A History of English VersificationSchipper, J. (Jakob)
History
A History of English Versification
Schipper, J. (Jakob)
English language -- Versification; English poetry -- History and criticism
E1 has the form –́ ×̀ × | –́, the syllable with secondary accent
standing first in the thesis, _mṓdsòrge wǽg_ El. 61, _wéorðm[`y]ndum
þā́h_ Beow. 8, _Sū̀ðdèna fólc_ Beow. 463, _ḗhtènde wǽs_
Beow. 159, _hǣ́ðènra hýht_ Beow. 179, _ǣ́nìgne þónc_ Cri. 1498,
_wórdhòrd onléac_ Beow. 259, _úplàng āstṓd_ Beow. 760, _scóp
hwī̀lum sáng_ Beow. 496 (cf. above, § 29); varied by resolution of
the first arsis, _héofonrī̀ces weárd_ El. 445, _Scédelàndum ín_
Beow. 19, _wlítebèorhtne wáng_ Beow. 93, _lífigènde cwṓm_ Beow.
1974, _ǽðelìnges wḗox_ El. 12, _médofùl ætbǽr_ Beow. 625,
_dúguð èall ārā́s_ Beow. 1791; resolution of the second arsis
is rare, _tī́rḕadge hǽleð_ An. 2 (the MS. reading _ēadige_
must be corrected to _ēadge_, see Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 459 on
these middle vowels after long root-syllable), _hélþègnes héte_ Beow.
142; resolution of both is rare, _sélewèard āséted_ Beow. 668,
_wínedr[`y]hten frǽgen_ An. 921; resolution of the accented thesis,
_glḗdègesa grím_ Beow. 2651.
E2 has the last syllable of the thesis with secondary accent, and
is very rare, –́ × ×̀ | –́, _mórðorbèd strḗd_ Beow. 2437; with
resolution of last arsis, _gḗomorgìdd wrécen_ An. 1550, _bǣ́ron
ū̀t hrǽðe_ An. 1223.
II. _Hemistichs of five members._
§ =30.= Hemistichs of five members (extended) occur much more rarely
than the normal types of four members. The extended types are denoted by
the letters A*, B*, C*, &c.
=Type A*= has two sub-types distinguished by the position of the
syllable with the secondary accent.
(i) A*1, –́ ×̀ × | –́ × occurs chiefly in the first hemistich,
_gódbèarn on gálgan_ El. 719; with resolution of first arsis,
_géolorànd tō gū́ðe_ Beow. 438; with thesis of two unaccented
syllables following on the secondary accent, _glǽdmò̄d on gesíhðe_
Cri. 911, _fǽstrǽdne geþṓht_ Beow. 611; with final thesis
strengthened by secondary accent, _gā́stlī̀cne góddrḕam_ Gū.
602, _gámolfèax ond gū́ðrò̄f_ Beow. 609.
(ii) A*2 –́ × ×̀ | –́ × may possibly occur in _mā́ððumfæ̀t
mǣ́re_ Beow. 2405, _wúldorlḕan wéorca_ Cri. 1080; with resolution
of the thesis with secondary accent, _mórðorbèalo mága_ Beow. 1079.
Possibly, however, the syllables _um_ in _māððum_ and _or_ in
_wuldor_ and _morðor_ are to be written _m_ and _r_, so that the
scansion of the hemistich would be A2 –́ –̀ | –́ × and –́ ⏑̀ ͜× | –́
×.[77]
=Type B*= ×̀ × –́ | × –́ does not seem to occur in O.E. poetry, though
it does in Old Norse.
=Type C*= in the forms ×̀ × –́| –́ ×, ×̀ × ⏑́ × | –́ ×, × × –́ | ⏑́ ×
are also not found in O.E.
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