Part 3 — CHAPTER VI STANZAS OF THREE AND MORE PARTS CONSISTING OF UNEQUAL PARTS ONLY
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§ 287. Introductory remark. At the very beginning of the Modern English period the poetry of England was strongly influenced by that of Italy. Among the strophic forms used by the Italian poets, two especially have had an important share in the development of English metre: the sonnet and the canzone. Apart from those direct imitations which we shall have to notice later, the sonnet form tended to make more popular the use of enclosing rhymes, which had until then been only sparingly employed in English poetry; while the canzone with its varied combinations of anisometrical verses, mostly of eleven and seven syllables, gave rise to a variety of similar loosely constructed stanzas, as a rule, of three- and five-foot verses.
At the same time, however, these Modern English stanzas of a somewhat loose structure were also affected by the stricter rules for the formation of stanzas which had come down from the Middle English period. Hence their structure frequently reminds us of the older forms, two adjoining parts being often closely related, either by order of rhymes, or by the structure of the verse, or by both together, though the old law of the equality of the two pedes or of the two versus is not quite strictly observed.
This explains the fact that some stanzas (especially the shorter ones) have a structure similar to that of the old tripartite stanzas; while others (chiefly the longer ones) not unfrequently consist of four or even more parts.
In the first group the chief interest centres round those which have enclosing rhymes in their first or last part. Although the transposition of the order of rhymes thus effected in the pedes or in the versus was common both in Northern French and Provençal poets,[196] the teachers of the Middle English poets, we find scarcely a single example of it in Middle English, and it seems to have become popular in Modern English only through the influence of the Italian sonnet.
In accordance with the analogy of the isometrical stanzas or parts of stanzas this arrangement of rhymes is found also in the anisometrical ones; so that we have first parts (pedes) both on the scheme a b b a4, a b b a5 or a4 b b3 a4, a5 b4 b4 a5. From the arrangement of rhymes this order was transferred to the lines themselves; thus a stanza with enclosing rhymes consisting of two longer lines with a couplet of short lines between them, as in the last example, is transformed into a similar stanza with crossed rhymes according to the formula a5 b4 a4 b5, the shorter lines being, as before, placed between the longer ones (or vice versa a4 b5 a5 b4). It is evident that here too in spite of the regular arrangement of rhymes the two pedes are not alike, but only similar to each other.
§ 288. Six-lined stanzas of this kind, with an isometrical first part or isometrical throughout, occur pretty often; one e.g. on the scheme a b b a c c4 is met with in John Scott, Ode XIX (Poets, xi. 757):
Pastoral, and elegy, and ode! Who hopes, by these, applause to gain, Believe me, friend, may hope in vain— These classic things are not the mode; Our taste polite, so much refin’d, Demands a strain of different kind.
For similar stanzas according to the formulas a b b a a b4, a b b a c c5, a b b a c3 c5 (Milton, Psalm IV), a b b a5 c4 c5, and a b b a c5 c3, see Metrik, ii, § 456.
Other stanzas have anisometrical first and last parts; as e.g. one on the model a5 b b4 a5 c4 c3 which was used by Cowley, Upon the shortness of Man’s Life (Poets, v. 227):
Mark that swift arrow, how it cuts the air, How it outruns thy following eye! Use all persuasions now, and try If thou canst call it back, or stay it there. That way it went, but thou shalt find No track is left behind.
Similar stanzas are found in later poets, as e.g. Mrs. Hemans, D. G. Rossetti, Mrs. Browning, corresponding to a5 b b4 a5 c4 c5, a3 b b5 a3 c c5, a5 b b3 a4 c5 c3, a3 b4 b5 a4 b5 a3, a b3 b4 a3 c c4, &c. (For specimen see Metrik, ii, § 458.)
Even more frequently we have stanzas of three quite heterogeneous parts; the lines rhyming crosswise, parallel, or crosswise and parallel. They occur both in the earlier poets (Cowley, Herbert, &c.) and in those of recent times (Southey, Wordsworth, Shelley, the Brownings, Swinburne, &c.). A song by Suckling (Poets, iii. 730) on the scheme a3 a b b2 c c4 may serve as an example:
If when Don Cupid’s dart Doth wound a heart, We hide our grief And shun relief; The smart increaseth on that score; For wounds unsearcht but rankle more.
For an account of other stanzas of a similar structure (e.g. a a5 b b4 c c3, a a4 b b c3 c5, a5 a3 b b c4 c5, a2 a b b c4 c1, &c.) see Metrik, ii, §459.
Very often we find stanzas of combined crossed and parallel rhymes; one e.g. on the model a b a5 b6 c c5 in Shelley, A Summer-Evening Churchyard (i. 160):
The wind has swept from the wide atmosphere Each vapour that obscured the sunset’s ray; And pallid Evening twines its beaming hair In duskier braids around the languid eyes of day: Silence and Twilight, unbeloved of men, Creep hand in hand from yon obscurest glen.
Many stanzas of a similar kind correspond to the schemes a a4 b c2 b4 c3, a4 b3 a b c c4, a3 b5 a b4 c5 c4, a b a5 b c c4, a5 a b c c b4 c5, a4 b ~2 a a4 b ~a4, a5 b3 a b c5 c3, and a b c c a4 b3; for specimens see Metrik, ii, §§ 460–3.
Stanzas consisting of shorter lines are not so often met with; we have an example (on the model a b a2 b c4 c3) consisting of iambic-anapaestic verses in R. Browning, On the Cliff (vi. 48):
I leaned on the turf, I looked at a rock Left dry by the surf; For the turf, to call it grass were to mock; Dead to the roots, so deep was done The work of the summer sun.
For stanzas on the schemes a4 b1 a4 b2 C D2, a b a4 c3 c b2 see ibid. § 464
§ 289. Among seven-line stanzas, both in earlier (Ph. Fletcher, S. Daniel, &c.) and more recent poets (Mrs. Browning, Swinburne, R. Browning, D.G. Rossetti), those which are entirely isometrical occur often. One on the model a b b a b b a5 is met with in S. Daniel’s Epistle to the Angel Spirit of the most excellent Sir Philip Sidney (Poets, iii. 228):
To thee, pure spir’t, to thee alone addrest Is this joint work, by double int’rest thine: Thine by thine own, and what is done of mine Inspir’d by thee, thy secret pow’r imprest: My muse with thine itself dar’d to combine, As mortal stuff with that which is divine: Let thy fair beams give lustre to the rest.
Specimens of stanzas on the schemes a b b a c c c4, a b b a b b a4, a b b a a c c3, a b b a a c c5, a b b a c c a5, and a b c c d d d4, are given in Metrik, ii, §456.
Anisometrical stanzas on the model a b b a in the first part occur only in single examples, one corresponding to the scheme a b b a4 b2 c c4 found in Milton, Arcades, Song I; and another of the form a3 b b5 a3 c c a5 in Mrs. Hemans, The Festal Hour (ii. 247); cf. Metrik, ii, § 466.
Sometimes quite anisometrical stanzas with parallel rhymes occur, especially in the earlier poets, as e.g. in Wyatt, Suckling, Cowley; a stanza of Cowley’s poem, The Thief (Poets, v. 263), has the formula a5 a b b c c4 c5:
What do I seek, alas! or why do I Attempt in vain from thee to fly? For, making thee my deity, I give thee then ubiquity, My pains resemble hell in this, The Divine Presence there, too, is, But to torment men, not to give them bliss.
Other forms of a similar structure are a a3 b b2 a a3 B4, a4 a b b3 c c4 x3, a4 a b5 b c c4 c5, a5 a a b b4 c c3; for examples see Metrik, ii, §467.
Stanzas which have crossed rhymes either in part or throughout are still commoner. Thus a stanza on the model of therhyme royal stanza (a3 b a b5 b3 c c5) which occurs in Mrs. Hemans, Elysium (iii. 236):
Fair wert thou in the dreams Of elder time, thou land of glorious flowers And summer winds and low-toned silvery streams, Dim with the shadows of thy laurel bowers, Where, as they pass’d, bright hours Left no faint sense of parting, such as clings To earthly love, and joy in loveliest things!
Other similar stanzas correspond to a4 b a5 b4 c3 c4 c5, a3 b a4 b2 c c c5, a5 b a4 b5 c4 c c5, a5 b c c b a4 a5, a b a4 b3 b5 a4 b3, and a b a3 b4 c3 c2 c4; for examples taken from older poets (Donne, Carew, Cowley) and from later literature (Longfellow, D. G. Rossetti) cf. Metrik, ii, § 468.
Several other stanza-forms remind us by their structure and arrangement of rhymes of certain shortened forms of the tail-rhyme stanza, e.g. one in A Parting Song by Mrs. Hemans (vi. 189), on the scheme A4 B3 c c d d4 B2:
When will ye think of me, my friends? When will ye think of me? When the last red light, the farewell of day, From the rock and the river is passing away— When the air with a deep’ning hush is fraught And the heart grows burden’d with tender thought— Then let it be.
Similar stanzas corresponding to the formulas a b4 a a3 b a4 a3, a4 b3 a a4 b3 c c4, a a b a5 b a a2 are quoted in Metrik, ii, § 469
§ 290. Most of the eight-lined stanzas, which on the whole are rare, are similar to the tail-rhyme stanza, the scheme of which is carried out in both parts, to which a third part is then added as the cauda (last part).
Stanzas of this kind, used especially by Cowley, correspond to a a5 b3 c c4 b3 d d4, a5 a4 b4 c5 c5 b4 d4 d5, a5 a b c c b4 d d5, and a a5 b4 c c b5 d4 d5 (cf. Metrik, ii, § 470).
The half-stanzas (pedes) are separated by the cauda in a stanza on the scheme a a4 b5 c c d d4 b3, which occurs in Wordsworth, The Pilgrim’s Dream (vi. 153):
A Pilgrim, when the summer day Had closed upon his weary way, A lodging begged beneath a castle’s roof; But him the haughty Warder spurned; And from the gate the Pilgrim turned, To seek such covert as the field Or heath-besprinkled copse might yield, Or lofty wood, shower-proof.
In other stanzas on the models a4 b2 a b c c c4 b2, a ~ b a ~4 b3 c ~ c ~ c ~4 b2, a4 b2 a4 c c2 d d4 b2, and a4 B ~2 a a4 C ~2 D3 D4, only a half-stanza of the tail-rhyme form can be recognized (cf. Metrik, ii, §475).
Sometimes an unequal part is inserted between two parts of a somewhat similar structure, as in a stanza with the formula a a b c b c d4 d5 in Byron, Translation from Horace (p. 89):
The man of firm and noble soul No factious clamours can control; No threat’ning tyrant’s darkling brow Can swerve him from his just intent; Gales the warring waves which plough, By Auster on the billows spent, To curb the Adriatic main, Would awe his fix’d, determined mind in vain.
Other stanzas correspond to the schemes a a5 . b b c c3 . d ~ d ~4, a5 a3 a4 . b b4 . c c4 c5, a b5 b3 . a4 a . c c c5, a3 a . b c b c . d d5, a a4 . b4 c ~ c ~2 . d d2 b4, and a5 a2 . b b5 . c c c5 c2. All these forms are met with in earlier poets, as e.g. Donne, Drayton, and Cowley; for specimen see Metrik, ii, § 471
§ 291. A quadripartite structure is sometimes observable in stanzas with four rhymes, especially with a parallel or crossed order, or both combined, as e.g. in a poem by Donne, The Damp (Poets, iv. 37), the scheme being a5 a4 b b5 c c4 d d5:
When I am dead, and doctors know not why, And my friends’ curiosity Will have me cut up, to survey each part, And they shall find your picture in mine heart; You think a sudden Damp of love Will through all their senses move, And work on them as me, and so prefer Your murder to the name of massacre.
For stanzas of different structure on similar models cf. Metrik, ii, § 472 (a5 a b3 b c5 d3 c2 d4, a5 a b2 b c5 c2 d4 d5, a5 a3 b b5 c c4 d d5, a b a4 b5 c c4 d d5, a a5 b b c d c4 d5, and a4 b5 a4 b3 c d4 c2 d4).
There are other stanzas of this kind which occur in earlier poets, as e. g. Donne, Cowley, and Dryden, or in some of those of later date, as Southey, R. Browning, and Rossetti, one half-stanza having enclosing rhymes and the whole stanza partaking of a tripartite structure. We find, e.g. the form A b b a c d c4 d3 in D. G. Rossetti, A Little While (i. 245):
A little while a little love The hour yet bears for thee and me Who have not drawn the veil to see, If still our heaven be lit above. Thou merely, at the day’s last sigh, Hast felt thy soul prolong the tone; And I have heard the night-wind cry And deemed its speech mine own.
Other similar stanzas correspond to the formulas a a b5 b4 c5 d d4 c5, a5 b b4 a5 c c4 d d5, a4 b b2 a c4 d d2 c3, and a5 b3 a b5 c3 d d5 c3; for examples see Metrik, ii, § 474. Stanzas on the model a ~ b c a ~ c4 B2 d4 D2, or on a b c ~2 d d a b c ~4, are found only in single examples (cf. Metrik, ii, § 476)
§ 292. The most important of the Modern English eight-lined stanzas, however, is an isometrical one on a foreign model, viz. a stanza of hendecasyllabic or rather five-foot verses corresponding to the Italian ottava rima, on the scheme a b a b a b c c. This stanza, which has always been very popular in Italian poetry, was introduced into English by Wyatt and Surrey; in Surrey we have only an isolated specimen, in To his Mistress (p. 32):
If he that erst the form so lively drew Of Venus’ face, triumph’d in painter’s art; Thy Father then what glory did ensue, By whose pencil a Goddess made thou art, Touched with flame that figure made some rue, And with her love surprised many a heart. There lackt yet that should cure their hot desire: Thou canst inflame and quench the kindled fire.
The stanza was often used by Wyatt, Sidney, and Spenser for reflective poems, and by Drayton and Daniel for epic poems of some length. In modern literature it has been used by Frere, Byron (Beppo, Don Juan), Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, Longfellow, and others (cf. Metrik, ii, § 579).
§ 293. Stanzas of nine lines either show a combination of parallel with crossed or enclosing rhymes, as in the forms a a b c b c d d d4, a5 b a4 b5 b5 c4 c5 d d5 (Rhyme-Royal + rhyming couplet), a b5 b a4 c3 c c d d5, a4 a b b5 c4 c5 d4 d d5, a4 b a3 c4 b3 d b c4 D1 &c. (for specimens see Metrik, ii, §§ 477 and 479), or, in some of the later poets, they consist of parts of modified tail-rhyme stanzas combined with other forms, as in the following stanza (a ~3 b4 a ~ b3 c c2 d3 a ~ d3) of a song by Moore:
Love thee, dearest? love thee? Yes, by yonder star I swear, Which thro’ tears above thee Shines so sadly fair; Though often dim, With tears, like him, Like him my truth will shine, And—love thee, dearest? love thee? Yes, till death I’m thine.
Other stanzas of Moore and others have the formulas a a b a b c c c4 d3 (Burns, p. 216), a b ~ a a4 b ~3 c d d4 c3, a a b4 c2 b4 c2 d d4 c2, a4 b3 a a4 c ~3 c ~ d ~ d ~2 b3 &c. (cf. Metrik, ii, § 478)
§ 294. The ten-line stanzas are also based mostly on a combination of earlier strophic systems. Thus in Campbell’s well-known poem, Ye Mariners of England (p. 71), the Poulter’s Measure rhythm is observable, the scheme being a ~ b3 c4 d3 . e4 f3 . e2 F3 G4 F3:
Ye Mariners of England! That guard our native seas; Whose flag has braved, a thousand years, The battle and the breeze! Your glorious standard launch again To match another foe! And sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow; While the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow.
Similar stanzas occurring in the works of earlier poets, as Sidney and Spenser, correspond to the schemes a6 b a b b5 c c4 d2 b5 d2, a5 a2 b ~ c b ~ c D ~ D ~ E E3, &c. But generally speaking most of the earlier poets, as e.g. Donne, Cowley, and Suckling, prefer a simpler order of rhymes, the schemes being a a3 b b . c5 c c4 . d d d5, a4 a b b5 c c4 d d e e5, a5 a a2 b b c d d3 e e5, &c.; the more modern poets (Moore, Wordsworth, Swinburne), on the other hand, are fond of somewhat more complicated forms, as a4 b ~ b ~2 a a4 c ~ c ~2 d a d4, a b a4 b3 c c5 d e3 d4 e3, a b b4 a3 c d d e d4 d3, &c. (For specimens cf. Metrik, ii, §§ 480, 481.) A fine form of stanza corresponding to the formula a b c b c5 a3 d e e d5 is used by M. Arnold in his poem The Scholar Gipsy, and another on the scheme a a3 b c c b5 d3 e d e5 in Westminster Abbey, p. 479.
§ 295. Stanzas of eleven lines do not frequently occur in earlier poetry, and for the most part simple forms are employed, e.g. a b4 a b c d5 c d4 e e5 e4, a5 a b4 b5 c4 d3 c4 d3 e e4 e5, a a b b4 c3 d5 d3 c e e e5, &c.; the more recent poets, however, as Moore, Wordsworth, and R. Browning, have usually preferred a more intricate arrangement, as a ~ b c ~ d d a ~ b c ~2 e e e4, a b c4 b3 d e f f4 e3 g g4, a4 b3 a b c4 d3 c4 d3 e2 e3 e4. The last scheme occurs in a song by Moore:
How happy once, tho’ wing’d with sighs, My moments flew along, While looking on those smiling eyes, And list’ning to thy magic song! But vanish’d now, like summer dreams, Those moments smile no more; For me that eye no longer beams, That song for me is o’er. Mine the cold brow, That speaks thy alter’d vow, While others feel thy sunshine now.
§ 296. Stanzas of twelve lines are more frequent, possibly on account of the symmetrical arrangement of the stanza in equal parts, twelve being divisible by three. They are constructed on different models, e.g. a a5 b3 b a5 c3 d5 d c4 c5 e e5, a a4 b ~ b ~ c3 c2 d3 d2 e f3 f1 e3, a4 b2 b1 a3 c ~4 d ~4 c ~2 e ~ e ~ f ~ f ~3 (bob-verse stanzas), a b4 c ~ c ~2 a4 b3 d d e4 f2 f4 e5, &c., occurring in earlier poets, such as Donne, Browne, Dryden, &c. Similar stanzas, partly of a simpler structure (a b b a5 a6 c c4 b5 d d e4 e5,a ~ b a ~ b3 c c4 d d3 e ~ f3 e ~ f2, and a a4 b2 c c4 b1 b4 a2 D E ~ F E4 ~), are found in modern poetry; the last scheme, resembling the tail-rhyme stanza, occurring in Tennyson (p. 12):
A spirit haunts the year’s last hours Dwelling amid these yellowing bowers: To himself he talks; For at eventide, listening earnestly, At his work you may hear him sob and sigh In the walks; Earthward he boweth the heavy stalks Of the mouldering flowers: Heavily hangs the broad sunflower Over its grave i’ the earth so chilly; Heavily hangs the hollyhock, Heavily hangs the tiger-lily.
Many other examples are quoted in Metrik, ii, §§ 484–6. For several stanzas of a still greater extent, but of rare occurrence, which need not be mentioned in this handbook, see ibid., §§ 487–90.