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