Nou here we mote in this sermon of ordre maky saȝe,Then was bytokned suithe wel wylom by the ealde laweTo aginne,Tho me made Godes hous and ministres therinne.
Nou here we mote in this sermon of ordre maky saȝe,Then was bytokned suithe wel wylom by the ealde laweTo aginne,Tho me made Godes hous and ministres therinne.
Nou here we mote in this sermon of ordre maky saȝe,
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 schemeA A B B6c1C6is found in the poemOn the evil Times of Edward II(Wright’sPolit. 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 formulaA B A B A B A B3c1A C3; cf. the last stanza:
King Edward, frely fode,In Fraunce he will noght blinTo make his famen wodeThat 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.
King Edward, frely fode,In Fraunce he will noght blinTo make his famen wodeThat 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.
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 B3c1B C3) is used in the Romance ofSir Tristrem; that of the Scottish poemChrist’s Kirk on the Green, however, is formed on the modelA4B3A4B3A4B3b1B4
§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’sPolit. Songs, p. 69 (cf. §60), on the schemeA A A A4B3c1C3B4, or ratherA A A A4b2c1c2B4, the bob-verse being thus inserted in thecauda. The common form comes out more clearly in another poem, ibid., p. 212 (st. 1, quoted pp. 100–1), corresponding toA A A A4b1c c2b2, whereA A A A4are verses of four stresses,b aone-stressed bob-verse or the half-verse of a long line,c c2b2half-verses of two stresses.The Tournament of Tottenham(Ritson’sAnc. Songs, i. 85–9) is written in a similar form of stanza with the formulaA A A A4b 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’sPolit. Songs, p. 153, the scheme beingA A A A4b b1b2orA A A A4b1b2b4(or, with the longer lines broken up,A B A B A B A B2c c1c2, orA B A B A B A B2c1c2C4, &c.).
Similar stanzas, especially those on the modelA A A A4b1c c c2b2(A B A B A B A B2c1d d d2c2) were much used in the mystery plays, as e.g. in theTowneley 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-linedfronsconsisting of long verses, rhyming crosswise and corresponding toA B A B A B A B4c1d d d2c2are 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 clergyAs mali actoris.
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 clergyAs mali actoris.
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 firstcauda-verse of which has four beats (on the schemeA B A B A B A B C4d d d c2), were also very much in vogue. Stanzas of this kind occur in the poemsGolagros and Gawane,The Buke of the Howlat,Rauf Coilȝear, andThe Awntyrs of Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne(S. T. S. vol. 28; cf. §61). An interesting variety of the common form (with a five-linedcauda) we have in the poemOf sayne John the Euangelist(E. E. T. S., 26, p. 87). The stanza consists of an eight-linedfronsof crossed rhymes and acaudaformed by a six-lined tail-rhyme stanza[192]of two-beat verses, on the schemeA B A B A B A B4c c d c c d2.
As to the rhythmical structure of the half-verses used in thecaudaof 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 schemesA B A B C C4d d1D4andA2A5B4C C5B4d1D E E5; or in a stanza of Ben Jonson in an ode to Wm. Sidney (Poets, iv. 558) on the modelA5B4c c1B3a d d e2E5, and in another inThe Dream(iv. 566),A A4B3C C4A5A4B3b1D D3E E4B5.
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 modelA A4B3c c1b2(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 motionsAre quickerAnd thickerWhere love hath its notions.
That none beguiled be by time’s quick flowing,Lovers have in their hearts a clock still going;For though time be nimble, his motionsAre quickerAnd thickerWhere love hath its notions.
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 schemesA A4a2b b3(ib. iii. 740),A A A4B B5c2c1C D4d2(ib. iii. 729),A A B B4c1c d2D5(ib. 739).
More similar to the older forms is a stanza of a song in Dryden formed afterA A B B C4d d e e2e3(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 modelA4B3A4B3c1B3, similar to the Shoreham stanza (cf. §264):
It was a’ for our rightfu’ kingWe left fair Scotland’s strand,It was a’ for our rightfu’ kingWe e’er saw Irish land,My dear;We e’er saw Irish land.
It was a’ for our rightfu’ kingWe left fair Scotland’s strand,It was a’ for our rightfu’ kingWe e’er saw Irish land,My dear;We e’er saw Irish land.
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 formulaA4B3A4B3a1B3inThen fare thee well, onA4B ~3A4B ~3c1B ~3inDear Fanny. Other stanzas by the same poet have a somewhat longercauda, asA4B ~3A4B ~3c ~ c ~ d ~ d ~1A4C ~3orA B ~ A B ~ C ~ C ~4d d2E F ~ E F ~4.
A stanza used by Sir Walter Scott inTo the Sub-Prior(p. 461) is formed on the modelA A B B4c1c2C4, thefronsconsisting 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.
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.
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 thefrons.
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 ~4c1(d)D4b ~1e e e c c2C4occurring in Shelley’sAutumn, 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).
§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 (fronsandcauda) 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 certainsix-lined stanzasconsisting of two equal parts and a third of the same structure (the formula beinga a b b c c4or the like), which now and then occur in theSurtees 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 blissesOf dear embraces, smiles and kisses,From my soul’s idol, yet complainOf equal love more than disdain.
Cease, thou afflicted soul, to mourn,Whose love and faith are paid with scorn;For I am starv’d that feel the blissesOf dear embraces, smiles and kisses,From my soul’s idol, yet complainOf equal love more than disdain.
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), seeMetrik, ii, §§ 355, 356.
It is only rarely that we find stanzas formed on the schemea a a a b b(e.g. in theSurtees Psalter, xlix. 21; in Ben Jonson,Poets, iv. 574); or on the formulaa 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 rhymesa b a b a b. It occurs with four-foot verses in Byron,She walks in Beauty:
She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies:And all that’s best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes;Thus mellow’d to that tender lightWhich Heaven to gaudy day denies.
She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies:And all that’s best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes;Thus mellow’d to that tender lightWhich Heaven to gaudy day denies.
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 schemea b a b b b, ora 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 typea 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 theCoventry Mysteries, p. 315.
In Modern English it occurs e.g. in Surrey,A Prayse of his Love(p. 31):
Give place, ye lovers, here beforeThat spend your boasts and brags in vain;My Lady’s beauty passeth moreThe best of yours, I dare well sayen,Than doth the sun the candle light,Or brightest day the darkest night.
Give place, ye lovers, here beforeThat spend your boasts and brags in vain;My Lady’s beauty passeth moreThe best of yours, I dare well sayen,Than doth the sun the candle light,Or brightest day the darkest night.
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’sVenus and Adonis, M. Arnold’sMycerinus(first part, p. 8), &c. (cf.Metrik, ii, §§ 360, 361).
Similar stanzas, however, in which thefronsprecedes theversus, according to the formulaa a b c b c(cf.p. 285), do not occur frequently; a rare form, also, is that in which thecaudais placed between the twopedes(cf.p. 285andMetrik, ii, §362)
§268.Still more popular than the six-lined stanzas, both in the Middle and in the Modern English periods, are thoseof seven lines, which are modelled on Old French lyric poetry, theprevailing 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 theChester 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’sCompleynte 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. inThe Kingis Quairby King James I of Scotland. It has been sometimes maintained that this stanza was calledrhyme royalstanza 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 termchant-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 bifalleBoece 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 reneweHit to corrects and eek to rubbe and scrape,And al is through thy negligence and rape.
Adam scriveyn, if euer it thee bifalleBoece 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 reneweHit to corrects and eek to rubbe and scrape,And al is through thy negligence and rape.
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 hisLucrecein 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 schemesa 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). Otherstanzas of seven lines area 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 seeMetrik, ii, §§ 365, 366).
§269. Eight-lined isometrical stanzasare also frequently used in the Middle and Modern English period, though not so often as those of six and seven lines.
The schemea b a b b a b a, formed from the simple equal-membered stanza of eight linesa 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 theDigby 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 schemea 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. inThe Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathia, E. E. T. S., vol. 44, andOn the death of the Duke of Suffolk, Wright’sPolit. 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’sPolit. Songs, p. 246:
Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,A stounde herkneþ to my songOf duel, þat deþ haþ diht us neweÞat makeþ me syke ant sorewe among!Of a knyht, þat wes so strongOf wham god haþ don ys wille;Me þuncheþ þat deþ haþ don vs wrong,Þat he so sone shal ligge stille.
Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,A stounde herkneþ to my songOf duel, þat deþ haþ diht us neweÞat makeþ me syke ant sorewe among!Of a knyht, þat wes so strongOf wham god haþ don ys wille;Me þuncheþ þat deþ haþ don vs wrong,Þat he so sone shal ligge stille.
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’sRel.II.ii. 3; Wyatt, p. 41.
The same stanza, consisting of five-foot verses, was used byChaucer in hisA B C, the first stanza of which may be quoted here:
Almyghty and al merciable Quene,To whom that al this world fleeth for socourTo 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.
Almyghty and al merciable Quene,To whom that al this world fleeth for socourTo 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.
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 inThe Monkes Tale; besides this we find it often in Lydgate, Dunbar, Kennedy; more rarely in Modern English poetry; e.g. in Spenser’sShepheard’s Cal., Ecl. XI, S. Daniel’sCleopatra, &c.
Now and then some other eight-lined stanzas occur, e.g. one with the formulaa b a b b c c bin Chaucer’sComplaynt of Venus, and in theFlytingby Dunbar and Kennedy. The schemea a b b c d c dis used in a love-song (Rel. Ant.i. 70–4). In the Modern English period we have stanzas on the schemesa ~ 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, asa 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 formulaa a b a a b c c4we have in Spenser,Epigram III(p. 586); and the varietya a b c c d d b4(thecaudabeing enclosed by thepedes) occurs in Moore.
The same peculiarity we find in stanzas formed on the schemeA A b c b c A A4(Moore), ora 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 stanzacorresponding to the formulaa a b a a b b c c5we have in Chaucer’sComplaynt of Mars; it seems to be formed from therhyme royalstanza, by adding one verse to eachpes; but it might also be looked upon as a combination with the tail-rhyme stanza. Another stanza of this kind, with the formulaa a b a a b b a b5, is used in Chaucer’sComplaynt of Faire Anelydaand in Dunbar’sGoldin Targe.
A similar stanza, corresponding to the formulaa 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 schemea 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 formulaa 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 desireTo 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!
My love is like unto th’ eternal fire,And I as those which therein do remain;Whose grievous pains is but their great desireTo 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!
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 Englishstanza of ten lines, similar to those of nine lines, is used by Chaucer in theEnvoyto hisComplaynt of Mars and Venus(a a b a a b b a a b5); another on the modela b a b b c c b b b4is found in a poemLong Life(E. E. T. S., 49, p. 156, quoted inMetrik, 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 formulaa a b ~ c c b ~ d d e e4in 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 ableTo prove all poetry but fable.
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 ableTo prove all poetry but fable.
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 inThe Window(p. 284).
Sometimes the scheme isa b a b c c d e e d4(where there are twopedesforming afrons, and a tail-rhyme stanza equivalent to twoversus), 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 Ebeing thecauda) 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 upsonga 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 seeMetrik, ii, §§ 379–81.
§272. Stanzas of eleven linesare 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 ratherchant-royal) stanza, corresponding to the formulaa b a b c c d d e d E5and used in aBallad against the Enemies of France(Poems, ii. 212). Cf.Metrik, ii, §382.
Twelve-lined stanzasare much more frequently used, even in Middle English poetry; one of four-foot verses according to the schemea b a b a b a b b c b C(the stanzas being connected into groups byconcatenatio) occurs in the fine fourteenth-century poem,The Pearl. Another of four-stressed verses corresponding to the formulaa b a b a b a b c d c dwe have in Wright’sPolit. 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 theChildhood 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 modela b a b c d c d e f e f4; while in others the refrain (consisting of the four last verses) forms thecauda, as e.g. in Moore’sSong 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 eyeHath 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 loveBe thus with joy remember’d ever!
Of all my happiest hours of joy,And even I have had my measure,When hearts were full, and ev’ry eyeHath 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 loveBe thus with joy remember’d ever!
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 inDrink of this cup, and with lines of two stresses, as inWhen the Balaika. For some rarely occurring stanzas of this kind seeMetrik, ii, §§ 385, 386.
Astanza of thirteen linescorresponding to the formulaa b a b b c b c d e e e d4occurs in the Middle English poemThe Eleven Pains of Hell(E. E. T. S., 49, p. 210). Another one on the schemea ~ a ~ B c ~ c ~ B d ~ d ~ d ~ b e ~ e ~ B3we have in Moore,Go where glory waits thee.
As to stanzas of fifteen and eighteen lines seeMetrik, ii, § 387.
§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 certainstanzas of six lines, the first part (thefronsor ‘upsong’) of which is isometrical, the arrangement of rhymes being parallel.
A pretty stanza with the schemea a b b3c c4presents itself in the songThe Fairy Queen(Percy’sRel.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.
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.
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 schemesa a b b4c c5,a a b b c4c5,a a b b c ~ c ~5,a a b b6c ~ c ~5,a a b b c4c3(in Moore,The Wandering Bard), &c., seeMetrik, ii, § 389.
Another group is represented by stanzas of six rhyming couplets of unequal length, asa5a4b5b4c5c4(Sidney,Psalm XXXIX),a6a3b6b3c6c3(id.Psalm II); ora5a2b5b2c c5,a4a5b4b5c c4, frequently used by Herbert and Cowley, ora5a4b b3c5c4,a a b4b3c c4(in Moore,St. Senanus and the Lady), the twopedesenclosing thecauda(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 formulaa4b ~3a4b ~3a4b ~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 bellAround his dark neck ringing.
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 bellAround his dark neck ringing.
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 seeMetrik, ii, § 393
§274.More popular are stanzas of a more distinctly tripartite character, formed on the schemea 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), likea b a b3c c4:
By whom was David taughtTo 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.
By whom was David taughtTo 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.
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 inMetrik, ii, § 394, together with similar stanzas formed according to the schemesa b ~ a b ~3c c4,a b a b3C C4,a ~ b a ~ b3c c5,a b a b4c c5,a ~ b a ~ b4c c6, &c.
The reverse order with regard to the length of the verses in thepedesand thecaudais also not uncommon, as e.g. in stanzas on the schemesa b a b c5c4,a b a b c5c3,a b a b5c4c5, &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 formulasa b a b4c c3,a b a b4c c2; stanzas like these also occur later, e.g. in Moore. In Cowley, now and then, a stanza is found with a precedingfrons(on the schemea a5b c b c4). In Moore we find yet another variety (inPoor broken flower), thecaudaof which is enclosed by thepedes(according to the formulaa ~ b5c c3a ~ 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 poemThe Castaway(p. 400), on the schemea4b3a4b3c 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.
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.
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.a4b3a4b3c c5,a4b3a4b3c4c5,a3b2a3b2c4c5,a4b2a4b2c c4,a5b4a5b4c c5;a3b4a3b4c c4,a2b4a2b4c c5. All these different schemes were chiefly used by the earlier Modern English poets, as Browne, Carew, Cowley, Waller, and Herbert. (SeeMetrik, 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 beinga b c b3d4d3ora b3c4b3d4d3. For examples seeMetrik, ii, § 398.
§275. Stanzas of seven linesare very common, and have many diverse forms. In the first place may be mentioned those which have parallel arrangement of rhymes, and in which thefronsis isometrical. Some of these forms, used chiefly by theearlier poets, as Cowley, Sheffield, and others, have the schemea a b b c4c2c5ora a b b c4c a5. Another variety, with alternate four-and two-foot iambic-anapaestic lines according to the formulaa a b b4r r2R4, 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 SpriteOf the merry midnight,Who laugh at weak mortals, and love the moonlight.
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 SpriteOf the merry midnight,Who laugh at weak mortals, and love the moonlight.
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 modela4a5b4b5c c4c5in 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 therhyme royal,on the modela b a b b c3c5as in S. Daniel,A Description of Beauty:
O Beauty (beams, nay, flameOf 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.
O Beauty (beams, nay, flameOf 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.
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 schemesa b a b b3c c5,a b a b c b4c2,a b a b c c4R2,a b a b c c4C5,a b a b c c4b3,a b a b4c c2a4, &c. For examples seeMetrik, ii, §§ 401–3.
In many stanzas the first and the last part (fronsandcauda) are anisometrical. Thus Donne, Cowley, and Congreve furnish many examples of the formulasa5b4a5b4c c4b5,a ~4b6a ~4b5c c3c4,a4b5a4b5c c2b4, and later poets make frequent use of similar stanzas composed of shorter lines after the model of the following by Congreve,Poets, vii. 546 (a4b ~3a4b ~3c c4b ~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.
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.
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 (a4b3a4b3c c b3,a4b3a4b3C C3C5,a3b4a3b4c c c4,a4b ~2a4b ~2c c a4, &c.) seeMetrik, ii, §§ 404–6.
§276. Eight-lined stanzasof various kinds are also very popular. They rarely occur, however, with an isometricalfrons, composed of rhyming couplets (a a b b c c d5d3,a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~4C ~ C ~2d ~ d ~4,a a b b c c d4d5; cf.Metrik, ii, §§ 408, 410); or with enclosing rhymes in thecauda(a a b b c d d4c5,a a b b4c d4d2c4, 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 b5c4d ~3c4d ~3) in the second of Drayton’sEclogues(Poets, iii. 590):