Accentual verse
Encyclopedia
Accentual verse has a fixed number of stresses per line
or stanza
regardless of the number of syllables that are present. It is common in languages that are stress-timed, such as English
—as opposed to syllabic verse
, which is common in syllable-timed languages, such as French
.
s and the less well-known skipping-rope rhyme
s are the most common form of accentual verse in the English Language. The following poem, Baa Baa Black Sheep, has two stresses in each line, but a varying number of syllables. (Bold represents stressed syllables, and the number of syllables in each line is noted)
Baa, baa, black sheep, (4)
Have you any wool? (5)
Yes sir, yes sir, (4)
Three bags full; (3)
One for the mas-ter, (5)
And one for the dame, (5)
And one for the lit-tle boy (7)
Who lives down the lane. (5)
Accentual verse derives its musical qualities from its flexibility with unstressed syllables and tends to follow the natural speech patterns of English.
for as long as it has been recorded, with Old English poetry written in a special form of accentual verse termed alliterative verse
, of which Beowulf
is a notable example. Anglo-Saxon poetry generally added two further basic elements to the basic four-beat accentual verse pattern: alliteration
of three of the four beats, and a medial pause (caesura
). Anglo-Saxon poets made frequent use of epithet
s to achieve the desired alliteration, and had various other more complex rules and forms, though these have not been as popular in later poetry.
Accentual verse lost its dominant position in English poetry following the Norman conquest of England
, where French forms, with their syllabic emphasis, gained prominence. Accentual verse continued in common use in all forms of Middle English
poetry until the codification of accentual-syllabic verse in Elizabethan poetry, whereupon it largely disappeared from literary poetry for three hundred years, but remained very popular in folk poetry. A notable example from this period is William Langland
's Piers Ploughman, here retaining the alliteration:
The largely source for accentual verse from the post-Elizabethan period is Mother Goose's Melody (1765), as this recorded popular verse. Accentual verse experienced a revival in the 19th century with the development ("discovery") of sprung rhythm
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
, a form of accentual verse. While sprung rhythm did not become a popular form in literary poetry, accentual verse did catch on, with some poets flirting with the form, and later poets more strictly following it. A modern codification was given by Robert Bridges
in 1921, in his Bridges' Prosody of Accentual Verse section of Milton's Prosody
. Modern literary use includes W. H. Auden
, and it has notably been advanced by Dana Gioia
; see New Formalism
for other modern and contemporary uses rhythm, including accentual verse, in English language poetry.
Outside of children's poetry and literary poetry, accentual verse remains popular in verse composed for oral presentation, such as cowboy poetry
and rap
.
Some variations and other subtleties are found:
Line (poetry)
A line is a unit of language into which a poem or play is divided, which operates on principles which are distinct from and not necessarily coincident with grammatical structures, such as the sentence or clauses in sentences...
or stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
regardless of the number of syllables that are present. It is common in languages that are stress-timed, such as English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
—as opposed to syllabic verse
Syllabic verse
Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed number of syllables per line regardless of the number of stresses that are present. It is common in languages that are syllable-timed, such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish — as opposed to stress-timed languages such as English, in which...
, which is common in syllable-timed languages, such as French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
Children's poetry
Accentual verse is particularly common in children's poetry – nursery rhymeNursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
s and the less well-known skipping-rope rhyme
Skipping-rope rhyme
A skipping rhyme , is a rhyme chanted by children while skipping. Such rhymes have been recorded in all cultures where skipping is played. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century...
s are the most common form of accentual verse in the English Language. The following poem, Baa Baa Black Sheep, has two stresses in each line, but a varying number of syllables. (Bold represents stressed syllables, and the number of syllables in each line is noted)
Baa, baa, black sheep, (4)
Have you any wool? (5)
Yes sir, yes sir, (4)
Three bags full; (3)
One for the mas-ter, (5)
And one for the dame, (5)
And one for the lit-tle boy (7)
Who lives down the lane. (5)
Accentual verse derives its musical qualities from its flexibility with unstressed syllables and tends to follow the natural speech patterns of English.
English
Accentual verse was a traditionally common form in Germanic regions, with similar forms found in Germany, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Britain. Accentual verse has been common in English poetryEnglish poetry
The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is...
for as long as it has been recorded, with Old English poetry written in a special form of accentual verse termed alliterative verse
Alliterative verse
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of many Germanic...
, of which Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
is a notable example. Anglo-Saxon poetry generally added two further basic elements to the basic four-beat accentual verse pattern: alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
of three of the four beats, and a medial pause (caesura
Caesura
thumb|100px|An example of a caesura in modern western music notation.In meter, a caesura is a complete pause in a line of poetry or in a musical composition. The plural form of caesura is caesuras or caesurae...
). Anglo-Saxon poets made frequent use of epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
s to achieve the desired alliteration, and had various other more complex rules and forms, though these have not been as popular in later poetry.
Accentual verse lost its dominant position in English poetry following the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, where French forms, with their syllabic emphasis, gained prominence. Accentual verse continued in common use in all forms of Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
poetry until the codification of accentual-syllabic verse in Elizabethan poetry, whereupon it largely disappeared from literary poetry for three hundred years, but remained very popular in folk poetry. A notable example from this period is William Langland
William Langland
William Langland is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman.- Life :The attribution of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin...
's Piers Ploughman, here retaining the alliteration:
- I loked on my left half || as þe lady me taughte
- And was war of a womman || worþeli ycloþed.
- I looked on my left side || as the lady me taught
- and was aware of a woman || worthily clothed.
The largely source for accentual verse from the post-Elizabethan period is Mother Goose's Melody (1765), as this recorded popular verse. Accentual verse experienced a revival in the 19th century with the development ("discovery") of sprung rhythm
Sprung rhythm
Sprung rhythm is a poetic rhythm designed to imitate the rhythm of natural speech. It is constructed from feet in which the first syllable is stressed and may be followed by a variable number of unstressed syllables...
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
, a form of accentual verse. While sprung rhythm did not become a popular form in literary poetry, accentual verse did catch on, with some poets flirting with the form, and later poets more strictly following it. A modern codification was given by Robert Bridges
Robert Bridges
Robert Seymour Bridges, OM, was a British poet, and poet laureate from 1913 to 1930.-Personal and professional life:...
in 1921, in his Bridges' Prosody of Accentual Verse section of Milton's Prosody
Milton's Prosody (book)
Milton's Prosody, or in full, Milton's Prosody, with a chapter on Accentual Verse and Notes is a book by Robert Bridges. It was first published by Oxford University Press in 1889, and a final revised edition was published in 1921....
. Modern literary use includes W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
, and it has notably been advanced by Dana Gioia
Dana Gioia
-Poetry:It was as a poet that Gioia first began to attract widespread attention in the early 1980s, with frequent appearances in The Hudson Review, Poetry, and The New Yorker. In the same period, he published a number of essays and book reviews...
; see New Formalism
New Formalism
New Formalism is a late-20th and early 21st century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical and rhymed verse.-Origins and intentions:...
for other modern and contemporary uses rhythm, including accentual verse, in English language poetry.
Outside of children's poetry and literary poetry, accentual verse remains popular in verse composed for oral presentation, such as cowboy poetry
Cowboy poetry
Cowboy poetry cp is a form of poetry which grew out of a tradition of extemporaneous composition carried on by workers on cattle drives and ranches. After a day of work, cowboys would gather around a campfire and entertain one another with tall tales and folk songs...
and rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
.
Modern form
In modern literary use, in addition to the detailed codification given in Bridges' Prosody of Accentual Verse, three basic rules are followed:- Four stresses per line;
- A medial pause, with two stress on each side;
- Generally, three of the four stresses alliterate.
Some variations and other subtleties are found:
- Rather than a triple alliteration in a line, having two pairs of double alliterations on either side of the pause, or only having a single double alliteration, with one alliterating stress on each side of the pause.
- Alliteration falls on the (first) stressed syllable of a word, not the first syllable of the word.
- Minor stresses are often eliminated to reduce ambiguity.
- While individual lines may have a regular syllabic structure, this is not kept constant over the poem – only the stress pattern is consistent – as otherwise the poem becomes accentual-syllabic verseAccentual-syllabic verseAccentual-syllabic verse is an extension of accentual verse which fixes both the number of stresses and syllables within a line or stanza. Accentual-syllabic verse is highly regular and therefore easily scannable...
.
Special forms
A number of stricter forms of accentual verse exist, including:- Accentual-syllabic verseAccentual-syllabic verseAccentual-syllabic verse is an extension of accentual verse which fixes both the number of stresses and syllables within a line or stanza. Accentual-syllabic verse is highly regular and therefore easily scannable...
is an extension of accentual verse that also fixes the syllables. - Sprung rhythmSprung rhythmSprung rhythm is a poetic rhythm designed to imitate the rhythm of natural speech. It is constructed from feet in which the first syllable is stressed and may be followed by a variable number of unstressed syllables...
, where the stressed syllable begins the foot.
External links
- A Beginner's Guide to Prosody: Part IV (Anglo-Saxon Accentual Meter), Tina Blue, November 24, 2000