A.VDERSEN. — Classification of Verse. 529 



14. In ballad or lyiic poetry there is less difficulty in showing that the 

 feminine ending forms part of a unit ; for the full verse, containing six, 

 seven, or eight stresses, is usually divided into two parts ; and it is at the 

 point of division, after the first half-verse, that the feminine ending most 

 frequently appears. One example was quoted at the end of paragraph 8 

 of this section : — 



(31.) I fear/ thy kis/ses gen/tle mai/(clen,) 

 Thou nee/dest not/ fear mine/ ; 



It is evident, when this verse is printed at length, that the feminine does 

 no more than form a triple unit : — 



(31«.) I fear/ thy kis/ses gen/tle mai/den. thou nee/dest not/ fear mine/; 



The second line often begins abruptly, or with a stressed syllable, when 

 there is not the slightest doubt that the feminine forms part of a unit :— 



(32.) a. " Now/ and thou lese/ thy londe "/, sayd R6/(byn,) 

 " What/ shall fall/ of thee ? "/ 



(■' A Lytell Geste of Eobyn Hode," fytte i, st. 55.) 



b. Fair Mar/garet sat/ in her bo/wer win-/(dow) 

 Com/bing her yel/low hair/; 



(" Fair :\Iargaret's Misfortunes," st. 2.) 



Printing these lines as their full verses, we have, — 



(32a.) II. " X6w/ and thou lese/ thy londe '"/, sayd 'Rb/hyn, " ichat/ shall fall/ of 



thee ■'. '"/• 



h. Fair .Mar/garet sat/ in her hh/wf^v wln/dow c'/m/bing her yel/low hair/ ; 



Can there be the least doubt that the italicised imits are ordinary duple 



units ? Nor is there more doubt when the unit appears as triple instead of 



duple, especially when another triple unit occurs in the verse : — 



(33.) a. They lan/ded near/ the Earl/ Mar's cas//(tle,) 

 Took shel/ter in ev/ery tree/. 



(" Earl Mar's Daughter," st. 30.) 

 I). ■' whare/ will I get/ a skee/ly ski/(pper) 

 To sfiil/ this new sliip/o' mine ?"/ 



(" Sir Patrick Spens," st. 1.) 



(33a.) CI. Tne}' lan/ded near/ the Earl/ Mar's ckajjtle, took shel/ter in ev/evy tree/. 

 /;. whare/ will I get/ a skee/ly &kl/pper to sail/ this new ship/ o' mine ? "/ 



It mav. of course, be objected that the word causing the feminine should 

 be pronounced with the second syllable accented — " castel," " sldpper." 

 The same objection may be urged against each of the examples in (32) ; 

 but, granting this fictitious accentuation in (32), the resulting pause between 

 the two lines will at once indicate where a syllable has been dropped — 



(34.) Fair Mar/garet sit/ in her bo/wer window/ c6m/bing her yel/low hair/ ; 

 — and is it not evident beyond all doubt that the syllable has been dropped 

 from the fifth unit ? Where two lines, as in these examples, form one un- 

 broken verse, it is surely immaterial, the rhythm being continuous, whether 

 the first syllable of the fifth miit be attached to the end of the first line or 

 the beginning of the second. It is merely a matter of printing : read the 

 full verse aloud, and all anomaly disappears. So, too, with the examples 

 in (33), where triple ttnits are produced. Here no pause breaks the rhythm 

 if the fictitious accentuation be adopted, but a most noticeable difference 

 in rhythm is produced. The two readings may be contrasted : — 



(35.) a. whare/ will I get/ a skee/ly ski/pper to s'lil/ this new ship/ o' mine ?/ 

 b. whare/ will I get/ a skee/^y skipper/ to sail/ this new sh'ip/ o' mine ?/ 



It is self-evident that by the transference ' of a syllable from the fifth to 

 the fourth unit a difference has been made in those units. In b. the unit 



