I resolved
to diversify, and so heighten the effect, by adhering in general to
the monotone of sound, while I continually varied that of thought:
that is to say, I determined to produce continuously novel effects, by
the variation of the application of the refrain- the refrain itself
remaining for the most part, unvaried.
These points being settled, I next bethought me of the nature of
my refrain. Since its application was to be repeatedly varied it was
clear that the refrain itself must be brief, for there would have been
an insurmountable difficulty in frequent variations of application
in any sentence of length. In proportion to the brevity of the
sentence would, of course, be the facility of the variation. This
led me at once to a single word as the best refrain.
The question now arose as to the character of the word. Having
made up my mind to a refrain, the division of the poem into stanzas
was of course a corollary, the refrain forming the close to each
stanza. That such a close, to have force, must be sonorous and
susceptible of protracted emphasis, admitted no doubt, and these
considerations inevitably led me to the long o as the most sonorous
vowel in connection with r as the most producible consonant.
The sound of the refrain being thus determined, it became
necessary to select a word embodying this sound, and at the same
time in the fullest possible keeping with that melancholy which I
had pre-determined as the tone of the poem.
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