A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)
History
A History of English Versification
Schipper, J. (Jakob)
English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
§ =280.= Among the =stanzas of ten lines=, those with an isometrical
first part and parallel rhymes may first be mentioned; they correspond
to the schemes _a a b b c d d e e₄ c₅_, _a a b b c d c d₄ f₃ f₄_, _a a b
b c₄ d₃ c c c₄ d₃_, _a a b b₄ c d c d₂ e e₄_, and are found in Akenside,
Wordsworth, and Moore. Next come stanzas with an anisometrical first
part according to the formulas _a₅ a₄ b₅ b₄ c c₅ d d e₄ e₅_, _a₄ a₅ b₄
b₅ c d c₄ d₃ e e₅_, _a ~ a ~₃ b b₄ c ~ c ~₃ d d₄ e ~ e ~₃_, occurring in
Cowley and Campbell (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §§ 427, 428).
In other stanzas, crossed rhymes are used in the isometrical first part;
they correspond to the formulas _a b a b₅ c₄ d₃ c₄ d₃ e₆ e₇_, _a b a b c
c d e d₅ E₂_, _a b a b c d e₅ c₃ d e₅_, _a b a b c₃ c₂ d₃ d₂ e₃ e₄_, and
are found in Browne, G. Herbert, and Ben Jonson (ib. § 429).
In modern poetry simpler stanzas of this kind are used; one e.g. on the
scheme _a ~ b ~ a ~ b ~₃ c c₄ d ~ e ~ d ~ e ~₃_ (the _cauda_ being thus
enclosed by the two _pedes_) in Moore's song _Bring the bright Garlands
hither_:
_Bring the bright garlands hither,
Ere yet a leaf is dying;
If so soon they must wither,
Ours be their last sweet sighing.
Hark, that low dismal chime!
'Tis the dreary voice of Time.
Oh, bring beauty, bring roses,
Bring all that yet is ours;
Let life's day, as it closes,
Shine to the last through flowers._
Similar stanzas corresponding to the formulas _a ~ b a ~ b₂ c c₄ d ~ e d
~ e₂_, _a ~ b ~ a ~ b c ~ d c ~ d₂ e e₄_, _a b a b c d c d₄ e₃ e₄_ and
_a ~ b a ~ b₄ c ~₄ d₃ c ~₄ d₃ c ~₄ d₃_, are used by the same poet in
_With Moonlight Beaming_, _The Young Indian Maid_, _Guess, guess_, and
_from this Hour_.
Many stanzas of this group with an isometrical first part are formed by
combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, which then generally forms the
_cauda_, as in one of Cunningham's stanzas, viz. in _Newcastle Beer_
(Poets, x. 729), the stanza consisting of four- and two-stressed verses
on the scheme _a b a b₄ c c₂ d₄ e e₂ d₄_:
_When fame brought the news of Great-Britain's success,
And told at Olympus each Gallic defeat;
Glad Mars sent by Mercury orders express,
To summon the deities all to a treat:
Blithe Comus was plac'd
To guide the gay feast,
And freely declar'd there was choice of good cheer;
Yet vow'd to his thinking,
For exquisite drinking,
Their nectar was nothing to Newcastle beer._
For examples of many similar forms, e.g. _a b a b c c d e e₄ d₃_, _a₅ b
b₄ a₅ c c d e e d₃_, _a b a b₄ c c₂ d₄ e ~ e ~₂ d₄_, _a b a b₄ c c₂ d₃ e
e₂ d₃_, _a b a b₃ c ~ c ~1 d₃ e ~ e ~1 d₂_, see _Metrik_, ii, § 431.
§ =281.= Stanzas of this kind with an anisometrical first part occur in
the Middle English period: e.g. in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p.
83, on the scheme _a₄ b ~₃ a₄ b ~₃ c c₄ d ~₃ e e₄ d ~₃_:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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