (_a a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 e3 d d4 e3_) - -is found in a Middle English poem in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. -Poetry_, p. 47; it consists of two six-lined, common tail-rhyme -stanzas (the _pedes_), and a shortened one (forming the _cauda_). - -A =stanza of eighteen lines= on the formula - - _a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4 b3 e e4 b3 f f g g g f2_ - -occurs in Wright's _Pol. Songs_, p. 155 (cf. _Metrik_, i, p. 411); the -scheme might also be given as _a a4 b2_, &c., if the tail-rhyme verses -be looked upon as two-stressed lines. A simpler stanza according to the -scheme _a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 b3 e e2 b3 f f2 g3 h h2 g3_ is used in _The -Nut-Brown Mayd_ (Percy's _Rel._ II. i. 6). Cf. § 244, also _Metrik_, i, -p. 367, and ii, p. 715. - -Similar stanzas are used by Shelley (in _Arethusa_, i. 374) and by Moore -(in _Wreath the Bowl_). Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 453. - -Lastly, a =stanza of twenty lines= with the scheme _a b ~ a c d b ~ d c -e e3 f4 g g3 f4 h h3 i4 k ~ k ~3 i4_, occurs in _The King of France's -Daughter_ (Percy's _Rel._ III. ii. 17); cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 454. - - - - - PART III - - MODERN STANZAS AND METRES OF FIXED FORM - ORIGINATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE - RENASCENCE, OR INTRODUCED LATER - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - STANZAS OF THREE AND MORE PARTS - CONSISTING OF UNEQUAL PARTS ONLY - - -§ =287. Introductory remark.= At the very beginning of the Modern -English period the poetry of England was strongly influenced by that of -Italy. Among the strophic forms used by the Italian poets, two -especially have had an important share in the development of English -metre: the sonnet and the canzone. Apart from those direct imitations -which we shall have to notice later, the sonnet form tended to make more -popular the use of enclosing rhymes, which had until then been only -sparingly employed in English poetry; while the canzone with its varied -combinations of anisometrical verses, mostly of eleven and seven -syllables, gave rise to a variety of similar loosely constructed -stanzas, as a rule, of three- and five-foot verses. - -At the same time, however, these Modern English stanzas of a somewhat -loose structure were also affected by the stricter rules for the -formation of stanzas which had come down from the Middle English period. -Hence their structure frequently reminds us of the older forms, two -adjoining parts being often closely related, either by order of rhymes, -or by the structure of the verse, or by both together, though the old -law of the equality of the two _pedes_ or of the two _versus_ is not -quite strictly observed. - -This explains the fact that some stanzas (especially the shorter ones) -have a structure similar to that of the old tripartite stanzas; while -others (chiefly the longer ones) not unfrequently consist of four or -even more parts. - -In the first group the chief interest centres round those which have -enclosing rhymes in their first or last part. Although the transposition -of the order of rhymes thus effected in the _pedes_ or in the _versus_ -was common both in Northern French and Provençal poets,[196] the -teachers of the Middle English poets, we find scarcely a single example -of it in Middle English, and it seems to have become popular in Modern -English only through the influence of the Italian sonnet. - -In accordance with the analogy of the isometrical stanzas or parts of -stanzas this arrangement of rhymes is found also in the anisometrical -ones; so that we have first parts (_pedes_) both on the scheme _a b b a4_, -_a b b a5_ or _a4 b b3 a4_, _a5 b4 b4 a5_. From the arrangement of rhymes -this order was transferred to the lines themselves; thus a stanza with -enclosing rhymes consisting of two longer lines with a couplet of short -lines between them, as in the last example, is transformed into a -similar stanza with crossed rhymes according to the formula _a5 b4 a4 -b5_, the shorter lines being, as before, placed between the longer ones -(or vice versa _a4 b5 a5 b4_). It is evident that here too in spite of -the regular arrangement of rhymes the two _pedes_ are not alike, but -only similar to each other. - -§ =288. Six-lined stanzas= of this kind, with an isometrical first part -or isometrical throughout, occur pretty often; one e.g. on the scheme -_a b b a c c4_ is met with in John Scott, _Ode_ XIX (_Poets_, xi. 757): - - _Pastoral, and elegy, and ode! - Who hopes, by these, applause to gain, - Believe me, friend, may hope in vain-- - These classic things are not the mode; - Our taste polite, so much refin'd, - Demands a strain of different kind._ - -For similar stanzas according to the formulas _a b b a a b4_, _a b b a c -c5_, _a b b a c3 c5_ (Milton, _Psalm_ IV), _a b b a5 c4 c5_, and _a b b -a c5 c3_, see _Metrik_, ii, § 456. - -Other stanzas have anisometrical first and last parts; as e.g. one on -the model _a5 b b4 a5 c4 c3_ which was used by Cowley, _Upon the -shortness of Man's Life_ (Poets, v. 227): - - _Mark that swift arrow, how it cuts the air, - How it outruns thy following eye! - Use all persuasions now, and try - If thou canst call it back, or stay it there. - That way it went, but thou shalt find - No track is left behind._ - -Similar stanzas are found in later poets, as e.g. Mrs. Hemans, D. G. -Rossetti, Mrs. Browning, corresponding to _a5 b b4 a5 c4 c5_, _a3 b b5 -a3 c c5_, _a5 b b3 a4 c5 c3_, _a3 b4 b5 a4 b5 a3_, _a b3 b4 a3 c c4_, -&c. (For specimen see _Metrik_, ii, § 458.) - -Even more frequently we have stanzas of three quite heterogeneous parts; -the lines rhyming crosswise, parallel, or crosswise and parallel. They -occur both in the earlier poets (Cowley, Herbert, &c.) and in those of -recent times (Southey, Wordsworth, Shelley, the Brownings, Swinburne, -&c.). A song by Suckling (_Poets_, iii. 730) on the scheme _a3 a b b2 c -c4_ may serve as an example: - - _If when Don Cupid's dart - Doth wound a heart, - We hide our grief - And shun relief; - The smart increaseth on that score; - For wounds unsearcht but rankle more._ - -For an account of other stanzas of a similar structure (e.g. _a a5 b b4 -c c3_, _a a4 b b c3 c5_, _a5 a3 b b c4 c5_, _a2 a b b c4 c1_, &c.) see -_Metrik_, ii, §459. - -Very often we find stanzas of combined crossed and parallel rhymes; one -e.g. on the model _a b a5 b6 c c5_ in Shelley, _A Summer-Evening -Churchyard_ (i. 160): - - _The wind has swept from the wide atmosphere - Each vapour that obscured the sunset's ray; - And pallid Evening twines its beaming hair - In duskier braids around the languid eyes of day: - Silence and Twilight, unbeloved of men, - Creep hand in hand from yon obscurest glen._ - -Many stanzas of a similar kind correspond to the schemes _a a4 b c2 b4 -c3_, _a4 b3 a b c c4_, _a3 b5 a b4 c5 c4_, _a b a5 b c c4_, _a5 a b c c -b4 c5_, _a4 b ~2 a a4 b ~a4_, _a5 b3 a b c5 c3_, and _a b c c a4 b3_; -for specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 460-3. - -Stanzas consisting of shorter lines are not so often met with; we have -an example (on the model _a b a2 b c4 c3_) consisting of -iambic-anapaestic verses in R. Browning, _On the Cliff_ (vi. 48): - - _I leaned on the turf, - I looked at a rock - Left dry by the surf; - For the turf, to call it grass were to mock; - Dead to the roots, so deep was done - The work of the summer sun._ - -For stanzas on the schemes _a4 b1 a4 b2 C D2_, _a b a4 c3 c b2_ see -ibid. § 464. - -§ =289.= Among =seven-line= stanzas, both in earlier (Ph. Fletcher, S. -Daniel, &c.) and more recent poets (Mrs. Browning, Swinburne, R. -Browning, D.G. Rossetti), those which are entirely isometrical occur -often. One on the model _a b b a b b a5_ is met with in S. Daniel's -_Epistle to the Angel Spirit of the most excellent Sir Philip Sidney_ -(Poets, iii. 228): - - _To thee, pure spir't, to thee alone addrest - Is this joint work, by double int'rest thine: - Thine by thine own, and what is done of mine - Inspir'd by thee, thy secret pow'r imprest: - My muse with thine itself dar'd to combine, - As mortal stuff with that which is divine: - Let thy fair beams give lustre to the rest._ - -Specimens of stanzas on the schemes _a b b a c c c4_, _a b b a b b a4_, -_a b b a a c c3_, _a b b a a c c5_, _a b b a c c a5_, and _a b c c d d -d4_, are given in _Metrik_, ii, §456. - -Anisometrical stanzas on the model _a b b a_ in the first part occur -only in single examples, one corresponding to the scheme _a b b a4 b2 c -c4_ found in Milton, _Arcades_, Song I; and another of the form _a3 b b5 -a3 c c a5_ in Mrs. Hemans, _The Festal Hour_ (ii. 247); cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 466. - -Sometimes quite anisometrical stanzas with parallel rhymes occur, -especially in the earlier poets, as e.g. in Wyatt, Suckling, Cowley; a -stanza of Cowley's poem, _The Thief_ (Poets, v. 263), has the formula -_a5 a b b c c4 c5_: - - _What do I seek, alas! or why do I - Attempt in vain from thee to fly? - For, making thee my deity, - I give thee then ubiquity, - My pains resemble hell in this, - The Divine Presence there, too, is, - But to torment men, not to give them bliss._ - -Other forms of a similar structure are _a a3 b b2 a a3 B4_, _a4 a b b3 c -c4 x3_, _a4 a b5 b c c4 c5_, _a5 a a b b4 c c3_; for examples see -_Metrik_, ii, §467. - -Stanzas which have crossed rhymes either in part or throughout are still -commoner. Thus a stanza on the model of the _rhyme royal_ stanza (_a3 b -a b5 b3 c c5_) which occurs in Mrs. Hemans, _Elysium_ (iii. 236): - - _Fair wert thou in the dreams - Of elder time, thou land of glorious flowers - And summer winds and low-toned silvery streams, - Dim with the shadows of thy laurel bowers, - Where, as they pass'd, bright hours - Left no faint sense of parting, such as clings - To earthly love, and joy in loveliest things!_ - -Other similar stanzas correspond to _a4 b a5 b4 c3 c4 c5_, _a3 b a4 b2 c -c c5_, _a5 b a4 b5 c4 c c5_, _a5 b c c b a4 a5_, _a b a4 b3 b5 a4 b3_, -and _a b a3 b4 c3 c2 c4_; for examples taken from older poets (Donne, -Carew, Cowley) and from later literature (Longfellow, D. G. Rossetti) -cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 468. - -Several other stanza-forms remind us by their structure and arrangement -of rhymes of certain shortened forms of the tail-rhyme stanza, e.g. one -in _A Parting Song_ by Mrs. Hemans (vi. 189), on the scheme _A4 B3 c c d -d4 B2_: - - _When will ye think of me, my friends? - When will ye think of me? - When the last red light, the farewell of day, - From the rock and the river is passing away-- - When the air with a deep'ning hush is fraught - And the heart grows burden'd with tender thought-- - Then let it be._ - -Similar stanzas corresponding to the formulas _a b4 a a3 b a4 a3_, _a4 -b3 a a4 b3 c c4_, _a a b a5 b a a2_ are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, § 469. - -§ =290.= Most of the =eight-lined stanzas=, which on the whole are rare, -are similar to the tail-rhyme stanza, the scheme of which is carried out -in both parts, to which a third part is then added as the _cauda_ (last -part). - -Stanzas of this kind, used especially by Cowley, correspond to _a a5 b3 -c c4 b3 d d4_, _a5 a4 b4 c5 c5 b4 d4 d5_, _a5 a b c c b4 d d5_, and _a -a5 b4 c c b5 d4 d5_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 470). - -The half-stanzas (_pedes_) are separated by the _cauda_ in a stanza on -the scheme _a a4 b5 c c d d4 b3_, which occurs in Wordsworth, _The -Pilgrim's Dream_ (vi. 153): - - _A Pilgrim, when the summer day - Had closed upon his weary way, - A lodging begged beneath a castle's roof; - But him the haughty Warder spurned; - And from the gate the Pilgrim turned, - To seek such covert as the field - Or heath-besprinkled copse might yield, - Or lofty wood, shower-proof._ - -In other stanzas on the models _a4 b2 a b c c c4 b2_, _a ~ b a ~4 b3 c ~ -c ~ c ~4 b2_, _a4 b2 a4 c c2 d d4 b2_, and _a4 B ~2 a a4 C ~2 D3 D4_, -only a half-stanza of the tail-rhyme form can be recognized (cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §475). - -Sometimes an unequal part is inserted between two parts of a somewhat -similar structure, as in a stanza with the formula _a a b c b c d4 d5_ -in Byron, _Translation from Horace_ (p. 89): - - _The man of firm and noble soul - No factious clamours can control; - No threat'ning tyrant's darkling brow - Can swerve him from his just intent; - Gales the warring waves which plough, - By Auster on the billows spent, - To curb the Adriatic main, - Would awe his fix'd, determined mind in vain._ - -Other stanzas correspond to the schemes _a a5 . b b c c3 . d ~ d ~4_, -_a5 a3 a4 . b b4 . c c4 c5_, _a b5 b3 . a4 a . c c c5_, _a3 a . b c b c -. d d5_, _a a4 . b4 c ~ c ~2 . d d2 b4_, and _a5 a2 . b b5 . c c c5 c2_. -All these forms are met with in earlier poets, as e.g. Donne, Drayton, -and Cowley; for specimen see _Metrik_, ii, § 471. - -§ =291.= A quadripartite structure is sometimes observable in stanzas -with four rhymes, especially with a parallel or crossed order, or both -combined, as e.g. in a poem by Donne, _The Damp_ (Poets, iv. 37), the -scheme being _a5 a4 b b5 c c4 d d5_: - - _When I am dead, and doctors know not why, - And my friends' curiosity - Will have me cut up, to survey each part, - And they shall find your picture in mine heart; - You think a sudden Damp of love - Will through all their senses move, - And work on them as me, and so prefer - Your murder to the name of massacre._ - -For stanzas of different structure on similar models cf. _Metrik_, ii, § -472 (_a5 a b3 b c5 d3 c2 d4_, _a5 a b2 b c5 c2 d4 d5_, _a5 a3 b b5 c c4 -d d5_, _a b a4 b5 c c4 d d5_, _a a5 b b c d c4 d5_, and _a4 b5 a4 b3 c -d4 c2 d4_). - -There are other stanzas of this kind which occur in earlier poets, as e. -g. Donne, Cowley, and Dryden, or in some of those of later date, as -Southey, R. Browning, and Rossetti, one half-stanza having enclosing -rhymes and the whole stanza partaking of a tripartite structure. We -find, e.g. the form _A b b a c d c4 d3_ in D. G. Rossetti, _A Little -While_ (i. 245): - - _A little while a little love - The hour yet bears for thee and me - Who have not drawn the veil to see, - If still our heaven be lit above. - Thou merely, at the day's last sigh, - Hast felt thy soul prolong the tone; - And I have heard the night-wind cry - And deemed its speech mine own._ - -Other similar stanzas correspond to the formulas _a a b5 b4 c5 d d4 c5_, -_a5 b b4 a5 c c4 d d5_, _a4 b b2 a c4 d d2 c3_, and _a5 b3 a b5 c3 d d5 -c3_; for examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 474. Stanzas on the model _a ~ b c -a ~ c4 B2 d4 D2_, or on _a b c ~2 d d a b c ~4_, are found only in single -examples (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 476). - -§ =292.= The most important of the Modern English eight-lined stanzas, -however, is an isometrical one on a foreign model, viz. a stanza of -hendecasyllabic or rather five-foot verses corresponding to the Italian -_ottava rima_, on the scheme _a b a b a b c c_. This stanza, which has -always been very popular in Italian poetry, was introduced into English -by Wyatt and Surrey; in Surrey we have only an isolated specimen, in _To -his Mistress_ (p. 32): - - _If he that erst the form so lively drew - Of Venus' face, triumph'd in painter's art; - Thy Father then what glory did ensue, - By whose pencil a Goddess made thou art, - Touched with flame that figure made some rue, - And with her love surprised many a heart. - There lackt yet that should cure their hot desire: - Thou canst inflame and quench the kindled fire._ - -The stanza was often used by Wyatt, Sidney, and Spenser for reflective -poems, and by Drayton and Daniel for epic poems of some length. In -modern literature it has been used by Frere, Byron (_Beppo, Don Juan_), -Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, Longfellow, and others (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § -579). - -§ =293. Stanzas of nine lines= either show a combination of parallel -with crossed or enclosing rhymes, as in the forms _a a b c b c d d d4_, -_a5 b a4 b5 b5 c4 c5 d d5_ (Rhyme-Royal + rhyming couplet), _a b5 b a4 -c3 c c d d5_, _a4 a b b5 c4 c5 d4 d d5_, _a4 b a3 c4 b3 d b c4 D1_ &c. -(for specimens see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 477 and 479), or, in some of the -later poets, they consist of parts of modified tail-rhyme stanzas -combined with other forms, as in the following stanza (_a ~3 b4 a ~ b3 c -c2 d3 a ~ d3_) of a song by Moore: - - _Love thee, dearest? love thee? - Yes, by yonder star I swear, - Which thro' tears above thee - Shines so sadly fair; - Though often dim, - With tears, like him, - Like him my truth will shine, - And--love thee, dearest? love thee? - Yes, till death I'm thine._ - -Other stanzas of Moore and others have the formulas _a a b a b c c c4 -d3_ (Burns, p. 216), _a b ~ a a4 b ~3 c d d4 c3_, _a a b4 c2 b4 c2 d d4 -c2_, _a4 b3 a a4 c ~3 c ~ d ~ d ~2 b3_ &c. (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 478). - -§ =294.= The =ten-line stanzas= are also based mostly on a combination -of earlier strophic systems. Thus in Campbell's well-known poem, _Ye -Mariners of England_ (p. 71), the _Poulter's Measure_ rhythm is -observable, the scheme being _a ~ b3 c4 d3 . e4 f3 . e2 F3 G4 F3_: - - _Ye Mariners of England! - That guard our native seas; - Whose flag has braved, a thousand years, - The battle and the breeze! - Your glorious standard launch again - To match another foe! - And sweep through the deep, - While the stormy winds do blow; - While the battle rages loud and long, - And the stormy winds do blow._ - -Similar stanzas occurring in the works of earlier poets, as Sidney and -Spenser, correspond to the schemes _a6 b a b b5 c c4 d2 b5 d2_, _a5 a2 b -~ c b ~ c D ~ D ~ E E3_, &c. But generally speaking most of the earlier -poets, as e.g. Donne, Cowley, and Suckling, prefer a simpler order of -rhymes, the schemes being _a a3 b b . c5 c c4 . d d d5_, _a4 a b b5 c c4 -d d e e5_, _a5 a a2 b b c d d3 e e5_, &c.; the more modern poets (Moore, -Wordsworth, Swinburne), on the other hand, are fond of somewhat more -complicated forms, as _a4 b ~ b ~2 a a4 c ~ c ~2 d a d4_, _a b a4 b3 c -c5 d e3 d4 e3_, _a b b4 a3 c d d e d4 d3_, &c. (For specimens cf. -_Metrik_, ii, §§ 480, 481.) A fine form of stanza corresponding to the -formula _a b c b c5 a3 d e e d5_ is used by M. Arnold in his poem _The -Scholar Gipsy_, and another on the scheme _a a3 b c c b5 d3 e d e5_ in -_Westminster Abbey_, p. 479. - -=§ 295. Stanzas of eleven lines= do not frequently occur in earlier -poetry, and for the most part simple forms are employed, e.g. _a b4 a b -c d5 c d4 e e5 e4_, _a5 a b4 b5 c4 d3 c4 d3 e e4 e5_, _a a b b4 c3 d5 d3 -c e e e5_, &c.; the more recent poets, however, as Moore, Wordsworth, -and R. Browning, have usually preferred a more intricate arrangement, as -_a ~ b c ~ d d a ~ b c ~2 e e e4_, _a b c4 b3 d e f f4 e3 g g4_, _a4 b3 -a b c4 d3 c4 d3 e2 e3 e4_. The last scheme occurs in a song by Moore: - - _How happy once, tho' wing'd with sighs, - My moments flew along, - While looking on those smiling eyes, - And list'ning to thy magic song! - But vanish'd now, like summer dreams, - Those moments smile no more; - For me that eye no longer beams, - That song for me is o'er. - Mine the cold brow, - That speaks thy alter'd vow, - While others feel thy sunshine now._ - -§ =296. Stanzas of twelve lines= are more frequent, possibly on account -of the symmetrical arrangement of the stanza in equal parts, twelve -being divisible by three. They are constructed on different models, e.g. -_a a5 b3 b a5 c3 d5 d c4 c5 e e5_, _a a4 b ~ b ~ c3 c2 d3 d2 e f3 f1 -e3_, _a4 b2 b1 a3 c ~4 d ~4 c ~2 e ~ e ~ f ~ f ~3_ (_bob-verse_ -stanzas), _a b4 c ~ c ~2 a4 b3 d d e4 f2 f4 e5_, &c., occurring in -earlier poets, such as Donne, Browne, Dryden, &c. Similar stanzas, -partly of a simpler structure (_a b b a5 a6 c c4 b5 d d e4 e5_, _a ~ b -a ~ b3 c c4 d d3 e ~ f3 e ~ f2_, and _a a4 b2 c c4 b1 b4 a2 D E ~ F E4 -~_), are found in modern poetry; the last scheme, resembling the -tail-rhyme stanza, occurring in Tennyson (p. 12): - - _A spirit haunts the year's last hours - Dwelling amid these yellowing bowers: - To himself he talks; - For at eventide, listening earnestly, - At his work you may hear him sob and sigh - In the walks; - Earthward he boweth the heavy stalks - Of the mouldering flowers: - Heavily hangs the broad sunflower - Over its grave i' the earth so chilly; - Heavily hangs the hollyhock, - Heavily hangs the tiger-lily._ - -Many other examples are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, §§ 484-6. For several -stanzas of a still greater extent, but of rare occurrence, which need -not be mentioned in this handbook, see ibid., §§ 487-90. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THE SPENSERIAN STANZA AND FORMS DERIVED - FROM IT - - -§ =297.= One of the most important Modern English stanzas is the -Spenserian, so called after its inventor. This stanza, like the forms -discussed in the last chapter, but in a still greater degree, is based -on an older type. For it is not, as is sometimes said, derived from the -Italian _ottava rima_ (cf. § 292), but, as was pointed out by Guest (ii. -389), from a Middle English eight-lined popular stanza of five-foot -verses with rhymes on the formula _a b a b b c b c_, which was modelled -in its turn on a well-known Old French ballade-stanza (cf. § 269). To -this stanza Spenser added a ninth verse of six feet rhyming with the -eighth line, an addition which was evidently meant to give a very -distinct and impressive conclusion to the stanza. - -As a specimen the first stanza of the first book of the _Faerie Queene_, -where it was used for the first time, may be quoted here: - - _A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, - Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde, - Wherein old dints of deepe woundes did remaine, - The cruell markes of many a bloody fielde; - Yet armes till that time did he never wield. - His angry steede did chide his foming bitt, - As much disdayning to the curbe to yield: - Full jolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt, - As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt._ - -This euphonious stanza became very popular and has been used by many of -the chief Modern English poets, as e.g. by Thomson, _The Castle of -Indolence_; Shenstone, _The School-Mistress_; Burns, _The Cotter's -Saturday Night_; Byron, _Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_; Shelley, _The -Revolt of Islam_. - -The great influence it had on the development of the different forms of -stanza, especially in the earlier Modern English period, is proved by -the numerous imitations and analogous formations which arose from it. - -§ =298.= All the imitations have this in common that they consist of a -series of two to ten five-foot lines followed by a concluding line of -six (or rarely seven) feet. - -John Donne, Phineas Fletcher, and Giles Fletcher were, it seems, the -inventors of those varieties of stanza, the shortest of which consist of -three or four lines on the schemes _a a5 a6_, _a b a5 b6_, and were used -by Rochester, _Upon Nothing_ (Poets, iv. 413), and Cowper (p. 406). A -stanza of five lines, however, on the model _a b a b5 b6_ occurs in -Phineas Fletcher's _Eclogue II_. - -The favourite six-lined stanza with the formula _a b a b c c5_ (cf. § -267, p. 327) was often transformed into a quasi-Spenserian stanza _a b a -b c5 c6_ by adding one foot to the last line, as e.g. by Dodsley in _On -the Death of Mr. Pope_ (Poets, xi. 103), Southey, _The Chapel Bell_ (ii. -143), and others; cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 493. - -It was changed into a stanza of seven lines on the scheme _a b a b c c5 -c6_ by Donne, _The Good Morrow_ (Poets, iv. 24) by the addition of a -seventh line rhyming with the two preceding lines. - -Much more artistic taste is shown by the transformation of the -seven-lined _rhyme royal_ stanza _a b a b b c c5_ (cf. § 268) into a -quasi-Spenserian stanza _a b a b b c5 c6_ in Milton's _On the Death of a -Fair Infant_. - -By the addition of a new line rhyming with the last couplet this form -was developed into the eight-lined stanza _a b a b b c c5 c6_ employed -in Giles Fletcher's _Christ's Victory and Triumph_. - -Omitting some rarer forms (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 495) we may mention that -Phineas Fletcher transformed the _ottava rima a b a b a b c c5_ into a -quasi-Spenserian stanza of the form _a b a b a b c5 c6_, and that he -also extended the same stanza to one of nine lines (_a b a b a b c c5 -c6_) by adding one verse more. Other nine-line quasi-Spenserian stanzas -occurring occasionally in modern poets, e.g. Mrs. Hemans, Shelley, and -Wordsworth, correspond to _a b a a b b c c5 c6_, _a b a b c d c d5 d6_, -_a b a b c c b d5 d6_, _a a b b c c d d5 d6_. (For specimens see -_Metrik_, ii, § 496.) - -A stanza of ten lines on the scheme _a b a b c d c d e5 e6_ was invented -by Prior for his _Ode to the Queen_ (Poets, vii. 440); but it is not, as -he thought, an improved, but only a simplified form of the old -Spenserian scheme: - - _When great Augustus govern'd ancient Rome, - And sent his conquering bands to foreign wars; - Abroad when dreaded, and belov'd at home, - He saw his fame increasing with his years; - Horace, great bard! (so fate ordain'd) arose, - And, bold as were his countrymen in fight, - Snatch'd their fair actions from degrading prose, - And set their battles in eternal light: - High as their trumpets' tune his lyre he strung, - And with his prince's arms he moraliz'd his song._ - -This stanza has been used by some subsequent poets, e.g. by Chatterton, -who himself invented a similar imitation of the old Spenserian form, -viz. _a b a b b a b a c5 c6_. Other stanzas of ten lines are _a b a b b -c d c d5 d6_, _a b b a c d d c e5 e6_, _a b a b c c d e e5 d6_. (For -specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 497.) - -A stanza of eleven lines on the scheme _a b a b c d c d c d5 d6_ occurs -in Wordsworth in the _Cuckoo-clock_ (viii. 161). - -§ =299.= Amongst the stanzaic formations analogous to the Spenserian -stanza, which for the most part were invented by the poets just -mentioned, two different groups are to be distinguished; firstly, -stanzas the body of which consists of four-foot (seldom three-foot) -verses, a six-foot final verse being added to them either immediately or -preceded by a five-foot verse; secondly, stanzas of anisometrical -structure in the principal part, the end-verse being of six or sometimes -of seven feet. - -The stanzas of the first group consist of four to ten lines, and have -the following formulas: four-lined stanzas, _a b c4 b6_ (Wordsworth); -five lines, _a b a b3 b6_ (Shelley); six lines, _a b a a b3 b6_ (Ben -Jonson), _a b a b4 c5 c6_ (Wordsworth, Coleridge), _a a3 b5 c c3 b6_ -(R. Browning); seven lines, _a ~ b b a ~ c c4 c7_ (Mrs. Browning); eight -lines, _a b a b c c d4 d6_ (Gray, Wordsworth), _a a b b c c d4 d6_ (John -Scott), _a a b b c c4 d5 d6_ (Coleridge); nine lines, _a b a b c d c4 d5 -c6_ and _a b a b c c d d4 d6_ (Akenside), _a b a b b c b c4 c6_ -(Shelley, _Stanzas written in Dejection_, i. 370); ten lines, _a b a b c -d c d4 e5 e6_ (Whitehead). - -As an example we quote a stanza of nine lines from Shelley's poem -mentioned above: - - _I see the Deep's untrampled floor - With green and purple seaweeds strown; - I see the waves upon the shore, - Like light dissolved in star-showers, thrown: - I sit upon the sands alone, - The lightning of the noon-tide ocean - Is flashing round me, and a tone - Arises from its measured motion, - How sweet! did any heart now share in my emotion._ - -For other examples see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 499-503. - -§ =300.= Greater variety is found in the second group; they have an -extent of four up to sixteen lines and mostly occur in poets of the -sixteenth to eighteenth centuries (Donne, Ben Jonson, Cowley, Rowe, -Akenside, &c.), rarely in the nineteenth century. Stanzas of four lines -are, _a5 a b4 b6_ (Poets, v. 236), _a a4 b5 b6_ (ib. xi. 1207); of five -lines, _a5 a b3 b4 a6_ (ib. v. 281), _a b a5 b4 b6_ (ib. ix. 312), &c.; -of six lines, _a4 b5 a4 b c5 c6_ (ib. xi. 130), _a4 b3 a4 b3 c5 c6_ (ib. -x. 722), _a a4 b3 c c4 b6_ (ib. xi. 1070; tail-rhyme stanza), _a b5 a4 b -c5 c6_ (Tennyson, _The Third of February_); of seven lines, _a3 b5 b3 a4 -c c3 c6_ (Poets, v. 413), _a b a b5 b3 c5 c6_ (Mrs. Hemans, _Easter -Day_, vii. 165, with rhymes in the _rhyme royal_ order; of eight lines, -_a a3 b5 c c3 b5 d4 d6_ (Milton, _Hymn on the Nativity_, ii. 400; -tail-rhyme + _d4 d6_), _a5 b2 a b5 c3 d5 c3 d7_ (Poets, iv. 36), _a5 a4 -b b5 c d c4 d6_ (ib. v. 432), _a b4 b c a5 d d4 c6_ (ib. ix. 794), _a b -a b c5 c3 d5 d6_, and _a b5 a4 b3 c5 d4 d3 c6_ (Wordsworth, _Artegal and -Elidure_, vi. 47, and _'Tis said that some have died for love_, ii. 184, -beginning with the second stanza). - -The following stanza from the last-mentioned poem may serve as a -specimen: - - _Oh move, thou Cottage, from behind that oak! - Or let the aged tree uprooted lie, - That in some other way yon smoke - May mount into the sky: - The clouds pass on; they from the heavens depart. - I look--the sky is empty space; - I know not what I trace; - But when I cease to look, my hand is on my heart._ - -Stanzas of nine lines, especially occurring in Donne, have the formulas -_a b b5 a3 c c c4 d5 d6_ (Poets, iv. 29), _a a b b c5 c d4 d5 d7_ (ib. -36), _a2 b b a5 c c2 d d5 d7_ (ib. 31), _a a b b b5 c d d4 c6_ (ib. vii. -142), &c.; of ten lines, _a a4 b b c c5 d4 d d5 d6_ (ib. iv. 28), _a a -b c c4 b2 d e d5 e6_ (ib. ix. 788), _a b a b5 c c d d4 e5 e6_ (Shelley, -_Phantasm of Jupiter in Prometheus Unbound_); of twelve lines, _a b a b5 -c c d d e e5 f5 f6_ (Poets, xi. 588); of thirteen lines, _a b ~4 a5 b ~3 -c4 c5 d d2 e5 e2 f5 e2 f6_ (Ben Jonson, _Ode to James, Earl of Desmond_, -ib. iv. 572); of fifteen lines, _a b a b c5 d d4 d6 c e c e d f5 f6_ -(Shelley, _Ode to Liberty_, i. 360-9); of sixteen lines, _a b a b a b a -b5 c c3 b5 d d3 b5 e4 e6_ (Swinburne, _New-Year Ode to Victor Hugo_ -(_Midsummer Holiday_, pp. 39-63). - -This last stanza has an exceedingly fine structure, consisting of an -isometrical first part and an anisometrical tail-rhyme stanza + an -anisometrical rhyming couplet, forming the last part: - - _Twice twelve times have the springs of years refilled - Their fountains from the river-head of time, - Since by the green sea's marge, ere autumn chilled - Waters and woods with sense of changing clime, - A great light rose upon my soul, and thrilled - My spirit of sense with sense of spheres in chime, - Sound as of song wherewith a God would build - Towers that no force of conquering war might climb. - Wind shook the glimmering sea - Even as my soul in me - Was stirred with breath of mastery more sublime, - Uplift and borne along - More thunderous tides of song, - Where wave rang back to wave more rapturous rhyme - And world on world flashed lordlier light - Than ever lit the wandering ways of ships by night._ - -The three stanzas last quoted, as well as some of the shorter ones -occurring in Akenside, Rowe, &c., were also used for odes, and in this -way the affinity of formations like these with the odic stanzas to be -discussed in the next chapter becomes apparent. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE EPITHALAMIUM STANZA AND OTHER ODIC STANZAS - - -§ =301.= The Spenserian stanza stands in unmistakable connexion with -Spenser's highly artistic and elaborate =Epithalamium stanza= (Globe Ed. -587-91) inasmuch as the last line, _That all the woods may answer and -their echo ring_, repeated in each stanza as a burden together with the -word _sing_ which ends the preceding verse, has six measures, the rest -of the stanza consisting of three- and five-foot lines. - -Like the Spenserian stanza, the Epithalamium stanza has given rise to -numerous imitations. - -It cannot be said that one fixed form of stanza is employed throughout -the whole extent of Spenser's Epithalamium. It rather consists of two -main forms of stanza, viz. one of eighteen lines (st. i, ii, iv, v, vi, -x, xvi, xxi, xxiii), and one of nineteen lines (st. iii, vii, viii, ix, -xi, xii, xiii, xiv, xvii, xviii, xix, xx, xxii), whereas one stanza, the -fifteenth, has only seventeen lines. In the arrangement of rhymes there -are also sporadic varieties: cf. e.g. iv and ix. - -The arrangement of verse, however, is always similar in both groups. The -main part of the stanza consists of five-foot verses, the succession of -which is interrupted three times by three-foot ones, the final verse of -the stanza having six measures. In the stanza of eighteen lines the -usual arrangement is _a b a b c5 c3 d c d e5 e3 f g g f5 g3 r5 R6_. In -those of nineteen lines it is _a b a b c5 c3 d c d e5 e3 f g g f h5 h3 -r5 R6_. The scheme of the stanza of seventeen lines is _a b a b c5 c3 -d c d e f f g h5 h3 r5 R6_. - -The two following stanzas (ii, iii) may be quoted as specimens of the -two chief forms: - - _Early, before the worlds light-giving lampe - His golden beame upon the hils doth spred, - Having disperst the nights unchearefull dampe, - Doe ye awake; and, with fresh lustyhed, - Go to the bowre of my beloved love, - My truest turtle dove; - Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake, - And long since ready forth his maske to move, - With his bright Tead that flames with many a flake, - And many a bachelor to waite on him, - In theyr fresh garments trim. - Bid her awake therefore, and soone her dight, - For lo! the wished day is come at last, - That shall, for all the paynes and sorrowes past, - Pay to her usury of long delight: - And, whylest she doth her dight, - Doe ye to her of joy and solace sing, - That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring._ - - _Bring with you all the Nymphes that you can heare - Both of the rivers and the forrests greene, - And of the sea that neighbours to her neare; - Al with gay girlands goodly wel beseene. - And let them also with them bring in hand - Another gay girland, - For my fayre love, of lillyes and of roses, - Bound truelove wize, with a blue silke riband. - And let them make great store of bridal poses, - And let them eeke bring store of other flowers - To deck the bridale bowers. - And let the ground whereas her foot shall tread, - For feare the stones her tender foot should wrong, - Be strewed with fragrant flowers all along, - And diapred lyke the discoloured mead. - Which done, doe at her chamber dore awayt, - For she will waken strayt; - The whiles doe ye this song unto her sing, - The woods shall to you answer, and your Eccho ring._ - -These stanzas evidently consist of three or four unequal parts, the two -first parts (ll. 1-6, 7-11) being connected by rhyme. There is a certain -similarity between them, the chief difference being that the second -_pes_, as we may call it, is shortened by one verse. With the third -part, a new system of verses rhyming together commences, forming a kind -of last part (_downsong_ or _cauda_); and as the final couplet of the -stanza is generally closely connected in sense with this, the assumption -of a tripartite division of the stanza is preferable to that of a -quadripartite division. - -§ =302.= Stanzas of this kind have also been used by later poets in -similar poems. But all these imitations of the Epithalamium stanza are -shorter than their model. As to their structure, some of them might also -be ranked among the irregular Spenserian stanzas, as they agree with -those in having a longer final verse of six or seven measures. But as a -rule, they have--not to speak of the similarity of theme--the -combination of three- and five-foot verses in the principal part, on the -model, it seems, of Spenser's Epithalamium stanza. - -Stanzas of this kind (eight lines up to fourteen) occur in Donne and Ben -Jonson; the schemes being-- - - of eight lines: _a b a b5 c3 c2 d3 d6_ (Poets, iv. 588); - - of eleven lines: _a5 a b4 b5 c3 c d d e e5 E7_ (ib. iv. 19); - - of twelve lines: _a4 a b c c b d e5 e3 d f5 F6_ (ib. 16); - - of fourteen lines: _a5 a b4 b5 c3 d d c5 e4 e f f g5 G6_ (ib. 15). - -For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 512. - -Stanzas similar in subject and structure, but without the longer -end-verse, may be treated here, as well as some odic stanzas similar in -structure (9-18 lines) and in theme, occurring in earlier poets, as e.g. -Sidney, Spenser, John Donne, Samuel Daniel, Ben Jonson, Drummond, and -Milton. In Modern English poetry there are only some few examples of -such stanzas to be met with in translations of Italian canzones; e.g. -in Leigh Hunt. The schemes are as follows. Stanzas of nine lines, _a b a -b5 b c3 c5 d3 D5_ (Sidney, _Arcadia_, p. 388); of ten lines, _a a3 b5 b3 -c5 c d d3 e e5_ (Ben Jonson, _Ode to himself_, Poets, iv. 607); of -eleven lines, _a a4 b3 b4 c3 c5 D3 D2 E3 E2 d5_ (ib. 611); of twelve -lines, _a2 b5 b2 a c c5 d d3 e5 f3 f5 e2_ (ib. 572), _a3 a b5 b3 c c5 d3 -d e5 e3 f f5_ (Drummond, ib. 664); of thirteen lines, _a b3 a5 c b3 c5 -c d e e3 d5 f3 f5_ (Sidney, _Arcadia_, p. 394), _a b3 c5 a b3 c5 c d e -e3 d5 f3 f5_ (S. Daniel, _The Pastoral_, Poets, iv. 225), agreeing in -form with the eleventh of Petrarch's canzones, _Chiare, fresche e dolci -acque_, translated by Leigh Hunt (p. 394) on the scheme, _a a3 b5 c c3 -b5 b d d3 e4 e5 f4 f5_; of fourteen lines, _a b c b a c c5 d d3 c e5 f3 -f2 e3_ (Milton, _Upon the Circumcision_, ii. 408); of eighteen lines, -_a b b a5 a3 c d c d5 d3 e e f e5 f f3 G G5_ (Spenser, _Prothalamium_, -p. 605). For examples of these stanzas, partly formed on the model of -the Italian canzones, see _Metrik_, ii, §§ 512-15. - -§ =303.= The English odic stanzas have been influenced too, although -only in a general way, by the anisometrical structure of the Greek odes. -This, however, was only to a slight extent the case in the so-called -=Pindaric Odes=, as the metres usually employed in them were essentially -the same, and retained in their composition the same anisometrical -character exhibited by the odic stanzas considered in the preceding -paragraphs. - -There are, however, two groups of Pindaric Odes, viz. Regular and -Irregular, and it is chiefly the latter group to which the preceding -remark refers. - -The irregular odes were possibly modelled on certain non-strophical -poems or hymns, consisting of anisometrical verses throughout, with an -entirely irregular system of rhymes. We have an example of them already -in the poems of Donne, the inventor or imitator of some odic stanzas -mentioned in the previous paragraph; it is in his poem _The Dissolution_ -(Poets, iv. 38) consisting of twenty-two rhyming verses of two to seven -measures on the model - - _a3 b4 c5 d ~3 b4 a c5 d ~3 e4 e5 f3 f5 e5 g4 g5 h3 h4 i i5 k3 l2 l - k5 k7_. - -A similar form is found in Milton's poems _On Time_ (ii. 411) and _At a -Solemn Music_ (ii. 412). Other examples taken from later poets are -quoted in _Metrik_, ii, § 523. M. Arnold's poems _The Voice_ (second -half) (p. 36) and _Stagirius_ (p. 38) likewise fall under this head. - -To the combined influence of the earlier somewhat lengthy unstrophical -odes on the one hand, and of the shorter, strophical ones also composed -of anisometrical verses on the other, we have possibly to trace the -particular odic form which was used by Cowley when he translated, or -rather paraphrased, the Odes of Pindar. Owing to Cowley's popularity, -this form came much into fashion afterwards through his numerous -imitators, and it is much in vogue even at the present day. - -The characteristic features of Cowley's free renderings and imitations -of Pindar's odes are, in the first place, that he dealt very freely with -the matter of his Greek original, giving only the general sense with -arbitrary omissions and additions; and, in the second place, he paid no -attention to the characteristic strophic structure of the original, -which is a system of stanzas recurring in the same order till the end of -the poem, and consisting of two stanzas of identical form, the strophe -and antistrophe, followed by a third, the epode, entirely differing from -the two others in structure. In this respect Cowley did not even attempt -to imitate the original poems, the metres of which were very -imperfectly understood till long after his time. - -Hence there is a very great difference between the originals and the -English translations of Cowley, a difference which is clear even to the -eye from the inequality of the number of stanzas and the number of -verses in them. - -§ =304.= The first Nemean ode, e.g. consists of four equal parts, each -one being formed of a strophe and antistrophe of seven lines, and of a -four-lined epode; twelve stanzas in all. Cowley's translation, on the -other hand, has only nine stanzas, each of an entirely different -structure, their schemes being as follows: - - I. _a a5 b b4 c3 c d6 d4 e e3 e f4 f5 g4 g5_, 15 l. - II. _a a4 b3 b4 b5 c4 c3 c5 d4 d5 e e4 f3 f3 e5_, 15 l. - III. _a5 b3 b4 a a5 c3 c4 d e e3 d f ~4 f ~6 g4 g5 g7_, 16 l. - IV. _a5 a b b4 b c c c5 d3 d5 e e4 e6_, 13 l. - V. _a a b b c5 c4 c5 d4 e d5 e f f4 g5 g6_, 15 l. - VI. _a a5 b4 b5 c6 d5 d4 c e f5 f4 f5 g4 g e h5 h7_, 17 l. - VII. _a5 a3 b5 b4 b5 c3 c6 d4 e3 e6 d5 f f g4 g7_, 15 l. - VIII. _a2 a b5 b3 c4 c6 d5 d e4 e3 f f4 g6 g h4 h6_, 16 l. - IX. _a4 a5 b4 b c6 c d4 d5 d e3 e6_, 11 l. - -Cowley's own original stanzas and those of his numerous imitators are of -a similar irregular and arbitrary structure; cf. Cowley's ode _Brutus_ -(Poets, v. 303), which has the following stanzaic forms: - - I. _a4 a b5 b4 c c5 c4 c5 d6 d d5 d4 d5 d6_, 14 l. - II. _a b a a b5 b4 c c d d5 d3 d e4 e5 f3 g3 g4 f6_, 17 l. - III. _a3 a5 b4 b6 c5 c d4 d d e e5 f f4 g ~5 g ~6_, 15 l. - IV. _a a a5 b3 b4 a5 a a4 b5 c4 c d5 d4 e6 e5 f4 f6_, 17 l. - V. _a b5 b4 a6 c2 c5 c4 a c5 c6 d d e4 e5 f3 f g g5 h - h4 i i5 i4_, 23 l. - -Waller's ode _Upon modern Critics_ (Poets, v. 650) has the -following stanzaic forms: - - I. _a b b4 a c5 c d4 d5 d4 e f5 f f4 e5 f4 g g h5 i3 i - h4 k5 k6_, 23 l. - II. _a a4 b3 b c c d4 d5 e f f g4 g5 e3 h i4 i5 h k k4 - l l5_, 23 l. - III. _a a b b c4 c5 d d e e f f4 e3 f e g4 h5 h g i4 i6_, 21 l. - IV. _a b b a4 c c5 d3 d4 e5 d4 d f5 f4 g g5 h4 h5 i i5_, 19 l. - V. _a a b b c4 d5 c3 d e5 e6 f5 f4 g5 g h h4 i3 i6_, 18 l. - VI. _a4 b3 a b a c c d4 d6 e e4 f f g5 g4 g h5 h i4 i6_, 20 l. - -All the stanzas are of unequal length and consist of the most various -verses (of three, four, mostly five, even six and seven measures) and -arrangements of rhymes. Parallel rhymes are very common; but sometimes -we have crossed, enclosing, and other kinds of rhyme, as e.g. the -system of the Italian _terzina_. A characteristic feature is that at -the end of the stanza very often three parallel rhymes occur, and that, -as a rule, the stanza winds up with a somewhat longer line of six or -seven measures, as in the Spenserian and the Epithalamium stanza; but -sometimes we also find a short final verse. - -To these Irregular Pindaric Odes, besides, belong Dryden's celebrated -odes _Threnodia Augustalis_ and _Alexander's Feast_, the latter having a -more lyrical form, with a short choral strophe after each main stanza; -and Pope's _Ode on St. Cecilia's Day_. A long list of references to -similar poems from Cowley to Tennyson is given in _Metrik_, ii, §§ -516-22; amongst these different forms the rhymeless odic stanzas -occurring in Dr. Sayers (_Dramatic Sketches_), Southey (e.g. _Thalaba_) -and Shelley (_Queen Mab_) are noticeable. - -§ =305.= To these Irregular Pindaric Odes strong opposition was raised -by the dramatist Congreve, who in a special _Discourse on the Pindaric -Ode_ (Poets, vii. 509) proved that Pindar's odes were by no means -formed on the model of such an arbitrary strophic structure as that of -the so-called Pindaric Odes which had hitherto been popular in English -poetry. To refute this false view he explained and emphasized their -actual structure (see § 303), which he imitated himself in his Pindaric -Ode addressed to the Queen, written soon after May 20, 1706, and -composed in anisometrical rhyming verses. He was mistaken, however, in -thinking that he was the first to make this attempt in English. Nearly -a hundred years before him, Ben Jonson had imitated Pindar's odic form -on exactly the same principles; in his _Ode Pindaric_ to the memory -of Sir Lucius Carey and Sir H. Morison (_Poets_, iv. 585) we have the -strophe (_turn_), antistrophe (_counter-turn_), and the epode (_stand_), -recurring four times (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 525). Ben Jonson, however, -found no followers; so that his attempt had remained unknown even to -Congreve. The regular Pindaric Odes by this poet, on the other hand, -called forth a great many imitations of a similar kind and structure. -For this reason the first three stanzas of Congreve's _Pindaric Ode_ -(Poets, vii. 570) may be quoted here as an example, the scheme of the -strophe and antistrophe being _a a5 b3 c c4 b5 b6_, that of the -epode _a b a b4 c5 d4 c3 d4 e4 e f g3 g4 f5_: - - THE STROPHE. - - _Daughter of memory, immortal muse, - Calliope; what poet wilt thou choose, - Of Anna's name to sing? - To whom wilt thou thy fire impart, - Thy lyre, thy voice, and tuneful art; - Whom raise sublime on thy aethereal wing, - And consecrate with dews of thy Castalian spring?_ - - THE ANTISTROPHE. - - _Without thy aid, the most aspiring mind - Must flag beneath, to narrow flights confin'd, - Striving to rise in vain: - Nor e'er can hope with equal lays - To celebrate bright virtue's praise. - Thy aid obtain'd, ev'n I, the humblest swain, - May climb Pierian heights, and quit the lowly plain._ - - THE EPODE. - - _High in the starry orb is hung, - And next Alcides' guardian arm, - That harp to which thy Orpheus sung - Who woods, and rocks, and winds could charm; - That harp which on Cyllene's shady hill, - When first the vocal shell was found, - With more than mortal skill - Inventor Hermes taught to sound: - Hermes on bright Latona's son, - By sweet persuasion won, - The wondrous work bestow'd; - Latona's son, to thine - Indulgent, gave the gift divine; - A god the gift, a god th' invention show'd._ - -The most celebrated among the later Pindaric Odes formed on similar -principles are Gray's odes _The Progress of Poesy_ (Poets, x. 218) and -_The Bard_ (ib. 220). References to other odes are given in _Metrik_, -ii, § 527. - -In dramatic poetry M. Arnold attempted to imitate the structure of -the different parts of the Chorus of Greek tragedy in his fragment -_Antigone_ (p. 211), and more strictly in his tragedy _Merope_ (p. -350). It would lead us too far, however, to give a detailed description -of the strophic forms occurring there. - -With regard to other lyrical pieces in masques and operas (also of an -unequal-membered strophic structure) and with regard to cantata-stanzas -and other stanzas differing among themselves, in other poems which -cannot be further discussed here, we must refer the reader to §§ 528-31 -of our larger work. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE SONNET - - -§ =306. Origin of the English Sonnet.= In early Provençal and French -poetry certain lyric poems are found which were called _Son_, sometimes -_Sonet_, although they had neither a fixed extent, nor a regulated -form. But the Sonnet[197] in its exact structure was introduced into -French, Spanish, and English poetry from Italian, and as a rule on -the model, or at least under the influence, of Petrarch's sonnets. In -English literature, however, the sonnet in part had a more independent -development than it had in other countries, and followed its Italian -model at first only in the number and nature of the verses used in it. -Generally speaking, the Italian and the English sonnet can be defined -as a short poem, complete in itself, consisting of fourteen five-foot -(or eleven-syllabled) iambic lines, in which a single theme, a thought -or series of thoughts, is treated and brought to a conclusion. In the -rhyme-arrangement and the structure of the poem, however, the English -sonnet, as a rule, deviates greatly from its Italian model, and the -examples in which its strict form is followed are comparatively rare. - -§ =307.= The Italian Sonnet consists of two parts distinguished from -each other by difference of rhymes, each of the parts having its own -continuous system of rhymes. The first part is formed of two quatrains -(_basi_), i.e. stanzas of four lines; the second of two terzetti -(_volte_), stanzas of three lines. The two quatrains have only two, the -terzetti two or three rhymes. - -The usual rhyme-arrangement in the quatrains is _a b b a [] a b b a_, -more rarely _a b b a [] b a a b_ (_rima chiusa_). There are, however, -also sonnets with alternate rhymes, _a b a b [] a b a b or a b a b [] -b a b a_ (_rima alternata_); but the combination of the two kinds of -rhyme, _a b a b [] b a a b_ or _a b b a [] a b a b_ (_rima mista_), was -unusual. In the second part, consisting of six lines, the order of -rhymes is not so definitely fixed. When only two rhymes are used, which -the old metrists, as Quadrio (1695-1756), the Italian critic and -historian of literature, regarded as the only legitimate method, the -usual sequence is _cdc [] dcd_ (crossed rhymes, _rima alternata_). This -form occurs 112 times in those of Petrarch's[198] sonnets which have -only two rhymes in the last part, their number being 124; in the -remaining twelve sonnets the rhyme-system is either _c d d [] c d c_ or -_c d d [] d c c_. In the second part of Petrarch's sonnets three rhymes -are commoner than two. In most cases we have the formula _c d e [] c d -e_, which occurs in 123 sonnets, while the scheme _c d e [] d c e_ is -met with only in 78 sonnets. The three chief forms, then, of Petrarch's -sonnet may be given with Tomlinson[199] as built on the following models: - - _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d e [] c d e_, _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d c - [] d c d_, _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d e [] d c e._ - -In the seventy-second and seventy-fourth sonnet we have the unusual -schemes _c d e [] e d c_ and _c d e [] d e c_. The worst form, according -to the Italian critics, was that which ended in a rhyming couplet. -This kind of ending, as we shall see later on, is one of the chief -characteristics of the specifically English form of the sonnet. - -The original and oldest form of the sonnet, however, as recent inquiries -seem to show, was that with crossed rhymes both in the quatrains and -in the terzetti, on the scheme _a b a b [] a b a b [] c d c [] d c d_. -But this variety had no direct influence on the true English form, in -which a system of crossed rhymes took a different arrangement. - -An essential point, then, in the Italian sonnet is the bipartition, -the division of it into two chief parts; and this rule is so strictly -observed that a carrying on of the sense, or the admission of -_enjambement_ between the two main parts, connecting the eighth and -ninth verse of the poem by a run-on line, would be looked upon as a -gross offence against the true structure and meaning of this poetic -form. Nor would a run-on line be allowed between the first and the -second stanza; indeed some poets, who follow the strict form of the -sonnet, do not even admit _enjambement_ between the first and the second -terzetto, although for the second main part of the poem this has never -become a fixed rule. - -The logical import of the structure of the sonnet, as understood by the -earlier theorists, especially Quadrio, is this: The first quatrain -makes a statement; the second proves it; the first terzetto has to -confirm it, and the second draws the conclusion of the whole. - -§ =308.= The structure of this originally Italian poetic form may be -illustrated by the following sonnet, equally correct in form and -poetical in substance, in which Theodore Watts-Dunton sets forth the -essence of this form of poetry itself: - - THE SONNET'S VOICE. - - A metrical lesson by the sea-shore. - - _Yon silvery billows breaking on the beach - Fall back in foam beneath the star-shine clear, - The while my rhymes are murmuring in your ear - A restless lore like that the billows teach; - For on these sonnet-waves my soul would reach - From its own depths, and rest within you, dear, - As, through the billowy voices yearning here, - Great nature strives to find a human speech._ - - _A sonnet is a wave of melody: - From heaving waters of the impassioned soul - A billow of tidal music one and whole - Flows in the 'octave'; then, returning free, - Its ebbing surges in the 'sestet' roll - Back to the deeps of Life's tumultuous sea._ - -Although the run-on line between the terzetti is perhaps open to a -slight objection, the rhyme-arrangement is absolutely correct, the -inadmissible rhyming couplet at the end of the poem being of course -avoided. Other sonnets on the sonnet written in English, German, or -French, are quoted in _Metrik_, ii, § 534. - -§ =309.= The first English sonnet-writers, Wyatt and Surrey, departed -considerably from this strict Italian form, although they both -translated sonnets written by Petrarch into English. Their chief -deviation from this model is that, while retaining the two quatrains, -they break up the second chief part of the sonnet, viz. the terzetti, -into a third quatrain (with separate rhymes) and a rhyming couplet. -Surrey went still further in the alteration of the original sonnet by -changing the arrangement and the number of rhymes in the quatrains also, -whereas Wyatt, as a rule, in this respect only exceptionally deviated -from the structure of the Italian sonnet. The greater part of Wyatt's -sonnets (as well as Donne's, cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 541) have therefore -the scheme _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d d c [] e e_, whereas other forms, -as e.g. _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d [] c d [] e e_ occur only -occasionally (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 535). - -This order of rhymes, on the other hand, was frequently used by Sir -Philip Sidney, who on the whole followed the Italian model, and -sometimes employed even more accurate Italian forms, avoiding the final -rhyming couplet (cf. ib. § 538). He also invented certain extended and -curtailed sonnets which are discussed in _Metrik_, ii, §§ 539, 540. - -§ =310.= Of greater importance is Surrey's transformation of the Italian -sonnet, according to the formula _abab cdcd efefgg_. This variety of the -sonnet--which, we may note in passing, Surrey also extended into a -special poetic form consisting of several such quatrains together with a -final rhyming couplet (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 537)--was very much in favour -in the sixteenth and at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Samuel -Daniel, and above all Shakespeare, wrote their sonnets mainly[200] in -this form, sometimes combining a series of them in a closely connected -cycle. As a specimen of this most important form we quote the eighteenth -of Shakespeare's sonnets: - - _Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? - Thou art more lovely and more temperate: - Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, - And summer's lease hath all too short a date: - Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, - And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; - And every fair from fair sometime declines, - By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; - But thy eternal summer shall not fade - Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; - Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, - When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: - So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, - So long lives this, and this gives life to thee._ - -Commonly the concluding couplet contains an independent thought which -gives a conclusion to the poem. In certain cases, however, the thought -of the previous stanza is carried on in the closing couplet by means of -a run-on line, as is the case in Nos. 71, 72, 108, 154, &c. Sometimes, -of course, a run-on line connects different portions of the sonnet -also, as e.g. Nos. 114, 129, 154, &c. The rhymes, as a rule, are -masculine, but not exclusively so. - -§ =311.= Meanwhile, another interesting form had been introduced, -perhaps by the Scottish poet, Alex. Montgomerie,[201] which was -subsequently chiefly used by Spenser. When about seventeen Spenser had -translated the sonnets of the French poet, Du Bellay, in blank verse, -and thereby created the rhymeless form of the sonnet, which, however, -although not unknown in French poetry, was not further cultivated. About -twenty years later he re-wrote the same sonnets in the form introduced -by Surrey. Some years after he wrote a series of sonnets, called -_Amoretti_, in that peculiar and very fine form which, although perhaps -invented by Montgomerie, now bears Spenser's name. The three quatrains -in this form of the sonnet are connected by _concatenatio_, the final -verse of each quatrain rhyming with the first line of the next, while -the closing couplet stands separate. The scheme of this form, then, -_a b a b [] b c b c [] c d c d [] e e_; it found, however, but few -imitators (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 542, 543, 559, note 1). - -The various forms of Drummond of Hawthornden's sonnets had also no -influence on the further development of this kind of poetry and -therefore need not be discussed here. It may suffice to say that he -partly imitated the strict Italian form, partly modified it; and that he -also used earlier English transformations and invented some new forms -(cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 547, 548). - -§ =312.= A new and important period in the history of sonnet writing, -although it was only of short duration, began with Milton. Not a single -one of his eighteen English and five Italian sonnets is composed on the -model of those by Surrey and Shakespeare or in any other genuine English -form. He invariably used the Italian rhyme-arrangement _a b b a a b -b a_ in the quatrains, combined with the strict Italian order in the -terzetti: _c d c d c d_, _c d d c d c_, _c d e c d e_, _c d c e e d_, _c -d e d c e_; only in one English and in three Italian sonnets we find the -less correct Italian form with the final rhyming couplet on the schemes -_c d d c e e_, _c d c d e e_. - -One chief rule, however, of the Italian sonnet, viz. the logical -separation of the two main parts by a break in the sense, is observed -by Milton only in about half the number of his sonnets; and the -above-mentioned relationship of the single parts of the sonnet to each -other according to the strict Italian rule (cf. pp. 372-3 and _Metrik_, -ii, § 533, pp. 839-40) is hardly ever met with in Milton. He therefore -imitated the Italian sonnet only in its form, and paid no regard to the -relationship of its single parts or to the distribution of the contents -through the quatrains and terzets. In this respect he kept to the -monostrophic structure of the specifically English form of the sonnet, -consisting, as a rule, of one continuous train of thought. - -Milton also introduced into English poetry the playful variety of the -so-called tail-sonnet on the Italian model (_Sonetti codati_), a sonnet, -extended by six anisometrical verses, with the scheme _a b b a [] a b b -a [] c d e d e c5 [] c3 f f5 f3 g g5_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 549), -which, however, did not attract many imitators (Milton, ii. 481-2). - -After Milton sonnet-writing was discontinued for about a century. The -poets of the Restoration period and of the first half of the eighteenth -century (Cowley, Waller, Dryden, Pope, Gay, Akenside, Young, Thomson, -Goldsmith, Johnson, and others) did not write a single sonnet, and seem -to have despised this form of poetry (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 550). - -§ =313.= When sonnet-writing was revived in the second half of the -eighteenth century by T. Edwards, who composed some fifty sonnets, -by Gray, by Benjamin Stillingfleet, T. Warton, and others of less -importance, as well as by Charlotte Smith, Helen M. Williams, Anna -Seward, the male poets preferred the strict Italian form, while the -poetesses, with the exception of Miss Seward, adopted that of Surrey and -Shakespeare (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 551). - -Not long afterwards another very popular and prolific sonnet-writer, -William Lisle Bowles, followed in some of his sonnets the strict Italian -model (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 552), but also wrote sonnets (towards the end -of the eighteenth century) on a scheme that had previously been used by -Drummond, viz. _a b b a [] c d d c [] e f f e g g_, this formula -representing a transition form from the Italian to Surrey's sonnet, with -enclosing rhymes in the quatrains instead of crossed rhymes (cf. _Metrik_, -ii, § 546, p. 860). - -Bowles's example induced S. T. Coleridge to write his sonnets, which in -part combined in the quatrains enclosing and crossed rhyme (_a b b a [] -c d c d [] e f e f g g_ or _a b a b [] c d d c [] e f f e f e_; cf. -_Metrik_, ii, § 553). - -Similar, even more arbitrary forms and rhyme-arrangements, the terzetti -being sometimes placed at the beginning (e.g. No. 13, _a a b c c b d e -d e f e f e_) of the poem, occur in Southey's sonnets, which, fine as -they sometimes are in thought, have in their form hardly any resemblance -to the original Italian model except that they contain fourteen lines. -They had, however, like those of Drummond, no further influence, and -therefore need not be discussed here (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 554). - -§ =314.= A powerful impulse was given to sonnet-writing by Wordsworth, -who wrote about 500 sonnets, and who, not least on account of his -copiousness, has been called the English Petrarch. He, indeed, followed -his Italian model more closely than his predecessors with regard to the -form and the relationship of the different parts to each other. - -The usual scheme of his quatrains is _a b b a, a b b a_, but there is -also a form with a third rhyme _a b b a, a c c a_, which frequently -occurs. The rhyme-arrangement of the terzetti is exceedingly various, -and there are also a great many sub-species with regard to the structure -of the first part. Very often the first quatrain has enclosing rhymes -and the second crossed rhymes, or vice versa; these being either formed -by two or three rhymes. As the main types of the Wordsworth sonnet the -following, which, however, admit of many variations in the terzetti, may -be mentioned: _a b b a [] b a b a [] c d e [] c e d_ (ii. 303), _a b b a -[] a b a b [] c d e [] e d c_ (viii. 57), _a b a b [] b a a b [] c d c -[] d c d_ (vi. 113), _a b a b [] a b b a [] c d d [] c d c_ (viii. 29), -_a b b a a c a c d e e d e d_ (vii. 82), _a b b a c a c a [] d e d e e -d_ (viii. 109) or _a b b a [] c a c a [] d e d e f f_ (viii. 77), &c., -_a b a b [] b c c b [] d e f e f d_ (vii. 29). There are of this type -also forms in which the terzetti have the structure _d d f e e f_ (vii. -334), or _d e f d e f_ (viii. 68), &c., and _a b a b [] a c a c [] d e d -e d e_ (viii. 28). Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 555. - -Very often Wordsworth's sonnets differ from those of the Italian poets -and agree with the Miltonic type in that the two chief parts are not -separated from each other by a pause[202]; and even if there is no -run-on line the train of thought is continuous. For this reason his -sonnets give us rather the impression of a picture or of a description -than of a reflective poem following the Italian requirements, according -to which the sonnet should consist of: assertion (quatrain i), proof -(quatrain ii), confirmation (terzet i), conclusion (terzet ii) (cf. p. -373). The following sonnet by Wordsworth, strictly on the Italian model -in its rhyme-arrangement, may serve as an example: - - _With Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh, - Like stars in heaven, and joyously it showed; - Some lying fast at anchor in the road, - Some veering up and down, one knew not why. - A goodly Vessel did I then espy - Come like a giant from a haven broad; - And lustily along the bay she strode, - Her tackling rich, and of apparel high. - This Ship was nought to me, nor I to her, - Yet I pursued her with a Lover's look; - This ship to all the rest did I prefer: - When will she turn, and whither? She will brook - No tarrying; where She comes the winds must stir: - On went She, and due north her journey took._ - -Sonnets, however, like the following, entitled _A Parsonage in -Oxfordshire_ (vi. 292), give to a still greater extent the impression of -monostrophic poems on account of the want of distinct separation between -the component parts: - - _Where holy ground begins, unhallowed ends, - Is marked by no distinguishable line; - The turf unites, the pathways intertwine; - And, wheresoe'er the stealing footstep tends, - Garden, and that Domain where kindreds, friends, - And neighbours rest together, here confound - Their several features, mingled like the sound - Of many waters, or as evening blends - With shady night. Soft airs, from shrub and flower, - Waft fragrant greetings to each silent grave; - And while those lofty poplars gently wave - Their tops, between them comes and goes a sky - Bright as the glimpses of eternity, - To saints accorded in their mortal hour._ - -The strophic character of many sonnets is still more visible both in -Wordsworth and some earlier poets (as e.g. Sidney or Shakespeare) when -several consecutive sonnets on the same subject are so closely connected -as to begin with the words _But_ or _Nor_, as e.g. in Wordsworth's -_Ecclesiastical Sonnets_ (XI, XV, XVIII, XXIII); or when sonnets (cf. -the same collection, No. XXXII) end like the Spenserian stanza in an -Alexandrine. This peculiarity, which, of course, does not conform to the -strict and harmonious structure of the sonnet, and is found as early as -in a sonnet by Burns (p. 119), sometimes occurs in later poets also.[203] - -Wordsworth has had an undoubtedly great influence on the further -development of sonnet-writing, which is still extensively practised both -in England and America. - -§ =315.= None of the numerous sonnet-writers of the nineteenth century, -however, brought about a new epoch in this kind of poetry. They, as a -rule, confined themselves to either one or other of the four chief forms -noted above, viz.: - -1. The specifically English form of Surrey and Shakespeare, used e.g. by -Keats, S. T. Coleridge, Mrs. Hemans, C. Tennyson Turner, Mrs. Browning, -M. Arnold (pp. 37, 38) (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 566). - -2. The Wordsworth sonnet, approaching to the Italian sonnet in its -form or rather variety of forms; it occurs in S. T. Coleridge, Hartley -Coleridge, Sara Coleridge, Byron, Mrs. Hemans, Lamb, Tennyson, D. G. -Rossetti, M. Arnold (pp. 1-8) (cf. ib. §§ 561-2). - -3. The Miltonic form, correct in its rhymes but not in the relationship -of its different parts to one another, used by Keats, Byron, Aubrey de -Vere, Lord Houghton, Mrs. Browning, Rossetti, Swinburne, and others (cf. -ib. § 563). - -4. The strict Italian form, as we find it in Keats, Byron, Leigh Hunt, -Aubrey de Vere, Tennyson, Browning, Mrs. Browning, Austin Dobson, -Rossetti, Swinburne, M. Arnold (pp. 179-85), and most poets of the -modern school (cf. ib. §§ 564-5). - - -NOTES: - - [188] Stanzas of six and twelve lines formed on the same principle - (_a a a b b b_ and _a a b b c c d d e e f f_) are very rare. - For specimens see _Metrik_, ii, § 363. - - [189] Cf. O. Wilda, _Über die örtliche Verbreitung der zwölfzeiligen - Schweifreimstrophe in England_, Breslau Dissertation, Breslau, - 1887. - - [190] This is a stanza of four iambic lines alternately of four and - three feet with masculine endings, usually rhyming _a b a b_. - - [191] _Chaucerian and other Pieces, &c._, ed. Skeat, Oxford, 1897, - p. 347. - - [192] This form of stanza is of great importance in the anisometrical - 'lays', which cannot be discussed in this place (cf. _Metrik_, - i, § 168). In these poems the strophic arrangement is not - strictly followed throughout, but only in certain parts; a - general conformity only is observed in these cases. - - [193] As to this form cf. _Huchown's Pistel of Swete Susan_, - herausgeg. von Dr. H. Köster, Strassburg, 1895 (_Quellen und - Forschungen_, 76), pp. 15-36. - - [194] Cf. R. Brotanek, _Alexander Montgomerie_, Vienna, 1896. - - [195] It is worth noticing that there are also tripartite stanzas in - Middle English, either allied to the bob-wheel stanza or - belonging to it, both in lyric and dramatic poetry; e.g. the - ten-lined stanza of a poem in Wright's _Songs and Carols_ (Percy - Soc., 1847), p. 15, on the scheme _A B A B C C C4 d1 D D4_ - (quoted in _Metrik_, i, p. 406); one of eleven lines according - to the formula _A A A4 B3 C C C4 B3 d1 B D3_ in the - _Towneley Mysteries_, p. 224 (quoted in _Metrik_, i, p. 407), - and one of thirteen lines, used in a dialogue, corresponding to - the scheme _A B A B A A B A A B3 c1 B3 C2_, ibid., pp. 135-9 - (quoted in _Metrik_, i, p. 408). - - [196] Cf. Karl Bartsch, 'Der Strophenbau in der deutschen Lyrik' - (_Germania_, ii, p. 290). - - [197] For titles of books and essays on the sonnet see _Englische - Metrik_, ii, pp. 836-7 note; cf. also L. Bladene, 'Morfologia - del Sonetto nei secoli XIII e XIV' (_Studi di Filologia - Romanza_, fasc. 10). - - [198] Cf. _Étude sur Joachim du Bellay et son rôle dans la réforme de - Ronsard_, par G. Plötz. Berlin, Herbig, 1874, p. 24. - - [199] _The Sonnet: Its Origin, Structure and Place in Poetry_, London, - 1874, 8º, p. 4. - - [200] For certain other varieties occasionally used by these poets see - _Metrik_, §§ 536 and 544-5. - - [201] Cf. _Studien über A. M._, von Oscar Hoffmann (Breslau - Dissertation), Altenburg, 1894, p. 32; _Engl. Studien_, xx. 49 - ff.; and Rud. Brotanek, _Wiener Beiträge_, vol. iii, pp. 122-3. - - [202] Cf. Wordsworth, _Prose Works,_ ed. Grosart, 1876, vol. iii, p. - 323, where he praises Milton for this peculiarity, showing - thereby that he was influenced in his sonnet-writing by Milton. - - [203] On Wordsworth's Sonnets see the Note on the Wordsworthian Sonnet - by Mr. T. Hutchinson, in his edition of _Poems in two volumes by - William Wordsworth_ (1807), London, 1897, vol. i, p. 208. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - OTHER ITALIAN AND FRENCH POETICAL FORMS - OF A FIXED CHARACTER - - -§ =316.= The =madrigal=, an Italian form (It. _mandriale_, -_madrigale_, from _mandra_ flock), is a pastoral song, a rural idyl. -The Italian madrigals of Petrarch, &c., are short, isometrical poems -of eleven-syllable verses, consisting of two or three terzetti with -different rhymes and two or four other rhyming verses, mostly couplets: -_a b c [] a b c [] d d, a b a [] b c b [] c c, a b b [] a c c [] d d, -a b b [] c d d [] e e, a b b [] a c c [] c d d, a b a [] c b c [] d e [] -d e, a b b [] c d d [] e e [] f f, a b b [] c d d [] e f f [] g g._ - -The English madrigals found in Sidney and especially in Drummond -resemble the Italian madrigals only in subject; in their form they -differ widely from their models, as they consist of from fifteen to five -lines and have the structure of canzone-stanzas of three- and five-foot -verses. The stanzas run on an average from eight to twelve lines. As a -specimen the twelfth madrigal of Drummond (_Poets,_ iv. 644), according -to the formula _a3 a5 b3 a5 b3 b5 c5 c3 d d5_, may be quoted -here: - - _Trees happier far than I, - Which have the grace to heave your heads so high, - And overlook those plains: - Grow till your branches kiss that lofty sky, - Which her sweet self contains. - There make her know mine endless love and pains, - And how these tears which from mine eyes do fall, - Help you to rise so tall: - Tell her, as once I for her sake lov'd breath, - So for her sake I now court lingering death._ - -Other madrigals have the following schemes (the first -occurring twice in Sidney and once in Drummond, while the -rest are found in Drummond only): - -fifteen lines, _a3 a5 b3 c5 c3 b5 b3 d5 d3 e e5 d3 e f f5_; -fourteen lines, _a a3 a5 b3 c5 b3 c d5 e e3 d f5 d3 f5_; -thirteen lines, _a a3 b5 c c3 b5 c3 d d5 e3 f e f5_; twelve -lines, _a2 b5 b3 a5 c d3 d c5 c e3 f f5_; eleven lines, _a3 -b c a5 b d3 d e e f f5_; ten lines, _a b3 b a5 a c b3 c d d5_; -nine lines, _a3 a5 b c b3 c c d d5_; eight lines, _a3 a5 b b c3 -c d d5_; seven lines, _a b a3 c c5 a3 b5_; six lines, _a b b a c3 -c5_; five lines, _a b b3 a b5_. For specimens of these and other -madrigals in Drummond cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 508. - -§ =317.= Some poems in Drummond's and Sidney's works entitled epigrams -consist, as a rule, of two or more five-foot verses, rhyming in -couplets. In Sidney there are also short poems resembling these in -subject, but consisting of one-rhymed Alexandrines. We have also one in -R. Browning (iii. 146) of seven one-rhymed Septenary verses; several -others occur in D. G. Rossetti (ii. 137-40) of eight lines on the -schemes _a a4 b b4 a a4 b b4_ styled Chimes (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ -570, 571.) - -§ =318.= The =terza-rima=. Of much greater importance is another -Italian form, viz. a continuous stanza of eleven-syllable verses, the -terza-rima, the metre in which Dante wrote his Divina Commedia. It first -appears in English poetry in Chaucer's Complaint to his Lady, second and -third part,[204] but may be said to have been introduced into English -literature by Wyatt, who wrote satires and penitential psalms in this -form (Ald. ed. pp. 186-7, 209-34), and by Surrey in his _Description of -the restless state of a Lover_ (Ald. ed. p. 1). The rhyme-system of the -terza-rima is _a b a b c b c d c_, &c. That is to say, the first and -third lines of the first triplet rhyme together, while the middle line -has a different rhyme which recurs in the first and third line of the -second triplet; and in the same manner the first and third lines of each -successive triplet rhyme with the middle line of the preceding one, so -as to form a continuous chain of three-line stanzas of iambic five-foot -verses till the end of the poem, which is formed by a single line added -to the last stanza and rhyming with its second line. - -The first stanzas of Surrey's poem may be quoted here: - - _The sun hath twice brought forth his tender green, - Twice clad the earth in lively lustiness; - Once have the winds the trees despoiled clean, - And once again begins their cruelness; - Since I have hid under my breast the harm - That never shall recover healthfulness._ - - _The winter's hurt recovers with the warm; - The parched green restored is with shade; - What warmth, alas! may serve for to disarm - The frozen heart, that mine in flame hath made? - What cold again is able to restore - My fresh green years_, &c., &c. - -The terza-rima has not the compact structure of the sonnet, -as in each of its stanzas a rhyme is wanting which is only -supplied in the following stanza. For this reason it seems to -be especially adapted for epic or reflective poetry. - -Comparatively few examples of this form are met with in -English poetry, as e.g. in Sidney, S. Daniel, Drummond, -Milton, and Shelley (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 572). - -In Sidney and R. Browning (iii. 102) we also find a variety -of the terza-rima consisting of four-foot verses, and in Browning -some others formed of four-stressed verses (iv. 288). - -Some similar rhyme-systems of three lines, occurring in -Sidney and Drummond, are of less importance (cf. ib., § 573). - -§ =319.= Certain other varieties of the terza-rima, although found in -recent poets, need only be briefly noticed here. - -One of four lines on the model _a a b a5 [] b b c b5 [] c c d c5_, &c., -occurs in Swinburne, _Poems_, ii. 32, 34, 239; another on the scheme _a -a b a5, c c b c5, d d e d5_, &c., ib. i. 13; a third one, following -the formula _a b c3 b2, a b c3 b2, a b c3 b2_, called _Triads_, -ib. ii. 159 (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 564). - -Five-lined forms, similar to the terza-rima, occur in Sidney, e.g. -_abcdd, efghh, iklmm_, the rhymeless lines being connected by sectional -rhyme, the stanzas themselves likewise by sectional rhyme; another on -the model _a5 b3 c5 c3 B5, B5 d3 e5 e3 D5, D5 f3 g5 g3 F5_; and a third -on the scheme _a3 a5 b c3 b5, c3 c5 d e3 d5, e3 e5 f g3 f5_, &c. A -related form, _a b a b c4, c d c d e4, ... y z y z z4_, is found in Mrs. -Browning (iv. 44). For specimen cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 575. - -A terza-rima system of six lines may be better mentioned in this section -than together with the sub-varieties of the sextain, as was done in -_Metrik_, ii, §578; they pretty often occur in Sidney, e.g. _Pansies_, -ix (Grosart, i. 202), on the schemes _a b a b c b, c d c d e d, e f e f -g f, v w v w x w, ... x y x y z y y_. - -In Spenser's _Pastoral Aeglogue_ on Sidney (pp. 506-7) a rhyme-system -according to _a b c a b c5, d b e d f e5, g f h g i h5, k i l k m l5_, -&c. is met with; in Mrs. Browning (iii. 236) a much simpler system, -constructed of five-foot lines on the formula _a b a b a b c d c d c d e -f e f e f_, &c., is used. - -A system of ten lines, consisting of five-foot verses (_a b a b b c a e -d D, D e d e e f d f g G, G h g h h i g i k K_, &c., ending in a stanza -of four lines, _X y x y_) occurs in Sidney, pp. 218-20 (221-4, xxxi); -cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 580. - -§ =320.= Still less popular was another Italian poetical form, the -=sextain=, originally invented by the Provençal poet, Arnaut Daniel, -and for the first time reproduced in English poetry by Sidney in his -_Arcadia_. - -The sextain consists of eleven-syllabled or rather five-foot verses -and has six stanzas of six lines each, and an envoy of three lines -in addition. Each of the six stanzas, considered individually, is -rhymeless, and so is the envoy. But the end-words of the lines of each -stanza from the second to the sixth are identical with those of the -lines in the preceding stanza, but in a different order, viz. six, -one, five, two, four, three. In the envoy, the six end-words of the -first stanza recur, in the same order, alternately in the middle and -at the end of the line. Hence the whole system of rhymes (or rather of -recurrence of end-words) is as follows: _a b c d e f . f a e b d c . c -f d a b e . e c b f a d . d e a c f b . b d f e c a + (a) b (c) d (e) f_. - -The first two stanzas of Sidney's _Agelastus Sestine_, pp. 438-9 (426-7, -lxxiv), together with the envoy and with the end-words of the other -stanzas, may serve to make this clear: - - _Since wayling is a bud of causefull sorrow, - Since sorrow is the follower of evill fortune, - Since no evill fortune equals publike damage; - Now Prince's losse hath made our damage publike - Sorrow, pay we to thee the rights of Nature, - And inward griefe seale up with outward wayling._ - - _Why should we spare our voice from endlesse wayling - Who iustly make our hearts the seate of sorrow, - In such a case, where it appears that Nature - Doth adde her force unto the sting of Fortune! - Choosing, alas, this our theatre publike, - Where they would leave trophees of cruell damage._ - -The other stanzas have the corresponding rhyme-words in this order: - - III IV V VI - _damage Nature publike fortune - wayling damage nature publike - publike Fortune sorrow wayling - sorrowe wayling damage nature - fortune sorrowe wayling damage - Nature publike fortune sorrow_ - -The envoy is: - - _Since sorrow, then, concludeth all our fortune, - With all our deaths shew we this damage publique: - His nature feares to dye, who lives still wayling._ - -This strict form of the sextain, which in Sidney, pp. 216-17 (219-21, -xxx), occurs even with a twofold rhyming system, but, of course, with -only one envoy, has, as far as we know, only once been imitated in -modern poetry, viz. by E. W. Gosse (_New Poems_). Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § -576. - -§ =321.= Besides this original form of the sextain several other -varieties are met with in English poetry. Thus Spenser, in the eighth -eclogue of his _Shepherd's Calendar_ (pp. 471-2), has a sextain of a -somewhat different structure, the rhymeless end-words being arranged in -this order: _a b c d e f. f a b c d e. e f a b c d. d e f a b c. c d e f -a b. b c d e f a + (a) b (c) d (e) f_. Here the final word of the last -verse of the first stanza, it is true, is also used as final word in the -first verse of the second stanza, but the order of the final words of -the other verses of the first stanza remains unchanged in the second. -The same relation of the end-words exists between st. ii to st. iii, -between st. iii to st. iv, &c., and lastly between st. vi and the envoy; -the envoy, again, has the end-words of the first stanza; those which -have their place in the interior of the verse occur at the end of the -third measure. - -Some other sub-varieties of the sextain have rhyming final words in each -stanza. - -In Sidney's _Arcadia_, p. 443 (430-1, lxxvi), e.g. one sextain has -the following end-words: _light_, _treasure_, _might_, _pleasure_, -_direction_, _affection_. These end-words recur in the following stanzas -in the order of the regular sextain; hence st. ii has _affection_, -_light_, _direction_, _treasure_, _pleasure_, _might_, &c. In this -variety, also, the rhyme-words of the envoy occur at a fixed place, viz. -at the end of the second measure. Drummond wrote two sextains of the -same elegant form. - -In Swinburne also (_Poems_, ii. 46) we have a sextain of rhymed stanzas, -the first stanza rhyming _day_, _night_, _way_, _light_, _may_, -_delight_. All these recur in the following stanzas in a similar order, -though not so strictly observed as in the sextain by Spenser, mentioned -above (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 577). - -One example (probably unique in English poetry) of what is known as the -_Double Sextain_ is found in Swinburne's _The Complaint of Lisa_ (Poems, -ii. 60-8), a poem in which he has given one of the most brilliant -specimens of his skill in rhyming. It consists of twelve twelve-lined -stanzas and a six-lined envoy. The first two stanzas rhyme _a b c A B d -C e f E D F_, _F a f D A C b e c E d B_; the envoy on the scheme - - _(F) E (e) f (C) A (c) d (b) a (D) B_; - -where the corresponding capital and small letters denote different -words rhyming with each other. Cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 581. - -§ =322.=. Side by side with these well-known poems of fixed form, mostly -constructed on Italian models, there are some others influenced by -French poetry which have been introduced into English for the most part -by contemporary modern poets, as e.g. Swinburne, Austin Dobson, Robert -Bridges, D.G. Rossetti, A. Lang, and E.W. Gosse[205]. These are the -virelay, roundel, rondeau, triolet, villanelle, ballade, and chant -royal. The =virelay= seems to have been in vogue in earlier English -poetry. Chaucer, e.g. in his _Legende of good Women_, v. 423, says of -himself that he had written _balades_, _roundels_, and _virelayes_. But -only isolated specimens of it have been preserved; in more recent times -it has not been imitated at all. - -According to Lubarsch[206] the virelay consists of verses of unequal -length, joined by _concatenatio_ so as to form stanzas of nine lines on -the scheme: _a a b a a b a a b, b b c b b c b b c, c c d c c d c c d, -&c._ - -Apart from this, however, there were undoubtedly other forms in -existence (cf. Bartsch, _Chrestomathie de l'ancien français_, p. 413). -Morris, in the Aldine edition of Chaucer's Works, vol. vi, p. 305, gives -a virelay of two-foot iambic verses in six-lined stanzas on the model - - _a a a b a a a b, b b b c b b b c c c c d c c c d_, &c. - -(quoted _Metrik_, i, § 155). - -§ =323.=. The =roundel=, used by Eustache Deschamps, Charles d'Orléans, -and others, was introduced into English poetry, it seems, by Chaucer. -But there are only a few roundels of his in existence; one of these -occurs in _The Assembly of Fowles_ (ll. 681-8); if the verses of the -burden are repeated, as printed in the Globe Edition, pp. 638-9, it has -thirteen lines (=a b b= _a b_ =a b= _a b b_ =a b b=, the thick types -showing the refrain-verses): - - _Now welcom, somer, with thy sonne softe, - That hast this wintres weders overshake - And driven awey the longe nyghtes blake;_ - - _Seynt Valentyn, that art ful by on lofte, - Thus syngen smale foules for thy sake: - Now welcom, somer, with thy sonne softe, - That hast this wintres weders overshake._ - - _Wel han they cause for to gladen ofte, - Sith ech of hem recovered hath his make; - Ful blisful mowe they ben when they awake. - Now welcom, somer, with thy sonne softe, - That hast this wintres weders overshake - And driven awey the longe nyghtes blake._ - -Three other roundels of Chaucer on the scheme last mentioned have been -published lately by Skeat in _Chaucer's Minor Poems_, pp. 386-7; some -other Middle English roundels were written by Hoccleve and Lydgate. - -In French the roundel was not always confined to one particular metre, -nor did it always consist of a fixed number of verses; the same may be -said of the English roundels. - -The essential condition of this form, as used by the French poets, was -that two, three, or four verses forming a refrain must recur three times -at fixed positions in a tripartite isometrical poem consisting mostly of -thirteen or fourteen four- or five-foot verses. A common form of the -French roundel consisted of fourteen octosyllabic verses on the model - - _=a b= b a a b =a b= a b b a =a b=._ - -Conforming to this scheme is a roundel by Lydgate[207]: - - _Rejoice ye reames of England and of Fraunce! - A braunche that sprange oute of the floure de lys, - Blode of seint Edward and [of] seint Lowys, - God hath this day sent in governaunce._ - - _God of nature hath yoven him suffisaunce - Likly to atteyne to grete honure and pris. - Rejoice ye reames of England and of Fraunce! - A braunche hath sprung oute of the floure de lys._ - - _O hevenly blossome, o budde of all plesaunce, - God graunt the grace for to ben als wise - As was thi fader, by circumspect advise, - Stable in vertue withoute variaunce. - Rejoice ye reames of England and of Fraunce, - A braunche hath sprung oute of the floure de lys._ - -Another roundel of four-foot verses, by Lydgate (Ritson, i. 129), -corresponds to _=a b= a b a b =a b= a b a b =a b=_ (cf. _Metrik_, i, § -180); some other roundels, of a looser structure, consisting, seemingly, -of ten lines, are quoted in the same place (cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 583). - -A Modern English roundel of fourteen lines, constructed of three-foot -verses, by Austin Dobson, has the scheme _=a b= a b b a =a b= a b a b_ -=a b= (quoted ib. § 583). The French roundel of thirteen lines may be -looked upon as a preliminary form to the rondeau, which was developed -from the roundel at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the -sixteenth century. - -§ =324.= The =rondeau= is a poem consisting of thirteen lines of eight -or ten syllables, or four or five measures. It has three stanzas of -five, three, and five lines, rhyming on the scheme _a a b b a [] a -a b [] a a b b a_. It has, moreover, a refrain which is formed by -the first words of the first line, and recurs twice, viz. after the -eighth and thirteenth verses, with which it is syntactically connected. -Strictly speaking it therefore has fifteen lines, corresponding to the -scheme _a a b b a [] a a b_ + _r [] a a b b a_ + _r_. The rondeau was -much cultivated by the French poet, Clément Marot. It was introduced -into English by Wyatt, from whom the rondeau _Complaint for True Love -unrequited_ (p. 23) may be quoted here: - - _What 'vaileth truth, or by it to take pain? - To strive by steadfastness for to attain - How to be just, and flee from doubleness? - Since all alike, where ruleth craftiness, - Rewarded is both crafty, false, and plain._ - - _Soonest he speeds that most can lie and feign: - True meaning heart is had in high disdain, - Against deceit and cloaked doubleness, - What 'vaileth truth?_ - - _Deceived is he by false and crafty train, - That means no guile, and faithful doth remain - Within the trap, without help or redress: - But for to love, lo, such a stern mistress, - Where cruelty dwells, alas, it were in vain. - What 'vaileth truth?_ - -This is the proper form of the rondeau. Other forms deviating from it -are modelled on the schemes: - - _a a b b a [] b b a_ + _r [] b b a a b_ + _r_ (Wyatt, p. 24), - _a a b b a_ + _r [] c c b_ + _r [] a a b b a_ + _r_ (ib. p. 26), - _a b b a a b_ + _r [] a b b a_ + _r_ (D. G. Rossetti, i. 179). - -Austin Dobson, Robert Bridges, and Theo. Marzials strictly follow the -form quoted above. - -Another form of the rondeau entirely deviating from the above is found -in Swinburne, _A Century of Roundels_,[208] where he combines verses of -the most varied length and rhythm on the scheme _ABA_ + _b BAB ABA_ + -_b_ where _b_ denotes part of a verse, rhyming with the second, but -repeated from the beginning of the first verse and consisting of one or -several words (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 584, 585). - -§ =325.= The triolet and the villanelle are unusual forms occurring only -in modern poets, e.g. Dobson and Gosse. - -The =triolet=, found as early as in Adenet-le-Roi at the beginning of -the thirteenth century, is a short poem of eight mostly octosyllabic -verses, rhyming according to the formula =a b= _a_ =a= _a b_ =ab=, the -first verse recurring as a refrain in the fourth, the first and second -together in the seventh and eighth place. Two specimens have been -quoted, _Metrik_, ii, § 586. - -§ =326.= The =villanelle= (a peasant song, rustic ditty, from -_villanus_) was cultivated by Jean Passerat (1534-1602); in modern -poetry by Th. de Banville, L. Baulmier, &c. It mostly consists of -octosyllabic verses divided into five stanzas (sometimes a larger or -smaller number) of three lines plus a final stanza of four lines, the -whole corresponding to the scheme =a=¹ _b_ =a=² + _a b_ =a=¹ + _a b_ -=a=² + _a b_ =a=¹ + _a b_ =a=² + _a b_ =a=¹ =a=². Hence the first -and the third verses of the first stanza are used alternately as a -refrain to form the last verse of the following stanzas, while in the -last stanza both verses are used in this way. A villanelle by Gosse on -this model consisting of eight stanzas, perhaps the only specimen in -English literature, has been quoted, _Metrik_, ii, § 587. - -§ =327.= The =ballade= is a poetical form consisting of somewhat longer -stanzas all having the same rhymes. Several varieties of it existed in -Old French poetry. The two most usual forms are that with octosyllabic -and that with decasyllabic lines. The first form is composed of three -stanzas of eight lines on the model _a b a b b c b C_ (cf. § 269). The -rhymes in each stanza agree with those of the corresponding lines in the -two others, the last line, which is identical in all the three, forming -the refrain; this refrain-verse recurs also at the end of the _envoi_, -which corresponds in its structure to the second half of the main -stanza, according to the formula _b c b C_. The decasyllabic form has -three stanzas of ten verses on the scheme _a b a b b c c d c D_ (cf. -§ 271), and an _envoi_ of five verses on the scheme _c c d c D_; the -same rules holding good in all other respects as in the eight-lined -form. It is further to be observed that the _envoi_ began, as a rule, -with one of the words _Prince_, _Princesse_, _Reine_, _Roi_, _Sire_, -either because the poem was addressed to some personage of royal or -princely rank, or because, originally, this address referred to the poet -who had been crowned as 'king' in the last poetical contest. - -In England also the ballade had become known as early as in the -fourteenth century. We have a collection of ballades composed in the -French language by Gower,[209] consisting of stanzas of either eight or -seven (_rhyme royal_) decasyllabic verses with the same rhyme throughout -the poem. Similar to the French are Chaucer's English ballades in his -Minor Poems, which, however, in so far differ from the regular form, -that the _envoi_ consists of five, six, or seven lines; in some of the -poems even there is no _envoi_ at all. Accurate reproductions of the Old -French ballade are not found again until recent times. There are -examples by Austin Dobson and especially by Swinburne _(A Midsummer -Holiday_, London, 1884). They occur in both forms, constructed as well -of four- and five-foot iambic, as of six-, seven-, or eight-foot -trochaic or of five- and seven-foot iambic-anapaestic verses. (For -specimens cf. _Metrik_, ii, § 588.) - -§ =328.= The =Chant Royal= is an extended ballade of five ten-lined -ballade-stanzas (of the second form mentioned above), instead of three, -together with an _envoi_. In Clément Marot we meet with another form of -five eleven-line stanzas of decasyllabic verses also with the same -rhymes throughout; the _envoi_ having five lines. The scheme is -_a b a b c c d d e d E_ in the stanzas and _d d e d E_ in the _envoi_. - -A Chant Royal by Gosse, composed on this difficult model (perhaps the -only specimen to be found in English poetry), is quoted _Metrik_, ii, § -589. - -A more detailed discussion of these French poetical forms of a fixed -character and of others not imitated in English poetry may be found in -Kastner's _History of French Versification_ (Oxford, at the Clarendon -Press, 1903), chapter x. Cf. also Edmund Stengel, _Romanische -Verslehre_, in Gröber's _Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie_ -(Strassburg, 1893), vol. ii, pp. 87 ff. - - -NOTES: - - [204] See Chaucer's Works, edited by W. W. Skeat, _Minor Poems_, pp. - 75-6, 310-11. - - [205] Cf. the essay by Gosse in _The Cornhill Magazine_, No. 211, July, - 1877, pp. 53-71. - - [206] _Französische Verslehre_, Berlin, 1879, p. 388. - - [207] Ritson's _Ancient Songs_, i. 128, written, it is true, in - five-foot verses; the repetition of the two refrain-verses in the - proper place, however, is not indicated in the edition, and a - slight emendation of the text is also required by the sense, viz. - _hath sprung_ instead of _that sprang_ in the last line. - - [208] London, Chatto & Windus, 1833. - - [209] _The Works of John Gower_, ed. G. C. Macaulay, Oxford, 1899, vol. - i, pp. 335 ff. - - - OXFORD: HORACE HART M.A. - PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY - - - - -Transcriber's Notes - -Footnotes have been moved to the end of the each chapter, and -renumbered consecutively to be unique. The sole footnote reference -on p. 250 was mis-numbered, and is corrected here as footnote 173. - -Characters modified by diacritical marks are used extensively. Where -the characters are not supported by the Latin-1 character sets, they -are rendered using square brackets and additional characters for the -diacritical marks. The macron, which appears frequently, is not -available in this character set, and will be rendered using '=', e.g. -[=o]. If the letter is further modified with acute or grave accents, -they will appear as [=ò] or [=ó]. Multiple marks are often required: -e.g., a 'y' with a macron and grave accent [`=y], or 'æ' with macron -and acute accent [=æ´]. Accents always appear atop the macron. - -Consonants printed with a small circle below them are rendered as [lo], -[mo], [no]. - -There are a number of symbols used to denote metrical features of the -text. A multiplication sign '×' will be used for the 'X' symbol for a -'mora', and a 'metrical breve' will be represented here as a right -parenthesis character ')'. Where they are accented, read `×, `) for -grave accents, and ×´, )´ for acute accents. A breve with macron is -rendered as =) and two adjacent breves sharing a common macron as =)). -A macron with a breve is rendered as )=. These symbols are separated -here by a single space to help keep them distinct. - -Where a slur (a breve spanning two words from below), was printed, -angle brackets are used: - - -´ >`) ×< | -´ ×. - -A longer, inverted breve, appearing above and joining two words is -shown as '<->': e.g.: - - _hire wýmpel<->ipynched was_. - -There are several Old English characters (yogh and the 'insular g') both -resembling the number '3'. The yogh, which is used frequently, will -appear as [gh], and the insular g, appearing only once, as [zh]. - -Italicized words or phrases are rendered using underscore characters -as _italic_. Any text printed in a bold font will appear as =bold=. - -All poetry was printed in italic. To highlight alliteration effects, -some characters were printed using a normal, bold font. In other places, -to indicate special rythyms, such as spondees in an otherwise iambic -line, the author used a normal font, without a bold weight, to show -the secondary stress. These vowels will be delimited with '+'. For -simplicity's sake, the entire line or lines will be _italicized_, and -the highlighted characters will be marked within: e.g., - - _=m=[=o]dum lufien | he is =m=ægna sp[=e]d,_ - -where the initial 'm' is printed in bold, normal font. - - '_The séa is at ébb, | and the sóund of her útmost wórd, - Is sóft as the l+éa+st w+a+ve's lápse | in a stíll sm+a+ll r+éa+ch. - From báy into báy, | on quést of a góal deférred, - From héadland éver to héadland | and bréach to bréach, - Where éarth gives éar | to the méssage that áll days préach._' - -Here, the entire verse is italic, but the +vowels+ are printed in a -normal, but not a bold font. Note that the vertical bars, in the -original, are never italicized. - -In sections § 25-30, the subtypes of line types A, B, C, etc. are -printed as 'A1', but in later sections these are printed as subscripts. -Both are given here as 'A1', etc. - -In the stanza notation employed in Book II, Chapter III, the number of -feet in a line are indicated as in italics, using single letters with -subscripts (both lower- and uppercase). The subscripts are simply -presented inline, again, spaced to make them distinct; e.g., - - _a a4 b3 c c4 b3_ - -Rhyming patterns can use extra spaces, which are indicated with []. - - _a b b a [] a b b a [] c d e d e c5 [] c3 f f5 f3 g g5_ - -There is also one superscripted '4', unsupported by this character set, -which uses the carat (^), i.e., 'Phonetik_^4'. - -There are a very few instances of Greek characters, which are here -transliterated as [Greek: xyz]. - -There are cases where punctuation, spelling or spacing seem questionable, -particularly in quoted matter. Minor inconsistencies of punctuation or -case in attributions are corrected, e.g., F. Q. I. [I/i]. 31; on p. -206. - -Where possible, these have been checked against images of the sources -Schipper used. Corrections made to the text are as follows: - -p. 46 Beow. 499[,] 1542, 2095, 2930 Missing comma added. - -p. 53 _ges[c´/é]aft_ The accent on 'c' is - likely a printer's - error. - -p. 76 _-en_, _-es_, _[-]eþ_ Added missing hyphen. - -p. 88 J. A. 31[.] Added missing stop. - -p. 100 _Nou haþ =p=rúde þe =p=[r´i/rí]s_ The accent on 'r' is - likely misplaced. - -p. 128 _Chambers's Cyclop. of Eng. Lit[.]_, Missing '.' in - abbreviation. - -p. 156 _in váyn_: _s[d/á]yen_ Sur. 31; Probable printer's error. - -p. 168 _prayer: p[r]ayr_ Missing 'r' inserted. - -p. 169 _carry 'em (=carry them_[)] Closing ')' inserted. - -p. 205 _How féw to g[oó/óo]d efféct_ Accent should appear - on first vowel. - -p. 216 that búd and blóom forth[ ]bríngs Missing space inserted. - -p. 224 (1550-1700),['] Spurious apostrophe - removed. - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of English Versification, by -Jakob Schipper - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION *** - -***** This file should be named 43352-8.txt or 43352-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/3/5/43352/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, Jonathan Ingram and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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