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.Thethree-foot iambic-anapaestic versetook 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.
What lóokest thou hérein to háve?Fíne vérses thy fáncy to pléase?Of mány my bétters that cráve;Look nóthing but rúdeness in thése.
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.Thetwo-foot iambic-anapaestic versesprang 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 brággethTo gó with the bést,Good húsbandry bággethUp góld in his chést.Ill húsbandry lósethFor lácke of good fénce,Good húsbandry clósethAnd gaíneth the pénce.
Ill húsbandry brággethTo gó with the bést,Good húsbandry bággethUp góld in his chést.Ill húsbandry lósethFor lácke of good fénce,Good húsbandry clósethAnd gaíneth the pénce.
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.Theone-foot iambic-anapaestic verseoccasionally 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’sAutumn(iii. 65):
The chíll rain is fálling, the nípt worm is cráwling,The rívers are swelling, the thúnder is knéllingFor the yéar;The blithe swállows are flówn, and the lízards each góneTo his dwélling.
The chíll rain is fálling, the nípt worm is cráwling,The rívers are swelling, the thúnder is knéllingFor the yéar;The blithe swállows are flówn, and the lízards each góneTo his dwélling.
The chíll rain is fálling, the nípt worm 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’sMidsummer 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]
When thou wákest,Thou tákest.[174]
When thou wákest,
Thou tákest.[174]
§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.
Theeight-foot trochaic-dactylic verse, alternating occasionally with iambic-anapaestic lines, occurs in Longfellow’sThe Golden Legend,iv:[175]
Elsie.
Ónward and ónward the híghway rúns || to the dístant cíty, | impátiently béaringTídings of húman jóy and disáster, || of lóve and of háte, | of dóing and dáring!
Ónward and ónward the híghway rúns || to the dístant cíty, | impátiently béaringTídings of húman jóy and disáster, || of lóve and of háte, | of dóing and dáring!
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.
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.
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 stígmaOf pain, | alóne bears the likeness of Chríst, || and cán comprehénd its dárk enígma.
Fáith alóne can intérpret lífe, || and the héart that áches and bléeds with the stígmaOf pain, | alóne bears the likeness of Chríst, || and cán comprehénd its dárk enígma.
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 theseven-foot trochaic-dactylic versemay be illustrated by the following theoretical specimen, quoted fromThe 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.
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.
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?
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?
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.Thesix-foot trochaic-dactylic versemay 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.
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.
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’sConfessions(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 herSóul through the cléfts of conféssion,— | spéak, I am hólding thee fástAs the ángel of résurréction | shall dó it át the lást!
Fáce to fáce in my chámber, | my sílent chámber, I sáw her:Gód and shé and I ónly, | there Í sate dówn to dráw herSóul through the cléfts of conféssion,— | spéak, I am hólding thee fástAs the ángel of résurréction | shall dó it át the lást!
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.Thefive-foot trochaic-dactylic verseoccurs now and then in Swinburne’sA Century of Roundels, as e.g. on p. 5:
Súrely the thóught | in a mán’s heart hópes or féarsNów that forgétfulness | néeds must hére have stríckenÁnguish, | and swéetened the séaled-up spríngs | of téars,&c.
Súrely the thóught | in a mán’s heart hópes or féarsNów that forgétfulness | néeds must hére have stríckenÁnguish, | and swéetened the séaled-up spríngs | of téars,&c.
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.Thefour-foot trochaic-dactylic verseis 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?
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?
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 seeMetrik, ii, § 238; amongst them is one from Swinburne’sA Century of Roundels, of principally trochaic rhythm.
§203.Thethree-foot trochaic-dactylic versewith 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, léisureStríkes him as wónderful pléasure.
Héigho, yawned óne day King Fráncis,Dístance all válue enhánces!Whén a man’s búsy, why, léisureStríkes him as wónderful pléasure.
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?
Whére shall we búry our Sháme?Whére, in what désolate pláce,Híde the last wréck of a náme,Bróken and stáin’d by disgráce?
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 GooldBrown.[177]
§204. Two-foot dactylicortrochaic-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’sJamie, come try me(p. 258), and in Hood,The Bridge of Sighs(p. 1):
Burns.If thou should ásk my love,Cóuld I dený thee?Íf thou would wín my love,Jámie, come trý me.Hood.Óne more unfórtunate,Wéary of bréath,Rashly impórtunate,Góne to her déath!
Burns.If thou should ásk my love,Cóuld I dený thee?Íf thou would wín my love,Jámie, come trý me.
Burns.If thou should ásk my love,Cóuld I dený thee?Íf thou would wín my love,Jámie, come trý me.
Burns.If thou should ásk my love,Cóuld I dený thee?Íf thou would wín my love,Jámie, come trý me.
Burns.
If thou should ásk my love,
Cóuld I dený thee?
Íf thou would wín my love,
Jámie, come trý me.
Hood.Óne more unfórtunate,Wéary of bréath,Rashly impórtunate,Góne to her déath!
Hood.Óne more unfórtunate,Wéary of bréath,Rashly impórtunate,Góne to her déath!
Hood.Óne more unfórtunate,Wéary of bréath,Rashly impórtunate,Góne to her déath!
Hood.
Óne more unfórtunate,
Wéary of bréath,
Rashly impórtunate,
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.Chrístmas is hére:Wínds whistle shríll,Ícy and chíll,Líttle care wé:Líttle we féarWéather withóut,Shéltered abóutThe Mahógany Trée.Longfellow.Í am the Gód Thor,Í am the Wár God,Í am the Thúnderer!Hére in my Nórthland,My fástness and fórtress,Réign I for éver!Hére amid ícebergsRúle I the nátions.
Thackeray.Chrístmas is hére:Wínds whistle shríll,Ícy and chíll,Líttle care wé:Líttle we féarWéather withóut,Shéltered abóutThe Mahógany Trée.
Thackeray.Chrístmas is hére:Wínds whistle shríll,Ícy and chíll,Líttle care wé:Líttle we féarWéather withóut,Shéltered abóutThe Mahógany Trée.
Thackeray.Chrístmas is hére:Wínds whistle shríll,Ícy and chíll,Líttle care wé:Líttle we féarWéather withóut,Shéltered abóutThe Mahógany Trée.
Thackeray.
Chrístmas is hére:
Wínds whistle shríll,
Ícy and chíll,
Líttle care wé:
Líttle we féar
Wéather withóut,
Shéltered abóut
The Mahógany Trée.
Longfellow.Í am the Gód Thor,Í am the Wár God,Í am the Thúnderer!Hére in my Nórthland,My fástness and fórtress,Réign I for éver!Hére amid ícebergsRúle I the nátions.
Longfellow.Í am the Gód Thor,Í am the Wár God,Í am the Thúnderer!Hére in my Nórthland,My fástness and fórtress,Réign I for éver!Hére amid ícebergsRúle I the nátions.
Longfellow.Í am the Gód Thor,Í am the Wár God,Í am the Thúnderer!Hére in my Nórthland,My fástness and fórtress,Réign I for éver!Hére amid ícebergsRúle I the nátions.
Longfellow.
Í am the Gód Thor,
Í am the Wár God,
Í am the Thúnderer!
Hére in my Nórthland,
My fástness and fórtress,
Réign I for éver!
Hére amid ícebergs
Rúle I the nátions.
§205. One-foot dactylic versesare 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’sPibroch 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,Cóme away,Hárk to the summons!Cóme in yourWár-array,Géntles and cómmons.Fáster come,Fáster come,Fáster and fáster,Chíef, vassal,Páge and groom,Ténant and Máster.
Cóme away,Cóme away,Hárk to the summons!Cóme in yourWár-array,Géntles and cómmons.
Cóme away,Cóme away,Hárk to the summons!Cóme in yourWár-array,Géntles and cómmons.
Cóme away,Cóme away,Hárk to the summons!Cóme in yourWár-array,Géntles and cómmons.
Cóme away,
Cóme away,
Hárk to the summons!
Cóme in your
Wár-array,
Géntles and cómmons.
Fáster come,Fáster come,Fáster and fáster,Chíef, vassal,Páge and groom,Ténant and Máster.
Fáster come,Fáster come,Fáster and fáster,Chíef, vassal,Páge and groom,Ténant and Máster.
Fáster come,Fáster come,Fáster and fáster,Chíef, vassal,Páge and groom,Ténant and Máster.
Fáster come,
Fáster come,
Fáster and fáster,
Chíef, vassal,
Páge and groom,
Ténant and Máster.
§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 thePoulter’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.
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.
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 aBacchanalian Songin similar verses.
In the same metre are theNonsense Rhymesby 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. inWealth 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?
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?
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,Odesv. 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.
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.
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 inOdesiv. 1. In Wordsworth’s poemThe Gipsies(iv. 68) we have the couplets:a a5b b4c c5d d4, &c., but not divided into stanzas.
Five- and three-foot linesa5a3b5b3c5c3d5d3, &c., occur in Ben Jonson,The Forest,XI.Epode(Poets, vi, pp. 555–6); and with reverse order (a3a5b3b5c3c5, &c.) in hisEpigrams(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 yésterníghtPour’d frésh delíght,And léft a vísion for the éye of MórnTo láugh to scórn,&c.
Néver may stórm thy péaceful bósom véx,Thou lóvely Éxe!O’er whóse pure stréam that músic yésterníghtPour’d frésh delíght,And léft a vísion for the éye of MórnTo láugh to scórn,&c.
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 isa ~5b2a ~5b2c ~5d2c ~5d2, and in R. Browning,A Grammarian’s Funeral(iv. 270), the formula beinga5b ~2a5b ~2c5d ~2c5d ~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 formulaa ~3b2c ~3b2d ~3e2f ~3e2; inThe 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.
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.
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 formulaa ~3b2a ~3b2c ~3d2c ~3d2, &c.) inA Drama of Exile(i. 3). For other specimens seeMetrik, 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.
§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 hisEncomium 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 hisArcadiawritten in this metre; Stanyhurst (1545–1618) translated the first four books of Virgil in quantitative hexameters; in 1591 Abraham Fraunce translated Virgil’sAlexis, and William Webbe, the metrist, turned into English theGeorgicsand 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’sMessiahwere 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 theMonthlyMagazine), 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’sHermann und Dorotheahas 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 hisEvangelineandThe 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 theGermans 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’sEvangeline:
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.
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.
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 samepoem:[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 óceanSpéaks, and in áccents discónsolate ánswers the wáil of the fórest.
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 óceanSpéaks, and in áccents discónsolate ánswers the wáil of the fórest.
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 theElegiacverse of the ancients (hexameter alternating with pentameter) was attempted by Sidney in hisArcadia. 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.
Ín the hexámeter ríses the fóuntains sílvery cólumn,Ín the pentámeter áye fálling in mélody báck.
Ín the hexámeter ríses the fóuntains sílvery cólumn,
Ín the pentámeter áye fálling in mélody báck.
Swinburne, among others, has written hisHesperia(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.
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.
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 hisArcadia, p. 229 (333, xxxvii), also tried theminor 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.
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.
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’ssix-foot iambic lineGuest (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.
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.
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 hisArcadia, p. 228 (232, xxxvi), Sidney used thePhaleuciacverse of eleven syllables in stanzas of six lines marked by the recurrence of a refrain. The rhythm is the same as in theHendecasyllabicsof modern poets, in the following lines of Swinburne (Poems, i. 233):
Ín the mónth of the lóng declíne of rósesÍ behólding the súmmer déad befóre me,Sét my fáce to the séa and jóurneyed sílent,&c.
Ín the mónth of the lóng declíne of rósesÍ behólding the súmmer déad befóre me,Sét my fáce to the séa and jóurneyed sílent,&c.
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.
Héar, my belóvëd, an old Milésian stóry!Hígh and embósom’d in cóngregáted laúrels,Glímmer’d a témple upón a bréezy héadland,&c.
Héar, my belóvëd, an old Milésian stóry!
Hígh and embósom’d in cóngregáted laúrels,
Glímmer’d a témple upón a bréezy héadland,&c.
Finally, therhymed Choriambicsmay 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.
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.
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 theclassical stanzas, which may appropriately be discussed in this connexion, theSapphic metredeserves 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 whosePoems and Balladsa specimen may be quoted:
Áll the nī́ght slēep cā́me not upṓn my ḗyelids,Shēd not dḗw, nōr shṓok nor unclōsed a fḗather,Yḗt with lī́ps shūt clṓse and with ḗyes of ī́ronStṓod and behḗld me.
Áll the nī́ght slēep cā́me not upṓn my ḗyelids,Shēd not dḗw, nōr shṓok nor unclōsed a fḗather,Yḗt with lī́ps shūt clṓse and with ḗyes of ī́ronStṓod and behḗld me.
Áll the nī́ght slēep cā́me not upṓn my ḗyelids,
Shēd not dḗw, nōr shṓok nor unclōsed a fḗather,
Yḗt with lī́ps shūt clṓse and with ḗyes of ī́ron
Stṓod and behḗld me.
Of other kinds of classical verses and stanzas theAlcaic metrehas occasionally been imitated, e.g. by Tennyson. The scheme of the Latin original is as follows:
⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆–̆–́⏑–-–́⏑-⏑̄–́⏑⏑–⏑⏑–⏑–⏑̄
⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆–̆–́⏑–-–́⏑-⏑̄–́⏑⏑–⏑⏑–⏑–⏑̄
⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆
⏑̄–́⏑––|–́⏑⏑–⏑–̆
–̆–́⏑–-–́⏑-⏑̄
–́⏑⏑–⏑⏑–⏑–⏑̄
Tennyson’s poem is anOde to Milton(p. 281):
O mī́ghty mṓuth’d īnvḗntŏr ŏf hā́rmŏnĭes,O skī́lled tŏ sī́ng ōf Tī́me ŏr Etḗrnĭty,Gōdgī́ftĕd ṓrgān-vṓice ŏf Énglānd,Mī́ltŏn, ă nā́me tŏ rĕsṓúnd fōr ā́gĕs.
O mī́ghty mṓuth’d īnvḗntŏr ŏf hā́rmŏnĭes,O skī́lled tŏ sī́ng ōf Tī́me ŏr Etḗrnĭty,Gōdgī́ftĕd ṓrgān-vṓice ŏf Énglānd,Mī́ltŏn, ă nā́me tŏ rĕsṓúnd fōr ā́gĕs.
O mī́ghty mṓuth’d īnvḗntŏr ŏf hā́rmŏnĭes,
O skī́lled tŏ sī́ng ōf Tī́me ŏr Etḗrnĭty,
Gōdgī́ftĕd ṓrgān-vṓice ŏf Énglānd,
Mī́ltŏn, ă nā́me tŏ rĕsṓúnd fōr ā́gĕs.
There are besides in Sidney’sArcadia, pp. 227 (232, xxxv) and 533,Anacreontic stanzasof 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 glóryTo síng mine ówne decáid state.
My Múse, what áiles this árdour?To bláse my ónely sécrets?Alás, it ís no glóryTo síng mine ówne decáid state.
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 hisObservations 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 inMetrik, 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 formulaa b5c 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 sóngMay hópe, chast Éve, to soóthe thy módest éarLike thý own sólemn spríngsThy spríngs and dýing gáles.
If áught of oáten stóp or pástoral sóngMay hópe, chast Éve, to soóthe thy módest éarLike thý own sólemn spríngsThy spríngs and dýing gáles.
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 forma b4c d3(ii. 212),a3b c4d3(ii. 210) (both of anapaestic verses),a b c4d3(ii. 148),a3b c5d3(ii. 159),a4b c3d5(ii. 182),a b4c5d3(ii. 187),a4b3c5d3(ii. 189); all consisting of iambic verses.
The same poet also uses a stanza of five iambic lines of the forma5b3c4d e3(iii. 255), and another of the forma5b3c5d4e3in his odeThe Battle of Algiers(iii. 253):
One dáy of dréadful occupátion móre,Ere Éngland’s gállant shípsSháll, of their béauty, pómp, and pówer disróbed,Like séa-birds ón the súnny máin,Rock ídly ín the pórt.
One dáy of dréadful occupátion móre,Ere Éngland’s gállant shípsSháll, of their béauty, pómp, and pówer disróbed,Like séa-birds ón the súnny máin,Rock ídly ín the pórt.
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 (formulaa b c5d e3is used by Mrs. Browning inThe Measure(iii. 114).
Various isometrical and anisometrical stanzas of this kind occur in Lord Lytton’sLost Tales of Miletus; one of these consists of three of Coleridge’s Hendecasyllabics, followed by one masculine verse of similar form, and has the formulaa ~ b ~ c ~ d5; it is used, e.g., inCydippe:
Fáirest and hárdiest óf the yóuths in CéosFlóurish’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.
Fáirest and hárdiest óf the yóuths in CéosFlóurish’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.
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 inThe Wife of Miletusan ordinary masculine blank verse alternates with a Hendecasyllabic; a third of the forma b c d4consists of trochaic verses.
Other stanzas of ordinary five- and three-foot verses used by him in theLost Taleshave the formulasa b5c3d5,a b c5d3,a ~ b ~5c3d5.
In another stanza (Corinna), constructed after the formulaa b4c 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.
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.
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 forma3b c4d ~2inTo an old Danish Song Book, and another which corresponds to the formulaa b5c2d5inThe Golden Mile-Stone.
Iambic-anapaestic verses of two stresses and feminine ending are found in Longfellow’s poemThe Men of Nidaros(p. 579); the arrangement into stanzas of six lines being marked only bythe syntactical order, in the same way as in Southey’s poemThe 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 poemConsolation(p. 50). Stanzas of five iambic verses of three and five measures, corresponding to the formulaa3b5c3d5e3occur in his poemGrowing 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’sMetrik, 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.
§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 wordstrophe[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 thatthe 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 ofPoitou, 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 thenumberof the rhyming syllables.
B. According to thequalityof these syllables.
C. According to theposition of the rhymein 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. Themonosyllabicorsingle rhyme(also calledmasculine), e.g.hand: land,face: grace.
2. Thedisyllabicordouble rhyme(also calledfeminine), asever: never,brother: mother,treasure: measure,suppression: transgression; orowe me: know meShakesp. Ven. and Ad. 523–5;bereft me: left meib. 439–41. The termsmasculineandfeminineoriginated 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. Thetrisyllabic, triple, ortumbling rhyme, calledgleitender(i.e. gliding)Reimin German. Of this variety of rhyme, which is less common than the two others, examples aregymnastical: ecclesiasticalByron, Beppo, 3;quality: liberalityib. 30;láugh of them: hálf of themib. 98. Rhymes like this last, which are made up of more words than two, might, like those given above under the disyllables, such asowe me: know me, also form a separate sub-species ascompound 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. Therich rhyme(in Frenchrime 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, aslonde(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, asnight: knight,foul: fowl,gilt: guilt,hart: heart, &c. (cf. Ellis, ‘Shakespere’s Puns’ inEarly Engl. Pron.iii. 920, iv. 1018).
b.A simple and a compound word rhyming together, asleue: bileueK. Horn, 741–2;like: sellikeSir Tristr. 1222–4;ymake: makeWright’s Spec.. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 27, ll. 16–18;apart: partSpenser, F. Q. I. ii. 21,hold: beholdib.I.iii. 40; here also identity of sound and difference of spelling is possible, asrenew: knewib.I.iii. 25.
c.Two compound words rhyming together, asrecorde: accordeChaucer, C. T. Prol. 828–9;affirmed: confirmedWyatt, p. 98;expeld: compeldSpenser, F. Q.I.i. 5.
2. Theidentical 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: setteK. Horn, 757–8;other: otherWyatt, p. 45;down: downib. p. 194;sight: sightSpenser, F. Q.I.i. 45, &c.
3. Thebroken rhymehas 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 meK. Horn, 533–4;scolis: fole is, Chaucer, Troil. i. 634–5;tyrant: high rentMoore, Fudge Fam., Letter iv;wide as: Midasib.;well a day: melodyib. x;Verona: known aByron, Beppo, 17;sad knee: Ariadneib. 28;endure a: seccaturaib. 31;estrangement: change meantib. 53;quote is: noticeib. 48;exhibit ’em: libitumib. 70;Julia: truly a: newly aByron, 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):debtib. iv. 13;beg: egge-(shells) ib. iv. 104;nice hence-(forward): licenceByron, Don Juan, i. 120; Thackeray, Ballads, p. 133: