A History of English Versification

Name: A History of English Versification
Author: Schipper, J. (Jakob)

Schipper, J. (Jakob)

English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism

_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._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)

History

A History of English Versification

Schipper, J. (Jakob)

English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism

_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._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A History of English Versification

A History of English Versification

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