ah bote y be pe furme day on folde hem byfore,
ne shaly nout so skere scapen of huere score ;
so grimly he on me gredes,

þat y ne mot me lede per wip mi lawe;
on alle maner opes [pat] heo me wullep awe,
heore boc ase on bredes.

heo wendep bokes on brad,

ant makep men a monep a mad ;

of scape y wol me skere,

ant fleo from my fere;

ne rohte hem whet yt were,

boten heo hit had.*

(Song from Harleian Ms. 2253. Böddeker's Altenglische Dichtungen, p. 109.)

This and the two following specimens, together with some included earlier under the head of Tail-Rime, illustrate 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 LionHearted, who himself entered the ranks of the poets. The result was a great mass of Norman French lyrical poetry, often in intricate forms, and a smaller mass of imitative lyrics in Middle English. As Schipper observes, the elaborate lyrical forms were

*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,"

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 pi muchele miht

pou zef us of pi grace,
þat we mowe dai & nyht
penken o pi face.

in myn herte hit dop me god,
when y penke on iesu blod,

þat 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 Böddeker's Altenglische Dichtungen, p. 208.)

aabccbddbeeb

Lenten ys come wip love to toune,
wip blosmen & wip briddes roune,
pat al pis blisse bryngep;

dayes ezes in pis dales,

notes suete of nyhtegales,
uch foul song singeþ.

pe prestelcoc him pretep oo;
away is huere wynter woo,

when woderove springeþ.

pis foules singep ferly fele,

ant wlytep on huere wynter wele,

þat al pe wode ryngeþ.

(Song from Harleian Ms. 2253; Böddeker's Altenglische Dichtungen, p. 164.)

abcbdcdceccce

Trowe że, sores, and God sent an angell

And commawndyd zow zowr chyld to slayn,

Be 3owr trowthe ys ther ony of zow

That eyther wold groche or stryve ther-ageyn? How thyngke ze 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-zens God or to greve zow,

For ze 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 associated with the plays. We find, therefore, tumbling verse, alexandrines, septenaries, and intricate strophic forms, all commonly written with slight regard for syllable-counting principles.

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 coördinating 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 coördinated parts of the verse-structure, thus emphasizing the idea of similarity (corresponding to that of symmetry in arts expressed in space) 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 Assonance (Stimmreim), the third as complete Rime (Vollreim). English usage commonly reserves the term Rime for the third class.

i. Assonance

Assonance was the characteristic coördinating element in the verse of the early Romance languages, the Provençal, Old French, and Spanish. Thus in the Chanson de Roland (eleventh century) we find the verses of each laisse, or strophe, bound together by assonance. 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 assonance as regularly used in that language:

Fablo myo Çid bien e tan mesurado :

"Grado a ti, señor 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.

Meçio myo Çid los ombros e engrameo la tiesta :
Albricia, Albaṛffanez, 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!

Form all curves like softness drifted,
Wave-kissed marble roundly dimpling,
Far-off music slowly winged,

Gently rising, gently sinking,

Bright, O bright Fedalma !

(GEORGE ELIOT: Song from The Spanish Gypsy, book i.)