CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE ORIGIN OF RHYME.

Definition of rhythm 299

Metrical system of Greek, of Roman, and of early Teutonic poems 300

Different meanings of arsis and thesis 300

The leonine hexameter 302

Rhyme independent of metrical accent 303

Known to ancient poets 303

Wilhelm Grimm’s history of the rhyme 303

Examples from Virgil and Horace 304

Rhyme destructive of the rhythmical principle 306

Influence of rhythm on Provençal poetry 308