A Study of Shakespeare's Versification Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ERRATA
- I SHAKESPEARE'S VERSIFICATION
- II THE EARLY TEXTS
- APPENDICES
- APP. I PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES: List
- APP. II OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT: Examples. ALCAICS
- APP. III LINES CONTAINING MONOSYLLABIC FEET: Examples. THE CROSS ACCENT: Examples
- APP. IV LINES CONTAINING QUADRISYLLABIC FEET: List
- APP. V CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS: Lines exemplifying these
- APP. VI ORDER OF COMPOSITION OF THE PLAYS
- APP. VII ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, a revised Text
- THE TRAGEDY OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
- INDEX
APP. III - LINES CONTAINING MONOSYLLABIC FEET: Examples. THE CROSS ACCENT: Examples
from APPENDICES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ERRATA
- I SHAKESPEARE'S VERSIFICATION
- II THE EARLY TEXTS
- APPENDICES
- APP. I PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES: List
- APP. II OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT: Examples. ALCAICS
- APP. III LINES CONTAINING MONOSYLLABIC FEET: Examples. THE CROSS ACCENT: Examples
- APP. IV LINES CONTAINING QUADRISYLLABIC FEET: List
- APP. V CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS: Lines exemplifying these
- APP. VI ORDER OF COMPOSITION OF THE PLAYS
- APP. VII ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, a revised Text
- THE TRAGEDY OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
- INDEX
Summary
The Monosyllabic Foot
The monosyllabic foot occurs with great frequency; in the eleven latest plays there is an average of one in 8¼ lines, and in Macbeth and Lear one in 6½ lines. In the earlier plays (the Comedies) the average is much lower, one in 15 lines, A Midsummer Night's Dream showing only one in 26¼ lines. In the Histories the average is lower still, one in 17. Of these the three parts of Henry VI, which contain so little that is Shakespeare's, show fewest, an average of one in 27. The First Part stands at the bottom of the whole list, with one in 35½. On the other hand, the average for 2 Henry IV and Henry V is one in 9½, and that for Shakespeare's share of Henry VIII (a late play) one in 9.
Numerous examples have emerged in the previous pages, and the following—mainly instances of the foot's occurrence in the fourth place (or fifth in an Alexandrine), where it is least frequent—will serve to illustrate further the use of this important feature.
Would ⋮ they | make | peace? ∧ | Terrible | hell
Make war upon their spotted souls for this!
Rich. II 3. 2. 133 f.- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Study of Shakespeare's VersificationWith an Inquiry into the Trustworthiness of the Early Texts an Examination of the 1616 Folio of Ben Jonson's Works and Appendices including a Revised Test of 'Antony and Cleopatra', pp. 334 - 339Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1920