Synopsis
A History Of English Rhythms by Edwin Guest offers a scholarly survey of how English poetry has been shaped by rhythm and versification across centuries. The work presents a systematic, non-chronological framework that treats rhythm as foundational to understanding poetry, arguing that time or place should not be the sole organizing principle. It outlines a multi-part program tracing English rhythms from Anglo-Saxon origins through later forms, including sectional metres, psalm metres, five-accent and tumbling metres, and looser experimental cadences. The study scrutinizes Anglo-Saxon editors and grammarians (Hickes, Lye, Conybeare, Grimm, Rask) and evaluates editorial practices, advocating preservation of original readings while acknowledging that some editorial changes can aid or mislead interpretation. It delves into Anglo-Saxon idioms and grammar, Cp—to Caedmon’s rhythms (Caedmon’s Rhythms) as a foundational English lyric voice, Caedmon’s longer rhythms, and the evolution toward death-imagery in the later ‘grave’ poetry. Through case studies such as the Traveller’s Song, Alfred’s Rhythms, and the Brunanburh War-Song, the book builds a comprehensive taxonomy of staves, burthens, wheels, and related metrical devices, situating English verse as a hybrid, cross-cultural tradition shaped by Latin, French, Italian, and Celtic models, with manuscript study guiding interpretation.
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