ABSTRACT
We come now to the task of formulating as rules the consistent relationships observable in English metrical verse between the elementary properties of rhythmic form and the rhythmic features of the English language. We are concerned primarily with the general set that underlies the tradition as a whole, but we shall look for a way of stating it which will allow us to specify the rules that constitute any particular metre, or that govern any particular poem. A summary of the rules proposed in this chapter, including alternative statements by means o f formal conventions, is given in the Appendix (p. 357).
