Bob and wheel is the term for a pairing of two metrical schemes. The wheel is a type of rhythm used in hymns or narrative songs sung in European churches or gatherings from the 12th to the 16th Centuries. A wheel occurs when at the end of each stanza, the song and the lyric return to some peculiar rhythm. In some instances the wheel is a return to something that resembles no definable poetic rhythm. A bob is a very short line, often two assertive syllables that announces the start of the wheel. As an interruption of the usual rhythm, the bob and wheel has been compared to a

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...

in music. It is a way of adding recurring, abrupt and forceful variety to a song or verse for a short passage. It is notably used by the poet known as the

Pearl Poet The "Gawain Poet" (), or less commonly the "Pearl Poet",Andrew, M. "Theories of Authorship" (1997) in Brewer (ed). ''A Companion to the Gawain-poet'', Boydell & Brewer, p.23 (''fl.'' late 14th century) is the name given to the author of ''Sir ...

in the ballad ''

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of f ...

''. The feature is found mainly in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

and

Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtually ...

. There are at least forty known examples of the bob and wheel. The origin of the form is not known; it predates ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. The term, bob and wheel, was first used by

Edwin Guest Edwin Guest LL.D. FRS (10 September 180023 November 1880) was an English antiquary. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated as eleventh wrangler, subsequently becoming a fellow ...

in ''The History of English Rhythms''. The Pearl Poet uses the bob and wheel as a transition or pivot between his

alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...

and a summary/counterpoint

rhyming A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

verse, as in this example from the first stanza of ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. The first 14 lines use a

pentameter Pentameter ( grc, πεντάμετρος, 'measuring five (feet)') is a poetic meter. А poem is said to be written in a particular pentameter when the lines of the poem have the length of five feet, where a 'foot' is a combination of a particular ...

rhythm: The "with wynne" is the "bob", and it is immediately followed by the four-line "wheel" with its own rhymes and rhythm. The content of the bob and wheel varies, but, generally, it functions as a refrain, or a summary, or an ironic counterpoint to the stanza that preceded it. Some Modern English poets and contemporary poets have revived the use of the bob and wheel. It is often considered as a regular metrical form as the Pearl Poet uses it, but in fact, in Middle English, there is great variation, and wheels are often used without the bob.
Turville-Petre, Thorlac. ''The Alliterative Revival''. Boydell & Brewer, 1977. . p. 62-64

References

External links

* {{Pearl Poet Stanzaic form Middle English literature Poetic devices