A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)
History
A History of English Versification
Schipper, J. (Jakob)
English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
Words like these therefore can in regular iambic or trochaic verse be
used only with their natural accentuation, and hence those syllables
which either have the primary or the secondary accent are always placed
in the arsis, and the unaccented ones in the thesis, e.g.: _To wínnenn
únnder Crísstenndóm_ Orm. Ded. 137; _off þátt itt wáss bigúnnenn_ ib.
88; _Though the séas thréaten, théy are mércifúl_ Shakesp. Temp. V. 178;
_Ónly compóund me wíth forgótten dúst_ id. 2 Hen. IV, IV. v. 116, &c. On
the other hand, when primary and secondary accent occur in two adjacent
syllables level stress is very common, in Middle English, especially
between the first and the second syllable, as _g+o+dspélles háll[gh]he
láre_ Orm. 14, more rarely between the second and the third syllable, as
_þa Góddsp+e+ll+é+ss neh álle_ ib. 30; it also occurs in Chaucer's
poems, as _For thóus+a+nd+é+s his hóndes máden dýe_ Troil. v. 1816; in
the same way Modern English words are treated to fit the rhythm, as e.g.
_mídsùmmer_, _faíntheàrted_, in _Farewéll_, _f+á+int-h+éa+rted ánd
degénerate kíng_ Shak. 3 Hen. VI. I. i. 138; _And górgeous ás the sún at
míds+u+mm+é+r_ 1 Hen. IV, IV. i. 102. With the more recent poets this
latter kind of rhythmical accentuation becomes the more usual of the
two, although the nature and the meaning of the compound word always
play an important part in such cases.
With regard to their accentuation and metrical employment words of four
syllables also fall into three classes: 1. Inflected forms of words
belonging to the first group of trisyllables, like _crístendómes_, which
can be used in the rhythm of the verse only with their natural
accentuation; 2. words like _fordémde_ (first and last syllable
unaccented, the second syllable having the chief accent) with a
determinative prefix, as e.g. _únfordémde_; these likewise are used in
the rhythm of the verse according to their natural accentuation; 3.
words of the third group with a prefix which either has the secondary
accent, or is unaccented, as _ùnwíslìce_ or _iwítnèsse_; the metrical
usage of these is regulated according to the rules for the trisyllabic
words. The same is to be observed with regard to words of five and six
syllables like _únderstándìnge_, _únimételiche_, which, however, are
only of rare occurrence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account