In the Modern English period of the language slurring of such syllables is the rule, in conformity with the actual pronunciation in prose, contrary to the usage of Chaucer and other Early Middle English poets. Only exceptionally the unshortened use obtains chiefly in earlier Modern English, as the following examples show: _To wóe a máid in wáy of márriáge._ Shakesp. Merch. II. ix. 13. _My búsiness cánnot bróok this dálliánce._ id. Err. IV. i. 59. _Becáme the áccents óf the váliánt._ id. 2 Henry IV, II. iii. 25. _And yét 'tis álmost 'gáinst my cónsciénce._ id. Haml. v. ii. 307. _I dó volítient, nót obédiént._ Mrs. Browning, i, p. 6. _The véry chúrches are fúll of sóldiers._ Coleridge, Piccolomini. i. sc. 1. _And áfter hárd condítións of péace._ Surrey, p. 173. _Áll the sad spáces óf oblívión._ Keats, p. 257. _But Brútus sáys he wás ambítióus._ Shakesp. Caesar, III. ii. 91. _And lóoking róund I sáw, as úsuál._ D. G. Rossetti, i. p. 64. For other examples cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 40. § =108.= By the side of this artificial attribution of full syllabic value to Romanic endings which in ordinary pronunciation are contracted, there are many examples of the opposite process, namely the contraction, for metrical purposes, of words that are ordinarily pronounced in full. Both these devices serve the same purpose, that of adjusting the number of syllables to the requirements of the rhythm. In the former case a syllable which commonly is pronounced quickly and indistinctly is uttered more distinctly and more slowly than in ordinary speech. In the latter, a couple of successive syllables or words are uttered more indistinctly and quickly than in ordinary speech, frequently so much so that a syllable may be entirely suppressed. Hence the slurring of syllables results, according to the degree of contraction, either in a disyllabic thesis, or in the complete coalescence of two syllables. The former takes place if the final unaccented vowel of a polysyllable is run into the following unaccented word consisting of, or beginning with, a vowel, e.g.: _For mány a mán | so hárd is óf his hérte._ Chauc. Prol. 229. _Nowhér so bísy a mán | as hé ther nás._ ib. 321. _Wél coude she cárie a mórsel | ánd wel képe._ ib. 130. _With múchel glórie | and grét solémpnitée._ id. Kn. T. 12. _Oh! háppy are théy | that háve forgíveness gótt._ Wyatt 211. _My kíng, my cóuntry I séek, | for whóm I líve._ ib. 173. _Sórry am Í | to héar what Í have héard._ Shakesp. 2 Henry VI, II. i. 193.