Andersen. — Classification of Verse. 509 



^11 duple units are potentially triple— if, indeed, duple metre (by which is 

 meant the " two-syllabled ") l>e not only potentially but fundamentally 

 triple ? There can be no doubt that in many, if not most, of the old ballads 

 -our most virile form of poetry — two-syllabled and three-syllabled units are 

 mixed so indiscriminately that it is impossible to class those ballads either 

 -as duple or triple. The fact is that, mixed as the metre is, it is yet homo- 

 geneous ; so that either it is duple metre with protean units capable of 

 assuming a disguise in triple form, or vice versa. The various combinations 

 in which it is possible for triple units to appear in duple verse have been 

 listed : as, duple verses with one unit triple, in any unit from the first to 

 the seventh ; with two units triple— the first and second, first and third 

 to first and seventh, second and third to second and seventh, and so on ; 

 with three units triple— the first second and third, first second and fourth 

 to first second and seventh, second third and fourth, and so on ; with 

 four, five, six, and seven units triple, in all the various combinations. In 

 a range restricted to Ritson's collection of " Robin Hood " ballads and 

 Allingham's " Ballad Book " every combination but four was found, the 

 four being verses with triple units in units 



1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 ; 

 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 ; 

 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 ; and 

 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 : 



and without doubt if more extensive search were made these too could 

 be found. They could, of course, easily be invented ; but actual specimens 

 that have survived the struggle for existence are necessary as types of vital 

 forms. 



27. The conclusion is that absolutely no line of demarcation can be 

 made between duple and triple. A\'Tien an isolated triple unit appears in 

 duple verse it is often explaiiied as a " triplet " — three syllables occupying 

 the " time " of two. This is nomenclature only, not explanation. An 

 isolated duple unit in the midst of triple verse is called a defective triple 

 rinit. It is admitted by all that in these isolated cases the " time " of the 

 intruding unit is neither more nor less than that of the surrounding units : 

 the rhythmic time is constant, and each rhythmic unit may carry one. two, 

 three, and, as will be seen in the following section, four or more syllables.. 

 Purists have endeavoured to separate the inseparable : they have held 

 that duple verse should contain no triple units, and that triple verse should 

 contain no duple units ; but the latter rule at least they have been obliged 

 to relax with licenses. Ever and again the Muses have scorned their futile 

 endeavours, so that whom the Muses loved the purists chastised. Cole- 

 ridge's " Christabel," Shelley's "Sensitive Plant" — what are these but 

 triumphant assertions of the oneness of the duple and triple measures ? 



Section IV. 



1. A most indubitable pause divides the duple unit in verses such 

 as, — ■ 



(].) a. (), i/et'l I do repent nic of my fiirv, 



That I'did kill them. " " (Maeb. II, iii, 112.) 



h. Well, let'slj away and say how much is done. (^lacb. Ill, iii, 22.) 



c. So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub 



Thus hn/su'erd. Lea/der of those armies bright. (P.L., i, 272.) 



