The element of Pitch is not ordinarily included in the treatment of versification, as it is not ordinarily recognized as having any significance peculiar to verse. According to Professor J. W. Bright, however, there is such a thing as a "pitch-accent" which plays an important part in verse where the word-accent conflicts with that of the regular metre. Under certain exigencies, he says, "un-governed, pre-cisely, re-markable,andJe-rusalem... are naturally pronounced with a pitch-accent upon the first syllables, and with the undisturbed expiratory word-accent upon the second. It will of course be understood that when the word-accent is defined as expiratory this term does not exclude the inherent pitch of English stress. Force, quantity, and pitch are combined in our word-stress (or word-accent), both primary and secondary; but in the secondary stress used as ictus there is a noticeable change in the proportions of these elements, the pitch being relatively increased. An answer is thus won for the question: How do we naturally pronounce two stresses in juxtaposition on the same word, or on adjacent words closely joined grammatically? This is further illustrated in the specially emphasized words of such expressions as 'The idea!'" where Professor Bright marks the pitch-accent on the first syllable of "idea," retaining the stress-accent on the second syllable. In the line"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit"he marks a pitch-accent where the word-stress and metrical stress are in conflict, that is, on the syllables "dis-" and "and." "The rhythmic use of 'disobedience,'" he says, "illustrates with its four syllables (as here used) as many recognizable varieties of stress. The first syllable has a secondary word-accent, raised to a pitch-accent for ictus; the second is wholly unaccented; the third has the chief word-accent, employed as ictus (the accent of the preceding word, "first," is subordinate to the rhythm); the fourth has a secondary word-accent which remains unchanged in the thesis." The conclusion is that "ictus in conflict requires a pitch-accent." (All these quotations are from an article on 'Proper Names in Old English Verse,' in thePublications of the Modern Language Association, n.s. vol. vii. No. 3). Professor Bright's theory of pitch-accent is a part of his general theory of opposition to what he calls the "sense-doctrine" of the reading of verse,—that is, the accepted doctrine that the word and sentence accents must ordinarily take precedence of the metrical accent.
The element of Pitch is not ordinarily included in the treatment of versification, as it is not ordinarily recognized as having any significance peculiar to verse. According to Professor J. W. Bright, however, there is such a thing as a "pitch-accent" which plays an important part in verse where the word-accent conflicts with that of the regular metre. Under certain exigencies, he says, "un-governed, pre-cisely, re-markable,andJe-rusalem... are naturally pronounced with a pitch-accent upon the first syllables, and with the undisturbed expiratory word-accent upon the second. It will of course be understood that when the word-accent is defined as expiratory this term does not exclude the inherent pitch of English stress. Force, quantity, and pitch are combined in our word-stress (or word-accent), both primary and secondary; but in the secondary stress used as ictus there is a noticeable change in the proportions of these elements, the pitch being relatively increased. An answer is thus won for the question: How do we naturally pronounce two stresses in juxtaposition on the same word, or on adjacent words closely joined grammatically? This is further illustrated in the specially emphasized words of such expressions as 'The idea!'" where Professor Bright marks the pitch-accent on the first syllable of "idea," retaining the stress-accent on the second syllable. In the line
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit"
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit"
he marks a pitch-accent where the word-stress and metrical stress are in conflict, that is, on the syllables "dis-" and "and." "The rhythmic use of 'disobedience,'" he says, "illustrates with its four syllables (as here used) as many recognizable varieties of stress. The first syllable has a secondary word-accent, raised to a pitch-accent for ictus; the second is wholly unaccented; the third has the chief word-accent, employed as ictus (the accent of the preceding word, "first," is subordinate to the rhythm); the fourth has a secondary word-accent which remains unchanged in the thesis." The conclusion is that "ictus in conflict requires a pitch-accent." (All these quotations are from an article on 'Proper Names in Old English Verse,' in thePublications of the Modern Language Association, n.s. vol. vii. No. 3). Professor Bright's theory of pitch-accent is a part of his general theory of opposition to what he calls the "sense-doctrine" of the reading of verse,—that is, the accepted doctrine that the word and sentence accents must ordinarily take precedence of the metrical accent.
According to cause or significance, accents are commonly classed in three groups: Etymological or Word Accent, Syntactical or Rhetorical Accent, and Metrical Accent. Accents of the first class are due to the original stress of the syllable in English speech; those of the second class are due to the importance of the syllable in the sentence; those of the third class are due to the place of the syllable in the metrical scheme. In the verse
"Mary had a little lamb,"
"Mary had a little lamb,"
the first syllable may be said to be stressed primarily for etymological reasons, the seventh primarily for syntactical or rhetorical reasons, and the third (which would not be accented in prose) for metrical reasons.
The general law of English verse is that only those syllables which bear the accent of the first class (that is, which are stressed in common speech), together with monosyllables which on occasion are stressed in common speech, shall be placed so as to receive the metrical stress; and that, if the word-stress and the metrical stress apparently conflict, the metrical stress must yield. Less generally, the rhetorical or syntactical accent in the same way takes precedence of the metrical. In both cases exceptions are of course numerous.
The following are examples of verses showing a conflict between the normal prose-accent and the normal verse-accent, where—as commonly read—the prose- (word-) accent triumphs.
The blessed damozel leaned outFrom the gold barof heaven.
The blessed damozel leaned outFrom the gold barof heaven.
(Rossetti:The Blessed Damozel.)
Love isa smokeraised withthe fume of sighs;Being purged, a firesparklingin lover's eyes;Being vexed, a seanourishedwith lover's tears.
Love isa smokeraised withthe fume of sighs;Being purged, a firesparklingin lover's eyes;Being vexed, a seanourishedwith lover's tears.
(Shakspere:Romeo and Juliet, I. i. 196 ff.)
Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,And fear'st to die?famineis in thy cheeks,Need andoppression starveth in thine eyes.
Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,And fear'st to die?famineis in thy cheeks,Need andoppression starveth in thine eyes.
(Shakspere:ib.V. i. 68 ff.)
Till, athis second bidding, Darkness fled,Lightshone, and order from disorder sprung.Swift totheir several quarters hasted thenThe cumbrous elements—Earth, Flood,Air, Fire;And this ethereal quintessence of HeavenFlew upward,spiritedwith various forms,That rolled orbicular, and turned to starsNumberless, as thou seest, and how they move.
Till, athis second bidding, Darkness fled,Lightshone, and order from disorder sprung.Swift totheir several quarters hasted thenThe cumbrous elements—Earth, Flood,Air, Fire;And this ethereal quintessence of HeavenFlew upward,spiritedwith various forms,That rolled orbicular, and turned to starsNumberless, as thou seest, and how they move.
(Milton:Paradise Lost, iii. 712 ff.)
She wasa gordian shape of dazzling hue,Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue;Striped likea zebra, freckled like a pard,Eyed likea peacock, and all crimson barred.
She wasa gordian shape of dazzling hue,Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue;Striped likea zebra, freckled like a pard,Eyed likea peacock, and all crimson barred.
(Keats:Lamia, i. 47 ff.)
"Boys!"shriek'd the old king, but vainlier than a henTo herfalse daughters in the pool; for noneRegarded; neither seem'd there more to say.Backrode we to my father's camp, and foundHe thrice had sent a herald to the gates.
"Boys!"shriek'd the old king, but vainlier than a henTo herfalse daughters in the pool; for noneRegarded; neither seem'd there more to say.Backrode we to my father's camp, and foundHe thrice had sent a herald to the gates.
(Tennyson:The Princess, v. 318 ff.)
Sequestered nest!—this kingdom, limitedAlone by one oldpopulous greenwall;Tenantedby the ever-busy flies,Gray crickets and shy lizards and quick spiders;Each family of the silver-threaded moss—Which, look through near, this way, and it appearsA stubble-fieldor a cane-brake, a marshOf bulrush whiteningin thesun:laugh now!
Sequestered nest!—this kingdom, limitedAlone by one oldpopulous greenwall;Tenantedby the ever-busy flies,Gray crickets and shy lizards and quick spiders;Each family of the silver-threaded moss—Which, look through near, this way, and it appearsA stubble-fieldor a cane-brake, a marshOf bulrush whiteningin thesun:laugh now!
(Browning:Paracelsus, i. 36 ff.)
On the other hand, we find verses showing a conflict between prose and verse accent, where the verse-accent may be regarded as triumphing wholly or in part. Where this triumph is complete, the accent is said to bewrenched; as, for example, in oldballad endings like "north countree."[3]Where there is a compromise effected in reading, the accent is said to behovering; as in one of Shakspere's songs,—
"It was a lover and his lass ...That o'er the greencorn-fielddid pass."
"It was a lover and his lass ...That o'er the greencorn-fielddid pass."
I sat with Love upon a woodside well,Leaning across the water, I and he;Nor ever did he speak nor looked at me,But touched his lute wherein wasaudibleThe certain secret thing he had to tell:Only our mirrored eyes metsilentlyIn the low wave; and that sound came to beThe passionate voice I knew; and my tears fell.And at their fall, his eyes beneath grew hers;And with his foot and with hiswing-feathersHe swept the spring that watered my heart's drouth.Then the dark ripples spread to waving hair,And as I stooped, her own lips rising thereBubbled with brimming kisses at my mouth.
I sat with Love upon a woodside well,Leaning across the water, I and he;Nor ever did he speak nor looked at me,But touched his lute wherein wasaudibleThe certain secret thing he had to tell:Only our mirrored eyes metsilentlyIn the low wave; and that sound came to beThe passionate voice I knew; and my tears fell.And at their fall, his eyes beneath grew hers;And with his foot and with hiswing-feathersHe swept the spring that watered my heart's drouth.Then the dark ripples spread to waving hair,And as I stooped, her own lips rising thereBubbled with brimming kisses at my mouth.
(Rossetti:Willowwood. House of Life, Sonnet xlix.)
I wish my grave were growing green,A winding-sheet drawn ower my een,And I in Helen's armslying,On fair Kirconnell lea.
I wish my grave were growing green,A winding-sheet drawn ower my een,And I in Helen's armslying,On fair Kirconnell lea.
(Fair Helen; old ballad.)
For the stars and the winds are unto herAs raiment, as songs of theharp-player.
For the stars and the winds are unto herAs raiment, as songs of theharp-player.
(Swinburne: Chorus inAtalanta in Calydon.)
Nothing is better, I well think,Than love; the hiddenwell-waterIs not so delicate to drink:This was well seen of me and her.
Nothing is better, I well think,Than love; the hiddenwell-waterIs not so delicate to drink:This was well seen of me and her.
(Swinburne:The Leper.)
These wrenched accents are characteristic of one phase of the so-called "pre-Raphaelite" poetry of the Victorian period; in part, no doubt, they are due to the influence of the old ballads. My colleague Professor Newcomer has suggested that they are partly due, also, to a dislike for the combative accent which would occur where two heavy syllables came together (accented as commonly) in a compound like "harp-player."
Of special interest are the examples of wrenched and hovering accent found in the verse of Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey,—more especially in Wyatt. These mark the time when the syllable-counting principle was coming into prominence in English verse, under the new culture of the days of Henry VIII. The first conscious followers of this principle seem to have given it such prominence that a verse seemed good to them if it contained the requisite number of syllables, whether the accents conformed to any regular system or not. In the case of Wyatt we can also compare the original forms of many of his poems, as preserved in manuscript, with the revised forms as printed in Tottel's Miscellany (1557). (See Dr. Flügel's transcriptions from the Wyatt Mss., inAnglia, vol. xviii.) The following is the octave of one of the sonnets, as found in the Ms.:"Avysing the bright bemes of these fayer Iyeswhere he is that myn oft moisteth and wassheththe werid mynde streght from the hert departethfor to rest in his woroldly paradiseAnd fynde the swete bitter under this gysewhat webbes he hath wrought well he parcevethwhereby with himselfe on love he playneththat spurreth with fyer: and bridillith with Ise."(Anglia,xviii. 465.)Compare this with the revised form in Tottel's edition:"Avisyng the bright beames of those fayre eyes,Where he abides that mine oft moistes and washeth:The weried mynd streight from the hart departeth,To rest within hys worldly Paradise,And bitter findes the swete, under this gyse.What webbes there he hath wrought, well he preceavethWhereby then with him self on love he playneth,That spurs wyth fire, and brydleth eke with yse."(Arber Reprint, p. 40.)It appears that this revision was the work of the editor, who had a better sense of true English rhythm than the poet himself. Alscher, however, in his work on Wyatt, contends that Wyatt doubtless revised his own verses so as to give them their finished form. (SeeSir Thomas Wyatt und Seine Stellung, etc., p. 49.) Other lines in Wyatt's verse where the number of syllables is counted but where the accents are faulty, are these:"The long love that in my thought I harbour.""And there campeth displaying his banner.""And there him hideth and not appeareth.""For good is the life, ending faithfully."Another large group of hovering accents is that formed by French words with such terminations as-our,-ance,-ace,-age,-ant,-ess. In such cases the original tendency of the word was to accent the final syllable; but the general tendency of English accents being recessive, the words often passed through a transitional period when the accent was variable or "hovering." The first of the four lines just quoted shows us a word of this character.For an interesting presentation of certain phases of the laws of stress in English verse, see Robert Bridges'sMilton's Prosody(ed. 1901), Appendix J, "on the Rules of Stress Rhythms."
Of special interest are the examples of wrenched and hovering accent found in the verse of Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey,—more especially in Wyatt. These mark the time when the syllable-counting principle was coming into prominence in English verse, under the new culture of the days of Henry VIII. The first conscious followers of this principle seem to have given it such prominence that a verse seemed good to them if it contained the requisite number of syllables, whether the accents conformed to any regular system or not. In the case of Wyatt we can also compare the original forms of many of his poems, as preserved in manuscript, with the revised forms as printed in Tottel's Miscellany (1557). (See Dr. Flügel's transcriptions from the Wyatt Mss., inAnglia, vol. xviii.) The following is the octave of one of the sonnets, as found in the Ms.:
"Avysing the bright bemes of these fayer Iyeswhere he is that myn oft moisteth and wassheththe werid mynde streght from the hert departethfor to rest in his woroldly paradiseAnd fynde the swete bitter under this gysewhat webbes he hath wrought well he parcevethwhereby with himselfe on love he playneththat spurreth with fyer: and bridillith with Ise."
"Avysing the bright bemes of these fayer Iyeswhere he is that myn oft moisteth and wassheththe werid mynde streght from the hert departethfor to rest in his woroldly paradiseAnd fynde the swete bitter under this gysewhat webbes he hath wrought well he parcevethwhereby with himselfe on love he playneththat spurreth with fyer: and bridillith with Ise."
(Anglia,xviii. 465.)
Compare this with the revised form in Tottel's edition:
"Avisyng the bright beames of those fayre eyes,Where he abides that mine oft moistes and washeth:The weried mynd streight from the hart departeth,To rest within hys worldly Paradise,And bitter findes the swete, under this gyse.What webbes there he hath wrought, well he preceavethWhereby then with him self on love he playneth,That spurs wyth fire, and brydleth eke with yse."
"Avisyng the bright beames of those fayre eyes,Where he abides that mine oft moistes and washeth:The weried mynd streight from the hart departeth,To rest within hys worldly Paradise,And bitter findes the swete, under this gyse.What webbes there he hath wrought, well he preceavethWhereby then with him self on love he playneth,That spurs wyth fire, and brydleth eke with yse."
(Arber Reprint, p. 40.)
It appears that this revision was the work of the editor, who had a better sense of true English rhythm than the poet himself. Alscher, however, in his work on Wyatt, contends that Wyatt doubtless revised his own verses so as to give them their finished form. (SeeSir Thomas Wyatt und Seine Stellung, etc., p. 49.) Other lines in Wyatt's verse where the number of syllables is counted but where the accents are faulty, are these:
"The long love that in my thought I harbour.""And there campeth displaying his banner.""And there him hideth and not appeareth.""For good is the life, ending faithfully."
"The long love that in my thought I harbour."
"And there campeth displaying his banner."
"And there him hideth and not appeareth."
"For good is the life, ending faithfully."
Another large group of hovering accents is that formed by French words with such terminations as-our,-ance,-ace,-age,-ant,-ess. In such cases the original tendency of the word was to accent the final syllable; but the general tendency of English accents being recessive, the words often passed through a transitional period when the accent was variable or "hovering." The first of the four lines just quoted shows us a word of this character.
For an interesting presentation of certain phases of the laws of stress in English verse, see Robert Bridges'sMilton's Prosody(ed. 1901), Appendix J, "on the Rules of Stress Rhythms."
The fundamental principle of the rhythm of English verse (and indeed of any rhythm) is thatthe accents appear at regular time-intervals. In practice there is of course great freedom in departing from this regularity, the equal time-intervals being at times only a standard of rhythm to which the varying successions of accented and unaccented syllables are mentally referred. Where the equal time-intervals are observed with substantial regularity,two sorts of verse are still to be clearly distinguished: that in which not only the intervals of time but the numbers of syllables between the accents are substantially equal and regular, and that in which the number of syllables varies. The latter class is that of the native Germanic metres; the former is that of the Romance metres, and of modern English verse as influenced by them. With the development of regularity in the counting of syllables there has perhaps also taken place a development of regularity in the regular counting of the time-intervals. In other words, the modern English reader, where the number of syllables between accents is variable, makes the time-intervals as nearly equal as possible by lengthening and shortening the syllables in the manner permitted by the freedom of English speech; in early English verse, where the number of syllables between accents varied very greatly, we cannot be sure that the time-intervals were so accurately felt or preserved in recitation.
Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of suchWho still are pleas'd too little or too much.At every trifle scorn to take offence,That always shows great pride, or little sense:Those heads, as stomachs, are not sure the best,Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest.Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move;For fools admire, but men of sense approve:As things seem large which we through mist descry,Dulness is ever apt to magnify.
Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of suchWho still are pleas'd too little or too much.At every trifle scorn to take offence,That always shows great pride, or little sense:Those heads, as stomachs, are not sure the best,Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest.Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move;For fools admire, but men of sense approve:As things seem large which we through mist descry,Dulness is ever apt to magnify.
(Pope:Essay on Criticism, ll. 384-393.)
Louder, louder chant the lay—Waken, lords and ladies gay!Tell them youth and mirth and gleeRun a course as well as we;Time, stern huntsman! who can baulk,Staunch as hound and fleet as hawk;Think of this, and rise with day,Gentle lords and ladies gay!
Louder, louder chant the lay—Waken, lords and ladies gay!Tell them youth and mirth and gleeRun a course as well as we;Time, stern huntsman! who can baulk,Staunch as hound and fleet as hawk;Think of this, and rise with day,Gentle lords and ladies gay!
(Scott:Hunting Song.)
Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies,Breadths of tropic shade and palms in cluster, knots of Paradise.
Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies,Breadths of tropic shade and palms in cluster, knots of Paradise.
(Tennyson:Locksley Hall.)
Wild April, enkindled to laughter and storm by the kiss ofthe wildest of winds that blow,Calls loud on his brother for witness; his hands that wereladen with blossom are sprinkled with snow.
Wild April, enkindled to laughter and storm by the kiss ofthe wildest of winds that blow,Calls loud on his brother for witness; his hands that wereladen with blossom are sprinkled with snow.
(Swinburne:March.)
Gegrētte ðā gumena gehwylcne,hwate helm-berend, hindeman sīðe,swǣse gesīðas: "Nolde ic sweord beran,wǣpen tō wyrme, gif ic wiste hūwið ðām āglǣcean elles meahtegylpe wiðgrīpan, swā ic gīo wið Grendle dyde;ac ic ðǣr heaðu-fȳres hātes wēne,oreðes ond attres; forðon ic mē on hafubord ond byrnan. Nelle ic beorges weardoferflēon fōtes trem,ac unc sceal weorðan æt wealle, swā unc wyrd getēoð,Metod manna gehwæs. Ic eom on mōde from,þæt ic wið þone gūð-flogan gylp ofersitte.
Gegrētte ðā gumena gehwylcne,hwate helm-berend, hindeman sīðe,swǣse gesīðas: "Nolde ic sweord beran,wǣpen tō wyrme, gif ic wiste hūwið ðām āglǣcean elles meahtegylpe wiðgrīpan, swā ic gīo wið Grendle dyde;ac ic ðǣr heaðu-fȳres hātes wēne,oreðes ond attres; forðon ic mē on hafubord ond byrnan. Nelle ic beorges weardoferflēon fōtes trem,ac unc sceal weorðan æt wealle, swā unc wyrd getēoð,Metod manna gehwæs. Ic eom on mōde from,þæt ic wið þone gūð-flogan gylp ofersitte.
(Beowulf, ll. 2516-2528. ab. 700.)
Ich herde men upo mold make muche mon,hou he beþ itened of here tilyynge:gode yeres & corn boþe beþ agon,ne kepeþ here no sawe ne no song synge.Nou we mote worche, nis þer non oþer won,mai ich no lengore lyue wiþ mi lesinge.Yet þer is a bitterore bit to þe bon,for euer þe furþe peni mot to þe kynge.[4]
Ich herde men upo mold make muche mon,hou he beþ itened of here tilyynge:gode yeres & corn boþe beþ agon,ne kepeþ here no sawe ne no song synge.Nou we mote worche, nis þer non oþer won,mai ich no lengore lyue wiþ mi lesinge.Yet þer is a bitterore bit to þe bon,for euer þe furþe peni mot to þe kynge.[4]
(The Farmer's Complaint, ab. 1300; in Böddeker'sAltenglische Dichtungen, p. 102, and Wright'sPolitical Songs, p. 149.)
I will speake out aloude, I care not who heare it:Sirs, see that my harnesse, my tergat and my shieldBe made as bright now as when I was last in fielde,As white as I shoulde to warre againe to-morrowe;For sicke shall I be but I worke some folke sorow.Therefore see that all shine as bright as Sainct George,Or as doth a key newly come from the smiths forge.
I will speake out aloude, I care not who heare it:Sirs, see that my harnesse, my tergat and my shieldBe made as bright now as when I was last in fielde,As white as I shoulde to warre againe to-morrowe;For sicke shall I be but I worke some folke sorow.Therefore see that all shine as bright as Sainct George,Or as doth a key newly come from the smiths forge.
(N. Udall:Ralph Roister Doister, IV. iii. 13-19. 1566.)
To this, this Oake cast him to replieWell as he couth; but his enemieHad kindled such coles of displeasure,That the good man noulde stay his leasure,But home him hasted with furious heate,Encreasing his wrath with many a threat:His harmefull Hatchet he hent in hand,(Alas! that it so ready should stand!)And to the field alone he speedeth,(Aye little helpe to harme there needeth!)Anger nould let him speake to the tree,Enaunter his rage mought cooled bee;But to the roote bent his sturdie stroake,And made many wounds in the waste Oake.
To this, this Oake cast him to replieWell as he couth; but his enemieHad kindled such coles of displeasure,That the good man noulde stay his leasure,But home him hasted with furious heate,Encreasing his wrath with many a threat:His harmefull Hatchet he hent in hand,(Alas! that it so ready should stand!)And to the field alone he speedeth,(Aye little helpe to harme there needeth!)Anger nould let him speake to the tree,Enaunter his rage mought cooled bee;But to the roote bent his sturdie stroake,And made many wounds in the waste Oake.
(Spenser:Shepherd's Calendar, February. 1579.)
Through many a dark and dreary valeThey passed, and many a region dolorous,O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death—A universe of death, which God by curseCreated evil, for evil only good;Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds,Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,Abominable, inutterable, and worseThan fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived.
Through many a dark and dreary valeThey passed, and many a region dolorous,O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death—A universe of death, which God by curseCreated evil, for evil only good;Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds,Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,Abominable, inutterable, and worseThan fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived.
(Milton:Paradise Lost, II. 618 ff. 1667.)
The night is chill; the forest bare;Is it the wind that moaneth bleak?There is not wind enough in the airTo move away the ringlet curlFrom the lovely lady's cheek—There is not wind enough to twirlThe one red leaf, the last of its clan,That dances as often as dance it can,Hanging so light, and hanging so high,On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.
The night is chill; the forest bare;Is it the wind that moaneth bleak?There is not wind enough in the airTo move away the ringlet curlFrom the lovely lady's cheek—There is not wind enough to twirlThe one red leaf, the last of its clan,That dances as often as dance it can,Hanging so light, and hanging so high,On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.
(Coleridge:Christabel, Part I. 1816.)
In his Preface to this poem Coleridge said: "The metre of theChristabelis not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may seem so from its being founded on a new principle; namely, that of counting in each line the accents, not the syllables. Though the latter may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four. Nevertheless this occasional variation in number of syllables is not introduced wantonly, or for the mere ends of convenience, but in correspondence with some transition, in the nature of the imagery or passion." The verse is accurately described, but it has frequently been pointed out as curious that Coleridge should have spoken of it as "founded on a new principle," when the principle in question was that of native English verse from the earliest times.[5]
For other specimens of verse showing irregularity in the number of syllables between the accents, see Part Two, under Non-syllable-counting Four-stress Verse.
(a) Pauses not filling the time of syllables.
Most English verses of more than eight syllables are divided not only into the time-intervals between the accents, but alsointo two parts (which Schipper calls "rhythmical series") by theCesura. The Cesura is a pause not counted out of the regular time of the rhythm, but corresponding to the pauses between "phrases" in music, and nearly always coinciding with syntactical or rhetorical divisions of the sentence.
The medial cesura is the typical pause of this kind, dividing the verse into two parts of approximately equal length. In much early English verse, and in French verse, this medial cesura is almost universal; in modern English verse (and in that of some early poets, notably Chaucer) there is great freedom in the placing of the cesura, and also in omitting it altogether. The importance of this matter in the history of English decasyllabic verse will appear in Part Two.
In the early Elizabethan period the impression was still general that there should be a regular medial cesura. Spenser seems to have been the first to imitate the greater freedom of Chaucer in this regard. See the Latin dissertation on Spenser's verse of E. Legouis (Quomodo E. Spenserus, etc., Paris, 1896), and the summary of its results by Mr. J. B. Fletcher inModern Language Notesfor November, 1898. "Spenser," says Mr. Fletcher, "revived for 'heroic verse' the neglected variety in unity of his self-acknowledged master, Chaucer." In Gascoigne'sNotes of Instruction concerning the making of verse or ryme in English(1575), we find: "There are also certayne pauses or restes in a verse whiche may be called Ceasures.... In mine opinion in a verse of eight sillables, the pause will stand best in the middest, in a verse of tenne it will be placed at the ende of the first foure sillables; in a verse of twelve, in the midst.... In Rithme royall, it is at the wryters discretion, and forceth not where the pause be untill the ende of the line." This greater liberty allowed the rime royal is doubtless due to the influence of Chaucer on that form. For Gascoigne's practice in printing his verse with medial cesura, even without regard to rhetorical divisions, see the specimen given below.Another interesting Elizabethan account of the cesura is found in Puttenham'sArte of English Poesie(1589), where the writer compares the verse-pause to a stop made by a traveler at an inn for rest and refreshment. (Arber's Reprint, p. 88.)
In the early Elizabethan period the impression was still general that there should be a regular medial cesura. Spenser seems to have been the first to imitate the greater freedom of Chaucer in this regard. See the Latin dissertation on Spenser's verse of E. Legouis (Quomodo E. Spenserus, etc., Paris, 1896), and the summary of its results by Mr. J. B. Fletcher inModern Language Notesfor November, 1898. "Spenser," says Mr. Fletcher, "revived for 'heroic verse' the neglected variety in unity of his self-acknowledged master, Chaucer." In Gascoigne'sNotes of Instruction concerning the making of verse or ryme in English(1575), we find: "There are also certayne pauses or restes in a verse whiche may be called Ceasures.... In mine opinion in a verse of eight sillables, the pause will stand best in the middest, in a verse of tenne it will be placed at the ende of the first foure sillables; in a verse of twelve, in the midst.... In Rithme royall, it is at the wryters discretion, and forceth not where the pause be untill the ende of the line." This greater liberty allowed the rime royal is doubtless due to the influence of Chaucer on that form. For Gascoigne's practice in printing his verse with medial cesura, even without regard to rhetorical divisions, see the specimen given below.
Another interesting Elizabethan account of the cesura is found in Puttenham'sArte of English Poesie(1589), where the writer compares the verse-pause to a stop made by a traveler at an inn for rest and refreshment. (Arber's Reprint, p. 88.)
Specimen of French alexandrine, showing the regular medial cesura:
Trois fois cinquante jours le général naufrageDégasta l'univers; en fin d'un tel ravageL'immortel s'émouvant, n'eût pas sonné si tôtLa retraite des eaux que soudain flot sur flotElles gaignent au pied; tous les fleuves s'abaissant.Le mer rentre en prison; les montagnes renaissent.
Trois fois cinquante jours le général naufrageDégasta l'univers; en fin d'un tel ravageL'immortel s'émouvant, n'eût pas sonné si tôtLa retraite des eaux que soudain flot sur flotElles gaignent au pied; tous les fleuves s'abaissant.Le mer rentre en prison; les montagnes renaissent.
(Du Bartas:La Première Semaine. 1579.)
See further, on the character of the French alexandrine and its medial cesura, in Part Two, under Six-stress Verse.
Specimen of early blank verse printed with regular medial cesura:
O Knights, O Squires, O Gentle blouds yborne,You were not borne, al onely for your selves:Your countrie claymes, some part of al your paines.There should you live, and therein should you toyle,To hold up right, and banish cruel wrong,To helpe the pore, to bridle backe the riche,To punish vice, and vertue to advaunce,To see God servde, and Belzebub supprest.You should not trust, lieftenaunts in your rome,And let them sway, the scepter of your charge,Whiles you (meane while) know scarcely what is don,Nor yet can yeld, accompt if you were callde.
O Knights, O Squires, O Gentle blouds yborne,You were not borne, al onely for your selves:Your countrie claymes, some part of al your paines.There should you live, and therein should you toyle,To hold up right, and banish cruel wrong,To helpe the pore, to bridle backe the riche,To punish vice, and vertue to advaunce,To see God servde, and Belzebub supprest.You should not trust, lieftenaunts in your rome,And let them sway, the scepter of your charge,Whiles you (meane while) know scarcely what is don,Nor yet can yeld, accompt if you were callde.
(Gascoigne:The Steel Glass, ll. 439 ff. 1576.)
For specimens of regular medial cesura, and of variable cesura, in modern verse, see under the Decasyllabic Couplet and Blank Verse, in Part Two.
The Cesura is calledmasculinewhen it follows an accented syllable. (For examples, see previous specimen from Gascoigne.) It is calledfemininewhen it follows an unaccented syllable. Two varieties of the feminine cesura are also distinguished: the Lyric, when the pause occurs inside a foot;e.g.:
"This wicked traitor, whom I thus accuse;"
"This wicked traitor, whom I thus accuse;"
the Epic, when the pause occurs after an extra (hypermetrical) light syllable;e.g.:
"To Canterbury with ful devout corage.""But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives."
"To Canterbury with ful devout corage."
"But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives."
The "epic" cesura is quite as characteristic of dramatic blank verse as of epic.
The pause occurring at the end of a line is equally regular with the medial pause, and corresponds in the same way to a phrase-pause in music. It is an element of the same character, then, as the cesura, though not bearing the same name. It coincides less closely than the cesura with syntactical and rhetorical pauses. When there is no corresponding syntactical or rhetorical pause at the end of the line (in other words, when the metrical pause marking the end of the verse cannot be prominently represented in reading without interfering with the expression of the sense), the line is said to be "run-on." Such an ending is also calledenjambement. The importance of this distinction between "end-stopped" and "run-on" lines will appear in the notes on the Decasyllabic Couplet and Blank Verse, in Part Two.
(b) Pauses filling the time of syllables.
A second class of silent time-intervals, or pauses, is to be distinguished from the cesural pause by the fact that in this case thetime of the pause is counted in the metrical scheme. Pauses of this class correspond to rests in music; and as in the case of such rests, their occurrence is exceptional.
Of fustian he wered a gipoun‸Al bismotered with his habergeoun.For him was lever have at his beddes heed‸Twenty bokes, clad in blak or reed.
Of fustian he wered a gipoun‸Al bismotered with his habergeoun.
For him was lever have at his beddes heed‸Twenty bokes, clad in blak or reed.
(Chaucer: Prologue toCanterbury Tales, 75 f. and 293 f.)
This omission of the first light syllable is characteristic of Chaucer's couplet and of Middle English verse generally. (See Schipper, vol. i. p. 462, and ten Brink'sChaucer's Sprache und Verskunst, p. 175.) In modern verse it is not usually permitted.
The time doth pass,‸yet shall not my love.
The time doth pass,‸yet shall not my love.
(Wyatt:The joy so short, alas!)
The omitted syllable following the medial pause is closely parallel to that at the beginning of the verse.
Stay!‸The king hath thrown his warder down.
Stay!‸The king hath thrown his warder down.
(Richard II, I. iii. 118.)
Kneel thou down, Philip.‸But rise more great.
Kneel thou down, Philip.‸But rise more great.
(King John, I. i. 161.)
In drops of sorrow.‸Sons, kinsmen, thanes.
In drops of sorrow.‸Sons, kinsmen, thanes.
(Macbeth, I. iv. 35.)
Than the soft myrtle.‸But man, proud man.
Than the soft myrtle.‸But man, proud man.
(Measure for Measure, II. ii. 117.)
These specimens of pauses in Shakspere's verse indicate the natural varieties of dramatic form. In such cases the pause oftenoccurs between speeches, or where some action is to be understood as filling the time; as in the second instance, where the accolade is given in the middle of the line. (See Abbott'sShakespearian Grammar, pp. 413 ff.)
‸Break,‸break,‸break,On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!And I would that my tongue could utterThe thoughts that arise in me.
‸Break,‸break,‸break,On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!And I would that my tongue could utterThe thoughts that arise in me.
(Tennyson:Break, Break, Break.)
In Lanier'sScience of English Verse, p. 101, this stanza is represented in musical notation, with rests, to show that rhythm "may be dependent on silences."
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And auld‸lang‸syne?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And auld‸lang‸syne?
(Burns:Auld Lang Syne.)
Here the syllables "auld" and "lang" may be regarded as lengthened so as to fill the time of the missing light syllables. So in many cases there is a choice between compensatory lengthening and compensatory pause.
Thus‸said the Lord‸in the Vault above the Cherubim,Calling to the angels and the souls in their degree:"Lo! Earth has passed awayOn the smoke of Judgment Day.That Our word may be established shall We gather up the sea?"Loud‸sang the souls‸of the jolly, jolly mariners:"Plague upon the hurricane that made us furl and flee!But the war is done between us,In the deep the Lord hath seen us—Our bones we'll leave the barracout', and God may sink the sea!"
Thus‸said the Lord‸in the Vault above the Cherubim,Calling to the angels and the souls in their degree:"Lo! Earth has passed awayOn the smoke of Judgment Day.That Our word may be established shall We gather up the sea?"
Loud‸sang the souls‸of the jolly, jolly mariners:"Plague upon the hurricane that made us furl and flee!But the war is done between us,In the deep the Lord hath seen us—Our bones we'll leave the barracout', and God may sink the sea!"
(Kipling:The Last Chantey.)
This is an instance of a pause forming a regular part of the verse-rhythm. Thus in the first verse of each stanza the second and sixth syllables are omitted, and the result gives the characteristic effect of the rhythm. In measures where there is regular catalexis (that is, where the last light syllable of the verse is regularly omitted) the phenomenon is really of the same kind.
These, these will give the world another heart,And other pulses. Hear ye not the humOf mighty workings?——Listen awhile, ye nations, and be dumb.
These, these will give the world another heart,And other pulses. Hear ye not the humOf mighty workings?——Listen awhile, ye nations, and be dumb.
(Keats:Sonnet to Haydon.)
Call her once before you go,—Call once yet!In a voice that she will know,—"Margaret! Margaret!"Children's voices should be dear(Call once more) to a mother's ear;Children's voices, wild with pain,—Surely she will come again!Call her once, and come away;This way, this way!...Come, dear children, come away down:Call no more!One last look at the white-walled town,And the little gray church on the windy shore;Then come down!She will not come, though you call all day;Come away, come away!
Call her once before you go,—Call once yet!In a voice that she will know,—"Margaret! Margaret!"Children's voices should be dear(Call once more) to a mother's ear;Children's voices, wild with pain,—Surely she will come again!Call her once, and come away;This way, this way!...
Come, dear children, come away down:Call no more!One last look at the white-walled town,And the little gray church on the windy shore;Then come down!She will not come, though you call all day;Come away, come away!
(Matthew Arnold:The Forsaken Merman.)
In this specimen no attempt has been made to indicate the pauses, as different readers would interpret the verse variously. It will be found that this whole poem is a study in delicate changes and arrangements of time-intervals. The four stresses characteristic of the rhythm can be accounted for in such short lines as the second and tenth, properly read.
FOOTNOTES:[1]Transactions of the Philological Society, 1875-76.[2]According to a more elaborate system Mr. Ellis recognized nine varieties of force or stress, which he named in order as follows: subweak, weak, superweak, submean, mean, supermean, substrong, strong, superstrong. In like manner he named nine degrees each of length, pitch, weight, and silence. Length and Silence are both terms of duration of time. The meaning of Weight has not been generally understood, nor is the term ordinarily recognized. Mr. Ellis described it as "due to expression and mental conceptions of importance, resulting partly from expression in delivery, produced by quality of tone and gliding pitch, and partly from the mental effect of the constructional predominance of conceptions." On this whole scheme of Mr. Ellis's, Mr. Mayor remarks interestingly: "Whilst I admire, I with difficulty repress a shudder at the elaborate apparatus he has provided for registering the minutest variations of metrical stress. Not only does he distinguish nine different degrees of force, but there are the same number of degrees of length, pitch, silence, and weight, making altogether forty-five varieties of stress at the disposal of the metrist ... If the analysis of rhythm is so terribly complicated, let us rush into the arms of the intuitivists and trust to our ears only, for life is not long enough to admit of characterizing lines when there are forty-five expressions for each syllable to be considered." (Chapters on English Metre, p. 69.)[3]The term "wrenched" was used originally, it would seem, as one of reprobation. Thus Puttenham, in hisArte of English Poesie(1589), said; "There can not be in a maker a fowler fault, than to falsifie his accent to serve his cadence, or by untrue orthographie to wrench his words to helpe his rime." (Arber ed., p. 94.)[4]It is interesting to compare with these irregular lines another stanza of similar form, of about the same date, from an Elegy on Edward I., in Böddeker's Collection, p. 140, and Wright'sPolitical Songs, p. 246.Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,a stounde herkneþ to my songof duel, þat deþ haþ diht vs 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.The comparatively great regularity of the measures in this second stanza is due to the fact that it was under the syllable-counting influence of the French, being in fact a translation of a French original.[5]Leigh Hunt said that "Coleridge saw the mistake which had been made with regard to this measure, and restored it to the beautiful freedom of which it was capable, by calling to mind the liberties allowed its old musical professors the minstrels, and dividing it bytimeinstead ofsyllables." (See the entire passage onChristabel, in the Introduction, on "What is Poetry?", toImagination and Fancy. For a criticism of the metrical structure ofChristabel, see Robert Bridges'sMilton's Prosody(ed. 1901, pp. 73-75).)
[1]Transactions of the Philological Society, 1875-76.
[1]Transactions of the Philological Society, 1875-76.
[2]According to a more elaborate system Mr. Ellis recognized nine varieties of force or stress, which he named in order as follows: subweak, weak, superweak, submean, mean, supermean, substrong, strong, superstrong. In like manner he named nine degrees each of length, pitch, weight, and silence. Length and Silence are both terms of duration of time. The meaning of Weight has not been generally understood, nor is the term ordinarily recognized. Mr. Ellis described it as "due to expression and mental conceptions of importance, resulting partly from expression in delivery, produced by quality of tone and gliding pitch, and partly from the mental effect of the constructional predominance of conceptions." On this whole scheme of Mr. Ellis's, Mr. Mayor remarks interestingly: "Whilst I admire, I with difficulty repress a shudder at the elaborate apparatus he has provided for registering the minutest variations of metrical stress. Not only does he distinguish nine different degrees of force, but there are the same number of degrees of length, pitch, silence, and weight, making altogether forty-five varieties of stress at the disposal of the metrist ... If the analysis of rhythm is so terribly complicated, let us rush into the arms of the intuitivists and trust to our ears only, for life is not long enough to admit of characterizing lines when there are forty-five expressions for each syllable to be considered." (Chapters on English Metre, p. 69.)
[2]According to a more elaborate system Mr. Ellis recognized nine varieties of force or stress, which he named in order as follows: subweak, weak, superweak, submean, mean, supermean, substrong, strong, superstrong. In like manner he named nine degrees each of length, pitch, weight, and silence. Length and Silence are both terms of duration of time. The meaning of Weight has not been generally understood, nor is the term ordinarily recognized. Mr. Ellis described it as "due to expression and mental conceptions of importance, resulting partly from expression in delivery, produced by quality of tone and gliding pitch, and partly from the mental effect of the constructional predominance of conceptions." On this whole scheme of Mr. Ellis's, Mr. Mayor remarks interestingly: "Whilst I admire, I with difficulty repress a shudder at the elaborate apparatus he has provided for registering the minutest variations of metrical stress. Not only does he distinguish nine different degrees of force, but there are the same number of degrees of length, pitch, silence, and weight, making altogether forty-five varieties of stress at the disposal of the metrist ... If the analysis of rhythm is so terribly complicated, let us rush into the arms of the intuitivists and trust to our ears only, for life is not long enough to admit of characterizing lines when there are forty-five expressions for each syllable to be considered." (Chapters on English Metre, p. 69.)
[3]The term "wrenched" was used originally, it would seem, as one of reprobation. Thus Puttenham, in hisArte of English Poesie(1589), said; "There can not be in a maker a fowler fault, than to falsifie his accent to serve his cadence, or by untrue orthographie to wrench his words to helpe his rime." (Arber ed., p. 94.)
[3]The term "wrenched" was used originally, it would seem, as one of reprobation. Thus Puttenham, in hisArte of English Poesie(1589), said; "There can not be in a maker a fowler fault, than to falsifie his accent to serve his cadence, or by untrue orthographie to wrench his words to helpe his rime." (Arber ed., p. 94.)
[4]It is interesting to compare with these irregular lines another stanza of similar form, of about the same date, from an Elegy on Edward I., in Böddeker's Collection, p. 140, and Wright'sPolitical Songs, p. 246.Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,a stounde herkneþ to my songof duel, þat deþ haþ diht vs 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.The comparatively great regularity of the measures in this second stanza is due to the fact that it was under the syllable-counting influence of the French, being in fact a translation of a French original.
[4]It is interesting to compare with these irregular lines another stanza of similar form, of about the same date, from an Elegy on Edward I., in Böddeker's Collection, p. 140, and Wright'sPolitical Songs, p. 246.
Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,a stounde herkneþ to my songof duel, þat deþ haþ diht vs 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.
Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe,a stounde herkneþ to my songof duel, þat deþ haþ diht vs 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.
The comparatively great regularity of the measures in this second stanza is due to the fact that it was under the syllable-counting influence of the French, being in fact a translation of a French original.
[5]Leigh Hunt said that "Coleridge saw the mistake which had been made with regard to this measure, and restored it to the beautiful freedom of which it was capable, by calling to mind the liberties allowed its old musical professors the minstrels, and dividing it bytimeinstead ofsyllables." (See the entire passage onChristabel, in the Introduction, on "What is Poetry?", toImagination and Fancy. For a criticism of the metrical structure ofChristabel, see Robert Bridges'sMilton's Prosody(ed. 1901, pp. 73-75).)
[5]Leigh Hunt said that "Coleridge saw the mistake which had been made with regard to this measure, and restored it to the beautiful freedom of which it was capable, by calling to mind the liberties allowed its old musical professors the minstrels, and dividing it bytimeinstead ofsyllables." (See the entire passage onChristabel, in the Introduction, on "What is Poetry?", toImagination and Fancy. For a criticism of the metrical structure ofChristabel, see Robert Bridges'sMilton's Prosody(ed. 1901, pp. 73-75).)
English verse is commonly measured by feet, a determinate number of which go to form a verse or line. The foot is determined by the distance from one accented syllable to another in the regular scheme of the metre. The usual metrical feet are either dissyllabic or trisyllabic. The dissyllabic foot is commonly called aniambus(oriamb) if the unaccented syllable precedes the accented, and atrocheeif the accented precedes the unaccented. The trisyllabic foot is commonly called ananapestif the two unaccented syllables precede the accented syllable, and adactylif they follow the accented syllable.[6]It will be observed that the fundamental rhythm of both iambic and trochaic verse is the same, as is also that of both anapestic and dactylic verse; the distinction belonging only to the metre as measured into regular lines. Iambic and anapestic verse (in which the light syllables commonly open the verse) are sometimes called "ascending rhythm"; trochaic and dactylic verse (in which the accentedsyllables commonly open the verse) "descending rhythm." Ascending rhythm is very greatly in predominance in English poetry.
The normal verse of any poem is therefore described by indicating the name of the foot and the number of feet in the verse. The number of feet is always indicated by the number of stresses or principal accents in the normal verse. As the light or unaccented syllables may vary from the typical number, it may also be necessary to indicate that the line is longer than its name would imply, by reason of Feminine Ending (a light syllable added at the end) or Anacrusis (a light syllable prefixed); or that it is shorter than its name would indicate by reason of Catalexis or Truncation (the light syllable at the end—or less frequently at the beginning—being omitted).
In like manner, any particular verse or line is fully described by indicating: (1) the typical foot; (2) the number of feet; (3) the place of the cesura; (4) the presence or absence of a final pause ("end-stopped" or "run-on"); (5) the presence of such irregularities as