Tumbling Verse is a coarse, highly stressed, four-beat meter that may be a survival of Anglo-Saxon meter and is certainly close to folk meters or ballads and songs. The following example comes from Gammer Gurton's Needle by "Mr. S.', a play written in the 1560s:
/
/
/
/
As Gammer Gurton with many a wide stitch
/
/
/
/
Sat piecing and patching of Hodge her man's breech,
/
/
/
/
By chance or misfortune as she her gear tossed,
/
/
/
/
In Hodge's leather breeches her needle she lost.
Use the backup arrow on your
browser to return.