1. Inventories of Short and Long Syllables. 2. Inventory of Optional Elisions. 3. Comparative Scansions.
COMPARATIVE ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC AND MORAIC SCANSIONS OF CAMPION’S SAPPHIC, ‘COME LET US SOUND WITH MELODIE’, STANZAS 2-6
‘The quantitative Sapphic 'template', as defined by Ing and Davis (Davis 1967: 48) is as follows, where ̅ indicates a long syllable and ̆ a short syllable.
̅ ̆ ̅ ̅ ̅ ̆ ̆ ̅ ̆ ̅ ̅
̅ ̆ ̆ ̅ ̅
Accentual-syllabic scansion:
Here, CAPS show accentually prominent syllables, which would normally be considered strong or stressed in accentual-syllabic scansion. Asterisks indicate contrasts between the Sapphic 'template' and Campion's text. I have modernized Campion's spelling for ease of reading in this and the following scansion.
HEAV'N is *his THRONE *per-*PE-tu-A-l*ly SHI-*ning
HIS di-VINE POW'R *and *GLO-ry THENCE he THUN-*ders
ONE in ALL *and ALL *STILL in ONE a-BI-*ding
BOTH *FA-ther *and SON
O *SA-*cred SPRITE, *in-*VI-si-BLE e-TER-*nal
EV-'ry WHERE, YET *un-LI-mi-TED that ALL THINGS
CANST in ONE MO-*ment *PE-ne-TRATE, re-VIVE *me
O *HO-ly SPI-*rit
RES-cue, O RES-*cue *ME from EARTH-ly DARK-*ness
BA-nish HENCE ALL *these *E-le-MEN-tal OB-*jects
GUIDE my SOUL *that THIRSTS to the LI-vely FOUN-*tain
OF thy di-VINE-*ness
CLEANSE my SOUL, O GOD, *THY be-SPO-tted I-*mage
AL-te-RED *with SIN so that HEAV'N-ly PURE-*ness
CAN not *ac-KNOW-*ledge me *BUT *in THY MER-*cies
O *FA-ther *of GRACE
BUT when ONCE *thy BEAMS do re-MOVE my DARK-*ness
O *THEN *i'll SHINE FORTH as an AN-gel *of LIGHT
AND re-CORD *with MORE than an EARTH-ly VOICE, THY
IN-fi-*NITE HO-*nours
Quantitative scansion:
Here, CAPS indicate long syllables, and asterisks show places where Campion may be making exceptions to his scansion rules. I have numbered stanzas for ease of reference in my discussion of linguistic quantities below.
2. HEAV'N i- s'HIS THRONE PER- pe- tu- *A- lly SHI- NING
HIS di- VINE POW'R AND glo- ry THENCE he THUN- DERS
ONE i- n'ALL AND ALL sti- ll'i- n'ONE a- BI-DING
BOTH *fa-the- r'AND SON.
3. O *sa-CRED SPRITE, IN-vi-si-BLE e- TER- NAL
EV-'ry WHERE, YET UN-li-mi-TED, THAT ALL THINGS
CANST i- n'ONE MO-MENT pe-ne-TRATE, re-VIVE ME
O ho-ly *SPI-RIT
4. RES-cue, O RES-*CUE me fro- m'EARTH-ly DARK-NES
*BA-ni- sh'HENCE ALL THESE e-le-MEN-ta- l'OB-JECTS
GUIDE my SOUL THAT THIRSTS to the LI-vely FOUN-TAIN
OF thy di-VINE-NESS
5. CLEANSE my SOUL, O GOD, thy be-*SPO-tte- *d'I-MAGE
AL-te-RED WITH SINNE so tha- t'HEAV'N-ly PURE-NESS
CAN no-t'ACK-NOW-LEDGE me bu- t'IN thy MER-CIES
O *FA-the- r'OF GRACE
6. BUT whe- n'ONCE THY BEAMES do re-MOVE my DARK-NESS
O the- n'I'LL SHINE FORTH a- s'a- n'AN-ge- l'OF LIGHT
AND re-CORD, WITH MORE tha- n'a- n'EARTH-ly VOICE, THY
IN-fi-ni-t'HO-NOURS.
In stanza two, the '-a-' in 'perpetual', according to Dobson was often long in Campion's period. In stanzas two and five, although there is evidence of long 'fa-' in 'father' by the late seventeenth century, it was in the process of lengthening from the shorter Middle English vowel during Campion's period (Dobson 1968: 467, 531, 534 n.5). In stanza three, Campion scans the first syllable of 'sacred' short, as was common (Dobson 1968: 468). In stanza five, he scans the first syllable of 'spotted' long, and although Dobson provides no examples using the word 'spot', he does provide other instances of long /oː/ in words where Present English has /ɒ/ (1968: 496), as does Campion: in stanza six, for example, Campion scans 'honour' as in his treatise (see also Appendix 2; the second syllable is long because of the 's' in the plural form). As Dobson explains, 'long vowels (which in some cases are probably due to etymologically related words) are also recorded, sometimes in words in which Present English retains the original short vowel' (1968: 496). This may be the situation with the first syllable of 'banished' in stanza four, which Campion scans long. Though Dobson does not discuss 'banished' itself, he gives parallel examples in 'super-natural, ... parity, satisfy, sacrament, sacrifice, and sacrilege' (1968: 496).