the same hemistich, one of these is always subordinated to the other,
and the two together are treated as a combination. In such cases, where
there is double alliteration in the hemistich, the position of the
alliterating words may be either _a a x_, or _a x a_, the subordinate
element (_x_) standing either in the last or the second place in the
hemistich,
_=b=éorht =b=ḗacen Gódes =b=rímu swáðredon._ Beow. 570.
_=t=wélf wintra tī́d =t=órn geþólode._ Beow. 147.
In the case of single alliteration, it is always the first of the nouns
or adjectives which alliterates.
=The verb= (excluding the infinitive and participles) is usually less
strongly accented than the noun. It may therefore precede or follow the
noun or adjective without alliteration, either in the arsis or thesis,
as
_lḗt se =h=éarda =H=ígelāces þégn._ Beow. 2977.
_him þā =Sc=ýld gewā́t tō ge=sc=ǽp-hwī́le._ Beow. 26.
_gewāt þā =t=wélfa súm =t=órne gebólhen._ Beow. 2401.
On the other hand, when a hemistich consists only of one noun and one
verb, the verb may alliterate, as
_=g=ṓdne ge=g=ýrwan cwæð hē =g=ū̀ð-cýning._ Beow. 199.
_=h=wḗtton =h=ígerōfne =h=ǣ́l scḗawedon._ Beow. 204.
When a substantive and an adjective are closely combined, a verb in the
same hemistich may alliterate, as
_=b=ýreð =b=lṓdig wæl, =b=ýrgean þénceð._ Beow. 448.
_=s=éofon niht =s=wúncon; hē þē æt =s=únde oferflā́t._
Beow. 517.
In formulas consisting of noun+verb the noun predominates over the verb
and takes the alliteration, as
_=w=érodes =w=ī́sa =w=órdhord onlḗac._ Beow. 259.
But if the verb is emphatic it may alliterate though there is a noun in
the same hemistich; this occurs chiefly in the second hemistich, as
_ond be =h=éalse genám; =h=rúron him tḗaras._ Beow. 1872.
_=g=rýrelī̀cne =g=íst. =G=ýrede hine Beowulf._ ib. 1441,
but a few instances are found in the first hemistich, as
_ge=m=únde þā se =g=ṓda =m=ǣ́g Hígelā́ces._ Beow. 758.
When one of two verbs in the hemistich is subordinate to the other the
verb in the subordinate clause alliterates, having a stronger accent
than the verb in the main clause,
_mýnte þæt hē ge=d=ǣ́lde ǣr þon =d=ǽg cwṓme._
Beow. 731.
If the two verbs are co-ordinate the first alliterates,
_=w=órolde lī́fes: =w=ýrce sē þe mṓte._ Beow. 1387;
in the first hemistich both verbs commonly alliterate,
_=s=éomade ond =s=ýrede =s=ínnìhte hḗold._ Beow. 161.
=The adverb.= Adverbs of degree like _micle_, _swīðe_, _ful_, &c., are
commonly found in the thesis, and even if they stand in the arsis they
usually do not alliterate, as
_=ó=ftor mícle þonne on =ǣ́=nne sī́ð._ Beow. 1580.
When adverbs of this kind have a special rhetorical emphasis they may of
course alliterate, as
_éfne swā =m=ícle swā bið =m=ǣ́gða cræft._ Beow. 1284.
_ac hē is =s=nél and =s=wíft and =s=wī́ðe lḗoht._
Phoen. 317.
Adverbs which modify the meaning of the word which they precede
alliterate, as
_=ǣ́=scholt =ú=fan grǣ̀g: wæs sē =ī́=renþrḗat._
Beow. 330.
Adverbial prepositions preceding the verb also alliterate,
_hēt þā =ū́=p béran =ǣ́=ðelìnga gestrḗon._
Beow. 1920,
but not when they follow the verb,
_=G=ḗat wæs =g=lǽdmōd, =g=éong sò̄na tṓ._ Beow. 1785.
Adverbs derived from nouns are more strongly accented than the verb
which they modify and therefore alliterate,
_ālégdon þā tō=m=íddes =m=ǣ́rne þḗoden._ Beow. 3141.
=Pronouns= (and pronominal adjectives like _monig, eall, fela_) are
usually enclitic, and precede or follow the noun without alliterating,
as
_manigu =ṓ=ðru gescéaft =é=fnswī̀ðe hím._ Metr. xi. 44.
_ealne =m=íddangéard ōð =m=érestrḗamas._ Dan. 503.
_fela ic =m=ónna gefrǽgn =m=ǣ́gðum wéaldan._ Wid. 10.
With a special rhetorical accent they may alliterate even if they
precede the noun,
_on =þ=ǣ́m d[´æ]ge =þ=ýsses lī́fes._ Beow. 197.
The pronoun _self_ and the pronouns compounded with the prefix _ǣ_
(_ǣghwā_, _ǣghwylc_, &c.) are usually accented, and alliterate
if they form the first arsis of the hemistich, as
_=s=ḗlran ge=s=ṓhte þǣm be him =s=elfa dḗah._ Beow. 1840.
_hǽfde =ǣ́=ghwæðer =é=nde gefḗred._ Beow. 2845.
=Prepositions, conjunctions, and particles= are not as a rule accented,
but prepositions if followed by an enclitic pronoun take the accent and
alliterate, as
_=é=aldum =é=arne and =ǣ́=fter þón._ Phoen. 238.
_nis =ú=nder mḗ =ǣ́=nig =ṓ=ðer._ Riddle xli. 86.
Whether words of these classes, standing in the first arsis of the first
hemistich along with another alliterating word, were intended also to
alliterate is somewhat uncertain, but it is probable that they were so,
as in
_mid þȳ =m=ǣ́stan =m=ǽgenþr[`y]mme cýmeð._ Crist 1009.
These laws of accentuation are strictly observed only in the older
poetry; by the end of the tenth century, in Byrhtnoth, the Metres of
Boethius and the Psalms, they are frequently neglected.
§ =36. Arrangement and relationship of verse and sentence.= The
following rules hold good in general for the distribution of the
sentence or parts of the sentence between the hemistichs of the verse.
Two distinct pauses occur in every alliterative line, one (commonly
called the caesura) between the first and second hemistichs, the
other at the end of the line, and these pauses are determined by the
syntactical construction; that is to say, they coincide with the end
of a clause or lesser member of the sentence. The hemistich must
contain such parts of the sentence as belong closely together; and such
coherent parts, as, for example, a pronoun and noun to which it refers
or adverb with adjective, must not be separated from one another by the
caesura, unless the pronoun or adverb is placed in the second arsis of
the hemistich, as
_=w=ýrd æfter þíssum =w=órdgeméarcum._ Gen. 2355.
_gif ge wíllað =m=ī́nre =m=íhte gelḗfan._ Sat. 251.
In Beowulf this separation of closely connected words is permitted only
if the word standing in the arsis alliterates at the same time. Longer
parts of a sentence may be separated both by the caesura and the pause
at the end of the line. The syntactical connexion between the parts of a
sentence thus broken up makes the unity of the parts clear, and when the
division occurs in the caesura between the two halves of the verse, the
alliteration common to both hemistichs serves further to emphasize this
unity.
The single alliterative lines are connected with one another by the
prevailing usage of ending the sentence not at the end of the completed
line, but at the end of the first hemistich or in the middle of the
line, and of beginning a new sentence with the second hemistich. The
great variety of expression, and the predilection for paraphrase by
means of synonyms which is so characteristic of OE. poetry, contribute
to make such breaks in the line easy. Whatever may be the explanation,
it is certainly the fact that in the OE. poetry the metrical and
syntactical members do sometimes coincide, but at other times overlap in
a way which does not admit of being reduced to rule.[86]
The Lengthened Verse.
§ =37.= Besides the normal four-beat line (with two beats to
each hemistich) there is in OE. and Old Saxon another variety,
the =lengthened line= (_Schwellvers_) with three beats in each
hemistich.[87] These verses occur in almost all OE. poems, either
isolated or more commonly in groups, and occasionally we find lines with
one hemistich of two beats and the second hemistich of three, like.
_=g=ā́stes dúgeðum þǣ́ra þe mid =g=ā́res órde._ Gen. 1522,
and _Jud._ 96, _Crist_ 1461, &c., or with a lengthened hemistich of
three beats and a normal hemistich of two beats, like
_=b=ǣ́ron =b=rándas on =b=rýne =b=lā́can fȳ́res._
Dan. 246,
and _Sat._ 605, _Gnom. Ex._ 200, &c.
In the _Psalms_ and in Cynewulf's _Juliana_ they are wanting entirely,
in Cynewulf's _Elene_ out of 1321 verses there are only fourteen
lengthened whole lines, and three lengthened hemistichs. Examples
of groups of these lengthened verses will be found in _Gen._ 44-46,
1015-1019, 2167-2169, 2854-2858; _Exodus_ 569-573, _Dan._ 59-106,
203-205, 226-228, 238-246, 262-271, 435-438, 441, 448, 452-458;
_Judith_ 2-12, 16-21, 30-34, 54-61, 63-68, 88-99, 272-274, 289-291,
338-349; _Satan_ 202, 232, 237, 605, _Crist_ 621, 889, 922, 1050,
1382-1386, &c., and in many of the smaller poems.[88]
Lengthened verses of a looser type occur in _Salomon and Saturn_, and
_Genesis_ B; they have unusually long theses of four or five unaccented
syllables after the first accented syllable, as
_ǣ́nne hæfde hē swā swī́ðne gewórhtne._ Gen. 252,
or have equally long anacruses before the first accented syllable, as
_þæt wē him on þām lánde lā́ð gefrémedon._ Gen. 392.[89]
It is not always possible to draw a sharp distinction between regular
lines with somewhat long first theses and lengthened lines. The general
tone and rhythm of the passage in question help to determine whether we
have the normal or the lengthened line before us. The lengthened line
occurs in places where the sense demands a solemn and slow rhythm, in
other cases where the movement of the passage is quicker we may assume
a normal four-beat line with a long anacrusis, or a polysyllabic thesis
in the middle of the hemistich. What distinguishes clearly undoubted
examples of the lengthened verse is that in each hemistich we find
three beats and three feet of equal and independent value. But, as in
the usual two-beat hemistich of the normal line, both beats need not
be equally strong, so in the three-beat hemistich the three beats do
not always stand on the same footing as regards stress, nor does the
position of the stronger beat require to be always the same in the
two hemistichs. The beats which are accompanied by alliteration are,
generally speaking, stronger than those without alliteration. In the
employment of alliteration and in the structure of the hemistich the
lengthened line is closely allied to the normal line.
=Alliteration.= 1. The first hemistich has commonly two alliterative
sounds, which fall as a rule on the first and second beats:
_ge=s=ēoð =s=órga mǣ́ste._ Crist 1209;
more rarely on the second and third beats, as in
_wǣ́ron hyra =r=ǣ́das =r=ī́ce._ Dan. 497;
sometimes on the first and third beats, as
_=l=ī́f hēr mén for=l=ḗosað._ Rhyming Poem 56.
Now and then we find hemistichs with three alliterations:
_=d=ól bið sē þe him =d=ríhten ne on=d=rǣ́deð._ Seafarer 106,
_=þ=ȳ́ sceal on =þ=ḗode ge=þ=ḗon._ Gnom. Ex. 50;
and others with one alliteration only, in which case the alliteration
falls more rarely on the first beat, as
_=c=ýning sceal rī́ce héaldan =c=éastra bēoð féorran gesȳ́ne._
Gnom. Ex. 1,
than on the second, as
_þæt sē wǣ́re =m=íhta wáldend sē þe hī́e of þām =m=írce genérede._
Dan. 448.
2. In the second hemistich the chief alliterative sound, the head-stave,
generally falls on the second accented syllable, as in the last example,
and only exceptionally on the first accented syllable, as
_=St=ȳ́ran sceal mon =st=róngum mṓde. =St=órm oft hólm gebríngeð._
Gnom. Ex. 51.
§ =38. The origin and structure of the lengthened verse.= It is clear
from the comparative infrequency and the special use to which it is put
that the lengthened line must be looked upon as originating in some way
from the normal four-beat line. Two explanations of its development have
been given. The first, which is Sievers's original view,[90] is that a
foot or measure with the form –́ . . . (i.e. one accented syllable plus
several unaccented ones) was prefixed to one of the five normal types;
hence –́ × prefixed to A would give the form –́ × | –́ × –́ ×, and – ×
prefixed to B would give –́ × | × –́ × –́. The other explanation, given
by Luick,[91] is that the lengthened hemistich is due to a blending of
several types of the normal kind in this way. The hemistich starts with
the beginning of one of the normal types A, B, C, then with the second
accented syllable another type is begun and continued, as if the poet
found the original beginning inadequate to express his emotion.
The manner in which the blending of two normal types results in new
lengthened types of three beats will be seen in the following
illustrations:
A –́× –́ ×
+C × –́ –́ ×
--------------
gives AC –́ × –́ –́ ×;
A –́ × –́ ×
+D –́ –́ ×̀ ×
--------------
gives AD – × –́ –́ ×̀ ×;
B × –́ × –́
+C × –́ –́ ×
-------------
gives BC × –́× –́ –́ ×;
B × –́ × –́
+A –́ × –́ ×
--------------
gives BA × –́ × –́ × –́ ×;
C × –́ –́ ×
+A –́ × –́ ×
--------------
gives CA × –́ –́ × –́ ×;
A –́ × –́ ×
+A –́ × –́ ×
--------------
gives AA –́ × –́ × –́ ×.
As Prof. Sievers himself[92] has accepted this theory (or, at least,
has recognized it as a convenient method of exhibiting the structural
varieties of the lengthened line), we shall adopt it here.
Of the fifteen different possible combinations of the original types,
some do not actually occur, but with the sub-types to be taken into
consideration we get no less than eighteen different types of the
regular lengthened whole line, and these again admit of variations by
means of resolution of accented syllables, polysyllabic theses, &c.
Only the most commonly occurring forms of the lengthened hemistich will
be given here; for the others the reader may be referred to Sievers.[93]
§ =39.= By far the most common type is =A A= (some 525 examples),
–́ × . . . –́ × . –́ ×,
as in
_=w=éaxan =w=ī́tebrṓgan._ (_Hǽfden hīe =w=rṓhtgetḗme_). Gen. 45;
or with resolution of the first accented syllable in the first
hemistich,
_=s=únu mid =s=wéordes écge._ Gen. 2857,
and in the second hemistich,
_=f=éla bið =f=ýrwet-géornra._ Gnom. Ex. 102;
with resolution of the second accented syllable in the second hemistich,
_þǣ́r þū þólades =s=íððan._ Crist 1410;
or of each of the three accented syllables in the second hemistich,
_hýre þæs =f=ǣ́der on róderum._ Jud. 5.
The chief variation of this type arises from the prolongation of
the first thesis, which may run from one to six syllables. At the
same time the usual resolutions may be introduced, as in the
following examples: Ordinary type, –́ × × || –́ × | –́ ×, very common,
_=g=rímme wið =g=ód gesómnod._ Gen. 46;
with resolution of the first accented syllable,
_=r=éced ofer =r=ḗadum gólde._ Gen. 2404;
with resolution of the last two accented syllables,
_=sn=ū̀de þā =sn=óteran ídese._ Jud. 55;
type with trisyllabic thesis, –́ × × × || –́ × |–́ ×,
_=m=ḗda syndon =m=ícla þī́na._ Gen. 2167;
with resolution of the first accented syllable,
_wíton hyra =h=ýht mid drýhten._ Gū. 61;
thesis of four to six syllables, (–́ × . . . . . || –́ × | –́ ×),
_=ǣ́=leð hȳ mid þȳ =éa=ldan lī́ge._ Crist 1547,
_=s=íððan hē hæfde his gā́st on=s=énded._ Cross 49,
_=b=étre him wǣre þæt hē =b=rṓðor ā́hte._ Gnom. Ex. 175.
Less frequently the second foot has two unaccented syllables, and in
that case the first foot has either one or sometimes two unaccented
syllables, thus
(i) –́ × || –́ × × | –́ ×, or (ii) –́ × × || –́ × × | –́ ×,
as (i) _saā́ þū =Á=bele wū̀rde._ Gen. 1019;
with resolution of the first arsis,
_=s=ígor and =s=ṓðne gelḗafan._ Jud. 89.
(ii) _=r=ínca tō =r=ū̀ne gegángan._ Jud. 54.
=Type A2A=, –́ ×̀ –́ × –́ ×, which is type AA with secondary accent on
the first thesis, occurs, according to Sievers, some twenty times, and
always in the first hemistich. Examples are,
_=w=ǣ́rfæ̀st =w=íllan mī́nes._ Gen. 2168;
with resolution of the last arsis,
_=þ=éarlmò̄d =þ=ḗoden gúmena._ Jud. 66;
with disyllabic second thesis,
_=f=rḗobèarn =f=ǽðmum beþéahte._ Gen. 2867.
=Type A*A=, –́ . ×̀ × | –́ × . | –́ ×, which is AA strengthened and with
disyllabic first thesis, is nearly as common as A2A, and is always in
the first hemistich, as for example,
_=ā́=rlḕas of =ḗ=arde þī́num._ Gen. 1019,
_=b=éalofùl his =b=éddes nḗosan._ Jud. 63;
with trisyllabic first thesis,
_=h=rḗohmò̄d wæs sē =h=ǣ́ðena þḗoden._ Dan. 242.
=Type AB=, –́ × . . . –́ × . –́, some thirty instances equally
distributed between the first and second hemistichs. Examples are,
_=é=orðan =ȳ́=ðum þéaht._ Riddle xvii. 3,
_=w=ǽsceð his =w=ā́rig hrǽgl._ Gnom. Ex. 99.
=Type AC=, –́ × . . . –́ –́ ×, about twenty-nine instances, of which
more than the half occur in the first hemistich, as
_=h=ríncg þæs =h=ḗan lándes._ Gen. 2854,
_=w=lítige tō =w=óruldnýtte._ Gen. 1016.
=Type AD=, –́ × . . –́ –́ × ×̀, is rarer, occurring about twelve times,
apparently only in the first hemistich, as
_=b=éalde =b=ýrnwíggènde._ Jud. 17,
_=J=ū̀das hire on=g=ḗn þíngòde._ El. 609.
=Type A E=, –́ × . . –́ ×̀ × . –́, somewhat more common than the last,
and in both hemistichs, as
_=s=wéord and =s=wā́tigne hélm._ Jud. 338,
_sǽgde him =ú=nlȳ̀tel spéll._ Gen. 2405.
=Type B A=, × . –́ × . . . –́ × . –́ ×, about 120 instances, has as its
simplest form, × –́ × –́ × –́ ×, as
_ā=l=ǣ́ton =l=ī́ges gánga._ Dan. 263;
with disyllabic thesis after the first arsis, × –́ × × –́ × –́ ×, as
_ā=w=ýrged tō =w=ī́dan áldre._ Gen. 1015;
with trisyllabic thesis, × –́ × × × –́ × –́ ×, as
_hȳ =t=wḗgen sceolon =t=ǣ́fle ymbsíttan._ Gnom. Ex. 182;
the initial thesis or anacrusis is rarely disyllabic.
=Type B B=, × . –́ × . . . –́ ×. –́, about nine times and mostly in the
first hemistichs, as
_ge=b=ī́dan þæs hē ge=b=ǣ́dan ne mǣ́g._ Gnom. Ex. 105;
with resolution of two of the accented syllables,
_ofer=c=úmen bið hē ǣ́r hē ā=c=wéle._ Gnom. Ex. 114.
=Type B C=, × . . –́ × . . . –́ –́ ×, nearly as common as the last and
nearly always in the first hemistich, as
_and nā́hte =é=aldfḗondum._ Dan. 454,
_be=g=óten of þæs =g=úman sī́dan._ Cross 49.
=Type B D=, × . –́ × . . –́ –́ ×̀ ×, about sixteen times, and in either
hemistich, as
_on =é=orðan =ú=nswǣ́slī̀cne._ Jud. 65,
_a=l=ḗdon hīe þǣr límwḗrìgne._ Cross 63.
=Type C A=, × –́ –́ ×. –́ ×, with some fifteen examples, of which eight
are in the first hemistich, as
_ge=s=ḗoð =s=órga mǣ́ste._ Crist 1209,
_tō =c=wále =c=níhta fḗorum._ Dan. 226.
=Type C C=, × . . . . –́ –́ –̆́×, occurs only nine times, of which
six are in the second hemistich, as
_þæt wæs =g=ód ǽlmíhtig._ Cross 396;
with resolution of the first accented syllable,
_ne sē =b=rýne =b=ḗtmǽcgum._ Dan. 265,
_þē þæt =w=éorc stáðoláde._ And. 800.
Other combinations are given by Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_,
§ 95, but these occur so rarely or are so doubtful that they need not
be mentioned here. A few lengthened hemistichs have four beats, as
_engel in þone ófn ínnan becwṓm._ Dan. 238,
and others in Sievers's _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 96.
Formation of Stanzas and Rhyme.
§ =40.= OE. poetry is mainly narrative, and does not run into any kind
of recurring stanza or strophe, but is entirely stichic. Traces of an
arrangement of lines so as to form a stanza are found in Dēor, the
Runic Poem, the Psalms and Hymns, the so-called First Riddle, and in
the Gnomic verses of the Exeter Book, which may be compared to the Old
French 'tirades'.[94]
On the other hand, end-rhyme of the two hemistichs, combined with
alliteration, is not very uncommon, though in most cases it seems only
an incidental ornament, as
_=f=ýlle ge=f=ǣ́gon; =f=ǽgere geþǣ́gon._ Beow. 1014.
_=w=órd-gyd =w=récan ond ymb =w=ér sprécan._ Beow. 3172.
In the Rhyming Poem of the Exeter Book we have eighty-seven lines in
which the first and second hemistichs rhyme throughout, and in some
passages of other poems, noticeably in the _Elene_, vv. 114-115, and
vv. 1237-1251, in which Cynewulf speaks in his own person, or Crist
591-595, And. 869-871, 890, Gūthl. 801, Phoen. 15-16, 54-55;
assonance is found not unfrequently alongside of perfect rhyme, as in
Gūthl. 802, Phoen. 53. These places are sufficient to prove a
systematic and deliberate use of rhyme, which serves to accentuate
the lyrical tone of the passages.
Monosyllabic rhymes such as _nān: tān_ (Rhym. Poem 78), _rād: gebā́d_
(ib. 16), _onlā́h: onwrā́h_ (ib. 1) are called masculine, and disyllabic
rhymes like _wóngum: góngum_ (ib. 7), _géngdon: méngdon_ (ib. 11), or
trisyllabic _hlýnede: dýnede_ (ib. 28), _swínsade: mínsade_ (ib. 29),
_bífade: hlífade_ (ib. 30), are called feminine.
According to their position in the hemistich, rhymes fall into two
classes (_a_) interior rhymes like _hónd rónd gefḕng_ Beow. 2609,
_stī́ðmò̄d gestṓd_ Beow. 2567, in compounds _wórd-hòrd ontḗac_ Beow.
259, in co-ordinate formulae like _þā wæs sǣ́l and mǣ́l_ Beow. 1008,
_wórdum and bórdum_ El. 24, _grund ond sund_ And. 747, and as so-called
grammatical rhymes _lāð wið lāðum_ Beow. 440, _béarn æfter béarne_, Gen.
1070; (_b_) sectional rhymes joining the two halves of one line, as
_=s=écgas mec =s=ǣ́gon =s=ýmbel ne ālǣ́gon._ Rhym. P. 5;
not unfrequently, very often in the Rhyming Poem, two, three, four or
more alliterative lines are connected in this fashion.
The OE. end rhymes are either (_a_) complete rhymes as _hond: rond_,
_gefǣ́gon: geþǣ́gon_, or (_b_) assonances, in which only the
vowels correspond, as _wæf: læs_ El. 1238; _wrā́ðum: ā́rum_ Crist.
595; _lúfodon: wúnedon_ And. 870; that the assonances are not
accidental is clear from the fact that they occur alongside of perfect
rhymes.[95]
NOTES:
[15] Tacitus, _Germania_, cap. 2.
[16] Grein-Wülker, iii. 1, p. 156.
[17] The influence of the Latin system on Otfrid is clear from his own
words, I. i. 21.
[18] For a review of recent metrical theories see Sievers,
_Altgermanische Metrik_, 1893, pp. 2-17, and his article on metre
in Paul's _Grundriss_, ii. 2.
[19] Cf. Lachmann, 'Über althochdeutsche Betonung und Verskunst,'
_Schriften_, ii. 358 ff., and 'Über das Hildebrandslied', _ib._,
ii. 407 ff.
[20] _Germania_, iii, p. 7.
[21] _Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum_, i, p. 318, and _de Carmine
Wessofontano_, 1861, p. 10.
[22] _De Anglo-Saxonum arte metrica_, 1871.
[23] 'Grundzüge der altgermanischen Metrik,' _Zeitschrift für deutsche
Philologie_, ii. 114 ff.
[24] _Ibid._, iii. 280 ff.
[25] _Zur althochdeutschen Alliterationspoesie_, Kiel and Leipzig.
[26] John Lawrence, _Chapters on Alliterative Verse_, London, 1893;
reviewed by K. Luick, _Anglia_, Beiblatt iv, pp. 193, 201.
[27] Möller's own notation; Lawrence's sign for the rest is a small
point, and his sign for the end of a section is a thick point.
[28] _Untersuchungen zur westgermanischen Verskunst_ I, Leipzig, 1889;
'Zur Metrik des alts. und althochd. Alliterationsverses,'
_Germania_, xxxvi. 139 ff., 279 ff.; 'Der altdeutsche Reimvers
und sein Verhältnis zur Alliterationspoesie,' _Zeitschrift für
deutsches Altertum_, xxxviii. 304 ff.
[29] _Die Metrik des westgermanischen Alliterationsverses_, Marburg,
1892.
[30] Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_, ed. I, ii. i.
518.
[31] _Der altenglische Vers_: I. _Kritik der bisherigen Theorien_,
1894; II. _Die Metrik des Beowulfliedes_, 1894; III. _Die Metrik
der sog. Caedmonischen Dichtungen_, &c., 1895. This last part is
by F. Graz. These are reviewed by K. Luick, _Anglia_, Beiblatt
iv. 294; M. Trautmann, ib., iv. 131; vi. 1-4; Saran, _Zeitschrift
für deutsche Philologie_, xxvii. 539.
[32] _Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur_, 1894, i. 228, and
_Ergänzungsheft zu Band I, Die altsächsische Genesis_, 1895,
p. 28 ff.
[33] 'Zur Kenntniss des germanischen Verses, vornehmlich des
altenglischen,' in _Anglia_, Beiblatt v. 87 ff.
[34] _Z. f. d. A._, xxxviii. 304.
[35] _Certayne notes of Instruction concerning the making of verse or
ryme in English_, 1575; Arber's reprint, London, 1868, p. 34.
[36] _Ane Schort Treatise, conteining some Revlis and Cautelis to be
obseruit and eschewit in Scottis poesie_, 1585, pp. 63 ff. of
Arber's reprint. The scheme would be ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ `.
[37] From Hickes's _Antiq. Literat. Septentrional._, tom. i, p. 217.
[38] It is now well known that this innovation was introduced much
earlier.
[39] From Alexander Montgomery, _The Flyting_, &c., l. 476.
[40] 'Über den Versbau der alliterierenden Poesie, besonders der
Altsachsen,' _Bay. Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-histor.
Classe_, iv. 1, p. 207 ff.
[41] _Litteraturgeschichte_, p. 45 ff., second ed., p. 57.
[42] _Über die germanische Alliterationspoesie_, Vienna, 1872, and
_Zum Muspilli_, &c., Vienna, 1872.
[43] 'Über die Verstheilung der Edda,' _Zeitschr. für deutsche Phil._,
Ergänzungsband, p. 74.
[44] _Die Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_, Halle, 1876, reprinted
from _Z. f. d. Ph._, vol. vii.
[45] The author's larger work on English Metre was indebted in
paragraphs 28-33 to Rieger's essay; succeeding paragraphs (34-39)
of the same work exhibited in detail the further development or
rather decay of the Old English alliterative line.
[46] C. R. Horn, _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, v. 164; J. Ries,
_Quellen und Forschungen_, xli. 112; E. Sievers, _Zeitschr.
f. deutsche Phil._, xix. 43.
[47] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, x, 1885, pp. 209-314 and 491-545.
[48] Sievers, Paul's _Grundriss_, ii. 1, p. 863, or ii. 2, p. 4,
second ed.
[49] _Paul und Braune's Beiträge_, xi. 470.
[50] Ph. Frucht, _Metrisches und Sprachliches zu Cynewulfs Elene,
Juliana und Crist_, Greifswald, 1887.
[51] M. Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchung der altengl.
Gedichte Andreas, Gûðlâc, Phoenix_, Bonn, 1888.
[52] _Altgermanische Metrik_, Halle, 1893.
[53] Mainly by H. Möller, _Das Volksepos in der ursprünglichen
strophischen Form_, Kiel, 1883.
[54] Besides the unaccented syllables of polysyllabic words, many
monosyllables, such as prepositions, pronouns, &c., are
unstressed, and occur only in the theses.
[55] This rule applies to modern English also, as in words like
_bírth-rìght_.
[56] If this cross alliteration is intentional. See Sievers, _Altger.
Metrik_, p. 41.
[57] See Koch, _Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache_, Weimar,
1863, i. 156.
[58] Compare Streitberg, _Urgermanische Grammatik_, 1900, § 143,
p. 167, or Wilmanns, _Deutsche Grammatik_, 1897, i, p. 407,
§ 349.
[59] For exceptions to these rules see _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 43,
45.
[60] Koch adds _wiðǽftan_, _wiðfóran_, _wiðnéoðan_.
[61] Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 225, and _Angelsächsische Grammatik_³,
§§ 410, 411, 415.³
[62] For details on these points and on the question of the treatment
of forms in which vowel contraction is exhibited in the MSS. see
Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, §§ 74-77, and _Beiträge_, x.
475 ff.
[63] 'Elements,' Sweet, _Anglo-Saxon Reader_, § 365.
[64] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 9, 3. 4.
[65] See, for example, Rieger, _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_,
p. 62.
[66] _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 209.
[67] For the type –́ × × | –́ see below, § 29, and Sievers,
_Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262.
[68] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 262.
[69] As Sievers calls them, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 13. 2; they are
marked A*, B*, &c.
[70] The notation of Sievers for hemistichs with anacrusis
(_auftaktige Verse_) is aA, aD, aE, &c.
[71] Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, pp. 33 ff.
[72] It must be remembered that _ea_, _eo_, &c., are diphthongs, and
have not the value of two vowels.
[73] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x, p. 233.
[74] Here _n_ counts as a syllable, see Sievers, _Angelsächsische
Gram._,§ 141, and _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 79.
[75] See the statistics in Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x,
p. 290.
[76] Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 241 and 294.
[77] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 85, 2, Anm. 3.
[78] Cf. Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 15, 3 c, and § 116. 9.
[79] See Max Cremer, _Metrische und sprachliche Untersuchungen der
altenglischen Gedichte Andreas, Gūðlāc, Phoenix_, &c., 1888,
pp. 31 ff.; Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 86; and chiefly
Eduard Sokoll, 'Zur Technik des altgermanischen
Alliterationsverses,' in _Beiträge zur neueren Philologie_,
Vienna, 1902, pp. 351-65.
[80] But on this last expression see Sievers, _Phonetik_^4, § 359.
[81] Edited by Grein in _Anglia_, ii. 141 ff.
[82] The Old Norse _hofuðstafr_, Germ. _Hauptstab_. The alliterations
in the first hemistich are called in Old Norse _stuðlar_ (sing.
_stuðill_) 'supporters', Germ. _Stollen_ or _Stützen_.
[83] Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 20.
[84] This is not very common in poetry of the more regular metrical
structure, but is found in Ælfric's lines, in which we find
hemistichs without any alliterating letter, and others where the
alliteration is continued in the following line; two-thirds,
however, of his lines are formed quite correctly.
[85] Snorri, the Icelandic metrician, permits this in the case of
certain monosyllabic words, but looks on it as a licence (_leyfi
en eigi rétt setning_, Hāttatal, p. 596).
[86] The subject of the preceding paragraphs was first investigated by
M. Rieger in his essay _Alt- und Angelsächsische Verskunst_,
p. 18, where many details will be found.
[87] Cf. Sievers in _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii. 455; K. Luick,
_ib._, xiii. 389, xv. 441; F. Kaufmann, _ib._, xv. 360; Sievers,
in _Paul's Grundriss_, pp. 891 ff., and in _Altgermanische
Metrik_, §§ 88-96.
[88] In _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, xii, pp. 454, 455, Sievers gives a
list of the undoubted regular lengthened verses occurring in OE.
poetry.
[89] Sievers discusses the lengthened verses of these poems in
_Beiträge_, xii. 479.
[90] _Beiträge_, xii. 458.
[91] _Beiträge_, xiii. 388, xv. 445.
[92] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 94. 3.
[93] _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 95.
[94] See Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_, § 97.
[95] For other subdivisions of rhyme see Sievers, _Altgerm. Metrik_,
§§ 99-102, with the treatises on the subject, and Bk. II, sect.
ii, ch. 1 of this work.
CHAPTER III
THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREER
FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN LATE
OLD ENGLISH AND EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH
A. Transitional Forms.
=§ 41. Increasing frequency of Rhyme.= The alliterative line was, as
we have seen, the only kind of verse known in English poetry down to
the end of the Old English period. In the eleventh century, however,
the strict conventions which governed the use of alliteration began
to be relaxed and, at the same time, end-rhyme began to invade the
alliterative line, and by this means it was resolved in the course of
time into two separate lines. The process by which this came about is
of great importance in enabling us to follow the further development of
English versification. It has two varieties:--
1. Systematic combination of end-rhyme and alliteration.
2. Unintentional or accidental combination of rhyme and alliteration.
The former--the intentional combination of rhyme with
alliteration--never became popular in Old English; indeed, the few
examples previously quoted are all that have been preserved. In these
examples the hemistichs of each line conform to the ancient rules with
regard to their rhythmic and alliterative structure, but are more
uniform in type than was usual in the older poetry, and are more closely
paired together by the use of final rhyme, which occurs in all its three
varieties, monosyllabic, disyllabic, and trisyllabic.
_=w=úniende =w=ǣ́r =w=ílbec biscǣ́r.
=s=céalcas wǣron =sc=éarpe, =sc=ýl wæs héarpe,
=hl=ū̀de =hl=ýnede; =hl=éoðor dýnede._ Rhyming Poem 26-28.
The rhythm of the verse is mostly descending, Type A being the prevalent
form, while Types D and E occur more rarely. The Types B and C, however,
are also found. Possibly this kind of verse was formed on the model of
certain Mediaeval Latin rhymed verses, or, somewhat more probably, on
that of the Old Norse 'runhenda', as this poetic form may have been
made known in England by the Old Norse poet, Egil Skallagrimsson, who in
the tenth century had lived in England and twice stayed at the court of
King Æõelstan.
§ =42.= Of greater interest than this systematic combination of
alliteration and rhyme is the irregular and more or less unintentional
occurrence of rhyme which in the eleventh century is found frequently in
the native metre.
Isolated instances of rhyme or assonance may be met with even in the
oldest Old English poems. For certain standing expressions linked by
such a similarity of sound, mostly causing interior rhyme (i.e. rhyme
within a hemistich), were admitted now and then in alliterative poetry,
e.g.
_siþþan ic =h=ónd and rónd | =h=ébban míhte._ Beow. 656.
_=s=ǣ́la and mǣ́la; | þat is =s=ṓd métod._ ib. 1611.
In other cases such rhymes are to be found at the end of two hemistichs,
_Hrṓðgār máðelode, | =h=ílt scḗawode._ Beow. 1687.
_=W=ýrmum bewúnden, | =w=ítum gebúnden._ Judith 115.
Examples of this kind occur not unfrequently in several early OE.
poems, but their number increases decidedly in the course of time from
_Beowulf_, _Andreas_, _Judith_, up to _Byrhtnoth_ and _Be Dōmes
dæge_.
From the two last-mentioned poems, still written in pure alliterative
verse, a few examples of rhyming-alliterative verses, or of simply
rhymed verses occurring accidentally among the normal alliterative
lines, may also be quoted here:
_=B=ýrhtnōð máðelode, | =b=órd háfenode._ Byrhtn. 42.
_ǣ́fre embe =st=únde | he =s=éalde sume wúnde._ ib. 271.
_þǣr þā wǽterbúrnan | swḗgdon and úrnon._ Dom. 3.
_=i=nnon þam gemónge | on =ǣ́=nlicum wónge._ ib. 6.
_nū̀ þū scealt =g=rḗotan, | tḗaras =g=ḗotan._
ib. 82.
Thus it may be taken for granted that end-rhyme would have come into
use in England, even if Norman-French poetry had never been introduced,
although it is certainly not to be denied that it only became popular in
England owing to French influence.
But can this influence explain the gradually increasing use of
end-rhyme in some OE. poems written shortly before the Norman Conquest
(as e.g. _Byrhtnoth_, _Be Dōmes dæge_, the poetical passage in the
_Saxon Chronicle_ of the year 1036), or are we to attribute it to
the influence of mediaeval hymn poetry, or, lastly, to the lingering
influence of the above-mentioned Old Norse 'runhenda'? It is not easy to
give a decided answer to these questions.
In any case it would appear that towards the end of the Old English
period combined Mediaeval Latin and French influence on English metre
became of considerable importance on account of the constantly growing
intercourse between the British isles and the continent. This may
be seen in the more frequent use of rhyme, as indeed was only to be
expected in consequence of the increasing popularity of Norman-French
and Mediaeval-Latin poetry in England and the reception of Norman-French
words into the language.
This combination of alliteration and rhyme, however, only becomes
conspicuous to a considerable extent for the first time in the
above-mentioned passage of the _Saxon Chronicle_, and in another passage
of the year 1087.[96]
The chief difference between these verses and those of the _Rhyming
Poem_ is this, that the former have not such a symmetrical structure as
the latter, and that rhyme and alliteration are not combined in all of
them, but that regular alliterative lines, rhyming-alliterative lines,
and lines with rhyme only occur promiscuously, as e.g. in the following
lines (4-7) of the above-mentioned passage of the _Chronicle_ of the
year 1036:
_=s=úme hī man =b=énde, | =s=úme hī man =b=lénde,
=s=úme man =h=ámelode | and =s=úme =h=ḗanlīce =h=ǽttode;
ne wearþ =d=rḗorlīcre =d=ǣ́d | ge_=d=ṓn on þisan éarde,
siððan Déne cṓmon | and hēr frýð nā́mon.
The verses of the year 1087 of the _Saxon Chronicle_ have a similar
but on the whole less rhythmical structure. In some of the lines the
hemistichs are neither joined by alliteration, nor by end-rhyme, but
merely by the two-beat rhythm of each of them; cf. 11. 1-5:
_Castelas he let wyrcean | and earme men swiðe swencean.
Se cyng wes swa swiðe stearc | and benam of his under-þeoddan
manig marc goldes | and ma hundred punda seolfres;
þat he nam be wihte | and mid mycelan unrihte
of his =l=and=l=eode | for =l=itelre neode._[97]
On the other hand, the poetical piece of the _Saxon Chronicle_ on
Eadweard of the year 1065 is written in perfectly regular alliterative
lines.
These two ways of treating the old alliterative line which occur in
the latter part of the _Saxon Chronicle_, and which we will call the
progressive and the conservative treatment, indicate the course which
this metre was to take in its further development. Out of the long
alliterative line, separated by the caesura into two hemistichs, again
connected by rhyme, there sprang into existence a short rhyming couplet.
This was by no means identical with the three-beat couplet evolved from
two rhyming hemistichs of a line on the model of the French Alexandrine,
nor with the short four-beat couplets modelled on the French _vers
octosyllabe_, but had points of similarity enough to both, especially to
the former one, to be easily used in conjunction with them, as several
Early English poems show.
The conservative treatment of the old alliterative line, which probably
at no time was altogether discontinued, was revived in the thirteenth
and especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when it
degenerated again in the same way as the progressive line had done
several centuries before.
=B. The 'Proverbs of Alfred' and Layamon's 'Brut'.=
§ =43.= The first subject which we have to consider here is the further
development of the progressive form of the alliterative line, the
representatives of which[98] are closely connected in their rhythmic
form with the two specimens of the poetical parts of the _Saxon
Chronicle_ quoted above. From _Alfred's Proverbs_ we take No. xv (ll.
247-66):
_Þus queþ Alured:
Ne schal-tu néuere þi =w=íf | by hire =w=lýte chéose,_ 247-8
_for néuer none þínge | þat heo tó þe brýngeþ;
ac leorne hire =c=úste, | heo =c=úþeþ hi wel sóne;
for móny mon for =á=yhte | =ú=vele i=á=uhteþ,
and ófte mon of =f=áyre | =f=rákele ichéoseþ._ 255-6
_Wó is him þat =ú=vel wìf | brýngeþ to his cótlýf;
só is him alýve | þat úvele ywýueþ.
For hé schal uppen éorþe | dréori i-wúrþe.
Mónymon síngeþ | þat wíf hom brýngeþ
Wíste he hwat he bróuhte | wépen he mýhte._ 265-6
The metre of Layamon's _Brut_ may be illustrated by the following
passage (ll. 13841-13882):
_Þa =á=nswerede þe =ó=ðer | þat was þe =á=ldeste bróðer
'Lust me nú, lauerd =k=íng | and ích þe wullen =c=úðen
what =c=níhtes we béoð, | and whanene we i=c=úmen séoð.
Ich hátte =H=éngest, | =H=órs is mi bróðer;
we beoð of =Á=lemáinne, | =á=ðelest alre lónde;_ 13849-50
_of þat =í=lken =ǽ=nde | þe =Á=ngles is iháten.
Béoð in ure lónde | sélcùðe tíðènde:
vmbe =f=íftène ȝér | þat =f=ólc is isómned,
al ure =l=édene fólc, | and heore =l=óten wérpeð;
uppen þán þe hit =f=áleð, | he scal =u=áren of lónde;_ 13859-60
_bilǽuen scullen þa =f=íue, | þa séxte scal =f=órð-lìðe
=ú=t of þan =l=éode | to =ú=ncùðe =l=ónde;
ne beo he ná swa =l=eof mon | vorð he scal =l=íðen.
For þer is fólc swiðe =m=úchel, | =m=ǽre þene heo wálden;
ba =w=íf fareð mid chílde | swa þe déor =w=ílde;_ 13869-70
_ǽueralche ȝére | heo béreð chíld þère.
þat beoð an us =f=éole | þat we =f=ǽren scólden;
ne míhte we bi=l=ǽue | for =l=íue ne for dǽðe,
ne for náuer nane þínge, | for þan fólc-kìnge.
=þ=ús we uerden =þ=ére | and for =þ=í beoð nu hére,_ 13879-80
_to séchen vnder =l=úfte | =l=ónd and godne =l=áuerd._
These extracts illustrate only the general metrical character of the
two literary monuments, the versification of which in many passages
considerably deviates from the type here exhibited. It frequently shows
a still more arbitrary mixture of the different kinds of verse, or a
decided preference for some of them over the others. But the examples
given will suffice to show that here, as in the two passages from the
_Saxon Chronicle_ quoted above, we have four different kinds of verse
distinguished by the different use of rhyme and alliteration, viz.:
1. Regular alliterative lines, which are very numerous, and at least in
the first half of Layamon's _Brut_, possibly throughout the poem, form
the bulk, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 247-8, Layamon, 13847-8, 13851-2, 13855-6,
13859-60, 13867-8, 13881-2, or
_=B=úte if he =b=éo | in =b=óke iléred._ Prov. iii. 65-6.
_þat his =b=lód and his =b=rain | =b=á weoren todáscte._
Lay. 1468-9.
2. Rhyme (or assonance) and alliteration combined; equally numerous,
e.g. _Prov._ xv. 253-4, Lay. 13841-2, 13845-6, 13869-70, &c., or
_Þat þe =ch=íriche habbe grýþ | and the =ch=éorl beo in frýþ._
Prov. v. 93.
_his =s=édes to =s=ówen, | his =m=édes to mówen._ ib. 95.
_biuóren wende =H=éngest, | and =H=órs him alre =h=ǽndest._
Lay. 13973-4.
_Heo cómen into =h=álle | =h=ǽndeliche álle._ ib. 13981-2.
3. Verses with rhyme (or assonance) only, without alliteration, also not
unfrequent, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 249-50 ff., or Lay. 13853-4, &c.
_And his plóuh beo idrýue | to ure álre bihóue._ Prov. v. 97-8.
_þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilýche._ ib. iv. 80-1.
_On Itálȝe heo comen to lónde, | þer Róme nou on stóndeþ._
Lay. 106-7.
_fele ȝér under súnnan | nas ȝet Róme biwónnen._ ib. 108-9.
4. Four-beat verses without either rhyme or alliteration, occurring
comparatively rarely, and in most cases probably to be attributed to
corruption of the text. Examples:
_he may béon on élde | wénliche lórþeu._ Prov. vi. 101-2.
_we habbeð séoue þúsund | of góde cníhten._ Lay. 365-6.
It is certain that these four different forms of verse cannot have been
felt by the poets themselves as rhythmically unlike; their rhythmic
movement must have been apprehended as essentially one and the same.
§ =44. Nature and origin of this metre. Theories of Trautmann and
Luick.= We need not here discuss the theory of Prof. Trautmann, who
endeavours to show that the hemistichs of Layamon's verse were composed
in imitation of the four-beat short-lined metre in which the Old High
German poet Otfrid had written his religious poem _Krist_, a form which,
according to Trautmann and his followers, had been frequently employed
in late Old English and early Middle English poetry. References to the
criticisms of this hypothesis, by the present writer and others, are
given by G. Körting in his _Encyklopädie der Englischen Philologie_, p.
388, and by K. Luick in Paul's _Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie_,
ed. 2, II. ii. 152. The author of this book, in his larger work on the
subject (_Englische Metrik_, i. §§ 67-73), has shown, as English and
German scholars had done before him, that Layamon's verse has its roots
in the Old English alliterative line. Twelve years after the publication
of that work this theory received further confirmation at the hands of
Prof. Luick, who has shown in Paul's _Grundriss_ (l.c.) that the five
types of the Old English alliterative line, discovered by Prof. Sievers,
reappear (although in a modified form) in the lines of Layamon's _Brut_.
But we are unable wholly to agree with Prof. Luick's view on the origin
and nature of this metre.
In order to explain the origin of Layamon's verse he starts from the
hypothesis of Prof. Sievers[99] that the Old Germanic alliterative
verse, as historically known, which was intended to be _recited_,
and therefore not restricted to uniformity of rhythm, originated
from a primitive Old Germanic verse meant to be sung, and therefore
characterized by rhythmic regularity. According to Prof. Luick this
primitive metre, although not represented by any extant example in Old
English, had never quite died out, and forms the basis of the metre of
Layamon and his predecessors in early Middle English. For this ingenious
hypothesis, however, no real evidence exists. On the contrary, the fact
that the beginnings of the peculiar kind of metre used by Layamon can be
traced back to purely alliterative Old English poems, where they occur
amongst regular alliterative lines, and therefore undoubtedly must be
of the same rhythmical structure, seems to be decisive against Prof.
Luick's theory.
For the same reason it is impossible to follow Prof. Luick in regarding
Layamon's line as having an even-beat rhythm, and containing not only
two primary accents, but two secondary accents as well. A further strong
objection to this view is to be found in the circumstance, that in
the early part of Layamon's _Brut_, although rhyme already occurs not
unfrequently, alliterative lines decidedly predominate; in the passage
consisting of forty long lines (ll. 106-185, quoted in our _Altenglische
Metrik_, pp. 152-3), we have thirty-three regular alliterative lines and
only five rhymed lines, two of which are alliterative at the same time.
Even in the middle portion of Layamon's _Chronicle_, where the poet, as
Prof. Luick thinks, must have attained to a certain skill in handling
his metre, alliterative lines are in some passages quite as numerous as
rhymed ones. In the passage quoted above (p. 68), for example, which
consists of twenty-one long lines, eleven of them are alliterative and
ten are rhymed. On the other hand, in the continuation of this passage
(quoted _Altengl. Metrik_, p. 156), containing twenty-nine long lines,
the reverse is the case, the number of alliterative lines being only
seven, and that of rhymed and assonant lines twenty-two in all; of the
latter, however, eleven are alliterative at the same time.
While then it might be admissible to speak of progressive neglect of
alliteration and of increasing predilection for end-rhyme on the part of
the poet, as he advances with his work, it is not in accordance with the
facts to assert that 'alliteration had ceased to play its former part,
and had been reduced to the level of a mere ornament of the verse'.
On the contrary, in the first part of the _Chronicle_ alliteration is
the predominant form, and, as the work advances, it is still used to a
considerable extent as a means to connect the two hemistichs or short
lines so as to form one long line. The strict laws formerly observed in
the use of alliteration, it is true, are not unfrequently disregarded,
chiefly with respect to the head-stave, which often falls on the fourth
accented syllable of the long line; and other licences (first occurring
in Ælfric's _Metrical Homilies_) may be met with. Nevertheless both
_Alfred's Proverbs_ and Layamon's _Brut_ (as is sufficiently shown by
the many specimens quoted in our _Altenglische Metrik_, pp. 150 ff.),
contain a great number of perfectly regular alliterative lines. The fact
that, in the second half of Layamon's _Chronicle_, end-rhyme is used
more and more frequently as a means to connect the two hemistichs, is
with much more probability to be explained by the continual occupation
of the poet with the Norman-French original poem, and by the increasing
influence which its short octosyllabic couplets must naturally have
exercised upon his own rhythms, than by a supposed intention of the
poet to write in 'primitive Germanic four-beat song-metre', the very
existence of which is hypothetical. Furthermore, the fact that in
some (not all or even most) of the passages, where end-rhyme is used
almost exclusively, e.g. in the passage quoted above (ll. 13883-940),
an even-beat rhythm is distinctly noticeable, can be explained quite
naturally by the influence of the Norman-French original, the
even-measured verses of which the poet was translating.
But even supposing that Layamon _intended_ to use the primitive Germanic
four-beat song-metre in his translation of Wace's _Chronicle_, although
it certainly was not intended for singing, what can have been his reason
for composing the first half of his work, and a very considerable
portion of the rest, in a rhythmical form which only to a small extent
shows the peculiarities of a rhyming even-beat metre, whereas the main
part of it consists of the native unevenly stressed alliterative verse?
It is quite incorrect to say that the author in the course of his work
not unfrequently fell back into the alliterative verse. The fact is
just the opposite: the author started by using the native alliterative
verse to which he was accustomed, and gradually came to adopt the
rhymed verse of the Norman-French chronicle which he was translating,
without, however, entirely giving up the former metre. Alliteration
and end-rhyme, which he used sometimes separately and sometimes in
combination, were evidently looked upon by Layamon as equally legitimate
means for connecting his hemistichs or short lines.
§ =45. Number of stresses.= Quite as unfounded as the assertion that
Layamon's verse is of an even-beat nature is the other assertion that it
contains two primary and two secondary accents, and that the second of
these secondary accents in verses with disyllabic endings may fall on a
syllable which by its etymology ought to have no accent.
This statement is refuted by the treatment of rhyme in Layamon's _Brut_
and in some earlier poems of a similar form or containing the same kind
of verse.
Not only in the _Brut_, but also in several Old English and earlier
Middle English poems, we meet both with regular rhymes and with simple
assonances and other still more imperfect correspondences in sound
intended to serve as rhymes.
Examples of actual rhyme in the _Brut_ are the monosyllabic pairs:
_seon: beon_ 13837-8, _king: þing_ 13883-4, _cniht: riht_ 13887-8;
besides inexact rhymes like _mon: anān_ 13605-6, 13615-16, _mon: dōn_
13665-6, 13677-8, _wīn: in_ 14349-50, 14998-9, _chin: wīn_ 14994-5;
disyllabic rhymes: _icúmen: gúmen_ 13787-8, _gṓde: flṓde_ 13791-2,
_sṓhten: rṓhten_ 13803-4, _ṓðer: brṓðer_ 13841-2, _chī̀lde: wī́lde_
13870-1, _pḗre: hḗre_ 13871-2, _hálle: álle_ 13981-2. We see no reason
to accent these last-mentioned rhymes differently from similar rhymes
occurring in Old English poems, as e.g. _wédde: aspḗdde_ Andr. 1633,
_wúnne: blúnne_ ib. 1382, _bewúnden: gebúnden_ Jud. 115, _stúnde:
wúnde_ Byrhtn. 271, &c.
Examples of the more numerous group formed by assonances are _tō: idōn_
13801-2, _lond: gold_ 13959-60, _strong: lond_ 13969-70, and disyllabic
assonances like _cníhten: kínges_ 13793-4, _wólden: londe_ 13821-2, &c.
These are strictly parallel with instances like _wæf: læs_ El. 1238,
_onlā́g: hād_ ib. 1246, or like _wrā́ðum: ā́rum_ Crist 595, _lýre: cýme_
Phoen. 53, _rǣ́dde: tǣ́hte_ By. 18, _flā́nes: genāme_ ib. 71, _hlḗorum:
tḗarum_ Be Dōmes dæge 28, &c., and must, in our opinion, be metrically
interpreted in exactly the same way. That is to say, the root-syllable
must, not only in real assonances like _cníhten: kínges_,
_lónde:strónge_, but also in consonances like _Péohtes: cníhtes_,
_mónnen:ínnen_, be looked upon as the chief part of the rhyme, and the
flexional endings, whether rhyming correctly or incorrectly, must be
regarded as forming only an unessential, unaccented, indistinctly heard
part of the rhyme, just as they admittedly do in the similar Old English
assonances quoted above.
Now, as it is inconsistent with the two-beat rhythm of the hemistich in
Old English verse, to attribute a secondary accent to those endings,
although they were in some cases more distinctly pronounced than the
Middle English endings, it is impossible to suppose that the Middle
English endings bore a secondary accent. A further objection is that
although the syllables which, according to Luick's theory, are supposed
to bear a secondary accent are of course usually preceded by a long
root-syllable, it not unfrequently happens that a disyllabic word with
long root-syllable rhymes with one having a short root-syllable, in
which case the ending is not suited to bear a secondary accent at all,
e.g. _flúȝen: únnifṓge_ 14043-4, _to-fóren: grḗten_ 14071-2,
_sǣ́res: wólde_ 14215-16, _fáreð: iuḗren_ 14335-6, _icúmen:
Þréoien_ 14337-8, _lágen_ (=_laws_)_: lónde_ 14339-40, _húnden: lúuien_
14480-1, _scóme: sṓne_ 14604-5, _cúmen: hálden_ 14612-13, _scípe:
brṓhte_ 14862-3, _fáder: unrǣ́des_ 14832-3, _fáder: rǣ́des_
14910-11, _fṓten: biscópen_ 14821-2, _iwī́ten: scipen_ 14251-2,
_wī́ten: wenden_ 15060-1, _gúme: bisī́den_ 15224-5, _fréondscìpe:
séoluen_ 15226-7, _wúde: wéien-lǣ́len_ 15508-9, _ibóren: béarne_
15670-1, _biȝáte: wéorlde-rī́che_ 15732-3, _scáðe: fólke_
15784-5, _biswíken_ (pret. pl.): _cráften_ 29016-17, _aȝíuen:
ȝélden_ 29052-3, _biuóren: fū̀sen_ 29114-15, _súne: pḗode_
29175-6, _idríuen: kínerī́chen_ 29177-18, _grúpen_ (pret. pl.):
_mū̀ȝen_ 29279-80, _stúden_ (=_places_)_: bérnen_ 29285-6, &c.
The only cases in which a secondary accent seems to be required for an
unaccented final syllable are such rhymes as the following:--_hálì:
forþí_ 13915-16 (cf. _Altengl. Metrik_, p. 160); _men: cómèn_
13997-8 (MS. B: _men: here_), _men: dédèn_ 13975-6, _isómned wés:
lóndès_ 25390-1, and so forth.[100] But rhymes of this kind are in
comparison to the ordinary disyllabic or feminine endings so very rare
(occurring, for the most part, in lines which admit of a purely
alliterative scansion, or which have come down to us in an incorrect
state), that they have no bearing on the general rhythmic accentuation
of those final syllables, or on the rhythmic character of Layamon's
verses in general (cf. p. 78, end of § 47).
§ =46. Analysis of verse-types.= In turning now to a closer examination
of the rhythmic structure of the metre in Layamon's _Brut_ and in the
somewhat earlier _Proverbs of Alfred_, we are glad to find ourselves
more nearly than hitherto (though still not altogether) in agreement
with the views of Prof. Luick.
It is no small merit of his to have shown for the first time that the
five types of rhythmic forms pointed out by Sievers as existing in the
alliterative line are met with also in each of the four forms of verse
of Layamon's _Brut_ and of the _Proverbs_. And here it is of interest
to note that not only are the normal types of frequent occurrence
(chiefly in the _Proverbs_), but the extended types also, especially
in Layamon's _Brut_, are met with even more frequently.
On account of our limited space only a few examples of each of the five
types can be given in this handbook.
Instead of quoting hemistichs or isolated short lines as examples of
each of the single types A, B, C, D, E, we prefer always to cite two
connected short lines, and to designate the rhythmic character of the
long line thus originating by the types of the two hemistichs, as
follows: A + A, A* + B, B* + C, C* + E, &c., where A*, B*, C* signify
the extended types, to be discussed more fully below, and A, B, C, &c.,
the normal types. This mode of treatment is necessary in order that our
examples may adequately represent the structure of the verse. The short
lines are always connected--either by alliteration, by rhyme (or
assonance), or by both combined, or sometimes merely by identity of
rhythm--into pairs. These pairs of short lines are regarded by Luick as
even-measured couplets, while we regard them as alliterative long lines;
but on either view each of them forms a coherent unity. We believe that
an examination of the couplet or long line as an undivided whole will
show unmistakably that the assumption of the even-measured character
of Layamon's verse is erroneous, or at least that it applies only in
certain cases, when the metre is strongly influenced by Romanic
principles of versification. The examples are for the most part the same
as those which Prof. Luick has quoted,[101] but we have in all cases
added the complementary hemistichs, which are generally of somewhat
greater length:
A + A: _Ich =h=átte =H=éngest, | =H=órs is my bróðer._
Lay. 13847-8.
A*+ A: _and ích be wulle =r=ǽchen | déorne =r=únen._
ib. 14079-80.
B + A: _þær þa sǽxisce mén | þæ sǽ isóhten._ ib. 14738-9.
B(E?) + A: _hw hi héore =l=íf | =l=éde schólde._ Prov. i. 15-16.
A + B: _=l=ónges =l=ýves, | ac him =l=ýeþ þe wrénch._ ib. x. 161-2.
B*+ A: _vmbe =f=íftene ȝér | þat =f=ólc is isómned._
Lay. 13855-6.
B + C: _and eoure =l=éofue gódd | be ȝe tó =l=úteð._
ib. 13891-2.
B + C: _ne wurð þu néver so =w=ód, | ne so =w=ýn-drúnke._
Prov. xi. 269-70.
A + C: _mi gást hine i=w=dárðeð | and =w=írð stílle._ Lay. 17136-7.
C + C: _for þat wéorc stóndeð | inne Írlónde._ ib. 17176-7.
A*+ D: _=k=ómen to þan =k=ínge | wíl-tíþende._ ib. 17089-90.
D + A*: _vólc únimete | of móni ane lónde._ ib. 16188-9.
E + E: _fíf þusend mén | wúrcheð þer ón._ ib. 15816-17.
B*+ E: _þæt he héfde to iwíten | séouen hundred scíþen._ ib. 15102-3.
D + *A: _for nys no =w=rt =u=éxynde | a =w=úde ne a =w=élde._
Prov. x. 168-9.
A*+ D: _þat =é=uer mvwe þas =f=éye | =f=úrþ =ý=p-holde._ ib. 170-1.
It is easy to observe that it is only when two identical types, like
A + A, C + C, E + E, are combined, that an even-beat rhythm (to some
extent at least) can be recognized; in all the other combinations this
character is entirely absent.
§ =47. Extended types.= We now turn to the more numerous class of such
couplets or long lines which in both their component hemistichs exhibit
extended variations of the five types, resulting from anacrusis or from
the insertion of unstressed syllables in the interior of the line. These
verses, it is true, are somewhat more homogeneous, and have a certain
resemblance to an even-beat rhythm in consequence of the greater number
of unaccented syllables, one of which (rarely two or more) may, under
the influence of the even-beat metre of the Norman-French original, have
been meant by the poet to be read with a somewhat stronger accentuation.
We are convinced, however, that in feminine endings, in so far as these
are formed, which is usually the case, by the unaccented endings _-e_,
_-en_, _-es_, _-eþ_, &c., these final syllables never, or at most only in
isolated cases, which do not affect the general character of the rhythm,
have a stronger accent or, as Prof. Luick thinks, form a secondary
arsis. As little do we admit the likelihood of such a rhythmic
accentuation of these syllables when they occur in the middle of the
line, generally of such lines as belong to the normal types mentioned
above.
It is convenient, however, to adopt Luick's formulas for these common
forms of Layamon's verse, with this necessary modification, that we
discard the secondary accent attributed by him to the last syllable of
the types A, C, D, accepting only his types B and E without any change.
We therefore regard the normally constructed short lines of Layamon's
metre--so far as they are not purely alliterative lines of two accents,
but coupled together by rhyme or assonance, or by alliteration and rhyme
combined--as belonging to one or other of the following two classes:
(1) lines with four accents and masculine or monosyllabic endings (types
B and E); and (2) lines of three accents and feminine or disyllabic
endings (types A, C, D). In this classification those unaccented
syllables which receive a secondary stress are, for the sake of brevity,
treated as full stresses--which, indeed, they actually came to be in the
later development of the metre, and possibly to some extent even in
Layamon's own verse.
Assuming the correctness of this view, the chief types of Layamon's
verse may be expressed by the following formulas, in which the bracketed
theses are to be considered optional:
Type A: (×) –́ (×) ×̀ × –́ ×.
Type B: (×) ×̀ × –́ (×) ×̀ × –́.
Type C: (×) ×̀ × –́ –́ ×.
Type D: (×) –́ × –́ ×̀ ×.
Type E: × –́ (×) ×̀ × ×̀ × –́.
As these types may be varied by resolutions in the same way as the
primary types, there arise various additional formulas such as the
following:
A: (×) ⏑́ × (×) × –́ ×.
B: (×) ×̀ × –́ (×) ×̀ × ⏑́ ×.
C: (×) ×̀ × ⏑́ × –́ ×, &c.
Other variations may be effected by disyllabic or even polysyllabic
theses in the beginning ('anacruses') or in the middle of the verse
instead of monosyllabic theses.
Apart from these another frequently occurring variation of type C must
be mentioned which corresponds to the formula (×) ×̀ × –́ × –́ ×, and may
be designated (with Professors Paul and Luick) as type Cª, because the
position of its accented syllables points to type C, while on the other
hand it bears a certain resemblance to type A.
The following examples, many of which have been quoted before by Luick,
may serve to illustrate these types of short lines or rather hemistichs
and their combination in couplets or long lines, in which a normal
hemistich is often followed by a lengthened one and vice versa:
A* + A*: _Stróng hit ìs to rówe | ayèyn þe sée þat flóweþ._
Prov. x. 145-6.
A* + A*: _And swá heo gùnnen wénden | fórð tò þan kínge._
Lay. 13811-12.
A*+ A*: _ne míhte wè bilǽue | for líue nè for dǽþe._
ib. 13875-6.
B + A*: _ùmbe =f=íftène ȝer | þat =f=ólc is isómned._
ib. 13855-6.
A* + C*: _ǽveràlche ȝére | heo bèreð chíld þére._ ib. 13871-2.
B* + B*: _þèr com =H=éngest, þèr com =H=órs, | þèr com míni mòn
ful óht._
ib. 14009-10.
B* + B*: _ànd þe clérek ànd þe knýht, | he schùlle démen èuelyche
ríht._
Prov. iv. 78-9.
Cª+ C*: _þèr þes =c=níhtes =c=ómen | bifòren þan fólc-=k=ínge._
Lay. 13817-18.
C* + A*: _ȝìf heo gríð sóhten, | and of his fréondscipe róhten?_
ib. 13803-4.
C* + Cª: _hìt beoð tíðénde | ìnne Sǽxe lónde._ ib. 14325-6.
A* + C*: _for he wólde wìð þan kínge | hòlden rúnínge._ ib. 14069-70.
A* + D*: _heo sǽden tò þan kínge | néowe tíðènden._ ib. 13996-7.
A* + D*: _and míd him bròuhte hére | an húndred rídǣ̀ren._
ib. 15088-9.
E* + B*: _Hǽngest wès þan kìnge léof | ànd him Líndesàȝe géf._
ib. 14049-50.
Types with resolutions:
A* + A*: _and þ=ú=s þìne =d=úȝeþe | stílle hè for=d=émeð._
ib. 14123-4.
A* + B*: _Wóden hèhde þa hǽhste làȝe | an ùre ǽldèrne
dǽȝen._
ib. 13921-2.
The first hemistich of the last line offers a specimen of a variation
of the ordinary types with feminine endings (chiefly of A, C, and
Cª), designated by Prof. Luick as A1, C1, Cª₁, and showing the
peculiarity that instead of the ending –́ × somewhat fuller forms occur,
consisting either of two separate words or of a compound word, and
thus corresponding either to the formula –́ ×̀, or, if there are three
syllables, to the formula –́ × ×̀, or in case of a resolution (as in the
above example) to the formula –́ × ⏑́ ×. We differ from Prof. Luick,
however, in admitting also endings corresponding to the formula ⏑́ ×̀ ×.
As a rule, if not always, such forms of verse are occasioned by the
requirements of rhyme. This is not the case, it is true, in the
following purely alliterative line:
A1* + A*: _þe kíng sòne úp stòd | and sétte hine bì him séoluen_.
Lay. 14073-4.
but in other verses it is so, e.g.:
B* + A1*: _Ah of éou ich wùlle iwíten | þurh sóðen èouwer wúrðscìpen._
ib. 13835-6.
and similarly (not corresponding to –́ × ×̀, as Prof. Luick thinks):
A1* + B*: _bìdden us to fúltúme | þàt is Críst gòdes súne._
ib. 14618-19.
but the formula –́ × ×̀ is represented by the following verses:
A1* + A1*: _þe =þ=únre heo ȝìven =þ=únresdǽi | for=þ=í þat
hèo heom helpen mæ̀i._
ib. 13929-30.
A1* + A1*: _þe =éo=rl ànd þe =é=þel[`y]ng | ib=ú=reþ ùnder gódne
kìng_.
Prov. iv. 74-5.
C1* + Cª₁*: _nès þer nán crístindòm, | þèr þe kíng þat máide nòm._
Lay. 14387-8.
In the last but one of these examples this accentuation is corroborated
in the Jesus College MS. by the written accent on the word _gódne_,
whereby not only the rhyme _-lyng: king_ is shown to be an unaccented
one, but at the same time the two-beat rhythm of the hemistich is proved
as well as that of the preceding hemistich. Moreover, the alliteration
in all these examples is a further proof of the two-beat character of
their rhythm.
§ =48.= It was owing to the use of these two more strongly accented
syllables in each verse which predominate over the other syllables,
whether with secondary accents or unaccented, that the poets, who wrote
in this metre, found it possible to regard the different kinds of verse
they employed as rhythmically equivalent. These were as follows: (1)
purely alliterative lines with hemistichs of two stresses, (2) extended
lines of this kind with secondary accents in the middle of the
hemistich, (3) rhyming-alliterative or merely rhyming lines with a
feminine ending and a secondary accent in the middle of the verse, or
with a masculine ending and two secondary accents, one on the last
syllable, as is also the case with the corresponding verses mentioned
under the second heading. These two last-mentioned verse-forms are very
similar to two popular metres formed on the model of Romanic metres. The
former of them--the hemistich with three stresses (one of which is
secondary) and feminine ending, together with the much rarer variety
that has a masculine ending--resembles the sections of the Alexandrine;
and the hemistich with a masculine ending (more rarely a feminine) and
four stresses (two of which have secondary accents only) is similar to
the short four-beat couplet, and also to the first section of the
Septenary line (the second section being similar to the former
three-beat group). It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that this
metre of Layamon in its different forms (that of the purely alliterative
line included) is in several Middle English poems, chiefly in _The
Bestiary_, employed concurrently (both in separate passages and in the
same passage) with the above-mentioned foreign metres formed on Romanic
or mediaeval-Latin models. By this fact the influence of the Romanic
versification on the origin and development of this form of the native
verse gains increased probability.[102]
The limits of our space do not permit of further discussion of this
peculiar metre, which, as presented in the extant examples, appears
rather as in process of development than as a finished product, and of
which a complete understanding can be attained only by elaborate
statistical investigation.
C. The progressive form of the alliterative line,
rhymed throughout. 'King Horn.'
§ =49.= The further development of the Layamon-verse is very simple and
such as might naturally be expected from its previous history.
The use of final rhyme becomes constant, and consequently alliteration,
although remnants of it still are noticeable even in short lines
connected together, becomes more and more scarce.[103]
The unaccented syllables are interposed between the accented ones with
greater regularity; and among the unaccented syllables the one (or,
in some sub-species of the verse, more than one) which is relatively
stronger than the rest receives full metrical stress, or at least nearly
approaches the fully-stressed syllables in rhythmical value.
This form of the metre is represented by a short poem[104] consisting
of only twelve lines, belonging to the first half of the thirteenth
century, and by the well-known poem _King Horn_[105] (1530 lines) which
belongs to the middle of the same century.
The prevailing rhythmical form of this poem is exemplified by the
following verses, which for the sake of convenience we print here, not
in the form of couplets (as the editors, quite justifiably, have done),
but in that of long lines as they are written in the Harleian MS.:
_Hórn þu àrt wel kéne | and þat is wèl iséne._ 91-2.
_Þe sé bigàn to flówe | and Hórn chìld to rówe._ 117-18.
This form occurs in more than 1300 out of the 1530 short lines of which
the poem consists. It is evident that the rhythm of these lines is
nearly the same as in the following taken from earlier poems:
_ǣ́fre embe stúnde | he séalde sume wúnde._ Byrhtn. 271.
_ínnon þām gemónge | on ǣ́nlicum wónge._ Dom. 6.
_súme hi man bénde | súme hi man blénde._ Chron. 1036. 4.
_þát he nam be wíhte | and mid mýcelan unríhte._ ib. 1087. 4.
_wiþ póuere and wiþ ríche | wiþ álle monne ilýche._ Prov. 375-6.
_ne míhte we bilǽve | for líve ne for dǽþe._ Lay. 13875-6.
If those syllables which have the strongest accent in the unaccented
parts of these verses are uttered a little more loudly than was usual
in the alliterative line the rhythm becomes exactly the same as in the
corresponding verses of King Horn, where the three-beat rhythm already
has become the rule.
This rule, however, is by no means without exceptions, and even the old
two-beat rhythm (which may have been the original rhythm) is, in the
oldest form of the poem, sometimes clearly perceptible, rarely, it is
true, in both hemistichs, as e.g. in the following line:
_Hi slóȝen and fúȝten | þe níȝt and þe úȝten._ 1375-6,
but somewhat oftener in one of them, as in the following:
_Hi wénden to wísse | of hère líf to mísse._ 121-2.
_So schál þi náme sprínge | from kínge to kínge._ 211-12.
_In Hórnes ilíke | þú schalt hùre beswíke._ 289-90.
_Hi rúnge þe bélle | þe wédlak fòr to felle._ 1253-4.
Of this type of verse a great many examples are of course to be met
with in the earlier alliterative poems:
_wúldres wédde | wī́tum āspḗdde._ An. 1633.
_wýrmum bewúnden, | wī́tum gebúnden._ Jud. 115.
_rā́d and rǣ́dde | ríncum tǣ́hte._ Byrhtn. 18.
_on míddan gehǣ́ge | éal swā ic sécge._ Dom. 4.
_þat lónd to léden | mid láweliche déden._ Prov. 75-6.
_þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilíche._ ib. 80-1.
_bivóren þan kínge | fáirest àlre þínge._ Lay. 14303-4.
The third type (three beats with masculine ending), which is of rarer
occurrence, is represented by the following lines:
_Þú art grèt and stróng, | fáir and èuene lóng._ 93-4.
_Þu schàlt be dúbbed kníght | are còme séue níȝt._ 447-8.
_Léue at hìre he nám | and into hálle cám._ 585-6.
As corresponding lines of earlier poems may be quoted:
_éarn ǣ́ses gèorn, | wæs on éorþan cýrm._ Byrhtn. 107.
_þat þe chírche hàbbe grýð | and þe chéorl bèo in frýð._ Prov. 93-4.
_lóuerd kìng wæs hæil! | for þine kíme ìch æm vǽin._
Lay. 14309-10.
The fourth type (four beats with masculine ending), which occurs
somewhat oftener, has the following form:
_Ófte hàdde Hòrn beo wó, | ac nèure wúrs þan hìm was þó._ 115-16.
_Þe stúard wàs in hèrte wó, | fòr he núste whàt to dó._ 275-6.
The corresponding rhythm of the earlier poems occurs in verses like:
_and his gefḗran he fordrā́f, | and sume míslice of slṓh._
Chr. 1036. 2.
_þe éorl ànd þe éþelìng | ibúreþ ùnder gódne kìng._ Prov. 74-5.
_and sélde wùrþ he blýþe and glèd | þe món þat ìs his wíves quèd._
ib. 304-5.
_þe þúnre heo ȝìven þúnres dæ̀i, | forþí þat hèo heom hélpen mæ̀i._
Lay. 13931-2.
The fifth type (four beats with feminine endings) is represented
by the following verses:
_To déþe hè hem álle bròȝte, | his fáder dèþ wel dére hi bòȝte._
883-4.
_Tomóreȝe bè þe fíȝtinge, | whàne þe líȝt of dáye sprìnge._ 817-18.
As corresponding verses of earlier poems we quote:
_=s=úme hi man wiþ fḗo =s=éalde, | =s=úme hrēowlice ācwéalde._
Chron. 1036. 3.
_and sóttes bòlt is sóne iscòte, | forþí ich hòlde híne for dòte._
Prov. 421-2.
_in þæ̀re sǽ heo fùnden utláwen, | þa kénneste þa wèoren ò þon
dáwen._ Lay. 1283-4.
The circumstance that these different types of verse occur in different
poems promiscuously makes it evident that they must all have been
developed from one original rhythmical form. It is clear that this
fundamental type can only be found in the old two-beat alliterative
hemistich, the more so as this kind of verse is the very metre in which
the earlier poems _Byrhtnoth_ and _Be Dōmes Dæge_ for the greatest part
are written, and which is exemplified in about a third part of the
poetical piece of the _Saxon Chronicle_ of 1036 and a fifth part of the
later-piece of 1087, and again very frequently in _Alfred's Proverbs_
and in Layamon's _Brut_, and which still can be traced as the original
rhythm of _King Horn_.
§ =50.= The evidence of the metre of this poem, showing its affinity to
the alliterative line and its historical origin from it, is so cogent
that it is unnecessary to discuss the theories of Prof. Trautmann and
the late Dr. Wissmann, both of whom, although from different points of
view, agree in ascribing a four-beat rhythm to this metre.[106]
The frequent use again in this poem of the types of line occurring in
Layamon's _Brut_, as pointed out by Prof. Luick (l. c.), puts the close
connexion of the metre of _King Horn_ with that form of the alliterative
line beyond doubt. We cannot, however, in conformity with the view we
have taken of Layamon's verse, agree with Prof. Luick in assigning a
secondary accent to the last syllable of the feminine ending of the
ordinary three-beat verse, in which the greater part of _King Horn_ is
written. Prof. Luick himself does not insist upon that particular point
so strongly for this poem as he did for the earlier poems written in a
similar metre.
The following examples serve to show that the same extended types of
line which were found to be the commonest in Layamon's _Brut_ (cp.
p. 77) recur as the most usual types also in this poem:
A + C: _Álle bèon he blíþe | þat tò my sóng lýþe!_ 1-2.
A + A: _A sáng ihc schàl ȝou sínge | of Múrrȳ̀ þè kínge._ 2-3.
A + A: _He fónd bì þe strónde, | aríued òn his lónde_, 35-6.
B + C: _Àll þe dáy and àl þe nī́ȝt, | tìl hit spráng dái lìȝt._ 123-4.
B + B: _Fàirer nis nón þàne he wás, | hè was bríȝt sò þe
glás._ 13-14.
C + C: _Bì þe sé síde, | ase hè was, wóned ( ⏑́ ×) ríde._ 33-4.
C + A: _Of þìne méstére, | of wúde and òf rivére._ 229-30.
D + A: _Schípes fíftène | with sárazìn[e]s kéne._ 37-8.
C + A: _Þe chìld him ánswérde, | sóne so hè hit hérde._ 199-200.
B + E: _Hè was whít sò þe flúr, | róse-rèd was hìs colúr._ 15-16.
In most cases we see that identical or similar types of verse are
connected here so as to form a couplet (printed by us as one long line).
Even where this is not so, however, the two chief accents in each short
line serve to make all the different forms and types of verse occurring
in this poem sound homogeneous. This admits of a ready explanation,
as the poem, in which no stanzaic arrangement can be detected, although
styled a 'song' (line 2), was certainly never meant to be sung to a
regular tune. On the contrary, it was undoubtedly recited like the
'Song' of Beowulf--probably not without a proper musical
accompaniment--by the minstrels.
At all events the treatment of the words with regard to their rhythmic
use in this poem does not deviate from that of Layamon.
§ =51.= The two poems are of the same period, and in both the
etymological and syntactical accentuation of natural speech forms the
basis of the rhythmic accentuation. Monosyllabic words and the accented
syllables of polysyllabic words having a strong syntactical accent are
placed in the arsis; unaccented inflectional syllables as a rule form
the theses of a verse; second parts of compounds and fully sounding
derivative syllables are commonly used for theses with a somewhat
stronger accent, and may, if placed in the arsis, even bear the
alliteration, or, if they are less strongly accented, the rhyme:
_Þèr þas =c=níhtes =c=ómen | bi=f=òren þan =f=ólc-=k=ínge._
Lay. 13818-19.
_Ah of éou ich wùlle i=w=íten | þurh =s=óðen èouwer =w=úrðscìpen._
ib. 13835-6.
_A móreȝe bò þe dáy gan sprìnge, | þe kíng him ròd an húntìnge._
Horn 645-6.
_He wàs þe faíréste, | ànd of wít þe béste._ ib. 173-4.
Unaccented inflexional syllables as a rule stand in the thesis of a
verse. Only in exceptional cases, which admit of a different explanation
(see above, pp. 74 and 76), they may bear the rhythmical accent if the
rhyme demands it.
That a thesis in Layamon's _Brut_ and in _Alfred's Proverbs_ may be
disyllabic or even trisyllabic both in the beginning and the middle of a
line is evident from the many examples quoted above.
In _King Horn_, where the division of the original long lines into two
short ones has been carried out completely, and where the rhythm of the
verse has consequently become more regular, the thesis, if not wanting
entirely, as usually the case, in the types C, D, E, is generally
monosyllabic. But, as the following examples, _faírer ne mìȝte_ 8, _þe
paíns còme to lónde_ 58, _þanne schólde withùten óþe_ 347, will show,
disyllabic theses do also occur, both after the first and second arsis,
and in the beginning of the line.
NOTES:
[96] Some less important examples, of which the metrical character is
not quite clear, are mentioned by Luick, Paul's _Grundriss_, ed.
2, II. ii. p. 144.
[97] In this passage and for the future we refrain from indicating the
quantity of the vowels. The rhythmic accentuation is omitted, as
being very uncertain in this passage.
[98] Viz. the so-called _Proverbs of King Alfred_ (ed. by R. Morris,
E.E.T.S., vol. XLIX), and Layamon's _Brut_, ed. by Sir Frederic
Madden, London, 1847, 2 vols.
[99] Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 10, and _Altgermanische
Metrik_, p. 139.
[100] On the nature of these rhymes, cf. § 53 and the author's paper,
'Metrische Randglossen,' in _Englische Studien_, x. 192 ff.,
chiefly pp. 199-200.
[101] In Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. pp. 145-7.
[102] Cf. our remarks in Book I, Part II, on the Septenary Verse in
combination with other metres.
[103] Cf. Wissmann, _King Horn_, pp. 59-62, and _Metrik_, i, pp.
189-90.
[104] _Signs of Death_ in _Old Engl. Misc._ (E. E. T. S.), p. 101.
[105] Cf. Hall's edition (Clar. Press, 1901), pp. xlv-l, where our
views on the origin and structure of the metre are adopted.
[106] See Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii. p. 156.
CHAPTER IV
THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN ITS CONSERVATIVE
FORM DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
A. The alliterative verse without rhyme.
§ =52.= The progressive or free form of the alliterative line came to an
end as early as the middle of the thirteenth century, when it broke up
into short rhyming couplets. The stricter form was for nearly three
centuries longer a very popular metre in English poetry, especially in
the North-Western and Northern districts of England and in the adjacent
lowlands of Scotland. The first traces, however, of its existence after
the Norman Conquest are to be found in the South of England, where some
poetical homilies and lives of saints were written at the end of the
twelfth and in the beginning of the thirteenth century which are of the
same character, both as to their subjects and to their metre, as the
poetical paraphrases and homilies written by Ælfric. These poems are
_Hali Meidenhad_ (a poetical homily), the legends of _St. Marharete_,
_St. Juliana_, and _St. Katherine_. These poems have been edited for
the Early English Text Society, Nos. 18, 13, 51, 80; the first three
by Cockayne as prose-texts, the last by Dr. Einenkel, who printed it in
short couplets regarded by him as having the same four-beat rhythm
(Otfrid's metre) which he and his teacher, Prof. Trautmann, suppose to
exist in Layamon and _King Horn_.[107] The Homilies have no rhymes.
The form of these homilies and legends occasionally exhibits real
alliterative lines, but for the most part is nothing but rhythmical
prose, altogether too irregular to call for an investigation here.
Some remarks on passages written in a form more or less resembling
alliterative verse may be found in our _Englische Metrik_, vol. i, § 94.
It is quite out of the question to suppose these Southern works, with
their very irregular use of alliteration and metre, to have had any
influence on the metrical form of the very numerous alliterative poems
written in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Midland and
Northern districts of England. It is, however, not at all likely that
alliterative poetry should have sprung up there without any medium of
tradition, and that it should have returned to the strict forms of the
Old English models. Nor can we assume that it was handed down by means
of oral tradition only on the part of the minstrels from Old English
times down to the fourteenth century. The channel of tradition of the
genuine alliterative line must be sought for in documents which for the
most part have been lost.
A few small remnants, however, have been preserved, viz. a charm in a
MS. of the twelfth century (cf. Zupitza, _Zeitschrift für deutsches
Altertum_, xxxi. 49), a short poem, entitled 'Ten Abuses', belonging
to the same period (E. E. T. S. 49, p. 184), a prophecy of five lines
contained in the chronicle of Benedict of Peterborough (_Rerum
Britannicarum Scriptores_, 49, ii. 139), finally a prophecy ascribed
to Thomas of Erceldoune (E.E. T. S., vol. 61, xviii, _Thom. of Erc._,
ed. by A. Brandl, p. 26). But these pieces, treated by Prof. Luick in
Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, p. 160, are either too short or
are too uncertain in text to admit of our making definite conclusions
from them.
But from the middle of the fourteenth century onward we have a large
number of poems composed in regular alliterative verse, e.g. _King
Alisaunder_ (Als.) and _William of Palerne_ (W.), both in E. E. T. S.,
Extra-Ser. No. 1; _Joseph of Arimathie_ (J.A.), E. E.T. S. 44; _Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight_ (Gr.), E.E. T. S. 4; _Piers Plowman_
(P. P.), by W. Langland, E. E. T. S., Nos. 17, 28, 30, 38, 54; _Pierce
the Plowman's Crede_ (P. P. Cr.), E. E. T. S. 30; _Richard the Redeles_
(R. R.), E. E. T. S. 54; _The Crowned King_ (Cr. K.), ibid.; _The
Destruction of Troy_, E. E.T. S. 39, 56; _Morte Arthure_, E. E. T. S. 8;
_Cleanness_ and _Patience_, E. E. T. S. 1; _The Chevalere Assigne_,
E. E.T. S., Extra-Ser. 6; and others of the end of the fifteenth and the
beginning of the sixteenth centuries: see Prof. W. W. Skeat's list in
'Bishop Percy's Folio MS.', London, 1867 (ed. Furnivall and Hales), vol.
iii, p. xi, and many recent publications of the Early English Text
Society.
On the =structure of this metre= the opinions of scholars differ a good
deal less than on that of the progressive or free form of the
alliterative line. Yet there are a few adherents of the four-beat theory
who apply it to the alliterative line of this epoch, amongst others
Rosenthal ('Die alliterierende englische Langzeile im 14. Jahrhundert,'
_Anglia_, i. 414 ff.). The two-beat theory, on the other hand, has been
upheld also for this form of the alliterative line by Prof. W. W. Skeat,
_Essay on Alliterative Poetry_, Percy Folio MS. 1867 (ed. Furnivall and
Hales), by the present writer in _Englische Metrik_, i, pp. 195-212, and
by Prof. Luick, _Anglia_, xi, pp. 392-443 and 553-618, and subsequently
in Paul's _Grundriss_, ed. 2, II. ii, pp. 161-3.
§ =53. The use and treatment of the words in the verse= is on the
whole the same as in the Old English period. The chief divergence is,
that in this period of the language the difference between long and
short syllables was lost, in consequence of the lengthening of short
vowels in open syllables which had taken place in the interval, and
that consequently the substitution of a short accented syllable and
an unaccented one for a long accented syllable (the so-called
resolution) was no longer admissible. Otherwise syllables with a primary
accent, syllables with a secondary accent, and unaccented syllables are
treated just as in the Old English poetry. Accented syllables are as
a rule placed in the arsis, as are also second parts of compounds. Other
syllables with secondary accent (derivative and inflectional syllables)
are only in exceptional cases placed in the arsis of a verse.
It is of special interest, however, to notice that words of Romanic
origin which in the course of time had been introduced into the language
are in many cases accented according to Germanic usage. Words of which
the last syllable was accented in French have in their Middle-English
form the chief accent thrown on a preceding, frequently on the first,
syllable, and in consequence of this the originally fully accented
syllable in trisyllabic words receives the secondary accent and is
treated in the rhythm of the verse in the same way as syllables with
a secondary accent in English words. The laws, too, which in Old English
affect the subordination and position of the parts of speech in their
relationship to the rhythm of the verse and to the alliteration, remain,
generally speaking, in force. It is remarkable that 'if an attributive
adjective is joined to a substantive, and a verb to a prepositional
adverb, the first part of these groups of words still has the chief
accent' (Luick). The relationship, on the other hand, of verse and
sentence is changed. While in Old English poetry run-on-lines were
very popular and new sentences therefore frequently began in the
middle of a line, after the caesura, we find that in Middle English, as
a rule, the end of the sentence coincides with the end of the line.
Hence every line forms a unity by itself, and the chief pause falls at
the end, not, as was frequently the case in Old English times, after the
caesura.
§ =54. Alliteration.= On the whole, the same laws regarding the
position of the alliterative sounds are still in force as before; it is
indeed remarkable that they are sometimes even more strictly observed.
In the _Destruction of Troy_, e.g. triple alliteration according to the
formula _a a a x_ is employed throughout.
_Now of =T=róy forto =t=élle | is myn en=t=ént euyn,
Of the =st=óure and þe =st=rýfe, | when it di=st=róyet wás._
Prol. 27-8.
Alongside of this order of alliteration we find in most of the other
poems the other schemes of alliteration popular in Old English times,
e.g. _a x a x, x a a x, a b a b, a b b a_:
_In þe =f=órmest yére, | that he =f=írst réigned._ Als. 40.
_Þénne gonne I =m=éeten | a =m=érvelous svévene._ P. P. Prol. 11.
_I had =m=índe on my =s=lépe | by =m=éting of =s=wéuen._ Als. 969.
_And =f=ónd as þe =m=éssageres | hade =m=únged be=f=óre._ W. 4847.
Irregularities, however, in the position of the alliteration are
frequently met with, e.g. parallel alliteration: _a a, b b_:
_What þis =m=óuntein be=m=éneþ | and þis =d=érke =d=ále._ P. P. i. 1;
or the chief alliterative sound (the 'head-stave') may be placed in the
last accented syllable (_a a x a_):
_'Now be =C=ríst,' quod the =k=íng, | 'ȝif I míhte =c=hácche._
ib. ii. 167;
or it may be wanting entirely, especially in _William of Palerne_:
_Sche =k=ólled it ful =k=índly | and áskes is náme._ W. 69;
and there are even found a certain number of verses without any
alliteration at all in _Joseph of Arimathie_:
_Whan Jóseph hérde þer-of, | he bád hem not demáyȝen._ J. A. 31.
In such cases it may sometimes be noticed that a line which has no
internal alliteration is linked by alliteration with a preceding or with
a following line, in the same way as was to be observed already in the
last century of the Old English period (cf. p. 50):
_Bot on the =C=ristynmes dáye, | whene they were álle =s=émblyde,
That =c=ómliche =c=ónquerour | =c=ómmaundez hym =s=elvyne._
Morte Arth. 70-1.
Again an excess of alliteration is found, which happens in different
ways, either by admitting four alliterative sounds in one line
(_a a a a_) as was sometimes done even in Old English:
_In a =s=ómer =s=éson | when =s=ófte was þe =s=ónne._ P. P. Prol. 1;
or by retaining the same alliterative sound in several consecutive
lines, e.g.:
_þenne was =C=ónscience i=c=léþet | to =c=ómen and apéeren_
_tofore the =k=ýng and his =c=óunsel, | =c=lérkes and óþure._
_=k=néolynge =C=ónscience | to the =k=ýng lóutede._
ib. iii. 109-11;
or, finally, by allowing the somewhat more strongly accented syllables
of the theses to participate in the alliteration:
_and was a =b=íg =b=old =b=árn | and =b=réme of his áge._ W. 18.
By the increasing use of this kind of alliteration it ultimately
degenerated so much that the real nature of it was completely forgotten.
This is evident from the general advice which King James VI gives in his
_Revlis and Cavtelis to be observit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie_
(Arber's Reprint, p. 63):
Let all your verse be _Literall_, sa far as may be, quhatsumeuer kynde
they be of, but speciallie _Tumbling_ verse [evidently the
alliterative line] for flyting. Be _Literall_ I meane, that the maist
pairt of your lyne sall rynne vpon a letter, as this tumbling lyne
rynnis vpon F.
_Fetching fade for to feid it fast furth of the Farie._[108]
He then gives a description of this kind of verse which makes it evident
that he looked upon 'tumbling verse' as a rhythm of two beats in each
hemistich or four beats in the full line, for he says:
Ȝe man observe that thir Tumbling verse flowis not on that fassoun
as vtheris dois. For all vtheris keipis the reule quhilk I gave
before, to wit the first fute short the secound lang and sa furth.
Quhair as thir hes twa short and are lang throuch all the lyne quhen
they keip ordour, albeit the maist pairt of thame be out of ordour
and keipis na kynde nor reule of Flowing and for that cause are
callit Tumbling verse.
King James VI was a contemporary of the last poets who wrote in
alliterative lines in the North and therefore undoubtedly had heard such
poems read by reciters who had kept up the true tradition of their
scansion. We have here then the very best proof we can desire not only
of the four-beat rhythm of the line, but also of the fact that
unaccented words, although they may alliterate intentionally, as they
do often in poems of the fifteenth century, or unintentionally, as
earlier, do not get a full accent in consequence of the alliteration, as
some scholars have thought, but remain unaccented.[109]
As to the quality of the alliteration the same laws on the whole still
prevail as in Old English poetry, but are less strictly observed. Thus
frequently voiced and unvoiced sounds alliterate together, and the
aspiration is neglected; _f_ alliterates with _v_, _v_ with _w_, _w_
with _wh_, _s_ with _sh_ or with combinations of _s_ and other
consonants, _g_ with _k_, _h_ with _ch_:
_=h=értes and =h=índes | and =ó=þer bestes mánye._ W. 389.
_of =f=álsnesse and =f=ásting | and =v=óuwes ibróken._
P. P. Prol. 68.
_bat he =w=íst =w=íterly | it was the =v=óis of a childe._ W. 40.
_to a=c=órde wiþ þe =k=íng | and =g=ráunte his wílle._ ib. 3657.
_I =s=áyle now in þe =s=ée | as =sch=íp boute mást._ ib. 567.
_such =ch=ástite withouten =ch=árite | worþ =cl=áymed in hélle!_
P. P. i. 168.
On the other hand, sometimes (as e.g. in the _Alisaunder_ fragments)
greater strictness may be noticed in regard to alliteration of vowels,
as only the same vowels[110] are allowed to alliterate:
_wiþ þé =é=rldam of =É=nuye | =é=uer forto láste._ P. P. ii. 63.
Later on, in the fifteenth century, vocalic alliteration in general
falls into disuse more and more.
§ =55. Comparison of Middle English and Old English alliterative
verse.= With regard to the rhythmic structure of the verse the Middle
English alliterative line is not very different from the corresponding
Old English metre. Two beats in each hemistich are, of course, the
rule, and it has been shown by Dr. K. Luick, in a very valuable
paper on the English alliterative line in the fourteenth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth centuries,[111] that all the different types which
Prof. Sievers has discovered for the two sections of the Old English
alliterative line occur here again, but with certain modifications.
The modifications which the five chief types have undergone originated
in the tendency to simplify their many varieties exactly in the same way
as the Old English inflexional forms of the language were simplified and
generalized in the Middle English period.
Only three of the five old types, viz. those with an even number of
members (A, B, C), are preserved in the second section of the verse,
and those not in their original forms. They show further a certain
tendency to assimilate to each other.
In types B and C the variations with disyllabic anacrusis occurred most
frequently, as was also the case in type A, and verses of this kind now
become predominant. Furthermore, in the Old English alliterative line,
endings consisting of an accented and an unaccented syllable (feminine
endings) prevailed; and type B was the only one of the symmetrical
types ending with an accented syllable. In Middle English the use of
feminine endings goes so far that the original type B has disappeared
altogether and given place to a new type with an unaccented last
syllable corresponding to the form × × –́ × –́ ×.
Prof. Luick very properly calls this type BC, holding that it
originated from the variations × × –́ × ⏑́͜× and × × ⏑́͜× –́ × of
the old types B and C in consequence of the lengthening of the
originally short accented syllable. Verse-ends with two unaccented
syllables, which might have arisen in the same way from –́ × = ⏑́͜× ×,
did not become popular; and verse-ends with one unaccented syllable
predominated. Lastly, an important feature of the later verse-technique
deserves notice, that a monosyllabic anacrusis (an initial unaccented
syllable) is generally allowed in types where it was not permitted in
the Old English alliterative line. The consequence of these changes
is that the rhythm of the verse which was in Old English a descending
rhythm, becomes in Middle English ascending, and is brought into line
with the rhythm of the contemporary even-beat metres.
This is the state of development presented by the Middle English
alliterative line in one of the earliest poems of this group, viz. in
the fragments of _King Alisaunder_, the versification of which, as a
rule, is very correct.
Here the three types only which we have mentioned occur in the second
hemistich.
Type A is most common, corresponding to the formula (×)–́ × × –́ ×:
_=l=órdes and óoþer_ 1, _=d=éedes of ármes_ 5, _=k=íd in his tíme_
11, _=t=érme of his lífe_ 16,
or with anacrusis:
_or =st=érne was hólden_ 10, _and =s=óne beráfter_ 25.
More than two unaccented syllables may occur _after_ the first accented
syllable. These two peculiarities seldom occur together in one and the
same second hemistich (though frequently in the first hemistich); but
there are some examples:
_is =t=úrned too him álse_ 165, _and =p=ríkeden abóute_ 382, _hee
=f=áred òn in háste_ 79;
in this last example with a secondary accent on the word _òn_ as
also in the verse: _þe =m=éssengères þei cámme_ 1126.
Type C, (×) × × –́ –́ ×:
_was þe mán hóten_ 13, _þat his =k=íth ásketh_ 65, _as a =k=íng
shólde_ 17, _withoute =m=íscháunce_ 1179.
Type BC, (×) × × –́ × –́ ×:
_or it =t=ýme wére_ 30, _in his =f=áders life_ 46, _of þis =m=éry
tále_ 45, _þat þei no =c=ómme þáre_ 507.
The same types occur in the first hemistich; but type C disappears almost
entirely, and in the other two the last syllable not unfrequently is
accented, especially if a considerable number of unaccented syllables
occur in the middle of the hemistich; such verses may be looked upon as
remnants of types B and E:
_þo was =c=róuned =k=íng_ 28, _hee made a =u=éry =u=ów_ 281, _and
=w=édded þat =w=íght_ 225, _þe =b=érn couth þerbý_ 632, &c.
Type D also seems to occur sometimes:
_=m=óuth =m=éete þertò_ 184, _what =d=éath =d=rý[e] thou shàlt_ 1067.
Besides these types the first hemistich has, as in Old English times,
some forms of its own. The succession of syllables –́ × × –́ × (type A)
is extended either by several unaccented syllables before the first
accented one (polysyllabic anacrusis) or by the insertion of a
secondary accent between the two main accented syllables, or after the
second accented syllable, with a considerable number of medial
unaccented syllables.
(_a_) _That ever =st=éede be=st=róde_ 10,
_Hee brought his ménne to þe =b=órowe_ 259.
(_b_) _And =ch=éued fòrthe with þe =ch=ílde_ 78,
_Þe =c=ómpanìe was =c=árefull_ 359.
(_c_) α. _=G=lísiande as =g=óldwìre_ 180,
_Þei =c=raked þe =c=ournales_ 295.
β. _Hue =l=óued so =l=écherìe_ 35,
_And =Ph=ílip þe =f=érse kìng_ 276.
γ. _=St=ónes =st=írred þei þò_ 293,
_Þe =f=ólke too =f=áre with hìm_ 158.
The examples under (_a_) show the tendency noticeable already in the
first hemistich of the Old English alliterative line to admit anacrusis.
The examples under (_b_) and (_c_) may be looked upon as extended forms
of types E and D.
§ =56.= Several poems of somewhat later date deviate more frequently
from these types than the _Alisaunder_ fragments, chiefly in the
following points:
The end of the hemistich sometimes consists of an accented syllable
instead of an unaccented one; the thesis is sometimes monosyllabic
instead of polysyllabic, especially in A, or the anacrusis may be
polysyllabic instead of monosyllabic. Secondary accents are introduced
more frequently into the second hemistich also, but by poets whose
technique is careful they are admitted only between the two accented
syllables. Owing to these licences, and to the introduction of
polysyllabic theses, the rhythm of the verse sometimes becomes very
heavy.
Belonging to this group are _William of Palerne_, _Joseph of Arimathie_,
both belonging to the middle of the fourteenth century, the three
editions of William Langland's _Vision concerning Piers Plowman_, of
somewhat later date, and a few minor poems. The _Romance of the
Chevelere Assigne_, written in the East Midland district, at the end of
the fourteenth century, and the works of the Gawain-poet, viz. _Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight_, _Cleanness_, _Patience_, and the _Legend
of St. Erkenwald_ (Horstmann, _Altengl. Legenden_, 1881, p. 265), form
the transition to another group of poems belonging to the North of
England, but differing somewhat from the preceding with regard to their
metre.
The most important amongst these is Langland's great work, but it is at
the same time most unequal in respect to its versification. In many
passages, especially in the beginning of the several Passus, as they are
called, the flow of the verses is very regular; in other passages the
theses are frequently of such great length, and the arsis stands out so
indistinctly, that the rhythm of the verse can only be made out with
difficulty. Some examples taken from the B-text (c. 1377) may serve to
illustrate this:
Extended second hemistich (Type A):
_To =b=óres and to =b=róckes | þat =b=réketh adòwn myne hégges._
vi. 31.
_And so I =t=rówe =t=réwly | by þat men =t=élleth of chárite._
xv. 158.
_Ac ȝut in =m=ány mo =m=áneres | =m=én offènden þe hóligòste._
xvii. 280.
Extended first hemistich (Type A):
_=L=éue him nòuȝt, for he is =l=écherous | and =l=íkerous of tónge._
vi. 268.
_=L=áboreres þat haue no =l=ánde | to =l=ýue on but her hándes._
ib. 309.
_'Now, by þe =p=éril of my soúle!' quod Pieres, | 'I shal a=p=éyre
ȝou álle!'_
vi. 173.
Such verses obviously contain only two beats in each hemistich,
although at the same time some of the syllables forming the thesis may
have a somewhat stronger accent than others. For as a rule such extended
verses are succeeded by a normal line, clearly bringing out again the
general four-beat rhythm, as is the case with the line (A + A) following
immediately upon the last-mentioned example:
_And =h=óuped after =h=únger | þat =h=érd hym atte fírste._
vi. 174.
Type A is in _Piers Plowman_ the usual one, but the types C and BC
frequently occur. In the following examples we have type C in the second
hemistich:
_And hadden =l=éue to =l=ye | al here =l=ýf áfter._ Prol. 49.
_I seigh =s=ómme that =s=éiden | þei had y=s=óuȝt =s=éyntes_.
ib. 50;
in the first hemistich it occurs rarely:
_Ac on a =M=áy =m=órnynge | on =M=áluerne húlles._ ib. 5.
Type B C is frequently to be met with in both hemistichs; e.g. in the
first:
_In a =s=ómer =s=éson, | whan =s=óft was the =s=ónne._ ib. 1.
_And as I =l=áy and =l=éned | and =l=óked in þe wáteres._ ib. 9;
in the second:
_=B=ídders and =b=éggeres | fast a=b=óute ȝéde._ ib. 40.
_=W=énten to =W=álsyngham, | and here =w=énches áfter._ ib. 54.
Masculine endings, however (originating from the dropping of the final
_-e_ in the last words of the types A and C, as e.g. in _and =d=rédful
of síght_ Prol. 16, _=c=ristened þe =k=ýnge_ xv. 437, _as þe kýng híght_
iii. 9), occur very rarely here. They are, on the other hand,
characteristic forms in another group of alliterative poems.
§ =57.= These belong to the =North of England= and the adjacent parts
of the Midlands.
In these districts the final _e_ had by this time become silent, or was
in the course of becoming so. Thus many verses of West-Midland poems
were shortened in the North by omitting the final _-e_, and then these
forms were imitated there. Hence the middle of the line was much less
modified than the end of it.
Types A, C, B C, therefore, occur not only in the ordinary forms with
unaccented syllables at the end, but also, although more rarely, with
accented ones, viz. corresponding to the schemes:
A1, (×) –́ × × –́, C1, (×) × × –́ –́, BC1, (×) × × –́ × –́.
These forms of the hemistich first occur in the _Destruction of Troy_,
a poem written in a West-Midland dialect very like to the Northern
dialect, and in the North-English poems, _Morte Arthure_ and _The Wars
of Alexander_ (E. E. T. S., Extra-Ser. 47). Examples of these types
(taken from the first-mentioned poem) are: of type A1 in the second
hemistich, _for =l=érning of ús_ 32, _þat =ó=nest were =á=y_ 48; with a
polysyllabic thesis, _and =l=ympit of the sóthe_ 36; with a secondary
accent, _with =c=léne mèn of wít_ 790; without anacrusis,[112] _=l=émond
as góld_ 459, _=b=léssid were Í_ 473; in the first hemistich, with
disyllabic anacrusis, _þat ben =d=répit with =d=éth_ 9, _þat with the
=G=rékys was =g=rét_ 40; without anacrusis, _=B=ýg y-noghe vnto =b=éd_
397, _=T=rýed men þat were =t=áken_ 258, &c.; examples for C1 (only
occurring in the second hemistich), _þat he =f=óre with_ 44, _into your
=l=ond hóme_ 611, _ye have =s=áid well_ 1122, _þat ho =b=órne wás_ 1388,
_of my =c=órs hás_ 1865; examples for B C1, in the second hemistich
(of rare occurrence), _when it de=st=róyet wás_ 28, _and to =s=órow
bróght_ 1497, _þere þe =c=ítie wás_ 1534.
The same modification of types took place later in other parts of the
Midlands, as appears from two works of the early sixteenth century,
_Scottish Field_ and _Death and Life_ (Bishop Percy's Folio MS.,
edited by Furnivall and Hales, i. 199 and iii. 49). The last
North-English or rather Scottish poem, on the other hand, written in
alliterative lines without rhyme, Dunbar's well-known Satire, _The twa
mariit wemen and the wedo_, has, apart from the normal types occurring
in the North-English poems, many variants, chiefly in the first
hemistich, which are characterized by lengthy unaccented parts both at
the beginning of the line, before the second arsis, and after it;
frequently too syllables forming the thesis have a secondary accent and
even take part in the alliteration, as e.g. in the following examples:
_=Ȝ=aip and =ȝ=íng, in the =ȝ=ók | ane =ȝ=éir for to dráw._ 79.
_Is =b=àir of =b=lís and =b=áilfull, | and greit =b=árrat wírkis_.
51.
Sometimes the second hemistich participates in this cumulation of
alliterating words, which not unfrequently extends over several, even as
many as six or seven consecutive lines:
_He =g=ráythit me in =g=áy silk | and =g=údlie arráyis,
In =g=ównis of in=g=ránit clayth | and =g=reit =g=óldin chénȝeis._
365-6.
This explains how King James VI came to formulate the metrical rule
mentioned above (p. 89) from the misuse of alliteration by the last
poets who used the alliterative line, or the alliterative rhyming
line to be discussed in the next paragraph, which shares the same
peculiarity.
B. The alliterative line combined with rhyme.
§ =58.= In spite of the great popularity which the regular alliterative
line enjoyed down to the beginning of the Modern English period,
numerous and important rivals had arisen in the meantime, viz. the many
even-beat rhymed kinds of verse formed on foreign models; and these
soon began to influence the alliterative line. The first mark of this
influence was that end-rhyme and strophic formation was forced upon
many alliterative poems. In a further stage the alliterative line was
compelled to accommodate its free rhythm of four accents bit by bit
to that of the even-beat metres, especially to the closely-related
four-foot iambic line, and thus to transform itself into a more or
less regular iambic-anapaestic metre. The alliterative line, on the
other hand, exercised a counter influence on the newer forms of verse,
inasmuch as alliteration, which was formerly peculiar to native
versification, took possession in course of time to a considerable
extent of the even-beat metres, especially of the four-foot iambic
verse. But by this reciprocal influence of the two forms of verse the
blending of the four-beat alliterative line with that of four equal
measures and the ultimate predominance of the even-beat metres was
brought about more easily and naturally.
Alliterative-rhymed lines, the connexion of which into stanzas or
staves will be treated of in the second part of this work under the
heading of the 'Bob-wheel-stanza', were used during the Middle English
period alike in lyric, epic, and dramatic poetry.
§ =59. Lyrical stanzas.= The earliest stanzas written in alliterative
rhyming lines were lyrical.
We must distinguish between isometric and anisometric stanza forms.
In the former the whole stanza consists of four-beat alliterative
lines, commonly rhyming according to a very simple scheme (either _a a
a a_ or _a b a b_). In the latter four-beat long lines as a rule are
combined with isolated lines of one measure only and with several of
two measures to form the stanza. The two-beat verses frequently have a
somewhat lengthened structure (to be discussed further on sections on
the epic stanzas), in consequence of which many of them having theses
with secondary accents can be read either as even-beat verses of three
measures or as three-beat verses on the model of those in _King Horn_.
The four-beat alliterative lines, on the other hand, are mostly of more
regular structure, the distances between the first and second arsis
not being so unequal and the theses as a rule being disyllabic. The
anacrusis too in these verses admits of a somewhat free treatment.
The difference, however, between the first and second hemistich is
less conspicuous than it was in those forms of the Middle English
alliterative line before mentioned. Alliteration, on the other hand, is
abundantly used.
The main rhythmic character of the verse is again indicated here by
the frequent occurrence of the types A and A1. The types BC, BC1,
C, C1, however, likewise occur pretty often, and the two last types
present serious obstacles to the assumption that the lines of these
poems were ever recited with an even beat. But how exactly these poems
were recited or to what sort of musical accompaniment can hardly be
definitely decided in the absence of external evidence.
The first verses of a West-Midland poem of the end of the thirteenth
century (Wright's _Political Songs_, p. 149) may serve as a specimen:
_Ich herde =m=én vpo =m=óld | =m=áke muche =m=ón,
Hou hé beþ i=t=éned | of here =t=ílýnge:
=G=óde ȝeres and córn | bóþe beþ a=g=ón,
Ne képeþ here no =s=áwe | ne no =s=óng =s=ýnge._
The second hemistichs in ll. 2 and 4 belong to type C. In other poems
also, with lines of more regular rhythm (chiefly type A), this type
may be met with now and then, e.g. in a poem published in Wright's
_Specimens of Lyric Poetry_, p. 25, especially in the second hemistich,
e.g. _haueþ þis =m=ái =m=ére_, line 9, _and þe =g=ýlófre_, line 40,
_þat þe =b=ór =b=éde_, line 44.
It is not difficult to distinguish such rhymed four-beat alliterative
lines from those of four measures which have fairly regular
alliteration, for the long line of the native metre always has a
somewhat looser fabric, not the even-beat rhythmic cadence peculiar
to the iambic verse of four measures, and, secondly, it always has a
caesura after the first hemistich, whereas the even-beat verse of four
measures may either lack distinct caesura or the caesura may occur in
other places in the verse as well as after the second arsis. This will
be evident by comparing the following four-beat verses of the last
stanza of a poem in Wright's _Spec. of Lyr. Poetry_, p. 31:
_=R=íchard | =r=óte of =r=ésoun =r=ýght,
=r=ýkeníng of =r=ým ant =r=ón,
Of =m=áidnes =m=éke þóu hast =m=ýht,
on =m=ólde y hólde þe =m=úrgest =m=ón;_
with the following first four-beat alliterative lines of another poem
(ibid. p. 25):
_Ichot a =b=úrde in a =b=óure, | ase =b=éryl so =b=rýght,
Ase =s=áphir in =s=élver | =s=émly on =s=ýht,
Ase =i=áspe þe =g=éntil, | þat =l=émeþ wiþ =l=ýht,
Ase =g=érnet in =g=ólde, | and =r=úby wel =r=ýht._
In similar lines are written several other poems, as _=M=on in þe
=m=one_ (ibid. p. 110); _Of =r=ibaudz y =r=yme_ (Wright's _Pol. Songs_,
p. 237); and five songs by Laurence Minot (nos. ii, v, ix, x, xi),
written in the middle of the fourteenth century.
§ =60.= In other poems the four-beat long lines used in the main part
of the stanza are followed by shorter lines forming the cauda, which in
part are of a variable rhythmic cadence either of three beats (or three
measures) or of two beats, as e.g. in the well-known poem in Percy's
_Reliques_, ii, p. 1.[113] The first stanza may be quoted here:
_Sitteþ alle stílle | and hérkneþ to mé:
Þe kýng of Alemáigne, | bi mi léauté,
Þrítti þousent pound | áskede hé
Forte máke þe pées | in þé countré,
Ant só he dùde móre.
Ríchard,
þah þou be éuer tríchard,
Trícchen shàlt þou néuer mòre._
In the following stanzas of this poem the four-beat rhythm, although
rarely marked by regular alliteration, is (in the main part or 'frons')
still more distinctly recognizable, in spite of several rhythmically
incorrect lines.
Second hemistichs of the type C1 are not infrequent, e.g. _opon
swývýng_ 9, _sire Édwárd_ 46, _o þy lýárd_ 47. Lines 5 and 7 are of a
two-beat rhythm, l. 8 probably as well (cf. our scansion).
There is a decided similarity in regard to structure and versification
between this stanza and that of a poem in Wright's _Pol. Songs_, p.
153, although the long lines are divided in the middle by interlaced
rhyme. This may be illustrated by its second stanza:
_Nou haþ =p=rúde þe =p=rís | in éuervche =p=láwe,
By mony =w=ýmmon o=w=ís | y =s=úgge mi =s=áwe.
For ȝef a =l=ády =l=ýue ìs | =l=éid after =l=áwe,
Vch a strúmpet þat þer ís | such =d=ráhtes wol dráwe.
In prúde
Vch a =s=créwe wol hire =sh=rúde,
Þoh he nábbe nout a smók | hire fóule ers to húde._
There is no line here corresponding to l. 5 of the preceding poem.
Otherwise, however, the _cauda_ of this poem is of a similar structure
to that of the preceding one, at least in this and possibly in the
following stanzas, whereas the last line of the first stanza has a
two-beat rhythm, and in the others the last lines probably are to be
scanned with three beats. The second line of the _cauda_ of the first
stanza of this poem belongs to type C. Another poem (Wright's _Polit.
Songs_, p. 155; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. iv) shows a very artificial form of
stanza, either corresponding to the formula _a a₄ b₂ c c₄ b₂ d d₄ b₂ e
e₄ b₂ f f g g g f₂_ (if we look upon the verses as four-beat and
two-beat lines, which the poet probably intended), or corresponding to
the formula _a a₄ b₃ c c₄ b₃ d d₄ b₃ e e₄ b₃ f f g g g f₂_ (if we look
upon the _frons_ as consisting of ordinary tail-rhyme-stanza lines of
four and three even-beat measures).
The four- and two-beat cadence of the verses comes out still more
clearly in the stanzas of another poem (Wright's _Pol. Songs_, p. 187;
Ritson, _Anc. Songs_, i. 51; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. v), the rhymes of
which follow the scheme _a a a₄ b₂ c c c₄ b₂_ (extended
tail-rhyme-stanzas). Some of its long lines, it is true, admit of being
read as even-beat verses of three measures, e.g. _and béo huere
chéuentéyn_ 20, _and móni anóþer swéyn_ 24, but the true scansion in all
probability is _and béo huere chéuenteȳ̀n_ (or _chèuentéyn_): _ant
móni anòþer swéyn_, in conformity with the scansion of the following
lines _to cóme to parís: þourh þe flóur de lís_ 52-6, or _wiþ éorl and
wiþ knýht: with húem forte fýht_ 124-8.
As a first step to the epic forms of stanza to be considered in the next
paragraph a poem of the early fourteenth century (Wright's _Pol. Songs_,
p. 212; Ritson, _Anc. Songs_, p. 28; Böddeker, _P.L._ no. vi) may be
quoted:
_=L=ýstne, =L=órdinges, | a newe sóng ichulle bigýnne
Of þe =t=ráytours of Scótland, | þat =t=áke beþ wyþ gýnne.
Món þat loveþ fálsnesse, | and nule néuer blýnne,
Sóre may him dréde | þe lýf þat he is ýnne,_
_Ich vnderstónde:
Sélde wes he glád,
Þat néuer nes asád
Of nýþe ant of ónde._
The fifth line has one arsis only (as appears more clearly from that
in the second stanza: _wiþ Lóue_), thus corresponding to the
above-mentioned poems (pp. 99, 100); the other lines of the _cauda_
have two stresses.
Prof. Luick[114] looks upon the long lines of this poem and of several
others (e.g. Wright's _Pol. Songs_, pp. 69 and 187) as doubled native
verses of the progressive or Layamon form, but rhyming only as long
lines. This can hardly be, as the rhythmic structure of these verses
does not differ from that of the other poems quoted above, which belong,
according to Prof. Luick himself, to the class of the normal, lyric
rhyming-alliterative lines.
§ =61. Narrative verse.= Alliterative-rhyming verses occur in their
purest form in narrative poetry, especially in a number of poems
composed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in stanzas of
thirteen lines, and republished recently in a collective edition by the
Scottish Text Society in vol. 27 under the title _Scottish Alliterative
Poems_ (ed. by F.J. Amours, Edinburgh, 1892). The poems contained in
this collection are _Golagras and Gawane_ (also in _Anglia_, ii. 395),
_The Book of the Howlat_ by Holland, _Rauf Coilȝear_ (also in E. E.
T. S., Extr.-Ser. vol. xxxix), _The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne
Wathelyne_, _The Pistill of Susan_ (also in _Anglia_, i. 93). Douglas's
_Prologue_ to the Eighth Book of his translation of the _Aeneid_
(although written in the beginning of the sixteenth century) likewise
belongs to this group, as do also the poems of John Audelay, composed in
Shropshire in the fifteenth century (Percy Soc. xiv, p. 10 ff.), and a
poem _Of Sayne John the Euaungelist_ (E. E. T. S. 26, p. 87) written in
stanzas of fourteen lines in the North of England. The stanzas of all
these poems--generally speaking--consist of two unequal parts, the
_frons_ written in alliterative lines, rhyming according to the formula
_a b a b a b a b_, and the _cauda_ which contains five or six lines, the
first of which may either be a long line as in the _frons_, or, as in
_The Pistill of Susan_, a short one-beat one, with four two-beat
sectional verses following. Only in the last-mentioned poem does the
_cauda_ consist of six two-beat sectional verses.
The rhythm of this alliterative-rhyming metre may first be illustrated
by the opening lines of _Golagras and Gawane_:
I.
_In the =t=ýme of Árthur, | as =t=réw men me =t=áld,
The king =t=úrnit on ane =t=ýde | =t=ówart =T=úskane,
Hym to =s=éik our the =s=éy, | that =s=áiklese wes =s=áld,
The =s=ýre that =s=èndis all =s=éill, | =s=úthly to =s=áne;
With =b=ánrentes, =b=árounis, | and =b=érnis full =b=áld,
=B=ìggast of =b=áne and =b=lúde | =b=réd in =B=rítàne.
Thei =w=álit out =w=érryouris | with =w=ápinnis to =w=áld,
The =g=àyest =g=rúmys on =g=rúnd, | with =g=éir that myght =g=áne;
=D=úkis and =d=ígne lòrdis, | =d=óuchty and =d=éir,
=S=émbillit to his =s=úmmòvne,
=R=énkis of grete =r=énòvne,
=C=ùmly =k=íngis with =c=róvne
Of góld that wes cléir._
II.