A Handbook of the English Language Part 60

Again--the words _feel_ and _mill_ const.i.tute only a false and imperfect rhyme. Sound for sound, the letters f and m (the parts preceding the vowel) are different. This is as it should be. Also, sound for sound, l and ll (the parts following the vowel) are identical; and this is as it should be also: but ee and i (the vowels) are different, and this difference spoils the rhyme. _None_ and _own_ are in the same predicament; since one o is sounded as o in _note_, and the other as the u in _but_.

From what has gone before we get the notion of true and perfect rhymes as opposed to false and imperfect ones. For two (or more) words to rhyme to each other, it is necessary

a. That the vowel be the same in both.

b. That the parts following the vowel be the same.

c. That the parts preceding the vowel be different.

Beyond this it is necessary that the syllables, to form a full and perfect rhyme, should be accented syllables. _Sky_ and _lie_ form good rhymes, but _sky_ and merri_ly_ bad ones, and _merrily_ and _silly_ worse. Lines like the second and fourth of the following stanza are slightly exceptionable on this score: indeed, many readers sacrifice the accent in the word _merrily_ to the rhyme, and p.r.o.nounce it _merril_.

The witch she held the hair in her hand, The red flame blazed high; And round about the caldron stout, They danced right merri_l_.--KIRKE WHITE.

-- 530. In matters of rhyme the letter h counts as nothing. _High_ and _I_, _hair_ and _air_, are imperfect rhymes, because h (being no articulate sound) counts as nothing, and so the parts before the vowel i and a are not different (as they ought to be) but identical.

Whose generous children narrow'd not their hearts With commerce, giv'n alone to arms and arts.--BYRON.

-- 531. Words where the letters coincide, but the sounds differ, are only rhymes to the eye. _Breathe_ and _beneath_ are both in this predicament; so also are _cease_ and _ease_ (_eaze_).

In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease, Sprang the rank weed, and thrived with large increase.--POPE.

-- 532. If the sounds coincide, the difference of the letters is unimportant.

Bold in the practice of mistaken rules, Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools.

They talk of principles, but notions prize, And all to one loved folly sacrifice.--POPE.

-- 533. _Single rhymes._--An accented syllable standing by itself, and coming under the conditions given above, const.i.tutes a single rhyme.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of _skill_ Appear in writing or in judging _ill_; But of the two, less dangerous is the of_fence_ To tire the patience than mislead the _sense_.

Some few in that, but thousands err in _this_; Ten censure wrong, for one that writes a_miss_.--POPE.

-- 534. _Double rhymes._--An accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, and coming under the conditions given above, const.i.tutes a double rhyme.

The meeting points the sacred hair dis_sever_ From her fair head for ever and for _ever_.--POPE.

Prove and explain a thing till all men _doubt it_, And write about it, G.o.ddess, and _about it_.--POPE.

-- 535. An accented syllable followed by two unaccented ones, and coming under the conditions given above, const.i.tutes a treble rhyme.

Beware that its fatal a_scendancy_ Do not tempt thee to mope and repine; With a humble and hopeful de_pendency_ Still await the good pleasure divine.

Success in a higher be_at.i.tude_, Is the end of what's under the Pole; A philosopher takes it with _grat.i.tude_, And believes it the best on the whole.--BYRON.

-- 536. Metres where there is no rhyme are called blank metres.

Of man's first disobedience and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse!--MILTON.

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven Upon the place beneath; it is twice bless'd, It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes 'Tis mightiest of the mighty, it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown.

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute of awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings: But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings: It is an attribute to G.o.d himself; And earthly power doth then show likest G.o.d's, When mercy seasons justice.--SHAKSPEARE.

-- 537. _The last measure in a line or verse is indifferent as to its length._--By referring to the section upon single rhymes, we shall find that the number of syllables is just double the number of accents; that is, to each accented there is one unaccented syllable, and no more. Hence, with five accents, there are to each line ten syllables. This is not the case with all verses. Some rhymes are double, and the last accented syllable has two unaccented ones to follow it. Hence, with five accents there are to each line eleven syllables. Now it is in the last measure that this supernumerary unaccented syllable appears; and it is a general rule, that, in the last measure of any verse, supernumerary unaccented syllables can be admitted without destroying the original character of the measure.

-- 538. See the verses in the section on double rhymes. Here the original character of the measure is x a throughout, until we get to the words _dissever_ and _for ever_, and afterwards to _men doubt it_, and _about it_. At the first view it seems proper to say that in these last-mentioned cases x a is converted into x a x. A different view, however, is the more correct one. _Dissever_ and _for ever_, are rather x a with a syllable over. This extra syllable may be expressed by the sign _plus_ ( + ), so that the words in point may be expressed by x a +, rather than by x a x. It is very clear that a measure whereof the last syllable is accented (that is, measures like x a, _presume_, or x x a, _cavalier_), can only vary from their original character on the side of excess; that is, they can only be altered by the addition of fresh syllables. To subtract a syllable from such feet is impossible; since it is only the last syllable that is capable of being subtracted. If that last syllable, however, be the accented syllable of the measure, the whole measure is annihilated. Nothing remains but the unaccented syllable preceding; and this, as no measure can subsist without an accent, must be counted as a supernumerary part of the preceding measure.

-- 539. With the measures a x, a x x, x a x, the case is different. Here there is room for syllable or syllables to be subtracted.

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted splendour keep.

Hesperus invokes thy light, G.o.ddess, exquisitely bright.--BEN JONSON.

In all these lines the last measure is deficient in a syllable, yet the deficiency is allowable, because each measure is the last one of the line.

The formula for expressing _fair_, _sleep_, _chair_, &c. is not a, but rather a x followed by the _minus_ sign (-), or a x-.

A little consideration will show that amongst the English measures, x a and x x a naturally form single, a x and x a x double, and a x x treble rhymes.

-- 540. The chief metres in English are of the formula x a. It is only a few that are known by fixed names. These are as follows:--

1. _Gay's stanza._--Lines of three measures, x a, with alternate rhymes.

The odd (i.e. the 1st and 3rd) rhymes double.

'Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined.

2. _Common octosyllabics._--Four measures, x a, with rhyme, and (unless the rhymes be double) eight syllables (_octo syllabae_).--Butler's Hudibras, Scott's poems, The Giaour, and other poems of Lord Byron.

3. _Elegiac octosyllabics_.--Same as the last, except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses arranged in stanzas.

And on her lover's arm she leant, And round her waist she felt it fold, And far across the hills they went, In that new world which now is old: Across the hills and far away, Beyond their utmost purple rim, And deep into the dying day The happy princess follow'd him.--TENNYSON.

4. _Octosyllabic triplets._--Three rhymes in succession. Generally arranged as stanzas.

I blest them, and they wander'd on; I spoke, but answer came there none; The dull and bitter voice was gone.--TENNYSON.

5. _Blank verse._--Five measures, x a, without rhyme, Paradise Lost, Young's Night Thoughts, Cowper's Task.

6. _Heroic couplets._--Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. Chaucer, Denham, Dryden, Waller, Pope, Goldsmith, Cowper, Byron, Moore, Sh.e.l.ley, &c.

This is the common metre for narrative, didactic, and descriptive poetry.

7. _Heroic triplets._--Five measures, x a. Three rhymes in succession.

Arranged in stanzas. This metre is sometimes interposed among heroic couplets.

8. _Elegiacs._--Five measures, x a; with regularly alternate rhymes, and arranged in stanzas.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homewards plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.--GRAY.

9. _Rhymes royal._--Seven lines of heroics, with the last two rhymes in succession, and the first five recurring at intervals.

This Troilus, in gift of curtesie, With hauk on hond, and with a huge rout Of knightes, rode, and did her company, Pa.s.sing all through the valley far about; And further would have ridden out of doubt.

Full faine and woe was him to gone so sone; But turn he must, and it was eke to doen.--CHAUCER.

This metre was common with the writers of the earlier part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. It admits of varieties according to the distribution of the first five rhymes.

10. _Ottava rima._--A metre with an Italian name, and borrowed from Italy, where it is used generally for narrative poetry. The Morgante Maggiore of Pulci, the Orlando Innamorato of Bojardo, the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, the Gierusalemme Liberata of Ta.s.so, are all written in this metre. Besides this, the two chief epics of Spain and Portugal respectively (the Auraucana and the Lusiados) are thus composed. Hence it is a form of poetry which is Continental rather than English, and naturalized rather than indigenous.