Here, as in the preceding rhythmical forms, evidence of higher grouping appears in the alternate increase and decrease of mean variation as we pass from the first to the second subgroup when the material is arranged in series of eight beats. The proportional values of the indices are given in the following table:

TABLE LXXVI.

Subgroups Init. Stress Sec. Stress Tert. Stress Fin. Stress 1st Four, 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 2d Four, 0.950 0.762 0.984 0.790

The first member of the larger group, in the case of every rhythm form here in question, is less exactly cooerdinated than the second, the interpretation of which fact need not here be repeated. Several additional points, however, are to be noted. The differences in stability of cooerdination which are encountered as one passes from the first to the last of the four rhythm forms, extends, when the reactions are analyzed in series of eight beats, to both members of the compound group, but not in equal ratios. The mean variation of the second and fourth forms is greater, both in the first and second subgroups, than that of the corresponding subgroups of the first and third forms; but this increase is greatest in the first member of the composite group. That is, as the group grows more unstable it does so mainly through an increase in variation of its initial member; or, in other words, the difference in variability of the beat intervals of the first and last subgroups reaches its maximum in those rhythmic types in which the indices of mean variation for these intervals are themselves at their maxima.

This process of cooerdination, with its indication of a higher rhythmical synthesis, appears also in the transformations in the value of the mean variations in duration of the total groups, when the material is treated in series of eight beats, as in table LXXVII.

TABLE LXXVII.

Subgroups. Init. Stress. Sec. Stress. Tert. Stress. Final Stress. 1st Four, 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 2d Four, 0.773 0.768 0.943 0.579

The total initial group, therefore, as well as each of its constituent intervals, is less stable than the second.

Within the unit group itself the values of the mean variation show here, as in the preceding forms, a progressive increase in sensitiveness to temporal variations from first to last of the component intervals. The proportional values for the four intervals in order are, 1.000, 0.786, 0.771, 0.666. The distribution of these relative values, however, is not uniform for all four rhythmical forms, but falls into two separate types in dependence on the position of the accents as initial or final, following the discrimination already made. The figures for the four forms separately are as follows:

TABLE LXXVIII.

Stress. 1st Interval. 2d Interval. 3d Interval. 4th Interval.

Initial, 9.57 per cent. 5.53 per cent. 5.83 per cent. 6.57 per cent. Secondary, 13.23 " 10.60 " 12.93 " 9.50 " Tertiary, 9.00 " 8.70 " 2.00 " 4.90 " Final, 11.45 " 9.00 " 12.60 " 7.85 "

In the first type (Rhythms I. and III.) appear a descending curve followed by an ascending; in the second type (Rhythms II. and IV.) a second descending curve follows the first. The changes in the first type are not cooerdinated with a similar curve of variation in the intensive magnitude of the beats. It is to be noted here that the smallest mean variation presented in this whole set of results is found in that element of the first form which receives the stress, an exception to the general rule. The variations in the contrasted type have their maxima at those points on which the group initiation— primary or secondary—falls, namely, the first and third.

As in preceding rhythmical forms, while the separation of accentual stress from primacy in the series tends to increase the mean variation of that element on which this stress falls and to raise the index of mean variation for the whole group, yet the mean variation of the initial element is also raised, and to a still greater degree, reinforcing the evidence that primacy of position is a more important factor of instability than the introduction of accentual stress.

In the investigation of mean variations for units (if we may call them such) of more than four beats only a modicum of material has been worked up, since the types of relation already discovered are of too definite a character to leave any doubt as to their significance in the expression of rhythm. The results of these further experiments confirm the conclusions of the earlier experiments at every point.

These higher series were treated in two ways. In the first the reactor beat out a rhythm consisting in the simple succession of groups of reactions, each of which contained one and only one accent. These units in each case were marked by initial stress, and were composed of five, six, seven, eight and ten beats respectively. The results are given in the following table, which contains the series of mean variations in duration both for single intervals and for total groups.

TABLE LXXIX.

No. Med. Unac'td of Beats. Acc'td Beat. Beats. Final Beat. Average. Group. Five, 12.2% 6.8% 7.1% 7.9% 6.3% Six, 9.2 10.6 6.9 9.7 8.3 Seven, 7.1 5.2 7.9 5.8 3.6 Eight, 12.4 9.5 8.8 9.7 8.0 Ten, 7.5 6.6 7.3 6.8

The averages for the combined, median, unaccented intervals are given separately from those of the final interval, for the reason that the mean variation of the latter is greater in three cases out of five than that of the former, a relation which apparently contradicts what has already been said concerning the sensitiveness to variations which marks the intervals separating rhythmical groups. The reason for this final increase in variation appears when the relative intensities of the series of reactions are considered. They are given in Table LXXX.

TABLE LXXX.

No. of Beats. Acc. Beat. Av. Unacc. Final. Pre-final. Five, 1.000 0.543 0.518 0.500 Six, 1.000 0.623 0.608 0.592 Seven, 1.000 0.515 0.544 0.437 Eight, 1.000 0.929 0.949 0.863 Ten, 1.000 0.621 0.640 0.545

In every case the final element is marked by an increase over that which precedes it (see last two columns of table) of the average value for all rhythms of 1.000:0.900; an increase which raises it above the average value of the whole series of preceding unaccented beats in three cases out of five. To this final accentuation the increase in variation is to be attributed. Yet despite the additional element of disturbance due to this increased final stress the average value of the mean variation for this final interval is lower than that of the median unaccented intervals in the ratio (all rhythms combined) of 0.992:1.000.

Turning, then, to Table LXXIX., there is presented, firstly, an excess of variation in the accented element over that of the average unaccented elements in every case but one (the six-beat rhythm in which the values are nearly identical), which for the whole series of rhythms has a value of 1.000:0.794. Secondly, in every completed case (part of the figures in the last rhythm are inadvertently lacking), the average mean variation of the single interval preponderates over that of the total group.

The second form of rhythmical tapping, in which the longer series were beaten out as pairs of equal subgroups, was added in order to determine the quantitative relations of the mean variations for alternate subgroups when such groups were purposely intended, instead of appearing in the form of unconscious modifications of the rhythmical treatment, as heretofore. At the same time the results present an additional set of figures embodying the relations here in question. They are as follows:

TABLE LXXXI. Intervals. Groups. Number Av. 1st 2d 1st 2d of Beats. Acc. Unacc. Half. Half. Half. Half. Average Totals Six, 27.9% 20.9% 23.4% 23.0% 14.6% 13.3% 13.9% 13.8% Eight, 16.6 14.8 13.2 17.3 6.2 3.3 4.7 2.7 Ten, 7.9 2.6 3.4 4.0 5.9 5.2 5.5 3.1

No exception here occurs to the characteristic predominance in instability of the accented element. As regards simple intervals, the relation of first and second groups is reversed, the reason for which I do not know. It may be connected with the rapid speed at which the series of reactions was made, and its consequent raising of the threshold of perceptible variation, proportional to the value of the whole interval, to which is also due the higher absolute value of the variations which appear in both tables.

These inversions disappear when we compare the relative stability of the first and second subgroups, in which the excess of variation in the former over the latter is not only constant but great, presenting the ratio for all three rhythms of 1.000:0.816. The characteristic relation of lower to higher rhythmical syntheses also is here preserved in regard to the two subgroups and the total which they compose.

The points here determined are but a few of the problems regarding the structure of larger rhythmical sequences which are pressing for examination. Of those proximate to the matter here under consideration, the material for an analysis of the mean variation in intensity of a series of rhythmical reactions is contained in the measurements taken in the course of the present work, and this may at a future time be presented. The temporal variations having once been established it becomes a minor point.

Such conclusions, however, are only preliminary to an investigation of the characteristic structure of the ordinary metrical forms, and to these attention should next be turned. The configuration of the common meters should be worked out both in relation to the whole formal sequence, and to the occurrence within the series of characteristic variations. There can be no question that each metrical structure, the iambic trimeter or dactylic tetrameter line, for example, composes a definite rhythmical melody within which each measure is shortened or prolonged, subdued or emphasized, according to its position and connections in the series of relations which constitute the rhythmical sequence.

These several metrical forms should be explored and the characters of each measure in the series quantitatively determined. Such an investigation would include an ascertainment of the proportional time-value of each successive measure, its average force, and its sensitiveness to variations, temporal and intensive. It should include an examination of the configuration of the single measure and the changes in distribution of accents and intervals which it undergoes as the rhythmical series advances. For the rhythm group must not be conceived as a simple unchanging form; both intensively and temporally it is moulded by its function in the whole sequence, the earlier iambic of a heroic measure being unlike the later, the dactyl which precedes a measure of finality different from that which introduces the series. Such a set of determinations will give the pure characteristic curves of our common poetical meters.

But these meters are no more simple forms than are their constituent measures. At every point their structure is subject to modification by factors which appear in the rhythmic utterance in virtue of its use as a medium for the free expression of thought and emotion; and the manner in which the characteristic form is altered by these factors of variation must be studied. Of these variations the more important are the effects of the introduction of variants—of spondees among dactyls, of anapaests among iambics, and the like—and the occurrence of points of origin, emphasis, interruption, and finality in special accentuations, syncopated measures, caesural pauses and elisions. These factors influence the structure both of those measures within which they appear and of those adjacent to them. The nature and extent of this wave of disturbance and its relation to the configuration of the whole sequence call for examination.

Finally, this process of investigation should be applied to the larger structures of the couplet and stanza, that the characteristic differences in the pair or series of verses involved may be determined. These characters include the whole time occupied by each verse of the stanza, the relative values of acatalectic and catalectic verses occurring within the same stanza structure, differences in rhythmical melody between the latter forms, the variations of average intensity in the accentual elements of such lines, and a determination of the values of rests of higher and lower degrees—mid-line, verse, and couplet pauses—which appear in the various stanza forms, and their relation to other structural elements.

* * * * *



RHYTHM AND RHYME.

BY R.H. STETSON.

I. INTRODUCTION.

The psychological theory of rhythm has its beginnings in the work of Herbart,[1] who inaugurated the treatment of rhythm as a species of time perception and suggested an explanation of its emotional effects. While Herbart had simply pointed out the effect of a whole rhythmic series in giving rise to an emotion of expectation, delay, or haste, Lotze[2] applied the principle severally to each unit group (each foot) in the rhythm, and made the emotional effect of rhythm depend on these alternate feelings of strain, expectation, and satisfaction produced by every repetition of the unit group. Vierordt[3] did the first experimental work on rhythm, determining the period of greatest regularity in the tapping of rhythms. But the first important experiments were carried on by von Bruecke.[4] By tapping out rhythms on a kymograph, he determined the well-known 'Taktgleichheit' of the feet in scanned verse, and noted a number of facts about the time relations of the different unit groups. Mach[5] added to the previous knowledge about rhythm certain observations on the subjective accentuation of an objectively uniform series, and specially he noted that the process is involuntary. With a much clearer understanding of the facts of rhythm than his predecessors had had, he really provided the foundation for the theories which follow. His most important contribution, for some time overlooked, was his emphasis of the essentially motor nature of the phenomena of rhythm, and his motor theory therefor.

[1] Herbart, J.F.: 'Psychol. Untersuchungen' (Saemmt. Werk, herausgeg. von Hartenstein), Leipzig, 1850-2, Bd. VII., S. 291 ff.

[2] Lotze, R.H.: 'Geschichte der AEsthetik,' Muenchen, 1863, S. 487 ff.

[3] Vierordt, K.: 'Untersuchungen ueber d. Zeitsinn,' Tuebingen, 1868.

[4] von Bruecke, E.W.: 'Die physiol. Grundlagen d. neuhochdeutschen Verskunst,' Wien, 1871.

[5] Mach, Ernst: 'Unters. ue. d. Zeitsinn d. Ohres,' Wiener Sitz. Ber., mathem. naturw. Classe, 1865, Bd. 51, II., S. 133. Beitraege zur Physiol. d. Sinnesorgane, S. 104 ff.

Many of the recent theories of rhythm are based on Wundt's analysis. The work of Wundt and Dietze,[6] was concerned with rhythmic series; but it may be noted that the 'span of consciousness' and the 'synthetic activity of consciousness' were the subjects actually under investigation. Rhythm was considered as a special temporal form of this 'psychic synthesis.' There are three different elements in a sound series, declared these writers, which contribute to this synthesis: qualitative changes, intensive changes and melodic changes. Of these the intensive changes are the most important. Every increase in intensity, that is, every beat ('Hebung') is followed by a decrease, and the next increase which follows is recognized as a repetition of the preceding beat and as the forerunner of the beat which is to follow. From this comes the synthetic power of the rhythm. Just as the simple unit groups are built up by this synthesizing power, so they in turn are combined into larger phrases and periods. The motor factor has little place in Wundt's own discussion,[7] the 'mental activity' is the all-important thing. Bolton[8] also made a very important contribution to the experimental knowledge of rhythm. His work was based entirely on Wundt's theory. His method of experimentation was accurate and his observations copious. The arrangement of his apparatus, however, led him to emphasize objective uniformity as a condition of rhythmic grouping; so that Meumann's criticism of his application of this principle to poetry is quite just. Nevertheless Bolton established the essential facts of subjective accentuation and apparent temporal displacement. It is noteworthy that he laid great emphasis on the motor aspect of rhythm, and made many careful observations on the 'motor accompaniment.' While inclining strongly to a motor interpretation he did not attempt to cut loose from the Wundtian 'apperceptive process' as the primary factor.

[6] Wundt, W.: 'Physiol. Psych.,' 4te Aufl., Leipzig, 1893, Bd. II., S. 83.

[7] Wundt, W.: 'Physiol. Psych.,' 4te Aufl., Leipzig, 1893, II., S. 89 ff.

[8] Bolton, T.L.: Amer. Jour. of Psych., 1894, VI., p. 145 et seq.

The most elaborate consideration of rhythm yet published is that of Meumann.[9] He avowedly worked out and defended the theory of Wundt. The only important difference is the larger place which he gave to the 'motor accompaniment,' although he was always careful to emphasize its secondary and derived character. He insisted that the 'mental activity' is always primary, and that without it there can be no rhythmization; and he opposed vigorously the motor inclinations of Mach and Bolton. It is certainly unfortunate that rhythm has always fallen into the hands of the investigators of the 'attention,' or the 'span of consciousness,' or the 'perception of time.' It is but an incident that judgments of time are often based on rhythms; and everything that Meumann has said of a 'mental prius,' or a 'synthesizing activity' in the case of rhythms, may just as well be said in the case of any cooerdinated act.

[9] Meumann, E.: Phil. Stud., 1894, X., S. 249 ff.

Meumann discussed in detail the characteristics of the rhythm of a simple series of sounds, of music, and of verse. He assumed that in the simple sound series we have rhythm in its barest form, and only the rhythmic synthetic activity is at work; while in music there is a content which to some extent prescribes unities, and the objective regularity of the rhythm is broken. In verse we have much more content, and the rhythmization is no longer regular in its temporal relations; it is entirely dominated at times by the 'logical unities' of the 'thought.'

One great difficulty with such a differentiation of the three types of rhythms presents itself when one inquires into the objective regularity of the types; the fact is that music is by far the most regular in its time values, though it has more content than the sound series; and that just as great irregularities are possible in the bare sound series as in the rhythm of verse with its rich and definite content.

Later statements of the facts and theories relating to rhythm have inclined more and more to an emphasis of the motor aspect, even on the part of Wundtians. Since Meumann there has been some detailed laboratory work published, but the amount of accurately measured rhythmic material is astonishingly small. Meumann established experimentally the well-known relation between the length of a rhythmic element and its accent, and corroborated the earlier work on subjective accentuation. The reports contain the measurements of but about eighty individual unit groups (iambs, trochees, etc.). Ebhardt[10] gave the measurements of from 150 to 300 taps from each of three subjects. But his work is vitiated, as far as any application to rhythm is concerned, because he based everything on the judgment of equality, which has nothing to do with rhythm.

[10] Ebhardt, K.: Zeilschr. f. Psych, u. Physiol. d. Sinnesorgane,1898, Bd. 18, S. 99.

Hurst, McKay and Pringle[11] published measurements of about 600 individual unit groups from three different subjects; in several cases, the material consists rather too much of records of the experimenters themselves, but in general their results agree very well with those of other authors. Scripture[12] published the measurements of a single stanza of poetry. It is but a single stanza and quite too little material on which to base any conclusions, but it is notable as a measurement of freely spoken rhythm. No experiments have been published which bear on the nature of the rhythmic phrase, of the period, or of the stanza.

[11] Hurst, A.S., McKay, J., and Pringle, G.C.F.: Univ. of Toronto Studies, 1899, No. 3, p. 157.

[12] Scripture, E.W.: Studies from the Yale Psych. Lab., 1899, VII., p. 1.

Our problem is: What part do the recurrent qualitative factors, like rhyme, play in the grouping of rhythms? They function evidently, in the main, as factors determining the periods or larger phrases of the rhythm structure—the verses and stanzas of poetry and nonsense verse. As no work has been done on the nature of such larger rhythmic unities, a large share of the investigation was concerned with the nature of the verse unity.

Two methods of investigation were used: Subjects listened to rhythmic series, into which various modifications were introduced; and secondly, rhythms of a prescribed type, produced by the subject, were recorded and measured.



II. THE PERCEPTION OF A RHYTHMIC SERIES.

Apparatus: A disc (Fig. 1, Plate IX.) about 50 c. in diameter, rotating on a vertical pivot, was driven by a pulley-cone underneath mounted on the same spindle (not shown in the figure). On the face of the disc were four concentric rings of regularly spaced holes, which received pegs of uniform height and provided with a shoulder. Corresponding holes of each circle lay on the same radius. On a plate supported by a bracket were mounted four levers whose heads stood in line radially to the movable disc. When the disc rotated to the right under the levers, the pegs forced up the lever heads and made an electric contact. The dip of the levers was controlled by a screw adjustment. The apparatus was driven by a motor and reducing gear, which were isolated in a sound-proof box. The rate of speed was controllable.

The apparatus was built for use with sounders connected with the binding-posts, but in this investigation sounders were dispensed with, and the clicks from the apparatus itself were used, since but one qualitative difference was introduced. As a rule, the objective accent of the foot was not given; the subjective accentuation was nearly always sufficient. Subjects were quite unable to say whether the accent was objective or not. If necessary, an accentuation was produced by raising the pegs representing the accentuated part of the foot. The group elements were represented by single, simple clicks made by a brass screw on the lever arm striking an iron plate (the noise of the brass peg striking the lever head was eliminated by damping with cloth). The rhyme was represented by a compound noise consisting of a click higher in pitch than the verse element click, made by the peg striking the lever head, and an almost simultaneous click lower in pitch than the verse element click, made by the screw of the lever arm striking another iron plate. The rhyme noise was not louder than the verse element click, and as a whole gave the impression of being a lower tone because the first click was very brief. Subjects did not analyze the rhyme noise, and had no difficulty in making it represent rhyming syllables. The pauses throughout had no filling.

The subject was always given a normal series until the type was clearly established, and when the variations to be judged were introduced his attention was directed as far as possible to the factor to be introduced. This seemed the only way to obtain trustworthy judgments. If the subject waits blindly for some perceptual change in the whole complicated mass of sensations which the simplest rhythmic series constitutes, he is apt to fit his attention on some irrelevant detail, and the change may not be noted until greatly exaggerated, and he may not judge that particular factor at all.

The subject was always asked to choose a rate of delivery which would correspond to his natural rate of reading nonsense verse, and the clicks were always associated with syllables, though not with words. An effort was made to keep the series as colorless and devoid of content as possible, to eliminate uncertain association. Beyond suppressed articulation, the subject was not encouraged to mark the rhythm with any part of the body, but a number of involuntary movements of neck, body, hand, or foot were nearly always observed. Occasionally, when a subject's expression was doubtful, he was asked to say a nonsense series with the clicks.

The nomenclature to be used in this paper is that of meter, but it is always subject to the reservation that the material is only analogous to series of nonsense syllables.

Records were kept in terms of the intervals on the revolving disc; the time of revolution was also taken, so that the figures may be translated in time intervals if desired. Thus, 34, 34, 34, 34, 34 represents a series of iambs in which the unaccented click has the length of three, and the accented click the length of four spaces between pegs. A uniform verse represented by a digit giving the number of feet, followed by digits in parenthesis giving the character of the foot, e.g., 4 (34), is an iambic tetrameter.

For convenience, the verse pause is written independently of the last foot of the verse, e.g., 4 (34) p. 7 represents a tetrameter line having the intervals 34, 34, 34, 37. The interval of the last accented syllable is counted twice.

Occasionally this is disregarded and vs. p. equals o is written to indicate that the vs. p. is equal to the foot pause.

The results of the experiments may be grouped under three heads:

1. Why does a synthesizing factor such as rhyme occur at the end of the verse?

2. What is the relation between the verse pause and the rhyme?

3. What is the relation of rhyme to the cyclic movement of the unit group and of the verse?

1. Why the Synthesizing Factor Occurs at the Close of the Verse.

To determine a possible difference in the sense of rhythm at the beginning and the close of a verse, pauses ('lags') were introduced into the earlier and later parts of the verse. These pauses were made barely perceptible, i.e., barely perceptible in any part of the verse. Usually in iambic verse the barely perceptible lag shows the following proportions to the other pauses:

34 35 34 etc., or 47 48.5 47.

Most of the experiments were performed with iambic tetrameter. The subject was told to note the lags in the verse: these were introduced either in both parts of the verse or at its close only. At least three verses were given, and records were kept of the false judgments. When lags of identical duration were introduced between the first and second and between the third and fourth feet, it was found that nearly always the lag would not be detected in the earlier part of the verse but would be detected in the later part. Out of eighty-two cases, there were but six in which the same lag was recognized in the first as well as in the last position. In two of these cases the subject's attention had been called to the first part of the verse; and in the four other cases the lag was still found more marked at the close than at the beginning.

There were no cases in which a lag detected in the earlier part of the verse was not also detected in the later part. False judgments, when they occurred, were made as to a lag in the earlier part of the verse. One subject falsely located a lag in the first of the verse four times. Judgments as to the earlier part of the verse were uncertain and frequently changed.

The maximum lag possible without breaking the unity of the verse was determined for the earlier and later parts of the verse. The verse unity was tested by adding enough feet to make a full verse, after the break, and asking the subject to mark the close of the verse. In every case this irregularity was introduced into the second verse, and the first verse was normal, e.g. (pentameter),

I. 5 (34). II. 34 lag 34 34 34 34 34.

If the lag does not break the verse, the subject should hear the close of the verse at the end of the fifth foot in II. If the verse is broken he should ignore the first foot and make a new verse, ending with the sixth foot.

J. Iamb. tet. 1st pause of verse, max. pos. lag 9 3d 7 L. 1st 9 3d 7 R. 1st 11 3d 9 G. 1st 9 3d 7 Mi. 1st 10 3d 8 B. 1st 7 H. 1st 10 3d 6

Later, in the attempt to determine natural divisions, or nodes in the verse, the following were determined:

L. Max. pos. lags in f. p. of iamb. pent. in order 8 13 9 6 G. 10 11 9 8 Mi. 15 18 17 14 Me. 7.5 13 9.5 6 R. 9 9 11 7 B. 12 8 15 7 H. 7.5 8 10 7

B. Max pos. lags in dac. let., cat., in order 12 16 8 S. 10 11 7 Mc. 7 10 6 G. 11 11 7 L. 19 16 7 H. 7 6 4

This shows that an irregularity in the time intervals may be greater in the earlier than in the later part of the verse. This last table is further evidence of the increased exactness of the rhythmic perception at the close of the verse. As far as nodes are concerned, they show clearly two types: (1) A node after the second foot (L., G., Mi., Mc.) and (2) a node after the third foot (R., B., H.). For the tetrameter there is some indication in the cases of B., S. and Mc., but the other cases are negative and further evidence is needed.

With three of the subjects, Mi., J. and K., it was not always possible to get records of the maximum lag, since it was impossible to define the verse unity. When this was unbroken it was the unanimous testimony of the subjects, corroborated by their unconscious movements, that there was a feeling of tension during the lag. But the subjects just referred to got a type of unity, and there was no tension. The lags were indefinite and very long (35-90). This unity must be of the same kind as the unity of the stanza, which includes long expressional pauses, as well as rhythmic verse pauses.

If a subject is asked to fall in at the beginning of a rhythmic series his first attempts are decidedly incooerdinated. His earliest reactions follow the clicks which they are intended to represent, but presently the series of motor impulses generated by the sounds and the voluntary movements which the subject makes fuse into a voluntary type of reaction in which the cycle has become automatic and definite, and the clicks take their proper places as cooeperating and controlling factors along with the motor cues of the process itself. The accuracy of the judgments of time, if such judgments be made, or the estimation of the likeness of the groups, depends on the definiteness with which movement sensations follow each other in a regular series.

The following experiments (Table I.) concern the perception of a lag in different parts not of a verse but of a stanza. It was a question, namely, whether a lag in the first rhythmic series (first verse) which establishes the motor cycle in the subject would be detected in the later rhythmic series (later verses of the stanza) after the motor cycle in the subject has been inaugurated. This responsive motor cycle should itself, of course, contain the lag given with the first rhythmic series.

A stanza of the form of A (Table I.) was clicked out by the instrument, but the subject had no clue as to the regularity or irregularity of any verse. The stanza was repeated as often as the subject wished, but not without a pause of a few moments between each repetition.

TABLE I.

THE INFLUENCE OF A LAG IN THE FIRST VERSE ON THE JUDGMENT OF IDENTICAL LAGS IN LATER VERSES.

A. Stanza given: I. 34 34 35 34 p. 7-9 II. " " " " " III. " " " " "

In 14 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted. II. " not noted. III. " " "

In 9 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted. II. " " but shorter than first. III. " " " " " "

In 6 cases the following was reported:

I. Lag noted. II. " " and equal to first. III. " " " " " "

B. Stanza given: I. 35 34 34 34 p. 7-9 II. " " " " " III. " " " " "

Any pause large enough to be noted in I. was noted in II. and III. (This table contains the judgments made on all trials.)

Most of the judgments of the third set are due to the fact that the subject first attended to the series on the second or third verse. The large number of cases (83 per cent.) in which the lags in the second and third verses were concealed by the equal lag in the first verse, makes it very probable that the type of a verse is somehow altered by the impression left by the preceding verse.

The method of determining the maximal lags (as previously described) gave interesting evidence on the point at which the unity of the verse is actually felt. In the form

I. 5 (34) II. 34 lag 34 34 34 34-34

as the lag increases, a point is reached at which the unity may be made to include the first foot or to ignore it. Which of these is done depends on the subject's attitude, or on the point at which the verse is brought to a close. In either case the unity, the 'pentameter feeling,' is not experienced until the end of the series unified is reached. This is the case with all the subjects.

This development of the feeling of the particular verse form only at the end of the verse, and the fact that the subject may be uncertain which form he will hear until the series has actually ceased, shows that the verse-form movement is not of such a character that the close of it may not be considerably modified. A form which may fit the pentameter can be broken off early, and become a satisfactory tetrameter. The feeling seems to depend on some total effect of the verse at the close. This effect is probably a blending of the mass-effect of the impressions received thus far, which have a definite character and feeling significance, and which form the motor disposition for the next verse. The essential thing in the determination of verse unity seems to be the dying out of the automatism, the cessation of the cooerdination of the cyclic movement. The rhyme, it would seem, emphasizes the close of the automatic cycle. But it is probable that satisfactory phrasing has other characteristics, and a definite form as a movement whole.

2. The Relation of the Rhyme to the Verse Pause.

Determinations of the minimal satisfactory verse pause were made with a view to comparing the minimum in unrhymed with that in rhymed verses.

The stanza used was of the following form:

I. 34 34 34 p. II. " " " " III. " " " "

The minimal satisfactory verse pauses were:

Without Rhyme. With Rhyme. Subject. L. 6 4 " J. 5 4 " Mc. 6 4 " R. 7 4 " B. 6-7 3.5 " G. 6 3.5 " Mi. 6-7 3.25

It thus appears that the minimal pause which is satisfactory, is less when rhyme is present than when it is not present. Similar determinations were made for the maximal satisfactory verse pauses, as follows:

Without Rhyme. With Rhyme. Subject. L. 9-10 11 " J. 8 9 " Mc. 9 9 " R. 10-11 10-11 " B. 9 9 " G. 11-12 11 " Mi. 10 10

(A few experiments were tried with verse pauses of different length in the same stanza. A difference of one fourth the value of the pause is not detected, and unless attention is called to them, the pauses may vary widely from one another.)

This shows that the rhyme reduces the necessary pause in verse to the mere foot pause; while at the same time as great a pause is possible with rhyme as without it. Aside from the table above, a large number of the records made for other purposes support this statement: whenever rhyme was introduced, the verse pause was made equal to the foot pause, or even slightly less than it, and was always found satisfactory.

Numerous cases of introduction of lags into the verses of rhymed stanzas go to show that irregularities in such verses do not affect the length of the pauses.

Two hypotheses suggest themselves in explanation of the striking fact that the verse pause becomes unnecessary at the close of a rhymed verse.

The unity is now a new kind of verse unity; the rhyme is a regular recurrent factor like the accent of a foot, and the series of rhymes generates a new rhythm. In the rhymed stanza we are to see not a set of verses, like the verse of blank verse, but a new and enlarged verse unity.

There are several decided objections to this conception. First, the verse pause may be eliminated, but its elimination is not essential to the rhyme effect; the verse pause may still be as long, if not longer, with rhyme. Secondly, the larger unity into which the verses enter is not in many cases a unity made up exclusively of rhymed verses. Verses without rhyme alternate with rhymed verses, and have the usual verse pause. Thirdly, the rhyme is not merely a regularly recurring element: it is essentially a recurring element of which one may say what has been said falsely of the rhythm elements, that each rhyme is either a repetition of something gone before to which it refers, or the anticipation of something to which it looks forward. In most cases, rhymes function in pairs. Such peculiarities distinguish the rhyme from the accent of the foot. Lastly, the freedom of the whole stanza structure into which rhyme is introduced is much greater than that of the single verse; pauses much larger than the admissible lags of a single verse are possible between the verses, and there is no tension which persists throughout. There is no feeling of strain if the series halts at the verse ends.

A second hypothesis is that there is some definite process at the end of the verse which marks the close of the verse and which takes more time in the case of blank verse than in the case of rhymed verse. If we conceive the end of the verse as a point where a dying out of the tension occurs, we may imagine that the rhyme brings an emphasis, and becomes a qualitative signal for this release. The slight increase of intensity on the rhyme contributes to the breaking up of the cooerdination, and at the same time exhausts and satisfies the feeling of tension which the verse embodies. It is at the point for finishing and releasing the set of strains which constitute the motor image of the verse. A qualitative change may be supposed to produce the effect more rapidly than the simple dying out of the tensions, which occurs in blank verse without a differentiated end accent.

3. The Relation of the Rhyme to the Cyclic Movement of the Unit Group and of the Verse.

A series was arranged in which the accent of an ordinary foot and a rhyme occurred side by side; the distance between them was gradually lessened, and the effect on the rhyme and on the ordinary accented element was noted.

A preliminary set of experiments on the effect of two accents which approach each other gave some very interesting results. Thus Table II. shows the effect of gradually eliminating the verse pause from the couplet.

TABLE II.

Dactylic, catelectic couplet of the general form:

III III III I / III III III I Without rhyme.

Each dactyl (III) is, in terms of spaces between the pegs, 3 2 4; or in seconds, .25, .17, .33.

The pause between the two verses was gradually lessened

B. At 5 (.42 sec.) The verses are normal. 4.5 The verses are normal, but first accent of II. is fading. 4 The accent is less and less on first element of II. 3.3 The accent is almost gone on first element of II. 3 (.25 sec.) First foot of II. has quite lost accent. There is now but one verse. 'Amalgamation.' Mc. 7 (.58 sec.) The verses are normal. 5.3 Either first element of II. has its normal accent, or it wavers to a secondary accent, and the verses become one. 5 (.416 sec.) First foot of II. has quite lost accent. Amalgamation. 3 (.25 sec.) 'Last verse completely spoiled.' Last verse ' ' ' ' becomes — /- -, — - -, — - -, — —. Unsatisfactory. 2 (.16 sec.) The II. has become mere 'medley.' H. 6 (.5 sec.) Normal. 5 First element of II. attaches to I., and its accent is lessened. 3 (.25 sec.) First element of II. has lost its accent; the verses ' ' ' ' ' ' ' become —- —- —- - / - —- —- —-. But one verse. Amalgamation. J. 5 (.42 sec.) Normal. 4.6 First element of II. is losing accent. 3 (.25 sec.) First two elements of II. 'tumble over each ' ' ' ' ' ' ' other.' —- —- —- - / —— —- —-. Unsatisfactory. Amalgamation. L. 5 (.42 sec.) Normal. 4 Last element of I. losing accent. 3.3 Last element of I. and first of II. have completely lost accent. Amalgamation. G. 7 (.58 sec.) Normal. ' ' ' ' ' ' 3 (.25 sec.) —- —- —- - / - ——- —- -. Amalgamation.

Mi. 4.3(.35 sec.) Normal. 4 First two elements of II. equal in accent. ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 3 (.25 sec.) —- —- —- - / - — —- —- -. Amalgamation.

As soon as the accents are within a certain distance they affect each other. As a rule the first retains its original intensity and the second is weakened; rarely the first yields to the second. The table shows that the distance at which this occurs is about .42 seconds. Under many conditions it is quite possible for two accents to occur at that distance, e.g., in rapid rhythms, without any 'fusing.' The subject has a type of rhythm very definitely in mind and the only hypothesis which will explain the difficulty in observing the type, in spite of the slight change in time values, is that somehow the cyclic automatic movement has been affected and can no longer produce the normal, limiting sensation at the accent. There is not time for the phase of relaxation before the next, objective, limiting sensation occurs. We may figure the movement as follows:



A is a curve in which B is the relaxation phase. At C the tensions are rapidly increasing in anticipation of the next limiting sensation at A. But if the objective factor appears too early, the tensions will be discharged prematurely, and the second accent will be weakened. Exactly the obverse of these phenomena is often noticed, when a slight retardation of the second accent produces a slight increase in its intensity. When, finally, the second accent has been moved so near the first accent that it occurs within the phase of the first, it disappears as an independent accent. At the same time the objective stimuli immediately following now appear at quite irregular intervals in the cycle, the cooerdination is broken up, and chaos without accentuation for some distance is the result. Occasionally the process does not right itself before the close of the verse. As this process eliminates the verse pause, the two verses become one, as the accents approach each other. In cases where the first accent is lost, one may suppose that the first accent functions as an anticipatory stimulus, while the second simply increases the effect (cf. Hofbauer and Cleghorn), and marks the culmination. The fact that the second accent is only lost at very close range favors this idea.

TABLE III.

Dactylic, catalectic couplet of the general form: III III III I / III III III I (with rhyme).

Each dactyl (III) is, in terms of spaces between the pegs, 324; or, in seconds, .25, .17, .33.

The pause between the two verses was gradually lessened.

B.

At 4 (.33 sec.) Normal. 2 (.17 sec.) First accent of II. is weakening. 1.3(.21 sec.) Amalgamation. Rhyme retains the accent. Mc. 5 (.42 sec.) Normal. 4 II. has become anapaestic. 2 (.17 sec.) Rhyme is lost. Amalgamation. J. 3 (.25 sec.) Normal. 2 (.17 sec.) Accent of rhyme is lost. Amalgamation. L. 4 (.33 sec.) Normal. 1.6(.18 sec.) Rhyme retains accent, first accent of II. is lost. Amalgamation. G. 4 (.33 sec.) Normal. 2 (.17 sec.) Accent of rhyme retained. Amalgamation. Mi. 2 (.17 sec.) Normal. 1.6 First foot of II. amphibrachic. .4(.03 sec.) Accent of rhyme retained. Accent of first foot of II. lost. Amalgamation.

When the qualitatively different click representing the rhyme is introduced, its most striking effect is decidedly to shorten the possible distance between the two accents. This is in accord with the notion suggested of the function of rhyme at the verse end. The rhyme seems greatly to hasten the relaxation phase, as compared with the time required in the ordinary foot.

There is a variety of forms possible to the unrhymed verse, but that with the climax at the close is decidedly the most frequent. When the rhyme is introduced the climax goes with it, and the verse flows down as it were to the end. When the rhyme is put in the very first of the verse, however, a secondary or even a primary accent may be developed at the close of the verse. The natural place for the climax of the verse movement is apparently at the close, and the fact that not only is the earlier part of the verse more vague, but also that the end is the natural, climactic position, makes the synthesizing and delimiting factor, rhyme, preferable at the close.

The records of the next table were obtained by asking the subjects to repeat the series with prescribed accents, until they decided whether or not the rhyme could be felt under the conditions.

TABLE IV.

Rhymes under prescribed accentual conditions: iambic tetrameter. Heavy accent marked acute ('). Slight accent marked grave ('). Rhyme indicated by brace.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta do) go) do do Hu. Rhymes imperfectly. Mc. Rhymes imperfectly. G. Rhymes imperfectly. Ha. Rhymes imperfectly. Hy. Rhymes fairly well.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta do) go) do do Hu. Cannot get rhyme. Mc. Rhymes imperfectly. 'Produced by some sort of tension.' G. Rhymes imperfectly.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta do) go) do do Hu. Rhymes well. Mc. Rhymes well. G. Rhymes well.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta do go) do) do) Hu. Cannot get rhyme. Hy. Cannot get rhyme. 'Accent spoils it.' G. Cannot get rhyme. 'Accent breaks it all up.' Mc. Rhymes imperfectly.

The table shows that rhymes of syllables which have accents of strikingly different degrees are difficult to feel. In the last case, of the rhyming verses separated by a verse having a heavy end accent, it was practically impossible to hear the rhyme across the break made by the heavy accent. Somehow the particular condition of the organism which constitutes the expectation of a rhyme is broken up by a heavy accent.

The material for the records of Table V. was read to the subjects, the tones were in every case those of the speaking voice, and intervals having a definite speech character were chosen. The fifth is the interval of the rising inflection of the question, the fourth is the interval of the rising inflection of indifference or negation, and the single falling slide used is a descending interval of a third or fourth at the close of the sentence. The fifth appears in the table as 5/, the fourth as 4/, and the single descending interval of finality as the period (.). Each verse was read on approximately the first tone of the interval, the rhyming syllable only had the second tone of the interval.

TABLE V.

RHYMES UNDER GIVEN PITCH CONDITIONS.

Iambic tetrameters: two-verse stanzas.

The body of the verse is omitted; the closing intervals alone are indicated. '1' is read 'good rhyme;' '2' is 'poor rhyme'; and '0' is 'no rhyme.'

Couplets: —do 5/} 5/} .} .} 5/} —go .} 4/} 5/} .} 5/} G. 2 2 0 S. 0 0 2 1 R. 2 2 1 2 2 Mc. 0 0 0 1 1 Hu. 0 0 ? 1 Ha. 1 2 1 2

Iambic tetrameters; four-verse stanzas.

Rhymes are indicated by 'a' and 'a,' 'b' and 'b.' Capital* letters are read 'poor rhyme;' 'o' is read 'no rhyme.'

I. II. III. IV. I. II. III. IV. I. II. III. IV. I. II. III. IV. do, no, go, so. do, no, go, so. do, no, go, so. do, no, go, so. 5/ . 5/ . . 5/ . 5/ 5/ 5/ . . 5/ 5/ . 5/ G. a b a b a b a b a a b b a a a o R. a b a b a a b b Mc. a b a b a o a o Hu. a b a b a b a b a a b b a a o a Ha. a b a b o o o o a a B B a a o a

5/ 5/ 5/ . . . . 5/ . . . . . 5/ . . G. a a a a a a a o a a a a o o a a Hu. a a a o a a a o a a a a a o a a Ha. a a a o a a A o a a a a a o a a Mc. a a a o a a a o A A A A A o A A R. a a a o a a a o a a a a A o A A

5/ 5/ 4/ 5/ . . 5/ 5/ 5/ . 4/ . 5/ . . 5/ G. a a o o /a a b b /o a o a o o o o a b a b A A B B R. A A A A /o o a a a a b b a a o o/ Hu. a a o a Mc. a a o a A A B B Ha. A A B B a a b b o a o a

4/ 4/ 4/ . 5/ 5/ 5/ 5/ 5/ 4/ 5/ 4/ G. a a a a o a o a Mc. a a a o R. a a a o a a b b Ha. A A A A

*Transcriber's Note: Original used italic lower case letters.

The table shows that there is a decided tendency to prefer rhymes in which the members of the rhyme have the same interval. The only exception is in the case of couplets, where two contrasting slides 5/ and . rhyme, whenever the finality interval occurs last. Perhaps the similarity of pitch of the rhyming syllables is a part of the 'Gestaltqualitaet' whose recognition brings about the release and satisfaction of the state which we know as the 'feeling of expecting a rhyme.' Definite pitch relations in music seem to make rhyme of little significance. We seldom notice the rhymes in a hymn or in a song of any musical worth. In comic operas and popular ditties rhyme does now and then figure. In such cases the pitch of the two or more rhyming syllables is identical; often the whole phrase is repeated for each rhyming verse. A few experiments in singing a rhyme to simple intervals show that when the identical interval is used the two syllables rhyme well, but if the interval be in the opposite direction, or in another chord, the rhyme is very uncertain. It seems that in music we usually have 'feelings of expectation' (i.e., tensions of some sort, central or peripheral), which are adequate to unite the phrases into larger unities. These tensions are so definite and vivid that they quite obscure and swallow up the related condition of rhyme expectation. These experiments on the modification of the rhyme by the various pitch and accent factors are not at all exhaustive or conclusive. An extended series of experiments is needed. The study of sound records for pitch is peculiarly tedious, but it should reveal some interesting relations between rhyme and speech melody.

III. THE SPEAKING OF A RHYTHMIC SERIES.

I. Methods of Making Speech Records.

The study of spoken rhythm is of primary importance. Observations on what the subject really does are always open to the objections that subjective factors play a large part, and that the observer's perception of a rhythm is after all his perception of the rhythm, not the subject's. The voice is an important indicator of the activities which generate the rhythms of verse and music, and some objective method of measuring the sounds made is essential to a study of the rhythm production.

Methods of recording and studying the tones of the voice are as numerous as they are unsatisfactory. In the main the work has been done for purposes of phonetics, and but few of the methods are applied in the psychological laboratory.

Marage[13] has an excellent summary of the methods with practical comments on their applicability. Rousselot[14] (Histoire des applications de phonetique experimentale, 401-417: objets et appareils, 1-10 et 669-700) gives a careful history of the methods from the phonetic point of view. Scripture[15] gives a convenient English summary of the processes.

[13] Marage: l'Annee psychologique, 1898, V., p. 226.

[14] Rousselot: La Parole, 1899.

[15] Scripture, E.W.: Studies from the Yale Psych. Lab., 1899, VII., p. I.

A few methods have been devised which avoid the difficulties incident to the use of a diaphragm, but they are not applicable to the measurement of rhythm material. The instruments which might be used for recording spoken rhythms are all modifications of two well-known forms of apparatus, the phonautograph and the phonograph. The phonograph record is incised in wax, and presents special difficulties for study. Boeke, however, has studied the wax record under a microscope, with special arrangements for illumination. The work is quite too tedious to permit of its use for material of any length, though it is fairly satisfactory when applied to single vowels. In order to enlarge the record, and at the same time to obtain the curves in the plane of the record surface, Hermann devised an attachment to the phonograph (cf. Marage, loc. citat.) by which the movements of the stylus of the phonograph are magnified by a beam of light and recorded on photographic paper. The measurements of entire words by this method would be as tedious as by Boeke's.

E.W. Scripture has chosen another type of talking machine from which to obtain transcribed records. The permanent record of the gramophone (which makes a record in the plane of the surface, like the phonautograph) is carefully centered, and a lever attached to a stylus which follows the furrow of the record transcribes the curve on the kymographic drum as the plate is slowly revolved. The method has the advantage of using a record which may be reproduced (i.e. the original gramophone record may be reproduced), and of giving fairly large and well defined curves for study. It is too laborious to be applied to extended research on speech rhythms, and has besides several objections. The investigator is dependent on the manufacturer for his material, which is necessarily limited, and cannot meet the needs of various stages of an investigation. He knows nothing of the conditions under which the record was produced, as to rate, on which time relations depend, as to tone of voice, or as to muscular accompaniments. There are also opportunities for error in the long lever used in the transcription; small errors are necessarily magnified in the final curve, and the reading for intensity (amplitude of the curve) is especially open to such error.

The stylus of such a recording apparatus as is used by the gramophone manufacturers, is subject to certain variations, which may modify the linear measurements (which determine time relations). The recording point is necessarily flexible; when such a flexible point is pressed against the recording surface it is dragged back slightly from its original position by friction with this surface. When the point is writing a curve the conditions are changed, and it sways forward to nearly its original position. This elongates the initial part of the sound curve. This fact is of little importance in the study of a single vowel, for the earlier part of the curve may be disregarded, but if the entire record is to be measured it is a source of error. Hensen[16] first turned the phonautograph to account for the study of speech. He used a diaphragm of goldbeater's skin, of conical shape, with a stylus acting over a fulcrum and writing on a thinly smoked glass plate. The apparatus was later improved by Pipping, who used a diamond in place of the steel point. The diamond scratched the record directly on the glass. The Hensen-Pipping apparatus has the advantage of taking records directly in the plane of the surface, but it does not make a record which can be reproduced; in case of doubt as to the exact thing represented by the curve, there is no means of referring to the original sounds; and it involves working with a microscope.

[16] Hensen: Hermann's Handbuch d. Physiol., 1879, Bd. I., Th. II., S. 187.



The apparatus which was used in the following experiments consisted essentially of two recording devices—an ordinary phonograph, and a recorder of the Hensen type writing on a rotary glass disc (see Fig. 5, Plate X.). Of the phonograph nothing need be said. The Hensen recorder, seen in cross section in Fig. 3, was of the simplest type. A diaphragm box of the sort formerly used in the phonograph was modified for the purpose. The diaphragm was of glass, thin rubber, or goldbeater's skin. The stylus was attached perpendicularly to the surface of the diaphragm at its center. The stylus consisted of a piece of light brass wire bent into a right angle; the longer arm was perpendicular to the diaphragm; the shorter arm was tipped with a very fine steel point, which pointed downward and wrote on the disc; the point was inclined a trifle to the disc, in order that it might 'trail,' and write smoothly on the moving disc. The stylus had no fulcrum or joint, but recorded directly the vibrations of the diaphragm. In early experiments, the diaphragm and stylus were used without any other attachment.

But a flexible point writing on smoked glass is a source of error. When the disc revolves under the stylus, the flexibility of the diaphragm and of the stylus permit it to be dragged forward slightly by the friction of the moving surface. When the diaphragm is set vibrating the conditions are altered, and the stylus springs back to nearly its original position. The apparent effect is an elongation of the earlier part of the curve written, and a corresponding compression of the last verse written. This error is easily tested by starting the disc, and without vibrating the diaphragm stopping the disc; the stylus is now in its forward position; speak into the apparatus and vibrate the diaphragm, and the stylus will run backward to its original position, giving an effect in the line like a (Fig. 4). If the error is eliminated, the stylus will remain in position throughout, and the trial record will give a sharp line across the track of the stylus as in b.



This source of error was avoided by fixing a polished steel rod or 'guide' at right angles to the vertical part of the stylus, just in front of the stylus; the stylus trailed against this rod, and could not spring out of position. The friction of the rod did not modify the record, and the rod gave much greater certainty to the details of the sound curve, by fixing the position of the vibrating point. This rod or guide is shown in Fig. 3 (g).

The disc was driven directly from the phonograph by a very simple method. A fine chain was fixed to the shaft carrying the disc, and wrapped around a pulley on the shaft. The chain was unwound by the forward movement of the recording apparatus of the phonograph against the constant tension of a spring. When the phonograph apparatus was brought back to the beginning of a record which had been made, the spring wound up the chain, and the disc revolved back to its original position.

A T from the speaking-tube near the diaphragm box was connected by a rubber tube with the phonograph recorder, so that the voice of the speaker was recorded both on the smoked glass plate and on the phonograph cylinder. The advantages of such a double record are that the possible error of a transcription process is eliminated, and yet there is an original record to which it is possible to refer, and by which the record measured may be checked.

An important feature in the method was the rate at which the disc revolved. The disc turned so slowly that the vibrations, instead of being spread out as a harmonic curve, were closely crowded together. This had two great advantages; the measurements were not so laborious, and the intensity changes were much more definitely seen than in the elongated form of record. Each syllable had an intensity form, as a 'box,' 'spindle,' 'double spindle,' 'truncated cone,' 'cone,' etc. (cf. p. 446).

The disc was run, as a rule, at a rate of about one revolution in two minutes. The rate could be varied to suit the purposes of the experimenter, and it was perfectly possible to procure the usual form of record when desired. As a result of the low rate, the records were exceedingly condensed. The records of the 300 stanzas measured are on two glass discs of about 25 cm. diameter, and as much more could still be recorded on them.

The diaphragm and the speaking tube were the great sources of error. For measurements of time values the particular component of the tone to which the diaphragm happens to vibrate is not important, but the record of intensities depends on the fidelity with which the diaphragm responds to a given component, preferably the fundamental, of the tone. The speaking tube has a resonance of its own which can be but partly eliminated. For the records here recorded either glass or goldbeater's skin was used as a diaphragm. Goldbeater's skin has the advantage of being very sensitive, and it must be used if the subject has not a resonant voice. It has the great disadvantage of being extremely variable. It is very sensitive to moisture, even when kept as loose as possible, and cannot be depended on to give the same results from day to day. The records marked Hu., Ha. and G. were usually taken with a glass diaphragm, which has the advantage of being invariable. As the phonograph records show, glass does not modify the lower tones of the male voice to any extent.



The speaking-tube used was of woven material, not of rubber, and a pad of felt was kept in the tube near the diaphragm box. As far as possible more damping was used at the other end of the tube, but this had to depend on the voices of the subjects.

The best check on the performances of a diaphragm is the number per second and character of the vibrations. The pitch may be calculated from the rotation rate of the disc, which is very constant, as it is driven at a low rate by the well-regulated high-speed motor of the phonograph. But it is better to place a fork in position to write on the disc and take a parallel record. All the records were taken with the vowel 'a' (sound as in father). This vowel has a very characteristic signature, which is easily seen, even in a very closely packed curve, and the correctness of this is one of the best guarantees that the fundamental of the tone is actuating the diaphragm (though that does not mean that the diaphragm is actually giving the vibration frequency of that fundamental).

Every record was repeated at least twice, and both records were measured. In many of the experiments the intensities were fixed by the conditions of the experiment. There was always the corroborative testimony of the phonograph diaphragm; for the two were not apt to err together. It was easy to determine if the actual intensity relations were preserved in the phonograph (but it could not be taken for granted). Each record was reproduced on the phonograph immediately after it had been taken, and both subject and operator listened for anomalies. In practice it was not hard to get records of the single vowel used (at a small range of pitch which was never more than a third or fourth and was nearly always much less) which represented fairly well the relative intensities. Beside the checks spoken of above, every record was repeated by a number of subjects, and the comparison of the results of different voices shows uniformity.

The recording of spoken verse is another matter. It is not difficult to test a diaphragm carefully through a small range, but to be certain of its action at all the pitches and qualities of the speaking voice is impossible. A stable diaphragm, glass or mica, would have to be used, and careful corrections made for the different vowels.

At best, when the records are satisfactory, nothing can be said for the measurements of intensity but that they represent relations of more or less; the diaphragm has a minimum intensity, below which it does not vibrate, and a maximum intensity, above which the amplitude of its vibrations does not materially increase without breaking into partials and 'blasting.'

The disc recorder, which had for a mount a modified microscope stand, was placed on the shoe of the disc stand and clamped. The wax and disc records were adjusted at known starting-points and the stylus carefully lowered, by the rack and pinion adjustment, to the surface of the disc. After a preliminary trial of the diaphragm the apparatus was started, and when at full speed at least two satisfactory records of the material were taken. When the disc had made a single revolution—a record of some ten or fifteen stanzas—the recorder was fed inward to a new circle on the disc. After the records were taken, a microscope with either 2 or 4 Leitz objective and a micrometer ocular was substituted for the recorder. The phonograph recorder was raised and drawn back to its starting point, and the disc came back to its original position. The microscope was focussed, and adjusted by the screw of the shoe until it had the record line in its field; the micrometer furnished an object of reference in the field. The phonograph, now carrying the reproducer—if possible without a horn, as the tones are truer—was started. At the first syllable of the record the apparatus was stopped by the device furnished on the 'Commercial' phonograph, and the plate was turned by adjusting the screw at the phonograph carriage, which changed the length of the chain connecting the two records, until the record of the first syllable was at some chosen point in the field. In cases of records of poetry it was found better to have a set of syllables, say 'one, two, three' prefixed to the record, for this adjustment. The phonograph was again started, and the curve-forms representing the spoken syllables filed past the point as the phonograph repeated each syllable. The rate was slow enough, with the objective 2, so that there was no difficulty in observing the passing syllables. After the conformity of the phonograph record had been noted by the operator, and the subject had passed judgment on the phonograph as saying satisfactorily what he had said, the curve-forms were measured with the micrometer. The record was fed slowly through the field by means of the chain screw on the phonograph carriage; and measurements of the lengths of syllables gave their time values. The micrometer was passed back and forth across the form by the shoe screw, for the measurements of amplitude (intensity). The micrometer measurements in this case could be made at least as rapidly as measurements of kymograph curves. The measurements, with the powers used, are accurate to.01 sec.

The smoked disc records are to be preferred to those scratched with a diamond, because of the superior legibility of the line, an important item if thousands of measurements are to be made. The records are fixed with shellac and preserved, or they may be printed out by a photographic process and the prints preserved. The parallel set of wax records is preserved with them. There are several ways in which the wax records lend themselves to the study of rhythmic questions. It is easy to change the rate, and thereby get new material for judgment, in a puzzling case. Consonant qualities are never strong, and it is easy so to damp the reproducer that only the vowel intensities are heard. The application in the study of rhyme is obvious.

All the series consisted of regular nonsense syllables. The accented and unaccented elements were represented by the single syllable 'ta' ('a' as in father). Rhymes were of the form 'da,' 'na,' 'ga' and 'ka.' In other parts of the work (cf. Table IV.) the vowel o had been used in rhymes for contrast; but the same vowel, a, was used in these records, to make the intensity measurements comparable.

The records of the measurements were as complete as possible. The sonant and the interval of each element were measured, and all the pauses except the stanza pause were recorded. The intensity of each syllable was recorded beneath the length of the syllable, and notes were made both from the appearance of the curve and from the phonograph record.

2. The Normal Form of Unrhymed Verse.

To determine the influence of a subordinate factor in rhythm such as rhyme, it is necessary to know the normal form of verse without this factor. It is natural to assume that the simplest possible form of material would be individual feet recorded seriatim. But on trial, such material turned out to be very complex; the forms changed gradually, iambs becoming trochees and trochees changing into spondees. It is very probable that the normal foot occurs only in a larger whole, the verse.

To corroborate the conclusions from perceived rhythms as to the existence of variations in earlier and later parts of the verse, a table of mean variations was prepared from the material recorded and measured for other purposes.

TABLE VI.

MEAN VARIATIONS.

Iambic tetrameters; variations of each element from the average foot of the entire stanza.

[Label 1: Unaccented Element of Foot.] [Label 2: Accented Element of Foot.] [Label 3: Percentage M.V. of Unac. El.] [Label 4: Percentage M.V. of Ac. El.]

Hu. 8 stanzas [1] [2] [3] [4] M.V. 1st foot 0.9688 1.3125 11.1 7.8 2d " 0.8125 0.6563 9.3 3.9 3d " 0.8438 1.1875 9.7 7.1 4th " 0.9688 11. Av. foot of all stanzas 8.69 16.88

Geo. 10 stanzas, no accents or rhymes within the verse: M.V. 1st foot 2.725 2.775 24.6 13.3 2d " 1.300 1.325 11.8 6.4 3d " 1.400 2.050 12.7 9.8 4th " 2.750 24.9 Av. foot of all stanzas 11.05 20.85

Geo. 8 stanzas, accents and rhymes within the verse: M.V. 1st foot 1.4843 2.4687 13.1 11.5 2d " 1.4219 2.6875 12.6 12.6 3d " 1.7031 2.5312 15.1 11.8 4th " 1.8594 16.4 Av. foot of all stanzas 11.31 21.38

The last element has the 'finality-form' and is not comparable to the other accented elements and therefore is not given.

Dactylic tetrameters (catalectic); variations of each element from the average foot of the entire stanza:

[Label 1: Accented elements of Foot] [Label 2: 1st Unaccented element of Foot] [Label 3: 2d Unaccented element of Foot] [Label 4: Percentage M.V. of Ac. El.] [Label 5: Percentage M.V. of 1st Unac. El.] [Label 6: Percentage M.V. of 2d Unac. El.]

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Me., Ha., 8 stanzas, normal: M.V. 1st foot 1.6875 1.2813 1.8125 9.70 9.76 10.5 " 2d " 1.0613 1.0613 1.4061 6.1 8.0 8.1 " 3d " 1.6875 1.3125 1.3750 9.7 9.9 7.9 Av. foot 17.38 13.18 17.31

Geo. 4, stanzas, abnormal type of dactylic foot: M.V. 1st foot 1.5000 1.1250 1.2813 11.5 11.0 8.7 " 2d " 1.5625 1.1250 1.1250 12.0 11.0 7.6 " 3d " 1.3437 1.1873 0.8737 10.3 11.5 5.9 Av. foot 13.00 10.25 14.75

Me., Ha., G., Hu., Am., accent on 2d foot, 8 stanzas: M.V. 1st foot 2.4688 1.3125 2.2813 12.7 12.7 11.5 " 2d " 2.3750 1.1250 3.8438 12.2 8.7 19.3 " 3d " 2.9688 1.3750 2.2500 15.5 10.7 11.3 Av. foot 19.44 12.88 19.88

Me., Ha., G., Hu., 19 stanzas, normal: M.V. 1st foot 1.9474 1.2500 2.2763 10.8 8.6 11.4 " 2d " 1.3816 1.2369 1.7766 7.7 8.5 9.3 " 3d " 1.3158 1.2105 1.6382 7.3 8.4 8.6 Av. foot 18.00 14.24 19.05

Me., Ha., G., 6 stanzas, normal: M.V. 1st foot 2.0000 1.2083 1.8750 10.5 10.4 10.7 " 2d " 2.6250 1.0416 2.1666 13.8 9.1 12.3 " 3d " 2.1250 1.3333 1.3333 11.3 11.4 7.6 Av. foot 18.92 11.58 17.50 The last foot (catalectic) is not comparable in these dactylic stanzas.

The mean variations of the table (Table VI.) were calculated as follows: The average for all the elements of the stanza was obtained and an average foot constructed (excluding the last sonant and the pause of the verse). From this average foot the variations of all the first feet were computed, then the variations of all the second feet, etc. Then the variations of the first feet of the stanza were averaged and percentages taken, etc.; it is this last value which goes to the making up of the tables. In inspecting the averages the corresponding elements of the feet should be compared. Any increased length due to a prescribed accent within the verse, etc., appears in the averages as a corresponding increase in the mean variation at that point, and only the first and last feet can be compared as to the variations in the verse as a whole. In making up the tables the material was grouped, not by combining the records of each subject, but by combining all the stanzas of a single type, in order to eliminate individual peculiarities.

TABLE VII.

Verse pauses in unrhymed stanzas, together with the foot pause within the verse. Length of last foot, together with the average foot within the verse:

Average first Last foot Average of first Verse Pause. 3 feet of verse. of verse. 3 foot pauses of verse. Iambs: 36 56.5 24 45.5 57 122 35 100 68.5 125 45 102 63.5 111.5 42 93 63.5 117.5 39 93.5 66 135 42 110 53.5 59 40 45 60 76 45 61 56.5 68 41 54 55.5 56 39 41 53 53.5 37 41.5 56 73 34 45 85 98 56 54 39 50 26.5 36 37 43 17 30 42.5 45 28 30 38.5 49 26 36 40 79 26 55 31 72.5 21 55 33 66 23 54 33 76 22 64 Dactyls, catalectic: 56 63 (The pauses cannot be 60 62 compared because of the 55 66 omission of elements in 51.5 76 the final foot.) 37 40 55 58.5 53 59.5 40 73 38 65 37.5 56 37 73

Throughout the series of measurements made the accented element was nearly always longer, and in no case did the accent fail to increase the length of the sonant. Ebhardt's suggestion that there are two significant parts in each foot-element, viz., sonant and pause, does not seem good. Although the sonant is much longer when accented, the ratio between the sonant and the following interval is not definite.

An examination of thirty-two stanzas of unrhymed iambic and dactylic (catalectic) tetrameters (cf. Table VII.) shows that the verse pause is always at least one fourth larger than the foot pause. In the unrhymed stanzas the verse pause varies widely, and may be as large as three times the foot pause. A pause longer than the foot pause is absolutely essential to the unity of the verse. All sorts of ratios are presented; evidently the verse pause is not a function of the foot pause.

The next table (Table VIII.) shows a variety of different dynamic shadings in the verse. It is noteworthy that in these nonsense verses the type is uniform throughout the stanza. Representing the intensities by curves similar to those used by the subjects in listening to rhythms, we have the forms shown in Fig. 6 (a).

The general curve is like that in Fig. 6(b).



When a special emphasis is prescribed on some particular accent in the verse, the type becomes invariable, not only in each stanza, but for all stanzas of all subjects.

The records show that the accent is produced in a variety of ways. One, for example, gets the accent by a slight increase in intensity, but especially by a pause following the sonant.

TABLE VIII.

THE INTENSITY RELATIONS WITHIN THE TOTAL, UNRHYMED VERSE.

UNRHYMED IAMBIC TETRAMETERS. Average Intensities. length Length ' ' ' ' of first of last - - - - 3 sonants. sonant.

Ha. 2 5 4 5 2 4 3 6 31 31s 4 4 2 4 2 5 3 7 33 36s 2 5 3 4 1 5 3 9 32 29s 2 4 2 5 2 5 3 7 31 22s 3 5 1 5 3 4 3 5 37 35s 2 5 2 4 2 4 3 6 35 27s 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 6 38 22s 1 4 3 4 1 5 3 6 34 23s Hu. 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 25 33 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 26 32 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 19 33 5 5 5 6 8 9 8 9 28 50 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 8 43 51 9 7 8 7 7 8 9 10 48 45s 6 7 7 7 6 7 6 7 43 43s 6 6 5 6 4 7 7 8 36 50 G. 9 14 7 14 4 12 6 10 20 25 7 12 7 14 7 10 6 10 16 26 7 12 6 11 4 12 5 10 17 26 6 13 6 11 1 9 7 12 16 26 10 8 7 30 6 15 7 16 18 25 7 14 8 12 6 15 10 13 15 28 7 16 9 15 4 14 7 12 16 25 7 15 7 13 5 13 6 12 17 25

In verses marked 's' the last sonant is shorter than the average of the preceding sonants.

UNRHYMED IAMBIC TETRAMETERS: PRESCRIBED ACCENT ON THE THIRD FOOT.

' / — / — / — / — Mc. Couplets. 4 6 6 7 4 6 4 4 5 8 5 6 2 12 8 5 4 6 5 10 4 11 5 3 4 6 5 10 4 10 4 4 7 11 5 9 9 15 5 5 5 19 20 22 21 24 6 6 12 22 16 22 20 22 8 7 12 22 14 31 10 26 6 7 Ha. Couplets. 4 7 4 8 8 9 5 7 5 7 4 6 6 8 2 7 2 6 2 6 5 6 3 6 2 7 3 6 2 10 3 4 3 7 3 7 4 6 4 6 4 5 3 6 4 7 2 6 5 7 1 6 4 8 2 5 2 7 3 5 3 7 2 6

UNRHYMED IAMBIC TETRAMETERS: PRESCRIBED ACCENT ON THE SECOND FOOT.

' / — / — / — / — Mc. Couplets. 13 22 22 30 22 18 15 18 11 20 22 26 15 19 15 10 10 25 20 26 20 24 12 23 10 19 17 26 19 11 9 10 12 23 18 26 22 17 10 15 8 23 20 27 16 22 15 16 12 23 26 30 22 21 10 17 14 28 26 34 11 28 11 21

Ha. Couplets. 6 9 4 12 4 5 3 4 5 4 12 1 5 2 5 3 5 3 12 2 5 2 6 1 6 4 15 1 6 2 7 - 15 3 12 - 8 - 5 - 6 4 12 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7 4 13 - 4 - 6 3 13 - 5 - 4

G. Couplets. 9 19 11 20 4 12 3 10 5 13 6 16 5 10 6 11 8 16 10 18 5 10 6 11 6 12 6 16 6 10 6 10 8 16 13 19 5 13 8 12 9 17 11 19 3 10 6 12 9 16 9 18 6 10 7 9 7 15 7 15 5 10 5 10

Frequently the special accent seems to be made by a contrast between the accented foot and the feet which follow. In most cases the influence of the special accent is to be seen, not merely within the accented foot itself, but both before and after the accented foot. Often the appearance under the microscope is very striking; the sonants of the feet, both accented and unaccented, increase to the special accent and then decrease in a regular crescendo—diminuendo form. Much of this is not shown by the mere measurements.



In general the special accent may he said to be the climax of the verse movement. It is the crest of the wave, and, as noted above, the dynamic shading is not always made by an increase up to the accent, nor by a stress on a special accent, but by a sharp diminuendo immediately following the accent. A study of the phonograph record brings out these forms of shading, especially when the record is repeated slowly, exaggerating the dynamic variations and giving an opportunity for more careful observation.

Within the verse the general form of the syllable as it appears in the mass of closely written vibrations, often varies, but nearly always shows a square end. Several very common shapes are noticed and appear in the record as (1) 'truncated cones,' (2) 'boxes,' and (3) 'truncated spindles.' (See Fig. 7.)

With the particular syllable used, 'ta,' the beginning of curve form was usually square and abrupt (4), and not gradual (5), although a few of the latter type are found ('spindle').

One syllable form has an especial interest, because of its bearing on the problem of 'finality' feeling at the close of the verse. At the close of each verse, whether with or without rhyme, the syllable form is always a 'cone' (6) (cf. Fig. 8). Of about 600 verses measured not more than 15 are exceptions to this rule. Of these 15 exceptions 10 are under special conditions and confirm the hypothesis that this form is related to the finality process. The form very rarely occurs within the verse, and when it does it is usually before some caesura, or under unusual conditions.

This 'cone' form of the closing syllable of the verse indicates a falling of the intensity of the voice. It is often, though not always, associated with a fall in the pitch, showing relaxation of the vocal cords. It seems to be an indication of the dying out of the intensity factor, a sinking of the tension, at the close of the verse. In the case of unrhymed verses, with long verse pause, the cone is often very much elongated, and it is quite impossible to say where the sound ceases.

Special accentuation of the long syllable of the foot increases the length of the sonant, of the accented element, and of the entire foot. There is probably a slight increase of the total length of an accented verse as compared with the similar unaccented, but no calculations were made to show that point. This is quite in accord with other results (Meumann, Ebhardt). This special accentuation is connected with an increased mean variation of the time values, as noted above. It is in that sense a 'disturbing factor.'

TABLE IX.

VERSE PAUSES (INCLUDING FINAL SONANT) TOGETHER WITH THE AVERAGE OF THE CORRESPONDING ELEMENT WITHIN THE VERSE.

Average long Verse pause Verse pause Verse pause element of of 1st verse of 2d verse of 3d verse first 3 feet. of stanza. of stanza. of stanza. End Rhymes. Mc. 26 34 104a 35 45 45a 80b 80a 31 33 64a 36 41 52a 51b 75a Ha. 41 44a 44 45a 43 47a 43b 46a 39 41a 49b 46a 43 46a 45b 45a 36 44 41a 53 35 44a 58a 38b 33 40 73a x30 Hu. 28 x25a 50 28a

Feminine Rhymes. Hu. 18 21a 37a 19b 19 20a 22a 16b 19 21a 21a 16b Mc. 36 72a 64 51a 36 x32 41a 40 22 22a x18 29a Ha. 27 31a 44b 28a 36 79 x30 40 30 36 79a 30b 31 38 50a 36 32 39a 42 40a Am. 34 70 95a 85 35 73a 94 89a 30 45 47a 86 28 54 53a 70 G. 19 64a 64 79a 19 73a 83b 76a 21 81 67a — 19 61 83a 79

The rhymes are marked 'a' and 'b'; e.g., couplets a, a, b, b, etc. Verse pauses in italics are equal to the foot pause; those marked 'x' are less than the foot pause.

3. Modification of the Normal Form of Verse due to Rhyme.

Verse Pause in Rhymed Material.

There are as wide, isolated variations as in the case of unrhymed material. As compared with unrhymed verse, the pause is in general decidedly shorter. The verse pauses of the feminine rhymes are generally much like those of the end rhymed material. But there are very few cases of the verse pause being as short as the foot pause—only four cases in sixty (6.6 per cent.). See Table IX.

This wide variation of the verse pause and its occasional equivalence to the foot pause in rhymed verses is in accord with the notion that the rhyme in some way brings the verse to a close by a process more rapid than that in unrhymed material.

The introduction of rhyme seems to be favorable to the division of a stanza into two parts by producing an unusually long verse pause after the second verse. Of 43 unrhymed stanzas there are 19 which show a decidedly long pause at the close of some one of the verses. But of these 19 cases, only 8 (18 per cent.) have the break at the close of the second verse. Of 64 rhymed stanzas, 29 show the division, and of this 29, 22 (34 per cent.) have the break at the close of the second verse.

Influence of the Rhymes on Intensities.

The intensities at the close of the verse, without rhyme, may be slightly greater than within the verse. The dynamic shading of the verse is elastic, and a variety of forms is possible, a decrescendo at the close of the verse is not unusual (cf. Table VIII.). But when the rhyme is introduced the general dynamic form of the verse is fixed, and in the material measured this is true not only of the verses in a stanza which contain the rhyme but of other verses in the same stanza.

Of the 32 verses containing rhymes in Table X., but four verses are exceptions to the rule of an increase of intensity on the rhyme. There are two cases of double, alternating rhymes where it is doubtful if the subject actually felt one of the alternating rhymes. This increase of intensity on the rhyme is not confined to that particular syllable or foot; often, as indicated by the italics, the influence of the accent makes itself felt earlier in the verse.

TABLE X.

INTENSITIES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETER WITH END RHYME (SHOWING INCREASED INTENSITY OF THE RHYMING SYLLABLE). ALSO AVERAGE LENGTH OF THE FIRST THREE SONANTS, TOGETHER WITH THE LENGTH OF THE LAST SONANT.

Intensities. Average length of first 3 Length of last sonants. sonant. / - / - / - / - Mc. — 5 — 5 — 4 — 5 19 27 — 4 — 4 — 4 — 11a 34 — 4 — 4 — 4 — 7 21 — 4 — 5 — 3 — 8a 23

— 6 — 6 — 5 — 6 19 22 — 8 — 7 — 6 — 10a 34 — 4 — 3 — 4 — 5 26 — 3 — 5 — 4 — 5a 30

2 3 5 4 4 5 6 7a 29 34 2 3 3 4 2 4 2 7b 48 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 4a 35 2 3 3 3 2 3 4 5b 20

— — — — — — — —a 25 40 3 4 4 14 3 4 5 5b 39 2 3 1 2 2 3 1 3a 25 1 3 2 2 1 3 3 5b 43

Ha. 6 15 9 12 3 10 4 16 No increase in length. 3 5 3 7 3 5 5 15a 1 15 1 5 4 6 2 9 4 5 2 5 1 5 2 14a

2 6 4 8 1 6 5 11a No increase in length. 1 7 5 7 3 6 7 11b 2 5 2 6 2 6 4 12a 1 5 1 5 2 6 3 15b 33 38

4 9 5 9 1 3 6 9a 25 33 2 8 5 6 4 5 5 10b No increase in length. 2 5 2 5 2 5 5 11a 1 5 2 5 5 10 2 12b 32 34

The evidence of an increased intensity on the rhyme is not so positive in the case of rhymes in the third foot. Among the rhymes in the second foot there is but one exception. The rhymes in the second and third feet were never given very satisfactorily by several of the subjects. The rhymes within the verse determine a climax in the foot in which they occur, and all the verses follow this well-defined type. It is interesting to note, in studying the phonographic record, that in verses in which the accentuation of the rhythm is not very definite, the accentuation is perceived when the record is repeated at the normal speed. If the record is repeated more slowly, and especially at such a distance that the rhyming consonants cannot be distinguished, then the accentuation seems to disappear. It is probable that after a verse or stanza type has been established the voice may deviate from the type, and the accentuation will be supplied by the hearer.

TABLE XI.

INTENSITIES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETERS WITH RHYMES IN THE THIRD FOOT (SHOWING INCREASE IN INTENSITY OF THE RHYME SYLLABLE).

' ' ' ' / — / — / — / — Ha. 13 18 10 16 7 9a 6 12 9 10 4 11 7 14a 4 7 — 12 5 10 7 9b 6 9 2 12 5 12 3 14b 4 6

2 12 4 13 7 8a 4 9 6 8 4 14 4 15a 2 9 2 13 — 12 8 8b — — 5 9 6 10 — 3b 4 6

Am. 10 10 4 12 6 14a 5 5 4 12 6 9 7 8a 4 4 5 12 8 9 7 10b 3 4 3 7 5 8 5 7b 2 4

10 13 5 10 4 10a 4 6 1 9 4 9 3 5a 3 5 2 8 3 5 — 8b 1 5 1 7 2 7 5 8b 2 3

G. 6 13 6 13 7 12a 1 10 6 10 6 6 7 7a 1 8 4 9 7 7 6 9b 1 7 7 12 4 10 2 7b 1 7

10 12 4 11 6 10a — 8 5 12 5 11 6 10a — 8 3 9 6 9 7 9b 3 8 2 8 5 9 5 5b 1 6

D. 10 12 10 10 7 9a 7 11 5 8 6 9 7 7? 6 6 5 12 7 9 6 10b — 8 6 9 7 10 7 7b 5 5

10 15 5 11 6 9a — 9 5 9 4 8 6 6a? 6 7 7 11 7 11 11 13b 8 10 8 11 8 10 7 9b 6 8

INTENSITIES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETERS WITH RHYMES IN THE SECOND FOOT.

' ' ' ' - - - - Hu. 5 6 6 6a 5 7 5 6 5 6 5 4a 5 4 5 6? 5 6 6 7b 5 6 4 7 5 6 4 4b 5 7 4 7 5 7 7 7a 6 7 6 6 5 7 5 5a 5 6 5 6? 5 7 6 8b 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 5b 6 7 6 7 Mc. 5 7 6 10a 5 4 3 5 1 6 6 8a - 6 1 4 1 6 6 10b 1 4 - 4 - 7 6 5b 3 3 - 3 Ha. 16 14 8 10a 6 10 5 9 5 10 7 8a 5 9 5 7 2 8 4 11b 4 7 2 8 2 8 4 6b 1 9 4 8 7 12 7 10a - 10 6 10 3 10 5 8a 5 8 6 10 2 8 3 11b 3 7 3 10 - 7 5 9b 4 8 6 12 Am. 4 9 9 10a 4 7 4 5 4 8 9 7a 5 7 4 6 1 8 5 10b 4 6 3 6 - 10 10 7b 3 5 2 7 15 15 10 13a 9 11 - 11 5 12 7 9a 4 10 4 9 5 8 8 9b 4 7 - 6 7 8 5 9b 2 4 - 3 G. 2 6 6 8a 1 7 2 3 - 10 7 12a 1 9 4 8 4 9 6 9b 8 8 2 7 - - - -b - - - - 4 9 5 11a - 7 4 6 - 8 6 7a 2 7 4 5 - 9 7 6b - 7 3 6 - 7 3 5 - 5 - 3 D. - - - - - - - - 7 11 11 9a 7 11 6 10 11 15 11 11a 8 11 9 14 6 10 10 8b 7 8 7 11 12 13 10 10a 7 1? 8 11 6 10 9 8a 5 8 5 9 9 12 12 13b 8 10 7 9 7 11 10 7b 4 8 4 8

The values surrounded by '_'s (Transcriber's Note: Original italics) show the increase in intensity. Rhymes are indicated by 'a' and 'b.'

IV. SUGGESTIONS FOR A MOTOR THEORY OF RHYTHM.

If the basis of rhythm is to be found in muscular sensations, rather than in the supposed activity of some special 'mental' function, the nature of the movement cycle involved is of the greatest interest.

In every case where a rhythm comes to peripheral expression, there are two opposing sets of muscles involved. If a rhythmic movement be attempted with but a single set of muscles at work, it is very unsatisfactory and soon ends in the tonic contraction of the muscle set. One may assume that in all cases of rhythm perception there is a cycle of movement sensations involved, and that the simplest possible case of a peripheral rhythmic movement is the type of any rhythm. In tapping a rhythm with the finger, the flexors which bring the finger down become the positive muscle set, and the opposing extensor muscles which raise the finger for the next blow become the negative muscle set.

In Fig. 9 the upper curve represents the actual movement of the finger tip, and the heavy lines a, a', a'' represent the pressure-tension-sound sensation which we call the 'beat,' and which is the limiting sensation of the rhythm, and the regulating factor in the movement cycle of the rhythm. The movement is divided into two phases; B, the phase of relaxation, during which the finger is raised, and A, the phase of contraction, during which the finger delivers the blow which produces the beat.

The curves below represent the changes in the two opposing sets of muscles whose interaction brings about the movement cycle. The contraction of the flexors, the positive muscle set, is represented by the curve above the base line. It is obvious that during the contraction phase, the contraction in the positive muscle set is at its height; it continues at a maximum during the limiting sensation and then dies away during the relaxation phase. The sensations from this positive muscle set have the principal place in consciousness during the rhythm experience. The curve below the base line represents the contraction of the extensors, the negative muscle set. The contraction of the negative muscles reaches its climax very soon after the maximum contraction of the positive muscles, in the contraction phase. The sharp tension between the two opposing sets of muscles at the limiting sensation may be made very apparent if the finger beats the rhythm entirely in the air; in that case the limiting sensation consists entirely of the feeling of a sudden increase of tension between the positive and negative muscle sets. During the relaxation phase the contraction of the negative muscles continues, but the tension between the two sets grows less and less, for the positive muscles are rapidly relaxing. At the highest point in the movement either muscle set is exerting but very little strain; the condition is represented in the figure by the approach of either curve to the base-line; the amount of tension between the two sets is figured by the distance of the two curves from each other.



Assuming such a movement cycle, in which the tension between the two opposing sets never comes to zero until the close of the series, it is not difficult to arrange many of the facts of rhythmic perception under the motor theory.

1. The feeling of rhythm is more definite as we proceed in a verse, or a series of simple sound sensations. At first the cycle is not perfectly adjusted and complete automatism established.

2. If an observer is listening to a series, and an unusually long pause is introduced between two beats, there is always a feeling of suspense or tension during the 'lag.' As long as the tensions are maintained there is a rhythmic continuity; the feeling of tension is the strain of opposition between the opposing muscle sets.

3. The continuity of the rhythmic series, whereby all the beats of a period seem to belong to a single whole, is due to the continuity of the muscle sensations involved and the continuous feeling of slight tension between the positive and negative muscle sets; nowhere within the period does the feeling of strain die out.

4. But at the close of the period we have a pause which is demonstrably not a function of any of the intervals of the period. During this pause the tension between the two sets 'dies out,' and we have a feeling of finality. This gradual dying out of the tension is clearly seen in the constant appearance of the cone-shaped final syllable at the end of each nonsense verse.

5. The period composed of a number of unit groups (the verse, in nonsense syllables) has a general form which suggests strongly that it has the unity of a single cooerdinated movement. There is no more reason for assuming a transcendental mental activity in the case of a rhythmic period than in the case of a single act which appears in consciousness as a unity. Undoubtedly the breathing is correlated with the rhythmic movements and may be a factor in determining the verse period. Meumann's principal accent, about which a number of subordinate accents are grouped, is characteristic not only of poetry but of the simplest rhythms. At some point in the period there is a definite climax, a chief accent; the movement 'rises' to that point and then falls off. This is strikingly seen in nonsense verses spoken with a heavy accent within the verse. The accent does not stand out from a dead level, but the verse culminates at that point.

Unfortunately very little is known of the mechanism of so simple a cooerdinated muscular activity as that necessary for a simple rhythm. Sherrington[17] and Hering[18]have pointed out the primary character of the grouping of the muscles in opposing sets and the reciprocal nature of almost all muscular activity, but in a review of the work of cooerdinated movements Hering denies any simultaneous stimulation of the two sets and considers the question of the innervation mechanism of opposing muscle-sets entirely unsettled.

[17] Sherrington, C.S.: Proceedings Royal Soc., 1897, p. 415.

[18] Hering, H.E.: Archiv f. d. ges. Physiol. (Pflueger's), 1897, Bd. 68, S. 222; ibid., 1898, Bd. 70, S. 559.

That the connection between the positive and negative set of muscles in a rhythmic movement is very close, and that the reaction is of the circular type, is evident from the automatic character of all rhythmic movements, and it is evident that the limiting sensation is the primary cue in the reaction. Anything further is mere hypothesis. Robert Mueller's[19] thorough criticism of the Mosso ergograph throws great doubt on the present methods of investigation and invalidates conclusions from the various curves of voluntary movements which have been obtained.

[19] Mueller, R.: Phil. Stud., 1901, Bd. 17, S. 1.

The curve of contraction and relaxation of a simple muscle is well known and is not affected by Mueller's criticism. Its chief characteristic, with or without opposing tension, is the inequality of the intervals of the contraction and relaxation phases. As one might expect, since a single set of muscles dominates in a rhythmic movement, the typical rhythmic curve has the general character of the curve of the simple muscle. The average values of the phases of curves of simple rhythmic movement obtained by A. Cleghorn[20] from a large number of observations with at least three subjects, are as follows: phase of contraction, .44 second; phase of relaxation, .54 second. It is very significant for a motor theory of rhythm that this general form of the curve of rhythmic movement may easily be altered in all sorts of fashions by unusual stimuli to the two muscle sets.

[20] Cleghorn, A.: Am. Journal of Physiol., 1898, I., p. 336.

While it is well recognized that a rhythm does not consist necessarily of sound sensations, the 'rhythmization' of a series of sound sensations in the ordinary perceived rhythms is a matter of great interest. Ewald found strong reasons for believing that the ear is peculiarly connected with the motor apparatus. The experiments of Hofbauer[21] and Cleghorn[22]show that any strong stimulus to either eye or ear modifies decidedly the reactions of cooerdinated muscles. How shall we assume that the automatic movement cycle necessary to rhythmic perception is set up when one listens to a series of sounds?

[21] Hofbauer: Archiv f. d. ges. Physiol. (Pflueger's), 1897, Bd. 68, S. 553.

[22] Cleghorn, A.: op. cit.

It must be assumed that any chance sound sets up a contraction in a set of muscles, however large or small. If but a single sound occurs, the phase of contraction in that muscle set is followed by a longer phase of relaxation, and the musculature is passive as before; it may be that the stretching of the antagonistic set of muscles weakly stimulates them, and they then contract during the relaxation phase and assist in restoring the original condition.

But if a second sound occurs toward the end of the relaxation phase, before the tension is quite exhausted, the movement will be repeated; the negative set of muscles will be more definitely stimulated, for the activity will not have been exhausted when the second sound occurs. If the sound continues to recur at regular intervals, the movement cycle thus established will rapidly become cooerdinated. The positive set in its vigorous contraction furnishes a limiting sensation which becomes a cue for its own relaxation and for the reciprocal contraction of the negative muscle set. The contraction of the negative muscle set and the resulting changes in tension may become in turn a cue for the positive set. The reaction is now of the circular type and the process has become self-regulative, though constantly reinforced by the recurring sound (which has become a part of the limiting sensation of the rhythmic movement cycle).

But it is very probable that the second sound may not be timed so as to come at the close of the relaxation phase in the set of muscles roused; moreover, in almost all rhythms there are secondary sounds occurring between the main beats. What happens when a sound occurs out of place, early in the phase of relaxation, or just before or just after the climax in the contraction phase? Does it make it impossible to establish the cooerdination, or destroy it if already established?