The essayes of a prentise, in the diuine art of poesie

CHAP. II.

FIRST, ʒe man vnderstād that all syllabis are deuy∣dit in thrie kindes: That is, some schort, some lang, and some indifferent. Be indifferent I meane, thay quhilk are ather lang or short, according as ʒe place thame.

The forme of placeing syllabes in verse, is this. That ʒour first syllabe in the lyne be short, the second lang, the thrid short, the fourt lang, the fyft short, the sixt lang, and sa furth to the end of the lyne. Alwayis tak heid, that the nomber of ʒour fete in euery lyne be euin, & nocht odde: as four, six, aucht, or ten: & not thrie, fyue, seuin, or nyne, except it be in broken verse, quhilkis are out of reul and daylie inuentit be dyuers Poetis. Bot gif ʒe wald ask me the reulis, quhairby to knaw euerie ane of thir thre foir∣saidis kyndis of syllabes, I answer, Ʒour eare man be the onely iudge and discerner thairof. And to proue this, I remit to the iudgement of the same, quhilk of thir twa lynis following flowis best,

Ĭntō thĕ Seāthĕn Lūcĭfēr v̆psprāng. Ĭn thē Seăthēn Lŭcīfĕr tō v̆psprāng.

I doubt not bot ʒour eare makkis ʒou easilie to per∣saue, that the first lyne flowis weil, & the vther nathing at all. The reasoun is, because the first lyne keips the reule abone written, To wit, the first fute short, the secound lang, and sa furth, as I shewe before: quhair as the vther is direct contrair to the same. Bot specially tak heid, quhen

ʒour lyne is of fourtene, that ʒour Sectioun in aucht be a lang monosyllabe, or ••llis the hinmest syllabe of a word alwais being lang, as I said before. The cause quhy it mā be ane of thir twa, is, for the Musique, because that quhen ʒour lyne is ather of xiiij or xij fete, it wilbe drawin sa lang in the singing, as ʒe man rest in the middes of it, quhilk is the Sectioun: sa as, gif ʒour Sectioun be nocht ather a monosyllabe, or ellis the hinmest syllabe of a word as I said before, bot the first syllabe of a polysylla∣be, the Musique sall make ʒow sa to rest in the middes of that word, as it sall cut the ane half of the word fra the vther, and sa sall mak it seme twa different wordis, that is bot ane. This aucht onely to be obseruit in thir foir∣said lang lynis: for the shortnes of all shorter lynis, then thir before mentionat, is the cause, that the Musique ma∣kis na rest in the middes of thame, and thairfore thir ob∣seruationis seruis nocht for thame. Onely tak heid, that the Sectioun in thame kythe something langer nor any vther feit in that lyne, except the secound and the last, as I haue said before.

Ʒe man tak heid lykewayis, that ʒour langest lynis exceid nocht fourtene fete, and that ʒour shortest be nocht within foure.

Remember also to mak a Sectioun in the middes of euery lyne, quhether the lyne be lang or short. Be Se∣ctioun I mean, that gif ʒour lyne be of fourtene fete, ʒour aucht fute, man not only be langer then the seuint, or v∣ther short fete, bot also langer nor any vther lang fete in

the same lyne, except the secound and the hinmest. Or gif your lyne be of twelf fete, ʒour Sectioun to be in the sext Or gif of ten, ʒour Sectioun to be in the sext also. The cause quhy it is not in syue, is, because fyue is odde, and euerie odde fute is s••ort. Or gif your lyne be of aucht fete, ʒour Sectioun to be in the fourt. Gif of sex, in the fourt also. Gif of four, ʒour Sectioun to be in twa.

Ʒe aucht likewise be war with oft composing ʒour haill lynis of monosyllabis onely, (albeit our language haue sa many, as we can nocht weill eschewe it) because the maist pairt of thame are indifferent, and may be in short or lang place, as ʒe like. Some wordis of dyuers syllabis are likewayis indifferent, as

Thairfore, restore. I thairfore, then.

In the first, thairfore, (thair) is short, and (fore) is lang: In the vther, (thair) is lang, & (fore) is short, and ʒit baith flowis alike weill. Bot thir indifferent wordis, composit of dyuers syllabes, are rare, suppose in monosyllabes, cō∣moun. The cause then, quhy ane haill lyne aucht nocht to be composit of monosyllabes only, is, that they being for the maist pairt indifferent, nather the secound, hin∣mest, nor Sectioun, will be langer nor the other lang fete in the same lyne. Thairfore ʒe man place a word cō∣posit of dyuers syllabes, and not indifferent, ather in the secound, hinmest, or Sectioun, or in all thrie.

Ʒe man also tak heid, that quhen thare fallis any short syllabis efter the last lang syllabe in the lyne, that ʒe re∣peit thame in the lyne quhilk rymis to the vther, evin as ʒe set them downe in the first lyne: as for exempill, ʒe man not say

Then feir nocht Nor heir ocht. Bot Then feir nocht Nor heir nocht.

Repeting the same, nocht, in baith the lynis: because this syllabe, nocht, nather seruing for cullour not fute, is bot a tayle to the lang fute preceding, and thairfore is re∣petit lykewayis in the nixt lyne, quhilk rymes vnto it, e∣uin as it set doun in the first.

There is also a kynde of indifferent wordis, asweill as of syllabis, albeit few in nomber. The nature quhair∣of is, that gif ʒe place thame in the begynning of a lyne, they are shorter be a fute, nor they are, gif ʒe place thame hinmest in the lyne, as

Sen patience I man haue perforce. I liue in hope vvith patience.

Ʒe se there are bot aucht fete in ather of baith thir lynis aboue written. The cause quhair of is, that pa∣tience, in the first lyne, in respect it is in the beginning thairof, is bot of twa fete, and in the last lyne, of thrie, in

respect it is the hinmest word of that lyne. To knaw & discerne thir kynde of wordis frō vtheris, ʒour eare man be the onely iudge, as of all the vther parts of Flovving, the verie twichestane quhairof is Musique.

I haue teachit ʒow now shortly the reulis of Ryming, Fete, and Flovving. There restis yet to teache ʒow the wordis, sentences, and phrasis necessair for a Poete to vse in his verse, quhilk I haue set doun in reulis, as efter fol∣lowis.