A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)
History
A History of English Versification
Schipper, J. (Jakob)
English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
_But nów the wóunded Quéen, | with héavy care,
Throughóut the véins | she nóurishéth the pláie,
Surprísëd wíth blind fláme; | and tó her mínd
'Gan éke resórt | the prówess óf the mán,
And hónour óf his ráce: | whíle in her bréast
Imprínted stáck his wórds, | and píctures fórm.
Né to her límbs | care gránteth quíet rést.
The néxt mórrow, | with Phóebus' lámp the éarth
Alíghted cléar; | and éke the dáwning dáy
The shádows dárk | 'gan fróm the póle remóve:
When áll unsóund, | her síster óf like mínd
Thús spake she tó: | 'O! Síster Ánne, what dréams
Be thése, | that mé torménted | thús affráy?
What new guést is thís, | that tó our réalm is cóme?
Whát one of chéer? | how stóut of héart in árms?
Trúly I thínk | (ne váin is mý belíef)
Of Góddish ráce | some óffspring shóuld he bé.'_
§ =163.= With regard to the further development of this metre in the
drama of the second half of the sixteenth and the first half of the
seventeenth centuries we must restrict ourselves to a brief summary of
its most important peculiarities, for details referring the reader to
_Metrik_, ii, pp. 256-375; for bibliography see ib., pp. 259-60.
The employment of blank verse in the court drama hardly brought about
any change in its structure. In _Gorboduc_, apart from a few instances
in which a line is divided in the dialogue between two speakers
(generally two and three feet) and the occasional (for the most part no
doubt accidental) use of rhyme, the blank verse is exceedingly similar
to that of Surrey, having masculine endings with hardly any exceptions.
This character was maintained by blank verse in all the other court
plays of this time, only occasionally rhyming couplets are used at the
end of a scene in Gascoigne's _Iocasta_, and prose passages now and then
occur in Lyly's _The Woman in the Moon_.
The next and greatest step in the further development of the metre was
its introduction into the popular drama by no less a poet than Marlowe
in his drama _Tamburlaine the Great_ (1587). Marlowe's mastery over this
metrical form was supreme. His skill is shown in his use of the
inversion of accent, particularly the rhetorical inversion, to give
variety to his rhythm, e.g.:
_Áh, sacred Máhomet, | thóu that hast seen
Míllions of Túrks | pérish by Támburláine._
Tam, ii, p. 213.
_But stíll the pórts were shút: | víllain, I sáy._
ib., p. 206.
_And hágs hówl for my déath | at Cháron's shóre._
Vol. ii. 255.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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