A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)
History
A History of English Versification
Schipper, J. (Jakob)
English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
_Jesu, for þi muchele miht
Þou ȝef vs of þi grace,
Þat we mowe dai and nyht
Þenken o þi face.
In myn herte hit doþ me god,
When y þenke on iesu blod,
Þat ran doun bi ys syde,
From is herte doun to is fot,
For ous he spradde is herte blod,
His woundes were so wyde._
The shorter, Septenary part of the stanza represents the _frons_, the
tail-rhyme stanza, the _versus_. Of a similar form (_a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ a a₄ b₃
a b₃ a₂_) is the stanza of the poem _An Orison of our Lady_ (E. E. T.
S., vol. xlix, p. 158). In Modern English also allied forms occur; one
especially with the scheme _a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ c c d e e₄ d₃_ in Gray, _Ode on
the Spring_ (Poets, x. 215); other forms are _a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ c c₂ d₃ e e₂
d₄_, _a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ c c d e e₄ d₅_, _a b₃ a₄ b₃ d d₄ e₃ f f₄ e₃_. (For
examples see _Metrik_, ii, § 432.)
The reverse combination, viz. tail-rhyme stanza and Septenary (on the
scheme _a a₄ b₃ c c₄ b₃ d₄ b₃ d₄ b₃_), also occurs in Middle English
times[195]), e.g. in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 87:
_Nou skrinkeþ rose and lylie flour,
þat whilen ber þat suete sauour,
in somer, þat suete tyde;
ne is no quene so stark ne stour,
ne no leuedy so bryht in bour,
þat ded ne shal by glyde.
Whose wol fleyshlust forgon,
and heuene blis abyde,
on iesu be is þoht anon,
þat þerled was ys syde._
Similar stanzas occur also in Modern English; e.g. one on the formula
_a a₂ b₃ c c₂ b₃ d₄ e₃ d₄ e₃_ in Burns (p. 255), another on the scheme
_a a₂ b₃ c c₂ b₃ d e₃ d₄ e₃_ (=_Poulter's Measure_ in the _cauda_), ib.
p. 189.
Other ten-line stanzas consisting chiefly of Septenary verses or of
_Poulter's Measure_ correspond to the formulas _a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ c₄ d₃ c₄ d₃
e e₄_, _a b₃ a₄ b₃ c d₃ c₄ d₃ e e₄_, _a b a₄ b₃ c d c₄ d₃ e e₃_. For
examples, partly taken from Moore, see _Metrik_, ii, § 435.
Stanzas of this kind consisting of five-foot verses are rarely met with,
e.g. _a₅ b₃ a₅ b₃ c₅ d₃ c₅ d₃ e e₄_, _a b₄ a₅ b₄ c c d d e e₅_, _a₅ b₃
a₅ b₃ c c₄ d₂ d₅ e₂ e₅_; as in Spenser and Browne (cf. _Metrik_, ii, §
434).
§ =282.= Stanzas of eleven lines= are also rare. There is one with an
isometrical first part (on the scheme _a b a b₅ c c₂ c₃ d₂ d₅ x₂ d₆_)
in Ben Jonson, _Cynthia's Revels_ (Poets, iv. 610); another in
Campbell's _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (st. xxxv-xxxix), corresponding to the
scheme _a b a b₄ c₃ d d d₄ c₃ e e₄_.
Other stanzas of an almost entirely anisometrical structure consist of a
combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. a Middle English stanza
on the scheme _a a₄ b₃ a a₄ b₃ a₄ b₃ a a₄ b₃_, with a regular tail-rhyme
stanza representing the _pedes_, and a shortened tail- rhyme stanza
representing the _cauda_; it occurs in the _Towneley Mysteries_, pp.
221-3. A similar one we have in Phineas Fletcher (_Poets_, iv. 460) on
the formula
_a ~₂ a ~₃ b₂ e ~₂ e ~₃ b₂ d ~₄ e ~ e ~₂ d d₅_,
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