Alliteration

3. cross rhymes — abab

Rhythm

Rhythm exists in all spheres of human activity and assumes multifarious forms. It is a mighty weapon in stirring up emotions whatever its nature or origin, whether it is musical, mechanical, or symmetrical as in architecture.

The most general definition of rhythm may be expressed as follows:

"rhythm is a flow, movement, procedure, etc., characterized by basically regular recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different elements or features" ( Webster ' sNewWorldDictionary ).

Rhythm can be perceived only provided that there is some kind of experience in catching the opposite elements or features in their correlation, and, what is of paramount importance, experience in catching the regularity of alternating patterns. Rhythm is primarily a periodicity, which requires specification as to the type of periodicity. According to some investigations, rhythmical periodicity in verse "requires intervals of about three quarters of a second between successive peaks of periods."¹ It is a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly recurring units intended to be grasped as a definite periodicity which makes rhythm a stylistic device.

Rhythm, therefore, is the main factor which brings order into the utterance. The influence of the rhythm on the semantic aspect of the utterance is now being carefully investigated and it becomes apparent that orderly phonetic arrangement of the utterance calls forth orderly syntactical structures which, in their turn, suggest an orderly segmenting of the sense groups. The conscious perception of rhythms must be acquired by training, as must the perception of any stylistic device. Some people are said to be completely deaf to rhythm and whatever efforts are exerted to develop this sense in them inevitably fail. But this is not true. A person may not be able to produce a flow of rhythmical units, but he can certainly acquire a feeling for rhythm if he trains his ear.

Rhythm in language necessarily demands oppositions that alternate: long, short; stressed, unstressed; high, low and other contrasting segments of speech. Some theoreticians maintain that rhythm can only be perceived if there are occasional deviations from the regularity of alternations. In this connection de-Groot writes:

"It is very strange indeed that deviations from the theme (i. e., the accepted kind of periodicity, I.G.) in separate lines (called irregularities of the line) have been looked upon as deficiencies of the poem by such eminent scholars as Yespersen and Heusseler. On the contrary, they are indispensable, and have both a formal and expressive function. Harmony is not only a matter of similarity, but also of dissimilarity, and in good poetry, irregularities of lines are among the most important features of the poem both in their formal and their expressive functions. Actually, the beauty of a poem is less dependent upon the regularities than upon the irregularities of the poem."

Academician V. M. Zhirmunsky suggests that the concept of rhythm should be distinguished from that of metre. Metre is any form of periodicity in verse, its kind being determined by the character and number of syllables of which it consists. The metre is an ideal phenomenon characterized by its strict regularity, consistency and unchangeability. Rhythm is flexible and sometimes an effort is required to perceive it. In classical verse it is perceived at the background of the metre. In accented verse — by the number of stresses in aline. In.prose — by the alternation of similar syntactical patterns. He gives the following definition of verse rhythm. It is "the actual alternation of stress which appears as a result of interaction between the ideal metrical law and the natural phonetic properties of the given language material." He holds the view that romantic poetry regards metrical forms as a conventional tradition, which hinders the vigorous individual creativity of the poet and narrows the potential variety of poetic material. This trend in literature justifies all kinds of deviations from the metrical scheme as well as the dissimilarity of stanzas; it favours enjambment (See p. 261) because it violates the monotonous concurrence of the rhythmical and syntactical units of the metrical system; it makes ample use of imperfect rhymes, inasmuch as they violate the trivial exactness of sound correspondence. It follows then that the concept of rhythm should not be identified with that of metre, the latter, be it repeated, appearing only in classical verse as an ideal form, an invariant of the given scheme of alternation. However the deviations (the variants) must not go so far as to obscure the consciously perceived ideal scheme. As has been pointed out before, stylistic effect can only be achieved if there is a clear-cut dichotomy of the constituent elements (two kinds of meaning realized simultaneously, as in metaphor and metonymy; or two constructions, as in rhetorical questions and litotes, and so on). In the present case the dichotomy is perceived in the simultaneous materialization of the orthodox and free patterns of metrical alternation. J. Middleton Murry states:

"In order that rhythmic effects should be successful they must be differentiated with certainty; and to manage contrasts of rhythm — without contrast there is no differentiation — with so much subtlety that they will remain subordinate to the intellectual suggestion of the words, is the most delicate work imaginable."

In his notes on Shakespeare's plays our Russian poet B. Pasternak expressed the same idea in the following words:

"...The metre (that of blank verse, I. G. ) is not made conspicuous. This is not a recitation. The form with its self-admiration does not overshadow the content, which is infathomable and chaste. It is an example of sublime poetry which in its finest examples has always the simplicity and freshness of prose."

V. Mayakovsky framed this idea in poetic form. "Rhythm", he writes, "is the foundation of every poetic work, and passes through it like a clamour." And further, "I get my metre by covering this clamour with words."

The Russian poet A. Blok said that the poet is not one who writes verses, but the bearer of rhythm. Verse did not become entirely divorced from music when it began to live as an independent form of art. As is known, verse has its origin in song; but still the musical element has never been lost; it has assumed a new form of existence — rhythm.

It follows then that rhythm is not a mere addition to verse or emotive prose, which also has its rhythm, and it must not be regarded as possessing "phonetic autonomy amounting to an 'irrelevant texture', but has a meaning." This point of view is now gaining ground. Many attempts have been made to ascribe meaning to rhythm and even to specify different meanings to different types of metre. This is important, inasmuch as it contributes to the now-prevailing idea that any form must make some contribution to the general sense. Rhythm intensifies the emotions. It also specifies emotions. Some students of rhythm go so far as to declare that"...one obvious agency for the expression of his (a poet's) attitude is surely metre"⁴ and that "...the poet's attitude toward his reader is reflected in his manipulation — sometimes his disregard — of metre."⁵

So divergence from the ideal metrical scheme is an inherent quality of rhythm in verse.⁶ The range of divergence must, however, have its limits. Deviations from the metrical theme are free within the given frame of variation, but they cannot go beyond that frame lest the rhythmical pattern should be destroyed. Permissible deviations from the given metre are called modifications of the rhythmical pattern. Some of them occur so frequently in classical verse, that they become, as it were, constituents of the rhythm.

"If violations of the metre take root," writes R. Jakobson, "they themselves become rules..." and further

"...these are allowed oscillations, departures within the limits of the law. In British parliamentary terms, it is not an opposition to its majesty the metre, but an opposition of its majesty."

It has already been pointed out that if rhythm is to be a stylistic category, one thing is required — the simultaneous perception of two contrasting phenomena, a kind of dichotomy. Therefore rhythm in verse as an SD is defined as a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and the variations of it, variations which are governed by the standard.

There are however certain cases in verse where no departures are allowed and the rhythm strikes the ear with its strict regularity. These are cases where the rhythm contributes to the sense. Thus in Robert Southey's "How the Water Comes Down at Ladore" (See p. 121) the rhythm itself is meant to interpret the monotonous roar of the waterfall; or in Edward Lear's poem "The Nutcrackers and the Sugar-tongs" where the rhythm reproduces the beat of galloping horses' feet, or in march rhythm where the beat of the lines suggests a musical foundation. In short, wherever there is a recognizable semantic function of the rhythm few, if any, deviations are evident.

Rhythm reveals itself most conspicuously in music, dance and verse. We have so far dealt with verse because the properties of rhythm in language are most observable in this mode of communication. We shall now proceed to the analysis of rhythm in prose, bearing in mind that the essential properties of prose rhythm are governed by the same general rules, though not so apparent, perhaps, as in verse, and falling under different parameters of analysis.

Much has been said and written about rhythm in prose. Some investigators, in attempting. to find rhythmical patterns of prose, superimpose metrical measures on prose and regard instances which do not fall under the suggested metrical scheme as variants. But the parameters of the rhythm in verse and in prose are entirely different. R. Jakobson states "...any metre uses the syllable as a unit of measure at least in certain sections of the verse." The unit of measure in prose, however, is not the syllable but a structure, a word combination, a sequence of words, that is, phrases, clauses, sentences, even syntactical wholes.⁴ The structural pattern, which in the particular case is the rhythmical unit, will be repeated within the given span of prose. The rhythm will be based not on the regular alternation of opposing units, i.e. a regular beat, but on the repetition of similar structural units following one another or repeated after short intervals. The peculiar property of prose rhythm particularly in 20th century prose, is that it occurs only in relatively short spans of text, and that it constantly changes its patterns and may suddenly drop to a normal almost unapparent rhythmical design or to no rhythm at all.

It must be made clear that metrical or accented rhythm, which is an internal and indispensable property of verse, is incidental in prose, which in its very essence is non-rhythmical. A prose passage interpolated into a work written in verse, a device so favoured by some poets, has its significance in the acute opposition of the two modes of expression: rhythmical versus non-rhythmical. The most observable rhythmical patterns in prose are based on the use of certain stylistic syntactical devices namely, enumeration, repetition, parallel construction (in particular, balance) and chiasmus. The beginning of Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities" on p. 223 may serve as an illustration of prose rhythm. Here the rhythm is easily discernible.

In the following passage it is more difficult to catch the rhythm, though when the passage is read aloud, the rhythm is clear.

"The high - sloping roof, of a finesooty pink was almost Danish, and two ducky ' little windows' looked out of it, giving an impression that verytall servants lived up there."

(John Galsworthy)

Here the rhythmical pattern of the utterance is almost imperceptible to an untrained ear, but will clearly be felt by one with rhythmical experience. The paired attributes high - sloping, finesooty, duckylittle and likewise the attribute with an adverbial modifier verytall are all structurally similar word combinations and therefore create the rhythm. As a good example of oscillating prose rhythm hardly dissectable into rhythmical units is the following excerpt from Somerset Maugham's "The Painted Veil":

"Walter, I beseech you to forgive me," she said, leaning over him. For fear that he could not bear the pressure she took care not to touch him. "I'm so desperately sorry for the wrong I did you. I so bitterly regret it."

He said nothing. He did not seem to hear. She was obliged to insist. It seemed to her strangely that his soul was a fluttering moth and its wings were heavy with hatred.

"Darling."

A shadow passed over his wan and sunken face. It was less than a movement, and yet it gave all the effect of a terrifying convulsion. She had never used that word to him before. Perhaps in his dying brain there passed the thought, confused and difficultly grasped, that he had only heard her use it, a commonplace of her vocabulary, to dogs, and babies and motorcars. Then something horrible occurred. She clenched her hands, trying with all her might to control herself, for she saw two tears run slowly down his wasted cheeks.

"Oh, my precious, my dear, if you ever loved me — I know you loved me and I was hateful — I beg you to forgive me. I've no chance now to show my repentance. Have mercy on me. I beseech you to forgive."

She stopped. She looked at him, all breathless, waiting passionately for a reply. She saw that he tried to speak. Her heart gave a great bound."

The long passage is necessary in order that the fluctuating, rhythmical pattern of both the author's and the character's speech might be observed. The most obvious rhythmical unit here is the structural similarity of the sentences. The overwhelming majority of the sentences are short, simple, almost unextended, resembling each other in structural design — 'He said nothing', 'He did not seem to hear', 'She was obliged to insist', 'A shadow passed over his wan and sunken face', 'She had never used that word to him before', 'She saw that he tried to speak', 'Her heart gave a great bound'.

Likewise the character's speech is marked by the same feature — the sentences are short, simple, resembling each other in their structural design, as '"Walter, I beseech you to forgive me', “I beg you to forgive me', 'I've no chance now to show my repentance', ‘I beseech you to forgive' and earlier 'I'm so desperately sorry... I so bitterly regret it..."

But it is not only the repetition of the structural design of the sentences that makes the rhythm: there are other elements contributing to it. With the increase of emotional tension the author almost slips into the iambic rhythm of blank verse. Dramatic feeling demands regular rhythm. As the emotion becomes tenser, the rhythmical beat and cadence of the words becomes more evident. Mark the sentence which begins with "Perhaps in his dying brain...". Here a kind of metrical rhythm can easily be discerned —

and so it goes on until the phrase "then something horrible occurred." Of course this inter-correlation of the rhythmical units in the passage is open to discussion. There may be various delivery instances. In this connection R. Jakobson says that "a variation of verse instances within a given poem must be strictly distinguished from the variable delivery instances."¹

Indeed, almost any piece of prose, though in essence non-rhythmical, can be made rhythmical by isolating words or sequences of words and making appropriate pauses between each. In order to distinguish the variable delivery instances of an utterance from its inherent structural and semantic properties, it is necessary to subject the text to a thorough analysis of the correlated component parts. The short survey of the passage above shows that the prose rhythm is interspersed with genuine metrical rhythm not devoid, of course, of the modifications which make the verse-rhythm less conspicuous.

A very good example of prose rhythm can be seen in the chapter from Galsworthy's "Man of Property" entitled 'June's Treat' a passage from which is given later. (See p. 271)

It must be noted that the irruption of prose into a metrical pattern is generally perceived as annihilation of rhythm, whereas the introduction of metrical pattern into prose aims at consolidating the already vaguely perceived rhythm of the utterance.

Prose rhythm, unlike verse rhythm, lacks consistency, as it follows various principles. But nevertheless a trained ear will always detect a kind of alternation of syntactical units. The task is then to find these units and to ascertain the manner of alternation. This is not an easy task because, as has already been pointed out, rhythm is not an essential property of prose, whereas it is essential in verse. Prose is the opposite of verse and this opposition is primarily structural, in this case, rhythmical structure versus non-rhythmical structure. The incursion of prose into poetry is a deliberate device to break away from its strict rhythm. An interesting suggestion is made by V. M. Hamm who says that

"...song breaks down under the stress of reflection — truth elbows out beauty, if you will. The poet thinks, therefore he cannot sing; feeling is inhibited. It is as if he were saying, 'Poetry is, after all, only a game, and I have more serious concerns than the keeping of an accent'. Is he thus trying to show his superiority to his art?"

This, of course, should not be taken literally. But on the whole there is much in it. Poetry is the domain of feeling and thought where feeling predominates. Emotive prose is the domain of thought and feeling where thought predominates.

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