Chapter II: The Alliterative Verse in Old English (3)

[36] _Ane Schort Treatise, conteining some Revlis and Cautelis to be
obseruit and eschewit in Scottis poesie_, 1585, pp. 63 ff. of
Arber's reprint. The scheme would be ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ `.

[37] From Hickes's _Antiq. Literat. Septentrional._, tom. i, p. 217.

[38] It is now well known that this innovation was introduced much
earlier.

[39] From Alexander Montgomery, _The Flyting_, &c., l. 476.

[40] 'Über den Versbau der alliterierenden Poesie, besonders der
Altsachsen,' _Bay. Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-histor.
Classe_, iv. 1, p. 207 ff.

[41] _Litteraturgeschichte_, p. 45 ff., second ed., p. 57.

[42] _Über die germanische Alliterationspoesie_, Vienna, 1872, and
_Zum Muspilli_, &c., Vienna, 1872.

[43] 'Über die Verstheilung der Edda,' _Zeitschr. für deutsche Phil._,
Ergänzungsband, p. 74.

[44] _Die Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_, Halle, 1876, reprinted
from _Z. f. d. Ph._, vol. vii.

[45] The author's larger work on English Metre was indebted in
paragraphs 28-33 to Rieger's essay; succeeding paragraphs (34-39)
of the same work exhibited in detail the further development or
rather decay of the Old English alliterative line.

[46] C. R. Horn, _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, v. 164; J. Ries,
_Quellen und Forschungen_, xli. 112; E. Sievers, _Zeitschr.
f. deutsche Phil._, xix. 43.

[47] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, x, 1885, pp. 209-314 and 491-545.

[48] Sievers, Paul's _Grundriss_, ii. 1, p. 863, or ii. 2, p. 4,
second ed.

[49] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, xi. 470.

[50] Ph. Frucht, _Metrisches und Sprachliches zu Cynewulfs Elene,
Juliana und Crist_, Greifswald, 1887.

[51] M. Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchung der altengl.
Gedichte Andreas, Gûðlâc, Phoenix_, Bonn, 1888.

[52] _Altgermanische Metrik_, Halle, 1893.

[53] Mainly by H. Möller, _Das Volksepos in der ursprünglichen
strophischen Form_, Kiel, 1883.

[54] Besides the unaccented syllables of polysyllabic words, many
monosyllables, such as prepositions, pronouns, &c., are
unstressed, and occur only in the theses.

[55] This rule applies to modern English also, as in words like
_bírth-rìght_.

[56] If this cross alliteration is intentional. See Sievers, _Altger.
Metrik_, p. 41.

[57] See Koch, _Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache_, Weimar,
1863, i. 156.

[58] Compare Streitberg, _Urgermanische Grammatik_, 1900, § 143,
p. 167, or Wilmanns, _Deutsche Grammatik_, 1897, i, p. 407,
§ 349.

[59] For exceptions to these rules see _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 43,
45.

[60] Koch adds _wiðǽftan_, _wiðfóran_, _wiðnéoðan_.

[61] Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 225, and _Angelsächsische Grammatik_³,
§§ 410, 411, 415.³

[62] For details on these points and on the question of the treatment
of forms in which vowel contraction is exhibited in the MSS. see
Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, §§ 74-77, and _Beiträge_, x.
475 ff.

[63] 'Elements,' Sweet, _Anglo-Saxon Reader_, § 365.

[64] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 9, 3. 4.

[65] See, for example, Rieger, _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_,
p. 62.

[66] _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 209.

[67] For the type –́ × × | –́ see below, § 29, and Sievers,
_Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262.

[68] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262.

[69] As Sievers calls them, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 13. 2; they are
marked A*, B*, &c.

[70] The notation of Sievers for hemistichs with anacrusis
(_auftaktige Verse_) is aA, aD, aE, &c.

[71] Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, pp. 33 ff.

[72] It must be remembered that _ea_, _eo_, &c., are diphthongs, and
have not the value of two vowels.

[73] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 233.

[74] Here _n_ counts as a syllable, see Sievers, _Angelsächsische
Gram._,§ 141, and _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 79.

[75] See the statistics in Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x,
p. 290.

[76] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 241 and 294.

[77] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 85, 2, Anm. 3.

[78] Cf. Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 15, 3 c, and § 116. 9.

[79] See Max Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchungen der
altenglischen Gedichte Andreas, Gūðlāc, Phoenix_, &c., 1888,
pp. 31 ff.; Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 86; and chiefly
Eduard Sokoll, 'Zur Technik des altgermanischen
Alliterationsverses,' in _Beiträge zur neueren Philologie_,
Vienna, 1902, pp. 351-65.

[80] But on this last expression see Sievers, _Phonetik_^4, § 359.

[81] Edited by Grein in _Anglia_, ii. 141 ff.

[82] The Old Norse _hofuðstafr_, Germ. _Hauptstab_. The alliterations
in the first hemistich are called in Old Norse _stuðlar_ (sing.
_stuðill_) 'supporters', Germ. _Stollen_ or _Stützen_.

[83] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 20.

[84] This is not very common in poetry of the more regular metrical
structure, but is found in Ælfric's lines, in which we find
hemistichs without any alliterating letter, and others where the
alliteration is continued in the following line; two-thirds,
however, of his lines are formed quite correctly.

[85] Snorri, the Icelandic metrician, permits this in the case of
certain monosyllabic words, but looks on it as a licence (_leyfi
en eigi rétt setning_, Hāttatal, p. 596).

[86] The subject of the preceding paragraphs was first investigated by
M. Rieger in his essay _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_,
p. 18, where many details will be found.

[87] Cf. Sievers in _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii. 455; K. Luick,
_ib._, xiii. 389, xv. 441; F. Kaufmann, _ib._, xv. 360; Sievers,
in _Paul's Grundriss_, pp. 891 ff., and in _Altgermanische
Metrik_, §§ 88-96.

[88] In _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii, pp. 454, 455, Sievers gives a
list of the undoubted regular lengthened verses occurring in OE.
poetry.

[89] Sievers discusses the lengthened verses of these poems in
_Beiträge_, xii. 479.

[90] _Beiträge_, xii. 458.

[91] _Beiträge_, xiii. 388, xv. 445.

[92] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 94. 3.

[93] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 95.

[94] See Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 97.

[95] For other subdivisions of rhyme see Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_,
§§ 99-102, with the treatises on the subject, and Bk. II, sect.
ii, ch. 1 of this work.