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VI
WHAT PART DOES RHYME PLAY IN THE
SHAKESPEARE DRAMAS?
There are more " rhymes " in heaven and earth, ye
scholars,
Than are dreamt of in "your philology"
" Hamlet
" Variation.
A CHARACTERISTIC feature of the English poets, even
of the earliest, is their predilection for rhyme. The
popular old "Ballads" and "Songs" collected by
Bishop Thomas Percy
in three volumes even the
poetry dating still further back, compiled by Richard
Wiilker in his " Altenglisches Lesebuch " (Old- English
Reading- Book) clearly prove the truth of this state
ment.
As an instance we may quote the popular
old ballad
of " Jephtha's Daughter," the first stanza of which runs
thus :
Have you not heard these many years ago,
Jephtha was judge of Israel ?
He had one only daughter and no mo,
The which he loved passing well :
And, as by lott,
God wot,
It so came to pass,
As Gods will was,
That great wars there should be,
And none should be chosen chief but he.