MAI,COI,M BOWIE

N OTES APPENDIX

| (Eturcs co,Hl)lètes (Paris, r945), pp.666-79 ancl 68o-6. FRENCH VERSIFICATION: z lbid,, pp. 666-7, A SUMMARY 1 lbid., p. 67r. 4 lbid., p. 67L. 5 G.W.F. I{egel, "fhe Phenomenology of Spirit, traus. A, V. Miller Cliue Scott (Oxforcl, r977), p. z4r,

(All examples ir this appendix are clrawn fr.rn rinereenth-century verse and, rvhenever possible, frorn the poeurs anaryseci in the body of ,rr.î.,"k1.

The regular alexandrine

Ainsi,/toujours poussés//vers de nouveaux/rivagcs, z+ 4+ 4-l z Dans la nuit/éternelle//ernportés/sans retour, 3+1+1+3 Ne pourrons-nous/jamais//sur I'océan/cles âges 4+2+4+z Jeter I'tncre/un seul jour? 3'F 3 The sta'z¿rs of Lamartine's'r-e [.ac'are each courp'secl of three alexan- clrines followecl by a hexasyllable, i.e. \ z, r z, r z, 6. ihe scansion of the 6rsr stanza irrrmecliately rnakes several things clcar about the regular rrlcx- ancirine: It has a r fixed meclial caesurâ (marked //) after the sixth syllable, r.vhich enforces an accenr (stress) rn the sixth syllable. The only uth", oblligntu,y accent in the lirre falls on the final (rwelfth) syllable. z Tlre caesurit is a metrical j'ncrure rvhich us'ally c.ircicles lvith a signifìcant syntactical juncture (a'd rhus a pause), f<¡r reasons which wilr beco.re appa'enr. ßut it is fìrsr and forenrtxt the rine's principal pciinr of rhythuric articulation, not its rnosr obtrusive synractic break. li clivlicles the alexandrine i'r. rwo half-lines (hémisticltes). Each half-line usualb, ct¡tt- tairs one orhcr acc--err apart fr'm rhe one on its fì.al syllable. This 'sec.ndary' acce'r is mobile and rnay farI on any of rhe hcrnistich's other syllables. A sclre'ratization'f the rnetre of the reg,lar alexarclrire n,r>uld thus be: -1---'t- The brackets r<¡uncl tlre sec.nclary accents inclicate that these ¿ìccerts are

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APPEND IX APPEN DIX

ancl optional. ln other worcls, the alexanclrine may have only (diaeresis), ,e,s, both mobile and does oóe count mute or not? Tlre st¡nclarcl way of âccents (on 6 ancl r z)r or three (say on z, 6 and rL, ot 61 9 and r z), btrt it resolving the problern, two first i. crassical verse ar least, is etyrnological: sirce normally lras four which is why the regular alexandrine is called the nuit derives frorn the Latìn nox, noctem,1¡¡ii.¡ lra, only one r'.t vowel, so tétramètre (i.e. with four measures). There are thirty-six differ- nuìt is as alexandrin ,counted only one syllable (/nqi/) rather than two (/nyil). This possible confiSurations of the regular alexandrine, ranging principle is of course ent rhythrnic complicated as verse ù..o,',., freer a'cr admits changes from the lrasic two-accent 6+6' through tri-accentual pâtterns (6+4*z' in current pronunciation, to the tema-accentual combinations (r*5*4+ L, z+ As far as the (e 3+ t+6,etc.) 3+ 3+ 4' mute'e' atone) is concerned, a distinction must be rnade between ,e's' 4+z+r+5, etc.). line-terminal and line-internal oíes. The fact that the obligatory âccents fall at the end of the half-lines (i) Line-terminal 'e's'. 3 These are nor counrecr as sylrables (th.ugh they rnay that French âccetlt is by nature terminal (oxytonic)r it falls on the attrâct some degree indicates of en'nciation); they indicate th"t th. .hy*.î, r",r.,inin". last accentuable syllable of the word or word-group. During the course of its Thus riuageshas rwo syllables and áges i,", .rn., and togethei they c''sritnte phonetic development, French âccent has graclually weakened' so that it is a feminine rhyme' From the rnicrdre of the sixteenth .."nrury up t' the latter indiviclual words which have âccents as word'groups (syntactic half of the nineteenth not so much century' poets rigorously observed the arternation .f segments) (i.e. accent is reinforced by intonatiorl, lry the rising or falling masculine and femi.i.e rhynrcs (ra toi di r'arternance cres t.imes): i.e.a rnAscr- "Ihus a worcl which in one collocation might receive line rhyme-pair pitch of the voice). must be followed by a feminine one, ancl vice versa. becâuse it is the fir.ral ttnit will be withotrt âccent in other collocations (ii) Line-intcrnal 'e's'. accent A rine-internar 'e' is counted as a syllable, and * 'un Because verse pron.unced, in which it is not the final unit 'un stÍle' bur style orné', when it is immediately followecl by eitlrer. .onrnnrn, t.r* ii sense of rhythmicity and tencls to increase the segmentâtion mute) intensifies our or an aspirare 'h'. A line-internal 'e' is elided (not counred) .'"lr.n i, i, of utterauce, it will usu¡lly accentuate more elements than 'normal' speech imnrediately followed .h,. by a vowel or a mure Thus in the first stan za ot,Le would; for example, it is unlikely that Lamartine's 'nouveaux' or 'nuit' Lac', the final 'e's' of both 'éterneile' ancr 'ancre' are elidecr before a would receivc âccents in non-verse contexts. following vowel. 4 The weakness of French âccent partly explains why, up to the latter years of the nineteenth century' rhytne was considered inclispensable to Sumrnary to date and dift'erentiation French verse: rhyme gives more audibility to the final, line-clemarcative whh English uerse of 'Le Lac' is rimes croisées (alternat' The accent of the line. The rhyme-scheme regular alexandrine has two obrigatory âccenrs on syllabres 6 and tz, rhyrne: abab); the other principal rhyme-schemes are rimes plates and usually two other ing accents, mobile and optional. Becat,s. it is fixecr, the (enclosed rhyrne: abba). (conplets: aa, bb, etc.) and rimes embrassées medial caesura is a metrical eremenr, gou.r,ring the rhythmic ,na ,yni".ii. accentual pattern of a regular alexandrine, distribution 5 ìlhen kloking for the of rhe line. often the caesura coinci.les with the major syntactic confidently place accents on syllables 6 and rz and then juncture within the therefore, we can line, but it need not do so. Above all, it acts ,, u i ,1..u,, iclentify tlre principal syntactic clivisions (word-groups) within each hemi- for the line, a rhythmic pivot encouraging relationships .f ,;r;";;;;, stich, assigning an âccent to the last accentuâble syllable of any group which chiasmus, antithesis, complemenrarity, pãrailelis., b.t*å.n *"i*"f"ri the first line of 'Le f.ac' as (hémistiches).lnrhe obtains.'fhus we might describe our scansion of lines English iambicpentam"r.r, on the other lr."¿, ìi* caesura is mobile because it occurs at the rnajor jr.rncture Adv. (governing whole stanza)/Acli. phrase describitrg 'nous' syntactic within the line wherever that may be. Adv. of time+pâst part.//Adv. phrase of It thus has no metricar signifi.rn.., but d<¡es contribute place to the rhythmic variety of a sequence of rñres. c."á*"ii.rrry significant French words (nouns, Prep. tacli./Noun verbs, adjectives, adverbs) do not c.rnrist- ently enjoy a right to accent, do not have accent built intá them, *h"..r. number of syllables we then norate rhe.rhythm of the line by inclicating the their English equivalents do. French accenr is directry related ,u'ryno.rì. structure' rvithin each syntnctic segment, thus z*4*4{'e' to w.rcl-group; Engrish srress is word-rerated before it is phrase- of syllables: do two related. 6 Syllables. Two maior problems beset the c()tlnting Thus, very crudely put, in French verse rhythm derives f..r. iyniri, syllalrle (syrraeresis) or two whereas contiguous vowels, as in 'ntlit', cotlllt as one in English verse a syntax or wo.d-sequen.e is fitted to a m.tre.

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of syntactic structure cloes not, in Five furrher points Ilecause of this distinction' varia[rility sho.Lrlcl be added to the furegoing list of verse-fe¿rtuies: verse, leacl to metrical variety. In English syllable-stress metre' an The bar-line which English 7 we use in scansion ,., iiuid. one measure frorn the or ânapaestic foot is a repeated ttnit, repeated through next is called iarnbic, or trochaic, a coupe, and since ,¡. vowel of rhe rvorcl_group thin, albeit with conventional variations; ancl because English closes the rhythmic "...ri""*fl thick and rreasure, the coupe falls imrne{iately after rhe acccn_ rnele is cgnstrttcted on repetition aud recttrretrce, so the metricål structure tuated vowel. Tl"te coupe is a fiction, a ..l.,u",ri.nce <>f scansion, and does not predicts that of the ucxt. ln Frcnch verse, ol.l the other hand, bear on the enunciation of one line of the line, other thrn *rl.r. an ¿rrticulated although we may prerlict that one seqtlence of twelve syllables will be (unelidecl) e is involved. another, we cannot preclict the particular rhythrnic configur- 8 The e atone, as its name followecl by suggests, cannot bear an accent. This is why, in particular alexar.rdrine on the lrasis of the alexandrine which speaking of the terminality ation of â of Frencrr accenr, we needed ro specify rh. llnrt just as we cannot pre

/46 247 APPEN D IX APPENDIX

âs the poet's attention shifts frorn his lingering sense of iniustice to the Les deux pôles!/le monde I entier!/la mer, la rerre nâtural theatre, highlighting the violence of the wind's âctivity. Equally we ('La Pente de la rêverie', l. 57) rnight wish to reacl the third line of the first stauz.a not as 4 + 2+ 4 * z but as that is 4'*4*4, with a couþe ryriqueat ,pôles,, 6* 4* z, so that the whole consffuction of the modal verb * 'ne pourrons- further separaring the three elemenrs and.allowing the exclarnati""' nous iâmais'- is rhythrnicnlly undifferentiatecl, flat, will-less. ;;;i. away in irs own expan_ siveness? Or should one opr for: r¡ Of the even-syllablecl (parasyllabic) lines, only the alexandrine and the clecasyllable have c¿lcsurâs. The

.,,nn,*..,,,T', or a rhree-rneasure rhe prirrcipar :,':::::::,íi:::ï:-",,.,n Se réfléchit/avec ses riviè:/res de moire 4+ 5+3 alexanclrine (ølexandrin trimètre), for the fottr-mensure one (alexandrin pente (.La de la rêverie', l. 66) tétramètre)r

API'END IX APPEND IX '!Ølrereas poetn, offer accentuability at the sixth syllable, the configur- the from thc sâme alexandrine is the line of susrained criscourse, usualry enjoying emerge from the trimemic reaclings they encourage are âs a. certain_syntactic ations which completeness, the movemenr of the octosyllable. qualities which macle clecasyllable the octosyilabre åttractive to (ìautier (Emaux et carnées, r 8 z) and 5 to the symbolist poets afrer him. The rhythmic volatility of the octosyllable it has o.ly The decasyllable - on. Àxed accenr, on its cighth sylrabre a'd the swift return - of its rhymes have also giv.rl ii , ,"purotion for alertness, eye the first stauza of llnudelaire's 'La Mort cles atnants' zestfulness' impertine.ce lf we cast our over even, suitabre fãr lighter varieties of verse. Henri Morier describes the octosyllable ,un Nous aurons des litsi/pleins d'oclettrs légères, 5* j*z as i.., q,," nous avons déclaré capricieux et insubordonné par définition,. Des divans profoncls/comtne des totnbeaux, 1+ 2+ j The alexandrine, the decasyilabre Et cl'étranges fleurs//sur des étagères, 3+2+5 ancr the octosyilable are the three principal (parisyllabic) lines of crassicar Ecloses pour nous//sous cles cicttx plus beaux 2+3+1+L Þ'rerrch prosocry. Before rnoving on to the imparisyllabic lines (zers ìntpai,s) which are associarecr with the we rnight suppose th:rt the clecasyllable, like the alexandrine, has a fixecl liberated verse (uers tibéré) of the laiter half of rhe nineteerth cenrury, we medial caesura, after the fifth syllable, ancl that it usually has three accents shoulcl give some further consideration ro rhvme. per line (obligatory accents on 5 nncl ro, pltts a rnobile arlcl optional third one), but may have as few as two ancl âs tnany as fottr. Strch a supposition Rhyme woulcl l¡e largely mistaken. The 5//5 clivision is iust one version of the dcca- particularly cultivated by nineteenth'centttry poets' ancl if As already syllable, a version mentioned, rhyme was, untir the end of the nineteenth ccntury, in 'l"a cles amants' we catt see why Baudelaire has chosetl it: considered inclispensable we reacl on Mort t. F'rench verse. lr was a clevice which clearíy marked verse's status as verse, Nos tleux cæurs seront//clettx vastes flambeatlx, by strengthening the line-terminal accenr ancl_irself performing a line-dernarcarive function Qui réfléchiront//letrrs doubles lurnières with its homophonic mechanism. French rhyrne clisringuishes nos c'leux esprits,//ces nliroirs itself from English rhyrne in three Dans iunreattx. importaut -ac.ent'ancl respects: rhyme gender, te.ni'ality ,rf rhyme Baudelaire's images of rcflection, of perfect reciprocity and compleuren- degree. tarity, call for the syÍ¡rnretry of lJut the classical tlivisions of the Not 5115. only does French differentiate between rnascrline ancl fernininc c{ecasyllable are in fact

z5a 257 API'IÌNDtX APPI,.NDIX

cize enclings, to underline the moclrrlity of teltscs illlcl to invest strf6xes with suffixal l-lleal1íng. 'rhe rno[e thnr] â Purely irnpar:isyrirr,ic rine, ,r,"]1,',,'',ïirlii,!,:'r,, verse aualysis clifferentiates between different clegrecs of rhylne : ,1, ,), 7or 5 syilabrcs), ,s Iìrench rernarkable by its scar.city in rime (f ¡rrercccliug poets srrclr as Vcrlai.e. Rirrhrt¡rl "r.,rli.r.¿ ,r,,,J L.;ì;;;;;.'ì...",,." i, rhcir rv,rr.k ir is tolìic vowel alone: rime (t'aible) exploited .rore frec¡uently.ancl (a) rlryrrre of Pauure ,-,,.rr" ;;r:ì;,i;,,rlr. ,r...,,.. .f its lack of rlryrne of totric vowel 1' following corlsorrâ1.ìt(s): rinte suffisante r.ccc,.re .re (b) d; ì_;;ì., the <,¡,ini,,rr th¿r vers ;:jl::::::jtrançats (l:,1llllir,l1l,,,,, , ;:::r (c) rhyrrre of tonic vowel -l- prececling consonant(s) (consonne(s) d'appui) vtt c(luil¡br(,. il nlcr¡rt si f rinte riclte increaseri provokcs â telltarive, fatrx, (e.g. exploratory ..^ai,rg-,aarropriate v¿ìgue, nn irn!rortaltt plank in the aestlretic platÍorm of thc Parnassiar.rs anxit¡tts to evell feelings; but at the same tiure, by Ilanville: 'Sans cousotltre c['ap¡rr-ti, pas de lìirnc et, par co¡séc1ue¡t, pas de ln..".ii,rg rhe reaclcr,s alertness t' r syllabic valLres, it can achieve mod"l ,n,l poésie'). Ll the hands of these poets, rich rhynre was lookecJ to to provicle i,*ri'.rr".,, of great subtletv. Verlaine's 'Art poétique', in rirrcs t¡f ! r"r,rr.ra,rce, c

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APPENDIX APPEND IX

factors are the very foundation of regulâr versei rhyme patterning, dislodging those two which and the freedorn to use repetition ancl rhymelessness as tlre occasion the principle of syllabic regularity (isosyllabism) - which also meant, of demandecl. In the opening lin.s oi.L,Hiver qui vient,, course, that the poets of uers lihéré observed the conventions concerning Blocus sentimental! Messaseries du Levant! .. , tlre syllabic status of the e atone (see 6, above) and contiguous vowels Oh, rombée de la pluie! Oñ, tornbée de la nuit! (synaeresis ancl diaeresis, see 6 above) and the principle of rhyrning, where - Oh, le vent! . . . rhyrne, whatever its degree or gender, is seen as an indispensable der.narca- La Toussainr, la Noël et la Nouvelle Année, tor of the line, a guarantor of the line's integrity and the sole source of Oh, dans les brr-rines, toutes mes cheminées! ... stanzaic structure, D'usines . . . 'nuit' apparently has no end-rhyme pa*ner instead it creates an intern¿l 'Vers libre' rhyme with 'pluie' (/qi/); ,rrin.s'- but 'nuit' aìd form a half-rh yme or.t lil, a half-rhyme valiclated and mediated by .bruines' The ernergence oÍ uers libre (Íree verse) occurred irr r8tl6, in the pages of the line-internal (/qin/) (i.e. 'nuit' (/qi/)--+ 'bruines' (/qin/)+ ,usines' (/in/), the review La Vogue, edited by Gustave l(ahn, where in rapid successioll itself, like.usines,, enjåying an acoustic kinship with 'chernizées'. were published Rirnbaud's free-verse llluminati<¡ns 'Marine' and Rhyme freedoms permir an intrication of acoustic association' They also enable 'Mouvement' (r872-), translations of ìíhitrnan by l-aforgue, poems by the poet to vaiy the intervals between rhymes in order tcouplet: Ajalbert, Éclouard Dujarclin, Albert Mockel, Irancis Vielé-Griffin, Henri cle l(égnier, Aclolphe lìetté ancl Matrrice Maeterlinck acldecl their names in Ah! nr"rées accourues cles côtes de la Manche, tlre years irntnecliately following. Vous nous avez gãté notre dernier dimanche! "[ where he poets o( uers libre undermined syllabicity either by cliriming that they our awarerìess of the traditional enemy's hancl in u'doing the poet,s sentimental ,d.r1ôt., clicl not count syllables any rnore (they only cottntecl âccents and measttres) adventure ('Blocus sentimental/continental, d. lo Manche') ,Manche'compels- or by casting doubt on the syllabic stattts of the e atone, allowing it to be is renclered more piqua'r by the fact thar the the but equrrlly irllowing its sr-rppression both poet self-rightc.'sly t, ally himself countecl in the conventional way' and his arnarory hopes with , ary - at the ends of worcls (apocope) or within worcls (syrrcope); adclitionally they 'dimanche'- which represents all he abominates. vers impecled the urge to count by incleterminate ancl inct¡nsisteut practice in lihre canclaim, with some justification, to have'psychologized' verse- structure' relation to synaeresis ancl cliaeresis, Laforgue's linc: to have made the act of writing apparently simultaneãus with the changing moveûrents of rnind: 'une poésie n'est pas un sentiment et pttis, est-cc qtte tu cottttitis, outre les pianos que l,on Oh! communique tel que co'çu avant la prume. Avouons le petit bonheuf cre la ('l,'Hiver qui vient', l. 75) rime . et les déviations occasionnées par les trouvaiiles, lasyrnphonie irnpré- as as twelve syllables, a raggecl vue vient esco r rer le m<:ti (Laforgue, might be as loug as fifteen syllables or short f Mé lange s p o s t h unt e i).By a llowing the 3+S+4 trimètre: aleatory and the improvised to inhabir verse, by exproiti'g the psychololicar layering pr.clucecl by variable rhyrne-inrerval and iariabl-e,r.,oigin, C)h!et puis, est-c'c¡ue tu ct>nnais, otltr'les piarros (/pjono/) by l,icat- ing verse ar the inrersection of multiplied co-orcrinares (rhyme, rhymeress- or ¿ìnything between. S

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