ME. and in MHG. rimed verse only the number of feet (six in hexameters) or Glieder (members) (four in alliterative verse and older rimed verse) was fixed; the number of the syllables, however, could vary within certain limits. With the coming of a regular sequence of arses and monosyllabic theses, such as we find in Gower's short rimed couplet and in Chaucer's heroic verse, English verse, too, adopted a fixed number of syllables. Verses may be connected either by a like initial sound of those words which have the strongest stress (alliteration) or by a like final sound of those words, which are at the end of the verses (rime). There are, however, verses which are neither alliterative nor rimed. Alliteration and rime serve, therefore, to connect verses; but they serve also as ornaments of poetic language. A strong emphasis lies on the alliterating or riming word. Alliterative verse has its "centre of gravity" within the verse, rimed verse has it at the end of the verse. The end of the verse, when recited, is indicated by a slight pause. Any number of like or unlike verses may be united to form a higher metrical unity, the stanza. Yet the stanza must not contain more than a certain number of verses, if we are to feel it as a unity. Stanzas, containing four or eight, six or twelve verses, are the most favoured. The longer the stanza is, the clearer its inner structure must be. The structure may be shown in print by the proper spacing of the lines which rime together. The verses of stanzas are generally connected by rime; there are, however, also stanzas without rime. § 5. The Object of English Prosody. English versification must describe the verse and stanza forms of all poems composed in the English language, and establish the laws, on which the rhythmical arrangement is based. Since, however, a poet seldom wholly creates his form, but generally uses metrical forms long traditional or taken from some foreign literature without alteration, or alters them for his especial purpose - a point to which special attention is rightly called by Saran (Deutsche Verslehre, p. 3 f.) a survey of the whole historical development is essential for the understanding of modern metres. This historical treatment of prosody is especially important for English, since the peculiarities of the rhythmical structure of the OE. alliterative verse have had a great influence on the formation of ME. rimed verse; the heroic verse, with five feet, also, which Chaucer introduced in the fourteenth century, has remained the chief verse of modern English poetry. By the side of the purely descriptive and the historical treatment of English prosody there must. be an aesthetic-critical examination of the indivi dual verses and stanzas. A judgment of their beauty and their fitness, both in general and with reference to the particular aims of the poet, must be arrived at. § 6. Division of English Prosody. The separate existence of the English language begins with the emigration of Germanic peoples from the continent to the British Isles about the middle of the fifth century A. D. English prosody, therefore, embraces a period from the middle of the fifth century A. D. to the present day. This period may be divided into three parts: 1. The Old English period from the emigration of Germanic peoples to England to the Norman Conquest, 445-1066, or, in round numbers, 450-1100 (alliterative verse only). 2. The Middle English period from the Norman Conquest to the end of the Middle Ages, in round numbers, 1100-1500 (rime and various new verse and stanza forms appear). 3. The Modern English period from 1500 to the present. A further division of the OE. period into smaller sections is for prosody not necessary, since the alliterative long line, the only form of verse in OE., during the whole of this period experienced practically no alteration. Similarly in the course of the modern English period a further development of verse and stanza forms has taken place only to a slight extent within those periods, into which the history of English literature is usually divided. At one period, of course, one particular kind of verse or stanza may have been preferred, whilst at another time another kind may have been in favour. The prosody of the modern English period, therefore, may be viewed as a whole. For the prosody of the ME. period, however, we must distinguish between three smaller periods, as we do for the history of language and litera ture: 1. The period of transition or the early ME. period, 1100-1250 (transformation of alliterative verse into rimed verse). 2. The central ME. period from 1250 to the appearance of Chaucer, 1370 (development of stanza forms, revival of alliterative verse). 3. The late ME. period from Chaucer till the beginning of modern times, 1370-1500 (predominance of heroic verse and Chaucerian stanza). § 7. For the Study of English Prosody. For the study of English prosody come first the poetic works which we possess in MSS. or printed. An exact knowledge of English works is therefore necessary for the student of English prosody. Again the study of prosody has proved very useful for the solution of problems connected with the history of language and literature. Compare, e.g., the work done by Sievers on Genesis B and on the quantity of OE. words, by Graz on the authorship of the so-called Cædmon poems, by W. Skeat on the spuriousness of many poems wrongly attributed to Chaucer in the later editions, by Furnivall, H. Conrad, G. König and others on the chronological order of Shakespeare's dramas, determined by an examination of their prosody. § 8. Aids to the Study of English Prosody a) XVI-XVIII Centuries. As early as the sixteenth century metrical questions were discussed in England. These discussions were, however, limited to rules for poets and would-be poets, and were concerned only with contemporary poetry, since the older English literature at that time had become more or less forgotten. These older writings on metre have only an historical interest for us. The following may be mentioned: Gascoigne, Certayne Notes of Instruction concerning the Making of Verse or Ryme in English 1575 lish Poetrie 1586 Webbe, A Discourse of Eng- lish Poesie 1589 Sidney, Apologie for Poetrie 1595 King James I, Revlis and Cartelis to be observit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie. For other works on metre in XVI–XVIII centuries see Omond, English Metrists, Tunbridge Wells 1903, p. 55 ff. |