Chapter VI: Verse-Rhythm

§ =82.= As in Greek and Latin metre, so also in the equal-measured rhythms of Middle and Modern English, it is a general law that the beginning or end of a metrical foot should, so far as possible, not coincide with the beginning or end of a word, but should occur in the middle, so that the individual feet may be more closely connected with each other. When this law is not observed, there arises what is technically called _diaeresis_, that is to say, the breaking up of the line into separate portions, which as a rule renders the verse inharmonious. On this account lines composed entirely of monosyllables are to be avoided. This law is more frequently neglected in Modern English poetry than in that of earlier times, because the rarity of inflexional endings makes its constant observance difficult.

Even in Middle English poems, however, we often find lines, especially if they are short, which are composed of monosyllabic words only.

These observations may be illustrated by the following examples:

(_a_) Lines with diaeresis:

_Ne ís no quéne so stárk ne stóur._
Wright's Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 87, l. 4.

_And hé was clád in cóote and hóod of gréne._
Chaucer, Prol. line 103.

_Had cást him óut from Héaven with áll his hóst._
Milton, Parad. L. i. 37.

_Had shóok his thróne. What thóugh the fíeld be lóst?_
ib. 105.

(_b_) Lines without diaeresis:

_Nou shrínkeþ róse and lýlie flour._
Wright's Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 87, line 1.

_And smále fówles máken mélodíe._
Chaucer, Prol. line 9.

_And réassémbling óur afflícted pówers._
Milton, Parad. L. i. 186.

§ =83.= With regard to modulation, too, the lines with diaeresis differ from those without it. In lines with diaeresis all syllables or words with a rhythmic accent upon them are pronounced with nearly the same stress, while in lines without diaeresis the difference between the accented syllables is more noticeable. The two following examples taken from Milton's _Paradise Lost_ will serve to illustrate this, the difference of stress being indicated by different numbers under the accented syllables:

_Had cást him óut from Héaven with áll his hóst_
0 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2

_And réassémbling óur afflícted pówers._
0 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 2

As a general rule, the syllables which stand in an arsis are, just because they bear the metrical stress, of course more strongly accented than those which stand in a thesis.

Occasionally, however, a thesis-syllable may be more strongly accented than an arsis-syllable in the same line which only carries the rhythmical accent, but neither the word-accent nor the logical accent of the sentence.

Thus in the following line from _Paradise Lost_--

_Irreconcileable to our grand Foe_,

the word _grand_, although it stands in a thesis, is certainly, because of the rhetorical stress which it has, more strongly accented than the preceding word _our_ or the syllable _-ble_, both of which have the rhythmical accent. Milton's blank verse abounds in such resolved discords, as they might be called. In not a few cases, however, they remain unresolved. This occurs chiefly in lines where the short unaccented syllables or unimportant monosyllabic words must be lengthened beyond their natural quantity in order to fit in with the rhythm of the verse, as in the following lines:

_Of Thámuz yéarly wóunded: thé love-tále._ Par. L. i. 452.

_Únivérsal repróach far wórse to béar._ Par. L. vi. 34.

On the other hand long syllables standing in a thesis may be shortened without harshness, e.g. the words _brought_ and _our_ in the following line:

_Brought déath intó the wórld and áll our wóe._

§ =84.= With regard to the treatment of the rhythm the Middle English even-beat metres in some respects are considerably different from the Modern English metres, the reason being that the earlier poets, as yet inexperienced in the art of composing in even-beat measures, found it more difficult than Modern English poets to make the rhythmic accent coincide with the word-accent and the syntactic-accent (cf. pp. 126-7, 134).

Certain deviations from the ordinary iambic rhythm which partly disturb the agreement of the number of accented and unaccented syllables in a line are more frequent in Middle English than in Modern English poetry. One of these licences is the =suppression of the anacrusis= or the absence of the first unaccented syllable of the line, or of the second rhythmical section, e.g.

_Þán sche séyd: ȝe trówe on hím | þát is lórd of swíche pousté._
Horstmann's Altengl. Legend. N. F., p. 250, ll. 333-4.

_Gíf we léornið gódes láre,
Þénne ofþúncheþ hít him sáre._ Pater Noster, 15-16.

_Únnet líf ic hábbe iléd, | and ȝíet, me þíncð, ic léde._
Moral Ode, l. 5.

_Twénty bóokes, | clád in blák and réde._ Chaucer, Prol. 294.[129]

_Sóme, that wátched | wíth the múrd'rer's knífe._ Surrey, p. 59.

_Góod my Lórd, | give mé thy fávour stíll._
Shakesp. Temp. iv. i. 204.

_Nórfolk sprúng thee, | Lámbeth hólds thee déad._ Surrey, p. 62.

_Vor mánies mánnes sóre iswínch | hábbeð ófte unhólde._
Moral Ode, Ms. D. l. 34.

_Enhástyng hím, | tíl he wás at lárge._
Lydgate, Story of Thebes, 1075.

_The tíme doth páss, | yét shall nót my lóve!_ Wyatt, p. 130.

While this metrical licence may mostly be attributed to want of technical skill in Middle English poets, it is frequently employed in the Modern English period, as the last example shows, with distinct artistic intention of giving a special emphasis to a particular word. Several Middle English poets, however, make but scant use of this licence, e.g. the author of _The Owl and the Nightingale_ and Gower, while some of them, as Orm, never use it at all.

§ =85.= These latter poets, on the other hand, make very frequent use of another kind of rhythmical licence, viz. =level stress= or _hovering accent_, as Dr. Gummere calls it; i.e. they subordinate the word-accent or the syntactic accent to the rhythmic accent, and so far violate the principal law of all accentual metre, which demands _that those three accents should fall on one and the same syllable_.

This licence is found chiefly in metres of a certain length, e.g. in the Septenary or in the iambic five-foot line, but not so frequently in shorter metres, as the resulting interruption of the flow of the rhythm is not so perceptible in long as in short lines.

The least sensible irregularity of this kind occurs when the (syntactically) less emphatic of two consecutive monosyllabic words is placed in the arsis, as in the following lines:

_For whý this ís more thén that cáuse is._
Chaucer, H. of Fame, 20.

_There ís a róck in thé salt flóod._ Wyatt, p. 144.

_Now seemeth féarful nó more thé dark cáve._ ib. p. 210.

If the accented syllable of a word consisting of two or more syllables is placed in the thesis, and the unaccented one in the arsis, the licence is greater. This is a licence often met with in Middle English poetry, as e.g.:

_I wílle not léyf you álle helpléss | as mén withóuten fréynd._
Towneley Myst. p. 182.

_Of clóth-makýng | she hádde súch an háunt._ Chaucer, Prol. 447.

_With blóod likewíse | ye múst seek yóur retúrn._ Surrey, p. 117.

The effect is still more harsh, if inflexional endings are used in this way, though this does not often occur. The following are examples:

_Þa béodes hé b=eo=d=é=þ therínne._ Pater Noster, 23.

_Annd áȝȝ =a=fft=érr= þe Góddspell stánnt._ Orm. 33.

_All þúss iss þátt h=a=llgh=é= g=o=ddsp=é=ll._ ib. 73.

In most cases dissonant rhythmical accentuations of this sort are caused by the rhyme, especially in Middle English poetry, e.g.:

_Sównynge alwáy th' encrés of his wynnýnge.
He wólde the sée were képt for ény thínge._
Chaucer, Prol. 275.

Cf. also: _thing: wr+i+t+ý+ng_ ib. 325-6; _br+e+mst+óo+n: non_ ib. 629-30; _+a+le-st+á+ke: cake_ ib. 667-8; _g+o+dd+é+sse: gesse_ Chaucer, Knightes Tale, 243-4; _herde: +a+nsw+é+rde_ ib. 265-6; _ass+e+mbl+ý+nge: thynge_ Barclay, Ship of Fools, p. 20; similar examples are even to be met with in early Modern English poetry, e.g.: _n+o+th+í+ng: bring_ Sur. 15; _bem+oa+n+í+ng: king_ Wyatt, 206; _w+e+lf+á+re: snare_ ib. 92; _g+oo+dn+é+ss: accéss_ ib. 209; _m+a+n+é+re: chere_ Surrey, 124, &c.

Sometimes it may be doubtful how a line should be scanned. In some cases of this kind the usage of the poet will decide the question; we know, for instance, that Orm never allows the omission of the first unaccented syllable. Where decisive evidence of this kind is wanting, the verse must be scanned in such a manner as to cause the least rhythmical difficulty. If a compound, or a word containing a syllable with secondary accent, does not fit in with the rhythmical accent, it is to be read, as a rule, with level stress when it occurs in the middle of a line (and, of course, always when it is the rhyme-word). On the other hand, if according to the rhythmical scheme of the line an unaccented syllable would be the bearer of the rhythmical stress, we must in most cases assume suppression of the anacrusis.

It would not be admissible therefore to scan:

_Love, thát l+i+v+é+th | and réigneth ín my thóught_,
Surrey, p. 12.

but:
_Lóve that líveth | and réigneth ín my thóught._

The licence of displacement of accent is an offence against the fundamental law of accentual verse, and therefore becomes more and more rare as the technique of verse becomes more perfect.

§ =86=. Another metrical licence, which is not inadmissible, is =the absence of a thesis in the interior of a line=. This licence is not of the same origin in Middle English as in Modern English poetry.

In Middle English it generally appears to be a relic of the ancient alliterative verse (Types C and D) and to be analogous to the similar usage of the contemporary Middle English alliterative line, as e.g.:

_Ne léve nó mán to múchel | to chílde ne to wíue._
Moral Ode, line 24.

_Þet ís al sóth fúl iwís._ Pater Noster, 2.

_hálde wé gódes láȝe._ ib. 21.

_Óf the próphéte | that hátte Séynt Iohán._ Passion, 26.

Not unfrequently, also, this licence is caused by the rhyme, as in the following examples:

_Myd Hárald Árfáger, | kýng of Nórthwéy: eye._ Rob. of Glouc. 22.

_As wás king Róbert of Scótlánd: hand._ Barbour, Bruce, 27.

_And gúd Schyr Iámes of Dóuglás: was._ ib. 29.

_Súmwhat óf his clóþíng: king._
Rob. Mannyng, Handlyng Sinne, l. 5703.

The same manner of treatment may be found applied to words which end in _-lyng_, _-esse_, _-nesse_, and similar syllables, and which have a secondary accent on the last syllable and the chief accent on the preceding root-syllable.

In Modern English verse the absence of a thesis between two accented syllables sometimes arises from phonetic conditions, i.e. from the pause which naturally takes place between two words which it is difficult to pronounce successively. This pause supplies the place of the missing thesis, as e.g. in the following lines:

_And fírst cléns us fróm the fíend._ Townl. Myst. p. 9.

_An óld témple there stánds, | whereás some tíme._ Surrey, p. 142.

_And scórn the Stóry | thát the Kníght tóld._ Wyatt, p. 192.

In other instances the emphasis laid upon a particular word compensates for the absence of the unaccented syllable, especially, if the accented syllable is long: e.g.

_And thóu, Fáther, | recéive intó thy hánds._ Surrey, p. 142.

_Júst as you léft them | áll prísoners, sír._ Shak. Temp. V. i. 8.

_My ówn lóve, | my ónly déar._ Moore.

_Mórning, évening, | nóon and night
Práise Gód, | sang Théocríte._ R. Browning, ii. 158.

This licence is of frequent occurrence in even-beat measures.

§ =87.= Another metrical peculiarity caused by the influence of the rhythm is the =lengthening= of a word by the introduction of an unaccented extra syllable, commonly an _e_, to supply a thesis lacking between two accented syllables.

This occurs in Middle English and in Modern English poetry also. (i) In disyllabic words, commonly those with a first syllable ending with a mute, the second beginning with a liquid, e.g.:

_Of Éng(e)lónd | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ Chauc. Prol. 16.

_If yóu will tárry, | hóly píl(e)grím_.
Shakesp. All's Well, III. v. 43.

(ii) In Modern English poetry only in certain monosyllabic words ending in _r_ or _re_, preceded by a diphthong, as e.g. in _our_, _hour_, _fire_, &c., e.g.:

_So dóth he féel | his fíre mánifóld._ Wyatt, 205.

This peculiarity will be mentioned again in the next chapter.

§ =88.= Another deviation from the regular iambic line is the =inversion of the rhythm=; i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus at the beginning of a line or after the caesura. The rhythmical effect of this licence has some resemblance to that of the suppression of anacrusis. In both cases the rhythmic accent has to yield to the word-accent. But while in the latter case the whole verse becomes trochaic in consequence of the omission of the first syllable, in the former the trochaic cadence affects one foot only (generally the first), the rest of the verse being of a regular iambic rhythm. Hence the number of syllables in each line is the same as that in all the other regular lines (including those with level stress), whereas verses with suppressed anacrusis may easily be distinguished from the former by their smaller number of syllables. On the other hand, the number of syllables (being the same in both cases) affords no help in distinguishing between change of word-accent and inversion of rhythm. Which of these two kinds of licence is to be recognized in any particular case can be determined only by the position which the abnormal foot occupies in the line. Inversion of rhythm (i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus) occurs, as a rule, only at the beginning of a line or hemistich, where the flow of the rhythm has not begun, so that the introduction of a trochee does not disturb it. If, therefore, the discord between normal word-stress and iambic rhythm occurs in any other position in the line, it must be regarded as a case of level stress.

The following examples will serve to illustrate the difference between these three species of metrical licence:

Omission of anacrusis:

_Herknet tó me góde men_. Hav. 1. 7 syll.

_Nórfolk sprúng thee, Lámbeth hólds thee déad._
Surrey, p. 62. 9 "

Level stress:

_A stálw+o+rþí man ín a flok_. Hav. 24. 8 "

_And Rýpheús that mét thee bý m+oo+nlíght._
Surrey, p. 126. 10 "

Inversion of rhythm:

_Míchel was súch a kíng to préyse_. Hav. 60. 8 "

_Míldly doth flów alóng the frúitful fíelds._
Surrey, p. 145. 10 "

_Shróuding themsélves únder the désert shóre._
Surrey, p. 113. 10 "

Inversion of rhythm may be caused in the interior of a rhythmical series only when a particularly strong emphasis is laid upon a word, e.g. to express an antithesis or for similar reasons:

_That íf_ góld ruste | _whát shal ýren dó?_ Chaucer, Prol. 500.

_And wé'll_ nót fail | _When Dúncan ís asléep._
Shakesp. Macb. I. vii. 61.

We may distinguish between two kinds of inversion of rhythm, viz. (i) _natural_ inversion, and (2) _rhetorical_ inversion. The former is caused by word-accent, the latter by the rhetorical accent, as illustrated by the last examples. The second kind differs very clearly from level stress, as the word in question or the first syllable of it (see the second line of the following quotation) is to be uttered with an unusually strong emphasis, e.g.:

Síck, or _in héalth, | in évil fáme or góod._ Surrey, p. 17.

Lústy _of scháip,_ lýght of _delíveránce_.
Dunbar, Thriss. and Rois 95.

In the second example inversion of rhythm occurs (as it often does) twice over, viz. at the beginning of the verse and after the caesura.

Not unfrequently also two inversions of rhythm follow immediately upon one another, e.g.:

Wórldly gládnes | _is mélled wíth affráy_.
Lydgate, Min. Poems, xxii, line 11.

Réigned óver | _so mány péoples and réalms._ Surrey, p. 135.

Such verses, however, may also be looked upon as instances of the omission of anacrusis combined with epic caesura.

This would be the only admissible explanation in verses the first accented word of which is a word which usually does not bear an accent or is not accented rhetorically, e.g.:

_Óf the wórdes | that Týdeús had sáid._
Lydgate, St. of Thebes, line 1082.

_Tó have líved | áfter the cíty táken._ Surrey, p. 139.

But in a line with an emphasized first word inversion of rhythm is the more probable explanation: e.g.

_Nát astónned, | nor ín his hérte afférde._
Lydgate, St. of Thebes, line 1069.

_Gód, that séndeth, | withdráweth wínter shárp._ Surrey, p. 58.

§ =89. Disyllabic or polysyllabic thesis.= Another important deviation from the regular iambic rhythm, which is clearly to be distinguished from the double thesis caused by inversion of rhythm, consists in the use of two or sometimes even more unaccented syllables instead of one to form a regular thesis of a verse. This irregularity, which is almost as common in Modern English as it is in Early English poetry, may occur in any part of the verse. If it occurs in the first foot, it may be called disyllabic or polysyllabic anacrusis, as in the following examples:

_Gif we clépieþ híne féder þénne._ Pater Noster, 19.

_Se þe múchel vólȝeð hís iwíl, | him sélue hé biswíkeð._
Moral Ode, 15.

_To purvéie þám a skúlkyng, | on þe Énglish éft to ríde._
Rob. Mannyng, Chron. p. 3, l. 8.

_With a thrédbare cópe, | as ís a póure scolér._
Chaucer, Prol. 260.

_And why thís is a revelációun._ Chaucer, H. of Fame, l. 8.

_My comáundemént that kéeps trulý, | and áfter ít will dó._
Towneley Myst. p. 182.

_There was néver nóthing | móre me páin'd._ Wyatt, p. 57.

_I beséech your Gráces | bóth to párdon mé._
Shakesp. Rich. III, I. i. 84.

_By thy lóng grey béard and glíttering éye._
Coleridge, Anc. Mar. l. 3.

This metrical licence may occur also immediately after the caesura, e.g.:

_Wel láte he léteþ úfel wéorc | þe hit né may dón na máre._
Moral Ode, 128.

_And thríes hádde sche bén | at Ierúsalém._ Chauc. Prol. 463.

_My wíll confírm | with the spírit of stéadfastnéss._
Wyatt, p. 220.

_But thén we'll trý | what these dástard Frénchmen dáre._
Shakesp. 1 Hen. VI, I. iv. 111.

It most frequently occurs, however, in the interior of the rhythmical sections, and there it is found in any of the feet, except the last, as will be seen by the following examples:

_Intó þis ðhísternesse hér benéðen._ Gen. and Exod. 66.

_For þér we hit míhte fínden éft | and hábben búten énde._
Moral Ode, 52.

_In Wéssex was thán a kíng, | his náme wás Sir Íne._
Rob. Mannyng, Chron. p. 2, l. 1.

_Of Éngelónd | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ Chauc., Prol. 16.

_So fervent hót, | thy díssolute lífe._ Surrey, p. 68.

_And Windsor, alás! | doth cháse me fróm her síght._ ib. p. 14.

_Succéeding his fáther Bólingbróke, | did réign._
Shakesp. 1 Hen. VI, II. v. 83.

§ =90.= Unaccented extra syllables are found also before a caesura or at the end of the line. In the former case they constitute what is known as _epic caesura_, in the latter they form feminine or double endings (if there is only one extra syllable) or tumbling endings (if there are two extra syllables). In both cases this irregularity is softened or excused, so to say, by the pause, except where the accented or masculine ending of the hemistich is required by the very nature of the metre, viz. in the first acatalectic half of the Septenary line. It does, however, not unfrequently occur in some Early Middle English poems written in Septenary metre, e.g. in the _Moral Ode_ and several others, but this may be only owing to want of skill or carelessness on the part of the authors of these poems. The following example taken from the _Moral Ode_ may serve to illustrate this:

_Nis nán wítnesse éal se múchel, | se mánnes ágen héorte._ 114.

In the _Ormulum_ irregularities of this kind never occur, a certain proof that Orm thought them metrically inadmissible, and felt that an extra syllable at the end of the first hemistich would disturb the flow of the rhythm.

Epic caesura certainly is more in place, or at any rate more common, in other kinds of verse, especially in the Middle English Alexandrine formed after the Old French model, e.g.:

_Untó the Ínglis kínges, | þat hád it ín þer hónd._
Robert Mannyng, Chron. p. 2, l. 4.

In the four-foot and five-foot rhymed verse, and especially in blank verse, it is of frequent occurrence:

_Why thís a fántom, | why thése orácles._ Chauc. H. of F. 11.

_To Cáunterbúry, | with fúl devóut coráge._ id. Prol. 22.

_What shólde he stúdie | and máke hym séluen wóod?_ ib. 184.[130]

_So crúel príson | how cóuld betíde, alás._ Surrey, p. 19.

_O míseráble sórrow! | withóuten cúre._ Wyatt, p. 124.

_With hídden hélp or vántage, | or thát with bóth._
Shakesp. Macb. I. iv. 113.

_But hów of Cáwdor? | The tháne of Cáwdor líves._ ib. I. iii. 72.

_But thís delíver'd, | he sáw the ármies jóin._
Fletcher, Loyal Subj. II. i. 333.

_For íf my húsband táke you, | and táke you thús._
id. Rule a Wife, v. 495.

_By vísion fóund thee ín the Témple, | and spáke._
Milton, Par. Reg. i. 256.

_Creáted húgest | that swím the Ócean-stréam._ id. Par. L. i. 202.

_And chíefly thóu, O Spírit! | that dóst prefér._ ib. i. 17.

_Have fílled their víals | with sálutáry wráth._
Coleridge, Relig. Musings, 84.

§ =91.= Double or feminine endings are more frequent than epic caesuras, especially in Middle English poetry. They become rarer, however, in the course of time in Modern English in consequence of the gradual disappearance of the inflexional endings, e.g.:

_Þet wé don álle hís ibéden,
Ánd his wílle fór to réden._ Pater Noster, 7-8.

_Tó my wýtte | that cáuseth swévenes
Éyther on mórwes | ór on évenes._ Chauc. H. of Fame, 3-4.

_Áfter Éthelbért | com Élfríth his bróther,
Þat was Égbrihtes sónne, | and ȝit ther wás an óþer._
Robert Mannyng, Chron. p. 21, ll. 7-8.

_Withóuten óther cómpainýe | in yóuthe,
But therof néedeth nóught | to spéke as nóuthe._
Chauc. Prol. 461-2.

_And ín her síght | the séas with dín confóunded?_ Sur. p. 164.

_Or whó can téll thy lóss, | if thóu mayst ónce recóver._
Wyatt, p. 154.

_Lie there, my árt. | Wípe thou thine eyes; have cómfort._
Shakesp. Temp. 1. ii. 25.

_The dífference 'twíxt the covetous | ánd the pródigall._
Ben Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 12.

_Nothing at áll! | I'll téach you tó be treacherous._
Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 255.

_Nó, Sir, | I dáre not leave her | tó that sólitariness._
id. Rule a Wife, iv. 479.

_What yóung thing's thís?-- | Good mórrow, béauteous géntlewoman._
id. Loy. Subj. v. ii. 402.

The two last quotations are noteworthy because the number of extra syllables after the last accented one is two, three, or even four, a peculiarity which is one of the characteristics of Fletcher's versification. Other poets, e.g. Shakespeare, preferred feminine endings in some periods of their literary career, so that it is possible to use the proportion of masculine and feminine endings occurring in a play, compared with others of the same poet, as a means of ascertaining the date of its origin.

It is also to be observed that in certain epochs or kinds of poetry feminine endings are more in favour than in others. In the eighteenth century they are very scarce, whereas they become more frequent again in the nineteenth century. Byron and Moore especially use them copiously in their satirical and humorous poems to produce burlesque effects.

§ =92.= Another metrical licence also connected with the end of the line is what is known as the =enjambement= or _run-on line_--that is to say, the carrying over of the end of a sentence into the following line.

The rule that the end of a line must coincide with the end of a sentence, is, from the nature of the case, more difficult to observe strictly--and, consequently, the run-on line is more readily admitted--in verse composed of short lines (which often do not afford room for a complete sentence) than where the lines are longer. In blank verse, also, the run-on line is more freely allowed than in rhymed verse, where the pause at the end of the line is more strongly marked.

Generally speaking, enjambement is not allowed to separate two short words that stand in close syntactical connexion and isolated from the rest of the sentence, though examples of this do occur (especially in the older poets) in which an adjective is separated from its substantive:

_I wíll yive hím the álderbéste
Yífte, that éver he abóod his líve._ Chauc. Blaunche, 246.

_My lúte awáke, perfórm the lást
Lábour, that thóu and Í shall wáste._ Wyatt, p. 29,

or a verb from its subject or object, formed by a monosyllabic word:

_To téllen shórtly, whán that hé
Was ín the sée, thús in this wíse._ Chauc. Blaunche, 68.

_Me néed not lóng for tó beséech
Hér, that hath pówer me tó commánd._ Wyatt, p. 31.

But if, on the other hand, two closely connected parts of a sentence are each of them long enough to fill up two measures, they may be separated by enjambement:

_Whan Zéphirús eek wíth his swéte bréethe
Enspíred háth in évery hólte and héethe
The téndre cróppes, ánd the yónge sónne
Háth in the Rám his hálfe cóurs irónne_, &c. Chauc. Prol. 5-8.

_There áre a sórt of mén, whose vísagés
Do créam and mántle líke a stánding pónd._
Shakesp. Merch. I. i. 88-9.

The admissibility or inadmissibility, however, of run-on lines depends on many different and complicated considerations, for which the reader may be referred to ten Brink, _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, §§ 317-20, and to our own larger work, vol. ii, pp. 59-62.

In Shakespeare's versification, and probably also in that of other poets, the more or less frequent use of run-on lines is characteristic of certain periods of their literary career, and is therefore looked upon as a valuable help in determining the date of the different plays (cf. § 91). The largest percentage of run-on lines probably occurs in Milton's epics.

§ =93.= The judicious use of run-on lines is often resorted to for the purpose of avoiding monotony. Another metrical licence connected with the line-end, which is adopted for the same purpose, is =rhyme-breaking=. This occurs chiefly in rhyming couplets, and consists in ending the sentence with the first line of the couplet, instead of continuing it (as is usually done) till the end of the second line. Thus the close connexion of the two lines of the couplet effected by the rhyme is broken up by the logical or syntactic pause occurring at the end of the first line. This is used rarely, and so to say unconsciously, by the earlier Middle English poets, but is frequently applied, and undoubtedly with artistic intention, by Chaucer and his successors. The following passage contains examples both of rhyme-breaking and of the more normal usage:

_A Yéman hádde he, ánd servántz namó
At thát tyme, fór him líste ríde sóo;
And hé was clád in cóte and hóod of gréne:
A shéf of pécok árwes bríght and shéne
Únder his bélt he bár ful thríftilý.
Wél koude he drésse his tákel yémanlý;_ &c.
Chauc. Prol. ll. 101-6.

Rhyme-breaking may, of course, also take place in other metres, as e.g. in four-foot iambic verses:

_Which hópe I kéep full súre in mé,
As hé, that áll my cómfort ís.
On yóu alone, which áre my blíss_, &c.
Surrey, pp. 79-80.

Chapman, in his translation of Homer, often uses it in Septenary verses as well as in five-foot iambic verses. In certain stanzas rhyme-breaking at particular places is a strict rule, as e.g. in the Rhyme-Royal stanza (_a b a b . b c c_), in the ballade-stanza of eight lines (_a b a b . b c b c_), and also between the two quatrains of the regular Italian sonnet.

On the other hand this licence is rare in the works of the poets of the eighteenth century who wrote under French influence, and in modern times (especially at the present day) it seems to be rather avoided than intentionally admitted.

§ =94.= Another peculiarity of frequent but irregular occurrence in even-beat verse is =alliteration=, a feature which is derived from the old native metre, and is still (consciously or unconsciously) employed by many poets as an ornament of their verse.

The arbitrary use of alliteration in the freer form of the long line has been already discussed.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it is mostly used merely to give a stronger emphasis to those words of the verse which bear the logical and rhythmical accent,[131] but even as early as this we can observe a decided predilection for accumulated alliteration. Sometimes the same alliterative sound is retained through several successive lines. In other instances a fourth alliterating word is admitted in the line (as in the example referred to above). In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries this striving after accumulation of alliteration was carried to such a length that it became a rule that as many words in the line as possible, whether accented or not, should begin with the same letter. This accounts for King James VI's metrical rule quoted above (p. 89), that in 'Tumbling verse' the line is to be 'literal'. Even Chaucer, in spite of his well-known hostile attitude to regular alliterative poetry,[132] allowed his diction to be influenced strongly by it, e.g.:

_I =w=réche_, =w=hích that =w=épe and =w=áylle thús_,
=W=as =w=hílom =w=ýf to =k=ýng =C=apáneús_.
Kn. Tale, ll. 73-4.

_And =h=é =h=im =h=úrtleth wíth =h=is =h=órs adóun_.
ib. line 1758.

This accumulation of alliterative sounds occurs in the works of many Modern English poets, some of whom, as Peele and Shakespeare, have themselves ridiculed it, but were unable, or were not careful, to avoid it altogether in their own practice.

_And wíth =sh=arp =sh=rílling =sh=ríekes | doe bóotlesse crý_.
Spens. F. Q. I. iii. 127.

_=W=hich =w=íth a rúshy =w=éapon | Í =w=ill =w=óund_.
Peele, Old Wifes Tale, p. 467.

_Théy =l=ove =l=éast that =l=ét men know their =l=óve_.
Shak. Rom. i. 3.

For particulars see _Neuengl. Metrik_, pp. 68-76, and the following
treatises:

_Die Alliteration im Layamon_, by K. Regel; _Germanistische Studien_, ed. K. Bartsch, Vienna, 1874, i. 172 ff.

_Die Alliteration bei Chaucer_, by Dr. F. Lindner, _Jahrbuch f. rom. und engl. Literatur_, N. Ser. ii, p. 311 ff.

_Die Alliteration in den Werken Chaucers mit Ausschluss der Canterbury Tales_, by E. Petzold. Dissertation, Marburg, 1889.

_Die alliterierenden Sprachformeln in Morris's Early English Alliterative Poems und im Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight_, by Joh. Fuhrmann. Dissertation, Kiel, 1886.

Prof. Dr. K. Seitz, _Die Alliteration im Englischen vor und bei Shakspere_, and _Zur Alliteration im Neuenglischen_. Realschulprogramme i-iii, Marne, 1875, Itzehoe, 1883, 1884.

M. Zeuner, _Die Alliteration bei neuenglischen Dichtern_. Dissertation, Halle, 1880.

_Die stabreimenden Wortverbindungen in den Dichtungen Walter Scott's_, by Georg Apitz. Dissertation, Breslau, 1893.

NOTES:

[130] We therefore hold ten Brink to be wrong in asserting
(_Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_, § 307, 3. Anm.) that no
redundant or hypermetrical syllable is permissible in the
caesural pause of Chaucer's iambic line of five accents,
although he recognizes that in lines of four accents Chaucer
admits the very same irregularity, which moreover has remained
in use down to the present day. Cf. Skeat, _Chaucer Canon_,
Oxford, 1900, pp. 31-3, and Schipper in Paul's _Grundriss_,
ed. 2, II. ii, pp, 217-18. On this point, as also on several
others, Miss M. Bentinck Smith, the translator of ten Brink's
work, is of our opinion (cf. her Remarks on Chapter III of ten
Brink's _Chaucer's Sprache und Verskunst_ in _The Modern
Language Quarterly_, vol. v, No. 1, April, 1902, pp. 13-19). A
contrary view with regard to 'extra syllables' in the heroic
and the blank-verse line (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)
is taken by A. P. van Dam and Cornelis Stoffel, _Chapters on
English Printing, Prosody, and Pronunciation_ (1550-1700),
Heidelberg, 1902 (Anglistische Forschungen herausgegeben von
Dr. Johannes Hoops, Heft 9), pp. 48-113.

[131] Cf. the lines from Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 31,
quoted on p. 98.

[132] Cf. _Parson's Prologue_, 42-3.