Chapter V: Introduction

§ =76.= It was not till about 150 years after the Norman Conquest that foreign metres were introduced in English literature under the influence of French and Low Latin versification. For these, too, the general law observed in all accentual poetry holds good, viz. that the word-accent and the syntactical accent must coincide with the rhythmical accent. This rule, however, was easier to observe in the old native four-beat alliterative metre, in which the proportion and order of accented and unaccented syllables admit of many variations, than in metres consisting of equal measures, which follow stricter rules in that respect. In the older native verse accordingly we seldom find deviations from this fundamental rule, whereas in the newer foreign metres they are more frequent and striking.

The ordinary native alliterative metre was founded, as we have seen, on the principle that four accented syllables had to occur in each long line, together with an undefined number of unaccented ones, the position and order of those different syllables admitting many variations. The new metres constructed on foreign models during the Middle English period differ from the earlier rhythmic forms by the regularity of the alternation of unaccented and accented syllables and by the uniformity of their feet or measures; they are accordingly styled even-measured or even-beat verses.

Four different kinds are to be distinguished, viz. ascending and descending disyllabic measures, and ascending and descending trisyllabic measures, commonly called _iambic_, _trochaic_, _anapaestic_, and _dactylic_ measures. In Middle English poetry, however, only iambic rhythms were used. The three other kinds of rhythms did not come in till the beginning of the Modern English period.

With regard to the development of various even-measured rhythms from these four different kinds of feet, it will suffice to consider the iambic and trochaic metres only, as these are the most important, and the formation of the anapaestic and the dactylic metres is to be explained in the same way.

§ =77.= According to the number of feet we may classify =the different kinds of line=--retaining the classical nomenclature--as dimeters, trimeters, tetrameters, &c.; (one meter always consisting of _two_ iambic or trochaic, or anapaestic feet), so that, for instance, an iambic tetrameter contains eight iambic feet. Lines or rhythmical sections consisting of complete feet, i.e. of an equal number of accented and unaccented syllables, are called _acatalectic_ or _complete_ lines (dimeters, trimeters, &c.). If, however, the last foot of a line or of a rhythmical section be characterized by the omission of the last syllable, i.e. by a pause, the line is called _catalectic_ or _incomplete_. The following examples will serve to illustrate the meaning of these terms:

Acatalectic iambic tetrameter:

_Y spéke óf Ihésu, Márie sóne, | of álle Kínges hé is flóur,
Þat súffred déþ for ál man-kín, | he ís our álder créatóur._
Seynt Katerine, i. ll. 89-92.[123]

_Come lísten tó my móurnful tále, | ye ténder héarts and lovers déar;
Nor wíll you scórn to héave a sígh, | nor wíll you blúsh to shéd a
téar._ Shenstone, Jenny Dawson.

Catalectic iambic tetrameter:

_Ne sólde nó man dón a fírst | ne sléuhþen wél to dónne;
For mány man behóteð wél, | þet hít forȝét wel sóne._
Moral Ode, ll. 36-7.

_They cáught their spéares, their hórses rán, | as thóugh there hád
been thúnder,
And strúck them éach amídst their shíelds, | wherewíth they bróke
in súnder._
Sir Lancelot du Lake, ll. 65-8.[124]

Acatalectic trochaic tetrameter (not represented in Middle English):

_Wérther hád a lóve for Chárlotte, | súch as wórds could néver
útter;
Wóuld you knów how fírst he mét her? | shé was cútting bréad
and bútter._
Thackeray, Sorrows of Werther, ll. 1, 2.

Catalectic trochaic tetrameter:

_Áh! what pléasant vísions háunt me, | ás I gáze upón the séa:
Áll the óld romántic légends, | áll my dréams come báck to mé!_
Longfellow, Secret of the Sea, ll. 1, 2.

A line in which the whole last foot is supplied by a pause is called _brachycatalectic_.

Brachycatalectic iambic tetrameter:

_The Brítons thús depárted hénce, | seven Kíngdoms hére begóne,
Where díverselý in dívers bróils | the Sáxons lóst and wón._
Warner, Albion's England.[125]

Brachycatalectic trochaic tetrameter:

_Hásten, Lórd, to réscue mé | and sét me sáue from tróuble;
Sháme thou thóse who séek my sóul, | rewárd their míschief dóuble._
Translation of Psalm lxix.

If both rhythmical sections of a tetrameter are brachycatalectic we get one of the four varieties of the Middle English Alexandrine--the only one that has continued in use in Modern English poetry.

Alexandrine:

_Mid ývernésse and prúde | and ýssing wés that ón;
He núste nouht þát he wés | bóþe gód and món._
The Passion of our Lord, ll. 35, 36.

_Of Álbion's glórious ísle | the wónders whílst I wríte,
The súndry várying sóils, | the pléasures ínfiníte._
Drayton, Polyolbion, ll. 1, 2.

These are the principal forms of rhythmical sections made up of disyllabic feet that occur in Middle English and Modern English Poetry.

§ =78. The breaking up of these long lines= (consisting of two rhythmical sections) into shorter lines is usually effected by rhyme. Thus, if both rhythmical sections of the acatalectic tetrameter are divided by what is called leonine rhyme we get the short four-foot couplet imitated from the French _vers octosyllabe_, as in the following verses taken from the Middle English _A lutel soth sermon_ (ll. 17-20):

_He máde him ínto hélle fálle,
And éfter hím his chíldren álle;
Þér he wás fortó ure dríhte
Hine bóhte míd his míhte._

A Modern English example is--

_Amóngst the mýrtles ás I wálk'd,
Lóve and my síghs thus íntertálk'd:
'Téll me,' said Í in déep distréss,
'Where I may fínd my shépherdéss.'_
Carew, Poets, iii, p. 703.

Another stanza of four lines is formed when the first rhythmical sections of two tetrameters rhyming together are also connected in the corresponding place (viz. before the caesura) by another species of rhyme, called _interlaced_ or _crossed_ rhyme (_rime entrelacée_):

_I spéke of Ihésu of hévene withín;
Off álle kýngys he is flóur;
Þat súffryd déþ for álle mankýn,
He ís our alle créatóur._
Saynt Katerine, ii, ll. 89-92.

Cf. these verses with an earlier version of the same legend (quoted p. 127), where only the second sections are connected by rhyme.

A Modern English example is--

_When yóuth had léd me hálf the ráce
That Cúpid's scóurge had máde me rún;
I lóoked báck to méte the pláce
From whénce my wéary cóurse begún._
Surrey, Restless Lover, p. 4, ll. 1-4.

Corresponding short trochaic lines result from the acatalectic trochaic tetrameter broken by leonine or inserted rhyme. In Middle English poetry, however, they occur but very seldom in their pure form, i.e. with disyllabic rhymes; in most cases they have monosyllabic or alternate monosyllabic and disyllabic rhymes.

In like manner the catalectic iambic tetrameter is broken up by inserted rhyme into two short verses, viz. one of four feet with a monosyllabic ending, and one of three feet with a disyllabic ending, as in the following examples:

_Bytwéne mérsh and áverýl,
When spráy bigínneþ to sprínge,
Þe lútel fóul haþ híre wýl
On hýre lúd to sínge._

Wright's Spec. of Lyric Poetry, p. 27.

_A chíeftain tó the híghlands bóund
Cries: 'Bóatman, dó not tárry,
And Í'll give thée a sílver póund
To rów us ó'er the férry.'_
Campbell, Lord Ullin's Daughter, ll. 1-4.

A tetrameter brachycatalectic in both sections may also be broken up either by leonine or by inserted rhyme. The following examples illustrate respectively these two methods:

_Wiþ lónging ý am lád,
On mólde y wáxe mád,
Y gréde, y gróne, vnglád
For sélden ý am sád._
Wright's Spec. of Lyric Poetry, p. 29.

_Lo, Ióseph, ít is Í,
An ángelle sénd to thé;
We, léyf, I práy the, whý?
What ís thy wýlle with mé?_
Towneley Mysteries, p. 135.

In the same manner the verse of four feet mentioned above is broken up into two lines of two feet, and the two-feet line into two lines of one foot, as in the following examples:

_Moost góod, most fáir,
Or thíngs as ráre,
To cáll you's lóst;
For áll the cóst ... &c._
Drayton, An Amouret Anacreontic (Poets, iii. 582).

_What shóuld I sáy
Since fáith is déad,
And trúth awáy
From mé is fléd?_
Wyatt, p. 130.

_For míght is ríht, | _I ám the kníght,
Líht is níght, | I cóme by níght._
And fíht is flíht._ | The Nutbrowne Mayd,
Wright's Political Songs, | line 33.
p. 254. |

§ =79.= In the fourteenth century the =heroic verse= was added to these Middle English metres; a rhyming iambic line of five feet, formed after the model of the French line of ten syllables, e.g.:

_A kníght ther wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._
Chaucer, Prol. 43.

Finally, the verse used in the =tail-rhyme staves= (_rime couée_) must be mentioned. As this verse, however, usually appears only in that form in which it is broken up into three short ones which compose one half of the stave, its origin will be more properly discussed in the second Book, treating of the origin and form of the different stanzas. To begin with, however, it was simply a long line of three rhythmical sections. Indications of this are here and there found in the way in which it is arranged in MSS. and early printed books, e.g. in the first version of the _Legend of Alexius_,[126] where it is written in triple columns on the large folio pages of the Vernon MS. in the Bodleian Library:

_Sítteþ stílle withóuten stríf, | And Í will télle yóu the líf |
Óf an hóly mán.
Álex wás his ríght náme, | To sérve gód thought hím no sháme, |
Therof néver hé ne blán._

§ =80.= These are the simplest forms of verse used in Middle English poetry; they can be varied, however, in many ways. First, they are not restricted to monosyllabic or masculine endings or rhymes, but like their French models, admit also of disyllabic or feminine rhymes. Further, the caesura, where it occurs at all, may be masculine as well as feminine. The septenary line, however, in its strict form admits only of monosyllabic caesura and disyllabic ending.

Caesura and rhyme are in this respect closely analogous. For the difference between the two kinds of caesura and between the two kinds of rhyme is, that in the case of a masculine caesura or rhyme the pause occurs immediately after the last accented syllable of the rhythmical section, whereas in the case of a feminine caesura or rhyme an unaccented syllable (sometimes even two or more unaccented syllables[127]) follows upon the last accented one before the pause takes place. Combinations of masculine caesura with masculine or with feminine line-endings or rhymes, or the reverse, are, of course, allowed and of frequent occurrence.

We quote in the first place some Middle English and Modern English examples of masculine caesura in the Septenary, in the Alexandrine, in lines of five and of four measures and--for the sake of comparison--in the four-beat verse:

_They cáught their spéares, their hórses rán, | as thóugh there
hád been thúnder._
Percy's Rel. (cf. p. 127).

_The lífe so shórt, so fráil, | that mórtal mén live hére._
Wyatt, p. 155.

_A kníght there wás, | and thát a wórthy mán._
Chaucer, Prol. l. 43.

_For wánt of wíll | in wóe I pláin._
Wyatt, p. 44.

_For wómen are shréws, | both shórt and táll._
Shakesp. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 36.

Of the feminine caesura there are two different kinds, viz. the so-called _Epic_ and _Lyric_ caesura.[128] In the Epic caesura in Iambic metre the pause occurs, as in the feminine rhyme, after a supernumerary syllable which follows upon the last accented one of the section the next iambic foot following upon it in the usual manner. In the Lyric caesura in Iambic metre, on the other hand, the pause occurs within a foot, i.e. after the regular unaccented syllable of an iambic foot.

These three different kinds of caesura may be more simply defined as follows: In the ordinary iambic line the caesura occurring after a regular unaccented syllable is a feminine Lyric one (thus: ...⏑–́⏑|–́⏑–́...); the caesura occurring after an accented syllable is a masculine one (thus: ...⏑–́|⏑–́ ⏑–́...); and that which occurs after a supernumerary unaccented syllable immediately following upon an accented one is a feminine Epic caesura (thus: ...⏑–́⏑|⏑–́⏑–́...).

These different kinds of caesura strictly correspond to their French models. The Epic caesura, which to some extent disturbs the regular rhythmic flow of a verse, is by far the least frequent in metres of equal feet.

In the alliterative line, on the other hand, as this metre does not consist of equal feet, the feminine caesura, which is, from a rhythmical point of view, identical with the Epic, is commonly used both in the Old English and in the Middle English period, being produced by the natural quality of the types A, C, D, and by the resolution of the last accented syllable in the types B and D (of the Old English verse). For this reason it also occurs more frequently than the other kinds of caesura in the Modern English four-beat line.

This may be illustrated by the following examples:

Epic caesura:

_To Cáunterbúry | with fúl devóut couráge._
Chaucer, Prol. line 22.

_He knóweth how gréat Atrídës | that made Troy frét._
Wyatt, p. 152.

_And yét there ís anóther | between those héavens twó._
Wyatt, p. 161.

_Witóuten grúndwall | to bé lastánd: stand._
Cursor Mundi, line 125.

Lyric caesura:

_Þer hé was fóurty dáwes | ál withúte méte._
Passion, line 29.

_Se séttled hé his kíngdom | ánd confírmd his ríght._
Spenser. Faerie Queene, II, x. 60.

_And wél we wéren ésed | átte béste._
Chaucer, Prol. 29.

_Þat álre wúrste | þát hi wúste._
Owl and Night., line 10.

_And Í should háve it | ás me líst._
Wyatt, p. 30.

All three kinds of caesura will have to be treated systematically later on in connexion with the iambic rhyming verse of five measures, the character of which they affect very much.

§ =81.= The variety caused by the different kinds of caesura in the structure of the metres of equal measures, formed on the principle of a regular alternation of unaccented and accented syllables, is much increased by other causes arising from the different nature of Romanic and Germanic versification. These variations came into existence, partly because the poets, in the early days of the employment of equal-measured rhythms, found it difficult, owing to want of practice, to secure the exact coincidence of the word-accent and the metrical accent, partly because for linguistic or (in the case of the later poets) for artistic reasons they considered it unnecessary to do so. They therefore either simply suffered the discord between the two kinds of accentuation to remain, or, in order to avoid it, permitted themselves licences that did violence either to the rhythmic laws of the verse itself, or to the customary pronunciation of the words as regards the value of syllables (i.e. their being elided or fully sounded) or word-accent.

The changes which the equal-measured rhythms have undergone and still undergo from the causes mentioned thus have relation partly to the rhythmic structure of the verse itself, partly to the value of syllables, and partly to the word-accent. From these three points of view we shall first consider the iambic equal-measured rhythm in general (this being the only species used in Middle English, and the one which in Modern English is of most frequent occurrence and influences all the rest), before we proceed to examine its individual varieties.

NOTES:

[123] Horstmann, _Altenglische Legenden_, _Neue Folge_, p. 244.

[124] Percy's _Reliques_, I. ii. 7.

[125] Quoted in _Chambers's Cyclop. of Eng. Lit._, i. 242.

[126] Ed. by J. Schipper, _Quellen und Forschungen_, xx.

[127] In the 'tumbling'--or, to use the German name, the 'gliding'
(_gleitend_) caesura or rhyme.

[128] For the introduction and explanation of these technical terms
cf. Fr. Diez, 'Über den epischen Vers,' in his _Altromanische
Sprachdenkmale_, Bonn, 1846, 8vo, p. 53, and the author's
_Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 438, 441; ii, pp. 24-6.

[129] The occurrence of this licence in Chaucer's heroic verse has
been disputed by ten Brink (_Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_,
p. 176) and others, but see _Metrik_, i. 462-3, and
Freudenberger, _Ueber das Fehlen des Auftaktes in Chaucer's
heroischem Verse_, Erlangen, 1889.