APPENDIX I.

FRENCH VERSE.

French verse, as found in the classical writers, consists of lines in which the principal factor is the number of syllables (loosely called pieds in French, as well as syllabes), and not, as in English, the number of accents.

METRE.

The "heroic verse," or grand vers in French, is the hexamètre, or vers alexandrin: the former name being due to the fact that this line consists of two halves or hémistiches of six syllables each; the latter a name derived from the poet Alexandre de Bernay, who, in the latter half of the twelfth century, first used this metre in his celebrated epic of "Alexandre."

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 E.g., Esth. l. 2.: Que béni soit le ciel || qui te rend à mes voeux!

Lyric poetry may have lines of any number of syllables.

E.g., Esth. l. 1241: Rompez vos fers 4 sylls. l. 970: Ses criminels attentats 7 " l. 722: En un moment s'est-il évanoui 10 "

All syllables, mute or otherwise, are counted except, (1) when a 'mute e' is elided before a word beginning with a vowel or 'mute h,' e.g.,

1 2 3 4 5 6 l. 1: Est-ce toi, chèr(e) Élis(e)? = 6 sylls.;

(2) at the end of a line, where the 'mute e' is reckoned with the preceding sounded syllable, which is thus made a "feminine rhyme," e.g.;

1 2 3 4 5 6 l. 7 . . . || est cher à ma mémoire! = 6 sylls.

It is for this reason that Racine avails himself (ll. 92, 436, 514, 1232) of the license to spell encor instead of encore, thereby reducing the word by one syllable:

1 2 3 4 5 6 l. 436 . . . || le voit encor la nuit;

and conversely he writes jusques for jusque before au, to prevent the elision and keep the word dissyllabic, in

1 2 3 4 5 6 l. 136 Sion, jusques au ciel: || . . . .

Similarly in l. 426, for the simpler expression

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tous révèrent à genoux,

he writes,

1 2 3 4 5 6 Tout révèr(e) à genoux, ||

reducing the seven syllables of the former to a correct hemistich.

CAESURA.

Between the two hemistiches of an hexameter there must be a pause, called la césure, or 'caesura.'

RHYME.

French poetry being less rhythmical than English, owing to the absence of strong word-accents, makes up the deficiency by much greater stress on rhyme. In French verse, rhyme not only is almost indispensable, but must, in a measure, satisfy the eye as well as the ear. For instance, words ending in 's' 'x' or 'z' can only rhyme with words also ending in one of these three letters. Hence, the use of such obsolete forms as voi for vois (ll. 890, 947); the latter could not rhyme with moi or roi.

French rhymes are called "feminine" when they have a 'mute e' in or after their last sounded syllable; e.g., descendue, mémoire, armées, coururent, cabales, assassinaient are feminine rhymes. In all other cases they are called 'masculine' rhymes.

In heroic verse the masculine and feminine rhymes are generally found in alternating pairs. In lyrics, however, they are freely crossed, but with this restriction, that one rhyme of either kind is never found next to a different one of the same kind, i.e., two different masculines or feminines are never found in juxtaposition.

HIATUS.

Two sounded vowels coming together form a "hiatus." A hiatus between a vowel at the end of a word and another at the beginning of the next, is forbidden. Hence, l. 546, where the straightforward expression would have been lui échappe, Racine wrote the equivalent nous échappe, in order to avoid the hiatus.

Lastly, a sounded vowel, followed by an unelided 'mute e,' must be at the end of the line. Thus the word Mardochée must always be at the end of the line, or else be followed by a word beginning with a vowel or 'mute h,' so that its 'mute e' may be elided. Cf. ll. 44, 618, and 156, 459, etc. Such words as armées, joies, etc., whose 'mute e' cannot be elided, can never occur in the body of the line. The only exception is made in favor of the verb-endings in -oient and -aient. Cf. ll. 527, 1111.

In French poetry, as in French grammar, 'mute h' always = a vowel, and 'aspirate h' = a consonant.

The rules given above apply to classical French poetry only. The modern poetical schools of the nineteenth century have been taking liberties with them, especially with the caesura. The latest school of French poets, the symbolistes or décadents as they style themselves, are attempting to overthrow every one. At their hands the caesura has finally disappeared, and the following form, called a ternaire, has become possible:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Où je filai | pensivement | la blanche laine. (Th. de Banville.)

Then the 'mute e's' are disregarded:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Avec les filles | du vieux seigneur | en robes blanches. (H. de Régnier.)

The number of syllables is of little account:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 _Des mortes douces | qui moururent là | quelque soir. (H. de Régnier).

The hiatus is no longer tabooed, and lastly, not only the artificial rules of rhyme, but rhyme itself, is being done away with: assonance may take its place. If the constitution of the French language did not make it unlikely that these reforms should prove permanent, the vehicle of French poetic thought would become mere harmonious prose.