Versification

Abstract

This chapter describes the chief features of versification in poetry written in the Middle High German Classical period (c.1170–c.1230) and in the remainder of the Middle High German period. The four parts of the chapter treat metre (anacrusis, interior of the line, cadence), rhyme (types of rhyme, rhyme schemes), lines of verse in context (rhythmical continuity or discontinuity between lines of verse, metrical and syntactical structures, rhyming couplets and syntactical structures), and verse forms (non-strophic verse, strophic verse in heroic and lyric poetry, the ‘Stollenstrophe’). Tips for the scansion of verse are included. Technical terminology in English and German is explained throughout. Examples are in the main drawn from the selection of texts (Chapter 5). In the case of lyric verse, the general account in this chapter is supplemented by metrical analyses of each song included in the selection.