Synopsis
An Essay On The Origin, Progress, And Decline Of Rhyming Latin Verse; With Many Specimens by Sir Alexander Croke surveys the history of rhyming in world poetry, tracing how rhyme emerged from primitive forms and alliterative patterns across cultures. It explains that rhyme is a natural pleasure of the ear, linked to memory and musical cadence, and shows its wide prehistory in the East and in the West, including Hebrew, Sanscrit, Chinese, Zend, Arabic, and Slavic traditions. The work then follows the Latin tradition, describing the rise of Leonine verse in the Middle Ages, the role of Leonius (Leoninus) and Eberhardus, and the gradual diversification of metres and rhyming schemes. It presents over fifty specimens from Commodianus through Hilary, Damasus, Ambrose, Augustine, Patrick, Fortunatus, and Raginaldus, among others, and details forms such as couplets, tercets, and stanzas. The narrative covers the vulgar decline, the hymns for church use, and the Schola Salernitana, while acknowledging textual corruption and dating difficulties and inviting readerly judgment on merit.
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