English Verse Part 20

The dubbement dere of doun and dalez, Of wod and water and wlonke playnez, Bylde in me blys, abated my balez, Fordidde my stresse, dystryed my paynez.

Doun after a strem that dryghly halez, I bowed in blys, bred-ful my braynez; The fyrre I folghed those floty valez, The more strenghthe of joye myn herte straynez, As fortune fares theras ho fraynez, Whether solace ho sende other ellez sore, The wygh, to wham her wylle ho waynez, Hyttez to have ay more and more.

(_The Pearl_, st. xi. Fourteenth century.)

Mr. Israel Gollancz says, in his Introduction to this poem: "I can point to no direct source to which the poet of _Pearl_ was indebted for his measure; that it ultimately belongs to Romance poetry I have little doubt. These twelve-line verses seem to me to resemble the earliest form of the sonnet more than anything else I have as yet discovered.... Be this as it may, all will, I hope, recognize that there is a distinct gain in giving to the 101 stanzas of the poem the appearance of a sonnet sequence, marking clearly the break between the initial octave and the closing quatrain.... The refrain, the repet.i.tion of the catch-word of each verse, the trammels of alliteration, all seem to have offered no difficulty to our poet; and if power over technical difficulties const.i.tutes in any way a poet's greatness, the author of _Pearl_, from this point of view alone, must take high rank among English poets."

(Introduction, pp. xxiv, xxv.)

Other examples of intricate stanza structure are found in _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, supposed to be by the author of _Pearl_. See in Part Two, p. 156.

_aabccbddbeebffgggf_

Ne mai no lewed lued libben in londe, be he never in hyrt so haver of honde, So lerede us biledes.

?ef ich on molde mote wi a mai, y shal falle hem byfore & lurnen huere lay, ant rewen alle huere redes.

ah bote y be e furme day on folde hem byfore, ne shaly nout so skere scapen of huere score; so grimly he on me gredes, at y ne mot me lede er wi mi lawe; on alle maner oes [at] heo me wulle awe, heore boc ase on bredes.

heo wende bokes on brad, ant make men a mone a mad; of scae y wol me skere, ant fleo from my fere; ne rohte hem whet yt were, boten heo hit had.[10]

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253. Boddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p.

109.)

This and the two following specimens, together with some included earlier under the head of Tail-Rime, ill.u.s.trate the interest in complex lyrical measures characteristic of the period of French influence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1152 Henry of Normandy (who ascended the throne in 1154) married Eleanor of Poitou, and in her train there came to England the great troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn. On the poems of this troubadour and others of the same school, see ten Brink's _English Literature_, Kennedy translation, vol. i. pp. 159-164. Other troubadours followed, and found a home in the court of Richard the Lion-Hearted, who himself entered the ranks of the poets. The result was a great ma.s.s of Norman French lyrical poetry, often in intricate forms, and a smaller ma.s.s of imitative lyrics in Middle English. As Schipper observes, the elaborate lyrical forms were inconsistent with English taste, and it was only the simpler ones which were widely adopted. On the general character of the Romance stanza-forms, and their influence in England, see Schipper, vol. i. pp. 309 ff.

_ababccdeed_

Iesu, for i muchele miht ou ?ef us of i grace, at we mowe dai & nyht enken o i face.

in myn herte hit do me G.o.d, when y enke on iesu blod, at ran doun bi ys syde, from is herte doun to is fot; for ous he spradde is herte blod, his wondes were so wyde.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; in Boddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p. 208.)

_aabccbddbeeb_

Lenten ys come wi love to toune, wi blosmen & wi briddes roune, at al is blisse brynge; dayes e?es in is dales, notes suete of nyhtegales, uch foul song singe.

e restelcoc him rete oo; away is huere wynter woo, when woderove springe.

is foules singe ferly fele, ant wlyte on huere wynter wele, at al e wode rynge.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; Boddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p.

164.)

_abcbdcdceccce_

Trowe ?e, sores, and G.o.d sent an angell And commawndyd ?ow ?owr chyld to slayn, Be ?owr trowthe ys ther ony of ?ow That eyther wold groche or stryve ther-ageyn?

How thyngke ?e now, sorys, ther-by?

I trow ther be iii or iiii or moo.

And thys women that wepe so sorowfully Whan that hyr chyldryn dey them froo, As nater woll and kynd,-- Yt ys but folly, I may well awooe, To groche a-?ens G.o.d or to greve ?ow, For ?e schall never se hym myschevyd, wyll I know, Be lond nor watyr, have thys in mynd.

(Epilogue of Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac. In Manly's _Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama_, vol. i. p. 56.)

This verse of the early Mystery Plays and connected forms of the drama shows an extraordinary variety of measures. In general, the effort of the writers seems to have been to show some artistic ingenuity of structure, and at the same time keep to the free popular dialogue verse which was a.s.sociated with the plays. We find, therefore, tumbling verse, alexandrines, septenaries, and intricate strophic forms, all commonly written with slight regard for syllable-counting principles.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] There is a single well-known exception: the Anglo-Saxon poem known as _Deor's Lament_, which is divided into irregularly varying strophes, all ending with the same refrain. (See ten Brink's _English Literature_, Kennedy translation, vol. i, p. 60.) See also on the strophic formation of the First Riddle of Cynewulf, an article by W. W. Lawrence, in _Publications of the Mod. Lang. a.s.soc._, N.S. vol. x. p. 247.

[9] Gascoigne, in his _Notes of Instruction_ (1575), mentions this form of stanza as "a royall kinde of verse, serving best for grave discourses," a statement in which he is followed by King James in his _Reulis and Cautelis_ (1585). Puttenham, in the _Arte of English Poesie_ (1589), speaks of the stanza as "the chiefe of our ancient proportions used by any rimer writing any thing of historical or grave poeme, as ye may see in Chaucer and Lidgate." (Arber Reprint, p. 80.)

[10] The appendage to a stanza, based on one or more short lines, is sometimes called a "bob-wheel." See Guest's _History of English Rhythms_, Skeat ed., pp. 621 ff., for an account of various forms of these "wheels."

IV. TONE-QUALITY

The quality of the sounds of the words used in verse, although in no way concerned in the rhythm, is an element of some importance. The sound-quality may be used in either of two ways: as a regular coordinating element in the structure of the verse, or as a sporadic element in the beauty or melody of the verse.

A. AS A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT

In this capacity, similar qualities of sound indicate coordinated parts of the verse-structure, thus emphasizing the idea of similarity (corresponding to that of symmetry in arts expressed in s.p.a.ce) which is at the very basis of rhythmical composition.

Obviously, the similarity may exist between vowel sounds, consonant sounds, or both; more specifically, it is found either in initial consonants, in accented vowels, or in accented vowels plus final consonants. Properly speaking, the term Rime is applicable to all three cases; the first being distinguished as initial rime or Alliteration (German _Anreim_ or _Stabreim_); the second as a.s.sonance (_Stimmreim_), the third as complete Rime (_Vollreim_). English usage commonly reserves the term Rime for the third cla.s.s.

i. _a.s.sonance_

a.s.sonance was the characteristic coordinating element in the verse of the early Romance languages, the Provencal, Old French, and Spanish.

Thus in the _Chanson de Roland_ (eleventh century) we find the verses of each _laisse_, or strophe, bound together by a.s.sonance. Frequently this develops into full rime by chance or convenience. The following is a characteristic group of verses from the _Roland_:

Li reis Marsilies esteit en Sarragoce.

Alez en est un vergier soz l'ombre; Sor un pedron de marbre bloi se colchet: Environ lui at plus de vint milie homes.

Il en apelet et ses dus et ses contes: "Odez, seignor, quels pechiez nos encombret.

Li emperedre Charles de France dolce En cest pais nos est venuz confondre."

The following specimen of Old Spanish verse shows the nature of a.s.sonance as regularly used in that language:

Fablo myo cid bien e tan mesurado: "Grado a ti, senor padre, que estas en alto!

Esto me han buelto myos enemigos malos."

Alli pieussan de aguijar, alli sueltan las rriendas.

A la exida de Bivar ovieron la corneja diestra, E entrando a Burgos ovieron la siniestra.

Mecio myo cid los...o...b..os e engrameo la tiesta: "Albricia, Albarffanez, ca echados somos de tierra!"

(_Poema del Cid._ Twelfth century.)

Maiden, crowned with glossy blackness, Lithe as panther forest-roaming, Long-armed naiad, when she dances, On a stream of ether floating,-- Bright, O bright Fedalma!