Part 2 — CHAPTER V TRIPARTITE STANZAS
Reading edition
I. Isometrical stanzas.
§ 267. In the anisometrical stanzas (which might, as being the older species, have been treated of first) the distinction between the first and the last part of the stanza (frons and cauda) is marked as a rule by a difference of metre in them; in isometrical stanzas, on the other hand, the distinction between the two parts depends solely on the arrangement of the rhyme. For this reason certain six-lined stanzas consisting of two equal parts and a third of the same structure (the formula being a a b b c c4 or the like), which now and then occur in the Surtees Psalter (e.g. Ps. xliv, st. 5), cannot strictly be called tripartite.
Stanzas like these are, however, not unfrequent in Modern English poetry, as e.g. in a song of Carew’s (Poets, iii. 292):
Cease, thou afflicted soul, to mourn, Whose love and faith are paid with scorn; For I am starv’d that feel the blisses Of dear embraces, smiles and kisses, From my soul’s idol, yet complain Of equal love more than disdain.
For an account of many other stanzas of the same or similar structure (consisting of trochaic four-foot lines, iambic-anapaestic lines of four stresses, or lines of five, six, and seven measures), see Metrik, ii, §§ 355, 356.
It is only rarely that we find stanzas formed on the scheme a a a a b b (e.g. in the Surtees Psalter, xlix. 21; in Ben Jonson, Poets, iv. 574); or on the formula a a b b a b4, as in Swinburne, Poems, i. 248.
One form, analogous to the stanza first mentioned in this section and used pretty often in Modern English, has crossed rhymes a b a b a b. It occurs with four-foot verses in Byron, She walks in Beauty:
She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies: And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellow’d to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
The same stanza of trochaic or iambic-anapaestic metres of three or five measures is also frequently met with (cf. Metrik, ii, § 358).
The tripartite character of a strophe appears somewhat more distinctly in stanzas formed on the scheme a b a b b b, or a b a b b x (cf. Metrik, ii, §359).
The only stanzas, however, that are in the strictest sense to be regarded as tripartite are those in which the first and the last part are clearly distinguished by the arrangement of rhymes, as e.g. in the type a b a b c c. This stanza is very popular in Modern English poetry; in the Middle English period, however, we find it very rarely used, as e.g. in the Coventry Mysteries, p. 315.
In Modern English it occurs e.g. in Surrey, A Prayse of his Love (p. 31):
Give place, ye lovers, here before That spend your boasts and brags in vain; My Lady’s beauty passeth more The best of yours, I dare well sayen, Than doth the sun the candle light, Or brightest day the darkest night.
This form of stanza is used with lines of the same metres by many other poets, e.g. by M. Arnold, pp. 195, 197, 256, 318. Similar stanzas of four-foot trochaic (cf. p. 285), or of four-stressed verses, and especially of five-foot verses, are very popular. They are found e.g. in Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, M. Arnold’s Mycerinus (first part, p. 8), &c. (cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 360, 361).
Similar stanzas, however, in which the frons precedes the versus, according to the formula a a b c b c (cf. p. 285), do not occur frequently; a rare form, also, is that in which the cauda is placed between the two pedes (cf. p. 285 and Metrik, ii, §362)
§ 268. Still more popular than the six-lined stanzas, both in the Middle and in the Modern English periods, are those of seven lines, which are modelled on Old French lyric poetry, the prevailing type being that of an Old French ballade-stanza, viz. a b a b b c c. But it is not before the middle of the fifteenth century that we meet with an example of this stanza consisting of four-foot verses, viz. in Lydgate’s Minor Poems (Percy Society, 1840), p. 129; a specimen of four-stressed verses occurs in the Chester Plays, pp. 1–7 and pp. 156–8. We may, however, take it for granted that this form of stanza was known long before that time, since four-foot verses were used much earlier than those of five feet, and a six-lined stanza of five-foot verses occurs (for the first time, so far as we know) as early as in Chaucer’s Compleynte of the Dethe of Pite, and subsequently in many other of his poems (e.g. Troylus and Cryseyde, The Assembly of Fowles, The Clerkes Tale) and in numerous other poems of his successors, e.g. in The Kingis Quair by King James I of Scotland. It has been sometimes maintained that this stanza was called rhyme royal stanza because that royal poet wrote his well-known poem in it; this, however, is not so. Guest long ago pointed out (ii. 359) that this name is to be derived from the French term chant-royal, applied to certain poems of similar stanzas which were composed in praise of God or the Virgin, and used to be recited in the poetical contests at Rouen on the occasion of the election of a ‘king’. Chaucer’s verses to Adam Scrivener are of this form and may be quoted as a specimen here (after Skeat’s text, p. 118):
Adam scriveyn, if euer it thee bifalle Boece or Troylus to writen newe, Under thy lokkes thou most haue the scalle, But after my making thou write trewe. So oft a day I mot thy werk renewe Hit to corrects and eek to rubbe and scrape, And al is through thy negligence and rape.
In Modern English this beautiful stanza was very popular up to the end of the sixteenth century; Shakespeare, e.g., wrote his Lucrece in it; afterwards, however, it unfortunately fell almost entirely out of use (cf. Metrik, ii, § 364).
The same form of stanza, composed of two-, three-, or four-foot verses also occurs almost exclusively in the Early Modern English period (cf. ib., § 363).
Some varieties of this stanza, mostly formed of three-, four-, and five-foot verses, correspond to the schemes a b a b c c b4 (e.g. in Akenside, Book I, Ode iii), a b a b c b c5 (Spenser, Daphnaïda, p. 542), a b a b c b c2 (R. Browning, vi. 41). Other stanzas of seven lines are a b a b c c a4, a a b b c c a4, a a b b a c c4, a b a b C d C3, a a b b c c c4, a b a b c c c4, a b a b c c c5, a b a c c d d5 (for specimens see Metrik, ii, §§ 365, 366).
§ 269. Eight-lined isometrical stanzas are also frequently used in the Middle and Modern English period, though not so often as those of six and seven lines.
The scheme a b a b b a b a, formed from the simple equal-membered stanza of eight lines a b a b a b a b, it would seem, by inversion of the last two couplets, is rare in Middle English. We find it in the Digby Plays, consisting of four-foot verses. In Modern English, too, it is not very common; we have an example in Wyatt, e.g. pp. 118, 135, and another in the same poet, formed of five-foot verses (a b a b b a b a5), p. 135.
Much more in favour in the Middle as well as in the Modern English period is the typical form of the eight-lined stanza, corresponding to the scheme a b a b b c b c. It is formed from the preceding stanza by the introduction of a new rhyme in the sixth and eighth verses, and it had its model likewise in a popular ballade-stanza of Old French lyrical poetry.
In Middle English poetry this stanza is very common, consisting either of four-stressed verses (e.g. in The Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathia, E. E. T. S., vol. 44, and On the death of the Duke of Suffolk, Wright’s Polit. Poems, ii. 232) or of four-foot or five-foot verses. As an example of the form consisting of four-foot verses we may quote a stanza from Wright’s Polit. Songs, p. 246:
Alle þat beoþ of huerte trewe, A stounde herkneþ to my song Of duel, þat deþ haþ diht us newe Þat makeþ me syke ant sorewe among! Of a knyht, þat wes so strong Of wham god haþ don ys wille; Me þuncheþ þat deþ haþ don vs wrong, Þat he so sone shal ligge stille.
Many other examples occur in later poetry, e.g. in Minot, Lydgate, Dunbar, Lyndesay, in Wyatt, p. 119, Burns, p. 59, Walter Scott, p. 160, &c.
Similar stanzas of two-stressed and three-foot verses are only of rare occurrence; we find them e.g. in Percy’s Rel. II. ii. 3; Wyatt, p. 41.
The same stanza, consisting of five-foot verses, was used by Chaucer in his A B C, the first stanza of which may be quoted here:
Almyghty and al merciable Quene, To whom that al this world fleeth for socour To have relees of sinne, sorwe, and teene! Glorious Virgyne, of alle floures flour, To thee I flee, confounded in errour! Help, and releve, thou mighty debonaire, Have mercy of my perilous langour! Venquysshed m’ hath my cruel adversaire.
Chaucer uses the same stanza in some other minor poems, and also in The Monkes Tale; besides this we find it often in Lydgate, Dunbar, Kennedy; more rarely in Modern English poetry; e.g. in Spenser’s Shepheard’s Cal., Ecl. XI, S. Daniel’s Cleopatra, &c.
Now and then some other eight-lined stanzas occur, e.g. one with the formula a b a b b c c bin Chaucer’s Complaynt of Venus, and in the Flyting by Dunbar and Kennedy. The scheme a a b b c d c d is used in a love-song (Rel. Ant. i. 70–4). In the Modern English period we have stanzas on the schemes a ~ b a ~ b c c d ~ d ~4 (in Sidney, Psalm XLIII), a b a b c c c b4 (Scott, Helvellyn, p. 472), a ~ b a ~ b c ~ c ~ d ~ d ~2 (Moore); cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 369–71.
There are also eight-lined stanzas formed by combination with tail-rhyme stanzas, as a a b a a b c c4, a a b c c d d b4, but they are not frequent; a stanza corresponding to the formula a a b a a b c c4 we have in Spenser, Epigram III (p. 586); and the variety a a b c c d d b4 (the cauda being enclosed by the pedes) occurs in Moore.
The same peculiarity we find in stanzas formed on the scheme A A b c b c A A4 (Moore), or a a b c b c d d4 (Wordsworth, ii. 267); cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 372, 373
§ 270. Stanzas of a still larger compass are of rare occurrence in Middle English poetry. A nine-lined stanza corresponding to the formula a a b a a b b c c5 we have in Chaucer’s Complaynt of Mars; it seems to be formed from the rhyme royal stanza, by adding one verse to each pes; but it might also be looked upon as a combination with the tail-rhyme stanza. Another stanza of this kind, with the formula a a b a a b b a b5, is used in Chaucer’s Complaynt of Faire Anelyda and in Dunbar’s Goldin Targe.
A similar stanza, corresponding to the formula a a b c c b d b d4, occurs in Modern English poetry in John Scott, Ode XII. Other stanzas used in the Modern English period are formed with parallel rhymes, as e. g. on the scheme a a a b b b c c c4 (Walter Scott, Lady of the Lake, p. 187); forms with crossed rhymes throughout or partly are also used, as e.g. by Wyatt, p. 121, according to the formula a b a b c c c d d5:
My love is like unto th’ eternal fire, And I as those which therein do remain; Whose grievous pains is but their great desire To see the sight which they may not attain: So in hell’s heat myself I feel to be, That am restrain’d by great extremity, The sight of her which is so dear to me. O! puissant Love! and power of great avail! By whom hell may be felt ere death assail!
As to other schemes (a b a b b c d c d5, a b a b b c b c c5, a b a b c d c d R4, a b a b c d c d d4, &c.) cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 374–6
§ 271. A Middle English stanza of ten lines, similar to those of nine lines, is used by Chaucer in the Envoy to his Complaynt of Mars and Venus (a a b a a b b a a b5); another on the model a b a b b c c b b b4is found in a poem Long Life (E. E. T. S., 49, p. 156, quoted in Metrik, i. p. 421).
Some of the Modern English stanzas again are formed by combination with different varieties of the tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. one according to the formula a a b ~ c c b ~ d d e e4 in Prior, The Parallel (Poets, vii. 507):
Prometheus, forming Mr. Day, Carv’d something like a man in clay. The mortal’s work might well miscarry; He, that does heaven and earth control, Alone has power to form a soul, His hand is evident in Harry. Since one is but a moving clod, T’other the lively form of God; ’Squire Wallis, you will scarce be able To prove all poetry but fable.
A stanza of trochaic verses corresponding to a similar scheme, viz. a a b c c b d d d b4, is used by Tennyson in The Window (p. 284).
Sometimes the scheme is a b a b c c d e e d4 (where there are two pedes forming a frons, and a tail-rhyme stanza equivalent to two versus), as in Akenside, Book I, Ode II (Poets, ix. 773).
Some stanzas, on the other hand, have a parallel arrangement of rhymes, a a b b c c d d e E (e E being the cauda) as in Walter Scott, Soldier, Wake (p. 465); or more frequently crossed rhymes, a b a b c d c d e e5, a b a b c d c d e e4, the first eight verses forming the upsong (pedes); or with a four-lined upsong a a b b c d c d e e4, a a b b c d d e d e3, a b a b b c c d c D5. The last-mentioned form has been used several times by Swinburne, e.g. Poems, ii, pp. 126, 215, 219, &c., in his ballads. For specimens see Metrik, ii, §§ 379–81.
§ 272. Stanzas of eleven lines are very scarce in Middle English poetry, if used there at all, and even in Modern English very few examples occur. A stanza of Swinburne’s may be mentioned here, imitated from an Old French ballade- (or rather chant-royal) stanza, corresponding to the formula a b a b c c d d e d E5 and used in a Ballad against the Enemies of France (Poems, ii. 212). Cf. Metrik, ii, §382.
Twelve-lined stanzas are much more frequently used, even in Middle English poetry; one of four-foot verses according to the scheme a b a b a b a b b c b C (the stanzas being connected into groups by concatenatio) occurs in the fine fourteenth-century poem, The Pearl. Another of four-stressed verses corresponding to the formula a b a b a b a b c d c d we have in Wright’s Polit. Songs, p. 149; one of four-foot verses together with other forms of stanzas (a b a b a b a b a b a b, a b a b c d c d e f e f) we have in the poem on the Childhood of Christ (ed. Horstmann, Heilbronn, 1878).
But it is chiefly in Modern English poetry that stanzas of twelve lines are very common, especially stanzas consisting of three equal parts, with crossed rhymes. In some of these there is no difference at all in the structure of the three parts, as e.g. in a stanza by Prior (Poets, vii. 402) on the model a b a b c d c d e f e f4; while in others the refrain (consisting of the four last verses) forms the cauda, as e.g. in Moore’s Song on the Birthday of Mrs. ——:
Of all my happiest hours of joy, And even I have had my measure, When hearts were full, and ev’ry eye Hath kindled with the light of pleasure, An hour like this I ne’er was given, So full of friendship’s purest blisses; Young Love himself looks down from heaven, To smile on such a day as this is. Then come, my friends, this hour improve, Let’s feel as if we ne’er could sever; And may the birth of her we love Be thus with joy remember’d ever!
Now and then certain modifications of this form of stanza are met with, especially stanzas the four-lined refrain of which forms not only the end, but also the beginning, of the stanza (but as a rule only in the first stanza, the others having the refrain only at the end); e.g. A B A B c d c d A B A B3 (st. 1), d e d e f g f g A B A B3. (st. 2), h i h i k l k l A B A B3 (st. 3), in Moore, Drink to her.
In other poems Moore uses this type of stanza with lines of four stresses, as in Drink of this cup, and with lines of two stresses, as in When the Balaika. For some rarely occurring stanzas of this kind see Metrik, ii, §§ 385, 386.
A stanza of thirteen lines corresponding to the formula a b a b b c b c d e e e d4 occurs in the Middle English poem The Eleven Pains of Hell (E. E. T. S., 49, p. 210). Another one on the scheme a ~ a ~ B c ~ c ~ B d ~ d ~ d ~ b e ~ e ~ B3 we have in Moore, Go where glory waits thee.
As to stanzas of fifteen and eighteen lines see Metrik, ii, § 387.
II. Anisometrical stanzas.
§ 273. As mentioned before (§ 267) the anisometrical stanzas of the tripartite class, being older, might have been dealt with before the isometrical stanzas. This chronological order of treatment, however, would have been somewhat inconvenient in practice, as it would have involved the necessity of discussing many of the more complicated stanzas before the shorter and simpler ones, most of which do not occur in Middle English, but in Modern poetry only. Moreover, the absence of certain simple and short forms of stanza constructed in accordance with the principles which were generally adopted in the Middle English period is a purely accidental circumstance, which is liable at any moment to be altered by the discovery of new texts.
In the following paragraphs, therefore, the stanzas belonging to this chapter are discussed according to their arrangement of rhymes and to the length of the lines of which they are composed.
We begin with certain stanzas of six lines, the first part (the frons or ‘upsong’) of which is isometrical, the arrangement of rhymes being parallel.
A pretty stanza with the scheme a a b b3 c c4 presents itself in the song The Fairy Queen (Percy’s Rel. III. ii. 26):
Come, follow, follow me, You, fairy elves that be: Which circle on the greene, Come, follow Mab, your queene, Hand in hand let’s dance around, For this place is fairye ground.
For similar stanzas conforming to the schemes a a b b4 c c5, a a b b c4 c5, a a b b c ~ c ~5, a a b b6 c ~ c ~5, a a b b c4 c3 (in Moore, The Wandering Bard), &c., see Metrik, ii, § 389.
Another group is represented by stanzas of six rhyming couplets of unequal length, as a5 a4 b5 b4 c5 c4 (Sidney, Psalm XXXIX), a6 a3 b6 b3 c6 c3 (id. Psalm II); or a5 a2 b5 b2 c c5, a4 a5 b4 b5 c c4, frequently used by Herbert and Cowley, or a5 a4 b b3 c5 c4, a a b4 b3 c c4 (in Moore, St. Senanus and the Lady), the two pedes enclosing the cauda (cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 390–2).
Similar stanzas with crossed rhymes occur pretty often, especially stanzas of three Septenary verses broken up by inserted rhyme, according to the formula a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3, as in Moore, The Gazelle:
Dost thou not hear the silver bell, Thro’ yonder lime-trees ringing? ’Tis my lady’s light gazelle, To me her love-thoughts bringing,— All the while that silver bell Around his dark neck ringing.
For other specimens see Metrik, ii, § 393
§ 274. More popular are stanzas of a more distinctly tripartite character, formed on the scheme a b a b c c (which occurs also in the isometrical group). These stanzas are used in many various forms, as e. g. one in Cowper, Olney Hymns (p. 25), like a b a b3 c c4:
By whom was David taught To aim the deadly blow, When he Goliath fought, And laid the Gittite low? Nor sword nor spear the stripling took, But chose a pebble from the brook.
Numerous other examples are quoted in Metrik, ii, § 394, together with similar stanzas formed according to the schemes a b ~ a b ~3 c c4, a b a b3 C C4, a ~ b a ~ b3 c c5, a b a b4 c c5, a ~ b a ~ b4 c c6, &c.
The reverse order with regard to the length of the verses in the pedes and the cauda is also not uncommon, as e.g. in stanzas on the schemes a b a b c5 c4, a b a b c5 c3, a b a b5 c4 c5, &c.
Stanzas of this kind are met with chiefly in the earlier Modern English poets, e.g. in Cowley and Herbert. Shorter lines also are used, e.g. in stanzas corresponding to the formulas a b a b4 c c3, a b a b4 c c2; stanzas like these also occur later, e.g. in Moore. In Cowley, now and then, a stanza is found with a preceding frons (on the scheme a a5 b c b c4). In Moore we find yet another variety (in Poor broken flower), the cauda of which is enclosed by the pedes (according to the formula a ~ b5 c c3 a ~ b5).
Another group of stanzas is to be mentioned here, the verses of which are of different length in the first part, admitting of many various combinations. Especially stanzas of Septenary rhythm in the first part are very popular, as e.g. in Cowper’s fine poem The Castaway (p. 400), on the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 c c4:
Obscurest night involved the sky, The Atlantic billows roared, When such a destined wretch as I, Washed headlong from on board, Of friends, of hope, of all bereft, His floating home for ever left.
There are many varieties of this form of stanza, as e.g. a4 b3 a4 b3 c c5, a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 c5, a3 b2 a3 b2 c4 c5, a4 b2 a4 b2 c c4, a5 b4 a5 b4 c c5; a3 b4 a3 b4 c c4, a2 b4 a2 b4 c c5. All these different schemes were chiefly used by the earlier Modern English poets, as Browne, Carew, Cowley, Waller, and Herbert. (See Metrik, ii, § 397).
There are some other stanzas of allied structure which may be regarded as extensions of the Poulter’s Measure by the addition of a second Alexandrine or Septenary verse, their formulas being a b c b3 d4 d3 or a b3 c4 b3 d4 d3. For examples see Metrik, ii, § 398.
§ 275. Stanzas of seven lines are very common, and have many diverse forms. In the first place may be mentioned those which have parallel arrangement of rhymes, and in which the frons is isometrical. Some of these forms, used chiefly by the earlier poets, as Cowley, Sheffield, and others, have the scheme a a b b c4 c2 c5 or a a b b c4 c a5. Another variety, with alternate four-and two-foot iambic-anapaestic lines according to the formula a a b b4 r r2 R4, occurs in Moore, The Legend of Puck the Fairy:
Would’st know what tricks, by the pale moonlight, Are play’d by me, the merry little Sprite, Who wing through air from the camp to the court, From king to clown, and of all make sport; Singing, I am the Sprite Of the merry midnight, Who laugh at weak mortals, and love the moonlight.
Stanzas with an anisometrical first part, e.g. on the model a4 a5 b4 b5 c c4 c5in Donne, Love’s Exchange (Poets, iv. 30), are of rare occurrence.
Numerous stanzas of this kind have in part crossed rhymes; we find, e. g., stanzas with the same order of rhymes as in the rhyme royal, on the model a b a b b c3 c5 as in S. Daniel, A Description of Beauty:
O Beauty (beams, nay, flame Of that great lamp of light), That shines a while with fame, But presently makes night! Like winter’s shortliv’d bright, Or summer’s sudden gleams; How much more dear, so much less lasting beams.
Similar stanzas have the schemes a b a b b3 c c5, a b a b c b4 c2, a b a b c c4 R2, a b a b c c4 C5, a b a b c c4 b3, a b a b4 c c2 a4, &c. For examples see Metrik, ii, §§ 401–3.
In many stanzas the first and the last part (frons and cauda) are anisometrical. Thus Donne, Cowley, and Congreve furnish many examples of the formulas a5 b4 a5 b4 c c4 b5, a ~4 b6 a ~4 b5 c c3 c4, a4 b5 a4 b5 c c2 b4, and later poets make frequent use of similar stanzas composed of shorter lines after the model of the following by Congreve, Poets, vii. 546 (a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c c4 b ~3):
Tell me no more I am deceived, That Cloe’s false and common; I always knew (at least believ’d) She was a very woman; As such I lik’d, as such caress’d, She still was constant when possess’d, She could do more for no man.
For examples of other similar stanzas (a4 b3 a4 b3 c c b3, a4 b3 a4 b3 C C3 C5, a3 b4 a3 b4 c c c4, a4 b ~2 a4 b ~2 c c a4, &c.) see Metrik, ii, §§ 404–6.
§ 276. Eight-lined stanzas of various kinds are also very popular. They rarely occur, however, with an isometrical frons, composed of rhyming couplets (a a b b c c d5 d3, a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~4 C ~ C ~2 d ~ d ~4, a a b b c c d4 d5; cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 408, 410); or with enclosing rhymes in the cauda (a a b b c d d4 c5, a a b b4 c d4 d2 c4, ib. § 409); or of an anisometrical structure with parallel rhymes in both parts (ib. § 411).
The usual forms show crossed rhymes; either throughout the whole stanza (in which case the first part is isometrical), or in the first part only. The first form is represented by the following elegant stanza (a b a b5 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3) in the second of Drayton’s Eclogues (Poets, iii. 590):
Upon a bank with roses set about, Where turtles oft sit joining bill to bill, And gentle springs steal softly murm’ring out, Washing the foot of pleasure’s sacred hill; There little Love sore wounded lies, His bow and arrows broken, Bedew’d with tears from Venus’ eyes; Oh! grievous to be spoken.
Other schemes that occur are: a b a b c5 d3 c5 d3, a b a b c d c4 d3, a b a b c c d4 d3, a b a b4 c c2 d d4, a b a4 b3 c c d d4, a ~ b a ~ b3 c4 d3 d4 d3, a b ~ a b ~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3, a ~ b c ~ b d ~ e3 f4 e3, a ~ b a ~ b3 c d c4 d3, a ~ b a ~ b c ~ d c ~4 d5 (M. Arnold, p. 2), &c.; for numerous examples see Metrik, ii, §§ 412, 414, 415.
Sometimes stanzas occur, the isometrical part of which forms the cauda, as on the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d d4 in Moore, Sovereign Woman:
The dance was o’er, yet still in dreams, That fairy scene went on; Like clouds still flushed with daylight gleams, Though day itself is gone. And gracefully to music’s sound, The same bright nymphs went gliding round; While thou, the Queen of all, wert there— The fairest still, where all were fair.
For examples of other forms (a b a4 b2 c d C D4, a ~3 b4 a ~3 b4 c b c b4, a4 b3 c4 b3 d e d e3, &c.) see Metrik, ii, §§ 413, 416..
§ 277. Very frequently stanzas occur which are of an entirely anisometrical structure in both parts. To this group belong the first tripartite anisometrical stanzas of the Middle English period, contained in Wright’s Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 111 (two songs). Their stanzaic form (a4 b3 a4 b3 b b5 c7 c5) is also of great importance, on account of the fact that the first five-foot verses as yet known in English poetry occur in the cauda of these stanzas. The first strophe may serve as an example:
Lutel wot hit anymon, Hou loue hym haueþ ybounde, Þat for us oþe rode ron, Ant bohte vs wiþ is wounde, Þe loue of hym vs haueþ ymaked sounde, Ant yeast þe grimly gost to grounde. Euer ant oo, nyht ant day, hi haueþ vs in is þohte, He nul nout leose þat he so deore bohte.
This stanza is also interesting on account of its regular use of masculine rhymes in the first and in the third line, and of feminine rhymes in the others. The structure of the five-measured verses employed in this stanza has been referred to before (§ 153).
Very often both main parts, the upsong and the downsong, have crossed rhymes in Modern English, e.g. in a form of stanza with the scheme a5 b3 a5 b3 c d5 c3 d2 in Southey, To a Spider (ii. 180):
Spider! thou need’st not run in fear about To shun my curious eyes; I wont humanely crush thy bowels out, Lest thou should’st eat the flies; Nor will I roast thee with a damn’d delight Thy strange instinctive fortitude to see, For there is One who might One day roast me.
A structure analogous to that of the two last-quoted specimens is exhibited in many stanzas occurring in earlier Modern English poetry, as in Cowley, Herbert, Browne, Carew (a5 b4 a5 b4 c4 c5 d4 d5, a5 b2 a5 b2 c4 c3 d5 d2, a3 b2 a3 b2 c c4 d d5, a4 b2 a4 b2 c3 c2 d d3); other forms, corresponding only in the upsong or downsong to the Middle English stanza quoted above, are a ~4 b2 a ~3 b2 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3, a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 b ~2 b ~3 c4 b ~3, a4 b3 a4 b3 c d3 c4 d3, &c., used by Burns, Moore, and Mrs. Hemans. For examples see Metrik, ii, §§ 417, 418.
§ 278. The next group consists of stanzas, one main part of which consists of a half or of a whole tail-rhyme stanza. The first of these two forms is used e.g. by Burns in the song She’s Fair and Fause (p. 204), where the stanza consists of four- and three-foot verses on the model a4 b3 a4 b3 c c c4 d3:
She’s fair and fause that causes my smart, I lo’ed her meikle and lang: She’s broken her vow, she’s broken my heart, And I may e’en gae hang. A coof cam in wi’ rowth o’ gear, And I hae tint my dearest dear, But woman is but warld’s gear, Sae let the bonie lass gang.
Other stanzas of this class correspond to the formulas a4 b3 a4 b3 a a a4 b3, a ~4 b2 a ~4 b3 c ~ c ~ c ~4 b2, a3 b2 a3 b2 c c c3 b2. For examples see Metrik, ii, § 419.
There is another form of stanza the first part of which according to the Middle English usage consists of a complete tail-rhyme stanza (cf. the ten-lined stanzas of this group), while the cauda is formed by a rhyming couplet, so that its structure corresponds to the scheme a a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c4; it occurs in Spenser, Epigrams, ii (p. 586):
As Diane hunted on a day, She chaunst to come where Cupid lay, His quiver by his head: One of his shafts she stole away, And one of hers did close convay Into the other’s stead: With that Love wounded my Love’s hart But Diane beasts with Cupid’s dart.
Similar stanzas of other metres are very frequently met with, as e.g. stanzas corresponding to the formulas a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d5, a a3 b2 c c3 b2 d d6, a a2 b3 c c2 b3 b b7, and a ~ a ~4 b5 c ~ c ~4 b5 d d5. The reverse order (i.e. frons + two versus) we have in a a3 b b2 c3 b b2 c3 and a a5 b b3 c5 d d3 e5. For examples see Metrik, ii, § 420.
A stanza corresponding to the formula a b4 c3 a b4 c3 a4 D3 occurs in M. Arnold’s The Church of Brou (p. 17)
§ 279. Among stanzas of nine lines, those with parallel rhymes must again be mentioned first; as e.g. a strophe on the scheme a a b b c c d d4 d5, in Akenside, Book I, Ode X, To the Muse (Poets, ix. 780). Other stanzas occurring also in more recent poetry (Wordsworth, W. Scott) are on the schemes a a b b4 c c2 c d d4, a a b b c4 d3 c c4 d3, a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c d D4. For examples see Metrik, ii, § 421.
Similar stanzas, also with an isometrical first part, but with crossed rhymes, are not very often met with. The schemes are a b a b4 c c2 c d d4, a b a b c c d d4 d5, a b a b b c b b4 c3, a b a b c d c d4 e2, a4 b3 a a4 b3 c ~ d c ~ d4, &c. Specimens of them are also found in modern poets, as in Moore, Burns, Walter Scott, &c. For examples see Metrik, ii, § 422.
More frequently stanzas occur with an anisometrical first and last part and crossed rhymes in each of them; the schemes are a4 b5 a4 b5 c4 d3 c5 d d4, a5 b2 a5 b2 c c5 d d2 c4, a4 b2 a4 b2 c4 d d2 c c4. The most popular, however, are those stanzas in which one or other of the two main parts consists of Septenary verses; they are of frequent occurrence in Burns and other modern poets; a stanza on the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3 r2, e.g., is found in Burns, The Holy Fair (p. 14):
Upon a simmer Sunday morn, When Nature’s face is fair, I walked forth to view the corn, An’ snuff’ the caller air. The risin’ sun, owre Galston muirs, Wi’ glorious light was glintin; The hares were hirplin down the furrs, The lav’rocks they were chantin Fu’ sweet that day.
For similar examples see Metrik, ii, § 424.
Other stanzas are formed by combination with a complete or a shortened tail-rhyme stanza; so that we have schemes like a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d d4, a ~ a ~ b c ~ c ~ b4 d ~ d ~2 b4, a a2 b4 c c2 b4 d d2 b4. They occur in Carew (Poets, iii. 709), Dryden (p. 368), and Thackeray (p. 237). The formula a4 b3 a4 b3 c d c c4 d3 we find in Campbell (p. 82), a4 b3 a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4 in Byron’s Ode to Napoleon (p. 273):
’Tis done—but yesterday a King! And arm’d with Kings to strive— And now thou art a nameless thing; So abject—yet alive! Is this the man of thousand thrones, Who strew’d our earth with hostile bones, And can he thus survive? Since he, miscall’d the Morning Star, Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far.
For other specimens see Metrik, ii, §§ 424, 425
§ 280. Among the stanzas of ten lines, those with an isometrical first part and parallel rhymes may first be mentioned; they correspond to the schemes a a b b c d d e e4 c5, a a b b c d c d4 f3 f4, a a b b c4 d3 c c c4 d3, a a b b4 c d c d2 e e4, and are found in Akenside, Wordsworth, and Moore. Next come stanzas with an anisometrical first part according to the formulas a5 a4 b5 b4 c c5 d d e4 e5, a4 a5 b4 b5 c d c4 d3 e e5, a ~ a ~3 b b4 c ~ c ~3 d d4 e ~ e ~3, occurring in Cowley and Campbell (cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 427, 428).
In other stanzas, crossed rhymes are used in the isometrical first part; they correspond to the formulas a b a b5 c4 d3 c4 d3 e6 e7, a b a b c c d e d5 E2, a b a b c d e5 c3 d e5, a b a b c3 c2 d3 d2 e3 e4, and are found in Browne, G. Herbert, and Ben Jonson (ib. § 429).
In modern poetry simpler stanzas of this kind are used; one e.g. on the scheme a ~ b ~ a ~ b ~3 c c4 d ~ e ~ d ~ e ~3 (the cauda being thus enclosed by the two pedes) in Moore’s song Bring the bright Garlands hither:
Bring the bright garlands hither, Ere yet a leaf is dying; If so soon they must wither, Ours be their last sweet sighing. Hark, that low dismal chime! ’Tis the dreary voice of Time. Oh, bring beauty, bring roses, Bring all that yet is ours; Let life’s day, as it closes, Shine to the last through flowers.
Similar stanzas corresponding to the formulas a ~ b a ~ b2 c c4 d ~ e d ~ e2, a ~ b ~ a ~ b c ~ d c ~ d2 e e4, a b a b c d c d4 e3 e4 and a ~ b a ~ b4 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3 c ~4 d3, are used by the same poet in With Moonlight Beaming, The Young Indian Maid, Guess, guess, and from this Hour.
Many stanzas of this group with an isometrical first part are formed by combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, which then generally forms the cauda, as in one of Cunningham’s stanzas, viz. in Newcastle Beer (Poets, x. 729), the stanza consisting of four- and two-stressed verses on the scheme a b a b4 c c2 d4 e e2 d4:
When fame brought the news of Great-Britain’s success, And told at Olympus each Gallic defeat; Glad Mars sent by Mercury orders express, To summon the deities all to a treat: Blithe Comus was plac’d To guide the gay feast, And freely declar’d there was choice of good cheer; Yet vow’d to his thinking, For exquisite drinking, Their nectar was nothing to Newcastle beer.
For examples of many similar forms, e.g. a b a b c c d e e4 d3, a5 b b4 a5 c c d e e d3, a b a b4 c c2 d4 e ~ e ~2 d4, a b a b4 c c2 d3 e e2 d3, a b a b3 c ~ c ~1 d3 e ~ e ~1 d2, see Metrik, ii, § 431
§ 281. Stanzas of this kind with an anisometrical first part occur in the Middle English period: e.g. in Wright’s Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 83, on the scheme a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c c4 d ~3 e e4 d ~3:
Jesu, for þi muchele miht Þou ȝef vs of þi grace, Þat we mowe dai and nyht Þenken o þi face. In myn herte hit doþ me god, When y þenke on iesu blod, Þat ran doun bi ys syde, From is herte doun to is fot, For ous he spradde is herte blod, His woundes were so wyde.
The shorter, Septenary part of the stanza represents the frons, the tail-rhyme stanza, the versus. Of a similar form (a4 b3 a4 b3 a a4 b3 a b3 a2) is the stanza of the poem An Orison of our Lady (E. E. T. S., vol. xlix, p. 158). In Modern English also allied forms occur; one especially with the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d e e4 d3 in Gray, Ode on the Spring (Poets, x. 215); other forms are a4 b3 a4 b3 c c2 d3 e e2 d4, a4 b3 a4 b3 c c d e e4 d5, a b3 a4 b3 d d4 e3 f f4 e3. (For examples see Metrik, ii, § 432.) The reverse combination, viz. tail-rhyme stanza and Septenary (on the scheme a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 b3 d4 b3), also occurs in Middle English times[195]), e.g. in Wright’s Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 87:
Nou skrinkeþ rose and lylie flour, þat whilen ber þat suete sauour, in somer, þat suete tyde; ne is no quene so stark ne stour, ne no leuedy so bryht in bour, þat ded ne shal by glyde. Whose wol fleyshlust forgon, and heuene blis abyde, on iesu be is þoht anon, þat þerled was ys syde.
Similar stanzas occur also in Modern English; e.g. one on the formula a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d4 e3 d4 e3 in Burns (p. 255), another on the scheme a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d e3 d4 e3 (= Poulter’s Measure in the cauda), ib. p. 189.
Other ten-line stanzas consisting chiefly of Septenary verses or of Poulter’s Measure correspond to the formulas a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 d3 c4 d3 e e4, a b3 a4 b3 c d3 c4 d3 e e4, a b a4 b3 c d c4 d3 e e3. For examples, partly taken from Moore, see Metrik, ii, § 435.
Stanzas of this kind consisting of five-foot verses are rarely met with, e.g. a5 b3 a5 b3 c5 d3 c5 d3 e e4, a b4 a5 b4 c c d d e e5, a5 b3 a5 b3 c c4 d2 d5 e2 e5; as in Spenser and Browne (cf. Metrik, ii, § 434)
§ 282. Stanzas of eleven lines= are also rare. There is one with an isometrical first part (on the scheme a b a b5 c c2 c3 d2 d5 x2 d6) in Ben Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels (Poets, iv. 610); another in Campbell’s Gertrude of Wyoming (st. xxxv-xxxix), corresponding to the scheme a b a b4 c3 d d d4 c3 e e4.
Other stanzas of an almost entirely anisometrical structure consist of a combination with a tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. a Middle English stanza on the scheme a a4 b3 a a4 b3 a4 b3 a a4 b3, with a regular tail-rhyme stanza representing the pedes, and a shortened tail- rhyme stanza representing the cauda; it occurs in the Towneley Mysteries, pp. 221–3. A similar one we have in Phineas Fletcher (Poets, iv. 460) on the formula a ~2 a ~3 b2 e ~2 e ~3 b2 d ~4 e ~ e ~2 d d5, and another one in Leigh Hunt, Coronation Soliloquy (p. 225) which corresponds to the formula a a2 b ~3 c c2 b ~3 d d2 e ~3 f4 e ~3.
In other stanzas parts only of tail-rhyme stanzas occur, as in a strophe of the form a4 b ~3 c4 b ~3 d e d d4 e3 r R4, used by Wordsworth in The Seven Sisters (iii. 15):
Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald, All children of one mother: You could not say in one short day What love they bore each other. A garland of seven lilies wrought! Seven Sisters that together dwell; But he, bold Knight as ever fought, Their Father, took of them no thought, He loved the wars so well. Sing mournfully, oh! mournfully, The solitude of Binnorie!
Other stanzas of this kind are formed on the schemes a4 b2 a4 b2 c c2 d3 e4 d2 e4 d2 (Moore, Love’s Young Dream), a b b a c c d e e d5 e3 (Swinburne, Ave atque Vale, Poems, ii. 71). Cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 436, 437.
§ 283. Stanzas of twelve lines are very numerous. One of the Middle English period we have in Wright’s Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 27; it is formed on the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 b b b c3 D D D4 C3 and is similar to those ten-lined stanzas mentioned above, which consist of two Septenary verses and a tail-rhyme stanza; the second part of which, being the refrain, thus becomes the cauda of the stanza. In the Modern English period some simple stanzas with an isometrical first part and parallel rhymes may be mentioned in the first place. These are constructed on the schemes a a b b c c d d4 e4 f2 e4 f2, a a b b c c d d e e f4 f3 and occur in Mrs. Hemans (iv. 171; vii. 155); stanzas of this kind with crossed rhymes are likewise met with, e.g. a ~ b a ~ b4 c c3 d5 e e f f3 d5 in Burns, p. 188.
Pretty often we find stanzas for singing, the cauda of which is enclosed by the pedes; in the first stanza the two pedes together form the refrain, in the others, however, only the last one, e.g. in stanzas on the schemes A ~ B A ~ B4 c4 d3 c4 d3 A ~ B A ~ B4, e ~ f e ~ f4 g4 h3 g4 h3 A ~ B A ~ B4 in Hymns Ancient and Mod., No. 138, consisting of trochaic verses:
Christ is risen! Christ is risen! He hath burst His bonds in twain; Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Alleluia! swell the strain! For our gain He suffered loss By Divine decree; He hath died upon the Cross, But our God is He. Christ is risen! Christ is risen! He hath burst His bonds in twain; Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Alleluia! swell the strain. See the chains of death are broken; Earth below and heaven above, &c. &c.
Similar stanzas frequently occur in Moore, e.g. stanzas on the models A ~ B A ~ B4 c c d3 d2 E ~ B E ~ B4, and f ~ g f ~ g4 h h i3 i2 E ~ B E ~ B4 (in Love’s light summer-cloud), A B ~ A B ~3 c d ~3 c4 d ~3 A B ~ A B ~3, e f ~ e f ~3 g h ~3 g4 h ~3 A B ~ A B ~3 (in All that’s bright must fade). For other examples see Metrik, ii, § 441.
Similar stanzas of Septenary metres, also common in Moore, have the formulas a4 b3 a4 b3 c4 d3 c4 d3 E4 F3 E4 F3 (in When Time), A4 B3 A4 B3 c4 d3 c4 d3 A4 B3 A4 B3 (st. i), d4 e3 d4 e3 f4 g3 f4 g3 A4 B3 A4 B3 (st. ii); only in st. i the cauda is in the middle; in the others it closes the stanza (Nets and Cages).
Other stanzas have the reverse order of verses, as e.g. stanzas on the schemes a ~3 b4 a ~3 b4 c ~3 d4 c ~3 d4 E ~3 F4 E ~3 F4 (To Ladies’ Eyes), A ~3 B4 A ~3 B4 c d c d4 A ~3 B4 A ~3 B4 (Oh! Doubt me not). This sort of stanza also occurs in Moore with other metres, e.g. according to the formulas A4 B2 A4 B2 c3 d2 c3 d2 A4 B2 A4 B2, e4 b2 e4 b2 f3 g2 f3 g3 e4 b2 e4 b2 (Not from thee) and there are still other varieties in Moore and in some of the more recent poets. Cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 443–5
§ 284. Among the stanzas of thirteen lines, one belonging to the Middle English period has been mentioned above (p. 342, note), which is formed by combination with a tail-rhyme stanza.
In the few Modern English stanzas of this length we generally find also a part of a tail-rhyme stanza, as e.g. in the cauda of a stanza constructed on the formula a b ~ a b ~ c d ~ c d ~4 E F ~4 g g2 F ~4 (Moore, Lesbia hath, &c.); or in a stanza like a ~ b a ~ b4 c c2 b4 d d2 e f e f4, deficient in one four-stressed tail-verse as in Moore, The Prince’s Day:
Tho’ dark are our sorrows to-day we’ll forget them, And smile through our tears, like a sunbeam in showers; There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them, More form’d to be grateful and blest than ours. But just when the chain Has ceas’d to pain, And hope has enwreath’d it round with flowers, There comes a new link Our spirits to sink— Oh! the joy that we taste, like the light of the poles, Is a flash amid darkness, too brilliant to stay; But, though ’twere the last little spark in our souls, We must light it up now, on our Prince’s Day.
For other forms of stanzas belonging to this group see Metrik, ii, § 447
§ 285. More numerous are stanzas of fourteen lines. Judging by the examples which have come to our knowledge, they are also, as a rule, formed by combination with a tail-rhyme stanza; as e.g. in a stanza by Browne (Poets, iv. 276) on the scheme a b a b c a c a5 a a2 b3 c c2 b3; another stanza, frequently used by Burns, corresponds to the formula a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 e3 d4 e3 f ~2 g3 h ~2 g3 and occurs, e.g., in his Epistle to Davie (p. 57):
While winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw, And bar the doors wi’ driving snaw, And hing us owre the ingle, I set me down, to pass the time, And spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme, In hamely, westlin jingle. While frosty winds blaw in the drift, Ben to the chimla lug, I grudge a wee the Great-folk’s gift, That live sae bien an’ snug: I tent less, and want less Their roomy fire-side; But hanker and canker, To see their cursèd pride.
A similar stanza is found in Moore, The Sale of Loves, a4 b ~3 a4 b ~3 c4 d ~3 c4 d ~3 E E2 F ~3 G G2 F ~3. In other stanzas used by this poet, the tail-rhyme stanza forms the cauda enclosed by two pedes (see § 283); e.g. in Nay, tell me not, dear, on the scheme a b a b4 c c2 d4 e e2 d4 F G F G4. Another stanza of the form A B ~ A B ~3 c c2 d3 e e2 d3 A B ~ A B ~3, f g ~ f g ~3 h h2 i3 k k2 i3 A B ~ A B ~3, is used in Oft, in the stilly night.
As to other forms cf. Metrik, ii, § 448. Stanzas, the enclosing pedes of which are formed by two tail-rhyme stanzas, are discussed ib. § 449 (schemes: a a2 b ~3 C C2 b ~3 d ~ d ~3 e e2 f ~3 C C2 f ~3, g g2 h ~3 i i2 h ~3 k ~ k ~3 l l2 m ~3 C C2 m ~3)
§ 286. Some stanzas of still greater extent (not very common) are also formed by combination with tail-rhyme stanzas. There are a few stanzas of fifteen lines, e.g. one on the model a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 e3 f f2 e3 g G3 G4 in Moore, Song and Trio; one on a ~ a ~ b ~ b ~2 c1 d ~ d ~ e ~ e ~2 c1 f ~ f ~ g ~ g ~2 c1 in Shelley, The Fugitives (iii. 55); and one on a ~ a ~ a ~ b c ~ c ~ c ~ b d ~ d ~ d ~ e f ~ f ~2 e4 in Swinburne, Four Songs in Four Seasons (Poems, ii. 163–76).
Two stanzas of sixteen lines occur in Moore on the schemes a a2 b ~3 c c2 b ~3 d e d e3 f f2 g ~3 h h2 g ~3 (The Indian Boat), and a a2 b ~3 c c2 b ~3 d d2 e ~3 f f2 e ~3 G ~4 H H2 G ~3 (Oh, the Shamrock).
A stanza of seventeen lines (a a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c4 b3 c c4 b3 d4 e3 d d4 e3) is found in a Middle English poem in Wright’s Spec. of Lyr. Poetry, p. 47; it consists of two six-lined, common tail-rhyme stanzas (the pedes), and a shortened one (forming the cauda).
A stanza of eighteen lines on the formula a a4 b3 c c4 b3 d d4 b3 e e4 b3 f f g g g f2 occurs in Wright’s Pol. Songs, p. 155 (cf. Metrik, i, p. 411); the scheme might also be given as a a4 b2, &c., if the tail-rhyme verses be looked upon as two-stressed lines. A simpler stanza according to the scheme a a2 b3 c c2 b3 d d2 b3 e e2 b3 f f2 g3 h h2 g3 is used in The Nut-Brown Mayd (Percy’s Rel. II. i. 6). Cf. § 244, also Metrik, i, p. 367, and ii, p. 715.
Similar stanzas are used by Shelley (in Arethusa, i. 374) and by Moore (in Wreath the Bowl). Cf. Metrik, ii, § 453.
Lastly, a stanza of twenty lines with the scheme a b ~ a c d b ~ d c e e3 f4 g g3 f4 h h3 i4 k ~ k ~3 i4, occurs in The King of France’s Daughter (Percy’s Rel. III. ii. 17); cf. Metrik, ii, § 454.