Blessed be þou, leuedy, ful of heouene blisse,Suete flur of parays, moder of mildenesse,Preyȝe iesu, þy sone, þat he me rede and wysseSo my wey forte gon, þat he me neuer misse.
Blessed be þou, leuedy, ful of heouene blisse,Suete flur of parays, moder of mildenesse,Preyȝe iesu, þy sone, þat he me rede and wysseSo my wey forte gon, þat he me neuer misse.
Blessed be þou, leuedy, ful of heouene blisse,
Suete flur of parays, moder of mildenesse,
Preyȝe iesu, þy sone, þat he me rede and wysse
So my wey forte gon, þat he me neuer misse.
In Modern English stanzas of this kind, consisting of Septenary verses, are of rare occurrence. We have an example in Leigh Hunt’sThe jovial Priest’s Confession(p. 338), a translation of the well-known poem ascribed to Walter Map,Mihi est propositum in taberna mori(cf. §§ 135, 182).
Shorter verses, e.g. iambic lines of three measures, are also very rarely used for such stanzas; e.g. in Donne and Denham (Poets, iv. 48 and v. 611)
§253.A small group of other stanzas connected with the above may be calledindivisible stanzas. They consist of a one-rhymed main part mostly of three, more rarely of two or four lines, followed by a shorter refrain-verse, acauda, as it were, but in itself too unimportant to lend a bipartite character to the stanza. Otherwise, stanzas like these might be looked upon as bipartite unequal-membered stanzas, with which, indeed, they stand in close relationship. Three-lined stanzas of this kind occur in Modern English only; as e.g. a stanza consisting of an heroic couplet and a two-foot refrain verse of different rhythm:a a5B2in Moore’s Song:
Oh! where are they, who heard in former hours,The voice of song in these neglected bowers?They are gone—all gone!
Oh! where are they, who heard in former hours,The voice of song in these neglected bowers?They are gone—all gone!
Oh! where are they, who heard in former hours,
The voice of song in these neglected bowers?
They are gone—all gone!
Other stanzas show the formulasa a5b3anda a4b3. Their structure evidently is analogous to that of a four-lined Middle English stanzaa a a4B3, the model of which we find in Low Latin and Provençal poetry (cf.Metrik, i. 373) and in Furnivall’sPolitical, Religious, and Love Poems, p. 4:
Sithe god hathe chose þe to be his knyȝt,And posseside þe in þi right,Thou hime honour with al thi myght,Edwardus Dei gracia.
Sithe god hathe chose þe to be his knyȝt,And posseside þe in þi right,Thou hime honour with al thi myght,Edwardus Dei gracia.
Sithe god hathe chose þe to be his knyȝt,
And posseside þe in þi right,
Thou hime honour with al thi myght,
Edwardus Dei gracia.
Similar stanzas occur also in Modern English poets:a a a4B2in Wyatt, p. 99,a a a5B3in G. Herbert, p. 18, &c. We find others with the formulaa a a4b2a a a4b2in Dunbar’sInconstancy of Love, and with the formulaa a a4b3c c c4b3d d d4b3, in Dorset (Poets,vi. 512); there are also stanzas of five lines, e.g.a a a a4B2(Wyatt, p. 80).
An older poem in Ritson’sAnc. Songs, i. 140 (Welcom Yol), has the same metre and form of stanza, but with a refrain verse of two measures and a two-lined refrain prefixed to the first stanza:A B4a a a4B2c c c4B2. A similar extended stanza is found in Wyatt (p. 108)A3b b b3A3B2;A3c c c3A3B2. There are also in modern poetry similar isometrical stanzas, as in Swinburne (Poems, ii. 108) on the schemea a a b5,c c c b5,d d d b5,e e e f5,g g g f5,h h h f5; in Campbell (p. 73)a a a b4,c c c b4,d d d b4; and in M. Arnold,The Second Best(p. 49), with feminine endings in the main part of the stanza,a ~ a ~ a ~ b4,c ~ c ~ c ~ b4,d ~ d ~ d ~ b4, &c.
§254.These are of greater number and variety. The shortest of them, however, viz.stanzas of four lines, are found only in Modern English; first of all, stanzas arranged according to the formulaa a b a; in this casebcan be used as refrain also, as in Sidney,Astrophel and Stella, Song I (Grosart, i. 75):
Doubt you to whom my Muse these notes entendeth,Which now my breast, surcharg’d to musick lendeth!To you, to you, all song of praise is due,Only in you my song begins and endeth.
Doubt you to whom my Muse these notes entendeth,Which now my breast, surcharg’d to musick lendeth!To you, to you, all song of praise is due,Only in you my song begins and endeth.
Doubt you to whom my Muse these notes entendeth,
Which now my breast, surcharg’d to musick lendeth!
To you, to you, all song of praise is due,
Only in you my song begins and endeth.
Similar stanzas of four-foot iambic and of two-foot iambic-anapaestic lines occur in Tennyson,The Daisy(p. 270), and in Longfellow,King Olaf and Earl Sigwald(p. 573).
Stanzas with the schemea b b aalso belong to this group, the two halves not being exactly equal, but only similar to each other on account of the unequal arrangement of rhymes.
Such a stanza of four-foot iambic verses occurs in an elegy of Ben Jonson’s (Poets, iv. 571):
Though beauty be the mark of praise,And yours of whom I sing be such,As not the world can praise too much,Yet is’t your virtue now I raise.
Though beauty be the mark of praise,And yours of whom I sing be such,As not the world can praise too much,Yet is’t your virtue now I raise.
Though beauty be the mark of praise,
And yours of whom I sing be such,
As not the world can praise too much,
Yet is’t your virtue now I raise.
and notably in Tennyson’sIn Memoriam. Both this stanza and the similar stanza of trochaic verses are found pretty often (cf.Metrik, ii, § 311)
§255.More frequentlyfive-lined stanzasoccur. One on the schemea b b a a4, similar to that just mentioned, is usedin Sidney,Psalm XXVIII; others, composed in various metres, have a one-rhymedfronsorcauda, e.g.a a a b b3in Wyatt, p. 128,a a b b b4in Moore (Still when Daylight) and other poets. Of greater importance are some stanzas on the formulaa a b a b; they may be looked upon as isometrical tail-rhyme-stanzas, shortened by one chief verse; asa a b a B4, often occurring in Dunbar, e.g. inThe Devil’s Inquest, and in Wyatt, p. 29:
My lute awake, perform the lastLabour, that thou and I shall waste,And end that I have now begun;And when this song is sung and past,My lute! be still, for I have done.
My lute awake, perform the lastLabour, that thou and I shall waste,And end that I have now begun;And when this song is sung and past,My lute! be still, for I have done.
My lute awake, perform the last
Labour, that thou and I shall waste,
And end that I have now begun;
And when this song is sung and past,
My lute! be still, for I have done.
Another form of this stanza, consisting of five-foot lines with refrain, occurs in Swinburne,In an Orchard(Poems, i. 116), and a variety consisting of three-foot verses is found in Drayton’sOde to Himself(Poets, iii, p. 587). More frequently this stanza is found with the two parts in inverted order (a b a a b4), as in Moore:
Take back the sigh, thy lips of artIn passion’s moment breath’d to me:Yet, no—it must not, will not part,’Tis now the life-breath of my heart,And has become too pure for thee.
Take back the sigh, thy lips of artIn passion’s moment breath’d to me:Yet, no—it must not, will not part,’Tis now the life-breath of my heart,And has become too pure for thee.
Take back the sigh, thy lips of art
In passion’s moment breath’d to me:
Yet, no—it must not, will not part,
’Tis now the life-breath of my heart,
And has become too pure for thee.
There are also five-foot iambic and three-foot iambic-anapaestic and other lines connected in this way, as in G. Herbert (p. 82); in Longfellow,Enceladus(p. 595); on the schemea b c c b3in Wordsworth, i. 248; and in R. Browning according to the formulaa b c c b4(vi. 77). The allied form of stanza,a a b b a, probably originating by inversion of the two last verses of the former stanza (a a b a b), occurs in Middle English in the poemOf the Cuckoo and the Nightingale.[191]
The god of love,—a! benedicite,How mighty and how greet a lord is he!For he can make of lowe hertes hye,And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye,And harde hertes he can maken free.
The god of love,—a! benedicite,How mighty and how greet a lord is he!For he can make of lowe hertes hye,And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye,And harde hertes he can maken free.
The god of love,—a! benedicite,
How mighty and how greet a lord is he!
For he can make of lowe hertes hye,
And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye,
And harde hertes he can maken free.
The same stanza, both of four- and five-foot lines, is frequently employed by Dunbar; e.g.On his Heid-Ake, The Visitation of St. Francis, &c. We find it also in modern poets, composed of the same, or of other verses; Moore, e.g., has used it with five-foot iambic-anapaestic lines, inAt the mid hour of Night.
A stanza on the modela b a b bis a favourite in Modern English; it is formed from the four-lined stanza (a b a b) by repeating the last rhyme. It consists of the most different kinds of verse; an example is Carew’sTo my inconstant Mistress(Poets, iii. 678):
When thou, poor excommunicateFrom all the joys of love, shall seeThe full reward, and glorious fate,Which my strong faith shall purchase me,Then curse thine own inconstancy.
When thou, poor excommunicateFrom all the joys of love, shall seeThe full reward, and glorious fate,Which my strong faith shall purchase me,Then curse thine own inconstancy.
When thou, poor excommunicate
From all the joys of love, shall see
The full reward, and glorious fate,
Which my strong faith shall purchase me,
Then curse thine own inconstancy.
For other specimens in lines of five, three, and four feet seeMetrik, ii. 307.
Much less common is the forma b b a b, which occurs e.g. in Coleridge’sRecollections of Love(a b b a b4).
Five-lined stanzas of crossed rhymes are not very rare; an example of the forma b a b a4is found in R. Browning’sThe Patriot(iv. 149):
It was roses, roses, all the way,With myrtle mixed in my path like mad:The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,A year ago on this very day.
It was roses, roses, all the way,With myrtle mixed in my path like mad:The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,A year ago on this very day.
It was roses, roses, all the way,
With myrtle mixed in my path like mad:
The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,
The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,
A year ago on this very day.
For specimens of other forms seeMetrik, ii, § 318
§256.The simplest kind of isometrical stanzas of this group is that in which the four-lined one-rhymed stanza is extended by the addition of a couplet with a new rhyme, so that it forms asix-lined stanza. A Latin stanza of this kind consisting of Septenary verses is given in Wright’sPol. Poems, i. 253, and a Middle English imitation of it, ib. p. 268, in the poemOn the Minorite Friars. The same stanza composed of four-stressed verses is used by Minot in his poemOf the batayl of Banocburn(ib. i. 61):
Skottes out of Berwik and of Abirdene,At the Bannok burn war ȝe to kene;Thare slogh ȝe many sakles, als it was sene;And now has king Edward wroken it, I wene.It es wrokin, I wene, wele wurth the while;War ȝit with the Skottes, for thai er ful of gile.
Skottes out of Berwik and of Abirdene,At the Bannok burn war ȝe to kene;Thare slogh ȝe many sakles, als it was sene;And now has king Edward wroken it, I wene.It es wrokin, I wene, wele wurth the while;War ȝit with the Skottes, for thai er ful of gile.
Skottes out of Berwik and of Abirdene,
At the Bannok burn war ȝe to kene;
Thare slogh ȝe many sakles, als it was sene;
And now has king Edward wroken it, I wene.
It es wrokin, I wene, wele wurth the while;
War ȝit with the Skottes, for thai er ful of gile.
Here thefronsis connected with thecauda, which recurs in each stanza as a kind of refrain, by means ofconcatenatio. Two other poems of Minot’s (v, ix) are written in similar stanzas of six and eight lines. In the ten-lined stanza of the poem in Wright’sSpec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 25, which is of similar structure, we find the doubling of thefrons.
A six-lined stanza of this kind, which has the formulaa a a b B B(B Bbeing refrain-verses), is used by Dunbar in hisGray-Horsepoem and inLuve Erdly and Divine. The latter begins:
Now culit is Dame Venus brand;Trew Luvis fyre is ay kindilland,And I begyn to undirstand,In feynit luve quhat foly bene;Now cumis Aige quhair Yowth hes bene,And true Luve rysis fro the splene.
Now culit is Dame Venus brand;Trew Luvis fyre is ay kindilland,And I begyn to undirstand,In feynit luve quhat foly bene;Now cumis Aige quhair Yowth hes bene,And true Luve rysis fro the splene.
Now culit is Dame Venus brand;
Trew Luvis fyre is ay kindilland,
And I begyn to undirstand,
In feynit luve quhat foly bene;
Now cumis Aige quhair Yowth hes bene,
And true Luve rysis fro the splene.
The same kind of stanza occurs in Wyatt, p. 137. Other forms are:a a b a b b5, in Wyatt, p. 71;a b c c b a4in John Scott,Conclusion(Poets, ix. 773);a b c b c a4in Tennyson,A Character(p. 12):
With a half-glance upon the skyAt night he said, ‘The wanderingsOf this most intricate UniverseTeach me the nothingness of things.’Yet could not all creation pierceBeyond the bottom of his eye.
With a half-glance upon the skyAt night he said, ‘The wanderingsOf this most intricate UniverseTeach me the nothingness of things.’Yet could not all creation pierceBeyond the bottom of his eye.
With a half-glance upon the sky
At night he said, ‘The wanderings
Of this most intricate Universe
Teach me the nothingness of things.’
Yet could not all creation pierce
Beyond the bottom of his eye.
Longer isometrical stanzas are unfrequent, and need hardly be mentioned here (cf.Metrik, ii, p. 556).
§257. Two-lined and four-lined stanzas.The shortest stanzas of this kind consist of two anisometrical lines, rhyming in couplets, e.g. four- and five-foot, five- and three-foot lines, &c.
These have been mentioned before (§207); but as a rule they are used, like the heroic couplet, in continuous systems only, without strophic arrangement.
ThePoulter’s Measure(§§146,206) must be mentioned in this place. This metre, also, is in narrative poetry employed without strophic arrangement; but in lyrical poetry it is sometimes written in stanzas. In this case it is mostly printed as a stanza of four lines, even when rhyming in long lines, i.e. with intermittent rhyme (a b3c4b3); e.g. in Tennyson,Marriage Morning(p. 285):
Light, so low upon earth,You send a flash to the sun,Here is the golden close of love,All my wooing is done.
Light, so low upon earth,You send a flash to the sun,Here is the golden close of love,All my wooing is done.
Light, so low upon earth,
You send a flash to the sun,
Here is the golden close of love,
All my wooing is done.
The division into stanzas is still more distinctly recognizable when there are crossed rhymes (a b3a4b3), as e.g. in a song in Percy’sReliques,I.ii. 2,The Aged Lover renounceth Love(quoted by the grave-digger in Shakespeare’sHamlet):
I lothe that I did love,In youth that I thought swete,As time requires: for my behoveMe thinkes they are not mete.
I lothe that I did love,In youth that I thought swete,As time requires: for my behoveMe thinkes they are not mete.
I lothe that I did love,
In youth that I thought swete,
As time requires: for my behove
Me thinkes they are not mete.
This stanza occurs very frequently (cf.Metrik, ii, § 321), but is rarely formed of trochaic verses.
Another rare variety on the schemea ~ b3c4b3is found in Mrs. Hemans,The Stream is free(vii. 42), and in M. Arnold’sThe Neckan(p. 167).
Similar to the commonPoulter’s Measurestanza is another stanza of iambic-anapaestic verses on the formulaa a3b4a3(inbmiddle-rhyme is used, so that the scheme may also be given asa a3b b2a3.)We find it in Burns, thea-rhymes being masculine (p. 245) and feminine (p. 218).
Four-lined stanzas of two rhyming couplets of unequal length are fairly common; as e.g. on the modela a5b b4in Dryden,Hymn for St. John’s Eve:
O sylvan prophet! whose eternal fameEchoes from Judah’s hills and Jordan’s stream,The music of our numbers raise,And tune our voices to thy praise.
O sylvan prophet! whose eternal fameEchoes from Judah’s hills and Jordan’s stream,The music of our numbers raise,And tune our voices to thy praise.
O sylvan prophet! whose eternal fame
Echoes from Judah’s hills and Jordan’s stream,
The music of our numbers raise,
And tune our voices to thy praise.
Other schemes that occur area a4b b5,a a b4b5,a a b4b2,a a4b3b2,a4a2b b4,a5a3b b5; there are even forms with lines of unequal length in each part, as e.g.:a4a5b7b5,a7a4b2b6,a5a3b5b4,a5a4b4b6. For examples seeMetrik, ii (§§ 322–4).
Enclosing rhymes are also found; and in this case the lines of the same length usually rhyme together, as in the formulaa3b b5a3in Mrs. Hemans,The Song of Night(vi. 94):
I come to thee, O Earth!With all my gifts!—for every flower sweet dewIn bell, and urn, and chalice, to renewThe glory of its birth.
I come to thee, O Earth!With all my gifts!—for every flower sweet dewIn bell, and urn, and chalice, to renewThe glory of its birth.
I come to thee, O Earth!
With all my gifts!—for every flower sweet dew
In bell, and urn, and chalice, to renew
The glory of its birth.
Sometimes verses are used partly of unequal length:a3b5b3a4in M. Arnold,A Nameless Epitaph(p. 232), ora5b2b4a5,a b b4a3, &c. (cf.Metrik, ii, § 325)
§258.Stanzas of this kind frequently occur with crossed rhymes. Most commonly two longer verses are placed between two shorter ones, or vice versa; thus we have the formulaa3b a5b3in Southey’sThe Ebb-Tide(ii. 193):
Slowly thy flowing tideCame in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes,As watchfully I roam’d thy green-wood side,Perceive its gentle rise.
Slowly thy flowing tideCame in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes,As watchfully I roam’d thy green-wood side,Perceive its gentle rise.
Slowly thy flowing tide
Came in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes,
As watchfully I roam’d thy green-wood side,
Perceive its gentle rise.
Other forms area2b a3b2,a4b a5b4,a5b a4b5(cf.Metrik, ii, § 326).
Three isometrical verses and one shorter or longer end-verse can also be so connected, as e.g. on the schemea b a4b2in Pope,Ode on Solitude(p. 45):
Happy the man whose wish and careA few paternal acres bound,Content to breathe his native air,In his own ground;
Happy the man whose wish and careA few paternal acres bound,Content to breathe his native air,In his own ground;
Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground;
or in Cowper on the modela b a4b5inDivine Love endures no Rival(p. 418):
Love is the Lord whom I obey,Whose will transported I perform;The centre of my rest, my stay,Love’s all in all to me, myself a worm.
Love is the Lord whom I obey,Whose will transported I perform;The centre of my rest, my stay,Love’s all in all to me, myself a worm.
Love is the Lord whom I obey,
Whose will transported I perform;
The centre of my rest, my stay,
Love’s all in all to me, myself a worm.
Similar stanzas both with this and other arrangements of rhymes (as e. g.a b a5b3,a b a4b2,a b a3b5) are very popular.A specimen of the first of these formulas is found in M. Arnold’sProgress(p. 252), and one of the second in hisA Southern Night(p. 294). For other examples seeMetrik, ii, §§ 326–7.
More rarely a short verse begins the stanza (e.g.a3b a b5in Mrs. Hemans,The Wish, vi. 249), or is placed in the middle on the schemea5b2a b5(as in G. Herbert,Church Lock and Key, p. 61). For specimens seeMetrik, ii, §§ 328, 329.
Stanzas of one isometrical and another anisometrical half are not frequently met with; a specimen of the forma b4a5b2is found in G. Herbert’sEmployment(p. 51).
More common are stanzas of two anisometrical halves; in this case either the two middle or the isolated verses are generally isometrical; e.g. on the schemea5b a4b3in G. Herbert,The Temper(p. 49):
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymesGladly engrave thy love in steel,If what my soul doth feel sometimes,My soul might ever feel!
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymesGladly engrave thy love in steel,If what my soul doth feel sometimes,My soul might ever feel!
How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rymes
Gladly engrave thy love in steel,
If what my soul doth feel sometimes,
My soul might ever feel!
or ona4b3a4b5in Milton,Psalm V(vol. iii, p. 24):
Jehovah, to my words give ear,My meditation weigh;The voice of my complaining hear,My king and God, for unto thee I pray.
Jehovah, to my words give ear,My meditation weigh;The voice of my complaining hear,My king and God, for unto thee I pray.
Jehovah, to my words give ear,
My meditation weigh;
The voice of my complaining hear,
My king and God, for unto thee I pray.
Stanzas like these are very much in vogue, and may be composed of the most varied forms of verse (cf.Metrik, ii; § 330)
§259.Among thefive-lined stanzasthe first place must be given to those in which the arrangement of rhymes is parallel, as these are found in Middle English as well as in Modern English poetry. A stanza of forma a a4b3b6occurs in Wright’sSpec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 60:
Wynter wakeneþ al my care,nou þis leues waxeþ bare;ofte y sike ant mourne sare,when hit cómeþ in my þóht,óf this wórldes ióie, hóu hit geþ ál to nóht.
Wynter wakeneþ al my care,nou þis leues waxeþ bare;ofte y sike ant mourne sare,when hit cómeþ in my þóht,óf this wórldes ióie, hóu hit geþ ál to nóht.
Wynter wakeneþ al my care,
nou þis leues waxeþ bare;
ofte y sike ant mourne sare,
when hit cómeþ in my þóht,
óf this wórldes ióie, hóu hit geþ ál to nóht.
A similar structure (a a a4b3b5) is shown in a stanza of a poem quoted by Ritson,Ancient Songs, i. 129; the poem belongs to the fifteenth century.
Still more numerous are these stanzas in Modern English;e.g. the forma a a3b b5occurs in Herbert,Sinne(p. 58),a a a3b4b3in Shelley (iii. 244),a a a b4b5in Suckling (Poets, iii. 734); a still more irregular structure (a4a5b b4b5) in Cowley,All for love(Poets, v. 263):
’Tis well, ’tis well with them, say I.Whose short liv’d passions with themselves can die;For none can be unhappy who,’Midst all his ills, a time does know(Though ne’er so long) when he shall not be so.
’Tis well, ’tis well with them, say I.Whose short liv’d passions with themselves can die;For none can be unhappy who,’Midst all his ills, a time does know(Though ne’er so long) when he shall not be so.
’Tis well, ’tis well with them, say I.
Whose short liv’d passions with themselves can die;
For none can be unhappy who,
’Midst all his ills, a time does know
(Though ne’er so long) when he shall not be so.
Here again we meet with the stanzas mentioned above, which are partially characterized by enclosing rhymes, e.g. corresponding to the formulaa b b a, as in M. Arnold,On the Rhine(p. 223), or on the schemea a b b4a5, as in Byron,Oh! snatch’d away, &c. (p. 123):
Oh! snatch’d away in beauty’s bloom,On thee shall press no ponderous tomb;But on thy turf shall roses rearTheir leaves, the earliest of the year;And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom.
Oh! snatch’d away in beauty’s bloom,On thee shall press no ponderous tomb;But on thy turf shall roses rearTheir leaves, the earliest of the year;And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom.
Oh! snatch’d away in beauty’s bloom,
On thee shall press no ponderous tomb;
But on thy turf shall roses rear
Their leaves, the earliest of the year;
And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom.
For other stanzas on the formulasa a5b b4A3,a5b b4a5a4,a3b b2a a3, &c., seeMetrik(ii, §§ 332, 333).
In others the chief part of the stanza shows crossed rhyme, as e.g. on the schemea b a b4b3in Poe,To Helen(p. 205):
Helen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yoreThat gently, o’er a perfumed sea,The weary way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.
Helen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yoreThat gently, o’er a perfumed sea,The weary way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o’er a perfumed sea,
The weary way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
Other stanzas take the formsa5b4a5b4b5,a5b2a4b3b5,a4b3a4b3b2, &c. More uncommon are such forms asa3b b5a4b5, a b5b3a b5, &c. (For specimens seeMetrik, ii, § 334.)
Stanzas with crossed rhymes throughout, on the other hand, are very frequent, as e.g. typea b a b4a3in R. Browning’sBy the Fireside(iii. 170):
How well I know what I mean to doWhen the long dark autumn evenings come;And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue?With the music of all thy voices, dumbIn life’s November too!
How well I know what I mean to doWhen the long dark autumn evenings come;And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue?With the music of all thy voices, dumbIn life’s November too!
How well I know what I mean to do
When the long dark autumn evenings come;
And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue?
With the music of all thy voices, dumb
In life’s November too!
There are many other forms, sometimes very complicated, as e.g.a b a b5a3,a b5a2b a6,a3b a4b3a5, &c. (For examples seeMetrik, ii, § 335.)
§260.The tail-rhyme stanzas shortened by one verse occupy an important position among the five-lined stanzas.
These curtailed forms occur as early as the Middle English period, e.g. in an envoi on the modela a4b2a4b2, forming the conclusion of a poem in six-lined stanzas (a a a4b2a4b2), printed in Wright’sSpec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 38.
Ich wolde ich were a þrestelcok,A bountyng oþer a lauerok.Swete bryd!Bituene hire curtel ant hire smokY wolde ben hyd.
Ich wolde ich were a þrestelcok,A bountyng oþer a lauerok.Swete bryd!Bituene hire curtel ant hire smokY wolde ben hyd.
Ich wolde ich were a þrestelcok,
A bountyng oþer a lauerok.
Swete bryd!
Bituene hire curtel ant hire smok
Y wolde ben hyd.
In Modern English the common form of stanza is much employed, consisting of four- and three-foot verses,a a4b3a4b3; there are many varieties of this scheme, asa a b a4b3,a5a b4a5b3,a a2b a4b3, &c. (cf.Metrik, ii, § 336).
A similar form, with shortening in the first half-stanza, also occurs in Middle English poetry, though only as an envoi of another form of stanza, viz, in theTowneley Mysteries(pp. 34–323):
Vnwunne haueþ myn wonges wet,Þat makeþ me rouþes rede;Ne sem i nout þer y am set,Þer me calleþ me fule fletAnd waynoun! wayteglede.
Vnwunne haueþ myn wonges wet,Þat makeþ me rouþes rede;Ne sem i nout þer y am set,Þer me calleþ me fule fletAnd waynoun! wayteglede.
Vnwunne haueþ myn wonges wet,
Þat makeþ me rouþes rede;
Ne sem i nout þer y am set,
Þer me calleþ me fule flet
And waynoun! wayteglede.
This stanza is also frequently used in Modern English, e.g. by Thomas Moore,Nay, do not weep.
A similar stanza on the modela4b2a a4b2is used by Moore inEcho(ii. 211):
How sweet the answer Echo makesTo music at night,When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes,And far away, o’er lawns and lakes,Goes answering light.
How sweet the answer Echo makesTo music at night,When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes,And far away, o’er lawns and lakes,Goes answering light.
How sweet the answer Echo makes
To music at night,
When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes,
And far away, o’er lawns and lakes,
Goes answering light.
We find specimens of this stanza consisting of other metres and of different structure (isometrical in the first half-stanza),e.g. on the schemesa5b3a a5b3,a b a a4b3, &c. (For specimens seeMetrik, ii, § 337.)
Stanzas of this kind are also formed with three rhymes, e.g.a b3c c2b4,a b3c c2b3,a ~ b4c ~ c ~2b4, &c. (For specimens cf.Metrik, ii, § 338.)
Another class of shortened tail-rhyme stanzas, which is deficient not in one of the rhyming couplets, but in one of the tail-verses, comes in here. Omission of the first tail-verse, producing a stanza on the schemea a b b c, occurs in Wordsworth,The Blind Highland Boy(ii. 368):
Now we are tired of boisterous joy,Have romped enough, my little Boy!Jane hangs her head upon my breast,And you shall bring your stool and rest;This corner is your own.
Now we are tired of boisterous joy,Have romped enough, my little Boy!Jane hangs her head upon my breast,And you shall bring your stool and rest;This corner is your own.
Now we are tired of boisterous joy,
Have romped enough, my little Boy!
Jane hangs her head upon my breast,
And you shall bring your stool and rest;
This corner is your own.
Another stanza, which is used in Carew’sLove’s Courtship(Poets, iii. 707), is formed on the schemea a4b2c c4, where the tail-verse of the second half-stanza is wanting. As to the other varieties, arising from the use of other metres, cf.Metrik, ii, § 338.
Sometimes stanzas of three rhymes occur, rhyming crosswise throughout, and of various forms, e.g.a b a c4b3in Longfellow,The Saga of King Olaf(p. 565);a b4c3a4c2in Coleridge;a b a b5C3in Mrs. Hemans (iv. 119);a b a b4C3in Moore,Weep, Children of Israel:
Weep, weep for him, the Man of God—In yonder vale he sunk to rest;But none of earth can point the sodThat flowers above his sacred breast.Weep, children of Israel, weep!
Weep, weep for him, the Man of God—In yonder vale he sunk to rest;But none of earth can point the sodThat flowers above his sacred breast.Weep, children of Israel, weep!
Weep, weep for him, the Man of God—
In yonder vale he sunk to rest;
But none of earth can point the sod
That flowers above his sacred breast.
Weep, children of Israel, weep!
For other varieties seeMetrik, ii, § 339
§261.Unequal-membered anisometricalstanzas of six linesare only rarely met with in Middle English, as e.g.a a4b b b a2in Dunbar’s poem,Aganis Treason.
They occur, on the other hand, very frequently in Modern English, especially with parallel rhymes on the schemea a a a4B C2inThe Old and Young Courtier(Percy’sRel.II.iii. 8):
An old song made by an aged-old pate,Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a greate estate,That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate,And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate;Like an old courtier of the queen’s,And the queen’s old courtier.
An old song made by an aged-old pate,Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a greate estate,That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate,And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate;Like an old courtier of the queen’s,And the queen’s old courtier.
An old song made by an aged-old pate,
Of an old worshipful gentleman, who had a greate estate,
That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate,
And an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate;
Like an old courtier of the queen’s,
And the queen’s old courtier.
For specimens of other stanzas, the rhymes of which are arranged in a similar way (according toa5a a b b4b5, or with partly enclosing rhymes, asa5b b b b3a5,a a b b b4a2,a a4b b b a2, &c.), seeMetrik, ii, § 340.
Forms based upon the tail-rhyme stanza are very popular; of great importance is the entwined form on a Provençal model (cf. Bartsch,Provenzalisches Lesebuch, p. 46) which was imitated in Middle English poetry. It corresponds to the schemea a a4b3a4b3and gives the impression, according to Wolf in his book,Über die Lais, &c., p. 230, note 67, that the second part of a common tail-rhyme stanza is inserted into the first, though it is also possible that it may have been formed from the extended tail-rhyme stanzaa a a4b3a a a4b3by shortening the second part by two chief verses. The first stanza of a poem in Wright’sSpec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 94, may serve as a specimen:
Ase y me rod þis ender day,By grene wode to seche play,Mid herte y þohte al on a may,Suetest of alle þinge;Lyþe, and ich ou telle mayAl of þat suete þinge.
Ase y me rod þis ender day,By grene wode to seche play,Mid herte y þohte al on a may,Suetest of alle þinge;Lyþe, and ich ou telle mayAl of þat suete þinge.
Ase y me rod þis ender day,
By grene wode to seche play,
Mid herte y þohte al on a may,
Suetest of alle þinge;
Lyþe, and ich ou telle may
Al of þat suete þinge.
This stanza occurs frequently in theTowneley Mysteries, pp. 120–34, 254–69, &c. In Modern English, however, we find it very seldom; as an example (iambic-anapaestic verses of four and three measures) we may refer to Campbell’sStanzas on the battle of Navarino(p. 176).
More frequent in Modern English, on the other hand, is a variety of this stanza with two-foot tail-verses on the schemea a a4b2a4b2; it is especially common in Ramsay and Fergusson, and occurs in several poems of Burns, e.g. in hisScotch Drink(p. 6):
Let other Poets raise a fracas’Bout vines, an’ wines, an’ drunken Bacchus,An’ crabbit names an’ stories wrack us,An’ grate our lug,I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us,In glass or jug.
Let other Poets raise a fracas’Bout vines, an’ wines, an’ drunken Bacchus,An’ crabbit names an’ stories wrack us,An’ grate our lug,I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us,In glass or jug.
Let other Poets raise a fracas
’Bout vines, an’ wines, an’ drunken Bacchus,
An’ crabbit names an’ stories wrack us,
An’ grate our lug,
I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us,
In glass or jug.
The same form of stanza is used by Wordsworth and by M. Arnold in his poemKaiser Dead(p. 495).
The same stanza sometimes occurs with the order of the parts inverted likea4b3a a a4b3, e.g. in Longfellow’sVoices of the Night(p. 40).
Other unequal-membered varieties of the anisometrical tail-rhyme stanza correspond toa a3b5a a5b6(cf. the chapter on the Spenserian stanza and its imitations),a a b c c4b3(M. Arnold,Horatian Echo, p. 47),a a b c c3b5,a5a3b5c c b5,a4a2b4c2c5b4,a4b3a c c4b3(entwinedfrons),a a4b3c3b4c5(entwinedcauda).
For examples seeMetrik, ii, § 343.
Here again we must mention stanzas which in their structure are influenced by the tail-rhyme stanza and are formed on the schemea b c a b c; of these we have several examples in G. Herbert, on the schemea b c5a b4c5, e.g. inMagdalena(p. 183):
When blessed Marie wip’d her Saviour’s feet,(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)And wore them for a jewell on her head,Shewing his steps should be the street,Wherein she thenceforth evermoreWith pensive humblenesse would live and tread.
When blessed Marie wip’d her Saviour’s feet,(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)And wore them for a jewell on her head,Shewing his steps should be the street,Wherein she thenceforth evermoreWith pensive humblenesse would live and tread.
When blessed Marie wip’d her Saviour’s feet,
(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)
And wore them for a jewell on her head,
Shewing his steps should be the street,
Wherein she thenceforth evermore
With pensive humblenesse would live and tread.
Other stanzas of his correspond toa5b4c3c4b3a5,a3b5c4c4b5a3, &c. In Moore we have a similar stanza:a b4c2b a4c2which is unequal-membered on account of the arrangement of rhyme (cf.Metrik, ii, § 344). An unusual form of stanza, which may also be classed under this head, occurs in M. Arnold’sHuman Life(p. 40), its formula beinga3b4c a c b5.
§262. A stanza of seven linesis used in Dunbar’s poemThe Merchants of Edinborough, formed on the schemea a a b4B2a4B4; it is very interesting on account of the duplication of the refrain-verses (B2,B4). Apart from the first short refrain-verse the arrangement of rhymes is the same as it is in the entwined tail-rhyme stanza:
Quhy will ȝe, merchantis of renoun,Lat Edinburgh, ȝour nobill toun,For laik of reformatiounThe commone proffeitt tyne and fame?Think ȝe noht schame,That onie other regiounSall with dishonour hurt ȝour name!
Quhy will ȝe, merchantis of renoun,Lat Edinburgh, ȝour nobill toun,For laik of reformatiounThe commone proffeitt tyne and fame?Think ȝe noht schame,That onie other regiounSall with dishonour hurt ȝour name!
Quhy will ȝe, merchantis of renoun,
Lat Edinburgh, ȝour nobill toun,
For laik of reformatioun
The commone proffeitt tyne and fame?
Think ȝe noht schame,
That onie other regioun
Sall with dishonour hurt ȝour name!
The Modern English stanzas also mostly bear a greater or less resemblance to the tail-rhyme stanza. This relationship is evident in a stanza likea a4b3c c c4b3, used in Wordsworth,To the Daisy(iii. 42):
Sweet flower! belike one day to haveA place upon thy Poets grave,I welcome thee once more:But He, who was on land, at sea,My Brother, too, in loving thee,Although he loved more silently,Sleeps by his native shore.
Sweet flower! belike one day to haveA place upon thy Poets grave,I welcome thee once more:But He, who was on land, at sea,My Brother, too, in loving thee,Although he loved more silently,Sleeps by his native shore.
Sweet flower! belike one day to have
A place upon thy Poets grave,
I welcome thee once more:
But He, who was on land, at sea,
My Brother, too, in loving thee,
Although he loved more silently,
Sleeps by his native shore.
A peculiar form of stanza occurring in M. Arnold’sIn Utrumque Paratus(p. 45) with the formulaa5b3a c b c5b3likewise belongs to this group.
In other instances the longer part comes first on the modela a a4b3c c4b3, e.g. in Mrs. Hemans,The Sun(iv. 251).
Other stanzas correspond toa a3b2c c c3B2anda a a b c c2b3.
In other cases the equal-membered tail-rhyme stanza becomes unequal-membered by adding to the second tail-verse another verse rhyming with it, the formula being thena a4B2a a4b B2(e.g. in Longfellow,Victor Galbraith, p. 503) ora a2b4c c2b4B3(in Moore,Little man), ora a3b2c ~ c ~ b b3(id.,The Pilgrim).
Less closely allied to the tail-rhyme stanza are the forms which are similar to it only in one half-strophe, e.g. those on the modela4b2a b c c4b2(Shelley,To Night, iii. 62),a b3c c2a a4b3(id.Lines, iii. 86),a b b4r2a R4r2(Tennyson,A Dirge, p. 16). For other examples seeMetrik, ii, § 347
§263.There are also some eight-, nine-, and ten-lined stanzas similar to the tail-rhyme stanza. Aneight-lined stanzaof the forma4b a5c2, b4d d5c2occurs in Herbert,The Glance(p. 18), and one of the forma ~ a ~4B c ~ d c ~ d4B3in Moore’sThee, thee, only thee:
The dawning of morn, the daylight’s sinking,The night’s long hours still find me thinkingOf thee, thee, only thee.When friends are met, and goblets crown’d,And smiles are near, that once enchanted,Unreach’d by all that sunshine round,My soul, like some dark spot, is hauntedBy thee, thee, only thee.
The dawning of morn, the daylight’s sinking,The night’s long hours still find me thinkingOf thee, thee, only thee.When friends are met, and goblets crown’d,And smiles are near, that once enchanted,Unreach’d by all that sunshine round,My soul, like some dark spot, is hauntedBy thee, thee, only thee.
The dawning of morn, the daylight’s sinking,
The night’s long hours still find me thinking
Of thee, thee, only thee.
When friends are met, and goblets crown’d,
And smiles are near, that once enchanted,
Unreach’d by all that sunshine round,
My soul, like some dark spot, is haunted
By thee, thee, only thee.
A stanza used by Wordsworth inStray Pleasures(iv. 12) corresponds toa a2b3c c d d2b3.
Two stanzas used by M. Arnold correspond to the formulasa a2b2c5d4c3d4b2(a aprinted as one line) inA Question(p. 44), anda a3b5c c3d b d3inThe World and the Quietist(p. 46).
Astanza of nine linesis found in Tennyson’sLady of Shalott(p. 28); it is on the schemea a a a b c c c4b; one of ten lines in hisGreeting to the Duchess of Edinburgh(p. 261) on the modela b b a5C2d e e d5C3(cf.Metrik, ii, § 349).
Other stanzas of this kind are related to the Septenary or thePoulter’s Measure, e.g. those on the schemesa4b3a b c d c4d3,a b a4b3c d3c4d3, anda b2a4b2c3d2c4d2, examples of which, from Moore, are given inMetrik, ii, § 348.
Stanzas of elevenandtwelve linesare rare. For examples seeMetrik, ii, § 350.
§264. The bob-wheel stanzas.This important class of bipartite unequal-membered anisometrical stanzas was very much in vogue in the Middle English period. They consist (see §222) of afrons(longer verses of four stresses, or Septenary and Alexandrine verses) and acauda, which is formed of shorter verses and is joined to thefronsby one or several ‘bob-verses’, belonging generally to the first part or ‘upsong’ (in GermanAufgesang).
Sometimes it is doubtful whether these stanzas belong to the bipartite or to the tripartite class, on account of the variety of rhymes in thefrons. But as they mostly consist of two quite unequal parts, they certainly stand in a closer relationship to the bipartite stanzas.
A simple stanza of this kind on the schemeA A7C1B7occurs in William of Shoreham (printed in short lines on the modelA4B3C4B3d1E4D3):