In the heads of discussion we propose to follow of most importance are _two_ systems, whose distinction from each other we shall endeavour to explain. The _first_ is _rhythmical_ versification, which depends upon the actual length or shortness of the verbal syllables, whether we regard such in the association of varied figures of speech, or under the relation of their time-movement. The _second_ is that which is responsible for _tonal quality_ as such, not merely in the case of isolated letters, consonants or vowels, but also in that of entire syllables and words, the configuration of which is in part regulated by the laws of the uniform repetition of identical or similar sounds, and in part by those of symmetrical change. It is to this system that we refer the alliteration, assonance and rhyme. Both systems stand in intimate connection with the prosody of speech. This is so whether such systems are rather based throughout on the actual length or shortness of syllables, or on the accent which the mind requires,[18] as attached to the obvious importance of such syllables. And, _finally_, we have also to _unite_ together this general rhythmical movement with the music of the independent formal structure as rhyme.[19] And in this effort, inasmuch as the repeated echo of the rhyme strikes the ear with a marked emphasis, which asserts itself predominantly over the purely temporal condition of duration and advance, the rhythmical aspect will, in such a conjunction, tend to fall back, and arrest our attention with less force. (_a_) _Rhythmical Versification._ In discussing the rhythmical system which is without rhyme the following points are of the most importance: _First_, we have the firm and fast time-measure of syllables in their plain distinction of _long_ and _shorty_ as well as their manifold association with definite conditions and metres of poetry. _Secondly_, we have the animation of rhythm in accent, caesura and opposition between the verse accent and that of separate words. _Thirdly_, there is the aspect of _euphonious sounds_ which, within this movement, is forthcoming from the sound of the words, without any further concentration in rhyme. (_a_) For that rhythmical movement which the _time duration_ and the movement itself makes of first importance rather than the melodic sound as such and singled in its isolated effect, (_αα_) we find our starting point in the _natural_ length and shortness of syllables to the obvious distinctions of which the sound of the actual words, the expression of their letters, in consonants and vowels, contribute the essential basis.