Andersen. — Classification of Verse. 533 



Whilst this is a full table of observed unit -variation, such a large number 

 of units is quite unnecessary except for prosodic demands. For ordinary 

 purposes the following are ample : — 



1. Ordinary duple unit. 



2. Light duple unit. 



3. Heavy duple unit. 



4. Paused light duple unit. 



5. .. heavy duple unit. 



6. Ordinary triple unit. 



7. ,. quadruple unit. 



Units 4 and 5 most commonly occur at the end and beginning of lines re- 

 spectively : 4 is the unaccented last syllable of the Nibelungen half-verse ; 

 5 is the opening syllable of trochaic or dactyUc measures, which, from 

 opening on a stressed syllable, may be called " abrupt." Different readers 

 will give different values to pauses, accents, and stresses ; nor can it be said 

 of any particular reading that it is right, nor of another that it is wrong — 

 the one may have been generally accepted five years ago, the other may be 

 accepted five years hence. Poetry, as a hving growth, constantly changes 

 — discarding some variations, adopting others, but always showing obedience 

 to fundamental laws. The task of the prosodist is to define the fundamental 

 laws, noting variations of structure as a guide to the discernment of these 

 laws. 



2. The law of verse-length will be discussed in a. separate chapter. The 

 chief law of the " stress-unit " appears to be comparative temporal uni- 

 formity, with almost infinite syllabic variation. The temporal division of 

 verse is of the first importance ; stresses are of second importance, as in- 

 dicators of the division ; syllables are of tliird importance ; thought is of 

 fourth importance. This is from a prosodic point of view ; from an aesthetic 

 standpoint the order must be exactly reversed. 



3. A possible origin of the stress-unit was suggested in a paper on " Metre." 

 printed in vol. xl of the Transactions. 



