304 UC-NRLF THE - LAWS OF ExNGLISH RHYTHM MARK H. UDDELL CD o >- Digitized by the Internet Archive . in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/briefextractofneOOIiddrich A BRIEF ABSTRACT OF A NEW ENGLISH PROSODY BASED UPON THE LAWS OF ENGLISH RHYTHM BY MARK H. LIDDEU AUTHOR OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF poetry: EDITOR OF THE ELIZABETHAN SHAKSPERE, CHAUCER'S PROLOGUE KNIGHTES TALE ETC. ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE GLOBE CHAUCER. LAFAYETTE INDIANA 19 14 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyrighted 1914 by Mask H. Liddell ERRATA. P. 10, line 19, for 5R read 4R. P. 23, line 26, for principal read principle. P. 32, lines 12, 13, 14 should follow footnote. P. 33, line 4, for EczF read EccF. P. 38, line 10, for man read wan. P. 42, line 18, for That read What. MURPHEY-BIVINS CO. PRESS LAFAYETTE. INDIANA PREFACE Our traditional Prosody comes to us from the Gram- marians of the Renaissance; they received it from their Classic predecessors. The Classic Grammarians natur- ally based their Prosody upon Quantity, since the length or shortness of the successive syllables obviously deter- mined the form of Latin and Greek verse. The system was briefly as follows: When successive long or short syllables were ar- ranged in definite groupings 'measured off' by the total time value of each group, the result was metre (metrum). These groups were given special names — *trochaei*, 'iambi', 'dactyli', etc. When the groups followed one an- other in certain series, like bars of music they produced each a definite tempo-accent ('ictus'). These ictuses" fol- lowing one another in series yielded rhythm ('rhythmus' or *numerus'). In Classic Prosody therefore Rhythm is the indirect effect of Metre. English Poetry, however, does not employ Metre as a means of producing Rhythm. To develop their varied rhythms — infinitely more varied and subtle than those of Latin or Greek verse — English poets have always depend- ed directly upon the varying intensities of the successive syllables regardless of their time values. The psychic effect of a rhythm regulated by time vari- ation is quite different from that produced by a rhythm whose regulating element is intensity variation. But over- looking this difference for the nonce, the fact that Classic prosody recognized only two differentia for the syllables of a verse, viz. their "long" or their "short" quantity and noted them by only two (marks, the makron and the breve, makes it impossible for us to use the Classic notation for English Prosody, which must recognize at least six differentia of syllable variation and should have a correspondingly adequate notation. If Classic Latin had had six different standard syllable lengths and a sign for each, by assuming that metrical 300884 iv PREFACE rhythm and stress rhythm were in effect the same we might transfer the machinery of Latin Prosody to the notation of our English verse. It would only be our psychology that was at fault: our prosody would still be practical. But to attempt to note all the subtle varia- tions of an English verse by combinations of the makron and the breve is like attempting to note a singing scale by two letters. If we should term all the tones below £a "low" and note them by the letter x, and all the tones above fa "high" and note them by the letter y, we should have a song notation precisely like that we now use for English poetry. To one who knew it beforehand a series of these x's and y's might vaguely suggest the form of a musical melody; but he could not study song with such a system of notation, however he might be able to sing in spite of it. Nor can we study English poetry by means of the Classic systetm of prosody. For this foreign prosody will do no more than note the number of rhythm waves in a line of English verse and their general character as rising or falling, single or double. All the lines of a poem like Paradise Lost will thus appear to be practically the same, and we can only talk about the splendid organ music of Milton's verses without being able to describe in our notation the rhythm- ic details of a single one of them. Under such circumstances it is hardly to be wondered that English poetry makes but weak appeal to the modern reader who does not happen to have a strong native feel- ing for speech rhythm. It has therefore seemed to me worth while, even from a mere practical point of view, to attempt the formulation of a new method for the scansion of our English poetry. In 1902 I published the fundamental principles of such a system, basing them as well as I could upon the scien- tific facts revealed by the modern study of English His- torical Grammar. Since then I have elaborated the work PREFACE V into a science of English Prosody; but owing to present conditions of scholarship in this country I have been un- able to find a publisher for the book. The laws of English Sense Stress upon which the sys- tem is based have, however, proved useful and practical in teaching College Classes; I have therefore published them myself in an inexpensive form that they might be avail- able for those teachers who cared to make use of them. It is not possible in the brief compass of a pamphlet like this to explain either the psychology or the historical development of an Art so subtle as is that of our English Poetry. So I must ask for the present that this part of the work be taken on faith and the whole matter tried out upon a purely practical basis. I think the Laws will be sufficiently evident from the verses cited under each at least to constitute a working hypothesis for the prac- tical study of modern English verse — something like Sievers's Five Type Theory of Old English verse. The fruit of such study will depend very largely upon the enthusiasm and good sense of the teacher. If he can make his students realize that English verse is not a mere formal procession of syllables, but an exceedingly deli- cate and subtle turning of the common elements of our everyday thinking modes to the finer uses of Art by fusing with them beautiful proportions of form and feeling — ^if he sets out to do this with intelligence and discernment he will find, I think, in the following laws, complicated as they may at first sight appear, a practical means of associating the forms of poetry with normal thinking pro- cesses. As these laws are here stated for the first time I shall be glad to receive from the teachers who use them any suggestions look- ing to the improvment of their phrasing or any notes of verses from classic English poetry which they do not seem to cover. Purdue University, MARK II. LIDDELL. February, 1914. **0! the one life, within us and abroad. Which meets all motion, and becomes its soul. Rhythm in all thought, and joyance everywhere." —Coleridge, The Aeolian Harp. PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS. Stress in language may be roughly defined as a strain of the attention produced by certain units in a continu- ous series of syllables which taken together form a real- ized meaning. The syllable-series may form a single word and the realized meaning be a single concept; or it may form a group of words and the realized meaning be a concept series. In the former case we have Word-Stress, in the latter Sense-Stress. When the word is spoken word-stress produces Accent: we have no name for the effect of sense-stress upon spoken English. When the sense-stress of a word is raised above its normal level we call the effect Emphasis.* When sense-stress is given to the syllables of a poly- syllabic word which already has word-stress the sense- stress of the whole word is given to its separate syllables in proportion to their word-stress. There are six recognizable grades of sense-stress in English. They may be arranged as an ascending scale. The lowest point of this scale is the word-stress neces- sary to preserve the sonant element of a syllable in the form of the obscure vowel which we have in the last syllable of "father," or in the article "a." The highest point is the stress given to the most important notion in a continuous word series forming a predication. ♦Emphasis does not often appear In English verse. 8 PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS Thc'sclal'a-Hised'in'the^foildwhig treatise is as follows: — High Primary f ' Low Primary e ^ High Secondary d " Low Secondary c ^"^ Light Stress b Low Stress a * The difference between the low grades and the high grades of this scale is always clearly evident to the ear; but when high grades follow one another the heard dif- ference between them is very slight*; it is a difference that is felt rather than heard. A verse like When I do count the clock that tells the time gives a very distinct rhythm to the ear; while one like And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste gives a rhythm that is not distinct to the ear and only becomes definite when we realize the meaning of the words and their relations to one another. The student will do well, therefore, to make himself feel these differences before he attempts to hear them. When the sense-stress of a series of words which make meaning is so regulated that the successive syllables are alternately stronger or weaker they produce the feel- ing of Rhythm in a anind which realizes the meaning. Rhythm series may be of two types. A Rising Rhythm series is one in which the even-numbered im- pressions are stronger than the odd-numbered impressions (R). A Falling Rhythm series is one in which the even- numbered impressions are weaker than the odd-numbered impressions (F), ♦This follows from a principle of modern psychology known as "Weber's Law." PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS 9 The weak impressions of either series may be doubled, giving Double Rising Rhythm (rR), and Double Falling Rhythm (Ff). In either series some of the impressions may be doubled, others not, giving Mixed Rising Rhythm (MR), or Mixed Falling Rhythm (MF). Rhythm in poetry may be noted by using close-spaced letters to mark the stress-grades of the syllables, the high points of the stress-waves being indicated by capitals.* e. g. the wrackful selge of battering days aEbFaEbF (R) 'Tis not what man does which exalts him cEdeFcbFc (MB) A Verse is a series of syllables making meaning, or the sum of several such series, whose successive rhythm- waves form a distinct recurring pattern. The unit of the pattern-design is the Rhythm- wave; it corresponds to the "foot" in metrical prosody, to the "bar" in music. When two or more series of syllables form a verse, the division between each pair is called the Caesura (or caesural pause). It may be marked in scansion by | for a light caesura and || for a heavy one. When letters are used for noting the rhythm the caesura may be noted by a space. Poets often carry a series over the end of the verse; e. g. Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste bFbEaFdEaF- Brought death into the world |, and all our woe eFbCaFcFeF * • * * Sing, Heavenly Muse |I, etc. FebB These are called Run-on Verses. Verses are usually marked as units of design by Rhyme. Rhyme is the identity of the sonant elements ♦This system is used in the following pages: the system of scansion by stress-marks as given above is better adapted for class-room use. lo PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS and all following sounds in the last stressed syllables of successive verse-units. Modern poets often use rhymes based upon identities of pronunciation that are now ob- solete in the spoken language, but are still preserved in the spelling of the written language; e. g. loves : moves (Spelling Rhymes). Rhymes are usually indicated by like letters of the alphabet; e. g. aa, bb, cc. Stanzas (or Strophes) are fixed design-patterns made up of verse-units. A Couplet is a stanza of two rhymed verse-units; a Terzain of three verse-units; a Quatrain of four verse-units. Two other stanzas have special names: Rime Royal (5R ^ababbcc)^ and the Spenserian stanza (5R sababbcbc _|_ 6Ric). Stanza systems may be indi- cated by a numeral representing the number of waves, fol- lowed by the Rhythm symbol with an exponent represent- ing the number of lines, and letters representing the rhyme arrangement. The Modern Sonnet, for instance, has the formula 5R Sabbaabba _j_ 5R 6cdecde; the In Memor- iam stanza 5R 4abba; the Abt Vogler stanza 6MR Sababcdcd. I THE LAWS OF SENSE STRESS. NOUNS Nouns have primary stress. Any normally unstres3ed or lightly stressed word will take primary stress when used as a noun. English verse-form clearly shows certain definite varia- tions of these primary stress values associated with nouns as they are used for subjects, objects, complements or limiting notions. The laws of this variation after having been definitely determined from the study cf poetry, will be found to hold also for prose forms of thinking. So, {oo, with most of the laws which follow; though determined from English poetry, they will be found to hold true for natural and idiomatic English prose also. 1. The Noun as Subject. The normal stress of an English subject is low pri- mary (e). Both subject and predicate are primarily stressed notions. But the subject normally has slightly less stress than a following predicate when the predicate forms a part of the same series. This is shown by the fact that when each is represented by a monosyllable English poets place the subject where the verse demands the weaker impulse, giving the rhythm series eF. Nigrht passed, day shone eF eF Browning, The Boy and the Angel. And while day sank, or mantled higher cDeF cEaF Tennyson, Palace of Art. Winds blow and waters roll eF bEaF Strength to the brave Wordsworth, September, 1802. Where'er my path lies, be it gloomy or bright Moore, Farewell. [dEdeF deFbbF Cries, "Hark, the foes come" eFaeF Dryden, St. Cecilia's Day. At lover's perjuries They say Jove laughs dFeF Shakspere, Rom. & Jul. II, ii. 92. When the predicate is not in the same series the sub- ject has high primary stress (f). 12 LAWS OF NOUN STRESS §2 Meantime their wick swims in the safe broad bowl* Browning, The Ring and the Book. 2. Subject after Predicate. When the subject follows the predicate in the same scries the subject has high primary stress (0 and the predicate low primary stress (e). This word order is not common in prose. For at her silver voice came Deatli and Life DccEaF eFbF Shelley, Epipsychidion. Within the hall * ♦ * L.ies Duncan on his lowly bier eFaCcBbF Scott, Lady of the Lake, XV. That night came Artliur home Tennyson, The Last Tournament. Irks care the cropfull bird, frets doubt the cFaEdF eFaEdF maw crammed beast? Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. 3. Rhythm-stressed Subject. When a monosyllabic predicate is immediately fol- lowed by a high primary stress (f) a preceding monosyl- labic subject in the same series takes high primsiy stress (f). The sun came up upon the left aFeF bDaF Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. And the earth grow young again Db FeFaF Shelley, Euganean Hills. And love taught grief to fall like music from his tongue [cFeF aFeFbCeF Shelley, Adonais. Nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul Browning, Rabbi Ben Ezra. 4. The Noun as Object. The noun as object has high primary stress (f), the preceding verb low primary stress (e). I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole Browning, Rabbi Ben Ezra. The swarthy smith took dirk and brand aEbF eFbF Scott, Lady of the Lake, XIV. And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright Milton, Ode on the Nativity. 5. The Double Object. The indirect object has less stress than the direct. ♦In English versification the first wave of a single rising series may be reversed at the will of the poet (see my Introduc- tion to the Scientific Study of English Poetry, p. 263). The rhythm of this verse of Browning is EdcF FaaFeF. §8 LAWS OF NOUN STRESS 13 He gave man speech and speech created thought Shelley, Prometheus, II.4.72. Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold EaeFa EbFbF Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. Similarly, when double objects follow verbs like call, name, make, teach, etc., the second object has the higher stress. Thou teachest how to make one twain Shakspere, Sonnet XXXIX. And thy smiles before they dwindle DcFbDcFa Make the cold air fire EaFeF Sb-elley, Prometheus, II. v. 6. Predicate Nouns. The predicate complement has high primary stress (f). The worldly hope men set their hearts upon Turns ashes Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam, XVI. This stress is higher than that of the subject; for when the predicate is contracted or lost the predicate noun takes the higher stress of the two: All's love, yet all's law eF deF Browning, Saul XVII. Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty BbbF eFb X^eats, Ode on a Grecian Urn. 7. Nouns of Address. Nouns in the vocative case have low primary stress (e). Fool, all that is at all e FbFbF Lasts ever, past recall Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. The sophist sneers. Fool, take Thy pleasure, right or wrong Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. Then sleep, dear, sleep Beddoes, Devil's Jest Book. 8. Prepositive Descriptive Nouns. A noun used like a prepositive adjective to qualify another noun is treated like an adjective and has low pri- mary stress, giving the series eF. A low sea sunset glorying round her hair Tennyson, The Last Tournament. If such a combination becomes habitual it yields a compound word with primary stress on the first part; e. g. "hill-side," "sea-shore." 14 LAWS OF NOUN STRESS §9 9. Possessive case forms and titles obey law 8. When they occur in adjective series they are subject to rhythm- stress; cp. §15. Therefore I summon age To grant youth's heritage Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. The soul that rises with us, our life's star, aEbEaFc FeF Has had elsewhere its setting Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. A shout that tore Hell's concave Milton, Paradise Lost, I. And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence Shakspere, Sonnet XIV. Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere Tennyson, Morte D'Arthur. King Charles, and who's for the right now eF aEbaFd Browning, Cavalier Tunes. 10. Proper Names. In a series of person names, the last name has high primary stress (f) and the Christian name low primary (e). With three names rhythm-stress appears. When I should be dead of joy, James Liee cEbbEaF eF Browning, James Lee's Wife. Thus into detail George Bubb Dodington Browning, Parleyings with Certain People. 11. Apposition. When Appositive nouns are included in the same series with the nouns they explain they have a high pri- mary stress (£). When that churl. Death, my bones with dust shall cover Shakspere, Sonnet XXXII. 12. Limiting Nouns. The limiting noun of a phrase forming a series with the noun it limits has a higrher stress than that noun. It is not possible to prove this stress relation from poetry, be- cause an unstressed preposition invariably coones between the two nouns. But the stress of the second noun can be felt to be the stronger by one having a delicate rhythm sense. To pangs of nature, sins of will, bEaFb EaF Defects of doubt, and taints of blood Tennyson, In Memoriam, IV. A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, aEaFa CaDaF A Jug of Wine, a L.oaf of Broad — and Thou Beside me singing in the wilderness Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam. ADJECTIVES The Adjective is normally a primarily stressed notion, and falls in the same group with Nouns, Verbs and No- tion adverbs. Its stress may be either high or^ low primary (c or f), and is largely determined by its position. Its usual position in English is before its noun, though in some cases it follows. 13. The Prepositive Adjective. When the adjective precedes its noun it has low pri- mary stress, giving the series eF. Deep pools, tall trees, black chasms, and dizzy cragrs Wordsworth, The Recluse, p. 343. Learned his great language, caught its clear accents Browning, The Lost Leader. Wandering between two worlds, one dead FbcDeF eF The other powerless to be born Matthew Arnold, The Grande Chartreuse. One God, one law, one element Tennyson, Epilogue to In Memoriam. Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day Gray, Elegy. Where the great sun begins his state Milton, L' Allegro. 14. Rhythm stress of Successive Prepositive Adjectives. When several monosyllabic adjectives precede a noun accented on the first syllable they are rhythmically differ- entiated in alternating high and low primary stresses. This rhythmic differentiation is common in prose, but as a rule does not apply to pronominal adjectives and does not ex- tend to more than two adjectives, e. g. "grand old man," "still small voice," etc. In poetry the law applies to all the adjectives in a series and includes pronominal adjec- tives. Almost upon the western wave EdaCaEaF Rested the broad, bright sun EaaFeF Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of Death Gray, Elegy. Sunset and evening star And one clear call for me Tennyson, Crossing the Bar. So each good ship was rude to see Browning, Paracelsus IV. What love of thine own kind? What ignorance of pain Shelley, Skylark. i6 LAWS OF ADJECTIVE STRESS §14 Where palsy shakes a few sad last gray hairs Keats, Ode to a Nightingale. And that sweet city with her dreaming spires Matthew Arnold, Thyrsis. 15. Possessive case forms are treated like adjectives in these series. From the contagion of the world's slow stain BabEaBaFeF Shelley, Adonais. But all the world's coarse thumb And finger failed to plumb Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love CaFaFeFb EbFbEaF Tennyson, Locksley Hall. On that best portion of a good man's life His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. 16. Successive monosyllabic adjectives are likewise rhythmically differentiated before a polysyllabic adjective beginning with a stressed syllable; a single monosyllabic adjective in such a position usually has low primary stress (e), the polysyllabic adjective having high primary (f). Where bitumen lakes On black, bare* pointed islets ever beat Shelley, Alastor. The first, fine, careless rapture Browning, Home Thoughts. Ah, when will this long weary day have end eFbFeFbFaF Spenser, Epithalamium. With a soft inland murmur Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. 17. If a noun which follows the adjective has low pri- mary stress (e), as when the subject is included in the same series with the predicate (cp. §1), or is followed by an adjective (cp. §18), the preceding adjective takes a high primary stress (f). And let the young lambs bound cEaFeF Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay Shelley, Adonais. Her dark locks floating: in the breath of night Shelley, Alastor. And see the brave day sunk in hideous night Shakspere, Sonnet XII. §2o LAWS OF ADJECTIVE STRESS 17 If, however, the three primarily stressed notions are not in the same series the stress of the adjective is normal. Like a dead friend safe from unkindness more EaeF FaaEbF Browning, Paracelsus, III. When the first moan broke from the martyr maid Browning, The Ring and the Book. 18. Postpositive Adjective. When the adjective follows its noun the adjective has higher stress than the noun, giving the series eF. All spirits are enslaved which serve thingrs evil Shelley, Prometheus. Sliapes fairer or less doubtfully discerned eFa CeFaBcF Wordsworth, Prelude IV. Care, mad to see a man sae happy, E'en drown'd himsel amang the nappy Burns, Tam O' Shanter. Hours dreadful and thinsrs strangre Shakspere, Macb. II. iv. 3. To do aug:ht good never will be our task Milton, Paradise Lost, I. The common fate of all thinsrs rare Waller, Go Lovely Rose. With throats unslaked, with black lips baked Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. 19. Predicate Adjectives. An adjective completing a predicate has high primary stress, forming with it the series eF. Where youth grows pale and spectre-thin and dies Keats, Ode to a Nightingale. What shelter to g:row ripe is ours, What leisure to grow wise Matthew Arnold, Obermann. Grow old along with me Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. Bine ran the flash across FeaFaF Violets were born Browning, Two Poets of Croisic. Pale grew thy cheek and cold Byron, When We Two Parted. 20. When the adjective or participle, though qualifying the subject, follows the verb in the same series, it is stressed like a predicate adjective. And in a circle, hand in hand, Sat silent, looking each at each eFa FcFcF Tennyson, In Memoriam, XXX. i8 LAWS OF ADJECTIVE STRESS §20 The sea lay laughing: at a distance Wordsworth, Prelude. Where hope clung: feeding: like a bee Coleridge, Youth and Age. Dove-like satst brooding: on the vast abyss Milton, Paradise Lost I. 21. Words used as Adjectives. Participles and all words or groups of words used as adjectives (except Pronominal Adjectives, cp. §34) take adjective stress. Crown'd warrant had we for that crowning sin Tennyson, The Last Tournament. Faint as shed flowers the attenuated dream Rossetti, Severed Selves. I was ever a fighter, so one flg:ht more dcFaaFa eFeF Browning, Prospice. Vague words! but ah, how hard to frame In matter-moulded forms of speech cEaDaFaF Tennyson, In Memoriam, XCV. 22. Adjectives used as nouns. When adjectives are used substantively they take the stress of nouns. To Him no hig:h, no low, no great, no small Pope, Essay on Man. Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy Moore, Farewell. PRONOUNS The normal stress of pronominal words in English is secondary. This secondary stress is sometimes high (d), sometimes low (c). The personal pronouns are more sub- ject to variation than relative or adjective forms, and are in consequence more difficult to classify. It must be un- derstood, therefore, that the stress laws stated below hold only for normal conditions; contrast, emotional signifi- cance, or often mere rhythm will shift these values, sup- pressing a high secondary stress to the lower grade, or lifting a low secondary to the higher grade. 23. Personal Pronouns as Subjects. Personal pronouns used as subjects normally have high secondary stress (d). §25 LAWS OF PRONOUN STRESS 19 I wandered lonely as a cloud dFa FbDaF That floats on high o'er vales and hills Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. He lives, he wakes — 'tis Death is dead, not he Shelley, Adonais, XLI. But this stress often falls to low secondary (c) when the pronoun is unemphatic and the verb significant. 24. The indefinite "it" as subject usually has low sec- ondary stress (c), or light stress (b). It is not now as it hath been of yore cEdP CbaEaP Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. When this indefinite it is followed by the low stressed is the two words are often contracted in prose to it's. In poetry this contraction may take the form *tis, the stress of it being subordinated. *Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all Tennyson, In Memoriam, XXVII. 'Tis not what man does which exalts him, but what man would do Browning, Saul. No — 'tis ungainly work, the ruling men, at best! Browning, Fifine at the Fair. 25. When the pronoun subject follows the verb it still retains its secondary stress unless emphasized by some distinction of personality. So spake they idly of another state dEdFb CaEaF Babbling vain words and fond philosophy Shelley, Prince Anathase. Watch thou and fear, to-morrow thou shalt die Rossetti, The Choice. How know I what had need of thee? Tennyson, In Memoriam, LXXIII. After quotations, the verb of saying or thinking often has light stress (b); thus "said he" (bD), "says he" (bD), are common stress forms of English prose and sometimes appear in poetry. Now tell me where is Madeline, said he eFdEcFaD bD Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. Say ctuiclj, quoth he, I bid thee say Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. 20 LAWS OF PRONOUN STRESS §26 26. Predicate Pronoun. A pronoun used as a predicate complement in a de- clarative sentence takes primary stress (f). In interroga- tive sentences the copula or auxiliary takes primary stress. For is he not all but thou, that hast power to feel I am I cEdcEbF beFaaFebF Tennyson, The Higher Pantheism. While I am I and you are you Browning, In a Gondola. 27. Personal Pronoun as Object. The personal pronoun as object normally has low sec- ondary stress (c). They out-talked thee, hissed thee, tore thee EdFc Fe Fc Matthew Arnold, The Last Word. They called me fool, they called me child Tennyson, In Memoriam, LXIX. I charsre thee, when thou wake the multitude Thou lead them not upon the paths of blood Shelley Oedipus Tyrannus. 28. The personal pronoun as indirect object likewise has low secondary stress (c). To lend thee horse and shield Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette. I shall never in the years remaining BaBa DaEbFb Paint you pictures, no, nor carve you statues Browning, One Word More. 29. Pronouns after Prepositions. The personal pronoun as object of a preposition usual- ly has high secondary stress (d). The thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. Shrine of the mighty, can it be That this is all remains of thee? Byron, The Glory that was Greece. But see §61. 30. When the personal pronoun is followed by an ad- jective it has high secondary stress (d). Pure livers were they all, austere and grave eFaDdF dFaF Wordsworth, Excursion. So find I every pleasant spot In which we two were wont to meet Tennyson, In Memoriam, VIII. §33 LAWS OF PRONOUN STRESS 21 But when a high primary stress follows, the series be- comes rhythmic. When we two parted In silence and tears Byron, When We Two Parted. When shall we three meet again Shakspere, Macbeth I. 1. 1. 31. The Relative Pronoun. Relative pronouns normally have high secondary stress (d). Interrogative Relatives have primary stress (e or f). Low he lies who once so loved you, whom you loved so Browning, Epilogue to Asolando. He gave man speech, and speech created thought, Which is the measure of the universe DcaEbCaFaC Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, II. 32. The Restrictive Relative. The restrictive relative pronoun, however, usually has low secondary stress (c). The relative that, which is al- ways used restrictively in short relative clauses, has less stress than who or which and is often light stressed (b). The charm which Homer, Shakspere teach Matthew Arnold, Epilogue to Lessing's Laocoon. Dragons of the prime That tare each other in their slime bEeFaDdF Were mellow music match'd with him Tennyson, In Memoriam, LVI. 33. The Possessive Adjective Pronoun. The possessive adjectives my, thy, our, normally have a high secondary stress (d) ; your and their vary between high and low secondary. The third person pronouns his, her, its, usually have low secondary stress (c). They look up with their pale and sunken faces And their looks are sad to see DcF cEaF Mrs. Browning, Cry of the Children. My Poet, thou canst touch on all the notes God set between His After and Before Mrs. Browning, Sonnets from the Portugese. The loveliest and the best That from his vintage rolling Time has pressed Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam, XXII. Forerun thy peers, thy time and let Thy feet milleniums hence be set In midst of knowledge dream'd not yet Tennyson, Two Voices. 22 LAIVS OF PRONOUN STRESS §34 34. Pronominal Adjectives. Pronominal Adjectives, the possessive whose, the at- tributively used which and what, and the demonstratives this, that, these and those, normally have high secondary stress (d). Each sufferer says his say, his scheme of the weal and woe dEaaEcF cBbaFaF Browning, Abt Vogler. Then felt 1 like some watcher of the skies Keats, On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer. Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades Tennyson, Ulysses. Which rose make ours Which lily leave and then as best recall Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. 35. The Articles. The definite article the (originally a demonstrative pronoun) and the indefinite article a, an (originally the numeral adjective "one") are unstressed impulses in Eng- lish (a). One adequate support For the calamities of mortal life CaaFaB aBaF Exists — one only; an assured belief That the procession of our fate, howe'er Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being FbcF cFaDaFc Of infinite benevolence and power Wordsworth, Excursion. Before words beginning with a vowel the usually takes a light stress (b), giving its vowel tlie sound "i" instead of the obscure sound it has when followed by a consonant. The earth and every common sight Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality. By the island in the river DbFa CaFa Tennyson, The Lady of Shallot. In poetry the vowel of the is frequently elided before a word beginning with a vowel even when not so printed. VERBS Verbs normally require primary stress. The stress of verbs when they appear in the same series with nouns' or completing adjectives has already been implied in preced- ing sections, whose illustrations will serve here. 36. The verb has high primary stress (f) when it is in itself a complete predicate. In such cases it usually stands in the same series with the subject. For illustrations see §1. Z7. Predicate Before Subject. When the predicate precedes the subject in the same series it has low primary stress (e). For illustrations see §2. In verse the stress of the verb is subordinated to that of a following adjective stressed on the first syllable. This truth fand honest Tarn O'Shanter Burns, Tarn O'Shanter. Deep in the shady sadness of a vale « * « * « Sat gray-eyed Saturn, quiet as a stone eFdFa BbCaF Keats, Hyperion. 38. Predicate and Object or Complement. When the predicate is completed by an object, predi- cate noun, or adjective, it has low primary stress (e). For illustrations see §§4, 6. This principal holds whether the subject falls in the same series with the predicate or not. 39. Complementary Infinitive. When a verb is followed by a completing infinitive the verb has low primary stress (e) and the infinitive high pri- mary (f). And dare doubt he alone shall not help him who yet alone can ceFdaFcbFe aBaeF Browning, Saul XVII. Ijet be thy wail and help thy fellow men Tennyson, The Ancient Sage. When an object intervenes the first verb takes a rhythm stress. And made Hell grant what Love did seek Milton, II Penseroso. AUXILIARY VERBS. The verbs may, might, must, can, could, will, would, shall, should, and have, had, are commonly used in Eng- lish without notion value to express various categories of activity in time • or mode, and are thus termed auxiliary verbs. As they are practically relation words when so used, and lose their notion value, their stress is weakened. With the exception of may, might, must, they often fall to the lowest level (a), especially in interrogative sen- tences and dependent clauses. When so reduced their vowels become obscure. In colloquial English will and would often lose their initial w and have its initial aspirate, and the auxiliaries become enclitics. The predicate copula, and do used to form compound or emphatic tenses, are relation words, and have the stress of auxiliary verbs. 40. The modal auxiliaries may, might, can, could, must, would and should, normally have secondary stress; may, might, must, normally high secondary stress (d), can, could, would, should, normally low secondary stress (c). The stress varies, however, according to the significance of the auxiliary. If the condition or qualification it denotes is important the auxiliary has high secondary stress; if slight or unimportant, low secondary stress. The diphthongs of may (mei), might (mait), however, usually preserve for them a high secondary stress. 41. The tense and voice auxiliaries, am, is, art, was, wert, were, been, has, have, had, will, shall, and the substantive verb to be, normally have light stress (b). The things that 1 have seen I now can see no more Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality. Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught Shelley, To a Skylark. And he, shall he ♦ ♦ ♦ * * Be blown about the desert dust Or seal'd within the iron hills? Tennyson, In Memoriam, LXI. Yet hope had never lost her youth eFbEaEcF Tennyson, In Memoriam, CXXX. Enclitic forms of these words, though characteristic of colloquial English, so-metimes appear in poetry. §44 LAWS OF VERB STRESS 2$ King Charles, and who'll do him right now? King Charles, and who's ripe for fight now? Browning, Cavalier Tunes. Calm's not life's crown, though calm is well; 'Tis all, perhaps, which man requires, But 'tis not what our youth desires Matthew Arnold, Youth and Calm. Not that I'm fit for such a noble dish As one day will be that immortal fry Of almost everybody born to die Byron, Vision of Judgment. 42. Did used to form the archaic and poetic past tense has secondary stress (c), but the long vowel of do usually preserves for it a high secondary stress (d). A countenance in which did meet aFaC bDcF Sweet records, promises as sweet Wordsworth, She Was a Phantom of Delight. Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliflfs Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. When your meaning's plain It does not say to folk, "Remember matins" cDcFaF cBaFb Browning, Fra Lippo Lippi. 43. Successive Auxiliaries. When successive auxiliaries follow one another the modal auxiliaries precede the tense auxiliaries and usually have higher stress. Neighbors we were and loving friends we mis:ht have been Wordsworth, At the Grave of Burns. He rode a horse with wings that would have flown, But that his heavy rider kept him down Tennyson, The Vision of Sin. A brute I might have been, but would not sink i'th' scale aFdEaB bBbFbP Browning, Rabbi ben Ezra. The tendency of colloquial English, however, is to re- duce all auxiliaries containing short vowels uniformly to the lowest stress. For auxiliaries in negative forms, cp. §57. 44. Auxiliaries as Notion Verbs. The auxiliary verbs of English are originally notion words, and a few of them still retain their notion quality. Have denotes possession as well as the category of com- pleted action; will, intention; can (rarely), power. The notion sense of the others has quite faded out. 26 LAWS OF VERB STRESS §44 The substantive verb to be still connotes existence, usually continued existence; let it be means "let it remain." Do is rapidly losing its notion significance of "act," "ef- fect," "bring about," and giving way to more specific forms of connotation. Its chief uses in modern English are to represent some activity specified elsewhere in the context and to form negative expressions. 45. Auxiliary verbs and the various forms of "be" and "do," when used as notion verbs have primary stress (£)• Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. To the same, same self, same love, same God; ay, what was shall be baFeF eP eF eeFbF Browning, Abt Vogler. But here is the finger of God, a flash of the Will that can Browning, Abt Vogler. I will, the mere atoms despise me Browning, Saul. I ought to do and did my best Byron, The Prisoner of Chillon. 46. Auxiliaries Representing Notion Verbs. Auxiliary verbs and the forms of "be" and "do" rep- resenting verbs in the immediate context take the stress of notion verbs (f). But thee I now would serve more strongly if I may Wordsworth, Ode to Duty. And we forget because we must, cDbFbFdF And not because we will Matthew Arnold, Absence. We in some unknown Power's employ Move on a rigorous line; Can neither when we will, enjoy, Nor when we will, resign Matthew Arnold, Obermann. So on I drive, enjoying all I can And knowing all I can Browning, Paracelsus, IV. A change of subject will usually reduce this stress to low secondary (c). I report, as a man may, of God's work, all's love yet all's law dbFcaFcaFe eFdeF Browning, Abt Vogler. Auxiliaries and the copula are usually used in this way to form part of a question; e. g., "can he?" "is he?" ADVERBS The adverb may be either a notion-word or a relation- word. As the stress of a word largely depends upon its notion quality, to get a clear idea of the normal stress values of adverbs we must divide them into two classes, Notion Adverbs and Relation Adverbs. NOTION ADVERBS. A notion adverb is one in which the attribute of the state or activity expressed is clearly conceived as a con- cept; e. g. round, "with a circular movement," slow, "with a slow movement," down, "with a change to a lower po- sition," gladly, "with a feeling of joy." These adverbs have high or low primary (e or f) stress according to their po- sition. 47. Postpositive Notion Adverbs. When a notion adverb immediately follows its verb in the same series it has high primary stress (f), the verb having low primary (e). And from the cottage eaves Poors forth his soul in gushes eFcFcFa Wordsworth, Green Linnet. The tide flows down, the wave again Is vocal in its wooded walls Tennyson, In Memoriam, XIX. The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea Gray, Elegy. The hungry sheep look up and are not fed Milton, Lycidas. Sweet Thames run softly till I end my song Spenser, Prothalamion. 48. Postpositive Preposition-Adverbs. Prepositions are often used as adverbs to make, as it were, transitive verbal compounds. So "to think of," "to care for," "to come to." Preposition-adverbs following the verb in the same series have low secondary stress (c). This wily interchange of snaky hues I neither knew nor cared for dBaF cFc Wordsworth, Prelude. 28 LAIVS OF ADVERB STRESS §48 It Is not to be thought of that the flood Of British freedom, etc. Wordsworth, Sonnet. The beadsman after thousand aves told For aye unsousrht for slept among his ashes cold Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. If an object intervenes between the verb and the ad- verb part of these compounds the adverb usually retains this secondary stress, as in "To cut one's nose off to spite one's face," "to eat one's heart out." Fashins: their life out with a brute's intent EcdFc DaEcF Browning, Childe Roland. If, however, the intervening object is a personal pro- noun, the adverb has its normal high primary stress, e. g. "bear me up," "sihe cut it out." As through the frame that binds him in cDaE cEcF His isolation grows defined Tennyson, In Memoriam, XLV. When the object follows the adverb part of these quasi-verbal compounds the stress of the adverb in prose is usually high primary, e. g. "Scratch out that name," "my little girl has torn out three pages from the middle of the book." But in poetry the adverb often has sec- ondary stress, e. g. He tore out a reed, the great God Pan d£eaF aFeP E. B. Browning, A Musical Instrument. Come, fill up my cup, come, fill up my can Scott, Bonnie Dundee. To fill up his life starve niy own out Browning, Saul. To wear out heart and nerve and brain Clough, Life is Struggle. 49. The Prepositive Notion Adverb. When the Notion adverb precedes the verb it has low primary stress (e). Here pause: these graves are all too young as yet Shelley, Adonais. And full grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn Keats, Ode to Autumn. So said, so done Browning, The Statue and the Bust. Now fades the last long streak of snow eFaFePaP Tennyson, In Memoriam, CXV. §51 LAWS OF ADVERB STRESS 29 As when the potent rod Waved round the coast up called a pitchy cloud Of Locusts Milton, Paradise Lost, I. When the adverb precedes an auxiliary it thus has higher stress than the auxiliary. I've thought of all by turns and yet do lie Sleepless Wordsworth, Sonnet to Sleep. Then can I drown an eye unused to flow Shakspere, Sonnet XXX. 50. The adverb is subject to rhythm-stress in a mono- syllabic series of adverb-verb-adverb; e. g. "It so fell out." And thus spake on that ancient man Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. 51. When an adverb precedes an adjective or another adverb it has low primary stress (e). Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears Ibid. No more let life divide what death can join together Shelley, Adonais. Who lacking occupation looks far forth dEbEcFa FeF Into the boundless sea Wordsworth, Prelude. Neither made man too much a God Nor God too much a Man Matthew Arnold, Obermann. I am half sick of shadows, said The Lady of Shallot Tennyson, The Lady of Shallot. Adverbs preceding participles coone under this law. Well chosen is the spirit that is here eFaCaFbCbF Wordsworth, Nature and the Poet. Our gifts once given must here abide Browning, Paracelsus. And Death once dead there's no more dying then Shakspere, Sonnet CXLVI. The adverb + adjective group gives many compound adjectives. These sometimes have the stress of compound adjectives, sometimes retain their adverbial sense-stress. Rhythm generally determines the stress of these com- pounds in poetry; cp. — 30 LAWS OF ADVERB STRESS §51 Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind dE.eFaDaE'bF and Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep cDaDdFb EaF Keats, Ode to Autumn. 52. Rhythm-Stress of Adverbs. An adverb preceding an adjective or adverb immedi- ately followed by a primary stress, takes high primary stress in both poetry and prose; e. g. "too much money," "no more trifling.'* So twice five miles of fertile ground With walks and towers were girdled round Coleridge, Kubhla Kahn. A sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. The world is too much with* us aEbFeFc Wordsworth, The World is Too Much With Us. RELATION ADVERBS Relation adverbs are such as do not have a clear con- ceptual meaning, but indicate some relation between con- cepts or ideas. They naturally divide themselves into Pronominal Adverbs and Conjunctive Adverbs. The lat- ter are usually Conjunctions. 53. Pronominal Adverbs. The adverbs where, when, whence, while, why, there, then, than, thence, here, hence, so, as, usually have the secondary stress of pronouns (c or d). A marsh where only flat leaves lie aP dBbFeF Landor, To Wordsworth. The truth is that deep well whence sages draw The unenvied light of hope Shelley, Epipsychidion. He leaned there awhile And sat out my singing Browning, Saul. There is used in English as an indefinite subject instead of it and when so employed has low secondary stress (c or b). To me alone there came a thought of grief Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. ♦For stress of "with" see §61. §56 LAWS OF ADVERB STRESS 31 54. The adverbs so, than, as, are often mere relation words indicating comparison and thus used have light stress. In colloquial English they tend to lose their stress altogether. Tranquility, thou better name Than all the family of fame Coleridge, Ode to Tranquility. Wouldst thou be as these are? Live as they? Arnold, Self Dependence. 55. When the adverbs "now" and "then" are used to mean "in this case," "in that case," they have high second- ary stress (d). King Charles, and who's ripe for fight now? Browning, Give a Rouse. Blot out his name then FecFd Browning, The Lost Leader. Love, then, had hope of richer store Tennyson, In Memoriam, LXXXI. Similarly, too, when it means "also." But silenter the town, too, as I passed Browning, Return of the Druses. Too, however, is often used as if it were an adjective, especially after pronouns, as "you too," "me too," and in such cases takes postpositive adjective stress (f). I too have passed her on the hills dFcFc Da F Wordsworth, Ruth. Negative Adverbs. Negation in English was originally expressed by the particle ne which in its unstressed form was proclitic and is still retained in never (=ne ever), no (=ne one), will he nill he. In Middle English the phrase n + a + wiht, "not any person or thing" gave the negative indefinite "nought," naught. The accusative case of this pronoun cajne to be used adverbially as a general negative. It evi- dently had light stress and developed into not. Hence our modern negative adverb. The adverb no is from an Old English na (=ne + a, not ever); nay is a variant of the same form. Both words are emphatic and normally have primary stress. 56. Negation with Notion Verbs. When the adverb "not" follows a notion verb it has low secondary stress (c). 32 LAWS OF ADVERB STRESS §56 I curse not, for my heart is lost in thine Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. When one that loves and knows not reaps A truth from one that loves and knows Tennyson, In Memoriam. These forms with postpositive not* are now mainly- poetic and literary. Colloquial English substitutes the periphrastic form with do, followed by the low-stressed negative, e. g. "I think not so," has become "I do not think so." "Men knew not" has become "Men did not know," etc. Where the heart not finds History or prophesy of friend Coleridge, Lines written at Ellingerode. 57. Negation with Auxiliary Verbs. In verb-forms made up with auxiliaries "not" usually follows the auxiliary with low stress (a). When there are two auxiliaries "not" follows the first one. In colloquial English the stress tends to disappear, producing contractions, can't won't, don't, shouldn't, wouldn't, etc. Whom we that have not seen thy face cDbCaBdF By faith and faith alone embrace Tennyson, In Memoriam, I. He may not shame such tender love and stay Browning, Childe Roland. He would not discount life as fools do here Paid by instalment Browning, Grammarian's Funeral. When the negative follows the main verb it has high secondary stress. And that unrest which men miscall delight Can touch him not, can torture not again Shelley, Adonais. That benediction which the eclipsing curse Of birth can quench not Shelley, Adonais. 58. Negative Interrogative Expressions. Negative interrogative expressions in Modern English normally contain either the periphrastic "do," or an auxil- iary with the light stressed "not" immediately following. ♦The prepositive not found in Elizabethan English is rare in Modern English but occasionally appears in poetry. §6o LAWS OF ADVERB STRESS 33 In these forms "not" has very light stress, and is usually enclitic in colloquial English.. The noun subject usually follows the negative; a pronoun subject varies. Was it not great? did not he throw on God EczP EbcEcF God's task to make the heavenly period Perfect the earthen? Browning, Grammarian's Funeral. 59. But. The adverb "but,** meaning "only,** and originally con- fined to negative idioms, is common as a qualified nega- tive adverb in Modern English and usually has low sec- ondary stress (c). She did but look with dimmer eyes Tennyson, In Memoriam, CXXV. When it follows can not, but has high secondary stress (d). A poet could not but be gay aFcDedcF Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. PREPOSITIONS Prepositions and conjunctions are originally notion adverbs which in the course of language development have become relation words. A few of these relation words are still used in all three categories in Modern English; e. g. before, after, but. Some are employed now as prepositions and now as adverbs, as abroad, about, across, along, around, by, near, behind, below, besides, down, inside, through, to, in, under. Some are used as adverbs and con- junctions, since, hence, so, though ("he said it though"), yet. The stress of these words is very variable, running all the way from high primary, when they are used ad- verbially with sharp conceptual meaning, to the lowest grade of stress when they are used as mere relation words. 60. Prepositions used as Adverbs. When words classed as prepositions are used as ad- verbs they usually come at the end of a series and have high primary stress (f). And as months ran on and murmur of battle grew Tennyson, Maud, III. And say the stone is not yet to cFaFcDeF And wait for words to come Arnold, Obermann Once More. 34 LAWS OF PREPOSITION STRESS §60 And thus spake on that ancient man Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. As through the frame that binds him in His isolation grows defined Tennyson, In Memoriam, XIV. Of in early New English, being accented when used adverbially, retained its f and developed a spelling forim ofiF for adverbial usage; the preposition, being unaccented, lost its stress and was distinguished from the adverb by the spelling of. Too is an early differentiation of to set apart for adverbial usage as an intensive. Similarly fro, in the adverbial phrase "to and fro," is an Old Norse form of from set apart for adverbial usage. 61. When verb and preposition-adverb is followed by an object the high primary stress is a means of distinguishing the adverbial significance of the preposition. His voice came to us from the neighboring height Wordsworth, Stanzas, 1802. The winds came to me from the fields of sleep Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality, For I say this is death, and the sole death When a man's loss comes to him from his gain Browning, Death in the Desert. In these phrases the "preposition" expresses the direc- tion-attribute of the movement implied in the verb, rather than a relation between the verb and the pronoun, which is the object of the verbal idea as a whole. Compare these phrases with Sudden thy shadow fell on me FadBb FcD Shelley, Hymn to Intellectual Beauty. This idiom is especially common after the substantive verb where the preposition has a quasiparticipial meaning. God being with thee when we know it not FecFd EdFcD Wordsworth, It is a Beauteous Evening. Weeping; none with [i. e. ••accompanying"] her save a little maid Tennyson, Guinivere. She is not of [i. e. "belonging to"] us as I divine Tennyson, Maud. Shakspere was of [i. e. "belonging to"] us, Milton was for [i. e. ••favoring"] us Burns, Shelley were with us — they watch from their graves Browning, The Lost Leader. §65 LAWS OF PREPOSITION STRESS 35 62. When the object of the preposition is a relative pro- noun the preposition often stands at the end of the rela- tive clause. Under such conditions the preposition has low secondary stress (c). These prepositions must not be confused with adverbs. And all those acts which deity supi-eme Doth case its heart of love in Keats, Endymion. The path we came by [i. e. "by which we came"] Tennyson, In Memoriam, XLVl. This Is the spray the bird clung to, This is the heart the queen leant on Browning, Misconceptions. 63. Prepositions used merely to indicate categories of re- lation usually have low secondary or light stress, either (c) or (b) ; and often take low stress (a) in colloquial Eng- lish. The commonest of these are of, in, to, for, with, from; by always retains its secondary stress (c), and on and at usually. In poetry they are subject to verse-stress when preceded and followed by low stressed impulses. The primal duties shine aloft — like stars; The charities that soothe and heal and bless Are scattered at the feet of Man — like flowers. « * * ♦ « here is no boon for high, Yet not for low; for proudly graced, Yet not for meek of heart. The smoke ascends To heaven as lightly from the cottage hearth As from the haughtiest palace. He whose soul Ponders this true equality may walk The fields of earth with gratitude and hope Wordsworth, The Excursion. 64. Doubled Prepositions. When two prepositions succeed one another the first has the higher stress, being construed adverbially; e. g. in to, on to, up on. These combinations and that of the pure adverb with following preposition are very subject to verse stress. 65. Disyllabic Prepositions. As prepositions are relation-words the word-stressed syllable of disyllabic forms is normally not higher than a secondary stress. This is usually the case in prose, and in poetry where the verse-stress does not interfere with the normal word-stress, e. g. 36 LAWS OF PREPOSITION STRESS §65 What more to see between Hell and Heaven dFaFccFaF Rossetti, Sister Helen. Where between granite terraces Tlie blue Seine rolls her wave Matthew Arnold, Obermann. But these disyllabic prepositions are subject to verse- stress. 66. Pronouns after Disyllabic Prepositions. After disyllabic prepositions, especially those like upon, against, between, below, before, behind, the pronoun normally has low secondary stress (c). I gazed upon thee Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vanish from my thought Coleridge, Before Sunrise in the Vale of Chamouni. When — ^where — How can this arm establish her above me? Browning, Pippa Passes. CONJUNCTIONS Conjunctions are syntactically relation words and nor- mally have low stress. But a connection, especially if ad- versative or conditional, is often itself notional; for in- stance, but, connoting opposition; though, abatement; if, hypothesis. So conjunctions vary greatly in their stress relations, some like though and yet never falling below the high secondary grade; others, Hke and and or often in very close connections falling to the lowest grade. Conjunctions are very apt to fall in a series of low- stressed syllables, and hence are very subject to verse- stress. 67. Concessive and Illative conjunctions normally have high secondary or low primary stress (d or e). Though late, thougrh dimmed, though weak, yet tell Hope to a world new made Matthew Arnold, Obermann Once More. For all day we drag our burden tiring Through the coal-dark, underground. Or all day we drive the wheels of iron In the factories round and round E. B. Browning, The Cry of the Children. §71 STRESS OF REPEATED NOTIONS 37 6S. The Conditional conjunction normally has low sec- ondary stress (c), but if the condition is emphasized the stress rises to high secondary or even to primary. Nor count me all to blame if I Conjecture of a stiller guest Tennyson, In Memoriam, CXXXI. Though if an eye that's downward cast Could make thee somewhat blench and fall Then be my love an idle tale And fading legend of the past Tennyson, In Memoriam, LXII. 69. The Copulative and Disjunctive conjunctions normally have light stress (b), but the importance of the connection may raise them to higher levels. And is often used as an emphatic connective, and as such it has high primary stress (f). For I say this is death and the sole death EdcFeF FaeF When a man's loss comes to him from his gain Browning, A Death In the Desert. INTERJECTIONS 70. Interjections express an intense emotional conscious- ness and are high level notions. But when they occur in a context their stress is not so high as that of a full stressed notion word. Then cleave, O cleave, to that which still is left Wordsworth, Two Voices. Ah, why wilt thou affright a feeble soul Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. Ah, vain denial E. B. Browning, To George Sand. O me, that 1 should ever see the light Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women. O true and tried, so well and long Tennyson, In Memoriam, CXXXI. REPEATED NOTIONS 71. When a notion word is repeated it gains in stress with each repetition; e. g. when impatient we say "come, come" (ef), not "come, come" (fe). Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song Wordsworth, Ode on Intimations of Immortality. 38 STRESS OF REPEATED NOTIONS §71 Ttong, long shall I rue thee eFbcFc Byron, When We Two Parted. See, see, I cried, she tacks no more Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. Soon, soon thy cheer would die Arnold, Scholar Gipsy. Man, man is king of the world eFcEaaF Arnold, The Youth of Man. liost, lost, yet come With our man troop make thy home. Come, come, for we Will not breathe, so much as breathe Reproach to thee Browning, Paracelsus, II. Gone, gone Those pleasant times Browning, Paracelsus, III. Blow, blow, thou winter wind ***** Freeze, Freeze, thou bitter sky Shakspere, As You Like It, II. 7. 174. 72. If the repeated notion is a monosyllabic adjective fol- lowed by a monosyllabic noun the adjective and noun are usually differentiated rhythmically. Alone on a wide, wide sea aFcaFeF Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. And there I shut her wild, wild eyes Keats, La Belle Dame Sans Merci. 73. Repeated monosyllabic imperatives may each repre- sent an entire wave in verse, in which case there is no differentiation. Work, work, work Till the brain begins to swim Hood, Song of the Shirt. Break, break, break F F F On thy cold gray stones, O Sea cdFeFeF Tennyson, Break. In some rare cases this takes place with other than imperative forms. O ship ship, ship eF F F That travelest over the sea What are the tidings, I pray thee, Thou bearest hither to me Clough, Songs in Absence. II. THE LAWS OF VERSE STRESS. The foregoing laws have to do mainly with those forms of stress which we employ in our prose thinking. But even in prose, stress shows a marked tendency to take on rhythmic form. Polysyllabic word-stress is al- most invariably rhythmic in English. A succession of high-stressed monosyllables in a single series is likewise rhythmically differentiated even in prose. This tendency of rhythm to react on stress is, of course, far more po- tent in poetry than it is in prose. For poetry establishes in our minds an awareness of the rhythmic patterns to which the stress-waves conform. When, therefore, we find verses in good poetry where the words, if read as mere prose, fail to accord with the rhythmic movement of the verse pattern the poet is using, a tendency arises in our minds to make the irregular series conform to the pat- tern. This tendency produces a phenomenon which we call Verse-Stress. Verse-stress may alter the normal form of either syllable series or word series, thus modifying word-stress (accent) or sense-stress. 74. Verse-stress as Affecting Word-stress. When successive unaccented syllables follow one an- other in polysyllabic words, verse-stress will often give one of them a light stress (B). Such words as "miserable," "unintelligible," may in poetry take a verse-stress on the penultimate syllable. Pasturing flowers of vegretable fire EbbFaEaAaF Shelley, Prometheus III. 4. 110. The fretful stir Unprofitable and the fever of the world Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. 'Tis dark; quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet Keats, Isabella. Such miracles performed in play dFaA aEbF Browning, Two in Campagna. 75. The tendency to make successive low-strossed im- pulses rhythmic sometimes extends to cases where low- stressed impulses follow secondary accents. Every sight Sent to his heart its choicest impulses EbcF cEbFaB Shelley, Alastor. 40 THE LAWS OF VERSE STRESS §75 She touched his eyelashes with libant lip dEcFcD bEaF Landor, Tamar and the Nymph. The sojourners of Goshen who beheld From the safe shore their floating carcases Milton, Paradise Lost, I. Within the soul a faculty abides That with interpositions which would hide And darken so can deal that they become Contingencies of pomp Wordsworth, Excursion. 76. Shifting of Word-Accent due to Verse-Stress. The verse-stress sometimes shifts the normal accent of a disyllabic word when its two successive syllables are nearly equal in value. These cases are rare, but occasion- ally appear in the best poetry. They are usually found where the tensity of the verse series is particularly strong or the coloring of the rhythm peculiarly p:raphic. The most frequent cases of accent-shift occur with disyllabic prepositions. The preposition is normally a lightly stressed word, so this shift is usually an extension of the principle of §75. Her sad dependence upon time, and all cEbFaBaF cF The trepidations of mortality Wordsworth, Excursion, Despondency Corrected. Sublimely mild, a spirit without spot cEbF aEbCbF Shelley, Adonais. An equal amongrst mightiest energies Wordsworth, Excursion. Alas, how light a cause may move Dissension between hearts that love bEaDcEaF Moore, The Light of the Harem. Come, blessed barrier between day and day Wordsworth, Sonnet to Sleep. A spot of dull stagnation without light Or power of movement seemed my soul Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women. A few disyllabic Adverbs also occasionally shift their accent in poetry. It was so light almost CbeF eF- I thought that I had died in sleep Coleridge, Ancient Mariner. And hasten off to play elsewhere aEaF bEeF Browning, Epilogue to Men and Women. And all my deeper passions lay elsewhere Wordsworth, Prelude. Looks once and drives elsewhere and leaves its last employ Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. ACCENT OF COMPOUND ADJECTIVES SHIFTED BY VERSE STRESS. n. Disyllabic numeral compounds with "teen" and disyl- labic adjectives containing verbal or adverbial elements, tend to rhythmic accent according to their context. When they precede their nouns they have a falling stress (Ed) ; when they follow or are used predicatively they have a rising stress (dF). (This principle holds true for prose also.) Thirteen hundred years EdEaF Of wealth and glory turned to dust and tears Byron, Ode, Venice. Years be numbered scarce thirteen FdEa EdP Jonson, Epitaph on Salathiel Pavy. Fifteen years have gone around Matthew Arnold, Rugby Chapel. And wherever the beat of her unseen feet Shelley, The Cloud. Thou art unseen and yet I hear thy shrill delight Shelley, the Skylark. A new-made world upsprings aEdF dF Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. Hope to a world new-made FbaEdF Arnold, Obermann Once More. The rich, proud cost of outworn, buried age Shakspere, Sonnet LXIV. Thus is his cheek the map of days out worn Shakspere, Sonnet LXVIII. 1^. In poetry the verse-stress sometimes shifts the ac- cent of closely compounded adjectives. The forms Which an abstract intelligence supplies DadEcEaBbF Wordsworth, Excursion. At length into the obscure forest came The vision Shelley, Epipsychidion. Another clipped her profuse locks aEaF cEdF Shelley, Adonais. Was raised by intense pensiveness Shelley, Alastor. Save for the garment's extreme fold Browning, Christmas Eve and Easter Day. All a simmer with intense strain Ibid, IV. ACCENT OF COMPOUND NOUNS SHIFTED BY VERSE STRESS. 79. Most Compound Nouns are made up of a limiting notion followed by a nominal notion: the two parts have nearly equal accent in the order fe or fd, according to the closeness of the compound. The increment of verse- stress is often sufficient to shift this relation, giving rhythm-forms in poetry which are not normal in prose. The effect of such a shift is to stress the limiting part of the notion as if it were an independent adjective; and if a monosyllabic adjective precedes the compound, the series becomes rhythmic; cp. §14. Instances abound in the best English poetry. The sanguine sun-rise with his meteor eyes aEbdF bcEbaF Shelley, The Cloud. Where all the long and lone daylight Shelley To-Night. That little town by river or sea-shore Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn. Our scholar travels yet the loved hill-side Arnold, Thyrsis. Within the waste sea-dunes Tennyson, The Flight. How often shall her old flro-side eFaD cFeF Be cheered with tidings of the bride Tennyson, In Memoriam, XL. MISCELLANEOUS ACCENT SHIFTINGS DUE TO VERSE STRESS. 80. In those cases where only accent distinguishes a verb from a noun or adjective of the same form, the poets oc- casionally shift this accent. The fruitful hours of still increase aEbF aEdF Tennyson, In Memoriam, XLVI. And feign kind gods who perfect what man vainly tries Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. 81. Poets sometimes retain forms of accent which have become obsolete in prose. What awful perspective! dEbFbC Wordsworth, King's College Chapel. Cp. And perspective it is best painter's art Shakspere, Sonnet XXIV. §82 THE LAWS OF VERSE STRESS 43 With the thing Contemplated describe the Mind and Man bFcC bEaFbF- Contemplating: Wordsworth, The Recluse. A few words have a stress on one side of the Atlantic different from that which they have on the other, hence Rossetti's Thou throned in every heart's alcove eFbEbEcF Rossetti, Equal Troth. VERSE-STRESS AS AFFECTING SENSE STRESS. Verse-stress will sometimes alter the normal stress- values of a word series. In these cases the altered words must be kept in the same series and the attention main- tained at a high level until the last word of the rhythm phrase is reached: e. g. in Shelley's lines Many a green isle needs must be In the deep wide sea of misery it is necessary to hold all the notions of the first line close- ly together as a single idea. If one breaks the line into two series, "Many a green isle" "needs must be," the stress of the first series will run to the rhythm, FbaeF, and the pattern form of the verse will be destroyed. Similarly in all these cases of stress shift the alteration is justified only by a consciousness of the integrity of the rhythm phrase whose form dominates the normal sense-stresses. 82. A series of monosyllabic verbs or nouns is differen- tiated rhythmically in poetry* liove, Hope, Fear, Faith, these make Humanity cFe FedFbc Browning, Paracelsus, III. Ah God, for a man with heart, head, hand eF baFcFeF Like some of the simple great ones long gone by! Tennyson, Maud, I. Perchance speak, kneel, touch, kiss Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. Master, Master of the Night Fa FaCaF Bid it spend BcF Speech, Songr, Prayer and end aright FeF bEaF D. G. Rossetti, Love's Nocturn. Beast, bird, flsh, insect, what no eyes can see Pope, Essay on Man. Kun on and ragre, sweat, censure and condemn Jonson, New Era. 44 THE LAWS OF VERSE STRESS §82 Man, brute, reptile, fly, alien of end and of aim Browning, Abt Vogler. [eFecF FbaFbaF And lo, with that leap of my spirit, heart, hand harp and voice Browning, Saul. 83. In double rhythm forms, verse-stress will sometimes make a succession of adjectives rhythmic according to the pattern of the verse. This phenomenon is frequent in Browning's verse. Nor was hurt any more caFebF Than by slow, pallid sunsets in Autumn ye watch from the shore bcFebFdbEa dFcaF At their sad, level gaze o'er the ocean, a sun's slow decline ccFeaFdbFa aFecF Over hills which resolved in stern silence o'erlap and entwine Base with base Browning, Saul, X. Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears Of pain, darkness, and cold Browning, Prospice. 84. Sense-Stress Shifted by Verse-Stress. The stress of an attribute notion is very nearly as high as that of the following nominal notion. The addi- tional verse-stress added to a monosyllabic adjective will therefore sometimes raise it above its noun. Instances are rare in good poetry, and it is only where the verse pattern is strongly impressed in the mind that the shift of sense-stress is tolerable. Till the calm rivers, lakes and seas daFeaFaF Shelley, The Cloud. The fnll draught of wine aFeaF Browning, Saul. Of the palm's self whose slow growth produced it Ibid. These shifts of adjective stress often produce the ef- fect of emphasis by calling attention to the attribute. Lift up your heads sweet spirits, heavily, And make a pale light in your cypress glooms Keats, Isabella. And winter robing with pure snow and crowns Of starry ice the gray grass and bare boughs Shelley, Alastor. This emphasis is often so strong as to produce a slight pause after the adjective, and give the effect of an arti- ficial caesura. §86 THE LAWS OF VERSE STRESS 45 And watch the curl'd white of the coming wave Before it breaks [cEaF- FbaEbF Tennyson, Merlin and Vivian. The warm serge and the rope that goes all round Browning, Fra Lippo Lippi. The lone couch of his everlasting sleep aF- FbcDaEbP Shelley, Alastor. Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn Tennyson, Guinivere. With fierce grusts and precipitating force cF- FabEbDbF Shelley, Alastor. 85. The articles "a" or "an" and "the" are normally un- stressed words in English and are pronounced obscurely. In poetry, however, the verse pattern sometimes gives them additional stress value. Instances are comparatively rare and the effect is almost always unpleasant. These verse-stressed a's and the's usually follow a low-stressed impulse, so the series is aB or bC, followed by dE or eF, with a crescendo effect in the rhythm. Wordsworth is especially fond of this peculiar stress: Thy art be nature; the live current quafiC FedFb CeFbF Wordsworth, Sonnet, The Poet. The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf aEbFaBeFaF Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned His visionary brow Wordsworth, Scorn not the Sonnet. Whose huge ribs make Their clay creator the vain title take Of lord of thee Byron, Childe Harold. Wherewith disturbed she uttered a soft moan Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. Consuming the last clouds of cold mortality Shelley, Adonais. 86. Unstressed monosyllables, especially prepositions, falling in series with unaccented syllables or other un- stressed monosyllables, are differentiated by verse-stress according to the verse pattern. Instances are too common to need illustration. POETRY AS A FINE ART. All Fine Art has two aspects. It presents to the mind a fusion of two elements, the one substantial, the other formal. The substantial element consists of objects or ideas which the normal mind contemplates with especial interest. The formal element consists in definite arrange- ments of the component parts of this interesting subject matter in such forms as the normal mind regards with favor. The value of any work of art lies chiefly in the completeness and perfection with which these two ele- ments are fused in it. The substance of the Art of English Poetry is ideas; its formal element is a rhythmic variation of sense stress. With every idea that formulates itself in English words there is associated a certain series of varying intensities of mental energy determined by the laws formulated in §§1-73; throug*h this association the series becomes an integral part of the idea itself. When we think English in its prose form we are not sharply conscious of. these stress varia- tions, and do not compare them with one another. We are only aware of them as they enhance meaning. One would hardly notice that such a sentence as "By what force of language shall a feeling heart express its sorrow for that multitude in whom we look for health from seeds that have been sown in sickness?" contained a rhythmic arrangement of syllables in respect to their varying intensities. But when one thinks these syllables in their context as they appear in Wordsworth's poem, "The Excursion," they fall into the common pat- tern-form of its verse without any distortion or exaggera- tion of their relative values. And this is more or less true of all poetry: some ex- pectation of aesthetic arrangement is the necessary back- POETRY AS A FINE ART 47 ground of our response to its art form. Under modern conditions the initial ground of this expectation commonly lies in the printed form of verse: successive equal or pro- portional lines of printed words clearly distinguished from one another always arouse this expectation, whether the expectation is subsequently justified or not. Other "keys'* are the emotional associations of words, forms of phrasing which are unusual in ordinary prose thinking, figurative language (one of Aristotle's distinctions), or the presence of rhyme, alliteration, or some obvious design-form. In English poetry such an expectation makes us realize the relative intensity of successive syllables as we apprehend the meanings which their series suggest. This realized stress-variation yields the feeling of rhythm; for the poet has originally formed the series under the influence of a strong emotion which pulses rhythmical- ly through them. As we realize the meaning-series of his words there is thus fused with them a succession of rhythm-series produced by their stress variation. We then become aware that these rhythm-series are made up of proportioned units which group themselves in successive design-forms. Thus the element of proportion and design is fused with the process of realizing the mean- ing of the rhythmic syllable successions. From a psychological point of view we may therefore define English Poetry as a Fine Art in which beautiful design-forms are fused with the periodic prccsses of a rhythmically moving consciousness creating ideas out of successive syllable series — It is all triumphant art, but art in obedience to laws. 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