from that of OE. As in OE. sp and st are kept apart from one another and from other s-combinations or from simple s, also sk or sch; yet in many poems sch alliterates with s, or v with f in others v with w, which seems to point to different dialectal development. Often, for example in Sir Gawayn and the Green Knight, h alliterates with a vowel, e.g. Ay watz Arthur þe hendest, as I haf herde telle 26, per hales in at pe halle dor an aghlich mayster 136. Further an attempt to strengthen the alliteration is apparent. Instead of simple consonants groups of consonants often alliterate, as in late OE. (§ 97), e.g. goddes glam to hym glod, þat hym vnglad made, now sweze me pider swyftly etc. Some poets are fond of using the same consonant in two or more consecutive verses, which in OE. was avoided (§ 99). This is especially frequent in The Wars of Alexander and in Morte Arthure. In the latter poem 3 or 4, and sometimes even 10 or 11, consecutive verses have the same alliterating consonant, e.g. 3509-18 (k), 2755-65 (f). 161. Stanza Structure. By stanza is meant a sequence of several verses to form a connected whole. The usual connection is rime, but we find in ME. stanzas consisting of unrimed alliterative verses (§ 166), just as the stanzas of classical Latin and Greek poetry have no rime. § 162. The Unity of the Stanza. It is essential that with the close of each stanza the train of thoughts should come to an end, i.e. there should be a pause. It is true that this rule is not always obeyed, and that a sentence of one stanza runs on into the next (Enjambement) exceptionally, e.g. Libeaus Desconus, 1438 ff.: (close of stanza 120) As Libeaus ley on þe bank bat in be river he fell etc. But this is generally avoided by careful poets. § 163. Concatenatio. In Northern English and Scotch poetry there is often a close connection between two consecutive stanzas, viz. one stanza ends with a completed sentence, but the final words of this stanza are repeated or varied at the beginning of the next stanza (Concatenatio). Thus the first stanza of The Awntyrs of Arthure ends; Sir Gawayne gayest one grene and the second stanza begins: Thus sir Gawayne be gay Gaynour he ledes. It is similar in the transition from the second stanza to the third: Gaili she glides. Al in gleterand golde gayly ho glides etc. In The Pearl not only are all the stanzas connected by concatenatio in addition every five consecutive stanzas by refrain, but the last verse of the last stanza (1212): Ande precious perlez vnto his pay sounds like the first verse of the first stanza: Perle plesaunte to Prynces paye so that the whole is, to some extent, like a complete circle. § 164. Refrain. The end of a stanza is often made more prominent by the fact that each stanza of a poem has the same or a similar ending. This last verse (or last verses) is called the refrain. Other terms are burthen, or, when the refrain contains several verses, wheel. In OE. we find a refrain in Deor (§ 14 note): pas ofer-code, pisses swā mæg. In ME. the refrain is especially used in lyrical didactic poems; it announces the theme of the whole poem and is, therefore, used also as a heading; cp. e.g. Vernon MS. (EETS 117): himself to knowe And Merci passeb alle binge For vche mon ougte And sum tyme þenk on zusterday bis world fare] as a fantasy Of wimmen comeþ þis worldes wele Selden iseyge is sone forgete And fond But he sey soth he schall be or in the Twenty-Six Political Poems (EETS 124): And saue Man, knowe thy self, loue god and drede be kyng and kepe be crowne Eche man be war, er hym be wo etc. NOTE. An exhaustive examination of the refrain in English poetry, such as G. Thurau's Der Refrain in der französischen Chanson, Berlin 1901, is still wanting. § 165. Classification and Designation of Stanzas. Stanzas are classified according to the number and length of the verses, the position of the rime and the structure of the stanza. Thus the following formulae are used to designate stanzas of fixed form, e.g. a, b, c, bg (Ballad-stanza, common metre § 229), a a b c c4 bз (six-line anisometrical tail-rime stanza § 177), ababbcc (Chaucerian stanza § 194), ababbcbcc (Spenserian stanza § 239), abababec (Ottava Rima § 247), abab cded efef gg (Shakespearean sonnet § 248) etc. Stanzas, in which one and the same kind of verse is used, are called isometrical; those, which contain verses of various structure, are called anisometrical. According as a stanza is an indivisible whole, or can be divided into two, three or more smaller parts, it is called indivisible, bipartite, tripartite etc. Tripartite stanzas are divided into opening (Aufgesang lit. upsong) and conclusion (Abgesang lit. downsong). The opening generally consists of two similar parts, called pedes (Germ. Stollen); the con clusion is also called cauda. If the unlike part comes first it is called frons and the two following similar parts are called versus (Germ. Stirn forehead, Wenden = turns). = English poets have mostly neglected the strict division of stanzas into two or three easily recognizable parts, and even the structure of the sonnet is often lax (§ 248 f.). The use of one kind of verse or of verses of various kinds affects the total impression of the stanza only a little, as we can see from a comparison of the anisometrical and isometrical tail-rime stanzas (§ 176 ff.). The especial character of the stanza depends chiefly on the position of the rime; cp. Lewis, Principles of English Verse p. 77 ff. This will be most easily seen if we change the rime order in the same text, e.g. Shakespeare, Sonnet LX, 1-4: abab: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, Each changing place with that which goes before, a abb: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, abba: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, In sequent toil all forward do contend, |