English Verse Part 16

(Song from _The Two n.o.ble Kinsmen_, by Shakspere and Fletcher. pub.

1634.)

Fair stood the wind for France, When we our sails advance, Nor now to prove our chance Longer not tarry; But put unto to the main, At Caux, the mouth of Seine, With all his martial train, Landed King Harry.

(DRAYTON: _Agincourt._ ab. 1600.)

I am a man of war and might, And know thus much, that I can fight, Whether I am i' th' wrong or right, Devoutly.

No woman under heaven I fear, New oaths I can exactly swear, And forty healths my brains will bear Most stoutly.

(SIR JOHN SUCKLING: _A Soldier._ ab. 1635.)

The stanzas that follow show various combinations and applications of the same principle--the use of shorter verses in connection with longer.

A wayle whyte ase whalles bon, A grein in golde at goldly shon, A tortle at min herte is on, In toune trewe; Hire glads.h.i.+pe nes never gon, Whil y may glewe.

(Song from Harleian MS. 2253; Boddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p.

161.)

Of on that is so fayr and bri?t, _velut maris stella_, Bri?ter than the day is li?t, _parens et puella_; Ic crie to the, thou se to me, Levedy, preye thi sone for me, _tam pia_, That ic mote come to the _Maria_.

(_Hymn to the Virgin_, from Egerton MS. 613. In Matzner's _Altenglische Sprachproben_, vol. i. p. 53.)

Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as ithers see us!

It wad frae monie a blunder free us An' foolish notion: What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us, An' e'en devotion!

(BURNS: _To a Louse on a Lady's Bonnet._ 1786.)

O goodly hand, Wherein doth stand My heart distract in pain; Dear hand, alas!

In little s.p.a.ce My life thou dost restrain.

(SIR THOMAS WYATT: In Tottel's _Songs and Sonnets._ pub. 1557.)

Old Ocean's praise Demands my lays; A truly British theme I sing;

A theme so great, I dare compete, And join with Ocean, Ocean's king.

(EDWARD YOUNG: _Ocean, an Ode._ 1728.)

No more, no more This worldly sh.o.r.e Upbraids me with its loud uproar!

With dreamful eyes My spirit lies Under the walls of Paradise!

(THOMAS BUCHANAN READ: _Drifting._ ab. 1850.)

In these stanzas a pair of long lines bind together the first and second parts of the composition, just as the short lines do in the original _rime couee_.

Young was and is universally condemned for choosing this form of stanza for his odes. He was led to do so by his admiration for the pa.s.sage in Dryden's _Ode for St. Cecilia's Day_, running:

"a.s.sumes the G.o.d, Affects to nod, And seems to shake the spheres."

Here, said Young, Dryden was expressing "majesty"; hence, since he wished his odes to be majestic, he used the short, choppy measure throughout. (See his Introductory Essay to his Odes, in Chalmers's _English Poets_, vol. xiii.) On the other hand, the stanza as used by Read has been almost universally admired.

Hail, old Patrician Trees, so great and good!

Hail, ye Plebeian Underwood!

Where the poetic birds rejoice, And for their quiet nests and plenteous food Pay with their grateful voice.

(COWLEY: _Of Solitude._ ab. 1650.)

To-night this sunset spreads two golden wings Cleaving the western sky; Winged too with wind it is, and winnowings Of birds; as if the day's last hour in rings Of strenuous flight must die.

(ROSSETTI: _Sunset Wings._ 1881.)

Ye dainty Nymphs, that in this blessed brook Do bathe your breast, Forsake your watery bowers, and hither look At my request: And eke you Virgins that on Parna.s.se dwell, Whence floweth Helicon, the learned well, Help me to blaze Her worthy praise, Which in her s.e.x doth all excel.

(SPENSER: _The Shepherd's Calendar, April._ 1579.)

You, that will a wonder know, Go with me, Two suns in a heaven of snow Both burning be; All they fire, that do but eye them, But the snow's unmelted by them.

(CAREW: _In Praise of his Mistress._ ab. 1635.)

Go, lovely Rose!

Tell her, that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be.

(WALLER: _Go, lovely Rose._ ab. 1650.)

The use of short lines somewhat intricately introduced among longer ones, is characteristic of the stanzas of the lyrical poets of the first part of the seventeenth century. It may perhaps be traced in part to the influence of Donne.

Where the quiet-colored end of evening smiles Miles and miles On the solitary pastures where our sheep Half-asleep Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop As they crop.

(BROWNING: _Love among the Ruins._ 1855.)

Compare with this (although it is not divided into stanzas) Herrick's _Thanksgiving to G.o.d_:

Lord, thou hast given me a cell Wherein to dwell; A little house, whose humble roof Is weatherproof; Under the spars of which I lie Both soft and dry.

When G.o.d at first made Man, Having a gla.s.s of blessings standing by, Let us (said He) pour on him all we can: Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie, Contract into a span.

(GEORGE HERBERT: _The Gifts of G.o.d._ 1631.)

The following specimens ill.u.s.trate various forms of stanzas distinguished by arrangement of rime, without reference to the length of lines:

_abccb_

In vain, through every changeful year Did Nature lead him as before; A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more.

(WORDSWORTH: _Peter Bell._ 1798.)