英詩教學 - Rhymes 押韻 (二之一)

押韻(rhyme)通常指一組單字的最尾音節發音一樣。自14世紀以來，愈來愈多的英詩都講求押韻。

我保守，總是覺得詩要押韻，讀起上來才好聽，也會更易記憶。以下會介紹其中五種：

1. Perfect Rhyme
2. Half Rhyme
3. Masculine Rhyme
4. Feminine Rhyme
5. Imperfect Rhyme

Part I: 熱身

首先考考大家，以下的詩作有甚麼字是押韻?

I. Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden (節錄)

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; 

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; 

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. 

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

II. Love Me Little, Love Me Long by Anonymous (節錄)

Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song.
Love that is too hot and strong
Burneth soon to waste:
Still, I would not have thee cold,
Not too backward, nor too bold;
Love that lasteth till ’tis old
Fadeth not in haste.
Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song. 

III. Riddles in the Dark in The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

What has roots as nobody sees,

Is taller than trees

Up, up it goes,

And yet never grows?

(大家也可以猜猜這一個謎語(riddle [n.])的答案。)

IV. Riddles in the Dark in The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Thirty white horses on a red hill,

First they champ,

Then they stamp,

Then they stand still.

(大家也可以猜猜答案。)

相信要找出答案並不困難，但是大家未必知道押韻也有分類。

Part II: Perfect Rhymes

首先介紹perfect rhymes。

W. H. Auden的Funeral Blues有perfect rhymes的好例子：

He was my North, my South, my East and West, 

My working week and my Sunday rest, 

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

留意west與rest的發音相近，唯一差別在於開首的輔音分別為w和r。兩個字的元音都是/e/；元音後面的輔音同是/st/。

同樣，song和wrong的發音也相近，唯一差別在於開首的輔音分別為s和wr。兩個字的元音都是/ɒ/；元音後面的輔音同是/ŋ/。

可見：perfect rhyme是指兩個字...

• 元音前面的輔音不一樣
• 重讀元音必定相同
• 元音後面的輔音必定相同

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; 

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; 

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. 

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

問問大家：one和son是不是perfect rhymes? wood和good又是不是perfect rhymes?

(註：perfect rhyme又稱為full rhyme, exact rhyme, true rhyme)

Part III: Half Rhymes

Half rhyme與perfect rhyme的分別是：

• 元音前面的輔音不一樣
• 重讀元音不相同
• 元音後面的輔音必定相同

例如：bent與meant; freak與spark。

Emily Dickson 其中一首名作“Hope” is the thing with feathers - 有這類別的half rhyme：

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - 

That perches in the soul - 

And sings the tune without the words -  

And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -  

And sore must be the storm - 

That could abash the little Bird  

That kept so many warm -

問問大家：storm和warm是perfect rhyme還是half rhyme?

以下是 W. H. Auden的Autumn Song：

Dead in hundreds at the back  

Follow wooden in our track,  

Arms raised stiffly to reprove  

In false attitudes of love.

問問大家：哪組字是perfect rhyme、哪組字是half rhyme?



Part IV: Masculine Rhyme

首先要知道，英文字讀音有輕重之別。

一般而言，音節(syllable)多於1個的字，會有1個重讀音節(syllable stress)，而其他則為非重讀音節(unstressed syllable)。簡易起見，筆者將前者稱為「重音」，後者稱為「輕音」。

即是說，masculine rhyme是：

• 只有1個音節的字、或
• 以重讀音收尾的就是了：

The horse Fair Annet rode upon,  

He ambled like the wind;  

With silver he was shod before,  

With burning gold behind.

(Francis James Child收集的英國民謠Lord Thomas and Fair Annet)

留意upon、before和behind三個字都有兩個音節，而巧恰的是三個字的重音都是在第二個音節：

1. upon /əˈpɒn/
2. before /bɪˈfɔː(r)/
3. behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/

以下是拜倫(George Gordon Byron)的情詩One struggle more, and I am free 。學生可以嘗試找一找每對masculine rhymes，也可以解釋為何它們屬於perfect rhyme或half rhyme：

One struggle more, and I am free  

From pangs that rend my heart in twain;  

One last long sigh to love and thee,  

Then back to busy life again.  

It suits me well to mingle now  

With things that never pleased before!  

Though every joy is fled below,  

What future grief can touch me more?

Part V: Feminine Rhyme

當押韻的是輕音(非重讀音節)時，就是feminine rhyme了

以下是Lord Byron的短詩So, we'll go no more a-roving：

So, we'll go no more a-roving  

So late into the night,  

Though the heart be still as loving,  

And the moon be still as bright. 

留意a-roving和loving中，-ving都是輕輕讀出來的，所以是非重讀音節。


Part VI ：Imperfect Rhyme

當masculine 遇上feminine時 (即是重讀音遇上非重讀音)，就稱為imperfect rhyme了。例如：wing與caring。

以下數行來自Edmund Spenser的名著The Faery Queene Book II。留意第5及7行的red與garnished：

And over him art, striving to compare 

With Nature, did an arbour green dispread, 

Framed of wanton ivy, flow'ring fair, 

Through which the fragrant eglantine did spread 

His prickling arms, entrailed with roses red, 

Which dainty ordours round about them threw: 

And all within with flow'rs was garnished, 

That, when mild Zephyrus amongst them blew 

Did  breathe out bounteous smells, and painted colours shew.

由於red只有一個音節，所以必定是重讀音，而garnished最尾的-ed尾綴是非重讀音節，所以前者是masculine，後者是feminine，合起上來就是imperfect rhyme了。


Part VII：溫習時間

請為以下詩句找出各種押韻方式 (只需要留意粗體字詞)。

1. The Lay of Leithian Recommenced by J. R. R. Tolkien (lines 1 - 8)

A king there was in days of old: 

ere Men yet walked upon the mould 

his power was reared in caverns' shade, 

his hand was over glen and glade. 

Of leaves his crown, his mantle green, 

his silver lances long and keen; 

the starlight in his shield was caught, 

ere moon was made or sun was wrought.

2. In Memorial A. H. H. by Tennyson (lines 37 - 40)

Forgive my grief for one removed, 

Thy creatures, whom I found so fair. 

I trust he lives in thee, and there 

I find him worthier to be loved.

3. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?  

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.  

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.  

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,  

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;  

And every fair from fair sometime declines,  

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;  

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,  

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,  

Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,  

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.  

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,  

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

4. The Ride to Church by Sir Herbert Springett

Let others sing the wild career 

Of Turpin, Gilpin, Paul Revere. 

A gentler pace is mine. But hear!

The raindrops fell, splash! thud! splash! thud!

Till half the country-side was flood, 

And Ringmer was a waste of mud.

答案下期分佈。