A History of English Versification

CONTENTS

BOOK I. THE LINE
PART I. THE NATIVE METRE
CHAPTER I
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF METRE AND THE STRUCTURE OF VERSE
			PAGE
§	1.	Uses of the study of English metre	1
	2.	Object of the science of metre	1
	3.	Definition of rhythm	2
	4.	Distinction between prose and poetry	3
	5.	Phonetic qualities of syllables	4
	6.	Definition and use of the word accent	4
	7.	Classification of accent	5
	8.	Marks indicating position of accent	8
	9.	Principles of versification and their terms	9
	10.	Rhyme; its twofold purpose	11
	11.	End-rhyme, or full-rhyme	12
	12.	Vocalic assonance	12
	13.	Alliteration	13
CHAPTER II
THE ALLITERATIVE VERSE IN OLD ENGLISH
§	14.	General remarks	15
	15.	Theories on the metrical form of the alliterative line	15
	16.	The four-beat theory	16
	17.	The two-beat theory	19
	18.	Accentuation of Old English	24
	19.	The secondary accent	28
	20.	Division and metrical value of syllables	29
	21.	Structure of the whole alliterative line	30
	22.	The structure of the hemistich in the normal alliterative line	31
	23.	Number of unaccented syllables of the thesis	33
	24.	Order of the verse-members in the hemistich	35
Analysis of the Verse Types.
I. Hemistichs of four members.
	25.	Type A, with sub-types A 1–3	36
	26.	Type B, with sub-types B 1, 2	41
	27.	Type C, with sub-types C 1–3	42
	28.	Type D, with sub-types D 1–4	42
	29.	Type E, with sub-types E 1, 2	43
II. Hemistichs of five members.
	30.	Type A, with sub-types A 1, 2; Type B; Type C; Type D, with sub-types D 1–3	44
	31.	Principles adopted in classification	45
	32.	Combination of hemistichs by means of alliteration	45
Principles of Alliteration.
	33.	Quality of the alliteration	46
	34.	Position of the alliterative words	48
	35.	Alliteration in relation to the parts of speech and to the order of words	50
	36.	Arrangement and relationship of verse and sentence	54 ot line and its resolution into four-foot lines	183
	126.	Examples of the four-foot line	183
	127.	Treatment of the caesura in four-foot verse	185
	128.	Treatment of four-foot verse in North English and Scottish writings	186
	129.	Its treatment in the Midlands and the South	187
	130.	Combinations of four-foot and three-foot verse in Middle English	188
	131–2.	Freer variety of this metre in Modern English	188
	133.	Two-foot verse	190
	134.	One-foot verse	191
CHAPTER X
THE SEPTENARY, THE ALEXANDRINE, AND THE THREE-FOOT LINE
§	135.	The septenary	192
	136.	Irregularity of structure of the septenary rhyming line as shown in the Moral Ode	193
	137.	Regularity of the rhymeless septenary verse of the Ormulum	193
	138.	The septenary with a masculine ending	194
	139.	The septenary as employed in early lyrical poems and ballads	195
	140.	Use of the septenary in Modern English	196
	141–4.	Intermixture of septenaries, alexandrines, and four-beat lines	197
	145, 146.	Origin of the ‘Poulter’s Measure’	202
	147.	The alexandrine: its first use	204
	148.	Structure of the alexandrine in Mysteries and Moral Plays	205
	149.	The alexandrine in Modern English	205
	150.	The three-foot line	206
CHAPTER XI
THE RHYMED FIVE-FOOT VERSE
§	151.	Rhymed five-foot verse in Middle English	209
	152.	Sixteen types of five-foot verse	210
	153.	Earliest specimens of this metre	212
	154.	Chaucer’s five-foot verse; treatment of the caesura	213
	155.	Masculine and feminine endings; rhythmic licences	214
	156.	Gower’s five-foot verse; its decline	215
	157.	Rhymed five-foot verse in Modern English	216
	158.	Its use in narrative poetry and by Shakespeare	217
	159.	The heroic verse of Dryden, Pope, and later writers	218
DIVISION III. VERSE-FORMS OCCURRING IN MODERN ENGLISH POETRY ONLY
CHAPTER XII
BLANK VERSE
§	160.	The beginnings of Modern English poetry	219
	161.	Blank verse first adopted by the Earl of Surrey	219
	162.	Characteristics of Surrey’s blank verse	221
	163.	Further development of this metre in the drama	222
	164.	The blank verse of Shakespeare	223
	165.	Rhymed and unrhymed lines in Shakespeare’s plays	255.	Five-lined stanzas	308
	256.	Four-lined stanzas of one rhyme extended by the addition of a couplet	310
	III. Bipartite Unequal-membered Anisometrical Stanzas.
§	257–8.	Four-lined stanzas; Poulter’s measure and other stanzas	311
	259.	Five-lined stanzas	314
	260.	Shortened tail-rhyme stanzas	316
	261.	Six-lined stanzas	317
	262.	Seven-lined stanzas	319
	263.	Eight-, nine-, and ten-lined stanzas	320
	264.	The bob-wheel stanzas in the Middle English period	321
	265.	Bob-wheel stanzas of four-stressed rhyming verses	322
	266.	Modern English bob-wheel stanzas	323
CHAPTER V
TRIPARTITE STANZAS
	I. Isometrical Stanzas.
§	267.	Six-lined stanzas	326
	268.	Seven-lined stanzas; the Rhyme Royal stanza	327
	269.	Eight-lined stanzas	329
	270.	Nine-lined stanzas	330
	271.	Ten-lined stanzas	331
	272.	Eleven-, twelve-, and thirteen-lined stanzas	332
	II. Anisometrical Stanzas.
	273–4.	Six-lined stanzas	333
	275.	Seven-lined stanzas	335
	276–8.	Eight-lined stanzas	337
	279.	Nine-lined stanzas	339
	280–1.	Ten-lined stanzas	341
	282.	Eleven-lined stanzas	343
	283.	Twelve-lined stanzas	344
	284.	Thirteen-lined stanzas	345
	285.	Fourteen-lined stanzas	346
	286.	Stanzas of fifteen to twenty lines	347
PART III. MODERN STANZAS AND METRES OF FIXED FORM ORIGINATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE RENASCENCE, OR INTRODUCED LATER
CHAPTER VI
STANZAS OF THREE AND MORE PARTS CONSISTING OF UNEQUAL PARTS ONLY
§	287.	Introductory remark	348
	288.	Six-lined stanzas	349
	289.	Seven-lined stanzas	351
	290–2.	Eight-lined stanzas; the Italian ottava rima	352
	293.	Nine-lined stanzas	355
	294.	Ten-lined stanzas	355
	295.	Eleven-lined stanzas	356
	296.	Twelve-lined stanzas	356
CHAPTER VII
THE SPENSERIAN STANZA AND THE FORMS DERIVED FROM IT
§	297.	First used in the Faerie Queene	358
	LIST OF EDITIONS REFERRED TO The quotations of Old English poetry are taken from Grein-WÜlker, Bibliothek der AngelsÄchsischen Poesie, Strassburg, 1883–94. For the Middle English poets the editions used have been specified in the text. Most of the poets of the Modern English period down to the eighteenth century are quoted from the collection of R. Anderson, The Works of the British Poets, Edinburgh, 1795 (15 vols.), which is cited (under the title Poets) by volume and page. The remaining Modern English poets are quoted (except when some other edition is specified) from the editions mentioned in the following list. Arnold, Matthew. Poetical Works, London, Macmillan & Co., 1890. 8vo.Beaumont, Francis, and Fletcher, John. Dramatick Works, London, 1778. 10 vols. 8vo. Bowles, W. L. Sonnets and other Poems. London, 1802–3. 2 vols. 8vo. Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Poetical Works. London, Chapman & Hall, 1866. 5 vols. 8vo. Browning, Robert. Poetical Works. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1868. 6 vols. 8vo.Bulwer Lytton, Sir E. (afterwards Lord Lytton). The Lost Tales of Miletus. London, John Murray, 1866. 8vo. Burns, Robert. Complete Works, ed. Alexander Smith. London, Macmillan & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) Byron, Lord. Poetical Works. London, H. Frowde, 1896. 8vo. (Oxford Edition.) Campbell, Thomas. Poetical Works, ed. W.A. Hill. London, G. Bell & Sons, 1875. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Poems, ed. Derwent and Sara Coleridge. London, E. Moxon & Co., 1863. Cowper, William. Poetical Works, ed. W. Benham. London, Macmillan & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) Dryden, John. Comedies, Tragedies, and Operas. London, 1701. fol. —— —— Poetical Works, ed. W. D. Christie. London, Macmillan & Co., 1870. (Globe Edition.) Fletcher, John. See Beaumont. Goldsmith, Oliver. Miscellaneous Works, ed. Prof. Masson. London, Macmillan & Co., 1871. 8vo. (Globe Edition.)Gorboduc, or Ferrex and Porrex, a Tragedy, by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, ed. L. Toulmin Smith. (Englische Sprach- und Litteraturdenkmale des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, herausgegeben von K. VollmÖller, I.) Heilbronn, Gebr. Henninger 1883. 8vo. Hemans, Felicia. The Works of Mrs. Hemans, with a Memoir of her life by her sister. Edinburgh, W. Blackwood & Sons, 1839. 7 vols. Herbert, George. Works, ed. R. A. Willmott. London, G. Routledge & Co., 1854. 8vo. Hymns, Ancient and Modern, for Use in the Services of the Church. Revised and Enlarged Edition. London, n.d. Jonson, Ben. Chiefly cited from the edition in Poets iv. 532–618 (see the note prefixed to this list); less frequently (after Wilke, Metr. Unters. zu B. J., Halle, 1884) from the folio edition, London, 1816 (vol. i), or from the edition by Barry Cornwall, London, 1842. A few of the references are to the edition of F. Cunningham, London, J.C. Hotten, n.d. (3 vols.) Keats, John. Poetical Works. London, F. Warne & Co. (Chandos Classics.) Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Poetical Works. Edinburgh, W. P. Nimmo. 8vo. (Crown Edition.) Lytton. See Bulwer Lytton. Marlowe, Christopher. Works, ed. A. Dyce. London, 1850. 3 vols. 8vo. —— —— Works, ed. F. Cunningham. London, F. Warne & Co., 1870. 8vo. Massinger, Philip. Plays, ed. F. Cunningham. London, F. Warne & Co., 1870. 8vo. Milton, John. Poetical Works, ed. D. Masson. London, Macmillan & Co., 1874. 3 vols. 8vo. —— —— English Poems, ed. R.C. Browne. Second Edition. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1872. 3 vols. 8vo. Moore, Thomas. Poetical Works. London, Longmans, 1867. 8vo. Morris, William. Love is Enough. Third Edition. London, Ellis & White, 1873. 8vo. Norton, Thomas. See Gorboduc. Percy, Thomas. Reliques of Ancient Poetry. London, H. Washbourne, 1847. 3 vols. 8vo. Poe, Edgar Allan. Poetical Works. London, Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1858. 8vo. Pope, Alexander. Poetical Works, ed. A. W. Ward. London, Macmillan & Co., 1870. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. Poems. London, F. S. Ellis, 1870. Sackville, Thomas, and Norton, Thomas. See Gorboduc. Scott, Sir Walter. Poetical Works, ed. F. T. Palgrave. London, Macmillan & Co., 1869. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) Shakespeare, William. Works, ed. W. G. Clark and W. Aldis Wright. London and Cambridge, Macmillan & Co., 1866. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Poetical Works. London, Chatto & Windus, 1873–1875. 3 vols. 8vo. (Golden Library.) Sidney, Sir Philip. Arcadia. London, 1633. fol. —— —— Complete Poems, ed. A. B. Grosart. 1873. 2 vols. Southey, Robert. Poetical Works. London, Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1837. 10 vols. 8vo. Spenser, Edmund. Complete Works, ed. R. Morris. London, Macmillan & Co., 1869. 8vo. (Globe Edition.) Surrey, Henry Howard, Earl of. Poems. London, Bell & Daldy. 8vo. (Aldine Edition.) Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Poems and Ballads. Third Edition. London, J. C. Hotten, 1868. 8vo. —— —— Poems and Ballads, Second Series. Fourth Edition. London, Chatto & Windus, 1884. 8vo. —— —— A Century of Roundels. London, Chatto & Windus, 1883. 8vo. —— —— A Midsummer Holiday and other Poems. London, Chatto & Windus, 1884. 8vo. Tennyson, Alfred. Works. London, Kegan Paul & Co., 1880. 8vo. Thackeray, William Makepeace. Ballads and The Rose and the Ring. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1879. 8vo. Tusser, Thomas. Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, ed. W. Payne and S.J. Herrtage, English Dialect Soc., 1878. Wordsworth, William. Poetical Works, ed. W. Knight. Edinburgh, W. Paterson, 1886. 8 vols. 8vo. Wyatt, Sir Thomas. Poetical Works. London, Bell & Daldy. (Aldine Edition.) The references marked N. are to vol. ii. of The Works of Surrey and Wyatt, ed. Nott, London, 1815. 2 vols. 4to. ERRATA P. 268. In the references to Bulwer, for p. 227 read p. 147; for p. 217 read p. 140; for p. 71 read p. 45; for p. 115 read p. 73. P. 315, l. 14. For p. 123 read p. 78. P. 340, l. 34. For p. 273 read p. 72. P. 353, l. 15. For 89 read 5. P. 381, l. 12. For ii. 137–40 read Poetical Works, London, 1891, pp. 330–32. 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LIST OF EDITIONS REFERRED TO

ERRATA