THE METRE OF THE POEM.
The essence of the system of versification which the poet has adopted is, briefly, that every line shall have four accented syllables in it; the unaccented syllables being left in some measure, as it were, to take care of themselves.
The words which Coleridge prefixed to his poem of "Christabel" are by no means inapplicable here. He says, "I have only to add, that the metre of the 'Christabel' is not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may seem to be so from its being founded on a new (?) principle: namely, that of counting in each line the accents, not the syllables. Though the latter may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four."
The normal form of the line of the present poem is that simple one of eight syllables, consisting of four (so-called) iambics, which is so common in English poetry. But it should be remembered that this line is at all times convertible with one of seven syllables, generally described as consisting of three trochees and a long syllable. This is easily exemplified by taking the first two lines of the Conclusion to the Second Part of Coleridge's "Christabel."
 |  | | | | | | | ||||
| A | lit | | | tle | child | | | a | lim | | | ber | elf | || |
| | | | | | | |||||
| Singing | | | dancing | | | to | it | | | self | || | |||
This is adopting the common form of scansion given in English prosodies, which is far from being a very correct method; since to make trochaic and iambic metres convertible is to introduce all sorts of confusion.
The fact is, that the seven-syllable line, though trochaic to the ear, is really an iambic line, of which the first syllable is deficient, i.e., supplied by a pause; and the truer scansion is,
A lit | tle child | a lim | ber elf ||
— Sing | ing danc | ing to | itself ||
At any rate, to adopt this latter method (of beginning to mark off the feet from the end, instead of from the beginning of the line) will be found to be far more convenient in practice; since the accented syllables, instead of drifting about, will thus always be placed at the end of a foot. We should thus, for instance, introduce the same marking off of syllables in the line,
Ánd | ðe séx | te dá | is ligt || l. [167],
as we have in the line,
ðo cám | ðe fíf | te dá | is ligt || l. [158].
Examples of couplets containing a line of each kind are not uncommon; thus, ll. [29], [30]:—
Fá | der gód | of ál | le ðhínge ||
Almíg | tin lóu | erd hég | est kínge ||
And gét | ne kú | ðe hé | nogt blínne ||
Fór | to dón | an óð | er ſínne ||
See also ll. [309], [310]; [439], [440], etc.
The introduction of these seven-syllable lines, far from being a defect, is a natural and agreeable variation, adopted by all our best poets.
The next chief variation to be noted is that two very rapid syllables are often (as in other English metres) substituted for an unaccented one, as in l. [88]:—
Ór | ðe nígt | and áf | ter ðe dáy ||
Ór | ðe nígt | and áf |
Again, in l. [93]:—
On an óð | er daí | ðis míd | del érd ||
and in l. [474]:—
To sché | ten áf | ter ðe wíl | de dér ||
To sché | ten áf |
See also ll. [321], [503], [505], [656], etc.; and compare the line from "Christabel:"
"That shá | dowy in | the moon | light shone ||"
That shá |
The syllables thus most frequently slurred over—the term elided is but weak and improper, explaining nothing—are the final syllables -en, -er, -et, etc., as in ll. [96] and [116]:—
Ál | abú | ten ðis wálk | ne sént ||
Ál | abú |
Was wá | ter and érðe | o ſún | der ſád ||
Was wá |
Some lines—and these sound rather harshly—require a little forcing to make them conform to the strict type; as, e.g., l. [66], which, to make it agree with the rest, must be written,
Ín | to ðis ðhíſ | terneſſe hér | bi-néðen ||
Ín |
ðhís |
A poet's business is, in fact, to take care that the syllables which are to be rapidly pronounced are such as easily can be so; and that the syllables which are to be heavily accented are naturally those that ought to be. If he gives attention to this it does not much matter whether each foot has two or three syllables in it.
A man is master of his art when he can write—
Come in | to the gar | den, Maud ||
For the black | bat, night, | has flown ||
And the wood | bine spi | ces are waf | ted abroad ||
And the musk | of the rose | is blown ||
With respect to the final -en, it should be further noted—
(1) That it is sometimes fully pronounced, as in ll. [87] and [91]—
fró | ðat tíme | we tél | len áy ||
ðo gán | hem dá | gen wél | iwíſſe ||
(2) That it is sometimes rapidly slurred over, as in l. [96], already cited; and
(3) That (especially after an r) it is often so pronounced as to be incorporated with the syllable preceding it, so that the whole word, supposing it a dissyllable in appearance, becomes monosyllabic in pronunciation; as in l. [514]—
Matú | ſalé | was bóren | iſ ſúne ||
and, again, in l. [655]—
Wóren | ſtalwúr | ði bóren | bi tále ||
Thus, we may find the same word written and pronounced as a dissyllable—
Wó | ren ðáne | don ſóne | a-nón || l. [3591];
and, in another place, written and pronounced as a monosyllable—
In geu | eléngðh | e wórn | it mád || l. [147].
Thus, the n must have been very slightly touched, as is shewn also by the riming of e and en. Examples, ll. [11], [12]; [363], [364], etc.
As to the final -e, it may be observed that it is most frequently pronounced just when it is most essential, viz., when it marks a grammatical inflexion, or an adverbial form, as, e.g.:—
Til ihé | sus béð | on Ró | dè dón || l. [386];
and,
Wél | he ſeí | den and ſwí | ðè wél || l. [1645].
In the second place, it is very liable to be slurred over before a vowel following, as in l. [148]—
In Ré | ke-fíl | le on ſún | der ſhád ||
In Ré | ke-fíl |
and, thirdly, it is frequently added to words without cause, and is therefore mute, as in l. [60]—
ðat éu | ere ſpróng | in wérld | wíd ||
It seems to be sometimes mute after -ed, when -ede forms part of a verb. See ll. [1396], [1433], etc.
Attention to the metre may detect errors in the text. Thus, in l. [75], the word dais is missing:—
forð glód | ðat fír | me [dá | is] lígt ||
See l. [113], which proves the point.
In l. [1846] the definite form of the adjective is required, and strong should be stronge—
ðe stróng | e gód | of ýs | raél ||
It has been noted that the first foot of a line sometimes consists of one syllable only, and that one accented. By a bolder license, this is sometimes the case not only with the first foot, but with other feet, e.g. with the third foot. Line [2572]:—
Quan é | bru chíld | ſúld | be bóren ||
Again, with the last foot, as in l. [3580], unless we read duste:—
And ſtíred | it ál | to dúſt | ſir ||
Very many other curious variations occur, which the reader will probably observe for himself with some interest. Thus, in l. [60], just above cited, the question arises whether or not the r in werld was pronounced with so strong a burr as to render the word dissyllabic, as is often the case in Scotch poetry with words containing rl, rn, etc.