Chapter IV (2)

The rhythmic treatment of the verses is, both with regard to the relation between rhyme and the remnants of alliteration and to the use of the Middle English types of verse, on the whole the same as was described in §§ 62-4 treating of this form of verse in narrative poetry. The types A and A1, B C and B C1, are chiefly met with; now and then, however, type C1 also occurs in the second hemistich, as e.g. in the verses _that wold vówch sáyf_ 172, _of the tént máyne_ 487, _wille com agáne sóne_ 488, of the _Play of the Flood_ mentioned above.

But in the 'cauda' the difference explained in § 65 between first and second short lines forming the close of a stanza is often very regularly observed.

In other places of the _Towneley Mysteries_ similar stanzas are written in lines which have almost an alexandrine rhythm (cf. _Metrik_, i. 229), while, on the other hand, in the _Coventry Mysteries_ we not unfrequently meet with stanzas of the same form written in lines which, in consequence of their concise structure, approach even-beat lines of four measures, or directly pass into this metre. The intermixture of different kinds of line is even carried here to such a length that to a _frons_ of four-beat lines is joined a _cauda_ of even-beat lines of four or three measures corresponding to King James VI's rule quoted above (p. 108) for such stanzas; and on the other hand to a _frons_ of even-beat lines of four measures is joined a _cauda_ of two-beat short lines.

§ =67.= The distinctly four-beat line, however, still forms the staple of the different kinds of verse occurring in these poems, and was also used in them for simple forms of stanza. In the further development of dramatic poetry it remained much in use. Skelton's Moral Play _Magnificence_, and most of the Moralities and Interludes contained in Dodsley's _Old Plays_ (ed. Hazlitt), vols. i-iv, are written chiefly in this popular metre. As a rule it rhymes here in couplets, and under the influence of the even-beat measures used in the same dramatic pieces it gradually assumes a pretty regular iambic-anapaestic or trochaic-dactylic rhythm. This applies for the most part to the humorous and popular parts; allegorical and historical personages are made to converse in even-beat verses.

Verses of an ascending (iambic-anapaestic) rhythm were especially favoured, as might be expected from the fact that the Middle English alliterative line in the preceding centuries usually begins with one or two unaccented syllables before the first accented one.

Of the different types used in the Middle English alliterative line type C (C1), which does not harmonize well with the even-beat tendency of the rhythm, and which is only very seldom if at all to be met with even in the _Coventry Plays_, becomes very rare and tends to disappear altogether, type A (A1) and (although these are much less frequent) type B C (B C1) alone remaining in use.

§ =68.= Of the more easily accessible pieces of Bishop John Bale (1495-1563) his _Comedye Concernynge Thre Lawes_, edited by A. Schröer (_Anglia_, v, pp. 137 ff., also separately, Halle, Niemeyer, 1882) is written in two-beat short lines and four-beat long lines, and his _King Johan_ (c. 1548) (edited by Collier, Camden Society, 1838) entirely in this latter metre. The latter play has a peculiar interest of its own, containing as it does lines which, as in two Old English poems (cf. pp. 123, 124), consist either half or entirely of Latin words. Now, as the accentuation of the Latin lines or half-lines admits of no uncertainty, the four-beat scansion of the English verses of this play and of the long lines in _The Three Lawes_ is put beyond doubt, though Schröer considers the latter as eight-beat long lines on the basis of the four-beat theory of the short line.

Some specimens may serve to illustrate the nature of these 'macaronic' verses, e.g.:

_A péna et =c=úlpa | I desíre to be =c=lére._ p. 33.

_In nómine pátris, | of all that éver I hárd._ p. 28.

_Iudicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam._ p. 6.

Other verses of the same kind occur, pp. 5, 6, 53, 62, 78, 92.

But apart from this irrefutable proof of the four-beat scansion of the long line, the rhythmic congruity of it with the rhyming alliterative lines discussed in § 67 can easily be demonstrated by the reoccurrence of the same types, although a difference between the first and the second hemistich no longer seems to exist.

Type A, of course, is the most frequent, and occurs in many sub-types, which are distinguished chiefly by monosyllabic, disyllabic, or polysyllabic anacruses, disyllabic or polysyllabic theses between the first and second arsis, and monosyllabic, disyllabic, or trisyllabic theses after the latter. The most usual form of this type corresponds to the scheme (×) × –́ × × –́ ×, while the form –́ × × –́ × is rarer. Type A1 likewise admits of polysyllabic anacruses and theses, corresponding mostly to the formula (×) × –́ × × –́, less frequently to –́× × –́. Type B C (×) × × –́ × –́ × is rare, type B C1 (×) × × –́ × –́, on the other hand, very common; type C (×) × × –́ –́ × still occurs now and then, but type C1 (×) × × –́ –́ has become exceedingly scarce.

§ =69.= Statistical investigations as to the frequency of occurrence, and especially on the grouping of these different types are still wanting, and would contribute greatly toward the more exact knowledge of the development of the iambic-anapaestic and the trochaic-dactylic metre out of the four-beat verse. Of course in such an investigation the use of anacrusis in the types A and A1 should not be neglected. According to the presence or absence of anacrusis in the two hemistichs four different kinds of line may be distinguished:

1. Lines with anacrusis in both hemistichs. These are the most numerous of all, and are chiefly represented by the combinations of types A(A1) + A(A1), A(A1) + B C1(B C):

A + A : _For by méasure, i wárne you, | we thýnke to be gýdyd._
Skelt. Magn. 186.

A + A1 : _For =m=ýschefe wyl =m=áyster vs, | yf =m=éasure vs forsáke._
ib. 156.

A1 + B C: _Full gréat I do abhór | this your wícked sáying._
Lusty Juventus, Dodsl. ii. 72.

A1 + B C1: _You may =s=áy you were =s=íck, | and your héad did áche,
That you lústed not this níght | any súpper máke._
Jack Juggler, ib. ii. 119.

A1 + A1 : _And you nóthing regárd | what of mé may betíde?_
Jacob and Esau, ib. ii. 216.

A1 + B C1: _Our láwes are all óne, | though you do thré apére._
Bale, Laws, line 63.

A + A1 : _Whome =d=áyly the =d=éuyll | to great sýnne doth allúre._
ib. 747.

A1 + B C1: _By hým haue I góte | thys fowle dyséase of bódye,_

A1 + A : _And, ás ye se hére, | am now thrówne in a léprye._
ib. 749-50.

A1 + B C : _Regárde not the pópe, | not yet hys whórysh kýngedom._
ib. 770.

A1 + A1 : _Such lúbbers, as háth | dysgysed =h=éads in their
=h=óodes._ Bale, Johan, p. 2.

A + A : _Peccávi mea cúlpa: | I submýt me to yowr hólynes._
ib. p. 62.

A + A : _With =á=ll the =ó=fsprynge, | of =Á=ntichristes
generácyon._ ib. p. 102.

A + B C1 : _Maister Ráufe Royster =D=óyster | is but =d=éad and gón._
Roister Doister, I. i. 43.

C + A : _And as thré téachers, | to hým we yow dyréct._
Bale, Laws, l. 67.

C + B C1 : _Of their =f=írst =f=rédome, | to their most hýgh decáye._
ib. 82.

A1 + C1 : _Such an óther is nót | in the whóle sóuth._ ib. 1066.

2. Lines with anacrusis in the first section and without it in the second. These are almost exclusively represented by the combination A(A1) + A(A1); rarely by B C1(B C) + A(A1):

A + A1 : _For wélthe without méasure | =s=ódenly wyll =s=lýde._
Skelton, Magn. 194.

A + A1 : _Howe sódenly =w=órldly | =w=élth dothe dekáy,_

A + A1 : _How =w=ýsdom thórowe =w=ántonnesse | =v=ányisshyth a=w=áy._
ib. 2579-80.

A + A1 : _Behóld, I práy you, | sée where they áre._
Four Elements, Dodsl. i. 10.

BC + A1 : _I am your =é=ldest són, | =É=sau by my náme._
Jacob and Esau, ib. ii. 249.

3. Lines without anacrusis in the first section and with anacrusis in the second; likewise chiefly represented by the types A (A1) + A (A1), rarely by A (A1) + B C (B C1):

A + A1 : _Méasure contínwyth | prospérite and wélthe._
Skelton, Magn. 142.

A1 + A : _Méasure and Í | will néuer be devýdyd._ ib. 188.

A + A1 : _=S=íghing and =s=óbbing | they =w=éep and they =w=áil._
Gammer Gurton's Needle, Prol.

A + A : _Ésau is gíven | to =l=óose and lewd =l=íving._
Jacob and Esau, Dodsl. ii. 196.

A1 + A1 : _Líving in this =w=órld | from the =w=ést to the éast._
Roister Doister, III. iii. 28.

A + A1 : _Chárge and enfórce hym | in the wáyes of vs to go._
Bale, Laws, line 102.

A + A : _Quáerite judícium, | subveníte opprésso._
Bale, Johan, p. 6.

A + B C : _=F=ór by con=f=éssion | the holy =f=áther knóweth._
ib. p. 11.

A + B C1: _=D=ó they so in =d=éde? | Well, they shall not =d=ó so
lónge._ ib. p. 97.

4. Lines without anacrusis in either section, so that they are wholly dactylic in rhythm, only represented by A (A1) + A1 (A):

A + A : _Sáncte Francísse | óra pro nóbis!_
Bale, Johan, p. 25.

A + A : _Péace, for with my spéctables | vádam et vidébo._
ib. p. 30.

A + A : _Sýr, without ány | lónger délyaunce._
Skelton, Magn. 239.

A + A1 : _Wín her or lóse her, | =t=rý you the =t=ráp._
Appius and Virginia, Dodsl. iv. 132.

A + A1 : _Líkewise for a cómmonwealth | óccupied is hé._
Four Elements, ib. i. 9.

A + A1 : _Whát, you sáucy | málapert knáve._
Jack Juggler, ib. ii. 145.

The numerical preponderance of types A + A1 is at once perceptible, and usually these two types of hemistichs are combined in this order to form a long line.

The result is that in the course of time whole passages made up of lines of the same rhythmical structure (A + A1) are common in the dramatic poetry of this period, as e.g. in the Prologue to _Gammer Gurton's Needle_:

_As Gámmer Gúrton, with mánye a wýde stítch,
Sat pésynge and pátching of Hódg her mans bríche,
By chánce or misfórtune, as shée her gear tóst,
In Hódge lether brýches her néedle shee lóst._

Possibly this preference of the type A1 in the second half line may go back to the influence of the difference between the rhythmical structure of the first and the second hemistich of the alliterative line in early Middle English poetry.

§ =70.= This view derives additional probability from the manner in which lines rhythmically identical with the alliterative hemistich are combined into certain forms of stanza which are used in the above-mentioned dramatic poems, especially in Bale's _Three Lawes_.

For in this play those halves of tail-rhyme stanzas, which form the 'wheels' of the alliterative-rhyming stanzas previously described (§§ 61 and 66) as used in narrative poetry and in the mysteries, are completed so as to form entire tail-rhyme stanzas (of six or eight lines) similar to those mentioned in § 65. This will be evident from the following examples:

_With holye óyle and wátter,
I can so =cl=óyne and =cl=átter,
That I =c=án at the látter
Manye súttelties contrýve.
I can worke wýles in báttle,
If I do ónes but spáttle,
I can make =c=órn and =c=áttle,
That =th=éy shall never =th=rýve._ ll. 439-446.

_I have chármes for the plówgh,
And álso for the cówgh,
She shall geue mýlke ynówgh,
So lóng as I am pléased.
Apace the mýlle shall gó,
So shall the crédle dó,
And the músterde querne alsó
No mán therwith dyséased._ ll. 463-470.

The difference in rhythm which we have previously pointed out between the lines of the body of the stanza (corresponding to first halves of the alliterative line) and those of the tail (corresponding to second halves) may again be observed in most of the stanzas of this play, although not in all of them.

In other passages the sequence of rhymes is less regular; e.g. in ll. 190-209, which rhyme according to the formulas _a a a b c c b_, _d d b e e b_, _e e e f g g f_.

§ =71.= Lastly, we must mention another kind of verse or stave originating in the resolution of the four-beat alliterative line into two sections, and their combination so as to form irregular tail-rhyme stanzas, viz. the so-called Skeltonic verse. This kind of verse, however, was not invented (as is erroneously stated in several Histories of English Literature) by Skelton, but existed before him, as is evident from the preceding remarks. The name came to be given to the metre from the fact that Skelton, poet laureate of King Henry VII, was fond of this metre, and used it for several popular poems.

In Skelton's metre the strict form of the alliterative four-beat line has arrived at the same stage of development which the freer form had reached about three hundred years earlier in Layamon's _Brut_, and afterwards in _King Horn_. That is to say, in Skelton's metre the long line is broken up by sectional rhyme into two short ones. The first specimens of this verse which occur in the _Towneley Mysteries_, in the _Chester Plays_, and in some of the Moralities, e.g. in _The World and the Child_ (Dodsl. i), resemble Layamon's verse in so far as long lines (without sectional rhymes) and short rhyming half-lines occur in one and the same passage. On the other hand, they differ from it and approach nearer to the strophic form of the alliterative line (as occurring in the Miracle Plays) in that the short lines do not rhyme in couplets, but in a different and varied order of rhyme, mostly _a b a b_; cf. the following passage (l. c., p. 247):

_Ha, há, now Lúst and Líking is my náme.
Í am =f=résh as =f=lówers in Máy,
Í am =s=émly-=s=hápen ín =s=áme,
And =p=róudly a=pp=áreled in =g=árments =g=áy:
My =l=óoks been full =l=óvely to a =l=ády's eye,
And in =l=óve-=l=ónging my héart is sore sét.
Might I =f=índ a =f=óode that were =f=áir and =f=rée
To lie in héll till dómsday for =l=óve I would not =l=ét,
My =l=óve for to wín,
All =g=áme and =g=lée,
All =m=írth and =m=élody,
All rével and ríot,
And of =b=óast will I never =b=lín_, &c.

In Skelton's _Magnificence_ the short lines rhyme in couplets like those of _King Horn_, in a passage taken from p. 257 (part of which may be quoted here):

_Nowe lét me se abóut,
In áll this rówte,
Yf I cán fynde óut
So sémely a snówte
Amónge this prése:
Éven a hole mése--
Péase, man, péase!
I réde, we séase.
So farly fáyre as it lókys,
And her bécke so comely crókys,
Her naylys shárpe as tenter hókys!
I haue not képt her yet thre wókys
And howe stýll she dothe sýt!_ &c., &c.

In other poems Skelton uses short lines of two beats, but rhyming in a varied order under the influence, it would seem, of the strophic system of the virelay, which rhymes in the order _a a a b b b b c c c c d_. But the succession of rhymes is more irregular in the Skeltonic metre, as e. g. in the passage:

_What cán it auáyle
To drýue fórth a snáyle,
Or to máke a sáyle
Of an hérynges táyle;
To rýme or to ráyle,
To wrýte or to endýte,
Eyther for delýte,
Or élles for despýte;
Or bókes to compýle
Of dívers maner stýle_, &c. Colin Cloute (i. 311).

In other cases short bob-lines of one beat only interchange with two-beat rhythms, as e.g. in Skelton's poem _Caudatos Anglos_ (i. 193):

_Gup, Scót,
Ye blót:
Laudáte
Caudáte,
Sét in bétter
Thy péntaméter.
This Dúndás,
This Scóttishe ás,
He rýmes and ráyles
That Énglishman have táyles.
Skeltónus laureátus,
Ánglicus nátus,
Próvocat Músas
Cóntra Dúndas
Spurcíssimum Scótum
Úndique nótum_, &c.

The mingling of Latin and English lines, as in this passage, is one of the characteristic features of the Skeltonic verse.

In some passages, as e.g. in the humorous poems _Phyllyp Sparowe_ and _Elinour Rummyng_, the three-beat rhythm seems to prevail. In such cases it probably developed out of the two-beat rhythm in the same way as in _King Horn_.

_Yet óne thynge ìs behýnde
That nów còmmeth to mýnde;
An épytàphe I wold háue
For Phýllỳppes gráue;
But fór I àm a máyde,
Týmorous, hàlf afráyde,
That néuer yèt asáyde
Of Elycònys wéll,
Whère the Múses dwell;_ &c.
Phyllyp Sparowe (i. 69).

Skelton's verse was chiefly used by poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for satirical and burlesque poetry. One of its chief cultivators was John Taylor, the Water-poet. A list of Skeltonic poems is given in Dyce's edition of Skelton's poems, i. introduction, pp. cxxviii-cxxix.

=C. Revival of the old four-beat alliterative verse
in the Modern English period.=

§ =72.= If after what precedes any doubt were possible as to the scansion of the verses quoted on p. 113 from the Prologue to the Early Modern English comedy of _Gammer Gurton's Needle_, this doubt would be removed at once by the following couplet and by the accents put over the second line of it by the sixteenth-century metrician, George Gascoigne[116]:

_No =w=ight in this =w=orld | that =w=ealth can attayne,
Unlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne._

For the rhythm of these lines is perfectly identical with that of the lines of the above-mentioned prologue, and also with that of the alliterative line quoted ten years later (A. D. 1585), and called tumbling-verse by King James VI in his _Revlis and Cavtelis_, viz.:

_Fetching fúde for to féid it | fast fúrth of the Fárie._

This is the very same rhythm in which a good many songs and ballads of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are written, as e.g. the well-known ballad of _King John and the Abbot of Canterbury_, which begins with the following stanzas[117]:

_An áncient stóry | I'le téll you anón
Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn;
And he rúled Éngland | with máine and with míght,
For he díd great wróng, | and maintéin'd little ríght._

_And I'le téll you a stóry, | a stóry so mérrye,
Concérning the Abbot | of Cánterbúrye;
How for his hóuse-kéeping, | and hígh renówne,
They rode póst for him | to faire Lóndon tówne._

This four-beat rhythm, which (as is proved by the definition King James VI gives of it) is the direct descendant of the old alliterative line, has continued in use in modern English poetry to the present day.

It occurs in the poem _The recured Lover_, by Sir Thomas Wyatt, one of the earliest Modern English poets, where it is intermixed sometimes with four-feet rhythms, as was the case also in several Early English poems. The general rhythm, however, is clearly of an iambic-anapaestic nature. Fifteen years after the death of Wyatt Thomas Tusser wrote part of his didactic poem _A hundred good points of Husbandry_ in the same metre. In Tusser's hands the metre is very regular, the first foot generally being an iambus and the following feet anapaests:

_Whom fáncy persuádeth | amóng other cróps,
To háve for his spénding, | suffícient of hóps,
Must wíllingly fóllow, | of chóices to chóose.
Such léssons appróved, | as skílful do úse._

The four beats of the rhythm and the regular occurrence of the caesura are as marked characteristics of these verses as of the earlier specimens of the metre.

Spenser has written several eclogues of his _Shepheard's Calendar_ in this metre (February, May, September), and Shakespeare uses it in some lyric pieces of his _King Henry IV_, Part II, but also for dialogues, as e.g. _Err._ III. i. 11-84. In more modern times Matthew Prior (1664-1715) wrote a ballad _Down Hall_ to the tune, as he says, of _King John and the Abbot of Canterbury_, which clearly shows that he meant to imitate the ancient popular four-beat rhythm, which he did with perfect success. In other poems he used it for stanzas rhyming in the order _a b a b_. Swift has used the same metre, and it became very popular in Scottish poetry through Allan Ramsay and Robert Burns, one of whose most famous poems is written in it, viz.:

_My héart's in the Híghlands, | my héart is not hére;
My héart's in the Híghlands, | a-chásing the déer;
Chásing the wíld deer | and fóllowing the róe,
My héart's in the Híghlands | wheréver I gó._

Sir Walter Scott used it frequently for drinking-songs, and Thomas Moore wrote his _Letters of the Fudge Family_ in it.

By Coleridge and Byron this metre was used in the same way as by Wyatt, viz. intermixed with regular four-foot verse according to the subject, the four-beat iambic-anapaestic rhythm for livelier passages, the pure iambic for passages of narration and reflection. Byron's _Prisoner of Chillon_ and his _Siege of Corinth_ are good specimens of this kind of metre.[118] On the other hand the regular four-foot rhythm, as will be shown below, if it is of a looser structure, develops into a kind of verse similar to the iambic-anapaestic rhythm--an additional reason for their existing side by side often in one poem.

A few variations of this metre remain to be mentioned, which occur as early as Tusser. The first variety arises from interlaced rhyme, by which the two four-beat verses are broken up into four two-beat verses rhyming in the order _a b a b_.

_If húsbandry brággeth
To gó with the bést,
Good húsbandry bággeth
Up góld in his chést._

On the model of these stanzas others were afterwards formed by Tusser consisting of three-beat verses of the same rhythm. The same verse was used for eight-line stanzas rhyming _a b a b c d c d_ by Nicholas Rowe, Shenstone, Cowper, and in later times by Thackeray in one of his burlesque poems (_Malony's Lament_ in _Ballads_, _the Rose and the Ring_, &c., p. 225). For examples of these variations see the sections treating of the iambic-anapaestic verses of three and two measures.

§ =73.= In modern times a few attempts have been made to revive the old four-beat alliterative line without rhyme, but also without a regular use of alliteration. These attempts, however, have never become popular.

The following passage from William Morris's dramatic poem _Love is enough_ may give an idea of the structure of this kind of verse:

_Fáir Master =Ó=liver, | thóu who at =á=ll times
Mayst =ó=pen thy héart | to our lórd and máster,
=T=éll us what =t=ídings | thou hást to delíver;
For our =h=éarts are grown =h=éavy, | and whére shall we túrn to,
If thús the king's =g=lóry, | our =g=áin and salvátion,
Must =g=ó down the wínd | amid =g=lóom and despáiring._

The rhythm, together with the irregular use of alliteration, places these four-beat alliterative lines on the same level with those of the dramatic poems of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The same kind of versification is found in Longfellow's translation of the late Old English poem on _The Grave_, and in James M. Garnett's translations of _Beowulf_ and Cynewulf's _Elene_. On the other hand, George Stephens, in his translation of the Old English poem on _The Phoenix_, published 1844, not only adheres strictly to the laws of alliteration, but confines himself to Germanic words, sometimes even using inflexional forms peculiar to Middle English.

§ =74.= We shall conclude this survey of the development of the four-beat alliterative line by giving a series of examples in reversed chronological order, beginning with writers of the present day and ending with the earliest remains of Old English poetry, in order to illustrate the identity in rhythmic structure of this metre in all periods of its history.

Nineteenth Century, End:

_For níne days the kíng | hath slépt not an hóur
And táketh no héed | of soft wórds or beseéching._
W. Morris.

Nineteenth Century, Beginning:

_So that =w=íldest of =w=áves, | in their ángriest móod,
Scarce =b=réak on the =b=oúnds | of the lánd for a róod._
Byron, Siege of Corinth, 382-4.

Eighteenth Century, End:

_My =h=éart's in the =H=íghlands, | my =h=éart is not =h=ére;
My =h=éart's in the =H=íghlands, | a-chásing the déer._ Burns.

Eighteenth Century, Middle:

_A cóbbler there wás, | and he líved in a stáll._[119]

Eighteenth Century, Beginning (1715):

_I síng not old Jáson | who trável'd thro' Gréece
To kíss the fair máids | and posséss the rich fléece._
Prior, Down-Hall, to the tune of King John and the Abbot.

Seventeenth Century, Beginning (or Sixteenth Century, End):

_An áncient stóry | I'le téll you anón
Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn._
King John and the Abbot of Canterbury.

Sixteenth Century, End (1585):

_Fetching =f=úde for to =f=éid it | fast =f=úrth of the
=F=árie._[120]
Montgomery.

Sixteenth Century (1575):

_No =w=íght in this =w=órld | that =w=éalth can attáyne
Un=l=ésse hè bè=l=éve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne._[121]
G. Gascoigne.

Sixteenth Century (before 1575):

_As =G=ámmer =G=úrton, | with mánye a wyde stýche,
Sat =p=ésynge and =p=átching | of Hódg her mans brýche._
Gammer Gurton's Needle.

Sixteenth Century, Middle (about 1548):

_Such lúbbers as =h=áth | dysgysed =h=éads in their hóods._
Bale (_died_ 1563), King Johan, p. 2.

_Thýnke you a Róman | with the Rómans cannot lýe?_
ibid. p. 84.

_For as =C=hríste ded say to Péter, | =C=áro et sánguis
Non revelávit tíbi | sed =P=áter meus celéstis._
ibid. pp. 92-3.

_A péna et =c=úlpa | I desýre to be =c=lére,
And thén all the dévylles | of héll I wold not fére._
ibid. p. 33.

_Judicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam:
Defénde the wýdowe, | whan she ís in dystrésse._
ibid. p. 6.

_Sáncte Domínice, | óra pro nóbis.
Sáncte pyld mónache, | I be-shrów vóbis.
Sáncte Francísse, | óra pro nóbis._
ibid. p. 25.

Sixteenth Century, Beginning:

_Apón the =m=ídsummer évin, | =m=írriest of níchtis._
Dunbar, Twa Mariit Wemen, 1.

Fifteenth Century, Second Half:

_In the =ch=éiftyme of =Ch=árlis, | that =ch=ósin =ch=íftane._
Rauf Coilȝear, 1.

Fifteenth Century, ? First Half:

_In the =t=ýme of Árthour, | as =t=réw men me =t=áld_.
Golagras and Gawane, 1.

Fourteenth Century, End:

_Moste =m=ýghty =M=áhowne | =m=éng you with =m=ýrthe,
Both of búrgh and of tówne, | by =f=éllys and by =f=ýrthe._
Towneley Mysteries, p. 140.

_Oute, alás, I am góne! | oute apón the, mans wónder!_
ibid. p. 30.

Fourteenth Century, Second Half:

_In a =s=ómer =s=éson, | whan =s=óft was the =s=ónne._
Piers Plowman, Prol. 1.

_Þen com a =v=óis to Jóseph | and séide him þise =w=órdes._
Joseph of Arimathie, 21 (about 1350).

Fourteenth Century, Beginning:

_Ich herde =m=én vpo =m=óld | =m=áke much =m=ón._
Wright's Pol. Songs.

_=L=ýstneþ =L=órdynges, | a newe sóng ichulle bigýnne._
ibid. p. 187.

Thirteenth Century, Middle:

_Álle =b=èon he =b=líþe | þat tò my sóng líþe:
A =s=óng ihc schàl you =s=ínge | of Múrry þe kínge._
King Horn, 1-4.

Thirteenth Century, Beginning:

_And swá heo gùnnen wénden | fórð tò þan kínge._
Layamon, 13811-12.

_Vmbe =f=íftene ȝér | þat =f=ólc is isómned._ ibid. 13855-6.

Twelfth Century:

_þat þe =ch=íriche hàbbe grýþ | and þe =ch=éorl bèo in frýþ
his =s=édes to =s=ówen, | his =m=édes to =m=ówen._
Proverbs of Alfred, 91-4.

_=b=úte if he =b=éo | in =b=óke iléred._ ibid. 65-6.

Eleventh Century, End:

_þat he nám be wíhte | and mid mýcelan únrìhte._
Chron. an. 1087.

Eleventh Century, First Half:

_súme hi man =b=énde, | =s=úme hi man =b=lénde._
Chron. an. 1037.

_ne wearð =d=reṓrlìcre =d=ǣ́d | ge=d=ṓn on þisan éarde._ ibid.

Eleventh Century, Beginning:

_se of ǽðelre =w=ǽs | vírginis pártū
=c=lǣ́ne a=c=énned, | =C=hrístus in órbem._
Oratio Poetica, ed. Lumby.

_hwæt! ic =ā́=na sǽt | =í=nnan béarwe,
mid =h=élme beþéaht, | =h=ólte tō-míddes,
þǣr þā wǽterbúrnan | swḗgdon and úrnon,
on míddan gehǽge, | éal =s=wā ic =s=écge._
Be Dōmes Dæge.

_þæt =S=ámson se =s=tránge | swā of=s=lḗan míhte
=ā́=n þūsend mánna | mid þæs =á=ssan cínbā́ne._
Ælfric, Judges, 282-3.

Tenth Century, End:

_ǣ́fre embe =s=túnde | he =s=éalde sume wúnde,
þā h=w=ī́le þe hē =w=ǣ́pna | =w=éaldan mṓste._
Byrhtnoth, 271-2.

Ninth Century:

_=w=ýrmum be=w=únden, | =w=ítum gebúnden,
=h=éarde ge=h=ǣ́fted | in =h=élle brýne._ Judith, 115-16.

Eighth Century:

_=h=ā́m and =h=ḗahsètle | =h=éofena rī́ces._ Genesis, 33.

_=w=úldre bi=w=únden | in þǣre =w=lítigan býrig.
háfað ūs ā=l=ȳ́fed | =l=ū̀cis áuctor
þæt wē =m=ṓtun hḗr | =m=éruḗrī[122]
=g=ṓddǣdum be=g=íetan | =g=áudia in cǣ́lō._
Phoenix, 666-9.

_on=f=ḗngon =f=úlwihte | and =f=réoðowǣ́re
=w=úldres =w=édde | wī́tum āspḗdde._ Andreas, 1632-3.

_þǣr wæs =b=órda ge=b=réc | and =b=éorna geþréc
=h=éard =h=ándgeswìng | and =h=érga gríng,
sýððan hēo =é=arhfære | =ǣ́=rest mḗtton._ Elene, 114-16.

_=b=úgon Þā tō =b=énce | =b=lǣ́d-ā́gènde
=f=ýlle ge=f=ǣ́gon. | =f=ǽgene geþǣ́gon
=m=édofull =m=ánig | =m=ā́gas þā́ra._ Beowulf, 1013-15.

Seventh Century:

_nu scýlun =h=érgan | =h=éfænrīcæs uárd,
=m=étudæs =m=ǽcti | end his =m=ṓdgidanc._ Cædmon's Hymn.

§ =75.= The evidence contained in this chapter, with regard to the continuous survival, in its essential rhythmical features, of the Old English native verse down to modern times, may be briefly summed up as follows:--

1. In the oldest remains of English poetry (_Beowulf_, _Elene_, _Andreas_, _Judith_, _Phoenix_, &c.) we already find lines with combined alliteration and rhyme intermixed with, and rhythmically equivalent to, the purely alliterative lines, exactly as we do in late Old English and early Middle English poems such as _Byrhtnoth_, _Be Dōmes Dæge_, _Oratio Poetica_, _Chronicle_ an. 1036, _Proverbs of Alfred_, and Layamon's _Brut_.

2. In some of these poems, viz. the _Phoenix_ and the _Oratio Poetica_, Latin two-beat hemistichs are combined with English hemistichs of similar rhythm to form regular long lines, just as is done in Bale's play of _Kinge Johan_ (sixteenth century).

3. The lines of this play agree in the general principle, and frequently in the details of their rhythmical structure, with alliterative-rhyming long lines which occur in lyric and epic poems of the same period, and which two contemporary metrists, Gascoigne and King James VI, recognized (independently of each other) as lines of four accents.

4. The rhythm of these sixteenth-century lines is indistinguishable from that of a four-accent metre which is popular in English and German poetry down to the present day.

These facts appear to leave no room for doubt that the Germanic metre has had a continuous history in English poetry from the earliest times down to the present, and that the long line, in Old and Middle English as in Modern English, had four accents (two in each hemistich). The proof acquires additional force from the fact, established by recent investigations, that the most important of the metrical types of the Old English hemistich are found again in Middle and Modern English poetry.

NOTES:

[107] This view has been combated by the author. The stages of the
discussion are to be found in articles by Einenkel, _Anglia_,
v. Anz. 47; Trautmann, _ibid._ 118; Einenkel's edition of _St.
Katherine_, E. E. T. S. 80; the author's 'Metrische
Randglossen', _Engl. Studien_, ix. 184; _ibid._ 368; and
_Anglia_, viii. Anz. 246. According to our opinion Otfrid's
verse was never imitated in England, nor was it known at all in
Old or Middle English times.

[108] This line is inaccurately quoted by King James from the poet
Alexander Montgomerie, who lived at his court. It should read
as follows:--

_Syne fetcht food for to feid it, | foorth fra the Pharie._
Flyting 476.

[109] Cf. the writer's paper 'Zur Zweihebungstheorie der
alliterierenden Halbzeile' in _Englische Studien_ v. 488-93.

[110] Cf. _Chapters on Alliterative Verse_ by John Lawrence, D. Litt.
London: H. Frowde. 1893. 8º (chapter iii).

[111] 'Die englische Stabreimzeile im 14., 15., 16. Jahrhundert'
(_Anglia_, xi. 392-443, 553-618).

[112] Prof. Luick, in his longer treatise on the subject (_Anglia_,
xi. 404), distinguishes between two forms of this type with
anacrusis (× –́ × × –́) and without (–́ × × –́), which he
calls A1 and A2, a distinction he has rightly now abandoned
(Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 165).

[113] Also printed in Ritson's _Ancient Songs_, i, p. 12; Wright's
_Pol. Songs_, p. 69; Mätzner's _Altenglische Sprachproben_, i,
p. 152; Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen, Pol. Lieder_,
no. i.

[114] Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, p. 158.

[115] Cf. _Metrik_, ii. 146; and Luick, _Anglia_, xii. 450, 451.

[116] See G. Gascoigne, _Certayne Notes of Instruction concerning the
making of verse or ryme in English_, 1575, in Arber's
_Reprints_, together with _The Steele Glas_, &c., London, 1868,
8vo, p. 34.

[117] Bürger's version _Der Kaiser und der Abt_ introduces a regular
alternation of masculine and feminine couplets not observed in
the original metre which he is copying.

[118] Cf. the chapter on the four-foot iambic verse.

[119] Recognized by Bishop Percy (1765) as rhythmically equivalent to

_In a sómer séason, | when sóft was the sónne
I shópe me into shróudes, | as I a shépe wére_
(Piers Plowman).
and

_Hā́m and hḗahsetl | héofena rī́ces_
(Gen. 33).

_Scḗop þā and scýrede | scýppend ū̀re_
(ibid. 65).

[120] This alliterative-rhyming long line is scanned by the
contemporary metrist King James VI in the manner indicated by
the accents.

[121] The second of these lines is thus marked by Gascoigne as having
four stresses.

[122] We retain the MS. reading; see Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_,
p. 17.

PART II. FOREIGN METRES

DIVISION I. THE FOREIGN METRES IN GENERAL