Numbers and Structure
Since the numerology which Henryson almost certainly employed in his poetry has been increasingly understood in recent years, the counting of stanzas and positions for lines in Henryson's works cannot be assumed to be arbitrary. Use of numbers as a stylistic device was commonly found in medieval poetics.
Read more about this topic: The Morall Fabillis Of Esope The Phrygian
Famous quotes containing the words numbers and/or structure:
“All ye poets of the age,
All ye witlings of the stage,
Learn your jingles to reform,
Crop your numbers to conform.
Let your little verses flow
Gently, sweetly, row by row;
Let the verse the subject fit,
Little subject, little wit.
Namby-Pamby is your guide,
Albion’s joy, Hibernia’s pride.”
—Henry Carey (1693?–1743)
“... the structure of our public morality crashed to earth. Above its grave a tombstone read, “Be tolerant—even of evil.” Logically the next step would be to say to our commonwealth’s criminals, “I disagree that it’s all right to rob and murder, but naturally I respect your opinion.” Tolerance is only complacence when it makes no distinction between right and wrong.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 2, ch. 2 (1962)