248 Charles Damdson — English Mystery Plays. 



A fourth stanza invites our attention. In the French a simple 

 4-accent couplet was popular at an early date. 

 Ex. 27. 



\J U— — N 





\j V w V 



In this measure were written the 'Roman de Brut' of AYace, the 

 ' Roman de Rou,' ^ ' Guillaume D'Engleterre,' and many others. In 

 English it is preserved in such ballads as 'A meiy Ballet of the 

 Hawthorne Tree,'^ and in other styles of verse too familiar for 

 reference. 



These couplets were early fashioned into stanzas by the insertion 

 of a short line, riming with the second couplet, and became popular 

 in the 15th century with the French writers of Miracles. The stanza 

 occurs repeatedly in ' Les Miracles de Notre Dame.' 



Ex. 28. 



\j \J V u < 



yj \J u v.^ < 



W \j \j . \y . J 



This type probably gave rise to the English stanza — 

 Ex. 29. 



\j U W sj 



\J u u 



U \J KJ \J 



KJ y O y 



but the method of riming is, regularly in English, the riming of sim- 

 ilar verses, never in a succession of stanzas, as in French, by ' con- 

 catenatio.'^ 



This stanza is found in the Woodkirk plays as follows — 



I. Creation, the character of Deus. 



X. Annunciation, the play exclusive of Deus. 



XI. Marj^ and Elizabeth. 



XII. Tllb Crucifixion, together with other stanzas. 



XXVIII. The Incredulity of Thomas, with other stanzas. 



It is used also for the second part of *Sir Ferumbras,'^ for 'The 

 Woman of Samaria,' ^ for Minot's ' Edward in Brabant,' ' and else- 

 where. 



1 Bartsch, col. Ill, col. 143. 2 Ritson, vol, 2, p. 44, s Cp, Schipper in index, 



4 E. E. T. S. No. 34. 5 E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 84. 6 Poems of Lawrence Minot, p. 13. 



