In the works of the earlier Modern English poets some words ending in these syllables are only exceptionally used with the accent on the last syllable according to the Old French or Middle English accentuation, the Modern English accentuation being the usual one; others are employed more frequently or even exclusively with the earlier accentuation, e.g. _paláce_ Sur. 174, _bondáge_ Wyatt 224, _traváil_ Sur. 82, Wyatt 19, _certáin_ ib. 179, _mountáin_ Sur. 37, _chieftáin_ ib. 112, _cristál_ Wyatt 156, _presénce_ ib. 81, _grievánce_ ib. 55, _penánce_ ib. 209, _balánce_ ib. 173, _pleasánt_ ib. 130, _tormént_ (subst.) ib. 72, _fevér_, _fervóur_ ib. 210, _mistréss_ ib. 109, _richés_ ib. 209, _justíce_ ib. 229, _servíce_ ib. 177, _engíne_ Sur. 130, _seasón_ ib. 149, _honóur_ ib. 166, _armóur_ 148, _colóur_: _therefóre_ Wyatt 6, _terrór_: _succóur_ ib. 210, &c., _fortúne_: _tune_ ib. 152, Sur. 115, _measúre_ Wyatt 125, _natúre_: _unsúre_ ib. 144, _glorý_: _mercý_ ib. 208.
In almost all these cases and in many other words with the same endings this accentuation seems to be due to the requirements of the rhythm, in which case level stress must be assumed.
§ =122.= It is the same with many other disyllabic words, especially those both syllables of which are almost of equal sound-value and degree of stress, as in cases in which two different meanings of one and the same word are indicated by different accentuation, a distinction not unfrequently neglected in the metrical treatment of these words.
So the following adjectives and participles are used by Shakespeare and other poets with variable accentuation: _complete_, _adverse_, _benign_, _contrived_, _corrupt_, _despised_, _dispersed_, _distinct_, _distract_, _diverse_, _eterne_, _exact_, _exhaled_, _exiled_, _expired_, _express_, _extreme_, _famous_, _insane_, _invised_, _misplaced_, _misprised_, _obscure_, _perfect_, _profane_, _profound_, _remiss_, _secure_, _severe_, _sincere_, _supreme_, _terrene_; and so are also the many adjectives and participles compounded with the prefix _un-_, as e.g. _unborn_, _unchaste_, _unkind_, &c. (cf. Alexander Schmidt, _Shakespeare-Lexicon_).
Substantives and verbs are treated in a similar way, e.g. _c+o+mf+ó+rt_ (subst.) Wyatt 14, _r+e+c+ó+rd_ ib. 156, _d+i+sc+ó+rd_ Sur. 6, _c+o+nfl+í+ct_ ib. 85, _p+u+rch+á+se_ ib. 58, _m+i+sch+íe+f_ Wyatt 78, _s+a+fegu+á+rd_ ib. 212, _M+a+d+á+me_ ib. 149, _pr+o+m+é+ss_ ib. 25. So also in Shakespeare (cf. Alexander Schmidt, l.c.): _+á+cc+e+ss_, _+a+sp+é+ct_, _c+o+mm+é+rce_, _c+o+ns+ó+rt_, _c+o+ntr+á+ct_, _c+o+mp+á+ct_, _+e+d+í+ct_, _i+nst+í+nct_, _+ou+tr+á+ge_, _pr+e+c+é+pts_, _c+é+m+e+nt_, _c+ó+nd+u+t_ (vb.), _c+ó+nf+i+ne_, _p+ú+rs+ue+_, _r+é+l+a+pse_ (cf. _Metrik_, ii. § 62).