Full forty years, this royal crown Has been his father's and his own, &c. Staves on these models are to be found in almost the languages of Europe. Betuen e Mersh | ant Av|eril| When spray bigin neth to springle The lut el foul | hath hire wyl On hire lud to syn ge An hen dy hap | ichab|be yhent| In this stanza the final rhime of the interwoven stave is used as the sectional rhime of the tail-stave; and as the four last lines are the same throughout the song, there is that metrical connection of parts, which is necessary to the construction of a well-formed stanza. In the stanzas which follow, this connection is effected by means of the final rhime; the interwoven rhime being only applied partially. They were written by the old Scotch poet Montgomery, on the unkindness of his friends when he was in prison." 66 When men or women visites me My dolour I disguise, By outward signs, that nane may see Als patient as my pairt appeirs With hevy hairt, quhen no man heirs, For bail then burst I out in teirs, Alane, with cairful cryis, &c. *These verses have three, instead of four accents, but the omission is no doubt owing to the blunders of the MS. The following stanza forms part of a love song which may date about the year 1300. It affords us another specimen of a mixed stave. CHAPTER IV. THE BURTHEN, WHEEL, &c. THE burthen we have already defined as a return of the same words, and the wheel as a return of some peculiar rhythm at the end of each stave. Shakspeare and his contemporaries used the words indifferently; but the distinction here taken may be justified, in some measure, by the collateral meanings which are respectively attached to these terms, and will, probably, be excused from its great convenience. The repetition of some leading thought or expression, at certain intervals, carries with it, in many cases, advantages so obvious, that we might expect to find the burthen a device well-known and familiarly used in the rhythmical system of every language. I know, however, but of one instance where it is met with in Anglo-Saxon, and as this cannot date earlier than the eleventh century, it may possibly have been suggested by the ecclesiastical chants, in which such repetition was common. One of the oldest Latin specimens is found in the baptismal hymn, attributed to Fortunatus, bishop of Poictiers, in the sixth century. * See p. 290. Tibi laus perennis auctor Nox clara plus et alma Quam luna, sol, et astra, Quæ luminum coronâ Reddis diem per umbram; Tibi laus! Dulcis, sacrata, blanda Electa, pura, pulchra, Sudans honore mella, Rigans odore chrisma, Tibi laus! &c. In the Anglo-Saxon song which follows, the burthen consists of an alliterative couplet; and the sentiment, as it always should do, gives a colouring to the whole poem. The writer would fain lighten the sense of his own misery by the reflection, that time and endurance have put an end to the misery of others. If the following translation may be trusted, he was the household-bard of the High Denings, that is, I take it, of the Danish princes who succeeded Knut; and seems to have lost his place at court, when the Confessor mounted the throne of England. As is usual with the Exeter MS. the rhythmical dot is very rarely inserted; but each division, ending with the burthen, is written separately. This is, for several reasons, worthy of notice. Most Anglo-Saxon poems run on continuously, page after page, sometimes even to the end, without a break. Wellund him | bewur❘man: wræcles cun nade Hæf de him toge-sith the sorge and long ath Sith than hin e nith|-had on nede leg de onsyl|lan monn| Thas ofer eode: this ses swa mæg|. Bead o-hil de ne was hire broth|ra death Thris te ge-thenc an hu | ymb thæt | sceolde We thæt mæth | hilde: mon ge gefruglon 4 Thai hi seo sorg|-lufu: slæp | alle binom. Theod ric ahte: thritig win tra : Mæringa burg that I was mon egum cuth. Welge-as codan: eorman-rices Wylf enne gethoht: ah|te wide. Folc got ena ricles that was grim | cyning : Sæt secg monig sorglum gebunden Welan onwen an: wysc❘te geneah he That thæs cyne- ricles: olfer com en wære. Thas ofer-eodle: this ses swa mæg]. 1 Welund, the famous smith, was beset in his dwelling by Nithad and his followers, and carried off captive, having been first hamstrung to prevent escape. To revenge himself he entices Nithad's sons to his workshop, and murders them; and having given their sister Beadohild a sleeping-draught, violates her person; he then makes himself wings, and flies from his oppressor. The whole story may be found in the Edda. |