Chapter V: Appendix: I

FRENCH VERSE.

French verse, as found in the classical writers, consists of lines in which the principal factor is the number of syllables (loosely called _pieds_ in French, as well as _syllabes_), and not, as in English, the number of accents.

METRE.

The "heroic verse," or _grand vers_ in French, is the _hexamètre_, or _vers alexandrin_: the former name being due to the fact that this line consists of two halves or _hémistiches_ of six syllables each; the latter a name derived from the poet Alexandre de Bernay, who, in the latter half of the twelfth century, first used this metre in his celebrated epic of "_Alexandre_."

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
E.g., Esth. l. 2.: _Que béni soit le ciel || qui te rend à mes voeux_!

Lyric poetry may have lines of any number of syllables.

E.g., Esth. l. 1241: _Rompez vos fers_ 4 sylls.
l. 970: _Ses criminels attentats_ 7 "
l. 722: _En un moment s'est-il évanoui_ 10 "

All syllables, mute or otherwise, are counted except, (1) when a 'mute e' is elided before a word beginning with a vowel or 'mute h,' e.g.,

1 2 3 4 5 6
l. 1: _Est-ce toi, chèr(e) Élis(e)?_ = 6 sylls.;

(2) at the end of a line, where the 'mute e' is reckoned with the preceding sounded syllable, which is thus made a "feminine rhyme," e.g.;

1 2 3 4 5 6
l. 7 . . . || _est cher à ma mémoire!_ = 6 sylls.

It is for this reason that Racine avails himself (ll. 92, 436, 514, 1232) of the license to spell _encor_ instead of _encore_, thereby reducing the word by one syllable:

1 2 3 4 5 6
l. 436 . . . || _le voit encor la nuit_;

and conversely he writes _jusques_ for _jusque_ before _au_, to prevent the elision and keep the word dissyllabic, in

1 2 3 4 5 6
l. 136 _Sion, jusques au ciel_: || . . . .

Similarly in l. 426, for the simpler expression

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
_Tous révèrent à genoux_,

he writes,

1 2 3 4 5 6
_Tout révèr(e) à genoux_, ||

reducing the seven syllables of the former to a correct hemistich.

CAESURA.

Between the two hemistiches of an hexameter there must be a pause, called _la césure_, or 'caesura.'

RHYME.

French poetry being less rhythmical than English, owing to the absence of strong word-accents, makes up the deficiency by much greater stress on rhyme. In French verse, rhyme not only is almost indispensable, but must, in a measure, satisfy the eye as well as the ear. For instance, words ending in 's' 'x' or 'z' can only rhyme with words also ending in one of these three letters. Hence, the use of such obsolete forms as _voi_ for _vois_ (ll. 890, 947); the latter could not rhyme with _moi_ or _roi_.

French rhymes are called "feminine" when they have a 'mute e' in or after their last sounded syllable; e.g., _descendue_, _mémoire_, _armées_, _coururent_, _cabales_, _assassinaient_ are feminine rhymes. In all other cases they are called 'masculine' rhymes.

In heroic verse the masculine and feminine rhymes are generally found in alternating pairs. In lyrics, however, they are freely crossed, but with this restriction, that one rhyme of either kind is never found next to a different one of the same kind, i.e., two _different_ masculines or feminines are never found in juxtaposition.

HIATUS.

Two sounded vowels coming together form a "hiatus." A hiatus between a vowel at the end of a word and another at the beginning of the next, is forbidden. Hence, l. 546, where the straightforward expression would have been _lui échappe_, Racine wrote the equivalent _nous échappe_, in order to avoid the hiatus.

Lastly, a sounded vowel, followed by an unelided 'mute e,' must be at the end of the line. Thus the word _Mardochée_ must always be at the end of the line, or else be followed by a word beginning with a vowel or 'mute h,' so that its 'mute e' may be elided. Cf. ll. 44, 618, and 156, 459, etc. Such words as _armées_, _joies_, etc., whose 'mute e' cannot be elided, can never occur in the body of the line. The only exception is made in favor of the verb-endings in _-oient_ and _-aient_. Cf. ll. 527, 1111.

In French poetry, as in French grammar, 'mute h' always = a vowel, and 'aspirate h' = a consonant.

The rules given above apply to classical French poetry only. The modern poetical schools of the nineteenth century have been taking liberties with them, especially with the caesura. The latest school of French poets, the _symbolistes_ or _décadents_ as they style themselves, are attempting to overthrow every one. At their hands the caesura has finally disappeared, and the following form, called a _ternaire_, has become possible:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
_Où je filai | pensivement | la blanche laine_. (Th. de Banville.)

Then the 'mute e's' are disregarded:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
_Avec les filles | du vieux seigneur | en robes blanches_.
(H. de Régnier.)

The number of syllables is of little account:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
_Des mortes douces | qui moururent là | quelque soir.
(H. de Régnier).

The hiatus is no longer tabooed, and lastly, not only the artificial rules of rhyme, but rhyme itself, is being done away with: assonance may take its place. If the constitution of the French language did not make it unlikely that these reforms should prove permanent, the vehicle of French poetic thought would become mere harmonious prose.