the last word in Shakespeare

[York:]

Ah, hark, the fatal followers do pursue,
And I am faint and cannot fly their fury;
And were I strong, I would not shun their fury.
The sands are numbered that makes up my life....

(3 Henry VI, 1.4.22-25)

This post is about an ornament that shows up in early Shakespeare plays. It consists of making successive or nearly-successive lines end in the same word, e.g. 1.4.23-24 in the passage above. [It's also common in the plays of other authors in the early days of the commercial theatre: Kyd's Spanish Tragedy has many examples.]

It probably has some technical name that I don't know*. And it probably should be studied in the wider context of the early Shakespeare's fondness for patterns of word-repetition elsewhere (e.g. the beginnings of successive lines) . But for this post, we'll ignore that and stick to the repeated line-endings only. In this post I shall just call them "repeats".

[* I don't think it would be right to adopt the rhetorical term epiphora (or its synonym epistrophe). The distinction between prosodic and rhetorical spheres should be maintained, for the good reason that sometimes the repeats do have a clearly epiphoric rhetorical function, as e.g. R3 4.4.40-46 (a pattern of anaphora and epiphora, as Wolfgang Clemen noted). But that's a separate matter. Other repeats are divided between speakers, so it may be more appropriate to see the repeat as responsive: as picking up on another's words. Or picking up on one's own words, as in the dying York's halting soliloquy, where the second line is a follow-up thought to the first. So there's a wide variety of ways in which the repeat can be used, and perhaps most often of all it's merely an ornament, that is, with the low-level but not unimportant contribution of its mite to building up the world of the scene.]

The repeat discussed here is quite different from identical rhyme in Chaucer and others. Identical rhyme requires two homonyms with different senses, whereas in Shakespeare the repeated words usually bear the same sense.

Below are some quick counts from 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI , 3 Henry VI , Richard III , The Taming of the Shrew the rather later King John and Richard II and the much later Henry V.  As I was looking at end-words I thought I might as well record rhymes at the same time. The counts are not rigorous. I've taken them from editions to hand, and haven't investigated how reliable each reading is. 

I've counted repeats and rhymes if they are adjacent or are separated by a single intervening line, but no more. This may seem like an arbitrary point, but it is not. As you can see from the tables there are quite a lot of repeats separated by one intervening line and for the most part they seem intended to be registered. [Allowing one intervening line also means that cross-rhyme gets included -- a more noticeable feature of King John and Richard II than the earlier plays.] But gaps of two or more lines raise the question whether the repetition is meaningfully foregrounded (consider e.g. King John 1.2.42, 45, 48). After all, every line-ending is certain to get repeated eventually!

I haven't counted "repeats"/"rhymes" if the words in question consist only of unstressed syllables (typically, words like "them" or "it"). I haven't counted rhymes when neither line is a pentameter (for instance, the short lines of inset songs). Some rhymes are moot so I've used my own judgment: in hindsight I perhaps should have have included rhymes where one word ends in -s and the other doesn't, but it's too late now. Since the topic is line-endings I've naturally ignored prose, but the borderline between prose and verse can sometimes be unclear (especially in The Taming of the Shrew).

Anyway, my totals are:

         repeats             rhymes
1H6      20                   123
2H6:     18                   37
3H6      44                   48
R3        58                   51
TOTS   21                   49
KJ        42                   57

R2        30                   265
H5         4                    31

The two devices are not used in the same way. For example, rhymes tend to clinch a speech or end a scene. Repeats often jump between speakers and suggest ongoing debate rather than a concluding cadence.

In viewing these figures, authorship specialists shouldn't get too excited. Both repeats and rhymes are conscious devices, and Shakespeare (or whoever) employs them  in an artistic, intuitive way, so these wide variations in the totals probably aren't significant from an authorship point of view. The chosen plays differ widely from each other; for example 1H6 has some fully rhymed scenes (mostly by Shakespeare, according to Vincent), 2H6 has quite a lot of prose, 3H6 has hardly any prose, and some scenes in R3 are very highly patterned. TOTS has a lot of fun with doggerel rhyme. The early Shakespeare is an experimentalist who's always trying out new things (in a way that seems somehow different in character from the assured mastery of later plays, notwithstanding their variety).  H5 (1599) shows the near-disappearance of repeats and the restriction of rhyme to (largely) the closing one or two couplets of a scene; though the rhymed Epilogue rather skews the figures.

1 Henry VI

Repeats:

1.1.86-87 France
1.3.15-16 here/hear 44-45 face
1.5.4-5 thee
2.5.17-18/20 come 33-34 come
3.1.68-69 Winchester 147-148 not 168-169 blood 180/182 York 186-187 York 207-208 all
3.2.117/119 Burgundy
3.3.36-37 Burgundy 74-75 men
4.1.86-87 wrong
5.3.124/126 wife 178-179 Margaret
5.4.171-172 England
5.5.66-67/69 king

Rhymes:

1.1.33-34, 89-90, 146-147, 158-159, 179-180 (ends scene)
1.2.13-14, 86-87, 92-93, 115-116, 117-118, 133-134
1.3.43-44, 45-46, 53-54, 55-56
1.4.3-4
1.6.30-31 (ends scene)
2.4.17-18, 36-37, 69-70, 127-128, 134-135 (ends scene)
2.5.8-9, 76-77, 128-129 (ends scene)
3.1.193-194
3.2.138-139 (ends scene)
4.1.194-195 (ends scene)
4.2.55-56 (ends scene)
4.3.29-30, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45,46-47, 53-54 (ends scene)
4.4.8-9, 38-39, 45-46 (ends scene)
4.5.16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 30-31, 32-33, 34-35, 36-37, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45, 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55 (ends scene)
4.6.2-3, 4-5,6-7, 8-9, 10-11,12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 30-31, 32-33, 34-35, 36-37, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45, 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55, 56-57 (ends scene)
4.7.1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20, 21-22, 23-24, 25-26, 30-31, 32-33, 36-37, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45, 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 95-96, 98-99 (ends scene)
5.1.60-62 (ends scene)
5.2.4-5, 19-20
5.3.58-59, 85-86, 108-109, 116-117
5.4.159-160
5.5.77-78

2 Henry VI

Repeats:

1.1.185-186 Protector 212-213 land
1.2.103-104 broker
1.3.136-137 law
2.2.49-50/52 son 67-68 king
2.3.32-33 realm
3.1.6,8 himself 105/107 France 241-242 life 266-267 deceit 274/276 priest
3.2.62/64 groans 299-300 Suffolk 369/371 thee
5.1.43-44 prisoner 185/187 oath 212/214 bear

Rhymes:

1.1.221-222, 270-271 (ends scene)
2.1.173-174, 175-176, 201-202, 203-204, 209-210, 211-212, 217-218 (ends scene)
2.3.35-36, 37-38, 39-40, 45-46, 47-48
3.1.203-204, 222-223, 302-303, 328-329, 387-388 (ends scene)
3.2.224-225, 309-310, 427-428 (ends scene)
3.3.25-26
4.1.83-84
4.2.141-142, 179-180
4.4.48-49
4.7.99-100
4.9.50-51
4.10.23-24
5.1.217-218, 219-220 (ends scene)
5.2.29-30, 71-72, 73-74, 89-90 (ends scene, apart from a half-line)
5.3.33-34 (ends scene)

3 Henry VI

Repeats:

1.1.13-14 blood  79-80 crown 102/104 crown 114-115 head 131/133 king 144-145 crown
1.4.23-24 fury 161-162 tears
2.1.4-5 news 25-26 suns/sun 52-53 Troy
2.2.131-132 right 153/155 day
2.3.33-34 thine
2.5.5/7 sea 6/8-9 wind 86-87 heart 104/106/108 satisfied
2.6.25-26 pity 71-72 faults
3.1.64/66 content
3.2.38/40 good 88-89 queen 97/99 queen 171-172 crown
3.342-43 sorrow 53-54 amity 78/80 queen 139-140 king 201-202 friend 207/209 him 239-240 loyalty
4.1.39-40 itself 41-42 France
4.2.24-25 him
4.3.60/62 do
4.6.26-27 virtuous 82/84 him
5.1.4-5 Montague 31/33/35 gift
5.2.7-8 shows
5.5.56-57 child 73-74 do it
5.6.13-14 bush

Rhymes:

1.1.8-9, 223-224
1.4.107-108
2.1.116-117, 122-123, 186-187
2.2.61-62, 173-174, 176-177
2.5.10-11, 19-20, 121-122
2.6.29-30, 109-110 (ends scene)
3.2.107-108, 109-110, 194-195 (ends scene)
3.3.19-20, 36-37, 127-128, 163-164, 231-232, 254-255, 264-265 (ends scene: a half-rhyme (misery/mockery))
4.1.104-105, 110-111, 147-148 (ends scene)
4.3.58-59
4.4.14-15, 23-24, 34-35 (ends scene)
4.5.28-29 (ends scene)
4.6.14-15,16-17, 30-31, 75-76, 87-88, 99-100, 101-102 (ends scene)
4.7.38-39, 71-72, 86-87 (ends scene)
4.8.60-61
5.2.27-28
5.5.39-40
5.6.90-91, 92-93 (ends scene)
5.7.45-46 (ends scene)

Richard III

Repeats:

1.1.29/31 days 55-56/58 'G' 105-106 obey
1.2.60-61 unnatural 62-63 death 80/82/84-85/87 self 124-125 effect 134-135 life 141-143 husband
1.3.54-55 grace 66-67 self 76-77 need of you 142-143 world 147-148 king 154-155 Queen thereof 159-160 me 197-198 king 199-200 Wales 250-251/253 duty 292-294 him
1.4.228-229 weep
2.1.36-37 friend 48-49 day
2.2.72-73 Clarence 74-76 gone  77-79 loss 82/84 so do I
2.4.9-11 grow
3.1.49-50 place 53-54 there 79/81 long 113-114 give 128-129 me
3.4.79-80 me
4.1.102-103 well (ends scene)
4.2.70-71 enemies 75-76 them
4.4.40-46 kill him / kill'd him 63-64 Edward 95-96 thee 140/142 crown 218-219 destiny 257/259 soul 284-285 way 350/352 last 392/394 age 410-411 but by this 452/454 go 483-484 north 502-503 arms
5.3.83-84 mother 127-128 despair and die 189-191 myself 197-199 degree 203-204 myself 253-254 enemy 266/268 attempt
5.4.7-8 horse

Rhymes:

1.1.39-40, 56-57, 58-59, 64-65, 75-77, 83-84, 99-100, 161-162 (ends scene)
1.2.267-268 (ends scene)
1.3.9-10
1.4.82-83, 247-248, 272-273 (ends scene)
2.4.14-15
3.1.93-94
3.4.106-107 (ends scene)
3.6.13-14 (ends scene)
3.7.2-3, 103-104, 220-221
4.2.63-64, 121-122 (ends scene)
4.3.54-55, 56-57 (ends scene)
4.4.15-16, 20-21, 24-25, 103-104, 114-115, 124-125, 130-131, 166-167, 168-169, 170-171, 195-196, 210-211, 395-396
5.1.28-29 (ends scene)
5.2.23-24 (ends scene)
5.3.17-18, 150-151, 156-157, 166-167, 172-173, 174-175, 176-177, 183-184, 270-271, 305-306, 313-314
5.5.38-39, 40-41  (ends scene)

The Taming of the Shrew

Repeats:

1.1.213-214 Lucentio
1.2.74-75 Padua 97/99 Minola 157-158 it is 172-173 prove
2.1.141-142 pale 187-188 Kate 200-201 and so are you 207/209 buzzard 230/232 sour 275-276 Kate 376/378 argosy
4.1.112-113 before
4.3.7-8 entreat 95/97 time
4.4.36/38 well
4.5.4-5 bright 17-18 sun
5.2.21/23 that 81-82 come 133/135 her

Rhymes:

Induction.2.116-117
1.1.3-4, 64-65, 68-69, 70-71, 158-159, 166-167
1.2.11-12, 17-18, 34-35, 173-174, 187-188, 212-213, 227-228, 229-230, 243-244, 278-279 (ends scene)
2.1.73-74, 239-240, 325-326, 328-329, 332-333, 339-340, 341-342, 404-405
3.1.13-14, 71-76, 89-90 (ends scene)
3.2.246-247
4.1.197-198 (ends scene)
4.2.44-45, 57-58
4.3.37-38, 55-56, 57-58, 59-60, 116-117
4.4.104-105 (ends scene)
4.5.23-24, 78-79 (ends scene)
5.1.128-129, 139-140 (ends scene)
5.2.2-3, 178-179, 180-181, 182-183, 184-185, 186-187, 188-189 (ends scene)

King John

Repeats:

1.1.3-5
2.1.86/88 to heaven 144-145 robe 180-181 Earth 201-202 will 211-212 subjects 378-379 king 444/446/448 Blanche 523-524 myself 525-526 her eye 538/540 love 557-558 hands 559-560 assured 620/622 rich
3.1.9-10 man 13-16 fears 27/29 true 40-41 done 62-63 John 85-86 day 135/137/139 limbs 210-211 Cardinal 214/216 Rome 219/221 faith 272-273 faith 278-279 thyself 295/297 forsworn
3.3.56-57 well
3.4.23-24 redress 74-75 liberty 94-95 child 142/144 fall 146-147 Arthur did
4.1.65/67 do it
4.2.131-132 France 158-159 so 213/215 Arthur's death
4.3.29/31 now 40-41 grave 59-61/63 hand 75-76 you
5.2.100-101

Rhymes:

1.1.42-43, 84-85, 149-151, 154-155, 156-157, 168-169, 170-171, 173-174, 175/177, 176/178, 179-180, 181-182, 184-185, 186-187, 209-210, 265-266, 279-280, 281/283, 282/284 (ends scene)
2.1.148-149, 430-431, 432-433, 526/528, 527/529, 530-531, 623-624, 625-626 (ends scene)
3.1.11-12, 63-66, 76-77, 229-230, 323-324, 336-337, 340-341, 352-353, 361-362 (ends scene)
3.4.59/61, 107-108, 186-187 (ends scene)
4.1.60-61, 147-148 (ends scene)
4.2.54-55, 101-102, 103-104, 156-157, 258/260, 280-281 (ends scene)
4.3.7-8, 9-10, 166-167
5.1.80-81 (ends scene)
5.2.182-183 (ends scene)
5.4.22-23, 61-62 (ends scene)
5.7.72-73, 109/111, 123-124 (ends scene)

Richard II     (Folger online text)

Repeats:

1.3.264-265 time

2.1.82/84 gaunt 98-99-100 ill 131-132 Edward's son 245-246 him

2.2.40-41 what/wot 134/136 love

2.3.18-19 company 89/91 uncle 109-110 fault

3.2.97-98 care

3.3.16-17 should 158-159 grave 162/164 head

3.4.24-25 good 58/60 Bolingbroke 73-74 deposed

4.1.139-140-141 king 181-182 amen 188/190 king 292/294 face

5.1.34-35 beasts 63/65 way 73/75 me

5.3.27-28 alone 111-112 have 114-115 stand up

5.5.9-10 world

Rhymes:

1.1.19-20, 42-43, 44-45, 46-47, 69-70, 84-85, 111-112, 126-127, 137-138, 154-155, 158-159,

160-161, 162-163, 164-165, 167-168, 169-170, 171-172, 173-174, 175-176, 177-178, 180-181, 

182-183, 184-185, 186-187, 188-189, 190-191, 192-193, 194-195, 196-197, 198-199, 200-201,

206-207, 208-209, 210-211 (ends scene)

1.2.56-57, 58-59, 62-63, 65-66, 68-69, 71-72, 73-74, 75-76 (ends scene)

1.3.28-29, 55-56, 57-58, 59-60, 61-62, 65-66, 67-68, 83-84, 93-94, 95-96, 97-98, 146-147,

148-149, 174-175, 177-178, 179-180, 210-211, 215-216, 219-220, 227-228, 229-230, 231-232,

233-234, 235-236, 237-238, 241-242, 243-244, 245-246, 247-248, 249-250, 251-252, 253-254,

255-256, 257-258, 284-285, 299-300, 309-310, 311-312, 315-316 (ends scene)

2.1.9-10, 12/14, 13/15, 16-17, 18-19, 25-26, 30-31, 32-33, 92-93, 96-97, 137-138, 142-143,

144-145, 146-147, 150-151, 152-153, 157-158, 159-160, 161-162, 171-172, 175/177, 176/178, 

218-219, 220-221, 231-232,  272-273, 297/299, 308-309, 310-311 (ends scene)

2.2.24-25, 27-28, 32-33, 71-72, 128-129, 149-150, 153-154, 155-156 (ends scene)

2.3.172-173, 174-175 (ends scene)

2.4.16-17, 21-22, 23-24 (ends scene)

3.1.34/36, 45/47 (ends scene)

3.2.62-63, 72-73, 74-75, 77/79, 78/80, 81-82, 104-105, 122-123, 144-145, 189-190, 191-192,

193-194, 195-196, 197-198, 199/201, 200/202, 216-217, 218-219, 220-221, 223-224, 

225-226 (ends scene)

3.3.72-73, 134-135, 173-174, 175-176/178, 179-180, 185-186, 189-190, 193/195, 204-205,

212-213, 216-217, 219-220 (ends scene)

3.4.30-31, 71-72, 97-98, 103-104, 105-106, 107-108, 109-110, 111-112, 113-114 (ends scene)

4.1.154-155, 183-184, 197-198, 199-200, 201-202, 203-204, 205-206, 207-208, 210-211,

223-224, 225-226, 227-228, 229-230, 330-331, 335-336, 337-338, 346-347 (ends scene)

5.1.24-25, 81-82, 83-84, 85-86, 87-88, 89-90, 91-92, 93-94, 95-96, 97-98-99-100, 101-102,

103-104 (ends scene)

5.2.42-43, 49/51, 54-55, 59-60

5.3.34-35-36, 70-71, 72-73, 75-76, 77-78, 79-80, 81-82, 83-84, 85-86, 87-88, 89-90, 91-92,

94-95, 96-97, 98-99, 100-101, 103-104, 105-106, 107-108, 109-110, 116-117, 118-119, 120-121,

122-123, 124-125, 126-127, 129-130, 131-132, 135-136, 137-138, 139-140, 142-143, 149-150,

151-152-153 (ends scene)

5.4.11-12

5.5.69-70, 97-98-99, 100-101, 113-114, 115-116, 117-118, 119-120, 121-122 (ends scene)

5.6.2-3, 7-8, 9-10,  11-12, 17-18, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 33-34, 35-36, 37-38, 39-40,

41-42, 43-44, 45-46, 47-48, 49-50, 51-52 (ends scene)

Henry V

Repeats:

1.2.132/134 England
4.1.247-248 ceremony 290/292 peace
4.8.95-96 France

Rhymes:

1.Prol 33-34, 35-36 (ends scene)
1.2.320-321, 322-323 (ends scene)
2.Prol 39-40, 41-42 (ends scene)
2.2.201-202 (ends scene)
3. Prol 36-37 (ends scene)
3.1.36-37 (ends scene)
3.3.42-43, 58-59 (ends scene)
3.5.70-71 (ends scene)
3.7.160-161 (ends scene)
4.Prol.53-54 (ends scene)
4.1.269-270, 319-320 (ends scene)
4.2.37-38, 63-64 (ends scene)
4.3.139-140 (ends scene)
4.5.24-25 (ends scene)
4.8.130-131 (ends scene)
5.Prol.46-47
5.2.366-367, 385-386 (ends scene)
5.Epilogue. 1/3, 2/4, 5/7, 6/8, 9/11, 10/12, 13-14 (ends scene)

These notes on Shakespeare: full list