Chapter 10

_aabccbddbeebffgggf_

Ne mai no lewed lued libben in londe, be he never in hyrt so haver of honde, So lerede us biledes. [gh]ef ich on molde mote wiþ a mai, y shal falle hem byfore & lurnen huere lay, ant rewen alle huere redes. ah bote y be þe furme day on folde hem byfore, ne shaly nout so skere scapen of huere score; so grimly he on me gredes, þat y ne mot me lede þer wiþ mi lawe; on alle maner oþes [þat] heo me wulleþ awe, heore boc ase on bredes. heo wendeþ bokes on brad, ant makeþ men a moneþ a mad; of scaþe y wol me skere, ant fleo from my fere; ne rohte hem whet yt were, boten heo hit had.[10]

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253. Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p. 109.)

This and the two following specimens, together with some included earlier under the head of Tail-Rime, illustrate the interest in complex lyrical measures characteristic of the period of French influence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1152 Henry of Normandy (who ascended the throne in 1154) married Eleanor of Poitou, and in her train there came to England the great troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn. On the poems of this troubadour and others of the same school, see ten Brink's _English Literature_, Kennedy translation, vol. i. pp. 159-164. Other troubadours followed, and found a home in the court of Richard the Lion-Hearted, who himself entered the ranks of the poets. The result was a great mass of Norman French lyrical poetry, often in intricate forms, and a smaller mass of imitative lyrics in Middle English. As Schipper observes, the elaborate lyrical forms were inconsistent with English taste, and it was only the simpler ones which were widely adopted. On the general character of the Romance stanza-forms, and their influence in England, see Schipper, vol. i. pp. 309 ff.

_ababccdeed_

Iesu, for þi muchele miht þou [gh]ef us of þi grace, þat we mowe dai & nyht þenken o þi face. in myn herte hit doþ me god, when y þenke on iesu blod, þat ran doun bi ys syde, from is herte doun to is fot; for ous he spradde is herte blod, his wondes were so wyde.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; in Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p. 208.)

_aabccbddbeeb_

Lenten ys come wiþ love to toune, wiþ blosmen & wiþ briddes roune, þat al þis blisse bryngeþ; dayes e[gh]es in þis dales, notes suete of nyhtegales, uch foul song singeþ. þe þrestelcoc him þreteþ oo; away is huere wynter woo, when woderove springeþ. þis foules singeþ ferly fele, ant wlyteþ on huere wynter wele, þat al þe wode ryngeþ.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p. 164.)

_abcbdcdceccce_

Trowe [gh]e, sores, and God sent an angell And commawndyd [gh]ow [gh]owr chyld to slayn, Be [gh]owr trowthe ys ther ony of [gh]ow That eyther wold groche or stryve ther-ageyn? How thyngke [gh]e now, sorys, ther-by? I trow ther be iii or iiii or moo. And thys women that wepe so sorowfully Whan that hyr chyldryn dey them froo, As nater woll and kynd,-- Yt ys but folly, I may well awooe, To groche a-[gh]ens God or to greve [gh]ow, For [gh]e schall never se hym myschevyd, wyll I know, Be lond nor watyr, have thys in mynd.

(Epilogue of Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac. In Manly's _Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama_, vol. i. p. 56.)

This verse of the early Mystery Plays and connected forms of the drama shows an extraordinary variety of measures. In general, the effort of the writers seems to have been to show some artistic ingenuity of structure, and at the same time keep to the free popular dialogue verse which was associated with the plays. We find, therefore, tumbling verse, alexandrines, septenaries, and intricate strophic forms, all commonly written with slight regard for syllable-counting principles.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] There is a single well-known exception: the Anglo-Saxon poem known as _Deor's Lament_, which is divided into irregularly varying strophes, all ending with the same refrain. (See ten Brink's _English Literature_, Kennedy translation, vol. i, p. 60.) See also on the strophic formation of the First Riddle of Cynewulf, an article by W. W. Lawrence, in _Publications of the Mod. Lang. Assoc._, N.S. vol. x. p. 247.

[9] Gascoigne, in his _Notes of Instruction_ (1575), mentions this form of stanza as "a royall kinde of verse, serving best for grave discourses," a statement in which he is followed by King James in his _Reulis and Cautelis_ (1585). Puttenham, in the _Arte of English Poesie_ (1589), speaks of the stanza as "the chiefe of our ancient proportions used by any rimer writing any thing of historical or grave poeme, as ye may see in Chaucer and Lidgate." (Arber Reprint, p. 80.)

[10] The appendage to a stanza, based on one or more short lines, is sometimes called a "bob-wheel." See Guest's _History of English Rhythms_, Skeat ed., pp. 621 ff., for an account of various forms of these "wheels."

IV. TONE-QUALITY

The quality of the sounds of the words used in verse, although in no way concerned in the rhythm, is an element of some importance. The sound-quality may be used in either of two ways: as a regular coördinating element in the structure of the verse, or as a sporadic element in the beauty or melody of the verse.

A. AS A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT

In this capacity, similar qualities of sound indicate coördinated parts of the verse-structure, thus emphasizing the idea of similarity (corresponding to that of symmetry in arts expressed in space) which is at the very basis of rhythmical composition.

Obviously, the similarity may exist between vowel sounds, consonant sounds, or both; more specifically, it is found either in initial consonants, in accented vowels, or in accented vowels plus final consonants. Properly speaking, the term Rime is applicable to all three cases; the first being distinguished as initial rime or Alliteration (German _Anreim_ or _Stabreim_); the second as Assonance (_Stimmreim_), the third as complete Rime (_Vollreim_). English usage commonly reserves the term Rime for the third class.

i. _Assonance_

Assonance was the characteristic coördinating element in the verse of the early Romance languages, the Provençal, Old French, and Spanish. Thus in the _Chanson de Roland_ (eleventh century) we find the verses of each _laisse_, or strophe, bound together by assonance. Frequently this develops into full rime by chance or convenience. The following is a characteristic group of verses from the _Roland_:

Li reis Marsilies esteit en Sarragoce. Alez en est un vergier soz l'ombre; Sor un pedron de marbre bloi se colchet: Environ lui at plus de vint milie homes. Il en apelet et ses dus et ses contes: "Odez, seignor, quels pechiez nos encombret. Li emperedre Charles de France dolce En cest pais nos est venuz confondre."

The following specimen of Old Spanish verse shows the nature of assonance as regularly used in that language:

Fablo myo Çid bien e tan mesurado: "Grado a ti, señor padre, que estas en alto! Esto me han buelto myos enemigos malos." Alli pieussan de aguijar, alli sueltan las rriendas. A la exida de Bivar ovieron la corneja diestra, E entrando a Burgos ovieron la siniestra. Meçio myo Çid los ombros e engrameo la tiesta: "Albricia, Albarffanez, ca echados somos de tierra!"

(_Poema del Cid._ Twelfth century.)

Maiden, crowned with glossy blackness, Lithe as panther forest-roaming, Long-armed naiad, when she dances, On a stream of ether floating,-- Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Form all curves like softness drifted, Wave-kissed marble roundly dimpling, Far-off music slowly winged, Gently rising, gently sinking,-- Bright, O bright Fedalma!

(GEORGE ELIOT: Song from _The Spanish Gypsy_, book i.)

This song was written in avowed imitation of the Spanish verse, illustrating its prevailingly trochaic rhythm as well as alliteration. Elsewhere verse bound together only by assonance is almost unknown in English poetry. In the _Contemporary Review_ for November, 1894, Mr. William Larminie has an interesting article giving a favorable account of the use of assonance in Celtic (Irish) verse, and proposing its larger use in English poetry, as a relief from the--to him--almost cloying elaborateness of rime.

In the following specimen, assonance seems in some measure to take the place of rime.

Haply, the river of Time-- As it grows, as the towns on its marge Fling their wavering lights On a wider, statelier stream-- May acquire, if not the calm Of its early mountainous shore, Yet a solemn peace of its own.

And the width of the waters, the hush Of the gray expanse where he floats, Freshening its current and spotted with foam As it draws to the ocean, may strike Peace to the soul of the man on its breast,-- As the pale waste widens around him, As the banks fade dimmer away, As the stars come out, and the night-wind Brings up the stream Murmurs and scents of the infinite sea.

(MATTHEW ARNOLD: _The Future._)

ii. _Alliteration_

Alliteration appears sporadically in the verse of all literary languages, but as a means for the coördination of verse it is characteristic of the primitive Germanic tongues.

Hwæt! we nu gehyrdan, hu þæt hælubearn Þurh his hydercyme hals eft forgeaf, Gefreode ond gefreoþade folc under wolcnum Mære meotudes sunu, þæt nu monna gehwylc, Cwic þendan her wunað, geceosan mot Swa helle hienþu swa heofones mærþu, Swa þæt leohte leoht swa ða laþan niht, Swa þrymmes þræce swa þystra wræce, Swa mid dryhten dream swa mid deoflum hream, Swa wite mid wraþum swa wuldor mid arum, Swa lif swa deað, swa him leofre bið To gefremmanne, þenden flæsc ond gæst Wuniað in worulde. Wuldor þæs age Þrynysse þrym, þonc butan ende!

(CYNEWULF: _Crist._ ll. 586-599. Eighth century.)

This specimen represents the use of alliteration in the most regularly constructed Anglo-Saxon verse. The two half-lines are united into the long line by the same initial consonant in the important syllables. In the first half-line the alliteration is on the two principally stressed syllables, or on one of them alone (most frequently the first); in the second half-line it is commonly found only on the first. Alliterating unstressed syllables are usually regarded as merely accidental. Any initial vowel sound alliterates with any other vowel sound.

The most regular verse appears in Anglo-Saxon poetry of what may be called the classical period,--700 A.D. and for a century following,--represented by _Beowulf_ and the poems of Cynewulf. By the time of Ælfric, who wrote about 1000 A.D., there appear signs of a breaking in the regular verse-form. (See Schipper, vol. i. pp. 60 ff.) For example, two alliterative syllables often appear in the second half-line; one half-line may be without alliteration; alliteration may bind different long-lines together; or alliteration may be altogether wanting. There are also additions of many light syllables, resulting almost, as Schipper observes, in rhythmical prose. These tendencies resulted in the wholly irregular use of alliteration appearing in much of the verse of the early Middle English period, illustrated in the specimens that follow.

* * * * *

The origins of alliteration in Germanic verse are lost in the general mass of Germanic origins. It is almost universally regarded as a purely native development, although M. Kawczynski (_Essai Comparatif sur l'Origine et l'Histoire des Rythmes_; Paris, 1889) sets forth the remarkable opinion that the Germans derived their alliteration from the Romans. "We must remember," he says, "the schools of rhetoric existing in Gaul in the sixth and seventh centuries, where alliteration seems to have been held in esteem.... It became more and more frequent in the Latin poetry of the Carlovingian period, and it will suffice to cite here the following verses from Milo of Saint Amand:

'Pastores pecum primi pressique pavore Conspicuos cives carmen caeleste canentes Audivere astris arrectis auribus; auctor Ad terras ...'

It early passed to Ireland, and the Irish made use of it in their Latin poetry and in their national poetry. The example of the Irish was followed by the Anglo-Saxons, although these last had derived the same rules from the Latin writers.... The Anglo-Saxons, who sent the second series of apostles to the Germans, taught them the use of alliteration in poetry. The Scandinavians, on their side, learned it also from the Anglo-Saxons." This theory has found no adherents among scholars, and M. Kawczynski's illustrations are probably most useful in emphasizing the natural pleasure in similarity of sound found among all peoples. See below, on the related question of the origin of end-rime.

ðe leun stant on hille, and he man hunten here, oðer ðurg his nese smel, smake that he negge, bi wilc weie so he wile to dele niðer wenden, alle hise fet steppes after him he filleð, drageð dust wið his stert ðer he steppeð, oðer dust oðer deu, ðat he ne cunne is finden, driveð dun to his den ðar he him bergen wille.

(_The Bestiary_, from MS. Arundel. In Mätzner's _Altenglische Sprachproben_, vol. i. p. 57.)

See also the specimen from Böddeker, p. 14, above.

Cristes milde moder, seynte Marie, mines lives leome, mi leove lefdi, to þe ich buwe and mine kneon ich beie, and al min heorte blod to ðe ich offrie.

(_On God Ureisun of ure Lefdi._ In Morris's _Old English Homilies_, first series, p. 191. Zupitza's _Alt-und Mittelenglisches Übungsbuch_, p. 76.)

Kaer Leir hehte þe burh: leof heo wes þan kinge. þa we an ure leod-quide: Leirchestre cleþiað. [gh]eare a þan holde dawen: heo wes swiðe aðel burh. & seoððen þer seh toward: swiðe muchel seorwe. þat heo wes al for-faren: þurh þere leodene væl. Sixti winter hefde Leir: þis lond al to welden. þe king hefde þreo dohtren: bi his drihliche quen. nefde he nenne sune: þer fore he warð sari. his manscipe to holden: buten þa þreo dohtren. þa ældeste dohter haihte Gornoille: þa oðer Ragau. þa þridde Cordoille.

(LAYAMON: _Brut_, ll. 2912-2931. Madden ed., vol. i. p. 123. ab. 1200.)

The _Brut_ of Layamon represents typically the transition period, when alliteration and end-rime were struggling for the mastery in English verse. Schipper points out that we find in the poem four kinds of lines:

1. Simple alliterative lines in more or less strict adherence to the old rules.

2. Lines combining alliteration and rime or alliteration and assonance.

3. Lines showing rime or assonance, without alliteration.

4. Four-stress lines with neither rime nor alliteration.

The present specimen shows the preference for alliteration; that on p. 127, below, represents the introduction of rime.

In a somer seson . whan soft was the sonne, I shope me in shroudes . as I a shepe were, In habite as an heremite . unholy of workes, Went wyde in this world . wondres to here. Ac on a May mornynge . on Malverne hulles Me byfel a ferly . of fairy me thou[gh]te; I was wery forwandred . and went me to reste Under a brode banke . bi a bornes side, And as I lay and lened . and loked in the wateres, I slombred in a slepyng . it sweyved so merye.

(WILLIAM LANGLAND (?): _Piers the Plowman_, Prologue, ll. 1-10. B-text. Fourteenth century.)

_Piers the Plowman_ represents the revival of the alliterative long line, with fairly strict adherence to the old rules, by contemporaries of Chaucer, in the fourteenth century. For this verse, see further in