In NE. feminine rime is rarer than in ME. because the unstressed e of final syllables is generally silent. Feminine rime occurs in NE. only when the vowel of the unstressed final syllable is really pronounced, e.g. fable: table, fishes: wishes, saying: playing etc.

§ 138. c) Gliding Rime.

c) If two unstressed syllables follow the last stressed syllable, the verse-ending and rime are called gliding (three-syllable rime), e.g. ME. yborene: heuene: seuene ycorene fereden: nereden etc.

morowe: sorowe

Gliding rime is relatively rare in ME., since of two unstressed e, one early became silent; louede became loued, makede became maked or made, cryede became cryed or cryde.

In NE. we find gliding rime in comic and satirical poems, e.g. Byron's Beppo and Don Juan; but here only words of romance origin can be used, e.g. magnanimity: sublimity nunnery: gunnery etc., with three unstressed syllables: eligible: intelligible.

$139. Broken Rime.

When an independent, but unstressed, word follows the last stressed syllable of the verse, broken rime results. This is common in ME.,

especially in Chaucer. Generally only one of the two rimes is broken, e.g. Chaucer deedis (deeds):

In NE. broken rime is especially used in humourous and satirical poems, e.g. Butler's Hudibras, ecclesiastic: a stick-prophet: of it promise: from us what else: battles

rare is: Paris

etc., in Byron's Beppo and Don Juan, Don Juan: a new one: the true one Agamemnon: I condemn none mathematical: was attic all: what I call Roman: no man pardon: hard on: garden Great Britain: hit on etc. It also occurs with enjambement, so that the article, for example, is separated from its noun, e.g. Desdemona: Verona: was known a || (Husband) idea: Medea: could be a (Thing) etc. Browning uses broken rime, c.g. silence: a mile hence kitchen: rich in jasmine: alas mine Vichy: who is she etc.; sometimes the rime is very impure: require it: spirit-- council: gown sell etc. Sometimes both rimes are 'broken', so that the same word follows the stressed riming syllable in both verses. Thus in the earlier period, e.g. Towneley Plays (Noah), what alis you: asalis you: avalis you get me: set me: let me, later especially in Scotch poetry, e.g. Burns gie us: see us; free us: lea'e us tended: kenn'd it: send it: mend it etc. again especially in comic poems, e.g. in Butler's Hudibras, shake 'em: mistake 'em, in Byron: between em: who 've seen 'em: lean 'em

at

In NE.

over

show it: know it

would

it: discover it not: could not, in Browning no more, Love: before, Love words are: birds are truth is: tooth is

hold me: fold me before me: bore me: O'er me, in Swinburne stream of it: scream of it: dream of it fare for them: prayer for them:

care for them

The riming syllable, as stated, must be the last stressed syllable of the word: but it is not only a syllable with chief stress which can rime, but in ME. in certain cases a syllable with subsidiary stress can also rime. This is especially the case with the heavy Germanic derivative syllables -y, -ing, -ere, esse or the second part of compounds, e.g. ME. I: lady-by: worthy: redy - openly: sikerly je (= eye): melodie - king: hunting answere lesse: gladnesse man: woman kene: fiftene shipe: felawshipe etc. In Lagamon suffix rime is enough men: comèn Hengèst:

fairèst.

here:

In ME. the derivative syllables of romance words often rime, these had then as in French the chief stress on the last syllable at the end of the verse, e.g. table: honorable rage: langage smal: imperial daunce: countenance faile: traraile: bataile fain: certain she: beautee: citee blesse: richesse toun: prisoun- doun:

religioun flour: colour-us: hous: glorious cure: aventure etc.

The possibility of a rime by means of a syllable with subsidiary stress in words of Germanic origin. is very limited in NE. The derivative syllable -ing can no longer rime with a root-syllable in -ing, but only as the unstressed syllable of a feminine rime, e.g. dying: flying shining: repining etc. The derivative syllable er only rarely rimes with a stress syllable, e.g. Byron wanderér: air shipper: err; once witnessés: these. In Shakespeare and other earlier poets we occasionally find rimes such as head: banished, also in Butler dress: languagés head: furnished her: interpretér.

wor

But the rime of the adverbial ending -ly with a stressed root-syllable is still permitted, e.g. eternally: sca immortally: be. The -y of romance words, too, rimes with root-syllables to [i] or [ai], e.g. company: sea victory: dye

lie etc.

enmity.

Many other syllables with secondary stress in romance words rime with root-syllables, e.g. battlement: sent attitude: mood - solitude: wood: origin: sin carnival: wall parallel: hell: well, even impregnable: well, or two syllables with secondary stress, e.g. confessional: festival.

understood

In most polysyllabic romance words the last syllable, which in ME. could rime, has become so weak owing to the shifting of the chief stress to

wards the beginning of the word that it can be used only as the unstressed syllable in feminine rime. The above quoted rimes, correct in ME., would be impossible in NE. (table: honourable rage: language small: imperial dance: coun

tenaunce fail: travel: battle- fain: certain — she: beauty: city bless: riches - town: prison down: religion flower: colour - us: house: glorious). Only occasionally we find archaic rimes. such as countree: we.

NOTE. Thus many romance words have no rime at all, e.g. solace, countess, forest, tempest, silence, patience, patient, judgment, sudden, govern, conquer, perfect, poet, envy, country, justice, publish, visit, music, virgin, common, person, custom, comfort, conscious, autumn, Jesus, virtue, scripture etc., also Germanic words such as meadow, window, besom, open, woman, women, thousand, husband, hatred, goddess, gossip, friendship, wisdom etc., whilst a syllable with a strong subsidiary stress can still rime with a root-syllable e.g. sirteen: mean everything: king – moonlight: bright sea-mew: blue etc.

$141. Impure Rime.

When the requirements necessary for rime are not carried out fully, we have impure rime, assonance or inexact rime.

Impure rime occurs when the riming vowels are different in quantity or quality; thus when, for instance, short vowels rime with long vowels, e.g. ME. had: maad falle: smale (adj. pl.) is: paradys etc., or when e rimes.

sette: ete