英汉双解莎士比亚大词典︱APPENDICES 附录 IV. Hints on Shakespeare’s Metre 莎剧中的诗歌格律简介

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APPENDICES 附录 IV. Hints on Shakespeare’s Metre 莎剧中的诗歌格律简介

1. Shakespeare’s Blank Verse and Its Variations 　Shakespeare’s plays are poetical dramas. The lines or “words” of his plays are mostly written in poetry. Prose is 　sometimes used by him to produce comic or special effects, but a great number of important dialogues and solilo- 　quies assume the form of poetry. Various are the kinds of poetry used by Shakespeare in his plays, which include 　songs, sonnets, couplets, rhymes and doggerels. In his early plays he uses the couplet, i.e. the rhymed verse of five 　feet in each line; but gradually the amount of rhymed couplets declines, and he adopted blank verse as his most im- 　portant medium of dramatic expression for its superiorities of naturalness, freedom and flexibility over the rhymed 　couplet. 　The regular form of Shakespeare’s blank verse consists of five feet, each of two syllables; each foot beginning 　with an unstressed syllable and carrying one stress on the second syllable, without rhyme (hence called “rhymeless i- 　ambic pentameter” or “blank verse”); with a sense pause at the end of the line, and generally a slight pause (called 　“caesura”) marked by a comma perhaps, after the second or third foot. Here are some examples from 　Shakespeare’s plays: 　I’ll say / yon grey / is not / the morn / ing’s eye. (Rom. 3.5.19.) 　How far / that lit / tle can / dle throws / his beams! (Mer. 5.1.90.) 　You blocks, / you stones, / you worse / than sense / less things. (Cae. 1.1.40.) 　But look / the morn / in rus / set man / tle clad (Ham. 1.1.166.) 　The night / is long / that nev / er finds / the day. (Mac. 4.3.240.) 　Return / to her, / and fif / ty men / dismissed? (Lr. 2.4.210.) 　The rhythm of a line like this is a “rising rhythm”. It would be very monotonous and mechanical to listen to a 　long speech in this metre without any variation. To prevent this many changes are introduced. 　1) Inverted Stresses 　The first variation is brought about by the stress in one or two of the feet being thrown on the first instead of 　the second syllable, which is known as an “inverted” stress: 　What was / the imped / iment / that broke / this off? (H. V. 1.1.90.) 　An inverted stress may occur in any foot of a line. 　1st foot: Hanging / a gol / den stamp / about / their necks. (Mac. 4.3.153.) 　2nd foot: The wind /sits in / the shoul / der of / your sail (Ham. 1.3.56.) 　3rd foot: Like fog / gy south / puffing / with wind / and rain (As. 3.5.48.) 　4th foot: That he / is grown / so great. / Age, thou / art shamed (Cae. 1.2.150.) 　5th foot: Affec / tion! pooh! / you speak / like a / green girl (Ham. 1.3.101.) 　The stress thus thrown back is usually in the first foot of the line, while in the other cases the stressed syllable 　often follows a pause. 　But love, /dear love, / and our / aged fa / ther’s right (Lr. 4.4.28.) 　which I / must act: / briefness / and for / tune, work! (Lr. 2.1.20.) 　2) Extra Syllables 　a. Variety is introduced by the insertion of an extra unstressed syllable, similar to the use of an anapaest instead 　of an iambus. 　Let me see, / let me see; / is not / the leaf / turn’d down (Cae. 4.3.273. ) 　I am more / an an / tique Ro / man than / a Dane (Ham. 5.2.352.) 　An unstressed syllable may be introduced in any foot, which corresponds to an anapaest instead of an iambus. 　1st foot: I am al / most mad /myself: / I had / a son (Lr. 3.4.171.) 　2nd foot: And when / I have stol’n / upon / these sons- / in-law (Lr. 4.6.190. ) 　3rd foot: Thou’ldst meet / the bear / i’the mouth. / When the / mind’s free (Lr. 3.4.11.) 　4th foot: Whereto / our heath / is bound; / wěǎre nót/ourselves (Lr. 2.4.108. ) 　5th foot: You sul / phurous / and thought- / exe / cǔtǐng fíres (Lr. 3.2.4. ) 　b. To the end of the last foot an extra unstressed syllable is often added, which is called a “double ending” or 　“feminine ending”. 　Then, Brú/ tus, / have múch / mistóok / your páss(ion). (Cae. 1.2.48. ) 　He háth / a wís / dom that / doth gúide / his vál(our). (Mac.3.1.53.) 　Whéther /'tis nó / bler n / the mind / to súf(fer) 　The slngs/ and ár / róws of / outrá / geous fór(tune) 　r to / take árms /agáinst / a séa / of tróu(bles). (Ham. 3.1.57-59.) 　3) Weak Stresses 　The stresses or accents are not always of the same weight in all the five feet of each line. Thus in the line 　“And chúr / lish ch / ding òf / the wín / ter wnd” (As. 2.1.7. ) the stress in the third foot is not equal to that 　which comes in the other feet. A light stress like this is commonly called a “weak stress”. It is with prepositions 　that a weak stress, in any foot, occurs most often. The favourite place for a weak stress is the last foot, and 　the use of weak stresses at the end of a line is to let the sense and rhythm “run on” from line to line. 　And shé / is fáir, / and fáir / er thàn / that wórd, 　Of wónd / rous vr / tues: Sóme / times fròm / her éyes 　I dd / recéive / fair spéech / less més / sagès. (Mer. 1.1.162-164. ) 　a. Lines in which there are not five strong stresses are very plentiful. Frequently the absence of a strong stress in 　a foot is made up for by two weak stresses: 　Thòu art/ the rú / ins òf / the nó / blest man. (Cae. 3.1.256.) 　Prithée / gòin / thysélf: / seek thine / own ease (Lr. 3.4.23. ) 　b. On the other hand, lines in which there are two stressed syllables (including strong and weak stresses) in one 　foot are common. 　 júdg / ment, thòu / art fléd / to brú/tish béasts. (Cae. 3.2.109.) 　The év / il that / mèn dó/lves áf /ter thèm (Car. 3.2.80.) 　4) Normal Irregularities 　a. An unstressed syllable is omitted where the stiess is very strong and the omission is made up for by a pause. 　Spéak. /strike, / redréss. /m I / entréated (Cae. 2.1.55.) 　b. A stressed or an unstressed syllable, or even a whole foot may be supplied by a gesture or accounted for by an 　interruption, such as the entrance of another character. 　For féar / I súr/ feit! [Bassanio opens] / Whát find / I hére? (Mer. 3.2.114. ) 　Flátterers! [Turns to Brutus] / Now Brú / tus, thánk / yoursélf (Cae. 5.1.45. ) 　He's tá'en. / [Shout] / And, hárk! / they shóut / for jóy (Cae. 5.3.32.) 　Must gve/ us paúse. /[Meditation] / Thére's the / respéct (Ham. 3.1.68. ) 　c. Short lines are common in broken dialogues to produce a dramatic effect. In dialogues, two lines may overlap 　and the second speaker completes the verse of the former. 　Messenger. The Kng / comes hére / to-nght. / Lady Macbeth. Thou'rt mád / to sáy/it. (Mac. 1.5.29.) 　Cassius. And béar / the pálm / alóne. /Brutus. Anóth / er géne / ral shóut! (Cae. 1.2.131-132.) 　d. Interjections and proper names are frequently extrametrical. 　Let us / be sac / rifi cers but / not butchers, Caius (Cae. 2.1.166.) 　O ye gods! / ye gods! / must I / endure / all this? (Cae. 4.3.41. ) 　And shall / I cou / ple hell? / O fie ! / Hold, hold, / my heart (Ham. 1.5.93.) 　e. Alexandrines, or lines containing six feet of two syllables, with the stress falling on the sixth and twelfth syl- 　lables and a pause after the sixth. are sometimes used, by Shakespeare. 　The vc/ t'ry féll / on ús. // Great háp / pinéss! / That nów (Mac. 1.2.58. ) 　A wór / thy p / onér. // once móre / remóve, / good friénds. (Ham. 1.5.162.) 　5) Elision 　Elision, or the suppression of a vowel sound, is very common. 　a. The most frequent elisions are “th'” for “the”， “'s”for “his”， for “is”and for “us”， “'t”for “it”， “'bove” 　for “above”， “'mong” for “among”“and's” for “and his”， and “'scape” for “escape”. Here are some exam- 　ples from “Macbeth”： 　Stop up / th’ access / and pas / sage to / remorse. (1.5.42.) 　Shall take / upon’s / what else / remains / to do. (5.4.5.) 　Be not / a nig / gard of / your speech: / how goes’t? (4.3.180.) 　His hopes / ’bove wis/ dom, grace / and fear. (3.5.51.) 　Be bright / and jo / vial ’mong / your guests / to-night. (3.2.28.) 　b. “Th” and “v” between two vowels are often almost or entirely dropped and the two syllables run into one: as 　in the words “whether”， “whither”， “other”， “either”， “ever”， “never”， “even”， “over”， So “heaven”， “e- 　vil”， “devil” are sometimes treated as monosyllables. 　c. A vowel may be omitted within a word by using such shortened forms as “mem’ry” for “memory”， “unnat’ 　ral” for “unnatural”， “mean’st” (the second person singular) for “meanest”， and “Phoebus’”(the possessive) 　for “phoebus’s”. 　d. A light vowel sound coming next a liquid sound (I, m, n, and especially r) is often slurred and in effect 　dropped, so that such words as “spirit”， “peril”， “quarrel” are practically monosyllables. (Hence such forms 　as “parlous” for “perilous” and “warn’t” for “warrant”. ) 　Of horr / id hell / can come a devil / more damn’d. (Mac. 4.3.56.) 　Hamlet. Perchance / ’t will walk / again. Horatio. / I warrant (= warn’t) / it will. (Ham. 1.2.244. ) 　e. “I” and “e” in the middle of a trisyllable, if unaccented, are often dropped. 　The civ / il cit / izens knead / ing up / the honey (H. V. 1.2. 199. )(citizens= citzens) 　Which I / in suff / erance heart / ily will / rejoice (H. V. 2.2. 159. ) (sufferance = suffrance. heartily= 　heartly) 　f. The plural and possessive cases of nouns in which the singular ends in “s”， “se”， “ss”， “ce”， etc. are frequent- 　ly pronounced or written without the extra syllable. 　As the / dead car / casses of / unbur / ied men. (Cor. 3.3.122. ) 　Thinking / upon / his ser / vices took / from you. (Cor. 2.2.231.) 　And do / submit / me to / your high / ness mercy (H. V. 2.2.77.)(highness= highness’) 　Great kings of France and England! That I have laboured, Your might / iness / on both / parts best / can 　witness. (H. V. 5.2.28.) 　6) Apparent Irregularities 　Many apparent (i. e. seeming) irregularities are due to difference of pronunciation in Shakespeare’s time. 　a. The accent has changed in many words: for example, we say “aspect”， “complete”， “exact”， “exile”， 　“extreme”， “obscure”， “sincere” and “subject”， but Shakespeare often said “aspect”， “complete”， “exact”， 　“exile”， “extreme”， “obscure”， “sincere” and “subject”. 　A lit / tle, lit / tie grave, / an ob / scure grave (R.II. 3.3.154. ) 　The pangs / of des / pised love, / the law’s / delay, (Ham. 3.1.72.) 　b. The words “fare”， “here”， “fire”， “dear” and “where” are commonly (but not always) pronounced as words 　of two syllables. 　As fi / re drives / out fire, / so pi / ty pity. (Cae. 3.1.172.) 　Lucius! / My gown. / Fare / well good / Messala. (Cae. 4.3.231.) 　c. In a large number of words where a liquid sound (I . m . n. and especially r) comes next to another conso- 　nant, an indefinite vowel sound is sometimes introduced between the two letters, which may be treated as 　forming a syllable. So “entrance”， “children” and “monstrous” are pronounced as words of three syllables. 　Sometimes the vowel is actually inserted in the word, as in “thorough” (=”through”). 　Thorough/ the hazards/ of this/ untrod/ state (Cae. 3.1.136.) 　d. When two vowels come together as in words ending with “-ion，”“-ius，” “-ious” and the like, the first vowel 　is usually slurred in the middle of a line and not slurred at the end of a line. So the termination “-tion” is often 　pronounced as two syllables. 　Ambi / tion should / be made / of stern / er stuff. 　Yet Bru / tus says / he was / ambi / tious. (Cae. 3.2.97-98.) 　Which smoked / with blood / y ex / ecu / tion. (Mac. 1.2.18.) 　And whence / the sun / ’gins his / reflec / tion. (Mac. 1.2.25.) 　e. The termination “'-ed” of the past participle is sometimes pronounced as a syllable, especially at the end of a 　line. 　Thy brother by decree is banished. (Cae. 3.1.44. ) 　Irregularities and exceptions are many and various, and there are many possible ways of scanning a particular 　line. In the long run, the reader's individual literary taste must be relied upon. 2. Shakespeare's Use of Rhyme 　In his early plays Shakespeare uses the rhymed couplet very largely; but gradually the amount of rhyme de- 　clines.so that the proportion of rhymed couplets in a play is one of the surest indications of the period to which it 　belongs. In “Love's Labour's Lost” there are about two rhymed lines to every one of blank verse. In“ The Comedy 　of Errors” there are 380 rhymed lines to 1150 unrhymed. In “The Tempest” two rhymed lines occur; in “The 　Winter's Tale” not one. So where there is much rhyme, the play is early; and where there is little rhyme, the play 　is late. But exceptions must be made where there is a special reason for the use of rhyme. For example, the rhyme 　of the Masque in Act IV of “The Tempest” has no bearing whatsoever on the date of the play, because masques 　were usually written in rhymed measures. Similarly all songs such as those in “As You Like It”， “The Tempest” and 　“The Winter's Tale” must, of course, be excluded. 　What rhyme we do get in Shakespeare's later plays is mainly at the end of a scene, when it serves to indicate 　the conclusion, and at the close of a long speech, when it forms a kind of climax. Rhyme also marks leave-taking or 　the close of a chapter in a man's career, and suggests farewell. A striking example of this use of rhyme occurs in 　“'As You Like It” 2.3.67-76,where old Adam and Orlando, about to set forth on their expedition, severally bid 　farewell to their former life. Similarly in “Richard II” 2.2.142-149, the rhyme expresses the feeling of the King's 　favourites that their period of prosperity is over and they are parting for ever; while in 5.5. 110-119. it emphasizes 　the tragedy of the close of Richard's life. Again, in “King Lear”， the banished Kent is made to use rhyme in his 　leave-taking (1.1.183-190). Another noticeable purpose of rhyme is found in plays as late as “Othello” and “Lear” 　to express moralizing reflections on life and give them a sententious, epigrammatic effect. This use of rhyme is nat- 　ural because proverbial wisdom so often takes a rhymed form. Maxims stick better in the memory when they are 　rhymed. The use of rhyme also occurs in passages of “plaintive emotion”. 3. General Remark on Shakespeare's Metre 　In his early plays Shakespeare shows a fondness for rhyme; his blank verse, though very far from rigid. does 　not often depart widely from the regular pattern, either in the number of syllables, or in the distribution of the 　stresses; and there is often a natural pause at the end of a line. In his latest plays there is little rhyme; the blank 　verse is extremely irregular, and follows far more closely the natural rhythm of speech; and the sense is far more 　frequently carried over from one line to the next. There is a steadily increased metrical freedom in his later plays. 　So Shakespeare's development in metrical practice has been used to help dating his plays. But, except for the pur- 　pose of learning the pattern of blank verse, we should always read by the sense and leave the metre to take care of 　itself. (cf. “The New Clarendon Shakespeare”： “The Tempest”， Appendix III. ) 4. Shakespeare's Use of Prose 　The chief use to which Shakespeare puts prose is as a conversational medium of expression. He introduces it 　where he wishes “to lower the dramatic pitch”， and does not desire a poetical effect: where he wants to convey the 　impression of people talking together. This use can be illustrated by the beginning of the third scene of “As You 　Like It”， where prose is used by the two girls chatting together in a bantering style. But verse is used wherever a po- 　etical or tragic effect is desired. So the transition from prose to verse and verse to prose in the same scene should be 　noticed. 　Another main use of prose is for comic scenes and the speech of comic characters like the clowns of the come- 　dies, for example. Touchstone in “As You Like It”， who never drops into blank verse. Indeed, in Shakespeare's 　middle period, prose becomes practically “the language of comedy”. its natural means of expression. “Much Ado A- 　bout Nothing” is “a prose comedy”. 　Prose is commonly assigned to characters of humble position, as servants, sailors and soldiers. It is the normal 　medium in scenes of “low life”. especially if comic. So in “Henry V” the Hostess. Bardolph. Nym and the Boy 　speak wholly in prose. The same remark applies to the scene of the Grave-diggers in “Hamlet”， whom the stage-di- 　rection describes as “clowns”. 　Other uses of prose by Shakespeare are for letters, proclamations and documents. Prose is also used to express 　extreme emotion and mental derangement. A striking example is Ophelia in the mad-scene, “Hamlet”5.5. 　Similarly Hamlet and Edgar (“King Lear”) are both made to use prose when they are feigning insanity. 　The serious nature of prose occurs in “The Merchant of Venice” 3.1.45-63, where Shylock begins in a colloqui- 　al, though bitter, style and is carried away into an impassioned outburst of splendid eloquence. In the remarkable 　passage, “this goodly frame... the paragon of animals，” in “Hamlet” 2.2. prose is endowed with the spirit of the 　lofty imaginative ardour. 　Shakespeare’s use of prose increases as the character of his plays grows more varied and complex. The amount 　of prose in a play is to a considerable extent an indication of its date. 5. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 　The Shakespearian sonnet, as represented by his “Sonnets”， consists of 14 iambic pentameter lines, divided into 　3 quatrains followed by a couplet. This structure produces a sweeping movement and the concluding couplet often 　gives the thought an effective epigrammatic turn. Its rhyme scheme is a b a b, c d c d , e f e f, g g. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? 　Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 　Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 　And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: 　Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 　And often is his gold complexion dimm’d: 　And every fair from fair sometime declines, 　By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d. 　But thy eternal summer shall not fade 　Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest: 　Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade. 　When in eternal lines to time thou growest: 　So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, 　So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. —Sonnet Ⅹ VIII