27th Annual California Celtic Studies Conference University of California, Berkeley19 March 2005
Middle English Verse Formsand the Development of Cornish Prosody
Bridging the Tamar :
Benjamin BruchDepartment of Celtic Languages and LiteraturesHarvard University
ABABcDDCABABcDDCABABcDDCABABcDDC
Middle Cornish Verse
Syllabic meter
Most lines are seven syllables long
Four-syllable lines are also common
Rhyme usually involves only the final syllable of each line
Stressed syllables may rhyme with unstressed syllables
Three basic stanza types are found:
Type I ABABABABalternate rhyme
Type II AABCCBtail-rhyme
Type III hybrid
— 86%
— 12%
Middle Cornish Verse : Origins and Influences
Parallels with other Celtic languages:
Syllabic meter (compare Welsh, Breton, Irish)
As early as 1877, Henry Jenner noted similarities to English verse
This connection was overlooked or dismissed by later scholars
Cornish uses stanza forms not found elsewhere in Celtic poetry
Alternate-rhyme and tail-rhyme stanzas were common in medieval European poetry:
“Typologically, Cornish versification was closer to English and French than to Welsh, Breton or Irish” (Tristram 2002: 293)
Rhyming rule similar to that of Breton and Welsh
Cornish verse lacks internal rhyme, alliteration, and cynghanedd
Latin, French, Provençal, English
77774777
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
77774777
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
ABABcDDC
frons
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
ABABcDDC
77774777
cauda
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
ABABcDDC
77774777
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
ABABcDDC
77774777
Me yw gylwys duk bryten ha seuys a goys ryelha war an gwlascur cheften nessa en myterne vhell kyng Conany aye lynnyeth purwyr y thof gwarthevyas war gvyls ha dof doutis yn mysk arlyy
ABABcDDC
77774777
Type III Stanza
Beunans Meriasek, lines 1-8
bob
2
45
8
Type III Stanza
:
:13
6
7
Beunans Meriasek, lines 1-8
sorow : borow
ete : mete
Middle English Verse
Stress-based meter
Most lines have four or three stresses
Shorter lines may have one or two stresses
Rhyme generally involves a stressed syllable
‘Masculine’ (monosyllabic) rhymes:
‘Feminine’ (polysyllabic) rhymes:
A wide variety of verse forms are found
say : play
Middle English Verse Forms
Rhymed couplets
Alternate-rhyme stanzas
Tail-rhyme stanzas
Hybrid forms
— not common in Cornish
ABABABAB
AABCCB
— thirteener
AAABCCCB
Often have shorter B lines— a common variant in Cornish
Type III forms with an eight-line frons are found in Cornish
Type III stanzas with a cDDDC cauda are also attested
These variants become rarer over time
ABABABABcDDDCABABABABcDDDCABABABABcDDDCABABABABcDDDC
Parallel structure to the Cornish Type III stanza
I thank it god hark ye what I meneffor euen or for od I haue mekyll teneAs heuy as a sod I grete with myn eeneWhen I nap on my cod for care that has bene And sorow All my shepe ar gone I am not left oone The rott has theym slone Now beg I and borow
I thank it god hark ye what I meneffor euen or for od I haue mekyll teneAs heuy as a sod I grete with myn eeneWhen I nap on my cod for care that has bene And sorow All my shepe ar gone I am not left oone The rott has theym slone Now beg I and borow
ABABABAB cDDDC
2’2’2’2’ 2’2’2’2’1’2’2’2’2’
Wakefield Stanza First Shepherds’ Play, lines 27-39
2’2’2’2’ 2’2’2’2’1’2’2’2’2’
Wakefield Stanza First Shepherds’ Play, lines 27-39
:
:
:
:
Extended Type III Stanza
Passio Christi, lines 14-26
.
..
.
4’4’4’4’
4’4’4’4’3’
4’4’4’3’
Adam
If we it Ete oure self we kylle as god us tolde we xuld be dedto ete yt frute · & my lyf to spylle I dar not do aftyr yi reed Eua
A ffayr Aungell yus · seyd me tylle to Ete yt appyl take nevyr no dredso kunnyng as god in hevyn hille yu xalt sone be wt rune a sted yer fore yis frute yu ete Adam
Off goddys wysdam for to lere & in kunnyng to be his pere of thyn hand j take it here & xal sone tast yis mete
Proclamation Stanza Fall of Man, lines 234-46
Adam
If we it Ete oure self we kylle as god us tolde we xuld be dedto ete yt frute · & my lyf to spylle I dar not do aftyr yi reed Eua
A ffayr Aungell yus · seyd me tylle to Ete yt appyl take nevyr no dredso kunnyng as god in hevyn hille yu xalt sone be wt rune a sted yer fore yis frute yu ete Adam
Off goddys wysdam for to lere & in kunnyng to be his pere of thyn hand j take it here & xal sone tast yis mete
ABAB
ABAB c
DDDc
4’4’4’4’
4’4’4’4’3’
4’4’4’3’
Proclamation Stanza Fall of Man, lines 234-46
4’4’4’4’3’4’4’4’3’
now syn þou hast be hetyn me so I wyl go with þe & a sayI ne lette for frende ner fo but with þe werld I wyl go play certis a lytyl þrowe In þis world is al my trust to lyuyn in lykyng & in lust haue he & I onys cust we schal not part I trowe
ABABcDDDc
now syn þou hast be hetyn me so I wyl go with þe & a sayI ne lette for frende ner fo but with þe werld I wyl go play certis a lytyl þrowe In þis world is al my trust to lyuyn in lykyng & in lust haue he & I onys cust we schal not part I trowe
Castle of Perseverance Nine-line Stanza
Castle of Perseverance, lines 393-401
4’4’4’4’3’4’4’4’3’
Castle of Perseverance Nine-line Stanza
Castle of Perseverance, lines 393-401
Type III Stanza — Alternate Layout
Beunans Meriasek, lines 4548-56
English and Cornish Prosody : Conclusions
+ tail-rhyme cauda
Medieval English and Cornish verse both use a hybrid stanza form:
Alternate-rhyme frons
Direction of transmission:
Short C line links the two sections
English → Cornish
Bilingualism more likely in Cornwall than in England
Cornish forms attested later than equivalent English forms
Early varieties of the Cornish Type III stanza resemble the Middle English thirteener (ABABABABcDDDC) more closely than do later forms (ABABcDDC)
— divergent evolution
Cornish versification represents a hybrid tradition, combining indigenous notions of rhyme and meter with imported stanza forms
This verse form appears to be a British innovation
27th Annual California Celtic Studies Conference University of California, Berkeley19 March 2005
Middle English Verse Formsand the Development of Cornish Prosody
Bridging the Tamar :
Benjamin BruchDepartment of Celtic Languages and LiteraturesHarvard University