Hebrew: amen, hallelujah, hosanna, cherub, seraph, jubilee, sabbath, Messiah, Satan, &c.; with very many Proper Names, as Adam, Abraham, David, John, Matthew, Mary, Elizabeth, &c. &c. Italian: stanza, opera, sonata, punchinello (punch), buffoon, pantaloon, banditti, maccaroni, bankrupt, agio, folio, quarto, &c.* Gaelic tartan, plaid, claymore (broadsword), slogan (war-cry), pibroch. Spanish: punctilio, alligator, armada, matador, galleon (or Italian), hooker (a kind of ship), embargo, cargo, eldorado, tornado, renegado (renegade), albino, peccadillo, &c. &c. Dutch: schooner, sloop, sheet (sail-cable), skipper, smuggle, yacht. Hindoo: calico, muslin, bungalow, rupee, lac, brahmin, sepoy, thug, suttee, &c. § 328. For a fuller treatment of the subject of this chapter, see Student's Man. Eng. Lit., especially Lectures i. and ii.; Latham's Handbook, chapters i. xix. xx.; Max Müller, vol. i., Lecture v.; Earle's Philology of the English Language; Trench, English Past and Present. * Also the suffixes -ese, -esque: Malt-ese, Johnson-ese, Cingal-ese (?); Arab-esque, grot-esque, pictur-esque, &c. PART V.-PROSODY. § 329. Prosody treats of the laws of Verse. § 330. English Versification is based on two principles : 1. RHYTHM. 2. RHYME. To these must be added, for the earlier periods of English, Alliteration. § 331. RHYTHM (Gr. pvouós) consists in the recurrence of accent or stress of voice at regular intervals. "I sprang to the stírrup, and Jóris and hé, I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all thrée." (R. Browning.) Rhythm in verse may be marked by beats as in Music. See further § 336, foll. § 332. RHYME consists in a kind of chiming of syllables, one syllable or combination of syllables following up and in a manner echoing another. "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever búrst Into that silent sea." (Coleridge, Ancient Mar.) § 333. A Single Rhyme is a rhyme in one syllable; as, blew, flew; free, see; first, burst. A Double Rhyme is a rhyme in two syllables:"And grumbling and rúmbling and tumbling." (Southey.) A Treble Rhyme is a rhyme in three syllables :"And clattering and battering and sháttering." (Southey.) Obs. Treble rhymes are rare, and usually of a grotesque kind. See Ingoldsby Legends, passim. § 334. Rhymes usually occur only at the end of lines, and always coincide with the rhythmical beat. M "To form a perfect rhyme, three things are essential :— 1. That the vowel sound, and the parts following it, be the same: [B-a-rk, sh-a-rk; b-ou-nds, h-ou-nds; 1-ee, Tir-ee.] 2. That the parts preceding the vowel be different: [So that de-c-eive, re-c-eive; as-s-ent, con-s-ent, are no true rhymes.] 3. That the rhyming syllables be accented alike.' (Angus, p. 345.) [Cárgo, embárgo; stupéndous, treméndous. § 335. Rhyme is addressed to the ear not the eye, and therefore is independent of orthography. Thus cow rhymes with plough, but not with low; lost rhymes with crossed, but not with ghost or most. But owing to the difficulty of finding perfect rhymes in every case, imperfect ones are admitted more or less frequently by all writers of verse. Obs. Many words which formerly rhymed, no longer do so; one or the other having undergone a change of pronunciation (compare § 12, Obs. 3):— "Yet wisdom warnes, whilst foot is in the gate, To stay the step, ere forced to retrate " [i.e. retreat]. (F. Queen, i. 1, 13.) "If e'er ambition did my fancy cheat [? pron. chait] With any wish so mean as to be great." (Cowley: Earle, p. 153.) "Here thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea" [tay]. (Rape of Lock, i.) § 336. FEET.-Verse is usually written in lines containing a uniform number of syllables as well as of rhythmic beats; and the lines may then be divided into syllabic measures. These syllabic measures are called FEET. § 337. The ordinary syllabic measures or feet used in English versification are these : These names of feet refer properly to Quantity or length of syllables, and are not therefore strictly applicable to English versification, which is based on Accent. Accent and Quantity do not always coincide. Thus the word A'jax, consisting of two long syllables [-—], is in So Latin versification a spondee; whereas in English it is a trochee, being accented on the first syllable. Cyclops is in English a trochee, whereas in its original Greek form it is an iambus, Kúkλwy [~ —]. Obs. Two other three-syllable feet are sometimes given : Amphíbrachys [~~~]: beliéving | decéiving, But lines containing either of these rhythms can always be scanned in some other way: e.g. in English versification called } Monometer.* A line consisting of two feet is called Dimeter. "Tó the ocean | nów I | flý." (Milt. Comus.) (See also § 344, Dactylic Metres.) Lines having a syllable over are called Hypermeter or Hypermetrical: as,— "Hence loathed Mé lanchó ly Midst hórrid shapes, | and shrieks | and síghts | unhóly." § 339. IAMBIC METRES.-Iambic is the prevailing rhythm in English verse. It is equally adapted to light and to grave subjects. Thus while the burlesque poem of Hudibras is written in Iambic verse (Tetrameter) * In Greek versification, two iambs, trochees, or anapæsts, go to a metre; but only one Dactyl. "When cívil dúdgeon first grew high, Was beat with fist instead of a stick" Hypermeter. so also is the elevated and romantic poem of Marmion— "Day dawned on Nórham's castled steep. And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep.” § 340. The following stanza exemplifies a variety of Iambic measures: "Now that the hearth is crowned with smiling fire, [Pent.] Some ring, [Monom.] Some sing, And áll do strive to advance : [Trim.] Wherefore should I' [Dim.] Stand silent bý, Who nót the least Both love the cause and author of the feast?" [Pent.] (B. Jonson.) Obs. Monometer and Dimeter are found only in combination with other metres. They are now rarely employed. § 341. TROCHAIC METRES.-These are far less frequent than the Iambic. The absence of an Anacrusis (Gr. åváKpovous, up-beat), or unaccented starting note, gives to the Trochaic rhythm a kind of briskness which renders it well adapted to lively subjects. "Haste thee, Nýmph, and bring with thée [Troch. Tetram. Catal.] Jést and youthful jóllitý, Quips and cránks and wánton wiles, Nó is and bécks and wreathed smiles." (L'Allegro.) Trochaic metre is seldom used in poems of any considerable length. N.B.-Trochaic lines are, oftener than not, Catalectic or truncated; and may thus be regarded as Iambic without the Anacrusis. § 342. Examples of Trochaic Metre : (1) "Turning [Monom.] Burning, Ránging, Full of grief and full of love." [Tetram. Catal.] (Addison: example in Angus.) (2) Rhyme the rack of finest wíts, [Tetram. Catal.] That expresseth but by fits Trúe concéit; [Dim. Catal.] |