cadence, or by untrue orthographie to wrench his words to help his rime, for it is a sign that such a maker is not copious in his own language, or (as they are wont to say) not half his crafts maister; as for example, if one should rime to this word restore, he may not match him with doore or poore, for neither of both are of like terminant either by good orthographie or by naturall sound, therefore such rime is strained; so is it to this word ram, to say came, or to beane, den, for they sound nor be written alike, and many other like cadences, which were superfluous to recite, and are usual with rude rimers, who observe not precisely the rules of prosodie. Neverthelesse in all such cases, if necessitie constrains, it is somewhat more tolerable to help the rime by false orthographie, then to leave an unpleasant dissonance to the ear, by keeping true orthographie and losing the rime; as, for example, it is better to rime dore with restore, then in his truer orthographie, which is doore, &c."

Notwithstanding some inconsistency of expression, the critic's meaning is, on the whole, tolerably clear. He prefers a spelling and a pronunciation, different from those generally used, to a false rhime. He would have doore spelt and pronounced dore, though such spelling and pronunciation were vulgar and unfashionable, whenever it was made to rhime with restore. It is singular that the provincial pronunciation has now got the upper hand; although we still spell the word door, we pronounce it dore.

While upon this subject, it may be observed, that s and th are used in our language, to represent both a whisper and a vocal sound; and these sounds often rhime conventionally. Such rhime may fully satisfy the eye, but it is most offensive to the ear.

In the fat age of pleasure, wealth,

and ease,

Sprung the rank weed, and thrived with large increase.

Pope. Essay on Criticism.

Soft o'er the shrouds aerial whispers breathe,
Which seem'd but zephyrs to the train beneath.

Pope. Rape of the Lock.

The rhiming syllables, we have seen, must have a correspondence between the vowels and the final consonants; but here the correspondence ceases; no perfect rhime can be allowed. Puttenham warns his reader against rhiming such words as constraine and restraine, or aspire and respire; "which rule, neverthelesse, is not well observed by many makers for lacke of good judgment and a delicate ear." It was sometimes violated by Chaucer, and frequently by Pope. The blunders of no writer, however eminent, should weigh with us as authority. The perfect rhime always sounds strangely to the ear, and in some cases most offensively so.

The final rhime may be single, double, or triple. In the rhiming Anglo-Saxon poem, above alluded to, we have all the three. Chaucer seems to have preferred the double rhime; the letter e, or some one of its combinations, forming, for the most part, the unaccented syllable. The poets of Elizabeth's reign had no objection to the double rhime; but it was seldom used by Dryden, and still more rarely by Pope. The latter, in Johnson's opinion, was double rhimes, excepting once in the Rape of the Lock. The following couplet is, no doubt, alluded to;

never happy in his

The meeting points the sacred hair dissever

From the fair head for ever and for ever!

The triple rhime is properly an appurtenant to the triple measure. In our common measure it is hardly ever found, and seems opposed to the very nature of the rhythm. There are instances indeed, in which the triple rhime closes our common verse of five accents, but it is then always a professed imitation of a foreign model, the sdrucciolo rhime,-as in that stanza of Byron,

Oh ye immortal Gods: what is | theogony?

Oh thou too mortal man]: what is | philanthropy ?
|
Oh! world that was | and is: what is | cosmogony?
Some people have | accused | me: of | misanthropy,
And yet I know | no more than | the mahogany
That forms this desk: of what | they mean―lycanthropy
I comprehend, for without transformation

Men become wolves on any slight occasion.

Don Juan, 9. 20

The affectation has no other merit than its difficulty.

MIDDLE RHIME,

or that which exists between the last accented syllables of the two sections, may be considered as the direct offspring of final rhime. In the Anglo-Saxon poem already mentioned, each section rhimes, and becomes to many purposes a distinct verse. But when the rhiming syl

lables were confined to the close of what had been the alliterative couplet, this couplet became the verse, and it was then necessary to distinguish between the middle rhime, if any such were introduced, and the regular final rhime, which shut in the verse.

This middle rhime was most frequently introduced into verse of four accents. In the stanza of eight and six, as it has been termed, it was very common. In the 16th century it was employed by learned bishops, and on the most sacred subjects; but not with the approbation of Puttenham. That critic was of opinion that "rime or concord is not commendably used both in the end and middle of a verse; unlesse it be in toyes and trifling poesie, for it sheweth a certain lightness either of the matter or of the makers head, albeit these common rimers use it much." The poems of Burns show, that it still keeps its hold upon the people; and Coleridge, who wrote for the few, has used it, and with almost magical effect;

And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wond'rous cold,

And ice mast-high came floating by
As green as emerald.

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around,

:

It crack'd and growl'd] and roar'd and howl'd],
Like noises in a swound.

When, as is sometimes the case, the middle rhime occurs regularly, it would perhaps be better to divide the line.

SECTIONAL RHIME,

is that which exists between syllables contained in the same section. It was well known to all the early dialects. According to Olaus Wormius, the consonantal rhime will suffice in the first section; but in the second, there must be a correspondence both between the vowels and the final consonants. The same rule applies to Anglo-Saxon

verse.

The origin of this law will, I think, be obvious, when we recollect, that sectional rhime was not a substitute for alliteration, but merely an addition to it. Now in the first section, there was always a probability of finding two alliterative syllables,* and as a section never contained more than three, and generally but two accented syllables, if the common sectional rhime were added to the alliteration, this could hardly be effected without a perfect rhime. In some few cases, such has really been the result of this union; but, in general, they avoided it by aiming only at consonantal rhime. In the second section, where there was generally but one alliterative syllable, a closer correspondence was required.

In tracing the several kinds of sectional rhime, it will be convenient to class them according to the different sections in which they occur.

* See the section headed alliteration in the present chapter.

When the section begins with an accent, it will be represented by the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, accordingly as each couple of adjacent accents are separated by one unaccented syllable, or the first, the second, or both couples are separated by two unaccented syllables.

When the section begins with one unaccented syllable, it will, under the like circumstances, be designated by 5, 6, 7, 8; and by 9, 10, 11, 12, when it begins with two unaccented syllables.

When the section ends with one or two unaccented syllables, we shall represent such ending by subjoining or l to the figure, indicating such section, thus-Il. 2ll.

We will now arrange our rhimes, and begin with such as are found in the section of two accents.

The section 1. was at all times rare, it generally occurs as the last section of a verse.

But he that in his deed was wiss,

Wyst thai assemblyt: war | and quhar.