Charles Davidson — English 3fystery Plays. 237 



The examples of the septenar stanza have so far been drawn from 

 the Southern and Midland dialects, with the exception of certain 

 ballad forms. Alliteration has played no important part in the verse. 

 The stanza has been bound by no laws not absolutely necessary for 

 its formation. As we pass to the North, however, an important 

 difference appears. Great technical mastery of this, the favorite 

 stanza, is evident. Alliteration becomes prominent and obligatory. 

 The verses receive a different arrangement from that known in the 

 South. A new type of stanza is established, with a life history of its 

 own. 



Of the process by which this result was attained, we know but lit- 

 tle. Few records of the early attempts of these poets have sur- 

 vived. We find the typical stanza, with verse arrangement as in 

 the Latin, Ex. 6, fully established, certain requirements in allitera- 

 tion recognized, and the poets experimenting with various methods 

 of ornamentation. 



It seems best to consider first the varieties of ornamentation and 

 structure in a familiar stanzaic form. The example chosen might be 

 written as iambic dimeter,^ as in Ex. 10, but the stanza would be 

 inordinately long. Moreover, this leonine rime was cultivated in 

 the North when, oftentimes, it was not carried out with sufficient 

 regularity to admit of resolution. In my opinion the author in- 

 tended this for a septenar stanza in 4's and 3's, without riming pri- 

 mary caesuras, i. e. at the close of the 4's, and with entrelacee long 

 lines, i. e. entrelacee 3's, although the lack of rime with the primary 

 caesuras is very unusual. 



The development of the stanza can, then, be briefly stated as fol- 

 lows — 



1. A septenar stanza of six verses, the first four constituting the 

 * pedes,' the last two a closing couplet, or ' cauda.' 



2. The first four verses rime entrelacee. 



3. Structural alliteration imposed upon the 7-stress line, 



4. Resolution of the 'Z-stress lines, forming a 12-verse stanza, 

 without riming primary caesuras, but with secondary caesuras fol- 

 lowing the second stress in the 4-stress verse. 



5. Leonine rime in the 4-stress verse, which might, therefore, be 

 written as dimeter, since the rime is carried consistently through 

 the poem. 



A word concerning structural alliteration is here in place. The 

 Old English verse measure was based in great part on alliteration. 



1 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 'MS. 



