And the width of the waters, the hush Of the gray expanse where he floats, Freshening its current and spotted with foam As it draws to the ocean, may strike Peace to the soul of the man on its breast,-- As the pale waste widens around him, As the banks fade dimmer away, As the stars come out, and the night-wind Brings up the stream Murmurs and scents of the infinite sea. (MATTHEW ARNOLD: _The Future._) ii. _Alliteration_ Alliteration appears sporadically in the verse of all literary languages, but as a means for the coördination of verse it is characteristic of the primitive Germanic tongues. Hwæt! we nu gehyrdan, hu þæt hælubearn Þurh his hydercyme hals eft forgeaf, Gefreode ond gefreoþade folc under wolcnum Mære meotudes sunu, þæt nu monna gehwylc, Cwic þendan her wunað, geceosan mot Swa helle hienþu swa heofones mærþu, Swa þæt leohte leoht swa ða laþan niht, Swa þrymmes þræce swa þystra wræce, Swa mid dryhten dream swa mid deoflum hream, Swa wite mid wraþum swa wuldor mid arum, Swa lif swa deað, swa him leofre bið To gefremmanne, þenden flæsc ond gæst Wuniað in worulde. Wuldor þæs age Þrynysse þrym, þonc butan ende! (CYNEWULF: _Crist._ ll. 586-599. Eighth century.) This specimen represents the use of alliteration in the most regularly constructed Anglo-Saxon verse. The two half-lines are united into the long line by the same initial consonant in the important syllables. In the first half-line the alliteration is on the two principally stressed syllables, or on one of them alone (most frequently the first); in the second half-line it is commonly found only on the first. Alliterating unstressed syllables are usually regarded as merely accidental. Any initial vowel sound alliterates with any other vowel sound. The most regular verse appears in Anglo-Saxon poetry of what may be called the classical period,--700 A.D. and for a century following,--represented by _Beowulf_ and the poems of Cynewulf. By the time of Ælfric, who wrote about 1000 A.D., there appear signs of a breaking in the regular verse-form. (See Schipper, vol. i. pp. 60 ff.) For example, two alliterative syllables often appear in the second half-line; one half-line may be without alliteration; alliteration may bind different long-lines together; or alliteration may be altogether wanting. There are also additions of many light syllables, resulting almost, as Schipper observes, in rhythmical prose. These tendencies resulted in the wholly irregular use of alliteration appearing in much of the verse of the early Middle English period, illustrated in the specimens that follow. * * * * *