PREFACE. 



These investigations had their origin in an attempt to use the methods 

 of natural science in studying the nature of verse. The only true verse 

 is that which flows from the mouth of the poet and which reaches the 

 ears of the public; printed verse is only a makeshift for the verbal com- 

 munication. It is evident that the onlj' way to undertake a scientific 

 study of verse is to get it directly as it is spoken and then to use the methods 

 of analysis and measurement. 



Three methods of studying verse suggest themselves. In the first 

 place we may listen to the words of the poet as they are spoken, and may 

 attempt to detect the laws of verse by the unaided ear. Some rough 

 facts and many important suggestions have been gathered in this way. 

 Such is the interesting hypothesis that each piece of verse has a specific 

 melody which arises from the melodies of the words; this has led to the 

 remarkable theory that the specific melody is so firmly fixed that different 

 redactions may be picked out of a complex text (e. g., the Nibelungen- 

 lied) merely by the different kinds of sentence melody that appear when 

 the text is read. Yet there is always a distrust of results obtained by 

 this method alone, perhaps more distrust than is actually justified. As 

 everybody knows, the ear will hear what it expects to hear; a suggestion 

 from a pet theory or even from some unconscious source is often sufficient 

 to make us hear things that do not exist. The scientific man of to-day 

 demands that work with the unaided senses be followed up by the methods 

 of recording and measuring. 



An advance in the methods of studying speech occurs when the words 

 are registered automatically. This may be done by various instruments. 

 Some of them give records from which data concerning melody, duration, 

 and some other important details may be obtained. 



Still another step in advance occurs when the words are registered 

 on a phonograph or a gramophone. Such a record is at least as good as 

 it sounds when reproduced. The speech curve is then traced off from 

 the record with any desired magnification and submitted to analysis and 

 measurement. The original record is always at hand to listen to for 

 comparison and interpretation. 



