The English Language Part 102

Whilst in a language consisting chiefly of either dissyllables or trisyllables, and in a metre of the same sort as before, {521} if the fifth were not final, the seventh would be so, or _vice versa_.

-- 669. _Caesura_ means _cutting_. In a language dest.i.tute of words accented on the last syllable, and in a metre requiring the sixth syllable to be accented, a measure (foot) of either the formula _x a_, or _x x a_ (_i. e._, a measure with the accent at the end), except in the case of words of four or more syllables, must always be either itself divided, or else cause the division of the following measures--_division_ meaning the distribution of the syllables of the measure (foot) over two or more words.

Thus--

_a._ If the accented syllable (the sixth) be the first of a word of any length, the preceding one (the fifth) must be the final one of the word which went before; in which case the first and last parts belong to different words, and the measure (foot) is divided or _cut_.

_b._ If the accented syllable (the sixth) be the second of a word of three syllables, the succeeding one which is at the end of the word, is the first part of the measure which follows; in which case the first and last parts of the measure (foot) which follows the accented syllable is divided or _cut_.

As the _caesura_, or the necessity for dividing certain measures between two words, arises out of the structure of language, it only occurs in tongues where there is a notable absence of words accented on the last syllable.

Consequently there is no caesura[71] in the English.

-- 670. As far as accent is concerned, the cla.s.sical poets write in _measures_ rather than _feet_. See p. 505.

{522}

-- 671. Although the idea of writing English hexameters, &c., on the principle of an accent in a measure taking the place of the long syllables in a foot, is chimerical; it is perfectly practicable to write English verses upon the same {523} principle which the cla.s.sics themselves have written on, _i.e._, with accents recurring within certain limits; in which case the so-called cla.s.sical metre is merely an unsymmetrical verse of a new kind. This may be either blank verse or rhyme.

{524}

-- 672. The chief reason against the naturalization of metres of the sort in question (over and above the practical one of our having another kind in use already), lies in the fact of their being perplexing to the readers who have _not_ been {525} trained to cla.s.sical cadences, whilst they suggest and violate the idea of _quant.i.ty_ to those who have.

_Why_ his idea of quant.i.ty is violated may be seen in p. 165.

{526}

-- 673. _Convertible metres._--Such a line as--

Ere her faithless sons betray'd her,

may be read in two ways. We may either lay full stress upon the word _ere_, and read--

ere her faithless sons betray'd her;

or we may lay little or no stress upon either _ere_ or _her_, reserving the full accentuation for the syllable _faith-_ in _faithless_, in which case the reading would be

Ere her faithless sons betray'd her.

Lines of this sort may be called examples of _convertible metres_, since by changing the accent a dissyllabic line may be converted into one partially trisyllabic, and _vice versa_.

This property of convertibility is explained by the fact of accentuation being _a relative quality_. In the example before us _ere_ is sufficiently strongly accented to stand in contrast to _her_, but it is not sufficiently strongly accented to stand upon a par with the _faith-_ in _faithless_ if decidedly p.r.o.nounced.

The real character of convertible lines is determined from the character of the lines with which they are a.s.sociated. {527} That the second mode of reading the line in question is the proper one, may be shown by reference to the stanza wherein it occurs.

Let erin remember her days of old, Ere her faithless sons betray'd her, When Malachi wore the collar of gold, Which he won from the proud invader.

Again, such a line as

For the glory I have lost,

although it may be read

For the glory I have lost,

would be read improperly. The stanza wherein it occurs is essentially dissyllabic (_a x_).

Heed, oh heed my fatal story!

i am Hosier's injured ghost, Come to seek for fame and glory-- For the glory i have lost.

-- 674. _Metrical and grammatical combinations._--Words, or parts of words, that are combined as measures, are words, or parts of words, combined _metrically_, or in _metrical combination_.

{528}

Syllables combined as words, or words combined as portions of a sentence, are syllables and words _grammatically combined_, or in _grammatical combination_.

The syllables _ere her faith-_ form a metrical combination.

The words _her faithless sons_ form a grammatical combination.

When the syllables contained in the same measure (or connected metrically) are also contained in the same construction (or connected grammatically), the metrical and the grammatical combinations coincide. Such is the case with the line

Remember | the glories | of Brian | the Brave;

where the same division separates both the measure and the subdivisions of the sense, inasmuch as the word _the_ is connected with the word _glories_ equally in grammar and in metre, in syntax and in prosody. So is _of_ with _Brian_, and _the_ with _Brave_.

Contrast with this such a line as

A chieftain to the Highlands bound.

Here the metrical division is one thing, the grammatical division another, and there is no coincidence.

_Metrical_,

A chief | tain to | the High | lands bound.

_Grammatical_,

A chieftain | to the Highlands | bound.

In the following stanza the coincidence of the metrical and grammatical combination is nearly complete:--

To arms! to arms! The serfs, they roam O'er hill, and dale, and glen: The king is dead, and time is come To choose a chief again.

In

Warriors or chiefs, should the shaft or the sword Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, Heed not the corse, though a king's in your path, Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath.--BYRON.

there is a non-coincidence equally complete.

-- 675. _Rhythm._--The character of a metre is marked and prominent in proportion as the metrical and the grammatical {529} combinations coincide.