IV. TONE-QUALITY

Ring out, ye crystal spheres!Once bless our human ears,If ye have power to touch our senses so;And let your silver chimeMove in melodious time;And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow;And with your ninefold harmony,Make up full consort to the angelic symphony.

(Milton:On the Morning of Christ's Nativity.1629.)

What? Ælla dead? and Bertha dying too?So fall the fairest flowrets of the plain.Who can unfold the works that heaven can do,Or who untwist the roll of fate in twain?Ælla, thy glory was thy only gain;For that, thy pleasure and thy joy was lost.Thy countrymen shall rear thee on the plainA pile of stones, as any grave can boast.Further, a just reward to thee to be,In heaven thou sing of God, on earth we'll sing of thee.

(Chatterton:Ælla,st. 147. 1768.)

This is the ten-line "Chatterton stanza," a variant of the Spenserian stanza, devised by Chatterton, which he claimed ante-dated Spenser by one or two centuries. His claim for it was of course purely fictitious.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,As the swift seasons roll!Leave thy low-vaulted past!Let each new temple, nobler than the last,Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,Till thou at length art free,Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

(Oliver Wendell Holmes:The Chambered Nautilus.1858.)

See also the notable use of the alexandrine in Shelley'sSkylark, p. 34, above.

The dubbement dere of doun and dalez,Of wod and water and wlonke playnez,Bylde in me blys, abated my balez,Fordidde my stresse, dystryed my paynez.Doun after a strem that dryghly halez,I bowed in blys, bred-ful my braynez;The fyrre I folghed those floty valez,The more strenghthe of joye myn herte straynez,As fortune fares theras ho fraynez,Whether solace ho sende other ellez sore,The wygh, to wham her wylle ho waynez,Hyttez to have ay more and more.

(The Pearl, st. xi. Fourteenth century.)

Mr. Israel Gollancz says, in his Introduction to this poem: "I can point to no direct source to which the poet ofPearlwas indebted for his measure; that it ultimately belongs to Romance poetry I have little doubt. These twelve-line verses seem to me to resemble the earliest form of the sonnet more than anything else I have as yet discovered.... Be this as it may, all will, I hope, recognize that there is a distinct gain in giving to the 101 stanzas of the poem the appearance of a sonnet sequence, marking clearly the break between the initial octave and the closing quatrain.... The refrain, the repetition of the catch-word of each verse, the trammels of alliteration, all seem to have offered no difficulty to our poet; and if power over technical difficulties constitutes in any way a poet's greatness, the author ofPearl, from this point of view alone, must take high rank among English poets." (Introduction, pp. xxiv, xxv.)

Other examples of intricate stanza structure are found inSir Gawain and the Green Knight, supposed to be by the author ofPearl. See in Part Two, p.156.

Ne mai no lewed lued libben in londe,be he never in hyrt so haver of honde,So lerede us biledes.ȝef ich on molde mote wiþ a mai,y shal falle hem byfore & lurnen huere lay,ant rewen alle huere redes.ah bote y be þe furme day on folde hem byfore,ne shaly nout so skere scapen of huere score;so grimly he on me gredes,þat y ne mot me lede þer wiþ mi lawe;on alle maner oþes [þat] heo me wulleþ awe,heore boc ase on bredes.heo wendeþ bokes on brad,ant makeþ men a moneþ a mad;of scaþe y wol me skere,ant fleo from my fere;ne rohte hem whet yt were,boten heo hit had.[10]

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253. Böddeker'sAltenglische Dichtungen, p. 109.)

This and the two following specimens, together with some included earlier under the head of Tail-Rime, illustrate the interest in complex lyrical measures characteristic of the period of French influence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1152 Henry of Normandy (who ascended the throne in 1154) married Eleanor of Poitou, and in her train there came to England the great troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn. On the poems of this troubadour and others of the same school, see ten Brink'sEnglish Literature, Kennedy translation, vol. i. pp. 159-164. Other troubadours followed, and found a home in the court of Richard the Lion-Hearted, who himself entered the ranks of the poets. The result was a great mass of Norman French lyrical poetry, often in intricate forms, and a smaller mass of imitative lyrics in Middle English. As Schipper observes, the elaborate lyrical forms wereinconsistent with English taste, and it was only the simpler ones which were widely adopted. On the general character of the Romance stanza-forms, and their influence in England, see Schipper, vol. i. pp. 309 ff.

Iesu, for þi muchele mihtþou ȝef us of þi grace,þat we mowe dai & nyhtþenken o þi face.in myn herte hit doþ me god,when y þenke on iesu blod,þat ran doun bi ys syde,from is herte doun to is fot;for ous he spradde is herte blod,his wondes were so wyde.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; in Böddeker'sAltenglische Dichtungen, p. 208.)

Lenten ys come wiþ love to toune,wiþ blosmen & wiþ briddes roune,þat al þis blisse bryngeþ;dayes eȝes in þis dales,notes suete of nyhtegales,uch foul song singeþ.þe þrestelcoc him þreteþ oo;away is huere wynter woo,when woderove springeþ.þis foules singeþ ferly fele,ant wlyteþ on huere wynter wele,þat al þe wode ryngeþ.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; Böddeker'sAltenglische Dichtungen, p. 164.)

Trowe ȝe, sores, and God sent an angellAnd commawndyd ȝow ȝowr chyld to slayn,Be ȝowr trowthe ys ther ony of ȝowThat eyther wold groche or stryve ther-ageyn?How thyngke ȝe now, sorys, ther-by?I trow ther be iii or iiii or moo.And thys women that wepe so sorowfullyWhan that hyr chyldryn dey them froo,As nater woll and kynd,—Yt ys but folly, I may well awooe,To groche a-ȝens God or to greve ȝow,For ȝe schall never se hym myschevyd, wyll I know,Be lond nor watyr, have thys in mynd.

(Epilogue of Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac. In Manly'sSpecimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama, vol. i. p. 56.)

This verse of the early Mystery Plays and connected forms of the drama shows an extraordinary variety of measures. In general, the effort of the writers seems to have been to show some artistic ingenuity of structure, and at the same time keep to the free popular dialogue verse which was associated with the plays. We find, therefore, tumbling verse, alexandrines, septenaries, and intricate strophic forms, all commonly written with slight regard for syllable-counting principles.

FOOTNOTES:[8]There is a single well-known exception: the Anglo-Saxon poem known asDeor's Lament, which is divided into irregularly varying strophes, all ending with the same refrain. (See ten Brink'sEnglish Literature, Kennedy translation, vol. i, p. 60.) See also on the strophic formation of the First Riddle of Cynewulf, an article by W. W. Lawrence, inPublications of the Mod. Lang. Assoc., N.S. vol. x. p. 247.[9]Gascoigne, in hisNotes of Instruction(1575), mentions this form of stanza as "a royall kinde of verse, serving best for grave discourses," a statement in which he is followed by King James in hisReulis and Cautelis(1585). Puttenham, in theArte of English Poesie(1589), speaks of the stanza as "the chiefe of our ancient proportions used by any rimer writing any thing of historical or grave poeme, as ye may see in Chaucer and Lidgate." (Arber Reprint, p. 80.)[10]The appendage to a stanza, based on one or more short lines, is sometimes called a "bob-wheel." See Guest'sHistory of English Rhythms, Skeat ed., pp. 621 ff., for an account of various forms of these "wheels."

[8]There is a single well-known exception: the Anglo-Saxon poem known asDeor's Lament, which is divided into irregularly varying strophes, all ending with the same refrain. (See ten Brink'sEnglish Literature, Kennedy translation, vol. i, p. 60.) See also on the strophic formation of the First Riddle of Cynewulf, an article by W. W. Lawrence, inPublications of the Mod. Lang. Assoc., N.S. vol. x. p. 247.

[9]Gascoigne, in hisNotes of Instruction(1575), mentions this form of stanza as "a royall kinde of verse, serving best for grave discourses," a statement in which he is followed by King James in hisReulis and Cautelis(1585). Puttenham, in theArte of English Poesie(1589), speaks of the stanza as "the chiefe of our ancient proportions used by any rimer writing any thing of historical or grave poeme, as ye may see in Chaucer and Lidgate." (Arber Reprint, p. 80.)

[10]The appendage to a stanza, based on one or more short lines, is sometimes called a "bob-wheel." See Guest'sHistory of English Rhythms, Skeat ed., pp. 621 ff., for an account of various forms of these "wheels."

The quality of the sounds of the words used in verse, although in no way concerned in the rhythm, is an element of some importance. The sound-quality may be used in either of two ways: as a regular coördinating element in the structure of the verse, or as a sporadic element in the beauty or melody of the verse.

In this capacity, similar qualities of sound indicate coördinated parts of the verse-structure, thus emphasizing the idea of similarity (corresponding to that of symmetry in arts expressed in space) which is at the very basis of rhythmical composition.

Obviously, the similarity may exist between vowel sounds, consonant sounds, or both; more specifically, it is found either in initial consonants, in accented vowels, or in accented vowels plus final consonants. Properly speaking, the term Rime is applicable to all three cases; the first being distinguished as initial rime or Alliteration (GermanAnreimorStabreim); the second as Assonance (Stimmreim), the third as complete Rime (Vollreim). English usage commonly reserves the term Rime for the third class.

Assonance was the characteristic coördinating element in the verse of the early Romance languages, the Provençal, Old French, and Spanish. Thus in theChanson de Roland(eleventh century) we find the verses of eachlaisse, or strophe, bound together by assonance. Frequently this develops into full rime by chance or convenience. The following is a characteristic group of verses from theRoland:

Li reis Marsilies esteit en Sarragoce.Alez en est un vergier soz l'ombre;Sor un pedron de marbre bloi se colchet:Environ lui at plus de vint milie homes.Il en apelet et ses dus et ses contes:"Odez, seignor, quels pechiez nos encombret.Li emperedre Charles de France dolceEn cest pais nos est venuz confondre."

The following specimen of Old Spanish verse shows the nature of assonance as regularly used in that language:

Fablo myo Çid bien e tan mesurado:"Grado a ti, señor padre, que estas en alto!Esto me han buelto myos enemigos malos."Alli pieussan de aguijar, alli sueltan las rriendas.A la exida de Bivar ovieron la corneja diestra,E entrando a Burgos ovieron la siniestra.Meçio myo Çid los ombros e engrameo la tiesta:"Albricia, Albarffanez, ca echados somos de tierra!"

(Poema del Cid.Twelfth century.)

Maiden, crowned with glossy blackness,Lithe as panther forest-roaming,Long-armed naiad, when she dances,On a stream of ether floating,—Bright, O bright Fedalma!Form all curves like softness drifted,Wave-kissed marble roundly dimpling,Far-off music slowly winged,Gently rising, gently sinking,—Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Maiden, crowned with glossy blackness,Lithe as panther forest-roaming,Long-armed naiad, when she dances,On a stream of ether floating,—Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Form all curves like softness drifted,Wave-kissed marble roundly dimpling,Far-off music slowly winged,Gently rising, gently sinking,—Bright, O bright Fedalma!

(George Eliot: Song fromThe Spanish Gypsy, book i.)

This song was written in avowed imitation of the Spanish verse, illustrating its prevailingly trochaic rhythm as well as alliteration. Elsewhere verse bound together only by assonance is almost unknown in English poetry. In theContemporary Reviewfor November, 1894, Mr. William Larminie has an interesting article giving a favorable account of the use of assonance in Celtic (Irish) verse, and proposing its larger use in English poetry, as a relief from the—to him—almost cloying elaborateness of rime.

In the following specimen, assonance seems in some measure to take the place of rime.

Haply, the river of Time—As it grows, as the towns on its margeFling their wavering lightsOn a wider, statelier stream—May acquire, if not the calmOf its early mountainous shore,Yet a solemn peace of its own.And the width of the waters, the hushOf the gray expanse where he floats,Freshening its current and spotted with foamAs it draws to the ocean, may strikePeace to the soul of the man on its breast,—As the pale waste widens around him,As the banks fade dimmer away,As the stars come out, and the night-windBrings up the streamMurmurs and scents of the infinite sea.

And the width of the waters, the hushOf the gray expanse where he floats,Freshening its current and spotted with foamAs it draws to the ocean, may strikePeace to the soul of the man on its breast,—As the pale waste widens around him,As the banks fade dimmer away,As the stars come out, and the night-windBrings up the streamMurmurs and scents of the infinite sea.

(Matthew Arnold:The Future.)

Alliteration appears sporadically in the verse of all literary languages, but as a means for the coördination of verse it is characteristic of the primitive Germanic tongues.

Hwæt! we nu gehyrdan, hu þæt hælubearnÞurh his hydercyme hals eft forgeaf,Gefreode ond gefreoþade folc under wolcnumMære meotudes sunu, þæt nu monna gehwylc,Cwic þendan her wunað, geceosan motSwa helle hienþu swa heofones mærþu,Swa þæt leohte leoht swa ða laþan niht,Swa þrymmes þræce swa þystra wræce,Swa mid dryhten dream swa mid deoflum hream,Swa wite mid wraþum swa wuldor mid arum,Swa lif swa deað, swa him leofre biðTo gefremmanne, þenden flæsc ond gæstWuniað in worulde. Wuldor þæs ageÞrynysse þrym, þonc butan ende!

(Cynewulf:Crist.ll. 586-599. Eighth century.)

This specimen represents the use of alliteration in the most regularly constructed Anglo-Saxon verse. The two half-lines are united into the long line by the same initial consonant in the important syllables. In the first half-line the alliteration is on the two principally stressed syllables, or on one of them alone (most frequently the first); in the second half-line it is commonly found only on the first. Alliterating unstressed syllables are usually regarded as merely accidental. Any initial vowel sound alliterates with any other vowel sound.

The most regular verse appears in Anglo-Saxon poetry of what may be called the classical period,—700A.D.and for a century following,—represented byBeowulfand the poems of Cynewulf. By the time of Ælfric, who wrote about 1000A.D.,there appear signs of a breaking in the regular verse-form. (See Schipper, vol. i. pp. 60 ff.) For example, two alliterative syllables often appear in the second half-line; one half-line may be without alliteration; alliteration may bind different long-lines together; or alliteration may be altogether wanting. There are also additions of many light syllables, resulting almost, as Schipper observes, in rhythmical prose. These tendencies resulted in the wholly irregular use of alliteration appearing in much of the verse of the early Middle English period, illustrated in the specimens that follow.

The origins of alliteration in Germanic verse are lost in the general mass of Germanic origins. It is almost universally regarded as a purely native development, although M. Kawczynski (Essai Comparatif sur l'Origine et l'Histoire des Rythmes; Paris, 1889) sets forth the remarkable opinion that the Germans derived their alliteration from the Romans. "We must remember," he says, "the schools of rhetoric existing in Gaul in the sixth and seventh centuries, where alliteration seems to have been held in esteem.... It became more and more frequent in the Latin poetry of the Carlovingian period, and it will suffice to cite here the following verses from Milo of Saint Amand:

'Pastores pecum primi pressique pavoreConspicuos cives carmen caeleste canentesAudivere astris arrectis auribus; auctorAd terras ...'

It early passed to Ireland, and the Irish made use of it in their Latin poetry and in their national poetry. The example of the Irish was followed by the Anglo-Saxons, although these last had derived the same rules from the Latin writers.... The Anglo-Saxons, who sent the second series of apostles to the Germans, taught them the use of alliteration in poetry. The Scandinavians, on their side, learned it also from the Anglo-Saxons." This theory has found no adherents among scholars, and M. Kawczynski's illustrations are probably most useful in emphasizing the natural pleasure in similarity of sound found among all peoples. See below, on the related question of the origin of end-rime.

ðe leun stant on hille, and he man hunten here,oðer ðurg his nese smel, smake that he negge,bi wilc weie so he wile to dele niðer wenden,alle hise fet steppes after him he filleð,drageð dust wið his stert ðer he steppeð,oðer dust oðer deu, ðat he ne cunne is finden,driveð dun to his den ðar he him bergen wille.

(The Bestiary, from MS. Arundel. In Mätzner'sAltenglische Sprachproben, vol. i. p. 57.)

See also the specimen from Böddeker, p. 14, above.

Cristes milde moder, seynte Marie,mines lives leome, mi leove lefdi,to þe ich buwe and mine kneon ich beie,and al min heorte blod to ðe ich offrie.

(On God Ureisun of ure Lefdi.In Morris'sOld English Homilies, first series, p. 191. Zupitza'sAlt-und Mittelenglisches Übungsbuch, p. 76.)

Kaer Leir hehte þe burh: leof heo wes þan kinge.þa we an ure leod-quide: Leirchestre cleþiað.ȝeare a þan holde dawen: heo wes swiðe aðel burh.& seoððen þer seh toward: swiðe muchel seorwe.þat heo wes al for-faren: þurh þere leodene væl.Sixti winter hefde Leir: þis lond al to welden.þe king hefde þreo dohtren: bi his drihliche quen.nefde he nenne sune: þer fore he warð sari.his manscipe to holden: buten þa þreo dohtren.þa ældeste dohter haihte Gornoille: þa oðer Ragau.þa þridde Cordoille.

(Layamon:Brut, ll. 2912-2931. Madden ed., vol. i. p. 123. ab. 1200.)

TheBrutof Layamon represents typically the transition period, when alliteration and end-rime were struggling for the mastery in English verse. Schipper points out that we find in the poem four kinds of lines:

1. Simple alliterative lines in more or less strict adherence to the old rules.

2. Lines combining alliteration and rime or alliteration and assonance.

3. Lines showing rime or assonance, without alliteration.

4. Four-stress lines with neither rime nor alliteration.

The present specimen shows the preference for alliteration; that on p. 127, below, represents the introduction of rime.

In a somer seson . whan soft was the sonne,I shope me in shroudes . as I a shepe were,In habite as an heremite . unholy of workes,Went wyde in this world . wondres to here.Ac on a May mornynge . on Malverne hullesMe byfel a ferly . of fairy me thouȝte;I was wery forwandred . and went me to resteUnder a brode banke . bi a bornes side,And as I lay and lened . and loked in the wateres,I slombred in a slepyng . it sweyved so merye.

(William Langland(?):Piers the Plowman, Prologue, ll. 1-10. B-text. Fourteenth century.)

Piers the Plowmanrepresents the revival of the alliterative long line, with fairly strict adherence to the old rules, by contemporaries of Chaucer, in the fourteenth century. For this verse, see further in Part Two, pp.155,156.

Apon the Midsumer evin, mirrest of nichtis,I muvit furth allane, neir as midnicht wes past,Besyd ane gudlie grene garth, full of gay flouris,Hegeit, of ane huge hicht, with hawthorne treis;Quhairon ane bird, on ane bransche, so birst out hir notisThat never ane blythfullar bird was on the beuche harde:Quhat throw the sugarat sound of hir sang glaid,And throw the savar sanative of the sueit flouris;I drew in derne to the dyk to dirkin eftir myrthis;The dew donkit the daill, and dynarit the foulis.

(William Dunbar:The Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo, ll. 1-10. Ed. Scottish Text Society, vol ii. p. 30.)

See notes on Dunbar as a metrist, in this edition, vol. i. pp. cxlix and clxxii, and T. F. Henderson'sScottish Vernacular Literature, pp. 153-164.

Alliteration as an organic element of verse was especially favored in the North country, and its popularity in Scotland—illustrated in the present specimen from Dunbar—considerably outlasted its use in England. The famous words of Chaucer's Parson will be recalled:

"But trusteth wel, I am a Southren man,I can nat geste—rum, ram, ruf—by lettre."

We find King James, as late as 1585 (Reulis and Cautelis), giving the following instructions: "Let all your verse be Literall, sa far as may be, ... bot speciallie Tumbling verse for flyting. By Literall I meane, that the maist part of your lyne sall rynne upon a letter, as this tumbling lyne rynnis upon F:

Fetching fude for to feid it fast furth of the Farie."

The following specimen is one of the latest examples of fairly regular alliterative verse, written in England, that has come down to us. It is from a ballad of the battle of Flodden Field (1513).

Archers uttered out their arrowes, and egerlie they shotten.They proched us with speares, and put many over,That the blood outbrast at there broken harnish.There was swinging out of swords, and swapping of headds;We blanked them with bills through all their bright armor,That all the dale dunned of their derfe strokes.

(Scotishe Ffielde, from Percy's Folio MS. InFlügel'sNeuenglisches Lesebuch, vol. i. p. 156.)

Full rime, or end-rime, involves the principally stressed vowel in the riming word, and all that follows that vowel. When there is an entire unstressed syllable following, the rime is called double, or feminine. Triple rime is also recognized, though rare.[11]End-rime being a stranger to the early Germanic languages, its appearance in any of them may commonly be taken as a sign of foreign influence. In general, of course, rime and the stanza were introduced together into English verse, under the influence of Latin hymns and French lyrics.

The functions of rime in English verse may perhaps be grouped under three heads: the function of emphasis, the function of forming beautiful or pleasurable sounds, and the function of combining or organizing the verses. It is with reference to the first of these that Professor Corson speaks of rime as "an enforcing agency of the individual verse." Under the second head rime is considered simply as a form of tone-color, and as furnishing a part of the melody of verse. The third function, by which individual verses are bound into stanzas, is, in a sense, the most important.

On the subject of the æsthetic values of rime, see the chapter on "poetic unities" in Corson'sPrimer of English Verse, and Ehrenfeld'sStudien zur Theorie des Reims(Zürich, 1897). The problem of the relative values of rimed and unrimed verse will come up in connection with the history of the heroic couplet and of blank verse. The objection always urged against rime is that its demands are likely to turn the poet aside from the normal order of his ideas. Herder, as Ehrenfeld points out, thoughtthat this was particularly true of English verse, the uninflected language not providing so naturally for cases where thought and sound are parallel. A recent protest against the tyranny of rime is found in the article by Mr. Larminie, cited on page 115, where it is claimed that undue attention to form is thinning out the substance of modern poetry, and that the demands of rime should be relaxed. See also Ben Jonson's "Fit of Rhyme against Rhyme," for a humorous complaint against the requirements of rime upon the poet.

The origin of rime has been a subject of prolonged controversy. See the monograph by Ehrenfeld already cited; Meyer'sAnfang und Ursprung der rythmischen Dichtung(Munich, 1884); W. Grimm'sGeschichte des Reims(1851); Norden'sAntike Kunstprosa(Leipzig, 1898;Anhang ueber die Geschichte des Reims); Kluge's article,Zur Geschichte des Reimes im Altgermanischen, in Paul u. Braune'sBeiträge, vol. ix. p. 422; and Schipper, vol. i. pp. 34 ff. Meyer's work is an exposition of the theory that rime was an importation from the Orient. In like manner, it has been held by many that the poetry of Otfried (the first regularly rimed German verse) was produced under Latin influence wholly, and that rime was introduced by him to the Germans (see the work by Kawczynski, cited p.117). Herder (see Ehrenfeld's monograph) regarded rime as a natural growth of the instinct for symmetry in all human taste, closely connected with dance-rhythms, all forms of parallelism, and the like. Similarity of inflectional endings in similar clauses, he pointed out, would naturally develop rime in any inflected language. This view is in line with the tendency of recent opinion. Schipper says, in effect: "Is rime to be regarded as the invention of a special people, like the Arabian, or is it a form of art which developed in the poetic language of the Aryan peoples, separately in the several nations? In the opinion of the principal scholars the latter opinion is the correct one. The chief support of this opinion is the fact that traces of rime, in greater or less number, appear in the oldest poetry of almost all the partially civilized peoples. 'It is,' says C. F. Meyer, 'something inborn, original, universally human, like poetry and music, and no more than these the special invention of a single people or a particular time.' Infact, traces of rime may be noticed in the poetry of the Greeks, in Homer, Æschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, as also in the poetry of the Romans; in a more developed form it appears in the late middle Latin clerical poetry. In the Celtic languages, moreover, rime is the indispensable mark of the poetic form, even in the oldest extant specimens. The Latin poetry just referred to gives interesting evidence that rime is a characteristic sign of popular poetry. While the quantitative system became dominant, with the artistic verse-forms of the Greeks, in the Golden Age of Roman literature, the early Saturnian verses, written in free rhythms, already showed the popular taste for similarity of sound in the form of alliteration; and in the post-classical time, with the fall of the quantitative metres, rime again came to the front in songs intended for the people. The same element was made so essential a characteristic in the organization of verse in the mediæval Latin, that 'carmen rhythmicum' came to signify a rimed poem, and the later Latinists used the word 'rhythmus' precisely in the sense of 'rime.'"Schipper goes on to inquire whether this mediæval Latin poetry was the means of introducing rime to the Germanic peoples. Wackernagel held it as certain that Otfried learned his rimes from Latin poems; but as Otfried declares that his poetry is intended to take the place of useless popular songs, it seems probable that he was not using an innovation, and that rime was already popular in Old High German. Indeed, it appears sporadically in theHildebrandsliedand theHeliand. Grimm observes that it is theoretically unlikely that alliteration should have vanished suddenly and rime as suddenly have taken its place. The gradual development of rime from assonance among the Romance peoples suggests the same thing. The early appearance of rime by the side of alliteration is illustrated by C. F. Meyer (Historische Studien, Leipzig, 1851) from the NorseEdda, fromBeowulf, Cædmon, etc. In the later Anglo-Saxon period rime was evidently securing a considerable though uncertain hold. The Riming Poem suggests what development rime might have had in English without the incoming of Romance influences. Grimm observes that, while to his mind alliteration was a finer and nobler quality than rime, there was need of a stronger sound-likeness which should hold the attention more firmly by its unchanging place at the end of the line. Schipper remarks, finally, that the fact that the use of rime in connection with alliteration was especially popular in the southern half of England,where the Romance influence was strongest, may suggest why in the more purely Germanic northern half alliteration remained the single support of the poetic form well into the fifteenth century.The appendix to the work of Norden, cited above, is a fuller development of ideas frequently suggested by the sporadic appearance of rime in early Greek and Latin literature. Norden gives many examples of this "rhetorical rime," as well as of rime arising naturally from parallelism of sentence structure found in primitive charms, incantations, and the like. In particular he emphasizes the influence of the figure ofhomœoteleutonas used in the literary prose of the classical languages. His conclusion is as follows: "Rime, then, was potentially as truly present in the Greek and Latin languages, from the earliest times, as in every other language; but in the metrical (quantitative) poetry it had no regular place, and appeared there in general only sporadically and by chance, being used by only a few poets as a rhetorical ornament. It became actual by the transition from the metrical poetry to the rhythmical (that is, the syllable-counting, in which—in the Latin—the chief consideration is still for the word-accent); and this transition was consummated by the aid of the highly poetic prose, already used for centuries, which was constructed according to the laws of rhythm, and in which the rhetorical homœoteleuton had gained an ever-increasing significance. In particular, rime found an entrance through sermons composed in such prose, and delivered in a voice closely approaching that of singing, into the hymn-poetry which was intimately related to such sermons. From the Latin hymn-poetry it was carried into other languages, from the ninth century onward. It is self-evident that in these languages also rime was potentially present before it became actual through the influence of foreign poetry; for in this region also there operates the highest immanent law of every being and every form of development,—that in the whole field of life nothing absolutely new is invented, but merely slumbering germs are awakened to active life." (Antike Kunstprosa, vol. ii. pp. 867 ff.)

Schipper goes on to inquire whether this mediæval Latin poetry was the means of introducing rime to the Germanic peoples. Wackernagel held it as certain that Otfried learned his rimes from Latin poems; but as Otfried declares that his poetry is intended to take the place of useless popular songs, it seems probable that he was not using an innovation, and that rime was already popular in Old High German. Indeed, it appears sporadically in theHildebrandsliedand theHeliand. Grimm observes that it is theoretically unlikely that alliteration should have vanished suddenly and rime as suddenly have taken its place. The gradual development of rime from assonance among the Romance peoples suggests the same thing. The early appearance of rime by the side of alliteration is illustrated by C. F. Meyer (Historische Studien, Leipzig, 1851) from the NorseEdda, fromBeowulf, Cædmon, etc. In the later Anglo-Saxon period rime was evidently securing a considerable though uncertain hold. The Riming Poem suggests what development rime might have had in English without the incoming of Romance influences. Grimm observes that, while to his mind alliteration was a finer and nobler quality than rime, there was need of a stronger sound-likeness which should hold the attention more firmly by its unchanging place at the end of the line. Schipper remarks, finally, that the fact that the use of rime in connection with alliteration was especially popular in the southern half of England,where the Romance influence was strongest, may suggest why in the more purely Germanic northern half alliteration remained the single support of the poetic form well into the fifteenth century.

The appendix to the work of Norden, cited above, is a fuller development of ideas frequently suggested by the sporadic appearance of rime in early Greek and Latin literature. Norden gives many examples of this "rhetorical rime," as well as of rime arising naturally from parallelism of sentence structure found in primitive charms, incantations, and the like. In particular he emphasizes the influence of the figure ofhomœoteleutonas used in the literary prose of the classical languages. His conclusion is as follows: "Rime, then, was potentially as truly present in the Greek and Latin languages, from the earliest times, as in every other language; but in the metrical (quantitative) poetry it had no regular place, and appeared there in general only sporadically and by chance, being used by only a few poets as a rhetorical ornament. It became actual by the transition from the metrical poetry to the rhythmical (that is, the syllable-counting, in which—in the Latin—the chief consideration is still for the word-accent); and this transition was consummated by the aid of the highly poetic prose, already used for centuries, which was constructed according to the laws of rhythm, and in which the rhetorical homœoteleuton had gained an ever-increasing significance. In particular, rime found an entrance through sermons composed in such prose, and delivered in a voice closely approaching that of singing, into the hymn-poetry which was intimately related to such sermons. From the Latin hymn-poetry it was carried into other languages, from the ninth century onward. It is self-evident that in these languages also rime was potentially present before it became actual through the influence of foreign poetry; for in this region also there operates the highest immanent law of every being and every form of development,—that in the whole field of life nothing absolutely new is invented, but merely slumbering germs are awakened to active life." (Antike Kunstprosa, vol. ii. pp. 867 ff.)

Me lifes onlah. se þis leoht onwrah.and þæt torhte geteoh. tillice onwrah.glæd wæs ic gliwum. glenged hiwum.blissa bleoum. blostma hiwum.Secgas mec segon. symbel ne alegon.feorh-gife gefegon. frætwed wægon.wic ofer wongum. wennan gongum.lisse mid longum. leoma getongum.

(From the "Riming Poem" of theCodex Exoniensis.)

This puzzlingly early appearance of rime in Anglo-Saxon verse, in conjunction with fairly regular alliteration, is of especial interest.[12]"It is supposed," says Schipper, "that this new form has for its foundation the ScandinavianRunhenda, and that this was known to the Anglo-Saxons through the Old Norse poet, Egil Skalagrimsson, who was living in England in the tenth century, and who stayed twice in England at Athelstan's court, writing a poem in Northumbria in the same form." He also observes that the attempt to attain something like equality of feet and half-lines suggests the Norse models.

Sainte Marie, Cristes bur,Maidenes clenhad, moderes flur,Dilie mine sinne, rixe in min mod,Bring me to winne with self god.

(Verses attributed to St. Godric. ab. 1100.)

Godric, the hermit of Norfolk, lived about 1065-1170. These verses seem to give the earliest extant appearance of end-rime in Middle English. The Romance words in the hymn indicate the presence of French influence. (On this hymn see article inEnglische Studien, vol. xi. p. 401.)

Woden hehde þa hæhste laȝe an ure ælderne dæȝen.he heom wes leof: æfne al swa heore lif.he wes heore walden: and heom wurðscipe duden.þene feorðe dæi i þere wike: heo ȝiven him to wurðscipe.þa Þunre heo ȝiven þures dæi: for þi þat heo heom helpen mæi.Freon heore læfdi: heo ȝiven hire fridæi.Saturnus heo ȝiven sætterdæi: þene Sunne heo ȝiven sonedæi.Monenen heo ȝivenen monedæi: Tidea heo ȝeven tisdæi.þus seide Hængest: cnihten alre hendest.

(Layamon:Brut, ll. 13921-13938. Madden ed., vol. ii. p. 158. ab. 1200.)

On the verse of theBrutsee above, p.119.

Ich æm elder þen ich wes · a wintre and alore.Ic wælde more þaune ic dude · mi wit ah to ben more.Wel lange ic habbe child ibeon · a weorde end ech adede.Þeh ic beo awintre eald · tu ȝyng i eom a rede....Mest al þat ic habbe ydon · ys idelnesse and chilce.Wel late ic habbe me bi þoht · bute me god do milce.

(Poema Morale, ll. 1-4, 7, 8. In Zupitza'sAlt-und Mittelenglisches Übungsbuch, p. 58. ab. 1200.)

ThePoema Morale, evidently one of the most popular poems of the early Middle English period, seems to be the earliest one of any considerable length in which end-rime was used regularly.

For other early examples of rime introduced into English under foreign influence, see above, in the section on the Stanza.

To our theme.—The man who has stood on the Acropolis,And looked down over Attica; or heWho has sailed where picturesque Constantinople is,Or seen Timbuctoo, or hath taken teaIn small-eyed China's crockery-ware metropolis,Or sat amidst the bricks of Nineveh,May not think much of London's first appearance—But ask him what he thinks of it a year hence?

(Byron:Don Juan, canto xi. st. vii.)

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