Chapter XII: Blank Verse

§ 160. The beginnings of Modern English poetry 219
161. Blank verse first adopted by the Earl of Surrey 219
162. Characteristics of Surrey's blank verse 221
163. Further development of this metre in the drama 222
164. The blank verse of Shakespeare 223
165. Rhymed and unrhymed lines in Shakespeare's plays 224
166. Numerical proportion of masculine and feminine endings 225
167. Numerical proportion of 'weak' and 'light' endings 225
168. Proportion of unstopt or 'run-on' and 'end-stopt'
lines 226
169. Shakespeare's use of the full syllabic forms of
_-est_, _-es_, _-eth_, _-ed_ 227
170. Other rhythmical characteristics of Shakespeare's
plays 228
171. Alexandrines and other metres occurring in combination
with blank verse in Shakespeare 230
172. Example of the metrical differences between the
earlier and later periods of Shakespeare's work 232
173. The blank verse of Ben Jonson 233
174. The blank verse of Fletcher 234
175. Characteristics of Beaumont's style and versification 235
176. The blank verse of Massinger 236
177. The blank verse of Milton 237
178. The dramatic blank verse of the Restoration 239
179. Blank verse of the eighteenth century 240
180. Blank verse of the nineteenth century 240

CHAPTER XIII

TROCHAIC METRES

§ 181. General remarks; the eight-foot trochaic line 242
182. The seven-foot trochaic line 243
183. The six-foot trochaic line 244
184. The five-foot trochaic line 245
185. The four-foot trochaic line 246
186. The three-foot trochaic line 246
187. The two-foot trochaic line 247
188. The one-foot trochaic line 247