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following the riming vowels are different. But in English only those consonants may be used, which are produced in a similar way, e.g. wepe: swete escape: make lyf: wip - aliue: blipe

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fyn Rome: sone·

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rym:

honde: stronge

storm: corn doun: tourn etc. We find such assonance especially in early ME. poems, e.g. Passion, Josephslied etc., but only occasionally and not continuously as in Old French Roland and other OF. chansons de geste.

In NE. assonance is avoided as far as possible.

§ 143. Inexact Rime.

The name inexact rime may perhaps be used for those cases where a masculine ending rimes with a feminine ending, where the poet neglects final e, e.g. ME. day: seye (inf.) by: lye (inf.)

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(inf.) (inf.) request

thing: springe (inf.)
doon: sone

feet: lete (inf.) it: sitte (inf.)

as all: tale

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al: falle ywis: kisse

honest:

knew (pret. sg.): hewe etc. Rimes such set (part.): ete (inf.) are impure and inexact. In ME. we find such rimes used by less careful poets, e.g. by the author of fragment B of the Romaunt of the Rose. Chaucer never uses such rimes (§ 137 note).

NOTE. In NE. rimes such as done: sun

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are correct, because the final e is silent. In ME., too, these rimes suggest that the final e was beginning to be silent.

§ 144. Identical Rime.

It is essential in rime that the riming words shall be different words with the same ending, yet in ME. we sometimes find the same word at the end of two verses, e.g. name: name. Careful poets avoid such rimes, but Chaucer uses them sometimes. On closer examination we find that these words, although etymologically the same, are used with different meanings or are used in a different grammatical connection; cp. gode men (people): men (men) Havelok 1 f. — hool (healthy): hool (quite) Chaucer BD 553 name (name): name (fame) CT, E 415 hede (of bed): hede (of person) Troil. III, 954 — (by al) weyes: (noon other) weyes BD 1271 — (in this) wise: (in no) wise CT, B 793 woot (3. sg.): (god) woot B 436 etc. By using the words in a different sense or in a different grammatical connection the poet avoids offending the ear of the listener. In ME. identical rime became an art, which met with approval. Chaucer especially uses it.

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§ 145. Identical Rime (cont.).

Chaucer probably took his identical rime from French poetry, where it was common; cp. Freymond, Über den reichen Reim bei altfranzösischen Dichtern. (Zfrom Phil. 6, 1 ff.). Since in French stressed verbal endings such as -er, -é, -ée, -ant, -ait, -a etc. were sufficient for rime, all verbs of the same conjugation could rime when the same

forms were used. This was impossible in English, since the inflexional endings except -ing were unstressed. Since it was easy to find rimes in French, careful poets tried to make riming more difficult by including the consonant preceding the riming vowel in the rime system. Sometimes even the vowel of the penultimate was also included. Thus in place of the rime amer: trover, identical rime iver: trover amer: clamer

amer: mer

prover: trover was used. In English, as we see from the examples below, identical rime is used mostly in words of romance origin.

Identical rime occurs in English when not only the final stressed vowels (and the sounds which follow them) are alike, but also the preceding consonants are the same; e.g. beautee: citee lond: Engelond-dye: maladye- mervaile: travaile etc.

NOTE. In German a distinction is made between 1. rimes where the words rime with themselves, e.g. name: name (gleicher Reim) and 2. rimes where the words have different meanings, or are used in different constructions, e.g. chese (cheese): chese (choose), telle (inf.): telle (1. sg. pres.) (reicher or rührender Reim). In this translation both kinds are called identical rime. 'Reicher Reim' may perhaps be translated 'rich rime'.

§ 146. Different Kinds of Identical Rime

(reicher Reim).

According to the meaning and the relation between the two riming words sub-forms of identical rime are distinguished:

1. The words have the same form but different

may

meanings; e.g. Chaucer: see (sea): see (see) (vb.): May (noun) -reed (advice): reed (red) been (vb.) been (bees) beste (beast) beste (best) chese (cheese) cheese (choose)

here (hear)

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here (adv.):

dede (deed) dede (dead, pl.) etc. Also without an initial consonant, e.g. armes (of body) armes (weapons).

Here, too, may be included the words in § 144, which are etymologically alike but differ somewhat in meaning, e.g. name (name): name (fame) hool (quite): hool (healthy) etc.

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Different forms of the same verb may rime, e.g. telle (inf.) telle (3. sg. pr.) -tolde (1. sg. pret.): tolde (3. sg. pret.) - fare (inf.): fare (part.) —, or a noun and a verb of the same stem, harpe (noun): harpe (vb.) love: love thought: thought.

Here belong those cases of broken rime (§ 139), in which the same word is in the plural in one line and in the singular with the verb is in another line, e.g. clerkis: clerk is flour is

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flouris

prophetis prophete is, and cases such

as deedis (deeds) deed is (dead is).

2. A simple word rimes with a compound, e.g. man woman doun: adoun

so: also

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thing: nothing lond Engelond take undertake come ouercome holde biholde

stonde

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serve deserve etc., or without the same

initial consonant, e.g. oon: anoon

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ever: never etc. Also woot: god woot (see § 144) might be included here.

A simple word may, however, rime with a compound of another root, e.g. now (OE. nu): ynow

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schipe; or any short word with any longer word with a like final syllable, e.g. nest: honest maladye - table doutable.

dye:

3. Two compounds a) of the same, or b) of different roots, or c) any two words with the same initial consonant in the final stressed syllable may rime, e.g. a) deceive receive welcome ouercome

cuse accuse

withstonde

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defende offende

ex

understonde

womman lemman, adverbs and adjectives in -ly, heuenly: openly - redily: trewely; without the same initial consonant aloon: anoon aboute withoute.

b) adoun pardoun deserve (Lat. deservire): observe (Lat. observare) etc.

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c) envye: Pavye denye compainye alas: solas usage: visage etc. Here belong the many rimes of romance nouns in -tee, ment, -ture, -naunce etc.; e.g. beautee: citee firmament: element aventure creature ordinaunce: governaunce etc.

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§ 147. Identical Rime (cont.). Overrich Rime. In addition to the last stressed syllable, a) the preceding vowel, b) the initial consonant of the preceding syllable and c) the vowel of the syllable before this may share the rime. This is called

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