STUDIES IN ÆSTHETIC PROCESSES. — часть 5

ÍII ÍII ÍII Í / ÍII ÍII ÍII Í Without rhyme.

Each dactyl (ÍII) 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.

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 coördination 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: ÍII ÍII ÍII Í / ÍII ÍII ÍII Í (with rhyme).

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

The pause between the two verses was gradually lessened.

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.

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:

Iambic tetrameters; four-verse stanzas.

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

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 'Gestaltqualität' 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.

Marage13 has an excellent summary of the methods with practical comments on their applicability. Rousselot14 (Histoire des applications de phonétique expérimentale, 401-417: objets et appareils, 1-10 et 669-700) gives a careful history of the methods from the phonetic point of view. Scripture15 gives a convenient English summary of the processes.

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. Hensen16 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.

Fig. 3. Diagrammatic section of recording apparatus. a, diaphragm; s, stylus; g, guide; p, section of plate.

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.

Opposite p. 436.

The apparatus is shown arranged for taking parallel records on the smoked glass disc, and on the cylinder of the graphophone. On the left is shown the microscope with which the records on the glass disc were measured.

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.

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:

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:

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).

Fig. 6.

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.

	Intensities.									Average length of first 3 sonants.	Length of last 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.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8 Iambic Tetrameter Verse (with the accent on the second foot)

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 cæsura, 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.

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 sonants.	Length of last 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	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 in 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.

Fig. 9.

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 coördinated 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 coördinated muscular activity as that necessary for a simple rhythm. Sherrington17 and Hering18have 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 coördinated movements Hering denies any simultaneous stimulation of the two sets and considers the question of the innervation mechanism of opposing muscle-sets entirely unsettled.

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 Müller's19 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.

The curve of contraction and relaxation of a simple muscle is well known and is not affected by Müller'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. Cleghorn20 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.

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 Hofbauer21 and Cleghorn22show that any strong stimulus to either eye or ear modifies decidedly the reactions of coördinated 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?

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 coördinated. 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 coördination, or destroy it if already established?

Hofbauer demonstrated that a stimulus which appears in close proximity to the limiting sensation, either before or after, always increases the force of the reaction, so that such a slight displacement could not affect the rhythm, which would quickly readjust itself. The possibility of a stimulus occurring in the relaxation phase is of much more importance for a motor theory of the initiation of a rhythmic movement. Cleghorn made the stimulus occur at the beginning of the relaxation phase. Instead of prolonging or reinstating the contraction phase, he found that the stimulus intensified the relaxation process and shortened its period. "The stimulated relaxation is not only quicker than the normal, but also more complete; the end of the normal relaxation is slow; ... relaxation under the influence of the stimulus, on the contrary, shows nothing of this, but is a sudden sharp drop directly to the base line and sometimes below it." A comparison of the normal phases with the same phases, when the stimulus occurs within the relaxation phase, follows:

Normal: Contraction-phase, .44 sec.; relaxation-phase, .54 sec.; total, .98 sec.

With stim.: Contraction-phase, .47 sec.: relaxation-phase, .30 sec.; total, .77 sec.

It will be noticed that the total time of the movement cycle is reduced. One may then assume that a sound which occurs too early to become a factor in the limiting sensation, functions as a stimulus to the relaxation process and shortens the interval between the limiting sensations. Thus the movement cycle would be modified, but not destroyed. It is impossible to say just how the relaxation process is affected, and Cleghorn's own conclusions are open to criticism in the light of Müller's comments on the method. The simplest assumption would be that the stimulus acted on the negative set of muscles.

E.W. Scripture23 objects to such a 'tonus theory,' because some subjects regularly react before the signal. But in no case in the published records to which he refers is the error more than.05 sec. either before or after the signal. The investigation of Hofbauer shows conclusively that in such cases the effect of the external stimulus simply fuses with the limiting sensation. Scripture overlooks the automatic character of the rhythmic movement.

There is a striking difference between rhythmic movement from unit group to unit group within a period, and movement from period to period (i.e., from verse to verse of nonsense syllables). Each foot is simply the repetition of the movement cycle; all the tensions are maintained, and each foot is an integral part of a larger act. At the close of the period (verse) the active tensions die out, either because of the introduction of some unusual stimulus which causes the positive muscle set to strike a heavy blow, and abruptly upset the balanced tensions, or because a pause of indefinite length ensues in which the tensions die out. This is the process which we call 'finality.'

In the stanza there is evidently a different type of unity from that in the single verse. When we hear the first verse of the stanza, we do not know what the verse whole is, until the finality factor or the verse pause is reached, at its close. Then the verse has a certain definite cumulative effect, a synthetic effect which results from the echoes of the various movements and the total effect on the organism. One may call it the tetrameter feeling. The verse pause may vary within large limits, but after a few verses there is a definite scheme, or 'Gestaltqualität,' which represents the verse unity. It is some sort of a memory image, which functions as a cue to the motor process. This motor image, set of strains, or whatever it be, is more than a mere standard by which we judge the present verse. The memory image fuses in some way with the living motor process. The preceding verse affects the character of the following verse. An irregularity, easily noted in the first verse, is obscure in the second, and not detected in the third verse, when the verses are identical.