Anueuskn.— 27ie Verse-unit. 641 



six " lines extended lang and large," in two breaths also. In " Sir Cauline " 

 the stanza preceding the one quoted, No. (34). is differently constructed : — 



(3fi. ) All woe-begone was that i;entil knight 

 To ))ai't from his ladye ; 

 And many a timi' he sighed sore 



And east a wistful eye : 

 " Faire (/hristahcllc, from thee to parte 

 Farre lever had I ilye." 



Here a full verse takes the place of the half-verse of four stresses. The 

 stanzas can, of course, easily be made similar :— 



(30rf.) All woe-begone was that gentil knight 

 To part fi'om his ladye ; 

 ; ... He sighed sore with many a smart, 



" Faire Christabelle, from thee to parte . . 



Farre lever had 1 dye." 



Seeing that the three-versed stanza required three breaths, it may be con- 

 tended that, though half of one verse has been dropped, the residue of that 

 verse should still retain its breath, ;ind that the shortened stanza should 

 receive the three breaths. As pointed out in Scott's couplets, however, 

 two riming lines are taken in a breath ; moreover, stanzas such as the above 

 were often printed in this way : — 



(37.) This maydeu in a morne betime > m ^ ^ , „ 



Went forth, when May was in her prime, i ^"^ """^ ''''^^^ cetywail. 



The honeysuckle, the harlocke, ) m . . ■ , ,, 



'PI 111 1 iu 1 1 1 ■ lo deck her summer hall. 



Ihe liliy and the lady-smocke, ) 



And so also — 



(38.) .Mone walking ) 



In thought plaining all desolate, 

 And sore sighing ) 



Me remembering ) 



Of my living, ■ both early and late. 



My death wishing j 



{Chavcer, " Virelai.") 



The brackets now absolutely couple all that is taken in a breath. If it be 

 held that two breaths are required, where are the verses to be broken ? 

 If the couplets be broken, the rule observed in Scott does not hold here ; 

 if the couplets be taken together, the short line is absurdly isolated ; but 

 if each group be taken in a breath, a smooth, agreeable stanza results. The 

 same holds with the triplets of No. (38). The reader should perhaps be 

 reminded that the question at issue is not how poetry should be read aloud, 

 but what constitutes the verse-unit. And the verse-unit is practically 

 synonymous mth the breath-unit, the average length of verse read on one 

 breath. 



12. The half-Dowsabel stanza quoted from " Sir Cauline " may be 

 still further extended by the addition of an extra unit to the first, third, 

 and fourth lines : — 



(39.) To-night this sunset spreads two golden wings 

 Cleaving the western sky ; 

 Winged too with wind it is and wiimowings 

 Of birds ; as if the day's last hour in rings 

 Of strenuous flight must die. 



(D. G. Rossetti, " Sunset Wings.") 



A complete change of metre has, however, taken place. Lines containing 

 five stresses are blended with lines of three stresses (or four stress-units) ; 

 21— Trans, 



