The Grammar of English Grammars/Part IV/Chapter IV
CHAPTER IV.—VERSIFICATION.
Versification is the forming of that species of literary composition which is called verse; that is, poetry, or poetic numbers.
SECTION I.—OF VERSE.
[edit]Verse, in opposition to prose, is language arranged into metrical lines of some determinate length and rhythm—language so ordered as to produce harmony, by a due succession of poetic feet, or of syllables differing in quantity or stress.
DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES.
The rhythm of verse is its relation of quantities; the modulation of its numbers; or, the kind of metre, measure, or movement, of which it consists, or by which it is particularly distinguished.
The quantity of a syllable, as commonly explained, is the relative portion of time occupied in uttering it. In poetry, every syllable is considered to be either long or short. A long syllable is usually reckoned to be equal to two short ones.
In the construction of English verse, long quantity coincides always with the primary accent, generally also with the secondary, as well as with emphasis; and short quantity, as reckoned by the poets, is found only in unaccented syllables, and unemphatical monosyllabic words.[1]
The quantity of a syllable, whether long or short, does not depend on what is called the long or the short sound of a vowel or diphthong, or on a supposed distinction of accent as affecting vowels in some cases and consonants in others, but principally on the degree of energy or loudness with which the syllable is uttered, whereby a greater or less portion of time is employed.
The open vowel sounds, which are commonly but not very accurately termed long, are those which are the most easily protracted, yet they often occur in the shortest and feeblest syllables; while, on the other hand, no vowel sound, that occurs under the usual stress of accent or of emphasis, is either so short in its own nature, or is so "quickly joined to the succeeding letter," that the syllable is not one of long quantity.
Most monosyllables, in English, are variable in quantity, and may be made either long or short, as strong or weak sounds suit the sense and rhythm; but words of greater length are, for the most part, fixed, their accented syllables being always long, and a syllable immediately before or after the accent almost always short.
One of the most obvious distinctions in poetry, is that of rhyme and blank verse. Rhyme is a similarity of sound, combined with a difference: occurring usually between the last syllables of different lines, but sometimes at other intervals; and so ordered that the rhyming syllables begin differently and end alike. Blank verse is verse without rhyme.
The principal rhyming syllables are almost always long. Double rhyme adds one short syllable; triple rhyme, two. Such syllables are redundant in iambic and anapestic verses; in lines of any other sort, they are generally, if not always, included in the measure.
A Stanza is a combination of several verses, or lines, which, taken together, make a regular division of a poem. It is the common practice of good versifiers, to form all stanzas of the same poem after one model. The possible variety of stanzas is infinite; and the actual variety met with in print is far too great for detail.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Verse, in the broadest acceptation of the term, is poetry, or metrical language, in general. This, to the eye, is usually distinguished from prose by the manner in which it is written and printed. For, in very many instances, if this were not the case, the reader would be puzzled to discern the difference. The division of poetry into its peculiar lines, is therefore not a mere accident. The word verse, from the Latin versus, literally signifies a turning. Each full line of metre is accordingly called a verse; because, when its measure is complete, the writer turns to place another under it. A verse, then, in the primary sense of the word with us, is, "A line consisting of a certain succession of sounds, and number of syllables."—Johnson, Walker, Todd, Bottes, and others. Or, according to Webster, it is, "A poetic line, consisting of a certain number of long and short syllables, disposed according to the rules of the species of poetry which the author intends to compose."—See American Dict., 8vo.
- If to settle the theory of English verse on true and consistent principles, is as difficult a matter, as the manifold contrarieties of doctrine among our prosodists would indicate, there can be no great hope of any scheme entirely satisfactory to the intelligent examiner. The very elements of the subject are much perplexed by the incompatible dogmas of authors deemed skillful to elucidate it. It will scarcely be thought a hard matter to distinguish true verse from prose, yet is it not well agreed, wherein the difference consists: what the generality regard as the most essential elements or characteristics of the former, some respectable authors dismiss entirely from their definitions of both verse and versification. The existence of quantity in our language; the dependence of our rhythms on the division of syllables into long and short; the concurrence of our accent, (except in some rare and questionable instances,) with long quantity only; the constant effect of emphasis to lengthen quantity; the limitation of quantity to mere duration of sound; the doctrine that quantity pertains to all syllables as such, and not merely to vowel sounds; the recognition of the same general principles of syllabication in poetry as in prose; the supposition that accent pertains not to certain letters in particular, but to certain syllables as such; the limitation of accent to stress, or percussion, only; the conversion of short syllables into long, and long into short, by a change of accent; our frequent formation of long syllables with what are called short vowels; our more frequent formation of short syllables with what are called long or open vowels; the necessity of some order in the succession of feet or syllables to form a rhythm; the need of framing each line to correspond with some other line or lines in length; the propriety of always making each line susceptible of scansion by itself: all these points, so essential to a true explanation of the nature of English verse, though, for the most part, well maintained by some prosodists, are nevertheless denied by some, so that opposite opinions may be cited concerning them all. I would not suggest that all or any of these points are thereby made doubtful; for there may be opposite judgements in a dozen cases, and yet concurrence enough (if concurrence can do it) to establish them every one.
- An ingenious poet and prosodist now living,[2] Edgar Allan Poe, (to whom I owe a word or two of reply,) in his "Notes upon English Verse," with great self-complacency, represents, that, "While much has been written upon the structure of the Greek and Latin rhythms, comparatively nothing has been done as regards the English;" that, "It may be said, indeed, we are without a treatise upon our own versification;" that "The very best" definition of versification[3] to be found in any of "our ordinary treatises on the topic," has "not a single point which does not involve an error;" that, "A leading deft in each of these treatises is the confining of the subject to mere versification, while metre, or rhythm, in general, is the real question at issue;" that, "Versification is not the art, but the act—of making verses;" that, "A correspondence in the length of lines is by no means essential;" that "Harmony" produced "by the regular alternation of syllables differing in quantity," does not include "melody;" that "A regular alternation, as described, forms no part of the principle of metre:" that "There is no necessity of any regularity in the succession of feet;" that, "By consequence," he ventures to "dispute the essentiality of any alternation, regular or irregular, of syllables long and short:" that, "For anything more intelligible or more satisfactory than this definition [i. e., G. Brown's former definition of versification,] we shall look in vain in any published treatise upon the subject;" that, "So general and so total a failure can be referred only to some radical misconception;" that, "The word verse is derived (through versus from the Latin verto, I turn,) and * * * * it can be nothing but this derivation, which has led to the error of our writers upon prosody;" that, "It is this which has seduced them into regarding the line itself—the versus, or turning—as an essential, or principle of metre;" that, "Hence the term versification has been employed as sufficiently general, or inclusive, for treatises upon rhythm in general;" that, "Hence, also, [comes] the precise catalogue of a few varieties of English lines, when these varieties are, in fact, almost without limit;" that, "I," the aforesaid Edgar Allan Poe, "shall dismiss entirely, from the consideration of the principle of rhythm, the idea of versification, or the construction of verse;" that, "In so doing, we shall avoid a world of confusion;" that, "Verse is, indeed, an afterthought, or an embellishment, or an improvement, rather than an element of rhythm;" that, "This fact has induced the easy admission, into the realms of Poesy, of such works as the 'Télémaque' of Fenelon;" because, forsooth, "In the elaborate modulation of their sentences, THEY FULFIL THE IDEA OF METRE."—The Pioneer, a Literary and Critical Magazine (Boston, March, 1843,) Vol. I, p. 102 to 105.
- "Holding these things in view," continues this sharp connoisseur, "the prosodist who rightly examines that which constitutes the external, or most immediately recognisable, form of Poetry, will commence with the definition of Rhythm. Now rhythm, from the Greek [Greek: arithmos], number, is a term which, in its present application, very nearly conveys its own idea. No more proper word could be employed to present the conception intended; for rhythm, in prosody, is, in its last analysis, identical with time in music. For this reason," says he, "I have used, throughout this article, as synonymous with rhythm, the word metre from [Greek: metron], measure. Either the one or the other may be defined as the arrangement of words into two or more consecutive, equal, pulsations of time. These pulsations are feet. Two feet, at least, are requisite to constitute a rhythm; just as, in mathematics, two units are necessary to form [a] number.[4] The syllables of which the foot consists, when the foot is not a syllable in itself, are subdivisions of the pulsations. No equality is demanded in these subdivisions. It is only required that, so far as regards two consecutive feet at least, the sum of the times of the syllables in one, shall be equal to the sum of the times of the syllables in the other. Beyond two pulsations there is no necessity for equality of time. All beyond is arbitrary or conventional. A third or fourth pulsation may embody half, or double, or any proportion of the time occupied in the two first. Rhythm being thus understood, the prosodist should proceed to define versification as the making of verses, and verse as the arbitrary or conventional isolation of rhythm into masses of greater or less extent."—Ib., p. 105.
- No marvel that all usual conceptions and definitions of rhythm, of versification, and of verse, should be found dissatisfactory to the critic whose idea of metre is fulfilled by the pompous prose of Fenelon's Télémaque. No right or real examination of this matter can ever make the most immediately recognizable form of poetry to be any thing else than the form of verse—the form of writing in specific lines, ordered by number and chime of syllables, and not squared by gage of the composing-stick. And as to the derivation and primitive signification of rhythm, it is plain that in the extract above, both are misrepresented. The etymology there given is a gross error; for, "the Greek [Greek: arithmos], number," would make, in English, not rhythm, but arithm, as in arithmetic. Between the two combinations, there is the palpable difference of three or four letters in either six; for neither of these forms can be varied to the other, but by dropping one letter, and adding an other, and changing a third, and moving a fourth. Rhythm is derived, not thence, but from the Greek [Greek: rhythmos]; which, according to the lexicons, is a primitive word, and means, rhythmus, rhythm, concinnity, modulation, measured tune, or regular flow, and not "number."
- Rhythm, of course, like every other word not misapplied, "conveys its own idea;" and that, not qualifiedly, or "very nearly," but exactly. That this idea, however, was originally that of arithmetical number, or is nearly so now, is about as fanciful a notion, as the happy suggestion added above, that rhythm in lieu of arithm or number, is the fittest of words, because "rhythm in prosody is time in music!" Without dispute, it is important to the prosodist, and also to the poet or versifier, to have as accurate an idea as possible of the import of this common term, though it is observable that many of our grammarians make little or no use of it. That it has some relation to numbers, is undeniable. But what is it? Poetic numbers, and numbers in arithmetic, and numbers in grammar, are three totally different sorts of things. Rhythm is related only to the first. Of the signification of this word, a recent expositor gives the following brief explanation: "RHYTHM, n. Metre; verse; numbers. Proportion applied to any motion whatever."—Bolles's Dictionary, 8vo. To this definition, Worcester prefixes the following: "The consonance of measure and time in poetry, prose composition, and music;—also in dancing."—Universal and Critical Dict. In verse, the proportion which forms rhythm—that is, the chime of quantities—is applied to the sounds of syllables. Sounds, however, may be considered as a species of motion, especially those which are rhythmical or musical.[5] It seems more strictly correct, to regard rhythm as a property of poetic numbers, than to identify it with them. It is their proportion or modulation, rather than the numbers themselves. According to Dr. Webster, "RHYTHM, or RHYTHMUS, in music [is] variety in the movement as to quickness or slowness, or length and shortness of the notes; or rather the proportion which the parts of the motion have to each other."—American Dict. The "last analysis" of rhythm can be nothing else than the reduction of it to its least parts. And if, in this reduction, it is "identical with time," then it is here the same thing as quantity, whether prosodical or musical; for, "The time of a note, or syllable, is called quantity. The time of a rest is also called quantity; because rests, as well as notes are a constituent of rhythm."—Comstock's Elocution, p. 64. But rhythm is, in fact, neither time nor quantity; for the analysis which would make it such, destroys the relation in which the thing consists.
SECTION II.—OF ACCENT AND QUANTITY.
[edit]Accent and Quantity have already been briefly explained in the second chapter of Prosody, as items coming under the head of Pronunciation. What we have to say of them here, will be thrown into the form of critical observations; in the progress of which, many quotations from other writers on these subjects, will be presented, showing what has been most popularly taught.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Accent and quantity are distinct things;[6] the former being the stress, force, loudness, or percussion of voice, that distinguishes certain syllables from others; and the latter, the time, distinguished as long or short, in which a syllable is uttered. But, as the great sounds which we utter, naturally take more time than the small ones, there is a necessary connexion between quantity and accent in English,—a connexion which is sometimes expounded as being the mere relation of cause and effect; nor is it in fact much different from that. "As no utterance can be agreeable to the ear, which is void of proportion; and as all quantity, or proportion of time in utterance, depends upon a due observation of the accent; it is a matter of absolute necessity to all, who would arrive at a good and graceful delivery, to be master of that point. Nor is the use of accent in our language confined to quantity alone; but it is also the chief mark by which words are distinguished from mere syllables. Or rather I may say, it is the very essence of words, which without that, would be only so many collections of syllables."—Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution, p. 61. "As no utterance which is void of proportion, can be agreeable to the ear; and as quantity, or proportion of time in utterance, greatly depends on a due attention to the accent; it is absolutely necessary for every person, who would attain a just and pleasing delivery, to be master of that point."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 241; 12mo, 194.
- In the first observation on Prosody, at page 770, and in its marginal notes, was reference made to the fact, that the nature and principles of accent and quantity are involved in difficulty, by reason of the different views of authors concerning them. To this source of embarrassment, it seems necessary here again to advert; because it is upon the distinction of syllables in respect to quantity, or accent, or both, that every system of versification, except his who merely counts, is based. And further, it is not only requisite that the principle of distinction which we adopt should be clearly made known, but also proper to consider which of these three modes is the best or most popular foundation for a theory of versification. Whether or wherein the accent and quantity of the ancient languages, Latin and Greek, differed from those of our present English, we need not now inquire. From the definitions which the learned lexicographers Littleton and Ainsworth give to prosodia, prosody, it would seem that, with them, "the art of accenting" was nothing else than the art of giving to syllables their right quantity, "whether long or short." And
some have charged it as a glaring error, long prevalent among English grammarians, and still a fruitful source of disputes, to confound accent with quantity in our language.[7] This charge, however, there is reason to believe, is sometimes, if not in most cases, made on grounds rather fanciful than real; for some have evidently mistaken the notion of concurrence or coincidence for that of identity. But, to affirm that the stress which we call accent, coincides always and only with long quantity, does not necessarily make accent and quantity to be one and the same thing. The greater force or loudness which causes the accented syllable to occupy more time than any other, is in itself something different from time. Besides, quantity is divisible,—being either long or short: these two species of it are acknowledged on all sides, and some few prosodists will have a third, which they call "common."[8] But, of our English accent, the word being taken in its usual acceptation, no such division is ever, with any propriety, made; for even the stress which we call secondary accent, pertains to long syllables rather than to short ones; and the mere absence of stress, which produces short quantity, we do not call accent.[9]
- The impropriety of affirming quantity to be the same as accent, when its most frequent species occurs only in the absence of accent, must be obvious to every body; and those writers who anywhere suggest this identity, must either have written absurdly, or have taken accent in some sense which includes the sounds of our unaccented syllables. The word sometimes means, "The modulation of the voice in speaking."—Worcester's Dict., w. Accent. In this sense, the lighter as well as the more impressive sounds are included; but still, whether both together, considered as accents, can be reckoned the same as long and short quantities, is questionable. Some say, they cannot; and insist that they are yet as different, as the variable tones of a trumpet, which swell and fall, are different from the merely loud and soft notes of the monotonous drum. This illustration of the "easy Distinction betwixt Quantity and Accent" is cited with commendation, in Brightland's Grammar, on page 157th;[10] the author of which grammar, seems to have understood Accent, or Accents, to be the same as Inflections—though these are still unlike to quantities, if he did so. (See an explanation of Inflections in Chap. II, Sec. iii, Art. 3, above.) His exposition is this: "Accent is the rising and falling of the Voice, above or under its usual Tone. There are three Sorts of Accents, an Acute, a Grave, and an Inflex, which is also call'd a Circumflex. The Acute, or Sharp, naturally raises the Voice; and the Grave, or Base, as naturally falls it. The Circumflex is a kind of Undulation, or Waving of the Voice."—Brightland's Gram., Seventh Ed., Lond., 1746, p. 156.
- Dr. Johnson, whose great authority could not fail to carry some others with him, too evidently identifies accent with quantity, at the commencement of his Prosody. "Pronunciation is just," says he, "when every letter has its proper sound, and when every syllable has its proper accent, or which in English versification is the same, its proper quantity."— Johnson's Gram., before Dict., 4to, p. 13; John Burn's Gram., p. 240; Jones's Prosodial Gram., before Dict., p. 10. Now our most common notion of accent—the sole notion with many—and that which the accentuation of Johnson himself everywhere inculcates—is, that it belongs not to "every syllable," but only to some particular syllables, being either "a stress of voice on a certain syllable," or a small mark to denote such stress.—See Scott's Dict., or Worcester's. But Dr. Johnson, in the passage above, must have understood the word accent agreeably to his own imperfect definition of it; to wit, as "the sound given to the syllable pronounced."—Joh. Dict. An unaccented syllable must have been to him a syllable unpronounced. In short he does not appear to have recognized any syllables as being unaccented. The word unaccented had no place in his lexicography, nor could have any without inconsistencey. [sic—KTH] It was unaptly added to his text, after sixty years, by one of his amenders, Todd or Chalmers; who still blindly neglected to amend his definition of accent. In these particulars, Walker's dictionaries exhibit the same deficiencies as Johnson's; and yet no author has more frequently used the words accent and unaccented, than did Walker.[11] Mason's Supplement, first published in 1801, must have suggested to the revisers of Johnson the addition of the latter term, as appears by the authority cited for it: "UNA'CCENTED, adj. Not accented. 'It being enough to make a syllable long, if it be accented, and short, if it be unaccented.' Harris's Philological Inquiries."—Mason's Sup.
- This doctrine of Harris's, that long quantity accompanies the accent, and unaccented syllables are short, is far from confounding or identifying accent with quantity, as has already been shown; and, though it plainly contradicts some of the elementary teaching of Johnson, Sheridan, Walker, Murray, Webster, Latham, Fowler, and others, in regard to the length or shortness of certain syllables, it has been clearly maintained by many excellent authors, so that no opposite theory is better supported by authority. On this point, our language stands not alone; for the accent controls quantity in some others.[12] G H. Noehden, a writer of uncommon ability, in his German Grammar for Englishmen, defines accent to be, as we see it is in English, "that stress which marks a particular syllable in speaking;" and recognizing, as we do, both a full accent and a partial one, or "demi-accent," presents the syllables of his language as being of three conditions: the "accented," which "cannot be used otherwise than as long;" the "half-accented" which "must be regarded as ambiguous, or common;" and the "accentless," which "are in their nature short."—See Noehden's Gram., p. 87. His middle class, however, our prosodists in general very properly dispense with. In Fiske's History of Greek Literature, which is among the additions to the Manual of Classical Literature from the German of Eschenburg, are the following passages: "The tone [i.e. accent] in Greek is placed upon short syllables as well as long; in German, it accompanies regularly only long syllables."—"In giving an accent to a syllable in an English word we thereby render it a long syllable, whatever may be the sound given to its vowel, and in whatever way the syllable may be composed; so that as above stated in relation to the German, an English accent, or stress in pronunciation, accompanies only a long syllable."—Manual of Class. Lit., p. 437. With these extracts, accords the doctrine of some of the ablest of our English grammarians. "In the English Pronunciation," says William Ward, "there is a certain Stress of the Voice laid on some one syllable at least, of every Word of two or more Syllables; and that Syllable on which the Stress is laid may be considered long. Our Grammarians have agreed to consider this Stress of the Voice as the Accent in English; and therefore the Accent and long Quantity coincide in our Language."—Ward's Practical Gram., p. 155. As to the vowel sounds, with the quantity of which many prosodists have greatly puzzled both themselves and their readers, this writer says, "they may be made as long, or as short, as the Speaker pleases."—Ib., p. 4.
- From the absurd and contradictory nature of many of the principles usually laid down by our grammarians, for the discrimination of long quantity and short, it is quite apparent, that but very few of them have well understood either the distinction itself or their own rules concerning it. Take Fisher for an example. In Fisher's Practical Grammar, first published in London in 1753,—a work not unsuccessful, since Wells quotes the "28th edition" as appearing in 1795, and this was not the last—we find, in the first place, the vowel sounds distinguished as long or short thus: "Q. How many Sounds has a Vowel? A. Two in general, viz. 1. A Long Sound, When the Syllable ends with a Vowel, either in Monosyllables, or in Words of more syllables; as, tāke, wē, I, gō, nū; or, as, Nāture, Nēro, Nītre, Nōvice, Nūisance. 2. A Short Sound, When the Syllable ends with a Consonant, either in Monosyllables, or others; as Hăt, hĕr, bĭt, rŏb, Tŭn; or, as Bărber, bĭtten, Bŭtton."—See p. 5. To this rule, the author makes needless exceptions of all such words as balance and banish, wherein a single consonant between two vowels goes to the former; because, like Johnson, Murray, and most of our old grammarians, he divides on the vowel; falsely calls the accented syllable short; and imagines the consonant to be heard twice, or to have "a double Accent." On page 35th, he tells us that, "Long and short Vowels, and long and short Syllables, are synonimous [—synonymous, from [Greek: synonymos]—] Terms;" and so indeed have they been most erroneously considered by sundry subsequent writers; and the consequence is, that all who judge by their criteria, mistake the poetic quantity, or prosodical value, of perhaps one half the syllables in the language. Let each syllable be reckoned long that "ends with a Vowel," and each short that "ends with a Consonant," and the decision will probably be oftener wrong than right; for more syllables end with consonants than with vowels, and of the latter class a majority are without stress and therefore short. Thus the foregoing principle, contrary to the universal practice of the poets, determines many accented syllables to be "short;" as the first in "barber, bitten, button, balance, banish;—" and many unaccented ones to be "long;" as the last in sofa, specie, noble, metre, sorrow, daisy, valley, nature, native; or the first in around, before, delay, divide, remove, seclude, obey, cocoon, presume, propose, and other words innumerable.
- Fisher's conceptions of accent and quantity, as constituting prosody, were much truer to the original and etymological sense of the words, than to any just or useful view of English versification: in short, this latter subject was not even mentioned by him; for prosody, in his scheme, was nothing but the right pronunciation of words, or what we now call orthoëpy. This part of his Grammar commences with the following questions and answers:
"Q. What is the Meaning of the Word Prosody ? A. It is a Word borrowed from the Greek; which, in Latin, is rendered Accentus, and in English Accent.
"Q. What do you mean by Accent ? A. Accent originally signified a Modulation of the Voice, or chanting to a musical Instrument; but is now generally used to signify Due Pronunciatian, i.e. the pronouncing [of] a syllable according to its Quantity, (whether it be long or short,) with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice than the other Syllables in the same Word; as, a in able, o in above, &c.
"Q. What is Quantity ? A. Quantity is the different Measure of Time in pronouncing Syllables, from whence they are called long or short.
"Q. What is the Proportion between a long and a short Syllable ? A. Two to one; that is, a long Syllable is twice as long in pronouncing as a short one; as, Hate, Hat. This mark (¯) set over a Syllable, shows that it is long, and this (˘) that it is short; as, rēcord, rĕcord.
"Q. How do you know long and short Syllables ? A. A Syllable is long or short according to the Situation of the Vowel, i.e. it is generally long when it ends with a Vowel, and short when with a Consonant; as, Fā- in Favour, and Măn- in Manner."—Fisher's Practical Gram., p. 34.
Now one grand mistake of this is, that it supposes syllabication to fix the quantity, and quantity to determine the accent; whereas it is plain, that accent controls quantity, so far at least that, in the construction of verse, a syllable fully accented cannot be reckoned short. And this mistake is practical; for we see, that, in three of his examples, out of the four above, the author himself misstates the quantity, because he disregards the accent: the verb re-cord, being accented on the second syllable, is an iambus; and the nouns rec'-ord and man'-ner, being accented on the first, are trochees; and just as plainly so, as is the word fāvŏur. But a still greater blunder here observable is, that, as a "due pronunciation" necessarily includes the utterance of every syllable, the explanation above stolidly supposes all our syllables to be accented, each "according to its Quantity, (whether it be long or short,)" and each "with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice, than the other Syllables!" Absurdity akin to this, and still more worthy to be criticised, has since been propagated by Sheridan, by Walker, and by Lindley Murray, with a host of followers, as Alger, D. Blair, Comly, Cooper, Cutler, Davenport, Felton, Fowler, Frost, Guy, Jaudon, Parker and Fox, Picket, Pond, Putnam, Russell, Smith, and others.
- Sheridan was an able and practical teacher of English pronunciation, and one who appears to have gained reputation by all he undertook, whether as an actor, as an elocutionist, or as a lexicographer. His publications that refer to that subject, though now mostly superseded by others of later date, are still worthy to be consulted. The chief of them are, his Lectures on Elocution, his Lectures on the Art of Reading, his Rhetorical Grammar, his Elements of English, and his English Dictionary. His third lecture on Elocution, and many pages of the Rhetorical Grammar, are devoted to accent and quantity—subjects which he conceived to have been greatly misrepresented by other writers up to his time.[13] To this author, as it would seem, we owe the invention of that absurd doctrine, since copied into a great multitude of our English grammars, that the accent on a syllable of two or more letters, belongs, not to the whole of it, but only to some one letter; and that according to the character of this letter, as vowel or consonant, the same stress serves to lengthen or shorten the syllable's quantity! Of this matter, he speaks thus: "The great distinction of our accent depends upon its seat; which may be either upon a vowel or a consonant. Upon a vowel, as in the words, glóry, fáther, hóly. Upon a consonant, as in the words, hab'it, bor'row, bat'tle. When the accent is on the vowel, the syllable is long; because the accent is made by dwelling upon the vowel. When it is on the consonant, the syllable is short;[14] because the accent is made by passing rapidly over the vowel, and giving a smart stroke of the voice to the following consonant. Obvious as this point is, it has wholly escaped the observation of all our grammarians and compilers of dictionaries; who, instead of examining the peculiar genius of our tongue, implicitly and pedantically have followed the Greek method of always placing the accentual mark over a vowel."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 51. The author's reprehension of the old mode of accentuation, is not without reason; but his "great distinction" of short and long syllables is only fit to puzzle or mislead the reader. For it is plain, that the first syllables of hab'it, bor'row, and bat'tle, are twice as long as the last; and, in poetry, these words are trochees, as well as the other three, glo'ry, fa'ther, and ho'ly.
- The only important distinction in our accent, is that of the primary and the secondary, the latter species occurring when it is necessary to enforce more syllables of a word than one; but Sheridan, as we see above, after rejecting all the old distinctions of rising and falling, raising and depressing, acute and grave, sharp and base, long and short, contrived a new one still more vain, which he founded on that of vowels and consonants, but "referred to time, or quantity." He recognized, in fact, a vowel accent and a consonant accent; or, in reference to quantity, a lengthening accent and a shortening accent. The discrimination of these was with him "the great distinction of our accent." He has accordingly mentioned it in several different places of his works, and not always with that regard to consistency which becomes a precise theorist. It led him to new and variant ways of defining accent; some of which seem to imply a division of consonants from their vowels in utterance, or to suggest that syllables are not the least parts of spoken words. And no sooner has he told us that our accent is but one single mode of distinguishing a syllable, than he proceeds to declare it two. Compare the following citations: "As the pronunciation of English words is chiefly regulated by accent, it will be necessary to have a precise idea of that term. Accent with us means no more than a certain stress of the voice upon one letter of a syllable, which distinguishes it from all the other letters in a word."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 39. Again: "Accent, in the English language, means a certain stress of the voice upon a particular letter of a syllable which distinguishes it from the rest, and, at the same time, distinguishes the syllable itself to which it belongs from the others which compose the word."—Same work, p. 50. Again: "But as our accent consists in stress only, it can just as well be placed on a consonant as [on] a vowel."—Same, p. 51. Again: "By the word accent, is meant the stress of the voice on one letter in a syllable."—Sheridan's Elements of English, p. 55. Again: "The term [accent] with us has no reference to inflexions of the voice, or musical notes, but only means a peculiar manner of distinguishing one syllable of a word from the rest, denominated by us accent; and the term for that reason [is] used by us in the singular number.—This distinction is made by us in two ways; either by dwelling longer upon one syllable than the rest; or by giving it a smarter percussion of the voice in utterance. Of the first of these, we have instances in the words, glōry, fāther, hōly; of the last, in bat'tle, hab'it, bor'row. So that accent, with us, is not referred to tune, but to time; to quantity, not quality; to the more equable or precipitate motion of the voice, not to the variation of notes or inflexions."—Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution, p. 56; Flint's Murray's Gram., p. 85.
- How "precise" was Sheridan's idea of accent, the reader may well judge from the foregoing quotations; in four of which, he describes it as "a certain stress," "the stress," and "stress only," which enforces some "letter;" while, in the other, it is whimsically made to consist in two different modes of pronouncing "syllables"—namely, with equability, and with precipitance—with "dwelling longer," and with "smarter percussion"—which terms the author very improperly supposes to be opposites: saying, "For the two ways of distinguishing syllables by accent, as mentioned before, are directly opposite, and produce quite contrary effects; the one, by dwelling on the syllable, necessarily makes it long; the other, by the smart percussion—of the voice, as necessarily makes it short"—Ib., p. 57. Now it is all a mistake, however common, to suppose that our accent, consisting as it does, in stress, enforcement, or "percussion of voice," can ever shorten the syllable on which it is laid; because what increases the quantum of a vocal sound, cannot diminish its length; and a syllable accented will always be found longer as well as louder, than any unaccented one immediately before or after it. Though weak sounds may possibly be protracted, and shorter ones be exploded loudly, it is not the custom of our speech, so to deal with the sounds of syllables.
- Sheridan admitted that some syllables are naturally and necessarily short, but denied that any are naturally and necessarily long. In this, since syllabic length and shortness are relative to each other, and to the cause of each, he was, perhaps, hardly consistent. He might have done better, to have denied both, or neither. Bating his new division of accent to subject it sometimes to short quantity, he recognized very fully the dependence of quantity, long or short, whether in syllables or only in vowels, upon the presence or absence of accent or emphasis. In this he differed considerably from most of the grammarians of his day; and many since have continued to uphold other views. He says, "It is an infallible rule in our tongue that no vowel ever has a long sound in an unaccented syllable."—Lectures on Elocution, p. 60. Again: "In treating of the simple elements or letters, I have shown that some, both vowels and consonants, are naturally short; that is, whose sounds cannot possibly be prolonged; and these are the [short or shut] sounds of ĕ, ĭ, and ŭ, of vocal sounds; and three pure mutes, k, p, t, of the consonant; as in the words beck, lip, cut. I have shown also, that the sounds of all the other vowels, and of the consonant semivowels, may be prolonged to what degree we please; but at the same time it is to be observed, that all these may also be reduced to a short quantity, and are capable of being uttered in as short a space of time as those which are naturally short. So that they who speak of syllables as absolutely in their own nature long, the common cant of prosodians, speak of a nonentity: for though, as I have shown above, there are syllables absolutely short, which cannot possibly be prolonged by any effort of the speaker, yet it is in his power to shorten or prolong the others to what degree he pleases."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 52. And again: "I have already mentioned that when the accent is on the vowel, it of course makes the syllable long; and when the accent is on the consonant, the syllable may be either long or short, according to the nature of the consonant, or will of the speakers. And as all unaccented syllables are short, the quantity of our syllables is adjusted by the easiest and simplest rule in the world, and in the exactest proportion."—Lect. on Elocution, p. 66.
- This praise of our rule for the adjustment of quantity, would have been much more appropriate, had not the rule itself been greatly mistaken, perplexed, and misrepresented by the author. If it appear, on inspection, that "beck, lip, cut," and the like syllables, are twice as long when under the accent, as they are when not accented, so that, with a short syllable annexed or a long one prefixed, they may form trochees; then is it not true, that such syllables are either always necessarily and inherently short, or always, "by the smart percussion of the voice, as necessarily made short;" both of which inconsistent ideas are above affirmed of them. They may not be so long as some other long syllables; but, if they are twice as long as the accompanying short ones, they are not short. And, if not short, then that remarkable distinction in accent, which assumes that they are so, is as needless as it is absurd and perplexing. Now let the words, beck'on, lip'ping, cut'ter, be properly pronounced, and their syllables be compared with each other, or with those of lim'beck, fil'lip, Drā'cut; and it cannot but be perceived, that beck, lip, and cut, like other syllables in general, are lengthened by the accent, and shortened only in its absence; so that all these words are manifestly trochees, as all similar words are found to be, in our versification. To suppose "as many words as we hear accents," or that "it is the laying of an accent on one syllable, which constitutes a word," and then say, that "no unaccented syllable or vowel is ever to be accounted long," as this enthusiastic author does in fact, is to make strange scansion of a very large portion of the trissyllables and polysyllables which occur in verse. An other great error in Sheridan's doctrine of quantity, is his notion that all monosyllables, except a few small particles, are accented; and that their quantity is determined to be long or short by the seat or the mode of the accent, as before stated. Now, as our poetry abounds with monosyllables, the relative time of which is adjusted by emphasis and cadence, according to the nature and importance of the terms, and according to the requirements of rhythm, with no reference to this factitious principle, no conformity thereto but what is accidental, it cannot but be a puzzling exercise, when these difficulties come to be summed up, to attempt the application of a doctrine so vainly conceived to be "the easiest and simplest rule in the world!"
- Lindley Murray's principles of accent and quantity, which later grammarians have so extensively copied, were mostly extracted from Sheridan's; and, as the compiler appears to have been aware of but few, if any, of his predecessor's errors, he has adopted and greatly spread well-nigh all that have just been pointed out; while, in regard to some points, he has considerably increased the number. His scheme, as he at last fixed it, appears to consist essentially of propositions already refuted, or objected to, above; as any reader may see, who will turn to his definition of accent, and his rules for the determination of quantity. In opposition to Sheridan, who not very consistently says, that, "All unaccented syllables are short," this author appears to have adopted the greater error of Fisher, who supposed that the vowel sounds called long and short, are just the same as the long and short syllabic quantities. By this rule, thousands of syllables will be called long, which are in fact short, being always so uttered in both prose and poetry; and, by the other, some will occasionally be called short, which are in fact long, being made so by the poet, under a slight secondary accent, or perhaps none. Again, in supposing our numerous monosyllables to be accented, and their quantity to be thereby fixed, without excepting "the particles, such as a, the, to, in, &c.," which were excepted by Sheridan, Murray has much augmented the multitude of errors which necessarily flow from the original rule. This principle, indeed, he adopted timidly; saying, as though he hardly believed the assertion true: "And some writers assert, that every monosyllable of two or more letters, has one of its letters thus distinguished."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 236; 12mo, 189. But still he adopted it, and adopted it fully, in his section on Quantity; for, of his twelve words, exemplifying syllabic time so regulated, no fewer than nine are monosyllables. It is observable, however, that, in some instances, it is not one letter, but two, that he marks; as in the words, "mōōd, hōūse."—Ib., p. 239; 12mo, 192. And again, it should be observed, that generally, wherever he marks accent, he follows the old mode, which Sheridan and Webster so justly condemn; so that, even when he is speaking of "the accent on the consonant," the sign of stress, as that of time, is set over a vowel: as, "Sádly, róbber."—Ib., 8vo, 240; 12mo, 193. So in his Spelling-Book, where words are often falsely divided: as, "Vé nice," for Ven'-ice; "Há no ver," for Han'o-ver; &c.—See p. 101.
- In consideration of the great authority of this grammarian, now backed by a score or two of copyists and modifiers, it may be expedient to be yet more explicit. Of accent Murray published about as many different definitions, as did Sheridan; which, as they show what notions he had at different times, it may not be amiss for some, who hold him always in the right, to compare. In one, he describes it thus: "Accent signifies that stress of the voice, which is laid on one syllable, to distinguish it from the rest."—Murray's Spelling-Book, p. 138. He should here have said, (as by his examples it would appear that he meant,) "on one syllable of a word;" for, as the phrase now stands, it may include stress on a monosyllable in a sentence; and it is a matter of dispute, whether this can properly be called accent. Walker and Webster say, it is emphasis, and not accent. Again, in an other definition, which was written before he adopted the notion of accent on consonants, of accent on monosyllables, or of accent for quantity in the formation of verse, he used these words: "Accent is the laying of a peculiar stress of the voice on a certain vowel or syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest, or distinguished from them; as, in the word presúme, the stress of the voice must be on the second syllable, súme, which takes the accent."—Murray's Gram., Second Edition, 12mo, p. 161. In this edition, which was published at York, in 1796, his chief rules of quantity say nothing about accent, but are thus expressed: [1.] "A vowel or syllable is long, when the vowel or vowels contained in it are slowly joined in pronunciation with the following letters; as, 'Fāll, bāle, mōōd, hōūse, fēature.' [2.] A syllable is short, when the vowel is quickly joined to the succeeding letter; as, 'ărt, bŏnnĕt, hŭngĕr.'"—Ib., p. 166. Besides the absurdity of representing "a vowel" as having "vowels contained in it," these rules are made up of great faults. They confound syllabic quantities with vowel sounds. They suppose quantity to be, not the time of a whole syllable, but the quick or slow junction of some of its parts. They apply to no syllable that ends with a vowel sound. The former applies to none that ends with one consonant only; as, "mood" or the first of "feat-ure." In fact, it does not apply to any of the examples given; the final letter in each of the other words being silent. The latter rule is worse yet: it misrepresents the examples; for "bonnet" and "hunger" are trochees, and "art," with any stress on it, is long.
-
In all late editions of L. Murray's Grammar, and many modifications of it, accent is defined thus: "Accent is the laying of a peculiar stress of the voice, on a certain letter OR syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest, or distinguished from them; as, in the word presúme, the stress of the voice must be on the letter u, and [the] second syllable, sume, which takes the accent."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 235; 12mo, 188; 18mo, 57; Alger's, 72; Bacon's, 52; Comly's, 168; Cooper's, 176; Davenport's, 121; Felton's, 134; Frost's El., 50; Fisk's, 32; Merchant's, 145; Parker and Fox's, iii, 44; Pond's, 197; Putnam's, 96; Russell's, 106; R. O. Smith's, 186. Here we see a curious jumble of the common idea of accent, as "stress laid on some particular syllable of a word," with Sheridan's doctrine of accenting always "a particular letter of a syllable,"—an idle doctrine, contrived solely for the accommodation of short quantity with long, under the accent. When this definition was adopted, Murray's scheme of quantity was also revised, and materially altered. The principles of his main text, to which his copiers all confine themselves, then took the following form:
"The quantity of a syllable, is that time which is occupied in pronouncing it. It is considered as long or short.
"A vowel or syllable is long, when the accent is on the vowel; which occasions it to be slowly joined in pronunciation with the following letters: as, 'Fāll, bāle, mōōd, hōūse, fēature.'
"A syllable is short, when the accent is on the consonant; which occasions the vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding letter: as, 'ănt, bōnnĕt, hūngĕr.'
"A long syllable generally requires double the time of a short one in pronouncing it: thus, 'Māte' and 'Nōte' should be pronounced as slowly again as 'Măt' and 'Nŏt.'"—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 239; 12mo, 192; 18mo, 57; Alger's, 72; D. C. Allen's, 86; Bacon's, 52; Comly's, 168; Cooper's, 176; Cutler's, 165; Davenport's, 121; Felton's, 134; Frost's El., 50; Fisk's, 32; Maltby's, 115; Parker and Fox's, iii, 47; Pond's, 198; S. Putnam's, 96; R. C. Smith's, 187; Rev. T. Smith's, 68.
Here we see a revival and an abundant propagation of Sheridan's erroneous doctrine, that our accent produces both short quantity and long, according to its seat; and since none of all these grammars, but the first two of Murray's, give any other rules for the discrimination of quantities, we must infer, that these were judged sufficient. Now, of all the principles on which any have ever pretended to determine the quantity of syllables, none, so far as I know, are more defective or fallacious than these. They are liable to more objections than it is worth while to specify. Suffice it to observe, that they divide certain accented syllables into long and short, and say nothing of the unaccented; whereas it is plain, and acknowledged even by Murray and Sheridan themselves, that in "ant, bonnet, hunger" and the like, the unaccented syllables are the only short ones: the rest can be, and here are, lengthened.[15]
-
The foregoing principles, differently expressed, and perchance in some instances more fitly, are found in many other grammars, and in some of the very latest; but they are everywhere a mere dead letter, a record which, if it is not always untrue, is seldom understood, and never applied in any way to practice. The following are examples:
- "In a long syllable, the vowel is accented; in a short syllable [,] the consonant; as [,] rōll, pōll; tŏp, cŭt."—Rev. W. Allen's Gram., p. 222.
- "A syllable or word is long, when the accent is on the vowel: as nō, līne, lā, mē; and short, when on the consonant: as nŏt, lĭn, Lătin, mĕt."—S. Barrett's Grammar, ("Principles of Language,") p. 112.
- "A syllable is long when the accent is on the vowel, as, Pāll, sāle, mōūse, crēature. A syllable is short when the accent is placed on the consonant; as great´, let´ter, mas´ter."—Rev. D. Blair's Practical Gram., p. 117.
- "When the stress is on the vowel, the measure of quantity is long: as, Máte, fáte, complàin, pláyful, un der míne. When the stress is on a consonant, the quantity is short: as, Mat´, fat´, com pel´, prog´ress, disman´tle."—Pardon Davis's Practical Gram., p. 125.
- "The quantity of a syllable is considered as long or short. It is long when the accent is on the vowel; as, Fāll, bāle, mōod, hoūse, fēature. It is short when the accent is placed on the consonant; as, Mas´ter, let´ter."—Guy's School Gram., p. 118; Picket's Analytical School Gram., 2d Ed., p. 224.
- "A syllable is long when the accent is on the vowel; and short, when the accent is on the consonant. A long syllable requires twice the time in pronouncing it that a short one does. Long syllables are marked thus ¯; as, tūbe; short syllables, thus ˘; as, măn."—Hiley's English Gram., p. 120.
- "When the accent is on a vowel, the syllable is generally long; as ālehoūse, amūsement, fēatures. But when the accent is on a consonant, the syllable is mostly short; as, hăp'py, mănner. A long syllable requires twice as much time in the pronunciation, as a short one; as, hāte, hăt; nōte, nŏt; cāne, căn; fīne, fĭn."—Jaudon's Union Gram., p. 173.
- "If the syllable be long, the accent is on the vowel; as, in bāle, mōōd, educātion; &c. If short, the accent is on the consonant; as, in ănt, bŏnnet, hŭnger, &c."—Merchant's American School Gram., p. 145.
- As might be expected, it is not well agreed among those who accent single consonants and vowels, what particular letter should receive the stress and the mark. The word or syllable "ant," for example, is marked "an´t" by Alger, Bacon, and others, to enforce the n; "ant´" by Frost, Putnam, and others, to enforce the t; "ănt" by Murray, Russell, and others, to show, as they say, "the accent on the consonant!" But, in "A´NTLER," Dr. Johnson accented the a; and, to mark the same pronunciation, Worcester now writes, "ĂNT´LER;" while almost any prosodist, in scanning, would mark this word "ăntlĕr" and call it a trochee.[16] Churchill, who is in general a judicious observer, writes thus: "The leading feature in the English language, on which it's melody both in prose and verse chiefly depends, is it's accent. Every word in it of more than one syllable has one of it's syllables distinguished by this from the rest; the accent being in some cases on the vowel, in others on the consonant that closes the syllable; on the vowel, when it has it's long sound; on the consonant, when the vowel is short."—Churchill's New Gram., p. 181. But to this, as a rule of accentuation, no attention is in fact paid nowadays. Syllables that have long vowels not final, very properly take the sign of stress on or after a consonant or a mute vowel; as, ān´gel, chām´ber, slāy´er, bēad´roll, slēa´zy, slēēp´er, slēēve´less, līve´ly, mīnd´ful, slīght´ly, slīd´ing, bōld´ness, grōss´ly, whōl´ly, ūse´less.—See Worcester's Dict.
- It has been seen, that Murray's principles of quantity were greatly altered by himself, after the first appearance of his grammar. To have a full and correct view of them, it is necessary to notice something more than his main text, as revised, with which all his amenders content themselves, and which he himself thought sufficient for his Abridgement. The following positions, which, in some of his revisals, he added to the large grammar, are therefore cited:
- "Unaccented syllables are generally short: as, 'ădmíre, bóldnĕss, sínnĕr.' But to this rule there are many exceptions: as, 'álsō, éxīle, gángrēne, úmpīre, fōretáste,' &c.
- "When the accent is on the consonant, the syllable is often more or less short, as it ends with a single consonant, or with more than one: as, 'Sádly, róbber; persíst, mátchless.'
- "When the accent is on a semi-vowel, the time of the syllable may be protracted, by dwelling upon the semi-vowel: as, 'Cur´, can´, fŭlfil´' but when the accent falls on a mute, the syllable cannot be lengthened in the same manner: as, 'Búbble, cáptain, tótter.'"—L. Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 240; 12mo, 193.
- "In this work, and in the author's Spelling-book, the vowels e and o, in the first syllable of such words as, behave, prejudge, domain, propose; and in the second syllable of such as pulley, turkey, borrow, follow; are considered as long vowels. The second syllables in such words as, baby, spicy, holy, fury, are also considered as long syllables."—Ib., 8vo, p. 241.
- "In the words scarecrow, wherefore, both the syllables are unquestionably long, but not of equal length. We presume therefore, that the syllables under consideration, [i.e., those which end with the sound of e or o without accent,] may also be properly styled long syllables, though their length is not equal to that of some others."—Murray's Octavo Gram., p. 241.
- Sheridan's "infallible rule, that no vowel ever has a long sound in an unaccented syllable," is in striking contrast with three of these positions, and the exact truth of the matter is with neither author. But, for the accuracy of his doctrine, Murray appeals to "the authority of the judicious Walker," which he thinks sufficient to prove any syllable long whose vowel is called so; while the important distinction suggested by Walker, in his Principles, No. 529, between "the length or shortness of the vowels," and "that quantity which constitutes poetry," is entirely overlooked. It is safe to affirm, that all the accented syllables occurring in the examples above, are long; and all the unaccented ones, short: for Murray's long syllables vary in length, and his short ones in shortness, till not only the just proportion, but the actual relation, of long and short, is evidently lost with some of them. Does not match in "match´less," sad in "sad´ly," or bub in "bub´ble," require more time, than so in "al´so," key in "tur´key," or ly in "ho´ly"? If so, four of the preceding positions are very faulty. And so, indeed, is the remaining one; for where is the sense of saying, that "when the accent falls on a mute, the syllable cannot be lengthened by dwelling upon the semi-vowel"? This is an apparent truism, and yet not true. For a semivowel in the middle or at the beginning of a syllable, may lengthen it as much as if it stood at the end. "Cur" and "can," here given as protracted syllables, are certainly no longer by usage, and no more susceptible of protraction, than "mat" and "not," "art" and "ant," which are among the author's examples of short quantity. And if a semivowel accented will make the syllable long, was it not both an error and a self-contradiction, to give "bŏnnet" and "hŭnger" as examples of quantity shortened by the accent? The syllable man has two semivowels; and the letter l, as in "ful fil´," is the most sonorous of consonants; yet, as we see above, among their false examples of short syllables accented, different authors have given the words "man" and "man´ner," "disman´tle" and "compel´," "mas´ter" and "let´ter," with sundry other sounds which may easily be lengthened. Sanborn says, "The breve distinguishes a short syllable; as, mănner."—Analytical Gram., p. 273. Parker and Fox say, "The Breve (thus ˘) is placed over a vowel to indicate its short sound; as, St. Hĕlena."—English Gram., Part iii, p. 31. Both explanations of this sign are defective; and neither has a suitable example. The name "St. Hĕlē´nă," as pronounced by Worcester, and as commonly heard, is two trochees; but "Hel´ena," for Helen, having the penult short, takes the accent on the first syllable, which is thereby made long, though the vowel sound is called short. Even Dr. Webster, who expressly notes the difference between "long and short vowels" and "long and short syllables," allows himself, on the very same page, to confound them: so that, of his three examples of a short syllable,—"thăt, not, mĕlon,"—all are erroneous; two being monosyllables, which any emphasis must lengthen; and the third,—the word "mĕl´on,"—with the first syllable marked short, and not the last! See Webster's Improved Gram., p. 157.
- Among the latest of our English Grammars, is Chandler's new one of 1847. The Prosody of this work is fresh from the mint; the author's old grammar of 1821, which is the nucleus of this, being "confined to Etymology and Syantax." [sic—KTH] If from anybody the public have a right to expect correctness in the details of grammar, it is from one who has had the subject so long and so habitually before him. "Accent" says this author, "is the stress on a syllable, or letter."—Chandler's Common School Gram., p. 188. Now, if our less prominent words and syllables require any force at all, a definition so loose as this, may give accent to some words, or to all; to some syllables, or to all; to some letters, or to all—except those which are silent! And, indeed, whether the stress which distinguishes some monosyllables from others, is supposed by the writer to be accent, or emphasis, or both, it is scarcely possible to ascertain from his elucidations. "The term emphasis," says he, "is used to denote a fuller sound of voice after certain words that come in antithesis; that is, contrast. 'He can write, but he cannot read.' Here, read and write are antithetical (that is, in contrast), and are accented, or emphasized."—P. 189. The word "after" here may be a misprint for the word upon; but no preposition really suits the connexion: the participle impressing or affecting would be better. Of quantity, this work gives the following account: "The quantity of a syllable is that time which is required to pronounce it. A syllable may be long or short. Hate is long, as the vowel a is elongated by the final e; hat is short, and requires about half the time for pronunciation which is used for pronouncing hate. So of ate, at; bate, bat; cure, cur. Though unaccented syllables are usually short, yet many of those which are accented are short also. The following are short: ádvent, sin´ner, sup´per. In the following, the unaccented syllables are long: álso, éxile, gángrene, úmpire. It maybe remarked, that the quantity of a syllable is short when the accent is on a consonant ; as, art´, bon´net, hun´ger. The hyphen (¯), placed over a syllable, denotes that it is long : nā´ture. The breve (˘) over a syllable, denotes that it is short ; as, dĕtrāct."—Chandler's Common School Gram., p. 189. This scheme of quantity is truly remarkable for its absurdity and confusion. What becomes of the elongating power of e, without accent or emphasis, as in jun´cate, pal´ate, prel´ate? Who does not know that such syllables as "at, bat, and cur" are often long in poetry? What more absurd, than to suppose both syllables short in such words as, "ădvent, sin´ner, sup´per," and then give "sermŏn, fīltĕr, spīrĭt, gāthĕr," and the like, for regular trochees, with "the first syllable long, and the second short," as does this author? What more contradictory and confused, than to pretend that the primal sound of a vowel lengthens an unaccented syllable, and accent on the consonant shortens an accented one, as if in "âl´so" the first syllable must be short and the second long, and then be compelled, by the evidence of one's senses to mark "echŏ" as a trochee, and "détract" as an iambus? What less pardonable misnomer, than for a great critic to call the sign of long quantity a "hyphen"?
- The following suggestions found in two of Dr. Webster's grammars, are not far from the truth: "Most prosodians who have treated particularly of this subject, have been guilty of a fundamental error, in considering the movement of English verse as depending on long and short syllables, formed by long and short vowels. This hypothesis has led them into capital mistakes. The truth is, many of those syllables which are considered as long in verse, are formed by the shortest vowels in the language; as, strength, health, grand. The doctrine that long vowels are necessary to form long syllables in poetry is at length exploded, and the principles which regulate the movement of our verse, are explained; viz. accent and emphasis. Every emphatical word, and every accented syllable, will form what is called in verse, a long syllable. The unaccented syllables, and unemphatical monosyllabic words, are considered as short syllables."—Webster's Philosophical Gram., p. 222; Improved Gram., 158. Is it not remarkable, that, on the same page with this passage, the author should have given the first syllable of "melon" as an example of short quantity?
- If the principle is true, which every body now takes for granted, that the foundation of versifying is some distinction pertaining to syllables; it is plain, that nothing can be done towards teaching the Art of Measuring Verses, till it be known upon what distinction in syllables our scheme of versification is based, and by what rule or rules the discrimination is, or ought to be, made. Errors here are central, radical, fundamental. Hence the necessity of these present disquisitions. Without some effectual criticism on their many false positions, prosodists may continue to theorize, dogmatize, plagiarize, and blunder on, as they have done, indefinitely, and knowledge of the rhythmic art be in no degree advanced by their productions, new or old. For the supposition is, that in general the consulters of these various oracles are persons more fallible still, and therefore likely to be misled by any errors that are not expressly pointed out to them. In this work, it is assumed, that quantity, not laboriously ascertained by "a great variety of rules applied from the Greek and Latin Prosody," but discriminated on principles of our own—quantity, dependent in some degree on the nature and number of the letters in a syllable, but still more on the presence or absence of stress—is the true foundation of our metre. It has already been stated, and perhaps proved, that this theory is as well supported by authority as any; but, since Lindley Murray, persuaded wrong by the positiveness of Sheridan, exchanged his scheme of feet formed by quantities, for a new one of "feet formed by accents"—or, rather, for an impracticable mixture of both, a scheme of supposed "duplicates of each foot"—it has been becoming more and more common for grammarians to represent the basis of English versification to be, not the distinction of long and short quantities, but the recurrence of accent at certain intervals. Such is the doctrine of Butler, Felton, Fowler, S. S. Greene, Hart, Hiley, R. C. Smith, Weld, Wells, and perhaps others. But, in this, all these writers contradict themselves; disregard their own definitions of accent; count monosyllables to be accented or unaccented; displace emphasis from the rank which Murray and others give it, as "the great regulator of quantity;" and suppose the length or shortness of syllables not to depend on the presence or absence of either accent or emphasis; and not to be of much account in the construction of English verse. As these strictures are running to a great length, it may be well now to introduce the poetic feet, and to reserve, for notes under that head, any further examination of opinions as to what constitutes the foundation of verse.
SECTION III.—OF POETIC FEET.
[edit]A verse, or line of poetry., consists of successive combinations of syllables, called feet. A poetic foot, in English, consists either of two or of three syllables, as in the following examples:
- "Cān tȳ\-rănts būt \ bў tȳ\-rănts cōn\-quĕred bē?"—Byron.
- "Hōlў, \ hōlў, \ hōlў! \ āll thĕ \ sāints ă\-dōre thĕe."—Heber.
- "And thĕ brēath \ ŏf thĕ Dē\-ĭtў cīr\-clĕd thĕ roōm."—Hunt.
- "Hāil tŏ thĕ \ chiēf whŏ ĭn \ trīŭmph ăd\-vāncĕs!"—Scott.
EXPLANATIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
Poetic feet being arbitrary combinations, contrived merely for the measuring of verses, and the ready ascertainment of the syllables that suit each rhythm, there is among prosodists a perplexing diversity of opinion, as to the number which we ought to recognize in our language. Some will have only two or three; others, four; others, eight; others, twelve. The dozen are all that can be made of two syllables and of three. Latinists sometimes make feet of four syllables, and admit sixteen more of these, acknowledging and naming twenty-eight in all. The principal English feet are the Iambus, the Trochee, the Anapest, and the Dactyl.
- The Iambus, or Iamb, is a poetic foot consisting of a short syllable and a long one; as, bĕtrāy, cŏnfēss, dĕmānd, ĭntent, dĕgrēe.
- The Trochee, or Choree, is a poetic foot consisting of a long syllable and a short one; as, hātefŭl, pēttĭsh, lēgăl, mēasŭre, hōlў.
- The Anapest is a poetic foot consisting of two short syllables and one long one; as, cŏntrăvēne, ăcquĭēsce, ĭmpŏrtūne.
- The Dactyl is a poetic foot consisting of one long syllable and two short ones; as, lābŏurĕr, pōssĭblĕ, wōndĕrfŭl.
- A Spondee is a poetic foot consisting of two long syllables; as, cōld nīght, pōōr sōuls, ămĕn, shrōvetīde.
- A Pyrrhic is a poetic foot consisting of two short syllables; as, presumpt-\ŭoŭs, perpet-\ŭăl, unhap-\pĭlў, inglo-\rĭoŭs.
- A Moloss is a poetic foot consisting of three long syllables; as, Deăth's pāle hōrse,—greāt whīte thrōne,—dēep dāmp vāūlt.
- A Tribrach is a poetic foot consisting of three short syllables; as, prohib-\ĭtŏrў, unnat-\ŭrăllў, author-\ĭtătĭve, innum-\ĕrăblĕ.
- An Amphibrach is a poetic foot of three syllables, having both sides short, the middle long; as, ĭmprūdĕnt, cŏnsīdĕr, trănspōrtĕd.
- An Amphimac, Amphimacer, or Cretic, is a poetic foot of three syllables, having both sides long, the middle short; as, wĭndĭngshēet, līfe-ĕstāte, sōul-dĭsĕased.
- A Bacchy is a poetic foot consisting of one short syllable and two long ones; as, thē whōle wŏrld,—ă greāt vāse,—ŏf pūre gōld.
- An Antibacchy, or Hypobacchy, is a poetic foot consisting of two long syllables and a short one; as, knīght-sērvĭce, glōbe-dāisў, grāpe-flowĕr, gōld-bēatĕr.
Among the variegations of verse, one emphatic syllable is sometimes counted for a foot. "When a single syllable is [thus] taken by itself, it is called a Cæsura, which is commonly a long syllable."[17]FOR EXAMPLE:
"Keeping \ time, \ time, \ time,
In a \ sort of \ Runic \ rhyme,
To the \ tintin\ -nabu\ -lation that so \ musi\-cally \ wells
From the \ bells, \ bells, \ bells, \ bells,
Bells, \ bells, \ bells."
—EDGAR A. POE: Union Magazine, for Nov. 1849; Literary World, No. 143.
OBSERVATIONS.
- In defining our poetic feet, many late grammarians substitute the terms accented and unaccented for long and short, as did Murray, after some of the earlier editions of his grammar; the only feet recognized in his second edition being the Iambus, the Trochee, the Dactyl, and the Anapest, and all these being formed by quantities only. This change has been made on the supposition, that accent and long quantity, as well as their opposites, nonaccent and short quantity, may oppose each other; and that the basis of English verse is not, like that of Latin or Greek poetry, a distinction in the time of syllables, not a difference in quantity, but such a course of accenting and nonaccenting as overrides all relations of this sort, and makes both length and shortness compatible alike with stress or no stress. Such a theory, I am persuaded, is untenable. Great authority, however, may be quoted for it, or for its principal features. Besides the several later grammarians who give it countenance, even "the judicious Walker," who, in his Pronouncing Dictionary, as before cited, very properly suggests a difference between "that quantity which constitutes poetry," and the mere "length or shortness of vowels," when he comes to explain our English accent and quantity, in his "Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity," finds "accent perfectly compatible with either long or short quantity;" (Key, p. 312;) repudiates that vulgar accent of Sheridan and others, which "is only a greater force upon one syllable than another;" (Key, p. 313;) prefers the doctrine which "makes the elevation or depression of the voice inseparable from accent;" (Key, p. 314;) holds that, "unaccented vowels are frequently pronounced long when the accented vowels are short;" (Key, p. 312;) takes long or short vowels and long or short syllables to be things everywhere tantamount; saying, "We have no conception of quantity arising from any thing but the nature of the vowels, as they are pronounced long or short;" (ibid.;) and again: "Such long quantity" as consonants may produce with a close or short vowel, "an English ear has not the least idea of. Unless the sound of the vowel be altered, we have not any conception of a long or short syllable."—Walker's Key, p. 322; and Worcester's Octavo Dict., p. 935.
- In the opinion of Murray, Walker's authority should be thought sufficient to settle any question of prosodial quantities. "But," it is added, "there are some critical writers, who dispute the propriety of his arrangement."—Murray's Octavo Gram., p. 241. And well there may be; not only by reason of the obvious incorrectness of the foregoing positions, but because the great orthoëpist is not entirely consistent with himself. In his "Preparatory Observations," which introduce the very essay above cited, he avers that, "the different states of the voice," which are indicated by the comparative terms high and low, loud and soft, quick and slow, forcible and feeble, "may not improperly be called quantities of sound."—Walker's Key, p. 305. Whoever thinks this, certainly conceives of quantity as arising from several other things than "the nature of the vowels." Even Humphrey, with whom, "Quantity differs materially from time," and who defines it, "the weight, or aggregate quantum of sounds," may find his questionable and unusual "conception" of it included among these.
- Walker must have seen, as have the generality of prosodists since, that such a distinction as he makes between long syllables and short, could not possibly be the basis of English versification, or determine the elements of English feet; yet, without the analogy of any known usage, and contrary to our customary mode of reading the languages, he proposes it as applicable—and as the only doctrine conceived to be applicable—to Greek or Latin verse. Ignoring all long or short quantity not formed by what are called long or short vowels,[18] he suggests, "as a last refuge," (§25,) the very doubtful scheme of reading Latin and Greek poetry with the vowels conformed, agreeably to this English sense of long and short vowel sounds, to the ancient rules of quantity. Of such words as fallo and ambo, pronounced as we usually utter them, he says, "nothing can be more evident than the long quantity of the final vowel though without the accent, and the short quantity of the initial and accented syllable."—Obs. on Greek and Lat. Accent, §23; Key, p. 331. Now the very reverse of this appears to me to be "evident." The a, indeed, may be close or short, while the o, having its primal or name sound, is called long; but the first syllable, if fully accented, will have twice the time of the second; nor can this proportion be reversed but by changing the accent, and misplacing it on the latter syllable. Were the principle true, which the learned author pronounces so "evident," these, and all similar words, would constitute iambic feet; whereas it is plain, that in English they are trochees; and in Latin,—where "o final is common,"—either trochees or spondees. The word ambo, as every accurate scholar knows, is always a trochee, whether it be the Latin adjective for "both," or the English noun for "a reading desk, or pulpit."
- The names of our poetic feet are all of them derived, by change of endings, from similar names used in Greek, and thence also in Latin; and, of course, English words and Greek or Latin, so related, are presumed to stand for things somewhat similar. This reasonable presumption is an argument, too often disregarded by late grammarians, for considering our poetic feet to be quantitative, as were the ancient,—not accentual only, as some will have them,—nor separately both, as some others absurdly teach. But, whatever may be the difference or the coincidence between English verse and Greek or Latin, it is certain, that, in our poetic division of syllables, strength and length must always concur, and any scheme which so contrasts accent with long quantity, as to confound the different species of feet, or give contradictory names to the same foot, must be radically and grossly defective. In the preceding section it has been shown, that the principles of quantity adopted by Sheridan, Murray, and others, being so erroneous as to be wholly nugatory, were as unfit to be the basis of English verse, as are Walker's, which have just been spoken of. But, the puzzled authors, instead of reforming these their elementary principles, so as to adapt them to the quantities and rhythms actually found in our English verse, have all chosen to assume, that our poetical feet in general differ radically from those which the ancients called by the same names; and yet the coincidence found—the "exact sameness of nature" acknowledged—is sagely said by some of them to duplicate each foot into two distinct sorts for our especial advantage; while the difference, which they presume to exist, or which their false principles of accent and quantity would create, between feet quantitative and feet accentual, (both of which are allowed to us,) would implicate different names, and convert foot into foot—iambs, trochees, spondees, pyrrhics, each species into some other—till all were confusion!
- In Lindley Murray's revised scheme of feet, we have first a paragraph from Sheridan's Rhetorical Grammar, suggesting that the ancient poetic measures were formed of syllables divided " into long and short," and affirming, what is not very true, that, for the forming of ours, "In English, syllables are divided into accented and unaccented."—Rhet. Gram., p. 64; Murray's Gram., 8vo, 253; Hart's Gram., 182; and others. Now some syllables are accented, and others are unaccented; but syllables singly significant, i.e., monosyllables, which are very numerous, belong to neither of these classes. The contrast is also comparatively new; our language had much good poetry, long before accented and unaccented were ever thus misapplied in it. Murray proceeds thus: "When the feet are formed by accent on vowels, they are exactly of the same nature as ancient feet, and have the same just quantity in their syllables. So that, in this respect, we have all that the ancients had, and something which they had not. We have in fact duplicates of each foot, yet with such a difference, as to fit them for different purposes, to be applied at our pleasure."—Ib., p. 253. Again: "We have observed, that English verse is composed of feet formed by accent; and that when the accent falls on vowels, the feet are equivalent to those formed by quantity."—Ib., p. 258. And again: "From the preceding view of English versification, we may see what a copious stock of materials it possesses. For we are not only allowed the use of all the ancient poetic feet, in our heroic measure, but we have, as before observed, duplicates of each, agreeing in movement, though differing in measure,[19] and which make different impressions on the ear; an opulence peculiar to our language, and which may be the source of a boundless variety."—Ib., p. 259.
- If it were not dullness to overlook the many errors and inconsistencies of this scheme, there should be thought a rare ingenuity in thus turning them all to the great advantage and peculiar riches of the English tongue! Besides several grammatical faults, elsewhere noticed, these extracts exhibit, first, the inconsistent notion—of "duplicates with a difference;" or, as Churchill expresses it, of "two distinct species of each foot;" (New Gram., p. 189;) and here we are gravely assured withal, that these different sorts, which have no separate names, are sometimes forsooth, "exactly of the same nature"! Secondly, it is incompatibly urged, that, "English verse is composed of feet formed by accent," and at the same time shown, that it partakes largely of feet "formed by quantity." Thirdly, if "we have all that the ancients had," of poetic feet, and "duplicates of each," "which they had not" we are encumbered with an enormous surplus; for, of the twenty-eight Latin feet,[20] mentioned by Dr. Adam and others, Murray never gave the names of more than eight, and his early editions acknowledged but four, and these single, not "duplicates"—unigenous, not severally of "two species." Fourthly, to suppose a multiplicity of feet to be "a copious stock of materials" for versification, is as absurd as to imagine, in any other case, a variety of measures to be materials for producing the thing measured. Fifthly, "our heroic measure" is iambic pentameter, as Murray himself shows; and, to give to this, "all the ancient poetic feet," is to bestow most of them where they are least needed. Sixthly, "feet differing in measure," so as to "make different impressions on the ear," cannot well be said to "agree in movement," or to be "exactly of the same nature!"
- Of the foundation of metre, Wells has the following account: "The quantity of a syllable is the relative time occupied in its pronunciation. A syllable may be long in quantity, as fate; or short, as let. The Greeks and Romans based their poetry on the quantity of syllables; but modern versification depends chiefly upon accent, the quantity of syllables being almost wholly disregarded."—School Gram., 1st Ed., p. 185. Again: "Versification is a measured arrangement of words[,] in which the accent is made to recur at certain regular intervals. This definition applies only to modern verse. In Greek and Latin poetry, it is the regular recurrence of long syllables, according to settled laws, which constitutes verse."—Ib., p. 186. The contrasting of ancient and modern versification, since Sheridan and Murray each contrived an example of it, has become very common in our grammars, though not in principle very uniform; and, however needless where a correct theory prevails, it is, to such views of accent and quantity as were adopted by these authors, and by Walker, or their followers, but a necessary counterpart. The notion, however, that English verse has less regard to quantity than had that of the old Greeks or Romans, is a mere assumption, originating in a false idea of what quantity is; and, that Greek or Latin verse was less accentual than is ours, is another assumption, left proofless too, of what many authors disbelieve and contradict. Wells's definition of quantity is similar to mine, and perhaps unexceptionable; and yet his idea of the thing, as he gives us reason to think, was very different, and very erroneous. His examples imply, that, like Walker, he had "no conception of quantity arising from any thing but the nature of the vowels,"—no conception of a long or a short syllable without what is called a long or a short vowel sound. That "the Greeks and Romans based their poetry on quantity" of that restricted sort,—on such "quantity" as "fate" and "let" may serve to discriminate,—is by no means probable; nor would it be more so, were a hundred great modern masters to declare themselves ignorant of any other. The words do not distinguish at all the long and short quantities even of our own language; much less can we rely on them for an idea of what is long or short in other tongues. Being monosyllables, both are long with emphasis, both short without it; and, could they be accented, accent too would lengthen, as its absence would shorten both. In the words phosphate and streamlet, we have the same sounds, both short; in lettuce and fateful, the same, both long. This cannot be disproved. And, in the scansion of the following stanza from Byron, the word "Let" twice used, is to be reckoned a long syllable, and not (as Wells would have it) a short one:
"Cavalier! and man of worth!
Let these words of mine go forth;
Let the Moorish Monarch know,
That to him I nothing owe:
Wo is me, Alhama!" - In the English grammars of Allen H. Weld, works remarkable for their egregious inaccuracy and worthlessness, yet honoured by the Boston school committee of 1848 and '9, the author is careful to say, "Accent should not be confounded with emphasis. Emphasis is a stress of voice on a word in a sentence, to mark its importance. Accent is a stress of voice on a syllable in a word." Yet, within seven lines of this, we are told, that, "A verse consists of a certain number of accented and unaccented syllables, arranged according to certain rules."—Weld's English Grammar, 2d Edition, p. 207; "Abridged Edition," p. 137. A doctrine cannot be contrived, which will more evidently or more extensively confound accent with emphasis, than does this! In English verse, on an average, about three quarters of the words are monosyllables, which, according to Walker, "have no accent," certainly none distinguishable from emphasis; hence, in fact, our syllables are no more "divided into accented and unaccented" as Sheridan and Murray would have them, than into emphasized and unemphasized, as some others have thought to class them. Nor is this confounding of accent with emphasis at all lessened or palliated by teaching with Wells, in its justification, that, "The term accent is also applied, in poetry, to the stress laid on monosyllabic words."—Wells's School Gram., p. 185; 113th Ed., §273. What better is this, than to apply the term emphasis to the accenting of syllables in poetry, or to all the stress in question, as is virtually done in the following citation? "In English, verse is regulated by the emphasis, as there should be one emphatic syllable in every foot; for it is by the interchange of emphatick and non-emphatick syllables, that verse grateful to the ear is formed."—Thomas Coar's E. Gram., p. 196. In Latin poetry, the longer words predominate, so that, in Virgil's verse, not one word in five is a monosyllable; hence accent, if our use of it were adjusted to the Latin quantities, might have much more to do with Latin verse than with English. With the following lines of Shakspeare, for example, accent has, properly speaking, no connexion;
"Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet;
But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow,
Yet it shall come, for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to say,—But let it go."—King John, Act iii, Sc. 3. - T. O. Churchill, after stating that the Greek and Latin rhythms are composed of syllables long and short, sets ours in contrast with them thus: "These terms are commonly employed also in speaking of English verse, though it is marked, not by long and short, but by accented and unaccented syllables; the accented syllables being accounted long; the unaccented, short."—Churchill's New Gram., p. 183. This, though far from being right, is very different from the doctrine of Murray or Sheridan; because, in practice, or the scansion of verses, it comes to the same results as to suppose all our feet to be "formed by quantity." To account syllables long or short and not believe them to be so, is a ridiculous inconsistency: it is a shuffle in the name of science.
- Churchill, though not apt to be misled by others' errors, and though his own scanning has no regard to the principle, could not rid himself of the notion, that the quantity of a syllable must depend on the "vowel sound." Accordingly he says, "Mr. Murray justly observes, that our accented syllables, or those reckoned long:, may have either a long or [a] short vowel sound, so that we have two distinct species of each foot."—New Gram., p. 189. The obvious impossibility of "two distinct species" in one,—or, as Murray has it, of "duplicates fitted for different purposes,"—should have prevented the teaching and repeating of this nonsense, propound it who might. The commender himself had not such faith in it as is here implied. In a note, too plainly incompatible with this praise, he comments thus: "Mr. Murray adds, that this is 'an opulence peculiar to our language, and which may be the source of a boundless variety:' a point, on which, I confess, I have long entertained doubts. I am inclined to suspect that the English mode of reading verse is analogous to that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Dion. Hal., de Comp., Verb. §xi, speaks of the rhythm of verse differing from the proper measure of the syllables, and often reversing it: does not this imply, that the ancients, contrary to the opinion of the learned author of Metronariston, read verse as we do?"—Churchill's New Gram., p. 393, note 329.
- The nature, chief sources, and true distinction of quantity, at least as it pertains to our language, I have set forth with clearness, first in the short chapter on Utterance, and again, more fully in this, which treats of Versification; but that the syllables, long and short, of the old Greek and Latin poets, or the feet they made of them, are to be expounded on precisely the same principles that apply to ours. I have not deemed it necessary to affirm or to deny. So far as the same laws are applicable, let them be applied. This important property of syllables,—their quantity, or relative time,—which is the basis of all rhythm, is, as my readers have seen, very variously treated, and in general but ill appreciated, by our English prosodists, who ought, at least in this their own province, to understand it all alike, and as it is; and so common among the erudite is the confession of Walker, that "the accent and quantity of the ancients" are, to modern readers, "obscure and mysterious," that it will be taken as a sign of arrogance and superficiality, to pretend to a very certain knowledge of them. Nor is the difficulty confined to Latin and Greek verse: the poetry of our own ancestors, from any remote period, is not easy of scansion. Dr. Johnson, in his History of the English Language, gave examples, with this remark: "Of the Saxon poetry some specimen is necessary, though our ignorance of the laws of their metre and the quantities of their syllables, which it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, to recover, excludes us from that pleasure which the old bards undoubtedly gave to their contemporaries."
- The imperfect measures of "the father of English poetry," are said by Dryden to have been adapted to the ears of the rude age which produced them. "The verse of Chaucer," says he, "I confess, is not harmonious to us; but it is like the eloquence of one whom Tacitus commends, it was auribus istius temporis accommodata:' they who lived with him, and sometime after him, thought it musical; and it continues so even in our judgment, if compared with the numbers of Lidgate and Gower, his contemporaries: there is the rude sweetness of a Scotch tune in it, which is natural and pleasing, though not perfect. It is true, I cannot go so far as he who published the last edition of him; for he would make us believe that the fault is in our ears, and that there were really ten syllables in a verse where we find but nine: but this opinion is not worth confuting; it is so gross and obvious an error, that common sense (which is a rule in every thing but matters of faith and revelation) must convince the reader that equality of numbers in every verse, which we call Heroic, was either not known, or not always practised in Chaucer's age. It were an easy matter to produce some thousands of his verses, which are lame for want of half a foot, and sometimes a whole one, and which no pronunciation can make otherwise. We can only say, that he lived in the infancy of our poetry, and that nothing is brought to perfection at the first."—British Poets, Vol. iii, p. 171.
- Dryden appears to have had more faith in the ears of his own age than in those of an earlier one; but Poe, of our time, himself an ingenious versifier, in his Notes upon English Verse, conveys the idea that all ears are alike competent to appreciate the elements of metre. "Quantity," according to his dogmatism, "is a point in the investigation of which the lumber of mere learning may be dispensed with, if ever in any. Its appreciation" says he, "is universal. It appertains to no region, nor race, nor era in especial. To melody and to harmony the Greeks hearkened with ears precisely similar to those which we employ, for similar purposes, at present; and a pendulum at Athens would have vibrated much after the same fashion as does a pendulum in the city of Penn."—The Pioneer, Vol. i. p. 103. Supposing here not even the oscillations of the same pendulum to be more uniform than are the nature and just estimation of quantity the world over, this author soon after expounds his idea of the thing as follows: "I have already said that all syllables, in metre, are either long or short. Our usual prosodies maintain that a long syllable is equal, in its time, to two short ones; this, however, is but an approach to the truth. It should be here observed that the quantity of an English syllable has no dependence upon the sound of its vowel or dipthong [diphthong], but [depends] chiefly upon accentuation. Monosyllables are exceedingly variable, and, for the most part, may be either long or short, to suit the demand of the rhythm. In polysyllables, the accented ones [say, syllables] are always long, while those which immediately precede or succeed them, are always short. Emphasis will render any short syllable long."—Ibid., p. 105. In penning the last four sentences, the writer must have had Brown's Institutes of English Grammar before him, and open at page 235.
- Sheridan, in his Rhetorical Grammar, written about 1780, after asserting that a distinction of accent, and not of quantity, marks the movement of English verse, proceeds as follows: "From not having examined the peculiar genius of our tongue, our Prosodians have fallen into a variety of errors; some having adopted the rules of our neighbours, the French; and others having had recourse to those of the ancients; though neither of them, in reality, would square with our tongue, on account of an essential difference between them. [He means, "between each language and ours," and should have said so.] With regard to the French, they measured verses by the number of syllables whereof they were composed, on account of a constitutional defect in their tongue, which rendered it incapable of numbers formed by poetic feet. For it has neither accent nor quantity suited to the purpose; the syllables of their words being for the most part equally accented; and the number of long syllables being out of all proportion greater than that of the short. Hence for a long time it was supposed, as it is by most people at present, that our verses were composed, not of feet, but syllables; and accordingly they are denominated verses often, eight, six, or four syllables, even to this day. Thus have we lost sight of the great advantage which our language has given us over the French, in point of poetic numbers, by its being capable of a geometrical proportion, on which the harmony of versification depends; and blindly reduced ourselves to that of the arithmetical kind which contains no natural power of pleasing the ear. And hence like the French, our chief pleasure in verse arises from the poor ornament of rhyme."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 64.
- In a recent work on this subject, Sheridan is particularly excepted, and he alone, where Hallam, Johnson, Lord Kames, and other "Prosodians" in general, are charged with "astonishing ignorance of the first principles of our verse;" and, at the same time, he is as particularly commended of having "especially insisted on the subject of Quantity."—Everett's English Versification, Preface, p. 6. That the rhetorician was but slenderly entitled to these compliments, may plainly appear from the next paragraph of his Grammar just cited; for therein he mistakingly represents it as a central error, to regard our poetic feet as being "formed by quantity" at all. "Some few of our Prosodians," says he, "finding this to be an error, and that our verses were really composed of feet, not syllables, without farther examination, boldly applied all the rules of the Latin prosody to our versification; though scarce any of them answered exactly, and some of them were utterly incompatible with the genius of our tongue. Thus because the Roman feet were formed by quantity, they asserted the same of ours, denominating all the accented syllables long; whereas I have formerly shewn, that the accent, in some cases, as certainly makes the syllable on which it is laid, short, as in others it makes it long. And their whole theory of quantity, borrowed from the Roman, in which they endeavour to establish the proportion of long and short, as immutably fixed to the syllables of words constructed in a certain way, at once falls to the ground; when it is shewn, that the quantity of our syllables is perpetually varying with the sense, and is for the most part regulated by emphasis: which has been fully proved in the course of Lectures on the Art of reading Verse; where it has been also shewn, that this very circumstance has given us an amazing advantage over the ancients in the point of poetic numbers."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 64.
- The lexicographer here claims to have "shewn" or "proved," what he had only affirmed, or asserted. Erroneously taking the quality of the vowel for the quantity of the syllable, he had suggested, in his confident way, that short quantity springs from the accenting of consonants, and long quantity, from the accenting of vowels—a doctrine which has been amply noticed and refuted in a preceding section of the present chapter. Nor is he, in what is here cited, consistent with himself. For, in the first place, nothing comes nearer than this doctrine of his, to an "endeavour to establish the proportion of long and short, as immutably fixed to the syllables of words constructed in a certain way"! Next, although he elsewhere contrasts accent and emphasis, and supposes them different, he either confounds them in reference to verse, or contradicts himself by ascribing to each the chief control over quantity. And, lastly, if our poetic feet are not quantitative, not formed of syllables long and short, as were the Roman, what "advantage over the ancients," can we derive from the fact, that quantity is regulated by stress, whether accent or emphasis?
- We have, I think, no prosodial treatise of higher pretensions than Erastus Everett's "System of English Versification," first published in 1848. This gentleman professes to have borrowed no idea but what he has regularly quoted. "He mentions this, that it may not be supposed that this work is a compilation. It will be seen," says he, "how great a share of it is original; and the author, having deduced his rules from the usage of the great poets, has the best reason for being confident of their correctness."—Preface, p. 5. Of the place to be filled by this System, he has the following conception: "It is thought to supply an important desideratum. It is a matter of surprise to the foreign student, who attempts the study of English poetry and the structure of its verse, to find that we have no work on which he can rely as authority on this subject. In the other modern languages, the most learned philologers have treated of the subject of versification, in all its parts. In English alone, in a language which possesses a body of poetical literature more extensive, as well as more valuable than any other modern language, not excepting the Italian, the student has no rules to guide him, but a few meagre and incorrect outlines appended to elementary text-books." Then follows this singularly inconsistent exception: "We must except from this remark two works, published in the latter part of the sixteenth century. But as they were written before the poetical language of the English tongue was fixed, and as the rules of verse were not then settled, these works can be of little practical utility."—Preface, p. 1. The works thus excepted as of reliable authority without practical utility, are "a short tract by Gascoyne," doubtless George Gascoigne's 'Notes of Instruction concerning the making of Verse or Rhyme in English,' published in 1575, and Webbe's 'Discourse of English Poetry,' dated 1586, neither of which does the kind exceptor appear to have ever seen! Mention is next made, successively, of Dr. Carey, of Dryden, of Dr. Johnson, of Blair, and of Lord Kames. "To these guides," or at least to the last two, "the author is indebted for many valuable hints;" yet he scruples not to say, "Blair betrays a paucity of knowledge on this subject;"—"Lord Kames has slurred over the subject of Quantity," and "shown an unpardonable ignorance of the first principles of Quantity in our verse;"—and, "Even Dr. Johnson speaks of syllables in such a manner as would lead us to suppose that he was in the same error as Kames. These inaccuracies," it is added, "can be accounted for only from the fact that Prosodians have not thought Quantity of sufficient importance to merit their attention."—See Preface, p. 4-6.
- Everett's Versification consists of seventeen chapters, numbered consecutively, but divided into two parts, under the two titles Quantity and Construction. Its specimens of verse are numerous, various, and beautiful. Its modes of scansion—the things chiefly to be taught—though perhaps generally correct, are sometimes questionable, and not always consonant with the writer's own rules of quantity. From the citations above, one might expect from this author such an exposition of quantity, as nobody could either mistake or gainsay; but, as the following platform will show, his treatment of this point is singularly curt and incomplete. He is so sparing of words as not even to have given a definition of quantity. He opens his subject thus: "Versification is the proper arrangement of words in a line according to their quantity, and the disposition of these lines in couplets, stanzas, or in blank verse, in such order, and according to such rules, as are sanctioned by usage.—A Foot is a combination of two or more syllables, whether long or short.—A Line is one foot, or more than one.—The Quantity of each word depends on its accent. In words of more than one syllable, all accented syllables are long, and all unaccented syllables are short. Monosyllables are long or short, according to the following Rules:—1st. All Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, and Participles are long.—2nd. The articles are always short.—3rd, The Pronouns are long or short, according to emphasis.—4th. Interjections and Adverbs are generally long, but sometimes made short by emphasis.—5th. Prepositions and Conjunctions are almost always short, but sometimes made long by emphasis."—English Versification, p. 13. None of these principles of quantity are unexceptionable; and whoever follows them implicitly, will often differ not only from what is right, but from their author himself in the analysis of verses. Nor are they free from important antagonisms. "Emphasis," as here spoken of, not only clashes with "accent," but contradicts itself, by making some syllables long and some short; and, what is more mysteriously absurd, the author says, "It frequently happens that syllables long by Quantity become short by emphasis."—Everett's Eng. Versif., 1st Ed., p. 99. Of this, he takes the first syllable of the following line, namely, "the word bids," to be an example:
"Bĭds mĕ līve bŭt tŏ hōpe fŏr pŏstērĭtў's prāise."
- In the American Review, for May, 1848, Everett's System of Versification is named as "an apology and occasion"—not for a critical examination of this or any other scheme of prosody—but for the promulgation of a new one, a rival theory of English metres, "the principles and laws" of which the writer promises, "at an other time" more fully "to develop." The article referred to is entitled, "The Art of Measuring Verses." The writer, being designated by his initials, "J. D. W.," is understood to be James D. Whelpley, editor of the Review. Believing Everett's principal doctrines to be radically erroneous, this critic nevertheless excuses them, because he thinks we have nothing better! "The views supported in the work itself," says his closing paragraph, "are not, indeed, such as we would subscribe to, nor can we admit the numerous analyses of the English metres which it contains to be correct; yet, as it is as complete in design and execution as anything that has yet appeared on the subject, and well calculated to excite the attention, and direct the inquiries, of English scholars, to the study of our own metres, we shall even pass it by without a word of criticism."—American Review, New Series, Vol. I, p. 492.
- Everett, although, as we have seen, he thought proper to deny that the student of English versification had any well authorized "rules to guide him," still argues that, "The laws of our verse are just as fixed, and may be as clearly laid down, if we but attend to the usage of the great Poets, as are the laws of our syntax."—Preface, p. 7. But this critic, of the American Review, ingenious though he is in many of his remarks, flippantly denies that our English Prosody has either authorities or principles which one ought to respect; and accordingly cares so little whom he contradicts, that he is often inconsistent with himself. Here is a sample: "As there are no established authorities in this art, and, indeed, no acknowledged principles—every rhymester being permitted to invent his own method, and write by instinct or imitation—the critic feels quite at liberty to say just what he pleases, and offer his private observations as though these were really of some moment."—Am. Rev., Vol. i, p. 484. In respect to writing, "to invent," and to "imitate," are repugnant ideas; and so are, after a "method," and "by instinct." Again, what sense is there in making the "liberty" of publishing one's "private observations" to depend on the presumed absence of rivals? That the author did not lack confidence in the general applicability of his speculations, subversive though they are of the best and most popular teaching on this subject, is evident from the following sentence: "We intend, also, that if these principles, with the others previously expressed, are true in the given instances, they are equally true for all languages and all varieties of metre, even to the denial that any poetic metres, founded on other principles, can properly exist."—Ib., p. 491
- J. D. W. is not one of those who discard quantity and supply accent in expounding the nature of metre; and yet he does not coincide very nearly with any of those who have heretofore made quantity the basis of poetic numbers. His views of the rhythmical elements being in several respects peculiar, I purpose briefly to notice them here, though some of the peculiarities of this new "Art of Measuring Verses," should rather be quoted under the head of Scanning, to which they more properly belong. "Of every species of beauty," says this author, "and more especially of the beauty of sounds, continuousness is the first element; a succession of pulses of sound becomes agreeable, only when the breaks or intervals cease to be heard." Again: "Quantity, or the division into measures of time, is a second element of verse; each line must be stuffed out with sounds, to a certain fullness and plumpness, that will sustain the voice, and force it to dwell upon the sounds."—Rev., p. 485. The first of these positions is subsequently contradicted, or very largely qualified, by the following: "So, the line of significant sounds, in a verse, is also marked by accents, or pulses, and divided into portions called feet. These are necessary and natural for the very simple reason that continuity by itself is tedious; and the greatest pleasure arises from the union of continuity with variety. [That is, with "interruption," as he elsewhere calls it!] In the line,
there are at least four accents or stresses of the voice, with faint pauses after them, just enough to separate the continuous stream of sound into these four parts, to be read thus:'Full màny a tàle theír mùsic tèlls,'
Fullman—yataleth—eirmus—ictells,[21]
by which, new combinations of sound are produced, of a singularly musical character. It is evident from the inspection of the above line, that the division of the feet by the accents is quite independent of the division of words by the sense. The sounds are melted into continuity, and re-divided again in a manner agreeable to the musical ear."—Ib., p. 486. Undoubtedly, the due formation of our poetic feet occasions both a blending of some words and a dividing of others, in a manner unknown to prose; but still we have the authority of this writer, as well as of earlier ones, for saying, "Good verse requires to be read with the natural quantites [sic—KTH] of the syllables," (p. 487,) a doctrine with which that of the redivision appears to clash. If the example given be read with any regard to the cæsural pause, as undoubtedly it should be, the th of their cannot be joined, as above, to the word tale; nor do I see any propriety in joining the s of music to the third foot rather than to the fourth. Can a theory which turns topsyturvy the whole plan of syllabication, fail to affect "the natural quantities of syllables?"
- Different modes of reading verse, may, without doubt, change the quantities of very many syllables. Hence a correct mode of reading, as well as a just theory of measure, is essential to correct scansion, or a just discrimination of the poetic feet. It is a very common opinion, that English verse has but few spondees; and the doctrine of Brightland has been rarely disputed, that, "Heroic Verses consist of five short, and five long Syllables intermixt, but not so very strictly as never to alter that order."—Gram., 7th Ed., p. 160.[22] J. D. W., being a heavy reader, will have each line so "stuffed out with sounds," and the consonants so syllabled after the vowels, as to give to our heroics three spondees for every two iambuses; and lines like the following, which, with the elisions, I should resolve into four iambuses, and without them, into three iambuses and one anapest, he supposes to consist severally of four spondees:
"'When coldness wraps this suffering clay,
Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?'[These are] to be read," according to this prosodian,
"Whencoldn—esswrapsth—issuff'r—ingclay,
Ah! whith—erstraysth'—immort—almind?""The verse," he contends, "is perceived to consist of six [probably he meant to say eight] heavy syllables, each composed of a vowel followed by a group of consonantal sounds, the whole measured into four equal feet. The movement is what is called spondaic, a spondee being a foot of two heavy sounds. The absence of short syllables gives the line a peculiar weight and solemnity suited to the sentiment, and doubtless prompted by it."—American Review, Vol. i, p. 487. Of his theory, he subsequently says: "It maintains that good English verse is as thoroughly quantitative as the Greek, though it be much more heavy and spondaic."—Ib., p. 491.[23]
- For the determining of quantities and feet, this author borrows from some old Latin grammar three or four rules, commonly thought inapplicable to our tongue, and, mixing them up with other speculations, satisfies himself with stating that the "Art of Measuring Verses" requires yet the production of many more such! But, these things being the essence of his principles, it is proper to state them in his own words: "A short vowel sound followed by a double consonantal sound, usually makes a long quantity;[24] so also does a long vowel like y in beauty, before a consonant. The metrical accents, which often differ from the prosaic, mostly fall upon the heavy sounds; which must also be prolonged in reading, and never slurred or lightened, unless to help out a bad verse. In our language the groupings of the consonants furnish a great number of spondaic feet, and give the language, especially its more ancient forms, as in the verse of Milton and the prose of Lord Bacon, a grand and solemn character. One vowel followed by another, unless the first be naturally made long in the reading, makes a short quantity, as in th[ē] old. So, also, a short vowel followed by a single short consonant, gives a short time or quantity, as in tö give. ☞ A great variety of rules for the detection of long and short quantities have yet to be invented, or applied from the Greek and Latin prosody. In all languages they are of course the same, making due allowance for difference of organization; but it is as absurd to suppose that the Greeks should have a system of prosody differing in principle from our own, as that their rules of musical harmony should be different from the modern. Both result from the nature of the ear and of the organ of speech, and are consequently the same in all ages and nations."—Am. Rev., Vol. i, p. 488.
- Quantity is here represented as "time" only. In this author's first mention of it, it is called, rather less accurately, "the division into measures of time." With too little regard for either of these conceptions, he next speaks of it as including both "time and accent." But I have already shown that "accents or stresses" cannot pertain to short syllables, and therefore cannot be ingredients of quantity. The whole article lacks that clearness which is a prime requisite of a sound theory. Take all of the writer's next paragraph as an example of this defect: "The two elements of musical metre, time and accent, both together constituting quantity, are equally elements of the metre of verse. Each iambic foot or metre, is marked by a swell of the voice, concluding abruptly in an accent, or interruption, on the last sound of the foot; or, [omit this 'or:' it is improper,] in metres of the trochaic order, in such words as dandy, handy, bottle, favor, labor, it [the foot] begins with a heavy accented sound, and declines to a faint or light one at the close. The line is thus composed of a series of swells or waves of sound, concluding and beginning alike. The accents, or points at which the voice is most forcibly exerted in the feet, being the divisions of time, by which a part of its musical character is given to the verse, are usually made to coincide, in our language, with the accents of the words as they are spoken; which [coincidence] diminishes the musical character of our verse. In Greek hexameters and Latin hexameters, on the contrary, this coincidence is avoided, as tending to monotony and a prosaic character."—Ibid.
- The passage just cited represents "accent" or "accents" not only as partly constituting quantity, but as being, in its or their turn, "the divisions of time;"—as being also stops, pauses, or "interruptions" of sound else continuous;—as being of two sorts, "metrical" and "prosaic," which "usually coincide," though it is said, they "often differ," and their "interference" is "very frequent;"—as being "the points" of stress "in the feet," but not always such in "the words," of verse;—as striking different feet differently, "each iambic foot" on the latter syllable and every trochee on the former, yet causing, in each line, only such waves of sound as conclude and begin "alike;"—as coinciding with the long quantities and "the prosaic accents," in iambics and trochaics, yet not coinciding with these always;—as giving to verse "a part of its musical character," yet diminishing that character, by their usual coincidence with "the prose accents;"—as being kept distinct in Latin and Greek, "the metrical" from "the prosaic" and their "coincidence avoided," to make poetry more poetical,—though the old prosodists, in all they say of accents, acute, grave, and circumflex, give no hint of this primary distinction! In all this elementary teaching, there seems to be a want of a clear, steady, and consistent notion of the things spoken of. The author's theory led him to several strange combinations of words, some of which it is not easy, even with his whole explanation before us, to regard as other than absurd. With a few examples of his new phraseology, Italicized by myself, I dismiss the subject: "It frequently happens that word and verse accent fall differently."—P. 489. "The verse syllables, like the verse feet, differ in the prosaic and [the] metrical reading of the line."—Ib. "If we read it by the prosaic syllabication, there will be no possibility of measuring the quantities."—Ib. "The metrical are perfectly distinct from the prosaic properties of verse."—Ib. "It may be called an iambic dactyl, formed by the substitution of two short for one long time in the last portion of the foot. Iambic spondees and dactyls are to be distinguished by the metrical accent falling on the last syllable."—P. 491.
SECTION IV.—THE KINDS OF VERSE.
[edit]The principal kinds of verse, or orders of poetic numbers, as has already been stated, are four; namely, Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, and Dactylic. Besides these, which are sometimes called "the simple orders" being unmixed, or nearly so, some recognize several "Composite orders" or (with a better view of the matter) several kinds of mixed verse, which are said to constitute "the Composite order." In these, one of the four principal kinds of feet must still be used as the basis, some other species- being inserted therewith, in each line or stanza, with more or less regularity.
PRINCIPLES AND NAMES.
The diversification of any species of metre, by the occasional change of a foot, or, in certain cases, by the addition or omission of a short syllable, is not usually regarded as sufficient to change the denomination, or stated order, of the verse; and many critics suppose some variety of feet, as well as a studied diversity in the position of the cæsural pause, essential to the highest excellence of poetic composition.
The dividing of verses into the feet which compose them, is called Scanning, or Scansion. In this, according to the technical language of the old prosodists, when a syllable is wanting, the verse is said to be catalectic; when the measure is exact, the line is acatalectic; when there is a redundant syllable, it forms hypermeter.
Since the equal recognition of so many feet as twelve, or even as eight, will often produce different modes of measuring the same lines; and since it is desirable to measure verses with uniformity, and always by the simplest process that will well answer the purpose; we usually scan by the principal feet, in preference to the secondary, where the syllables give us a choice of measures, or may be divided in different ways.
A single foot, especially a foot of only two syllables, can hardly be said to constitute a line, or to have rhythm in itself; yet we sometimes see a foot so placed, and rhyming as a line. Lines of two, three, four, five, six, or seven feet, are common; and these have received the technical denominations of dim'eter, trim'eter, tetram'eter, pentam'eter, hexam'eter, and heptam'eter. On a wide page, iambics and trochaics may possibly be written in octom'eter; but lines of this measure, being very long, are mostly abandoned for alternate tetrameters.
ORDER I.—IAMBIC VERSE.
[edit]In Iambic verse, the stress is laid on the even syllables, and the odd ones are short. Any short syllable added to a line of this order, is supernumerary; iambic rhymes, which are naturally single, being made double by one, and triple by two. But the adding of one short syllable, which is much practised in dramatic poetry, may be reckoned to convert the last foot into an amphibrach, though the adding of two cannot. Iambics consist of the following measures:
MEASURE I.—IAMBIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.
[edit]Psalm XLVII, 1 and 2.
"O āll \ yĕ pēo\-plĕ, clāp \ yŏur hānds, \ ănd wīth \ trĭūm\-phănt vōi\-cĕs sīng;
No force \ the might\-ȳ power \ withstands \ of God, \ the u\-niver\-sal King."
See the "Psalms of David, in Metre," p. 54.
Each couplet of this verse is now commonly reduced to, or exchanged for, a simple stanza of four tetrameter lines, rhyming alternately, and each commencing with a capital; but sometimes, the second line and the fourth are still commenced with a small letter: as,
"Your ut\-most skill \ in praise \ be shown,
for Him \ who all \ the world \ commands,
Who sits \ upon \ his right\-eous throne,
and spreads \ his sway \ o'er heath\-en lands."
Ib., verses 7 and 8; Edition bound with Com. Prayer,
N. Y., 1819.
An other Example.
"The hour \ is come \ —the cher\-ish'd hour,
When from \ the bus\-y world \ set free,
I seek \ at length \ my lone\-ly bower,
And muse \ in si\-lent thought \ on thee."
Theodore Hook's Remains: The Examiner, No. 82.
MEASURE II.—IAMBIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Hat-Brims.
"It's odd \ how hats \ expand [ their brims \ as youth \ begins \ to fade,
As if \ when life \ had reached \ its noon, \ it want\-ed them \ for shade."
Oliver Wendell Holmes: From a Newspaper.
Example II.—Psalm XLII, 1.
"As pants \ the hart \ for cool\-ing streams, \ when heat\-ed in \ the chase;
So longs \ my soul, \ O God, \ for thee, \ and thy \ refresh\-ing grace."
Episcopal Psalm-Book: The Rev. W. Allen's Eng. Gram., p. 227.
Example III.—The Shepherd's Hymn.
"Oh, when \ I rove \ the des\-ert waste, \ and 'neath \ the hot \ sun pant,
The Lord \ shall be \ my Shep\-herd then, \ he will \ not let \ me want;
He'll lead \ me where \ the past\-ures are \ of soft \ and shad\-y green,
And where \ the gen\-tle wa\-ters rove, \ the qui\-et hills \ between.
And when \ the sav\-age shall \ pursue, \ and in \ his grasp \ I sink,
He will \ prepare \ the feast \ for me, \ and bring \ the cool\-ing drink,
And save \ me harm\-less from \ his hands, and strength\-en me \ in toil,
And bless \ my home \ and cot\-tage lands, and crown \ my head \ with oil.
With such \ a Shep\-herd to \ protect, \ to guide \ and guard \ me still,
And bless \ my heart \ with ev\-'ry good, \ and keep \ from ev\-'ry ill,
Surely \ I shall \ not turn \ aside, \ and scorn \ his kind\-ly care,
But keep \ the path \ he points \ me out, \ and dwell \ for ev\-er there."
W. Gilmore Simms: North American Reader, p. 376.
Example IV.—"The Far, Far Fast."—First six Lines.
"It was \ a dream \ of earl\-y years, \ the long\-est and \ the last,
And still \ it ling\-ers bright \ and lone \ amid \ the drear\-y past;
When I \ was sick \ and sad \ at heart \ and faint \ with grief \ and care,
It threw \ its ra\-diant smile \ athwart \ the shad\-ows of \ despair:
And still \ when falls \ the hour \ of gloom \ upon \ this way\-ward breast,
Unto \ the far, \ far east \ I turn \ for sol\-ace and \ for rest."
Edinburgh Journal; and The Examiner,
Example V.—"Lament of the Slave."—Eight Lines from thirty-four.
"Behold \ the sun \ which gilds \ yon heaven, how love\-ly it \ appears!
And must \ it shine \ to light \ a world \ of war\-fare and \ of tears?
Shall hu\-man pas\-sion ev\-er sway \ this glo\-rious world \ of God,
And beau\-ty, wis\-dom, hap\-piness, \ sleep with \ the tram\-pled sod?
Shall peace \ ne'er lift \ her ban\-ner up, \ shall truth \ and rea\-son cry,
And men \ oppress \ them down \ with worse \ than an\-cient tyr\-anny?
Shall all \ the les\-sons time \ has taught, \ be so \ long taught \ in vain;
And earth \ be steeped \ in hu\-man tears, \ and groan \ with hu\-man pain?"
Alonzo Lewis: Freedom's Amulet, Dec. 6, 1848.
Example VI.—"Greek Funeral Chant."—First four of sixty-four Lines.
"A wail \ was heard \ around \ the bed, \ the death\-bed of \ the young;
Amidst \ her tears, \ the Fu\-neral Chant \ a mourn\-ful moth\-er sung.
'I-an\-this dost \ thou sleep?— \ Thou sleepst!— \ but this \ is not \ the rest,
The breath\-ing, warm, \ and ros\-y calm, \ I've pil\-low'd on \ my breast!'"
Felicia Hemans: Poetical Works, Vol. ii, p. 37.
Everett observes, "The Iliad was translated into this measure by Chapman, and the Æneid by Phaer."—Eng. Versif., p. 68. Prior, who has a ballad of one hundred and eighty such lines, intimates in a note the great antiquity of the verse. Measures of this length, though not very uncommon, are much less frequently used than shorter ones. A practice has long prevailed of dividing this kind of verse into alternate lines of four and of three feet, thus:
"To such \ as fear \ thy ho\-ly name,
myself \ I close\-ly join;
To all \ who their \ obe\-dient wills
to thy \ commands \ resign."
Psalms with Com. Prayer: Psalm cxix, 63.
This, according to the critics, is the most soft and pleasing of our lyric measures. With the slight change of setting a capital at the head of each line, it becomes the regular ballad-metre of our language. Being also adapted to hymns, as well as to lighter songs, and, more particularly, to quaint details of no great length, this stanza, or a similar one more ornamented with rhymes, is found in many choice pieces of English poetry. The following are a few popular examples:
"When all \ thy mer\-cies, O \ my God!
My ris\-ing soul \ surveys,
Transport\-ed with \ the view \ I'm lost
In won\-der, love, \ and praise."
Addison's Hymn of Gratitude.
"John Gil\-pin was \ a cit\-izen
Of cred\-it and \ renown,
A train\-band cap\-tain eke \ was he
Of fam\-ous Lon\-don town."
Cowper's Poems, Vol. i, p. 275.
"God pros\-per long \ our no\-ble king,
Our lives \ and safe\-ties all;
A wo\-ful hunt\-ing once \ there did
In Chev\-y Chase \ befall,"
Later Reading of Chevy Chase.
"Turn, An\-geli\-na, ev\-er dear,
My charm\-er, turn \ to see
Thy own, \ thy long\-lost Ed\-win here,
Restored \ to love \ and thee."
Goldsmith's Poems, p. 67.
"'Come back! \ come back!' \ he cried \ in grief,
Across \ this storm\-y water:
'And I'll \ forgive \ your High\-land chief,
My daugh\-ter!—oh \ my daughter!
'Twas vain: \ the loud \ waves lashed \ the shore,
Return \ or aid \ preventing:—
The wa\-ters wild \ went o'er \ his child,—
And he \ was left \ lamenting."—Campbell's Poems, p. 110.
The rhyming of this last stanza is irregular and remarkable, yet not unpleasant. It is contrary to rule, to omit any rhyme which the current of the verse leads the reader to expect. Yet here the word "shore" ending the first line, has no correspondent sound, where twelve examples of such correspondence had just preceded; while the third line, without previous example, is so rhymed within itself that one scarcely perceives the omission. Double rhymes are said by some to unfit this metre for serious subjects, and to adapt it only to what is meant to be burlesque, humorous, or satiric. The example above does not confirm this opinion, yet the rule, as a general one, may still be just. Ballad verse may in some degree imitate the language of a simpleton, and become popular by clownishness, more than by elegance: as,
"Father \ and I \ went down \ to the camp
Along \ with cap\-tain Goodwin,
And there \ we saw \ the men \ and boys
As thick \ as hast\-y pudding;
And there \ we saw \ a thun\-dering gun,—
It took \ a horn \ of powder,—
It made \ a noise \ like fa\-ther's gun,
Only \ a na\-tion louder."
Original Song of Yankee Doodle.
Even the line of seven feet may still be lengthened a little by a double rhyme: as,
How gay\-ly, o\-ver fell \ and fen, \ yon sports\-man light \ is dashing!
And gay\-ly, in \ the sun\-beams bright, \ the mow \—er's blade \ is flashing!
Of this length, T. O. Churchill reckons the following couplet; but by the general usage of the day, the final ed is not made a separate syllable:
"With hic \ and hoec, \ as Pris\-cian tells, \ sacer\-dos was \ decli\-nĕd;
But now \ its gen\-der by \ the pope \ far bet\-ter is \ defi\-nĕd."
Churchill's New Grammar, p. 188.
MEASURE III.—IAMBIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.
[edit]Example I.—A Couplet.
"Sŏ vā\-rўĭng still \ thĕir mōods, \ ŏbsērv\-ĭng ȳet \ ĭn āll
Their quan\-tities, \ their rests, \ their cen\-sures met\-rical."
MICHAEL DRAYTON: Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. Quantity.
Example II.—From a Description of a Stag-Hunt.
"And through \ the cumb\-rous thicks, \ as fear\-fully \ he makes,
He with \ his branch\-ed head \ the ten\-der sap\-lings shakes,
That sprink\-ling their \ moist pearl \ do seem \ for him \ to weep;
When aft\-er goes \ the cry, \ with yell\-ings loud \ and deep,
That all \ the for\-est rings, \ and ev\-ery neigh\-bouring place:
And there \ is not \ a hound \ but fall\-eth to \ the chase."
DRAYTON: Three Couplets from twenty-three,
in Everett's Versif., p. 66.
Example III.—An Extract from Shakespeare.
"If love \ make me \ forsworn, \ how shall \ I swear \ to love?
O, nev\-er faith \ could hold, \ if not \ to beau\-ty vow'd:
Though to \ myself \ forsworn, \ to thee \ I'll con\-stant prove;
Those thoughts, \ to me \ like oaks, \ to thee \ like o\-siers bow'd.
Stūdў \ his bi\-as leaves, \ and makes \ his book \ thine eyes,
Where all \ those pleas\-ures live, \ that art \ can com\-prehend.
If knowl\-edge be \ the mark, \ to know \ thee shall \ suffice;
Well learn\-ed is \ that tongue \ that well \ can thee \ commend;
All ig\-norant \ that soul \ that sees \ thee with' \ oŭt wonder;
Which is \ to me \ some praise, \ that I \ thy parts \ admire:
Thine eye \ Jove's light\-ning seems, \ thy voice \ his dread\-ful thunder,
Which (not \ to an\-ger bent) \ is mu\-sic and \ sweet fire.
Celes\-tial as \ thou art, \ O, do \ not love \ that wrong,
To sing \ the heav\-ens' praise \ with such \ an earth\-ly tongue."
The Passionate Pilgrim, Stanza IX;
Singer's Shak., Vol. ii, p. 594.
Example IV.—The Ten Commandments Versified.
"Adore \ no God \ besides \ me, to \ provoke \ mine eyes;
Nor wor\-ship me \ in shapes \ and forms \ that men \ devise;
With rev \ 'rence use \ my name, \ nor turn \ my words \ to jest;
Observe \ my sab\-bath well, \ nor dare \ profane \ my rest;
Honor \ and due \ obe\-dience to \ thy pa\-rents give;
Nor spill \ the guilt\-less blood, \ nor let \ the guilt\-y live;[25]
Preserve \ thy bod\-y chaste, \ and flee \ th' unlaw\-ful bed;
Nor steal \ thy neigh\-bor's gold, \ his gar\-ment, or \ his bread;
Forbear \ to blast \ his name \ with false\-hood or deceit;
Nor let \ thy wish\-es loose \ upon \ his large \ estate."
Dr. Isaac Watts: Lyric Poems, p. 46.
This verse, consisting, when entirely regular, of twelve syllables in six iambs, is the Alexandrine; said to have been so named because it was "first used in a poem called Alexander."—Worcester's Dict. Such metre has sometimes been written, with little diversity, through an entire English poem, as in Drayton's Polyolbion; but, couplets of this length being generally esteemed too clumsy for our language, the Alexandrine has been little used by English versifiers, except to complete certain stanzas beginning with shorter iambics, or, occasionally, to close a period in heroic rhyme. French heroics are similar to this; and if, as some assert, we have obtained it thence, the original poem was doubtless a French one, detailing the exploits of the hero "Alexandre." The phrase, "an Alexandrine verse," is, in French, "un vers Alexandrin." Dr. Gregory, in his Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, copies Johnson's Quarto Dictionary, which says, "Alexandrine, a kind of verse borrowed from the French, first used in a poem called Alexander. They [Alexandrines] consist, among the French, of twelve and thirteen syllables, in alternate couplets; and, among us, of twelve." Dr. Webster, in his American Dictionary, improperly (as I think) gives to the name two forms, and seems also to acknowledge two sorts of the English verse: "ALEXAN'DRINE, or ALEXAN'DRIAN, n. A kind of verse, consisting of twelve syllables, or of twelve and thirteen alternately." "The Pet-Lamb," a modern pastoral, by Wordsworth, has sixty-eight lines, all probably meant for Alexandrines; most of which have twelve syllables, though some have thirteen, and others, fourteen. But it were a great pity, that versification so faulty and unsuitable should ever be imitated. About half of the said lines, as they appear in the poet's royal octave, or "the First Complete American, from the Last London Edition," are as sheer prose as can be written, it being quite impossible to read them into any proper rhythm. The poem being designed for children, the measure should have been reduced to iambic trimeter, and made exact at that. The story commences thus:
"The dew \ was fall\-ing fast, \ the stars \ began \ to blink;
I heard \ a voice; \ it said, \ 'Drink, pret\-ty crea\-ture, drink!'
And, look\-ing o'er \ the hedge, \ before \ me I \ espied
A snow\-white moun\-tain Lamb \ wīth ā Māid\-en at \ its side."
All this is regular, with the exception of one foot; but who can make any thing but prose of the following?
"Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now,
Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough."
"Here thou needest not dread the raven in the sky;
Night and day thou art safe,—our cottage is hard by."
Wordsworth's Poems, New-Haven Ed., 1836, p. 4.
In some very ancient English poetry, we find lines of twelve syllables combined in couplets with others of fourteen; that is, six iambic feet are alternated with seven, in lines that rhyme. The following is an example, taken from a piece of fifty lines, which Dr. Johnson ascribes to the Earl of Surry, one of the wits that flourished in the reign of Henry VIII:
"Such way\-ward wayes \ hath Love, \ that most \ part in \ discord,
Our willes \ do stand, \ whereby \ our hartes \ but sel\-dom do \ accord;
Decyte \ is hys \ delighte, \ and to \ begyle \ and mocke,
The sim \ ple hartes \ which he \ doth strike \ with fro\-ward di\-vers stroke.
He caus\-eth th' one \ to rage \ with gold\-en burn\-ing darte,
And doth \ allay \ with lead\-en cold, \ again \ the oth\-er's harte;
Whose gleames \ of burn\-ing fyre \ and eas\-y sparkes \ of flame,
In bal\-ance of \ ŭnē\-qual weyght \ he pon\-dereth \ by ame."
See Johnson's Quarto Dict., History of the Eng. Lang., p. 4.
MEASURE IV.—IAMBIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Hector to Andromache.
"Andrōm\-ăchē! \ mȳ sōul's \ făr bēt\-tĕr pārt,
Whȳ wĭth \ untime\-ly \ sor\-rows heaves \ thy heart?
No hos\-tile hand \ can an\-tedate \ my doom,
Till fate \ condemns \ me to \ the si\-lent tomb.
Fix'd is \ the term \ to all \ the race \ of earth;
And such \ the hard \ conditi\-on of \ our birth,
No force \ can then \ resist, \ no flight \ can save;
All sink \ alike, \ the fear\-ful and \ the brave."
Pope's Homer: Iliad, B. vi, l. 624-632.
Example II.—Angels' Worship.
"No soon\-er had \ th' Almight\-y ceas'd \ but all
The mul\-titude \ of an\-gels with \ a shout
Loud as \ from num\-bers with'\-out num\-ber, sweet
As from \ blest voi\-ces ut \ tĕr ĭng jōy, \ heav'n rung
With ju\-bilee, \ and loud \ hosan\-nas fill'd
Th' eter\-nal \ re\-gions; low\-ly rev\-erent
Tow'rds ei\-ther throne \ they bow, \ and to \ the ground
With sol\-emn ad\-ora\-tion down \ they cast
Their crowns \ inwove \ with am\-arant \ and gold."
Milton: Paradise Lost, B. iii, l. 344.
"The world \ is still \ deceiv'd \ with or\-nament.
In law, \ what plea \ so taint\-ed and \ corrupt,
But, be\-ing sea\-son'd with \ a gra\-cious voice,
Obscures \ the show \ of e\-vil? In \ religiŏn,
What dam \—nĕd er\-ror, but \ some so\-ber brow
Will bless \ it, and \ approve \ it with \ a text,
Hidĭng \ the gross\-ness with \ fair or\-nament?"
Shakspeare: Merch. of Venice, Act iii, Sc. 2.
Example IV.—Praise God.
"Ye head\-long tor\-rents, rap\-id, and \ profound;
Ye soft\-er floods, \ that lead \ the hu\-mid maze
Along \ the vale; \ and thou, \ majes\-tic main,
A se\-cret world \ of won\-ders in \ thyself,
Sound His \ stupen\-dous \ praise; \ whose great\-er voice
Or bids \ you roar, \ or bids \ your roar\-ings fall."
Thomson: Hymn to the Seasons.
Example V.—The Christian Spirit.
"Like him \ the soul, \ thus kin\-dled from \ above,
Spreads wide \ her arms \ of u\-niver\-sal love;
And, still \ enlarg'd \ as she \ receives \ the grace,
Includes \ crĕā\-tion in \ her close \ embrace.
Behold \ a Chris\-tian! and \ without \ the fires
The found\-ĕr ŏf \ that name \ alone \ inspires,
Though all \ accom\-plishment, \ all knowl\-edge meet,
To make \ the shin\-ing prod\-igy \ complete,
Whoev\-er boasts \ that name— \ behold \ a cheat!"
Cowper: Charity; Poems, Vol. i, p. 135.
Example VI.—To London.
"Ten right\-eous would \ have sav'd \ a cit\-y once,
And thou \ hast man\-y right\-eous.—Well \ for thee—
That salt \ preserves \ thee; more \ corrupt\-ed else,
And there\-fore more \ obnox\-ious, at \ this hour,
Than Sod\-om in \ her day \ had pow'r \ to be,
For whom \ God heard \ his Abr'\-ham plead \ in vain."
idem: The Task, Book iii, at the end.
This verse, the iambic pentameter, is the regular English heroic—a stately species, and that in which most of our great poems are composed, whether epic, dramatic, or descriptive. It is well adapted to rhyme, to the composition of sonnets, to the formation of stanzas of several sorts; and yet is, perhaps, the only measure suitable for blank verse—which latter form always demands a subject of some dignity or sublimity.
The Elegiac Stanza, or the form of verse most commonly used by elegists, consists of four heroics rhyming alternately; as,
"Thou knowst \ how trans\-port thrills \ the ten\-der breast,
Where love \ and fan\-cy fix \ their ope\-ning reign;
How na\-ture shines \ in live\-lier col\-ours dress'd,
To bless \ their un\-ion, and \ to grace \ their train."
Shenstone: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 106.
Iambic verse is seldom continued perfectly pure through a long succession of lines. Among its most frequent diversifications, are the following; and others may perhaps be noticed hereafter:
(1.) The first foot is often varied by a substitutional trochee; as,
"Bacchus, \ that first \ from out \ the pur\-ple grape
Crush'd the \ sweet poi\-son of \ mis-ūs\-ĕd wine,
After \ the Tus\-can mar\-iners \ transform'd,
Coasting \ the Tyr\-rhene shore, \ ăs thĕ \ winds listĕd,
On Cir\-ce's isl\-and fell. \ Who knows \ not Circĕ,
The daugh\-ter of \ the sun? \ whose charm\-ĕd cup
Whoev\-er tast\-ed, lost \ his up\-right shape,
And down\-ward fell \ īntŏ a grov\-elling swine."
Milton: Comus; British Poets, Vol. ii, p. 147.
(2.) By a synæresis of the two short syllables, an anapest may sometimes be employed for an iambus; or a dactyl, for a trochee. This occurs chiefly where one unaccented vowel precedes an other in what we usually regard as separate syllables, and both are clearly heard, though uttered perhaps in so quick succession that both syllables may occupy only half the time of a long one. Some prosodists, however, choose to regard these substitutions as instances of trissyllabic feet mixed with the others; and, doubtless, it is in general easy to make them such, by an utterance that avoids, rather than favours, the coalescence. The following are examples:
"No rest: \ through man\-y a dark \ and drear\-y vale
They pass'd, \ and man\-y a re\-gion dol\-orous,
O'er man\-y a fro\-zen, man\-y a fi\-ery Alp."
—Milton: P. L., B. ii, l. 618.
"Rejoice \ ye na\-tions, vin\-dicate \ the sway
Ordain'd \ for com\-mon hap\-piness. \ Wide, o'er
The globe \ terra\-queous, let \ Britan\-nia pour
The fruits \ of plen\-ty from \ her co\-pious horn."
—Dyer: Fleece, B. iv, l. 658.
"Myriads \ of souls \ that knew \ one pa\-rent mold,
See sad\-ly sev \ er'd by \ the laws \ of chance!
Myriads, \ in time's \ peren\-nial list \ enroll'd,
Forbid \ by fate \ to change \ one tran\-sient glance!"
Shenstone: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 109.
(3.) In plays, and light or humorous descriptions, the last foot of an iambic line is often varied or followed by an additional short syllable; and, sometimes, in verses of triple rhyme, there is an addition of two short syllables, after the principal rhyming syllable. Some prosodists call the variant foot, in die former instance, an amphibrach, and would probably, in the latter, suppose either an additional pyrrhic, or an amphibrach with still a surplus syllable; but others scan, in these cases, by the iambus only, calling what remains after the last long syllable hypermeter; and this is, I think, the better way. The following examples show these and some other variations from pure iambic measure:
Example I.—Grief.
"Each sub \ stănce ŏf \ a grief \ hath twen\-ty shadŏws,
Which show \ like grief \ itself, \ but are \ not so:
For sor\-row's eye, \ glāzĕd \ with blind\-ing tears,
Divides one thing \ entire \ to man \—y objĕcts;
Like per\-spectives, \ which, right\-ly gaz'd \ upon,
Show noth\-ing but \ confu\-sion; ey'd \ awry,
Distin\-guish form: \ so your \ sweet maj\-esty,
Loōkĭng \ awry \ upon \ your lord's \ departŭre,
Finds shapes \ of grief, \ more than \ himself, \ to wail;
Which, look'd \ on as \ it is, \ is nought \ but shadŏws."
Shakspeare: Richard II, Act ii, Sc. 2.
Example II.—A Wish to Please.
"O, that \ I had \ the art \ of eas\-y writing
What should \ be eas\-y read\-ing \ could \ I scale
Parnas\-sus, where \ the Mus\-es sit \ inditing
Those pret\-ty po\-ems nev\-er known \ to fail,
How quick\-ly would \ I print \ (the world \ delighting)
A Gre\-cian, Syr\-ian, or \ Assy\-ian tale;
And sell \ you, mix'd \ with west\-ern sen\-timentalism,
Some sam\-ples of \ the fin\-est O\-rientalism."
LORD BYRON: Beppo, Stanza XLVIII.
MEASURE V.—IAMBIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Presidents of the United States of America.
"First stands \ the loft\-y Wash\-ington,
That no\-ble, great, \ immor\-tal one;
The eld\-er Ad\-ams next \ we see;
And Jef\-ferson \ comes num\-ber three;
Then Mad\-ison \ is fourth, \ you know;
The fifth \ one on \ the list, \ Monroe;
The sixth \ an Ad\-ams comes \ again;
And Jack\-son, sev\-enth in \ the train;
Van Bu\-ren, eighth \ upon \ the line;
And Har\-rison \ counts num\-ber nine;
The tenth \ is Ty\-ler, in \ his turn;
And Polk, \ elev\-enth, as \ we learn;
The twelfth \ is Tay\-lor, peo\-ple say;
The next \ we learn \ some fu\-ture day."
ANONYMOUS: From Newspaper, 1849.
Example II.—The Shepherd Bard.
"The bard \ on Ett\-rick's moun \ tain green
In Na\-ture's bo\-som nursed \ had been,
And oft \ had marked \ in for\-est lone
Her beau\-ties on \ her moun\-tain throne;
Had seen \ her deck \ the wild\-wood tree,
And star \ with snow\-y gems \ the lea;
In love\-liĕst cōl\-ours paint \ the plain,
And sow \ the moor \ with pur\-ple grain;
By gold\-en mead \ and moun\-tain sheer,
Had viewed \ the Ett\-rick wav\-ing clear,
Where shad\-ōwȳ flōcks \ of pur\-est snow
Seemed graz\-ing in \ a world \ below."
JAMES HOGG: The Queen's Wake, p. 76.
"O Shep\-herd! since \ 'tis thine \ to boast
The fas\-cinat\-ing pow'rs \ of song,
Far, far \ above \ the count\-less host,
Who swell \ the Mus\-es' sup\-pliănt throng,
The GIFT \ OF GOD \ distrust \ no more,
His in\-spira\-tion be \ thy guide;
Be heard \ thy harp \ from shore \ to shore,
Thy song's \ reward \ thy coun\-try's pride."
B. BARTON: Verses prefixed to the Queen's Wake.
Example IV.—"Elegiac Stanzas," in Iambics of Four feet and Three.
"O for \ a dirge! \ But why \ complain?
Ask rath\-er a \ trium\-phal strain
When FER \ MOR'S race \ is run;
A gar\-land of \ immor\-tal boughs
To bind \ around \ the Chris\-tian's brows,
Whose glo\-rious work \ is done.
We pay \ a high \ and ho\-ly debt;
No tears \ of pas\-sionate \ regret
Shall stain \ this vo\-tive lay;
Ill-wor\-thy, Beau\-mont! were \ the grief
That flings \ itself \ on wild \ relief
When Saints \ have passed \ away."
W. WORDSWORTH: Poetical Works, First complete Amer. Ed., p. 208.
This line, the iambic tetrameter, is a favourite one, with many writers of English verse, and has been much used, both in couplets and in stanzas. Butler's Hudibras, Gay's Fables, and many allegories, most of Scott's poetical works, and some of Byron's, are written in couplets of this measure. It is liable to the same diversifications as the preceding metre. The frequent admission of an additional short syllable, forming double rhyme, seems admirably to adapt it to a familiar, humorous, or burlesque style. The following may suffice for an example:
"First, this \ large par\-cel brings \ you tidings
Of our \ good Dean's \ eter\-nal chidings;
Of Nel\-ly's pert\-ness, Rob\-in's leasings,
And Sher\-idan's \ perpet\-ual teasings.
This box \ is cramm'd \ on ev\-ery side
With Stel\-la's mag\-iste\-rial pride."
DEAN SWIFT: British Poets, Vol. v, p. 334.
The following lines have ten syllables in each, yet the measure is not iambic of five feet, but that of four with hypermeter:
"There was \ ăn ān\-cient sage \ philosopher,
Who had \ read Al\-exan\-der Ross over."—Butler's Hudibras.
"I'll make \ them serve \ for per\-pendiculars,
As true \ as e'er \ were us'd \ by bricklayers."
—Ib., Part ii, C. iii, l. 1020.
MEASURE VI.—IAMBIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
[edit]Example.—To Evening.
"Now teach \ me, maid \ compos'd
To breathe \ some soft\-en'd strain."—Collins, p. 39.
This short measure has seldom, if ever, been used alone in many successive couplets; but it is often found in stanzas, sometimes without other lengths, but most commonly with them. The following are a few examples:
Example I.—Two ancient Stanzas, out of Many,
"This while \ we are \ abroad,
Shall we \ not touch \ our lyre?
Shall we \ not sing \ an ode?
Shall now \ that ho\-ly fire,
In us, \ that strong\-ly glow'd,
In this \ cold air, \ expire?
Though in \ the ut\-most peak,
A while \ we do \ remain,
Amongst \ the moun\-tains bleak,
Expos'd \ to sleet \ and rain,
No sport \ our hours \ shall break,
To ex\-ercise \ our vein."
DRAYTON: Dr. Johnson's Gram., p. 13; John Burn's, p. 244.
Example II.—Acis and Galatea.
"For us \ the zeph\-yr blows,
For us \ distils \ the dew,
For us \ unfolds \ the rose,
And flow'rs \ display \ their hue;
For us \ the win\-ters rain,
For us \ the sum\-mers shine,
Spring swells \ for us \ the grain,
And au\-tumn bleeds \ the vine."
JOHN GAY: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 376.
Example III.—"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin."
"The king \ was on \ his throne,
The sa\-traps thronged \ the hall;
A thou\-sand bright \ lamps shone
O'er that \ high fes\-tival.
A thou\-sand cups \ of gold,
In Ju\-dah deemed \ divine—
Jeho\-vah's ves\-sels, hold
The god\-less Hea\-then's wine!
In that \ same hour \ and hall,
The fin\-gers of \ a hand
Came forth \ against \ the wall,
And wrote \ as if \ on sand:
The fin\-gers of \ a man,—
A sol\-ita\-ry hand
Along \ the let\-ters ran,
And traced \ them like \ a wand."
LORD BYRON: Vision of Belshazzar.
"Descend, \ celes\-tial fire,
And seize \ me from \ above,
Melt me \ in flames \ of pure \ desire,
A sac\-rifice \ to love.
Let joy \ and wor\-ship spend
The rem\-nant of \ my days,
And to \ my God, \ my soul \ ascend,
In sweet \ perfumes \ of praise."
WATTS: Poems sacred to Devotion, p. 50.
Example V.—Lyric Stanzas.
"I would \ begin \ the mu\-sic here,
And so \ my soul \ should rise:
O for \ some heav'n\-ly notes \ to bear
My spir\-it to \ the skies!
There, ye \ that love \ my say\-iour, sit,
There I \ would fain \ have place
Amongst \ your thrones \ or at \ your feet,
So I \ might see \ his face."
WATTS: Same work, "Horæ Lyricæ," p. 71.
Example VI.—England's Dead.
"The hur\-ricane \ hath might
Along \ the In\-dian shore,
And far, \ by Gan\-ges' banks \ at night,
Is heard \ the ti\-ger's roar.
But let \ the sound \ roll on!
It hath \ no tone \ of dread
For those \ that from \ their toils \ are gone;—
There slum\-ber Eng\-land's dead."
Hemans: Poetical Works, Vol. ii, p. 61.
The following examples have some of the common diversifications already noticed under the longer measures:
Example I.—"Languedocian Air."
"Lōve ĭs \ a hunt\-er boy,
Who makes \ young hearts \ his prey;
And in \ his nets \ of joy
Ensnares \ them night \ and day.
In vain \ conceal'd \ they lie,
Love tracks \ them ev'\-ry where;
In vain \ aloft \ they fly,
Love shoots \ them fly\-ing there.
But 'tis \ his joy \ most sweet,
At earl\-y dawn \ to trace
The print \ of Beau\-ty's feet,
And give \ the trem\-bler chase.
And most \ he loves \ through snow
To track \ those foot\-steps fair,
For then \ the boy \ doth know,
None track'd \ before \ him there."
MOORE'S Melodies and National Airs, p. 274.
Example II.—From "a Portuguese Air."
"Flow on, \ thou shin\-ing river,
But ere \ thou reach \ the sea,
Seek El\-la's bower, \ and give her
The wreaths \ I fling \ o'er thee.
But, if \ in wand'\-ring thither,
Thou find \ she mocks \ my pray'r,
Then leave \ those wreaths \ to wither
Upon \ the cold \ bank there."
MOORE: Same Volume, p. 261.
Example III.—Resignation.
"O Res\-igna\-tion! yet \ unsung,
Untouch'd \ by for\-mer strains;
Though claim\-ing ev\-ery mu\-se's smile,
And ev\-ery po\-et's pains!
All oth\-er du\-ties cres\-cents are
Of vir\-tue faint\-ly bright;
The glo\-rious con\-summa\-tion, thou,
Which fills \ her orb \ with light!"
YOUNG: British Poets, Vol. viii, p. 377.
MEASURE VII.—IAMBIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
[edit]Example—A Scolding Wife.
1.
"There was \ a man
Whose name \ was Dan,
Who sel\-dom spoke;
His part\-ner sweet
He thus \ did greet,
Without \ a joke;
2.
My love\-ly wife,
Thou art \ the life
Of all \ my joys;
Without \ thee, I
Should sure\-ly die
For want \ of noise.
3.
O, prec\-ious one,
Let thy \ tongue run
In a \ sweet fret;
And this \ will give
A chance \ to live,
A long \ time yet.
4.
When thou \ dost scold
So loud \ and bold,
I'm kept \ awake;
But if \ thou leave,
It will \ me grieve,
Till life \ forsake.
5.
Then said \ his wife,
I'll have \ no strife
With you, \ sweet Dan;
As 'tis \ your mind,
I'll let \ you find
I am \ your man.
6.
And fret \ I will,
To keep \ you still
Enjoy\-ing life;
So you \ may be
Content \ with me,
A scold\-ing wife."
ANONYMOUS: Cincinnati Herald, 1844.
Iambic dimeter, like the metre of three iambs, is much less frequently used alone than in stanzas with longer lines; but the preceding example is a refutation of the idea, that no piece is ever composed wholly of this measure, or that the two feet cannot constitute a line. In Humphrey's English Prosody, on page 16th, is the following paragraph; which is not only defective in style, but erroneous in all its averments:
"Poems are never composed of lines of two [-] feet metre, in succession: they [combinations of two feet] are only used occasionally in poems, hymns, odes, &c. to diversify the metre; and are, in no case, lines of poetry, or verses; but hemistics, [hemistichs,] or half lines. The shortest metre of which iambic verse is composed, in lines successively, is that of three feet; and this is the shortest metre which can be denominated lines, or verses; and this is not frequently used."
In ballads, ditties, hymns, and versified psalms, scarcely any line is more common than the iambic trimeter, here denied to be "frequently used;" of which species, there are about seventy lines among the examples above. Dr. Young's poem entitled "Resignation," has eight hundred and twenty such lines, and as many more of iambic tetrameter. His "Ocean" has one hundred and forty-five of the latter, and two hundred and ninety-two of the species now under consideration; i.e., iambic dimeter. But how can the metre which predominates by two to one, be called, in such a case, an occasional diversification of that which is less frequent?
Lines of two iambs are not very uncommon, even in psalmody; and, since we have some lines yet shorter, and the lengths of all are determined only by the act of measuring, there is, surely, no propriety in calling dimeters "hemistichs," merely because they are short. The following are some examples of this measure combined with longer ones:
Example I.—From Psalm CXLVIII.
1, 2.
"Ye bound\-less realms \ of joy,
Exalt \ your Ma\-ker's fame;
His praise \ your songs \ employ
Above \ the star\-ry frame:
Your voi\-ces raise,
Ye Cher\-ubim,
And Ser\-aphim,
To sing \ his praise.
3, 4.
Thou moon, \ that rul'st \ the night,
And sun, \ that guid'st \ the day,
Ye glitt'\-ring stars \ of light,
To him \ your hom\-age pay:
His praise \ declare,
Ye heavens \ above,
And clouds \ that move
In liq\-uid air."
The Book of Psalms in Metre, (with Com. Prayer,) 1819.
Example II.—From Psalm CXXXVI.
"To God \ the might\-y Lord,
your joy\-ful thanks \ repeat;
To him \ due praise \ afford,
as good \ as he \ is great:
For God \ does prove
Our con\-stant friend,
His bound\-less love
Shall nev\-er end."—Ib., p. 164.
Example III.—Gloria Patri.
"To God \ the Fa\-ther, Son,
And Spir\-it ev\-er bless'd,
Eter\-nal Three \ in One,
All wor\-ship be \ address'd;
As here\-tofore
It was, \ is now,
And shall \ be so
For ev\-ermore."—Ib., p. 179.
Example IV.—Part of Psalm III.
[O] "Lord, \ how man\-y are \ my foes!
How man\-y those
That [now] \ in arms \ against \ me rise!
Many \ are they
That of \ my life \ distrust\-fully \ thus say:
'No help \ for him \ in God \ there lies.'
But thou, \ Lord, art \ my shield \ my glory;
Thee, through \ my story,
Th' exalt\-er of \ my head \ I count;
Aloud \ I cried
Unto \ Jeho\-vah, he \ full soon \ replied,
And heard \ me from \ his ho\-ly mount."
MILTON: Psalms Versified, British Poets, Vol. ii, p. 161.
Example V.—Six Lines of an "Air."
"As when \ the dove
Laments \ her love
All on \ the na\-ked spray;
When he \ returns,
No more \ she mourns,
But loves \ the live\-long day."
JOHN GAY: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 377.
Example VI.—Four Stanzas of an Ode.
"XXVIII.
Gold pleas\-ure buys;
But pleas\-ure dies",
Too soon \ the gross \ fruiti\-on cloys:
Though rapt\-ures court,
The sense \ is short;
But vir\-tue kin\-dles liv\-ing joys:
XXIX.
Joys felt \ alone!
Joys ask'd \ of none!
Which Time's \ and For\-tune's ar\-rows miss;
Joys that \ subsist,
Though fates \ resist,
An un\-preca\-rious, end\-less bliss!
XXX.
The soul \ refin'd
Is most \ inclin'd
To ev\-ĕrȳ mōr\-al ex\-cellence;
All vice \ is dull,
A knave's \ a fool;
And Vir\-tue is \ the child \ of Sense.
XXXI.
The vir\-tuous mind
Nor wave, \ nor wind,
Nor civ\-il rage, \ nor ty\-rant's frown,
The shak\-en ball,
Nor plan\-ets' fall,
From its \ firm ba\-sis can \ dethrone."
YOUNG'S "OCEAN:" British Poets, Vol. viii, p 277.
There is a line of five syllables and double rhyme, which is commonly regarded as iambic dimeter with a supernumerary short syllable; and which, though it is susceptible of two other divisions into two feet, we prefer to scan in this manner, because it usually alternates with pure iambics. Twelve such lines occur in the following extract:
LOVE TRANSITORY
"Could Love \ for ever
Run like \ a river,
And Time's \ endeavour
Be tried \ in vain,—
No oth\-er pleasure
With this \ could measure;
And like \ a treasure
We'd hug \ the chain.
But since \ our sighing
Ends not \ in dying,
And, formed \ for flying,
Love plumes \ his wing;
Then for \ this reason
Let's love \ a season;
But let \ that season
Be on\-ly spring."
LORD BYRON: See Everett's Versification, p. 19;
Fowler's E. Gram., p. 650.
MEASURE VIII.—IAMBIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
[edit]"The shortest form of the English Iambic," says Lindley Murray, "consists of an Iambus with an additional short syllable: as,
Disdaining,
Complaining,
Consenting,
Repenting.
We have no poem of this measure, but it may be met with in stanzas. The Iambus, with this addition, coincides with the Amphibrach."—Murray's Gram., 12mo, p. 204; 8vo, p. 254. This, or the substance of it, has been repeated by many other authors. Everett varies the language and illustration, but teaches the same doctrine. See E. Versif., p. 15.
Now there are sundry examples which may be cited to show, that the iambus,without any additional syllable, and without the liability of being confounded with an other foot, may, and sometimes does, stand as a line, and sustain a regular rhyme. The following pieces contain instances of this sort:
Example I.—"How to Keep Lent."
"Is this \ a Fast, \ to keep
The lard\-er lean
And clean
From fat \ of neats \ and sheep?
Is it \ to quit \ the dish
Of flesh, \ yet still
To fill
The plat\-ter high \ with fish?
Is it \ to fast \ an hour,
Or ragg'd \ to go,
Or show
A down\-cast look \ and sour?
No:—'Tis \ a Fast \ to dole
Thy sheaf \ of wheat,
And meat,
Unto \ the hun\-gry soul.
It is \ to fast \ from strife,
From old \ debate,
And hate;
To cir\-cumcise \ thy life;
To show \ a heart \ grief-rent;
To starve \ thy sin,
Not bin:
Ay, that's \ to keep \ thy Lent."
ROBERT HERRICK: Clapp's Pioneer, p. 48.
Example II.—"To Mary Ann."
[This singular arrangement of seventy-two separate iambic feet, I find without intermediate points, and leave it so. It seems intended to be read in three or more different ways, and the punctuation required by one mode of reading would not wholly suit an other.]
"Your face Your tongue Your wit
So fair So sweet So sharp
First bent Then drew Then hit
Mine eye Mine ear Mine heart
Mine eye Mine ear Mine heart
To like To learn To love
Your face Your tongue Your wit
Doth lead Doth teach Doth move
Your face Your tongue Your wit
With beams With sound With art
Doth blind Doth charm Doth rule
Mine eye Mine ear Mine heart
Mine eye Mine ear Mine heart
With life With hope With skill
Your face Your tongue Your wit
Doth feed Doth feast Doth fill
O face O tongue O wit
With frowns With cheek With smart
Wrong not Vex not Wound not
Mine eye Mine ear Mine heart
This eye This ear This heart
Shall joy Shall bend Shall swear
Your face Your tongue Your wit
To serve To trust To fear."
ANONYMOUS: Sundry American Newspapers, in 1849.
Example III.—Umbrellas.
"The late George Canning, of whom Byron said that 'it was his happiness to be at once a wit, poet, orator, and statesman, and excellent in all,' is the author of the following clever jeu d' esprit:" [except three lines here added in brackets:]
"I saw \ a man \ with two \ umbrellas,
(One of \ the lon \—gest kind \ of fellows,)
When it rained,
Mēet ā \ lādy
On the \ shady
Side of \ thirty\-three,
Minus \ one of \ these rain\-dispellers.
'I see,'
Says she,
'Your qual\-ity \ of mer\-cy is \ not strained.'
[Not slow \ to comprehend \ an inkling,
His eye \ with wag\-gish hu\-mour twinkling.]
Replied \ he, 'Ma'am,
Be calm;
This one \ under \ my arm
Is rotten,
[And can\-not save \ you from \ a sprinkling.]
Besides \ to keep \ you dry,
'Tis plain \ that you \ as well \ as I,
'Can lift \ your cotton.'"
See The Essex County Freeman, Vol. i, No. 1.
Example IV.—Shreds of a Song.
I. SPRING.
"The cuck \—oo then, \ on ev \—ery tree,
Mocks mar \—ried men, \ for thus \ sings he, Cuckoo’;
Cuckoo', \ cuckoo',— \ O word \ of fear,
Unpleas\-ing to \ a mar\-ried ear!"
II. WINTER.
"When blood \ is nipp'd, \ and ways \ be foul,
Then night\-ly sings \ the star\-ing owl, To-who;
To-whit, \ to-who, \ a mer\-ry note,
While greas\-y Joan \ doth keel \ the pot."
—Shakspeare: Love's Labour's Lost, Act v, Sc. 2.
Example V.—Puck's Charm.
[When he has uttered the fifth line, he squeezes a juice on Lysander's eyes.]
"On the ground,
Sleep sound;
I'll apply
To your eye,
Gentle \ lover, \ remedy.
When thou wak'st,
Thou tak'st
True delight
In the sight
Of thy \ former \ lady's eye."[26]
IDEM: Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act iii, Sc. 2.
ORDER II.—TROCHAIC VERSE.
[edit]In Trochaic verse, the stress is laid on the odd syllables, and the even ones are short. Single-rhymed trochaic omits the final short syllable, that it may end with a long one; for the common doctrine of Murray, Chandler, Churchill, Bullions, Butler, Everett, Fowler, Weld, Wells, Mulligan, and others, that this chief rhyming syllable is "additional" to the real number of feet in the line, is manifestly incorrect. One long syllable is, in some instances, used as a foot; but it is one or more short syllables only, that we can properly admit as hypermeter. Iambics and trochaics often occur in the same poem; but, in either order, written with exactness, the number of feet is always the number of the long syllables.
Examples from Gray's Bard.
(1.)
"Ruin \ seize thee,\ ruthless \ king!
Confu\-sion on \ thy ban\-ners wait,
Though, fann'd \ by Con\-quest's crim\-son wing.
They mock \ the air \ with i\-dle state.
Helm, nor \ hauberk's \ twisted \ mail,
Nor e'en \ thy vir\-tues, ty\-rant, shall \ avail."
(2.)
"Weave the \ warp, and \ weave the \ woof,
The wind\-ing-sheet \ of Ed\-ward's race.
Give am\-ple room, \ and verge \ enough,
The char\-acters \ of hell \ to trace.
Mark the \year, and \ mark the \ night,
When Sev\-ern shall \ re-ech\-o with \ affright."
"The Bard, a Pindaric Ode;"
British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 281 and 282.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Trochaic verse without the final short syllable, is the same as iambic would be without the initial short syllable;—it being quite plain, that iambic, so changed, becomes trochaic, and is iambic no longer. But trochaic, retrenched of its last short syllable, is trochaic still; and can no otherwise be made iambic, than by the prefixing of a short syllable to the line. Feet, and the orders of verse, are distinguished one from an other by two things, and in general by two only; the number of syllables taken as a foot, and the order of their quantities. Trochaic verse is always as distinguishable from iambic, as iambic is from any other. Yet have we several grammarians and prosodies who contrive to confound them—or who, at least, mistake catalectic trochaic for catalectic iambic; and that too, where the syllable wanting affects only the last foot, and makes it perhaps but a common and needful cæsura.
- To suppose that iambic verse may drop its initial short syllable,
and still be iambic, still be measured as before, is not only to take a
single long syllable for a foot, not only to recognize a pedal cæsura at
the beginning of each line, but utterly to destroy the only principles on
which iambics and trochaics can be discriminated. Yet Hiley, of Leeds, and
Wells, of Andover, while they are careful to treat separately of these two
orders of verse, not only teach that any order may take at the end "an
additional syllable," but also suggest that the iambic may drop a
syllable "from the first foot," without diminishing the number of
feet,—without changing the succession of quantities,—without disturbing
the mode of scansion! "Sometimes," say they, (in treating of iambics,) "a
syllable is cut off from the first foot; as,
Práise \ to Gód, \ immór\-tal práise,
Fór \ the lóve \ that crówns \ our dáys."[—BARBAULD.]
Hiley's E. Gram., Third Edition, London, p. 124;
Wells's, Third Edition, p. 198. - Now this couplet is the precise exemplar, not only of the thirty-six lines of which it is a part, but also of the most common of our trochaic metres; and if this may be thus scanned into iambic verse, so may all other trochaic lines in existence: distinction between the two orders must then be worse than useless. But I reject this doctrine, and trust that most readers will easily see its absurdity. A prosodist might just as well scan all iambics into trochaics, by pronouncing each initial short syllable to be hypermeter. For, surely, if deficiency may be discovered at the beginning of measurement, so may redundance. But if neither is to be looked for before the measurement ends, (which supposition is certainly more reasonable,) then is the distinction already vindicated, and the scansion above-cited is shown to be erroneous.
- But there are yet other objections to this doctrine, other errors
and inconsistencies in the teaching of it. Exactly the same kind of verse
as this, which is said to consist of "four iambuses" from one of which "a
syllable is cut off," is subsequently scanned by the same authors as
being composed of "three trochees and an additional syllable; as,
'Haste thee, \ Nymph, and \ bring with \ thee
Jest and \ youthful \ Jolli\-ty.'—MILTON."
Wells's School Grammar, p. 200.
"Vītăl \ spārk of \ heāv'nly \ flāme,
Qūit ŏh \ qūit thĭs \ mōrtăl \ frāme."[27][—POPE.]
Hiley's English Grammar, p. 126.There is, in the works here cited, not only the inconsistency of teaching two very different modes of scanning the same species of verse, but in each instance the scansion is wrong; for all the lines in question are trochaic of four feet,—single-rhymed, and, of course, catalectic, and ending with a cæsura, or elision. In no metre that lacks but one syllable, can this sort of foot occur at the beginning of a line; yet, as we see, it is sometimes imagined to be there, by those who have never been able to find it at the end, where it oftenest exists!
- I have hinted, in the main paragraph above, that it is a common
error of our prosodists, to underrate, by one foot, the measure of all
trochaic lines, when they terminate with single rhyme; an error into which
they are led by an other as gross, that of taking for hypermeter, or mere
surplus, the whole rhyme itself, the sound or syllable most indispensable
to the verse.
"(For rhyme the rudder is of verses,
With which, like ships, they steer their courses.)"—Hudibras.Iambics and trochaics, of corresponding metres, and exact in them, agree of course in both the number of feet and the number of syllables; but as the former are slightly redundant with double rhyme, so the latter are deficient as much, with single rhyme; yet, the number of feet may, and should, in these cases, be reckoned the same. An estimable author now living says, "Trochaic verse, with an additional long syllable, is the same as iambic verse, without the initial short syllable."—N. Butler's Practical Gram., p. 193. This instruction is not quite accurate. Nor would it be right, even if there could be "iambic verse without the initial short syllable," and if it were universally true, that, "Trochaic verse may take an additional long syllable."—Ibid. For the addition and subtraction here suggested, will inevitably make the difference of a foot, between the measures or verses said to be the same!
- "I doubt," says T. O. Churchill, "whether the trochaic can be considered as a legitimate English measure. All the examples of it given by Johnson have an additional long syllable at the end: but these are iambics, if we look upon the additional syllable to be at the beginning,
which is much more agreeable to the analogy of music."—Churchill's New Gram., p. 390. This doubt, ridiculous as must be all reasoning in support of it, the author seriously endeavours to raise into a general conviction that we have no trochaic order of verse! It can hardly be worth while to notice here all his remarks. "An additional long syllable" Johnson never dreamed of—"at the end"—"at the beginning"—or anywhere else. For he discriminated metres, not by the number of feet, as he ought to have done, but by the number of syllables he found in each line. His doctrine is this: "Our iambick measure comprises verses—Of four syllables,—Of six,—Of eight,—Of ten. Our trochaick measures are—Of three syllables,—Of five,—Of seven. These are the measures which are now in use, and above the rest those of seven, eight and ten syllables. Our ancient poets wrote verses sometimes of twelve syllables, as Drayton's Polyolbion; and of fourteen, as Chapman's Homer." "We have another measure very quick and lively, and therefore much used in songs, which may be called the anapestick.
'May I góvern my pássion with ábsolute swáy,
And grow wiser and bétter as life wears awáy.' Dr. Pope."In this measure a syllable is often retrenched from the first foot, [;] as [,]
'When présent we lóve, and when ábsent agrée,
I th'nk not of I'ris [.] nor I'ris of mé.' Dryden."These measures are varied by many combinations, and sometimes by double endings, either with or without rhyme, as in the heroick measure.
''Tis the divinity that stirs within us,
'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter..' Addison."So in that of eight syllables,
'They neither added nor confounded,
They neither wanted nor abounded.' Prior."In that of seven,
'For resistance I could fear none,
But with twenty ships had done,
What thou, brave and happy Vernon,
Hast achieved with six alone.' Glover."To these measures and their laws, may be reduced every species of English verse."—Dr. Johnson's Grammar of the English Tongue, p. 14. See hisQuarto Dict. Here, except a few less important remarks, and sundry examples of the metres named, is Johnson's whole scheme of versification.
- How, when a prosodist judges certain examples to "have an additional long syllable at the end," he can "look upon the additional syllable to be at the beginning," is a matter of marvel; yet, to abolish trochaics, Churchill not only does and advises this, but imagines short syllables removed sometimes from the beginning of lines; while sometimes he couples final short syllables with initial long ones, to make iambs, and yet does not always count these as feet in the verse, when he has done so! Johnson's instructions are both misunderstood and misrepresented by this grammarian. I have therefore cited them the more fully. The first syllable being retrenched from an anapest, there remains an iambus. But what countenance has Johnson lent to the gross error of reckoning such a foot an anapest still?—or to that of commencing the measurement of a line by including a syllable not used by the poet? The preceding stanza from Glover, is trochaic of four feet; the odd lines full, and of course making double rhyme; the even lines catalectic, and of course ending with a long syllable counted as a foot. Johnson cited it merely as an example of "double endings" imagining in it no "additional syllable," except perhaps the two which terminate the two trochees, "fear none" and "Vernon." These, it may be inferred, he improperly conceived to be additional to the regular measure; because he reckoned measures by the number of syllables, and probably supposed single rhyme to be the normal form of all rhyming verse.<
- There is false scansion in many a school grammar, but perhaps none more uncouthly false, than Churchill's pretended amendments of Johnson's. The second of these—wherein "the old seven[-]foot iambic" is professedly found in two lines of Glover's trochaic tetrameter—I shall quote:
"In the anapæstic measure, Johnson himself allows, that a syllable is often retrenched from the first foot; yet he gives as an example of trochaics with an additional syllable at the end of the even lines a stanza, which, by adopting the same principle, would be in the iambic measure:
"For \ resis-\tance I \ could fear \ none,
But \ with twen \ ty ships \ had done,
What \ thou, brave \ and hap \ py Ver-\non,
Hast \ achiev'd \ with six \ alone.In fact, the second and fourth lines here stamp the character of the measure; ☞ which is the old seven[-]foot iambic broken into four and three, WITH AN ADDITIONAL SYLLABLE AT THE BEGINNING."—Churchill's New Gram., p. 391.
After these observations and criticisms concerning the trochaic order of verse, I proceed to say, trochaics consist of the following measures, or metres:
MEASURE I.—TROCHAIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.
[edit]Example I.—"The Raven"—First Two out of Eighteen Stanzas.
1.
"Once up\-on a \ midnight \ dreary, \ while I \ pondered, \ weak and \ weary,
Over \ māny ă \ quaint and \ cūrĭoŭs \ volume \ of for\-gotten \ lor
e,
While I \ nodded, \ nearly \ napping, \ sudden\-ly there \ came a \ tapping,
As of \ some one \ gently \ rapping, \ rapping \ at my \ chamber \ door.
''Tis some \ visit\-or,' I \ muttered, \ 'tapping \ at my \ chamber \ door—
Only \ this, and \nothing \ more."
2.
Ah! dis\-tinctly \ I re\-member \ it was \ in the \ bleak De\-cember,
And each \ sēpărăte \ dying \ ember \ wrought its \ ghost up\-on the \ floor;
Eager\-ly I \ wished the \ morrow; \ vainly \ had I \ tried to \ borrow
From my \ books sur\-cease of \ sorrow—\ sorrow \ for the \ lost Le\-nore—
For the \ rare and \ rādĭănt \ maiden, \ whom the \ angels \ name Le\-nore—
Nameless \ here for \ ever\-more."
EDGAR A. POE: American Review for February, 1845.
Double rhymes being less common than single ones, in the same proportion, is this long verse less frequently terminated with a full trochee, than with a single long syllable counted as a foot. The species of measure is, however, to be reckoned the same, though catalectic. By Lindley Murray, and a number who implicitly re-utter what he teaches, the verse of six trochees, in which are twelve syllables only, is said "to be the longest Trochaic line that our language admits."—Murray's Octavo Gram., p. 257; Weld's E. Gram., p. 211. The examples produced here will sufficiently show the inaccuracy of their assertion.
Example II.—"The Shadow of the Obelisk."—Last two Stanzas.
"Herds are \ feeding \in the \ Forum, \ as in \ old E\-vander's \ time:
Tumbled \ from the \ steep Tar \-peian \ every \ pile that \ sprang sub\-lime.
Strange! that \ what seemed \ most in\-constant \ should the \ most a\-biding \ prove;
Strange! that \what is \ hourly \ moving \ no mu\-tation \ can re\-move:
Ruined \ lies the \ cirque! the \ chariots, \ long a\-go, have \ ceased to \ roll—
E'en the \ Obe\-lisk is \ broken \—but the \ shadow \ still is \ whole.
9.
Out a \—las! if \ mightiest \ empires \ leave so \ little \ mark be\-hind,
How much \ less must \ heroes \ hope for, \ in the \ wreck of \ human \ kind!
Less than \ e'en this \ darksome \ picture, \ which I \ tread be\-neath my \ feet,
Copied \ by a \ lifeless \ moonbeam \ on the \ pebbles \ of the \ street;
Since if \ Cæsar's \ best am\-bition, \ living, \ was, to \ be re\-nowned,
What shall \ Cassar \ leave be\-hind him, \ save the \ shadow \ of a \ sound?"
T. W. PARSONS: Lowell and Carter's "Pioneer," Vol. i, p. 120.
Example III.—"The Slaves of Martinique."—Nine Couplets out of Thirty-six.
"Beams of \ noon, like \ burning \ lances, \ through the \ tree-tops \ flash and \ glisten,
As she \ stands be\-fore her \ lover, \ with raised \ face to \ look and \ listen.
Dark, but \ comely, \ like the \ maiden \ in the \ ancient \ Jewish \ song,
Scarcely \ has the \ toil of \ task-fields \ done her graceful \ beauty \ wrong.
He, the \ strong one, \ and the \ manly, \ with the \ vassal's \ garb and \ hue,
Holding \ still his \ spirit's \ birthright, \ to his \ higher \ nature \ true;
Hiding \ deep the \ strengthening \ purpose \ of a \ freeman \ in his \ heart,
As the \ Greegree \ holds his \ Fetish \ from the \ white man's \ gaze a\-part.
Ever \ foremost \ of the \ toilers, \ when the \ driver's \ morning \ horn
Calls a\-way to \ stifling \ millhouse, \ or to \ fields of \ cane and \ corn;
Fall the \ keen and \ burning \ lashes \ never \ on his \ back or \ limb;
Scarce with \ look or \ word of \ censure, \ turns the \ driver \ unto \ him.
Yet his \ brow is \ always \ thoughtful, \ and his \ eye is \ hard and \ stern;
Slavery's \ last and \ humblest \ lesson \ he has \ never \ deigned to \ learn."
"And, at evening \ when his \ comrades \ dance be\-fore their \ master's \ door,
Folding arms and \ knitting \ forehead, \ stands he \ silent \ ever\-more.
God be \ praised for \ every instinct \ which re\-bels a\-gainst a \ lot
Where the \ brute sur\-vives the \ human, \ and man's \ upright \ form is \ not!"
—J. G. WHITTIER: National Era, and other Newspapers, Jan. 1848.
Example IV.—"The Present Crisis"—Two Stanzas out of sixteen.
"Once to \ every \ man and \ nation \ comes the \ moment \ to de\-cide,
In the \ strife of \ Truth with \ Falsehood, \ for the \ good or \ evil \ side;
Some great \ cause, God's \ new Mes\-siah, \ offering \ each the \ bloom or \ blight,
Parts the \ goats up\-on the \ left hand, \ and the \ sheep up\-on the \ right,
And the \ choice goes \ by for\-ever \'twixt that \ darkness \ and that \ light.
Have ye \ chosen, \ O my \ people, \ on whose \ party \ ye shall \ stand,
Ere the \ Doom from \ its worn \ sandals \ shakes the \ dust a\-gainst our \ land?
Though the \ cause of \ evil \ prosper, \ yet the \ Truth a\-lone is \ strong,
And, al \ beit she \ wander \ outcast \ now, I \ see a\-round her \ throng
Troops of \ beauti\-ful tall \ angels \ to en\-shield her \ from all \ wrong."
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: Liberator, September 4th, 1846.
Example V.—The Season of Love.—A short Extract.
"In the \ Spring, a \ fuller \ crimson \ comes up\-on the \ robin's \ breast;
In the \ Spring, the \ wanton \ lapwing \ gets him\-self an \ other \ crest;
In the \ Spring, a \ livelier \ iris \ changes \ on the \ burnished \ dove;
In the \ Spring, a \ young man's \ fancy \ lightly \ turns to \ thoughts of \ love.
Then her \ cheek was \ pale, and \ thinner \ than should \ be for \ one so \ young;
And her \ eyes on \ all my \ motions, \ with a \ mute ob\-servance, \ hung.
And I \ said, 'My \ cousin \ Amy, \ speak, and \ speak the \ truth to \ me;
Trust me, \ cousin, \ all the \ current \ of my \ being \ sets to \ thee.'"
Poems by ALFRED TENNYSON, Vol. ii, p. 35.
Trochaic of eight feet, as these sundry examples will suggest, is much oftener met with than iambic of the same number; and yet it is not a form very frequently adopted. The reader will observe that it requires a considerable pause after the fourth foot; at which place one might divide it, and so reduce each couplet to a stanza of four lines, similar to the following examples:
PART OF A SONG, IN DIALOGUE.
SYLVIA.
"Corin, \ cease this \ idle \ teasing;
Love that's \ forc'd is \ harsh and \ sour;
If the \ lover \ be dis\-pleasing,
To per\-sist dis\-gusts the \ more."
CORIN.
"'Tis in \ vain, in \ vain to \ fly me,
Sylvia, \ I will \ still pur\-sue;
Twenty \ thousand \ times de\-ny me,
I will \ kneel and \ weep a\-new."
SYLVIA.
"Cupid \ ne'er shall \ make me \ languish,
I was \ born a\-verse to \ love;
Lovers' \ sighs, and \ tears, and \ anguish,
Mirth and \ pastime \ to me \ prove."
CORIN.
"Still I \ vow with \ patient \ duty
Thus to \ meet your \ proudest \ scorn;
You for \ unre\-lenting \ beauty
I for \ constant \ love was \ born."
Poems by ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD, p. 56.
PART OF A CHARITY HYMN.
1.
"Lord of \ life, all \ praise ex\-celling,
thou, in \ glory \ uncon\-fin'd,
Deign'st to \ make thy \ humble \ dwelling
with the \ poor of \ humble \ mind.
2.
As thy \ love, through \ all cre\-ation,
beams like \ thy dif\-fusive \ light;
So the \ scorn'd and \ humble \ station
shrinks be\-fore thine \ equal \ sight.
3.
Thus thy \ care, for \ all pro\-viding,
warm'd thy \ faithful \ prophet's \ tongue;
Who, the \ lot of \ all de\-ciding,
to thy \ chosen \ Israel \ sung:
4.
'When thine \ harvest \ yields thee \ pleasure,
thou the \ golden \ sheaf shalt \ bind;
To the \ poor be\-longs the \ treasure
of the \ scatter'd \ ears be\-hind.'"
Psalms and Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Hymn LV.
A still more common form is that which reduces all these tetrameters to single rhymes, preserving their alternate succession. In such metre and stanza, is Montgomery's "Wanderer of Switzerland, a Poem, in Six Parts," and with an aggregate of eight hundred and forty-four lines. Example:
1.
"‘Wanderer, \ whither \ wouldst thou \ roam?
To what \ region \ far a\-way,
Bend thy \ steps to \ find a \ home,
In the \ twilight \ of thy \ day?’
2.
'In the \ twilight \ of my \ day,
I am \ hastening \ to the \ west;
There my \ weary limbs \ to lay,
Where the \ sun re\-tires to \ rest.
3.
Far be\-yond the At\-lantic \ floods,
Stretched be\-neath the \ evening \ sky,
Realms of \ mountains, \ dark with \ woods,
In Co\-lumbia's \ bosom \ lie.
4.
There, in \ glens and \ caverns \ rude,
Silent \ since the \ world be\-gan,
Dwells the \ virgin \ Soli\-tude,
Unbe\-trayed by \ faithless \ man:
5.
Where a \ tyrant \ never \ trod,
Where a \ slave was \ never \ known,
But where \ nature \ worships \ God
In the \ wilder\-ness a\-lone.
6.
Thither, \ thither \ would I \ roam;
There my \ children \ may be \ free;
I for \ them will \ find a \ home;
They shall \ find a \ grave for \ me.'"
First six stanzas of Part VI, pp. 71 and 72.
MEASURE II.—TROCHAIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.
[edit]Example.—Psalm LXX,[28] Versified.
Hasten, \ Lord, to \ rescue \ me, and \ set me \ safe from \ trouble;
Shame thou \ those who \ seek my \ soul, re\-ward their \ mischief \ double.
Turn the \ taunting \ scorners \ back, who \ cry, 'A\-ha!' so \ loudly;
Backward \ in con\-fusion \ hurl the \ foe that \ mocks me \ proudly.
Then in \ thee let \ those re\-joice, who \ seek thee, \ self-de\-nying;
All who \ thy sal\-vation \ love, thy \ name be \ glory\-fying.
So let \ God be \ magni\-fied. But \ I am \ poor and \ needy:
Hasten, \ Lord, who \ art my \ Helper; \ let thine \ aid be \ speedy.
This verse, like all other that is written in very long lines, requires a cæsural pause of proportionate length; and it would scarcely differ at all to the ear, if it were cut in two at the place of this pause—provided the place were never varied. Such metre does not appear to have been at any time much used, though there seems to be no positive reason why it might not have a share of popularity. To commend our versification for its "boundless variety," and at the same time exclude from it forms either unobjectionable or well authorized, as some have done, is plainly inconsistent. Full trochaics have some inconvenience, because all their rhymes must be double; and, as this inconvenience becomes twice as much when any long line of this sort is reduced to two short ones, there may be a reason why a stanza precisely corresponding to the foregoing couplets is seldom seen. If such lines be divided and rhymed at the middle of the fourth foot, where the cæsural pause is apt to fall, the first part of each will be a trochaic line of four feet, single-rhymed and catalectic, while the rest of it will become an iambic line of three feet, with double rhyme and hypermeter. Such are the prosodial characteristics of the following lines; which, if two were written as one, would make exactly our full trochaic of seven feet, the metre exhibited above:
"Whisp'ring, \ heard by \ wakeful \ maids,
To whom \ the night \ stars guide \ us,
Stolen \ walk, through \ moonlight \ shades,
With those \ we love \ beside \ us"—Moore's Melodies, p. 276.
But trochaic of seven feet may also terminate with single rhyme, as in the following couplet, which is given anonymously, and, after a false custom, erroneously, in N. Butler's recent Grammar, as "trochaic of six feet, with an additional long syllable:
"Night and \ morning \ were at \ meeting \ over \ Water\-loo;
Cocks had \ sung their \ earliest \ greeting; \ faint and \ low they \ crew."[29]
In Frazee's Grammar, a separate line or two, similar in metre to these, and rightly reckoned to have seven feet, and many lines, (including those above from Tennyson, which W. C. Fowler erroneously gives for Heptameter,) being a foot longer, are presented as trochaics of eight feet; but Everett, the surest of our prosodists, remaining, like most others, a total stranger to our octometers, and too little acquainted with trochaic heptameters to believe the species genuine, on finding a couple of stanzas in which two such lines are set with shorter ones of different sorts, and with some which are defective in metre, sagely concludes that all lines of more than "six trochees" must necessarily be condemned as prosodial anomalies. It may be worth while to repeat the said stanzas here, adding such corrections and marks as may suggest their proper form and scansion. But since they commence with the shorter metre of six trochees only, and are already placed under that head, I too may take them in the like connexion, by now introducing my third species of trochaics, which is Everett's tenth.
MEASURE III.—TROCHAIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.
[edit]Example.—Health.
"Up the \ dewy \ mountain, \ Health is \ bounding \ lightly;
On her \ brows a \ garland, \ twin'd with \ richest \ posies:
Gay is \ she, e\-late with \ hope, and \ smiling \ sprighthly;
Redder \ is her \ cheek, and \ sweeter \ than the \ rose is."
G. Brown: The Institutes of English Grammar, p. 258.
This metre appears to be no less rare than the preceding; though, as in that case, I know no good reason why it may not be brought into vogue. Professor John S. Hart says of it: "This is the longest Trochaic verse that seems to have been cultivated."—Hart's Eng. Gram., p. 187. The seeming of its cultivation he doubtless found only in sundry modern grammars. Johnson, Bicknell, Burn, Coar, Ward, Adam,—old grammarians, who vainly profess to have illustrated "every species of English verse,"—make no mention of it; and, with all the grammarians who notice it, one anonymous couplet, passing from hand to hand, has everywhere served to exemplify it.
Of this, "the line of six Trochees," Everett says: "This measure is languishing, and rarely used. The following example is often cited: 'On a \ mountain, \ stretched be\-neath a \ hoary \ willow,
Lay a \ shepherd \ swain, and \ view'd the \ rolling \ billow.'"[30]
Again: "We have the following from Bishop Heber:
'Hōlў, \ hōlў \ hōlў! \ āll thĕ \ sāints ă\-dōre thĕe,
Cāstĭng \ dōwn thĕir \ gōldĕn \ crōwns ă\-rōund thĕ \ glāssў \ sēa;
Chērŭ\-bīm ănd \ sēră\-phīm [ are,] \ fāllĭng \ dōwn bĕ\-fōre thĕe,
Whĭch wērt, \ ănd ārt, \ ănd ēv\-ĕrmōre \ shălt bē!
Holy, \ holy, \ holy! \ though the \ darkness \ hide thee,
Though the \ eye of \ sinful \ man thy \ glory \ may not \ see,
Only \ thou, [O \ God,] art \ holy; \ there is \ none be\-side thee,
Pērfĕct \ ĭn pōw'r, \ ĭn lōve, \ ănd pū\-rĭtȳ.'
Only the first and the third lines of these stanzas are to our purpose," remarks the prosodist. That is, only these he conceived to be "lines of six Trochees." But it is plain, that the third line of the first stanza, having seven long syllables, must have seven feet, and cannot be a trochaic hexameter; and, since the third below should be like it in metre, one can hardly forbear to think the words which I have inserted in brackets, were accidentally omitted.
Further: "It is worthy of remark," says he, "that the second line of each of these stanzas is composed of six Trochees and an additional long syllable. As its corresponding line is an Iambic, and as the piece has some licenses in its construction, it is far safer to conclude that this line is an anomaly than that it forms a distinct species of verse. We must therefore conclude that the tenth [the metre of six trochees] is the longest species of Trochaic line known to English verse."—Everett's Versification, pp. 95 and 96.
This, in view of the examples above, of our longer trochaics, may serve as a comment on the author's boast, that, "having deduced his rules from the usage of the great poets, he has the best reason for being confident of their correctness."—Ibid., Pref., p. 5.
Trochaic hexameter, too, may easily be written with single rhyme; perhaps more easily than a specimen suited to the purpose can be cited from any thing already written. Let me try:
Example I.—The Sorcerer.
Lonely \ in the \ forest, \ subtle \ from his \ birth,
Lived a \ necro\-mancer, \ wondrous \ son of \ earth.
More of \ him in\-quire not, \ than I \ choose to \ say;
Nymph or \ dryad \ bore him— \ else 'twas \ witch or \ fay;
Ask you \ who his \ father?— \ haply \ he might \ be
Wood-god, \ satyr, \ sylvan; \ —such his \ pedi\-gree.
Reared mid \ fauns and \ fairies, \ knew he \ no com\-peers;
Neither \ cared he \ for them, \ saving \ ghostly \ seers.
Mistress \ of the \ black-art, \ "wizard \ gaunt and \ grim,"
Nightly \ on the \ hill-top, \ "read the \ stars to \ him."
These were \ welcome \ teachers; \ drank he \ in their \ lore;
Witchcraft \ so en\-ticed him, \ still to \ thirst for \ more.
Spectres \ he would \ play with, \ phantoms \ raise or \ quell;
Gnomes from \ earth's deep \ centre \ knew his \ potent \ spell.
Augur \ or a\-ruspex \ had not \ half his \ art;
Master \ deep of \ magic, \ spirits \ played his \ part;
Demons, \ imps in\-fernal, \ conjured \ from be\-low,
Shaped his \ grand en\-chantments \ with im\-posing \ show.
Example II.—An Example of Hart's, Corrected
"Where the \ wood is \ waving, \ shady, \ green, and \ high,
Fauns and \ dryads, \ nightly, \ watch the \ starry \ sky."
See Hart's E. Gram., p. 187; or the citation thence below.
A couplet of this sort might easily be reduced to a pleasant little stanza, by severing each line after the third foot, thus:
Hearken! \ hearken! \ hear ye;
Voices \ meet my \ ear.
Listen, \ never \ fear ye;
Friends—or \ foes—are \ near.
Friends! "So\-ho!" they're \ shouting.—
"Ho! so\-ho, a\-hoy!"—
'Tis no \ Indian, \ scouting.
Cry, so\-ho! with \ joy.
But a similar succession of eleven syllables, six long and five short, divided after the seventh, leaving two iambs to form the second or shorter line,—(since such a division produces different orders and metres both,—) will, I think, retain but little resemblance in rhythm to the foregoing, though the actual sequence of quantities long and short is the same. If this be so, the particular measure or correspondent length of lines is more essential to the character of a poetic strain than some have supposed. The first four lines of the following extract are an example relevant to this point:
Ariel's Song.
"Cōme ŭn\-tō´ thĕse \ yēllŏw \ sānds,
And thēn \ tăke hānds:
Court'sied \ when you \ have and \ kiss'd,
(The wild \ waves whist,)
Foot it \ featly \ here and \ there;
And, sweet \ sprites, the \ burden \ bear."
Singer's Shakspeare: Tempest, Act i, Sc. 2.
MEASURE IV.—TROCHAIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER
[edit]Example I.—Double Rhymes and Single, Alternated.
"Mountain \ winds! oh! \ whither \ do ye \ call me?
Vainly, \ vainly, \ would my \ steps pur\-sue:
Chains of \ care to \ lower \ earth en\-thrall me,
Wherefore \ thus my \ weary \ spirit \ woo?
Oh! the \ strife of \ this di\-vided \ being!
Is there \ peace where \ ye are \ borne, on \ high?
Could we \ soar to \ your proud \ eyries \ fleeing,
In our \ hearts, would \ haunting \ mēmŏrĭes \ die?"
Felicia Hemans: "To the Mountain Winds:" Everet's Versif., p. 95.
Example II—Rhymes Otherwise Arranged.
"Then, me\-thought, I \ heard a \ hollow \ sound,
Gāthĕrĭng \ up from \ all the lower \ ground:
Nārrŏwĭng \ in to \ where they \ sat as\-sembled,
Low vo \-lŭptŭoŭs \ music, \ winding, \ trembled."
Alfred Tennyson: Frazee's Improved Gram., p. 184; Fowler's, 657.
This measure, whether with the final short syllable or without it, is said, by Murray, Everett, and others, to be "very uncommon." Dr. Johnson, and the other old prosodists named with him above, knew nothing of it. Two couplets, exemplifying it, now to be found in sundry grammars, and erroneously reckoned to differ as to the number of their feet, were either selected or composed by Murray, for his Grammar, at its origin—or, if not then, at its first reprint, in 1796. They are these:
(1.)
"All that \ walk on \ foot or \ ride in \ chariots,
All that \ dwell in \ pala\-ces or \ garrets."
L. Murray's Gram., 12mo, 175; 8vo, 257; Chandler's, 196; Churchill's, 187; Hiley's, 126; et al.
(2.)
"Idle \ after \ dinner, \ in his \ chair,
Sat a \ farmer, \ ruddy, \ fat, and \ fair."
Murray, same places; N. Butler's Gr., p. 193; Hallock's, 244; Hart's, 187; Weld's, 211; et al.
Richard Hiley most absurdly scans this last couplet, and all verse like it, into "the Heroic measure," or a form of our iambic pentameter; saying, "Sometimes a syllable is cut off from the first foot; as,
Ī\-dlĕ āf\-tĕr dīnn\-nĕr īn \ hĭs chāir [,]
Sāt \ ă fār\-mĕr [,] rūd\-dý, fāt, \ ānd fāir."
Hiley's English Grammar, Third Edition, p. 125.
J. S. Hart, who, like many others, has mistaken the metre of this last example for "Trochaic Tetrameter," with a surplus "syllable," after repeating the current though rather questionable assertion, that, "this measure is very uncommon," proceeds with our "Trochaic Pentameter," thus: "This species is likewise uncommon. It is composed of five trochees; as,
Īn thĕ \ dārk ănd \ grēen ănd \ glōomў \ vāllĕy,
Sātўrs \ bȳ thĕ \ brōoklĕt \ lōve tŏ \ dāllў."
And again: ☞ "The same with an additional accented syllable; as,
Whēre thĕ \ wōod ĭs \ wāvĭng \grēen ănd \hīgh,
Fāuns ănd \ Drȳăds \ wātch thĕ \ stārrў \ sky."
Hart's English Grammar, First Edition, p. 187.
These examples appear to have been made for the occasion; and the latter, together with its introduction, made unskillfully. The lines are of five feet, and so are those about the ruddy farmer; but there is nothing "additional" in either case; for, as pentameter, they are all catalectic, the final short syllable being dispensed with, and a cæsura preferred, for the sake of single rhyme, otherwise not attainable. "Five trochees" and a rhyming "syllable" will make trochaic hexameter, a measure perhaps more pleasant than this. See examples above.
MEASURE V.—TROCHAIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.
[edit]| 1. | 2. |
| "Raving \ winds a\-round her \ blowing, | O'er the \ past too \ fondly \ wandering, |
| Yellow \ leaves the \ woodlands \ strewing, | On the \ hopeless \ future \ pondering, |
| By a \ river \ hoarsely \ roaring, | Chilly \ grief my \ life-blood \ freezes, |
| Isa\-bella \ strayed de\-ploring. | Fell de\-spair my \ fancy \ seizes. |
| 'Farewell \ hours that \ late did \ measure | Life, thou \ soul of \ every \ blessing, |
| Sunshine \ days of \ joy and \ pleasure; | Load to \ misery \ most dis\-tressing, |
| Hail, thou \ gloomy \ night of \ sorrow, | O how \ gladly \ I'd re\-sign thee, |
| Cheerless \ night that \ knows no \ morrow. | And to \ dark ob\-livion \ join thee.'" |
| "Powers ce\-lestial, \ whose pro\-tection | Make the \ gales you \ waft a\-round her |
| Ever \ guards the \ virtuous \ fair, | Soft and \ peaceful \ as her \ breast; |
| While in \ distant \ climes I \ wander, | Breathing \ in the \ breeze that \ fans her, |
| Let my \ Mary \ be your \ care: | Soothe her \ bosom \ into \ rest: |
| Let her \ form so \ fair and \ faultless, | Guardian \ angels, \ O pro\-tect her, |
| Fair and \ faultless \ as your \ own; | When in \ distant \ lands I \ roam; |
| Let my \ Mary's \ kindred \ spirit | To realms \ unknown \ while fate \ exiles me, |
| Draw your \ choicest \ influence \ down. | Make her \ bosom \ still my \ home." |
| Ju. | "Honour, \ riches, marriage \ -blessing, |
| Long con\-tinuance, \ and in\-creasing, | |
| Hourly \ joys be \ still up\-on you! | |
| Juno \ sings her \ blessings \ on you." | |
| Cer. | "Earth's in\-crease, and \ foison \ plenty; |
| Barns and \ garners \ never \ empty; | |
| Vines with \ clust'ring \ bunches \ growing; | |
| Plants with \ goodly \ burden \ bowing; | |
| Spring come \ to you, \ at the \ farthest, | |
| In the \ very \ end of \ harvest! | |
| Scarci\-ty and \ want shall \ shun you; | |
| Ceres' \ blessing \ so is \ on you." |
| "We are \ little \ airy \ creatures, | T'other \ you may \ see in \ tin, |
| All of \ diff'rent \ voice and \ features; | And the \ fourth a \ box with\-in; |
| One of \ us in \ glass is \ set, | If the \ fifth you \ should pur\-sue, |
| One of \ us you'll \ find in \ jet; | It can \ never \ fly from \ you." |
| "Life is \ short, and \ time is \ swift; | Bard! not \ vainly \ heaves the \ ocean; |
| Roses \ fade, and \ shadows \ shift; | Bard! not \ vainly \ flows the \ river; |
| But the ocean \ and the \ river | Be thy \ song, then, \ like their \ motion, |
| Rise and \ fall and \ flow for \ ever; | Blessing \ now, and \ blessing \ ever." |
| 1. | 2. |
| "'Twas the \ hour when \ rites un\-holy | Day her \ sultry \ fires had \ wasted, |
| Called each \ Paynim \ voice to \ pray'r, | Calm and \ sweet the \ moonlight \ rose; |
| And the \ star that \ faded \ slowly, | E'en a \ captive's \ spirit \ tasted |
| Left to \ dews the \ freshened \ air. | Half ob\-livion \ of his \ woes. |
| 3. | 4. |
| Then 'twas \ from an \ Emir's \ palace | 'Tell me, \ captive, \ why in \ anguish |
| Came an \ eastern \ lady \ bright; | Foes have \ dragged thee \ here to \ dwell, |
| She, in \ spite of \ tyrants \ jealous, | Where poor \ Christians, \ as they \ languish, |
| Saw and \ loved an \ English \ knight. | Hear no \ sound of \ sabbath \ bell?'" |
| "Lauded \ be thy \ name for \ ever, | I hăve \ sēen, ănd \ wēll I \ knōw ĭt! |
| Thou, of \ life the \ guard and \ giver! | Thou hast \ done, and \ Thou wilt \ do it! |
| Thou canst \ guard thy \ creatures \ sleeping, | God of \ stillness \ and of \ motion! |
| Heal the \ heart long \ broke with \ weeping, | Of the \ rainbow \ and the \ ocean! |
| Rule the \ ōuphes ănd \ ēlves ăt \ wīll | Of the \ mountain, \ rock, and \ river! |
| Thăt vēx \ thĕ āir \ ŏr hāunt \ thĕ hīll, | Blessed \ be Thy \ name for \ ever! |
| Ănd āll \ thĕ fū\-rў sūb\-jĕct kēep | I have \ seen thy \ wondrous \ might |
| Ŏf bōil\-ĭng clōud \ ănd chāf\-ĕd dēep! | Through the \ shadows \ of this \ night! |
| Thou, who \ slumber'st \ not, nor \ sleepest! | God of \ evening's \ yellow \ ray, |
| Blest are \ they thou \ kindly \ keepest! | God of \ yonder \ dawning \ day, |
| Spirits, \ from the \ ocean \ under, | Thine the \ flaming \ sphere of \ light! |
| Liquid \ flame, and \ levell'd \ thunder, | Thine the \ darkness \ of the \ night! |
| Need not \ waken \ nor a\-larm them— | Thine are \ all the \ gems of \ even, |
| All com\-bined, they \ cannot \ harm them. | God of \ angels! \ God of \ heaven!" |
| "Stay, my \ charmer, \ can you \ leave me? | By my \ love, so \ ill re\-quited; |
| Cruel, \ cruel, \ to de\-ceive me! | By the \ faith you \ fondly plighted; |
| Well you \ know how \ much you \ grieve me: | By the \ pangs of \ lovers slighted; |
| Cruel \ charmer, \ can you \ go? | Do not, \ do not \ leave me \ so! |
| Cruel \ charmer, \ can you \ go? | Do not, \ do not \ leave me \ so!" |
| 1. | |
| "Never \ wedding, \ ever \ wooing, | Now half \ quench'd ap\-pears, |
| Still \ lovelorn \ heart pur\-suing, | Damp'd, and \ wavering, and be\-nighted, |
| Read you \ not the \ wrong you're \ doing, | Midst my \ sighs and \ tears. |
| In my \ cheek's pale \ hue? | |
| All my \ life with \ sorrow \ strewing, | 3. |
| Wed, or \ cease to \ woo. | Charms you \ call your \ dearest \ blessing, |
| Lips that \ thrill at \ your ca\-ressing, | |
| 2. | Eyes a \ mutual soul con\-fessing, |
| Rivals \ banish'd, \ bosoms \ plighted, | Soon you'll \ make them \ grow |
| Still our \ days are \ disu\-nited; | Dim, and \ worthless \ your pos\-sessing, |
| Now the \ lamp of \ hope is \ lighted, | Not with \ age, but \ woe!" |
| 1. | 2. |
| "When the \ British \ warrior \ queen, | Sage be\-neath the \ spreading \ oak, |
| Bleeding \ from the \ Roman \ rods, | Sat the \ Druid, \ hoary \ chief; |
| Sought, with \ an in\-dignant \ mien, | Every burning \ word he \ spoke |
| Counsel \ of her \ country's \ gods, | Full of \ rage, and \ full of \ grief. |
| 3. | 4. |
| Princess! \ if our \ aged \ eyes | Rome shall \ Perish— \ write that \ word |
| Weep up\-on thy \ matchless \ wrongs, | In the \ blood that \ she hath \ spilt; |
| 'Tis be\-cause re\-sentment \ ties | Perish, \ hopeless \ and ab\-horr'd, |
| All the \ terrors \ of our \ tongues. | Deep in \ ruin \ as in \ guilt." |
| "Now in \ deep and \ dreadful \ gloom, | Hear ye \ not his \ chariot \ wheels, |
| Clouds on \ clouds por\-tentous \ spread, | As the \ mighty \ thunder \ rolls? |
| Black as \ if the \ day of \ doom | Nature, \ startled \ Nature \ reels, |
| Hung o'er \ Nature's \ shrinking \ head: | From the \ centre \ to the \ poles: |
| Lo! the \ lightning \ breaks from \ high, | Tremble! \ —Ocean, \ Earth, and \ Sky! |
| God is \ coming! \—God is \ nigh! | Tremble! \ —God is \ passing \ by!" |
| "Owen's \ praise de\-mands my song, | Dauntless \ on his \ native \ sands, |
| Owen \ swift and \ Owen \ strong; | The Drag\-on-son \ of Mo\-na stands;[32] |
| Fairest \ flow'r of \ Roderick's \ stem, | In glit\-tering arms \ and glo\-ry drest, |
| Gwyneth's \ shield, and \ Britain's \ gem. | High he \ rears his \ ruby \ crest. |
| He nor \ heaps his \ brooded \ stores, | There the \ thundering \ stroke be\-gin, |
| Nor the \ whole pro\-fusely \ pours; | There the \ press, and \ there the \ din; |
| Lord of \ every \ regal \ art, | Taly\-malfra's \ rocky \ shore |
| Liberal \ hand and \ open \ heart. | Echoing \ to the \ battle's \ roar; |
| Big with \ hosts of \ mighty \ name, | Where his \ glowing \ eyeballs \ turn, |
| Squadrons \ three a\-gainst him \ came; | Thousand \ banners \ round him \ burn. |
| This the \ force of \ Eirin \ hiding, | Where he \ points his \ purple \ spear, |
| Side by \ side as \ proudly \ riding, | Hasty, \ hasty \ rout is \ there, |
| On her \ shadow \ long and \ gay, | Marking \ with in\-dignant \ eye |
| Lochlin \ ploughs the \ watery \ way: | Fear to \ stop, and \ shame to \ fly. |
| There the Norman \ sails a\-far | There Con\-fusion, \ Terror's \ child, |
| Catch the \ winds, and \ join the \ war; | Conflict \ fierce, and \ Ruin \ wild, |
| Black and \ huge, a\-long they \ sweep, | Ago\-ny, that \ pants for \ breath, |
| Burthens \ of the \ angry \ deep. | Despair, \ and hon \ -oura \ -ble Death." |
| "Silent \ Nymph, with \ curious \ eye, | Draw the \ landscape \ bright \ and strong; |
| Who, the \ purple \ eve, dost \ lie | Grongar, \ in whose \ mossy \ cells, |
| On the \ mountain's \ lonely \ van, | Sweetly \ -musing \ Quiet \ dwells; |
| Beyond \ the noise \ of bus\-y man; | Grongar, \ in whose \ silent \ shade, |
| Painting \ fair the \ form of \ things, | For the \ modest \ Muses \ made, |
| While the \ yellow \ linnet \ sings; | So oft \ I have, \ the eve\-ning still, |
| Or the \ tuneful \ nightin\-gale | At the \ fountain \ of a \ rill, |
| Charms the \ forest \ with her \ tale; | Sat up\-on a \ flowery \ bed, |
| Come, with \ all thy \ various hues, | With my \ hand be\-neath my \ head, |
| Come, and \ aid thy \ sister \ Muse. | While stray'd \ my eyes \ o'er Tow\-y's flood, |
| Now, while \ Phoebus, \ riding \ high, | Over \ mead and \ over wood, |
| Gives lus\-tre to \ the land \ and sky, | From house \ to house, \ from hill \ to hill, |
| Grongar \ Hill in\-vites my \ song; | Till Con\-templa\-tion had \ her fill." |
OBSERVATIONS.
- This is the most common of our trochaic measures; and it seems to be equally popular, whether written with single rhyme, or with double; in stanzas, or in couplets; alone, or with some intentional intermixture. By a careful choice of words and style, it may be adapted to all sorts of subjects, grave, or gay; quaint, or pathetic; as may the corresponding iambic metre, with which it is often more or less mingled, as we see in some of the examples above. Milton's L'Allegro, or Gay Mood, has one hundred and fifty-two lines; ninety-eight of which are iambics; fifty-four trochaic tetrameters; a very few of each order having double rhymes. These orders the poet has not—"very ingeniously alternated" as Everett avers; but has simply interspersed, or commingled, with little or no regard to alternation. His Il Penseroso, or Grave Mood, has twenty-seven trochaic tetrameters, mixed irregularly with one hundred and forty-nine iambics.
- Everett, who divides our trochaic tetrameters into two species of metre, imagines that the catalectic form, or that which is single-rhymed, "has a solemn effect,"—"imparts to all pieces more dignity than any of the other short measures,"—"that no trivial or humorous subject should be treated in this measure,"—and that, "besides dignity, it imparts an air of sadness to the subject."—English Verses., p. 87. Our "line of four trochees" he supposes to be "difficult of construction,"—"not of very frequent occurrence,"—"the most agreeable of all the trochaic measures,"—"remarkably well adapted to lively subjects,"—and "peculiarly expressive of the eagerness and fickleness of the passion of love."—Ib., p. 90. These pretended metrical characteristics seem scarcely more worthy of reliance, than astrological predictions, or the oracular guessings of our modern craniologists.
- Dr. Campbell repeats a suggestion of the older critics, that gayety belongs naturally to all trochaics, as such, and gravity or grandeur, as naturally, to iambics; and he attempts to find a reason for the fact; while, perhaps, even here—more plausible though the supposition is—the fact may be at least half imaginary. "The iambus," says he, "is expressive of dignity and grandeur; the trochee, on the contrary, according to Aristotle, (Rhet. Lib. Ill,) is frolicsome and gay. It were difficult to assign a reason of this difference that would be satisfactory; but of the thing itself, I imagine, most people will be sensible on comparing the two kinds together. I know not whether it will be admitted as a sufficient reason, that the distinction into metrical feet hath a much greater influence in poetry on the rise and fall of the voice, than the distinction into words; and if so, when the cadences happen mostly after the long syllables, the verse will naturally have an air of greater gravity than when they happen mostly after the short."—Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric, p. 354.
MEASURE VI.—TROCHAIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Youth and Age Contrasted.
"Crabbed \ age and \ youth
Cannot \ live to\-gether;
Youth is \ full of \ pleasance,
Age is \ full of \ care:
Youth, like \ summer \ morn,
Age, like \ winter \ weather;
Youth, like \ summer, \ brave;
Age, like \ winter, \ bare.
Youth is \ full of \ sport,
Age's \ breath is \ short,
Youth is \ nimble, \ age is \ lame;
Youth is \ hot and \ bold,
Age is \ weak and \ cold;
Youth is \ wild, and \ age is \ tame."
The Passionate Pilgrim; Singer's Shakspeare, Vol. ii p. 594.
Example II—Common Sense and Genius.
3.
"While I \ touch the \ string,
Wreathe my \ brows with \ laurel;
For the \ tale I \ sing,
Has, for \ once, a \ moral!
4.
Common \ Sense went \ on,
Many \ wise things \ saying;
While the \ light that \ shone,
Soon set \ Genius \ straying.
5.
One his eye ne'er \ rais'd
From the \ path be\-fore him;
T' other \ idly \ gaz'd
On each \ night-cloud \ o'er him.
6.
While I \ touch the \ string,
Wreathe my \ brows with \ laurel;
For the \ tale I \ sing,
Has, for \ once, a \ moral!
7.
So they \ came, at \ last,
To a \ shady \ river;
Common \ Sense soon \pass'd
Safe,—as \ he doth \ ever.
8.
While the \ boy whose \ look
Was in \ heav'n that \ minute,
Never \ saw the \ brook,—
But tum\-bled head\-long in it."
Six Stanzas from Twelve.—Moore's Melodies, p. 271.
This short measure is much oftener used in stanzas, than in couplets. It is, in many instances, combined with some different order or metre of verse, as in the following:
Example III.—Part of a Song.
"Go where \ glory \ waits thee,
But while \ fame e\-lates thee,
Oh! still \ remem\-ber me.
When the \ praise thou \ meetest,
To thine \ ear is \ sweetest,
Oh! then \ remem\-ber me.
Other \ arms may \ press thee,
Dearer \ friends ca\-ress thee,
All the \ joys that \ bless thee,
Sweeter \ far may \ be:
But when \ friends are \ nearest,
And when \ joys are \ dearest,
Oh! then \ remem\-ber me.
When, at \ eve, thou \ rovest,
By the \ star thou \ lovest,
Oh! then \ remem\-ber me.
Think when \ home re\-turning,
Bright we've \ seen it \ burning;
Oh! thus \ remem\-ber me.
Oft as \ summer \ closes,
When thine \ eye re\-poses
On its \ ling'ring \ roses,
Once so \ loved by \ thee,
Think of \ her who \ wove them,
Her who \ made thee \ love them;
Oh! then \ remem\-ber me."
Moore's Melodies, Songs, and Airs, p. 107.
Example IV.—From an Ode to the Thames.
"On thy \ shady \ margin,
Care its \ load dis\-charging,
Is lull'd \ to gen\-tle rest:
Britain \ thus dis\-arming,
Nothing \ her a\-larming,
Shall sleep on Cæ\-sar's breast."
See Rowe's Poems: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. iv, p. 58.
Example V.—"The True Poet"—First Two of Nine Stanzas.
1.
"Poet \ of the \ heart,
Delving \ in its \ mine,
From man\-kind a\-part,
Yet where \ jewels \ shine;
Heaving \ upward \ to the \ light,
Precious \ wealth that \ charms the \ sight;
2.
Toil thou \ still, deep \ down,
For earth's \ hidden \ gems;
They shall \ deck a \ crown,
Blaze in \ dia\-dems;
And when \ thy hand \ shall fall \ to rest,
Brightly \ jewel \ beauty's \ breast."
JANE B. LOCKE: N. Y. Evening Post; The Examiner, No. 98.
Example VI.—"Summer Longings"—First Two of Five Stanzas.
"Ah! my \ heart is \ ever \ waiting,
Waiting \ for the \ May,—
Waiting \ for the \ pleasant \ rambles
Where the \ fragrant \ hawthorn \ brambles,
With the \ woodbine \ alter\-nating,
Scent the \ dewy \ way.
Ah! my \ heart is \ weary \ waiting,
Waiting \ for the \ May.
Ah! my \ heart is \ sick with \ longing,
Longing \ for the \ May,—
Longing \ to e\-scape from \ study,
To the \ young face \ fair and \ ruddy,
And the \ thousand \ charms be\-longing
To the \ Summer's \ day.
Ah! my \ heart is \ sick with \ longing,
Longing \ for the \ May."
"D. F. M. C.:" Dublin University Magazine; Liberator, No. 952.
MEASURE VII.—TROCHAIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Three Short Excerpts.
1.
"My flocks \ feed not,
My ewes \ breed not,
My rams \ speed not,
All is \ amiss:
Love's de\-nying,
Faith's de\-fying,
Heart's re\-nying,
Causer \ of this."
2.
"In black \ mourn I,
All fears \ scorn I,
Love hath \ lorn me,
Living \ in thrall:
Heart is \ bleeding,
All help \ needing.
(Cruel \ speeding,)
Fraughted \ with gall."
3.
"Clear wells \ spring not.
Sweet birds \ sing not,
Loud bells \ ring not
Cheerfully;
Herds stand \ weeping,
Flocks all \ sleeping,
Nymphs back \ creeping
Fearfully."
Shakspeare: The Passionate Pilgrim. See Sec. xv.
Example II.—Specimen with Single Rhyme.
"To Quinbus Flestrin, the Man-Mountain"
A LILLIPUTIAN ODE
I.
"In a\-maze,
Lost, I \ gaze.
Can our \ eyes
Reach thy \ size?
May my \ lays
Swell with \ praise,
Worthy \ thee,
Worthy \ me!
Muse, in\-spire
All thy \ fire!
Bards of \ old
Of him \ told,
When they \ said
Atlas' \ head
Propp'd the \ skies:
See! and \ believe \ your eyes!
II.
"See him \ stride
Valleys \ wide:
Over \ woods,
Over \ floods,
When he \ treads,
Mountains' \ heads
Groan and \ shake:
Armies \ quake,
Lest his \ spurn
Over\-turn
Man and \ steed:
Troops, take \ heed!
Left and \ right
Speed your \ flight!
Lest an \ host
Beneath \ his foot \ be lost.
III.
"Turn'd a\-side
From his \ hide,
Safe from \ wound,
Darts re\-bound.
From his \ nose,
Clouds he \ blows;
When he \ speaks,
Thunder \ breaks!
When he \ eats,
Famine \ threats!
When he \ drinks,
Neptune \ shrinks!
Nigh thy \ ear,
In mid \ air,
On thy \ hand,
Let me \ stand.
So shall \ I
(Lofty \ poet!) touch the sky."
JOHN GAY: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 376.
Example III.—Two Feet with Four.
"Oh, the \ pleasing, \ pleasing \ anguish,
When we \ love, and \ when we \ languish!
Wishes \ rising!
Thoughts sur\-prising!
Pleasure \ courting!
Charms trans\-porting!
Fancy \ viewing
Joys en\-suing!
Oh, the \ pleasing, \ pleasing \ anguish!"
ADDISON'S Rosamond, Act i, Scene 6.
Example IV.—Lines of Three Syllables with Longer Metres.
1. WITH TROCHAICS.
"Or we \ sometimes \ pass an \ hour
Under \ a green \ willow,
That de\-fends us \ from the \ shower,
Making \ earth our \ pillow;
Where we \ may
Think and \ pray,
Bē'fore \ death
Stops our \ breath:
Other \ joys,
Are but \ toys,
And to \ be la\-mented."[33]
2. WITH IAMBICS.
"What sounds \ were heard,
What scenes \ appear'd,
O'er all \ the drear\-y coasts!
Dreadful \ gleams,
Dismal \ screams,
Fires that \ glow,
Shrieks of \ wo,
Sullen \ moans,
Hollow \ groans,
And cries \ of tor\-tur'd ghosts!"
POPE: Johnson's Brit. Poets, Vol. vi, p. 315.
Example V.—"The Shower."—In Four Regular Stanzas.
1.
"In a \ valley \ that I \ know—
Happy \ scene!
There are \ meadows \ sloping \ low,
There the \ fairest \ flowers \ blow,
And the \ brightest \ waters \ flow.
All se\-rene;
But the \ sweetest \ thing to \ see,
If you \ ask the \ dripping \ tree,
Or the \ harvest\-hoping \ swain,
Is the \ Rain.
2.
Ah, the \ dwellers \ of the \ town,
How they \ sigh,—
How un\-grateful\-ly they \ frown,
When the \ cloud-king \ shakes his \ crown,
And the \ pearls come \ pouring \ down
From the \ sky!
They de\-scry no \ charm at \ all
Where the \ sparkling \ jewels \ fall,
And each \ moment \ of the \ shower,
Seems an \ hour!
3.
Yet there's \ something \ very \ sweet
In the \ sight,
When the \ crystal \ currents \ meet
In the \ dry and \ dusty \ street,
And they \ wrestle \ with the \ heat,
In their \ might!
While they \ seem to \ hold a \ talk
With the \ stones a\-long the \ walk,
And re\-mind them \ of the \ rule,
To 'keep \ cool!'
4.
Ay, but \ in that \ quiet \ dell,
Ever \ fair,
Still the \ Lord doth \ all things \ well,
When his \ clouds with \ blessings \ swell,
And they \ break a \ brimming \ shell
On the \ air;
There the \ shower \ hath its \ charms,
Sweet and \ welcome \ to the \ farms
As they \ listen \ to its \ voice,
And re\-joice!"
Rev. RALPH HOYT'S Poems: The Examiner, Nov. 6, 1847.
Example VI.—"A Good Name?"—Two Beautiful Little Stanzas.
1.
"Children, \ choose it,
Don't re\-fuse it,
'Tis a \ precious \ dia\-dem;
Highly \ prize it,
Don't de\-spise it,
You will \ need it \ when you're \ men.
2.
Love and \ cherish,
Keep and \ nourish,
'Tis more \ precious \ far than \ gold;
Watch and \ guard it,
Don't dis\-card it,
You will \ need it \ when you're \ old."
The Family Christian Almanac, for 1850, p. 20.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Trochaics of two feet, like those of three, are, more frequently than otherwise, found in connexion with longer lines, as in some of the examples above cited. The trochaic line of three syllables, which our prosodists in general describe as consisting, not of two feet; but "of one Trochee and a long syllable," may, when it stands alone, be supposed to consist of one amphimac; but, since this species of foot is not admitted by all, and is reckoned a secondary one by those who do admit it, the better practice is, to divide even the three syllables into two feet, as above.
- Murray, Hart, Weld, and many others, erroneously affirm, that, "The shortest Trochaic verse in our language, consists of one Trochee and a long syllable."—Murray's Gram., p. 256; Hart's, First Edition, p. 186; Weld's, Second Edition, p. 210. The error of this will be shown by examples below—examples of true "Trochaic Monometer," and not of Dimeter mistaken for it, like Weld's, Hart's, or Murray's.
- These authors also aver, that, "This measure is defective in dignity, and can seldom be used on serious occasions."—Same places. "Trochaic of two feet—is likewise so brief, that," in their opinion, "it is rarely used for any very serious purpose."—Same places. Whether the expression of love, or of its disappointment, is "any very serious purpose" or not, I leave to the decision of the reader. What lack of dignity or seriousness there is, in several of the foregoing examples, especially the last two, I think it not easy to discover.
MEASURE VIII.—TROCHAIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
[edit]Examples with Longer Metres.
1. WITH IAMBICS.
"Frŏm wālk \ tŏ wālk, \ frŏm shāde \ tŏ shāde,
From stream to purl\-ing stream \ convey'd,
Through all \ the ma\-zes of \ the grove,
Through all \ the ming\-ling tracks \ I rove,
Turning,
Burning,
Changing,
Ranging,
Fūll ŏf \ griēf ănd \ fūll ŏf \ lōve."
ADDISON'S Rosamond, Act I, Sc. 4:
Everett's Versification, p. 81.
2. WITH ANAPESTICS, &c.
"Tŏ lōve ănd tŏ lānguĭsh,
Tŏ sīgh \ ănd cŏmplāin,
Hŏw crūĕl's thĕ ānguĭsh!
Hŏw tŏrmēnt\-ĭng thĕ pāin!
Suing,
Pursuing,
Flying,
Denying,
O the curse \ of disdain!
How torment\-ing's the pain!"
GEO. GRANVILLE: Br. Poets, Vol. v, p. 31.
OBSERVATIONS. {{Smaller block|
- The metres acknowledged in our ordinary schemes of prosody, scarcely amount, with all their "boundless variety," to more than one half, or three quarters, of what may be found in actual use somewhere. Among the foregoing examples, are some which are longer, and some which are shorter, than what are commonly known to our grammarians; and some, also, which seem easily practicable, though perhaps not so easily quotable. This last trochaic metre, so far as I know, has not been used alone,—that is, without longer lines,—except where grammarians so set examples of it in their prosodies.
- "Trochaic of One foot," as well as "Iambic of One foot," was, I believe, first recognized, prosodically, in Brown's Institutes of English Grammar, a work first published in 1823. Since that time, both have obtained acknowledgement in sundry schemes of versification, contained in the new grammars; as in Farnum's, and Hallock's, of 1842; in Pardon Davis's, of 1845; in S. W. Clark's, and S. S. Greene's, of 1848; in Professor Fowler's, of 1850. Wells, in his School Grammar, of 1846, and D. C. Allen, in an other, of 1847, give to the length of lines a laxity positively absurd: "Rhymed verses," say they, "may consist of any number of syllables."—Wells, 1st Ed., p. 187; late Ed., 204; Allen, p. 88. Everett has recognized "The line of a single Trochee," though he repudiates some long measures that are much more extensively authorized.
}}
ORDER III.—ANAPESTIC VERSE.
[edit]In full Anapestic verse, the stress is laid on every third syllable, the first two syllables of each foot being short. The first foot of an anapestic line, may be an iambus. This is the most frequent diversification of the order. But, as a diversification, it is, of course, not regular or uniform. The stated or uniform adoption of the iambus for a part of each line, and of the anapest for the residue of it, produces verse of the Composite Order. As the anapest ends with a long syllable, its rhymes are naturally single; and a short syllable after this, producing double rhyme, is, of course, supernumerary: so are the two, when the rhyme is triple. Some prosodists suppose, a surplus at the end of a line may compensate for a deficiency at the beginning of the next line; but this I judge to be an error, or at least the indulgence of a questionable license. The following passage has two examples of what may have been meant for such compensation, the author having used a dash where I have inserted what seems to be a necessary word:
"Apol\-lo smil'd shrewd\-ly, and bade \ him sit down,
With 'Well, \ Mr. Scott, \ you have man\-aged the town;
Now pray, \ copy less— \ have a lit\-tle temer\-ĭtў—
[And] Try \ if you can't \ also man\-age poster\-ity.
[For] All \ you add now \ only les\-sens your cred\-it;
And how \ could you think, \ too, of tak\-ing to ed\-ite?"
LEIGH HUNT'S Feast of the Poets, page 20.
The anapestic measures are few; because their feet are long, and no poet has chosen to set a great many in a line. Possibly lines of five anapests, or of four and an initial iambus, might be written; for these would scarcely equal in length some of the iambics and trochaics already exhibited. But I do not find any examples of such metre. The longest anapestics that have gained my notice, are of fourteen syllables, being tetrameters with triple rhyme, or lines of four anapests and two short surplus syllables. This order consists therefore of measures reducible to the following heads:
MEASURE I.—ANAPESTIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.
[edit]Example I.—A "Postscript."—An Example with Hypermeter.
"Lean Tom, \ when I saw \ him, last week, \ on his horse \ awry,
Threaten'd loud\-ly to turn \ me to stone \ with his sor\-cery.
But, I think, \ little Dan, \ that, in spite \ of what our \ foe says,
He will find \ I read Ov\-id and his \ Metamor\-phoses.
For, omit\-ting the first, \ (where I make \ a compar\-ison,
With a sort \ of allu\-sion to Put\-land or Har\-rison,)
Yet, by \ my descrip\-tion, you'll find \ he in short \ is
A pack \ and a gar\-ran, a top \ and a tor\-toise.
So I hope \ from hencefor\-ward you ne'er \ will ask, can \ I maul
This teas\-ing, conceit\-ed, rude, in\-solent an\-imal?
And, if \ this rebuke \ might be turn'd \ to his ben\-efit,
(For I pit\-y the man,) \ I should \ be glad then \ of it"
SWIFT'S POEMS: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. v, p. 324.
Example II.—"The Feast of the Poets."—First Twelve Lines.
"T' other day, \ as Apol\-lo sat pitch\-ing his darts
Through the clouds \ of Novem\-ber, by fits \ and by starts,
He began \ to consid\-er how long \ it had been
Since the bards \ of Old Eng\-land had all \ been rung in.
'
I think,' \ said the god, \ recollect\-ing, (and then
He fell twid\-dling a sun\-beam as I \ may my pen,)
'I think— \ let me see— \ yes, it is, \ I declare,
As long \ ago now \ as that Buck\-ingham there;
And yet \ I can't see \ why I've been \ so remiss,
Unless \ it may be— \ and it cer\-tainly is,
That since Dry\-den's fine ver\-ses and Mil\-ton's sublime,
I have fair\-ly been sick \ of their sing\-song and rhyme.'"
LEIGH HUNT: Poems, New-York Edition, of 1814.
Example III.—The Crowning of Four Favourites.
"Then, 'Come,' \ cried the god \ in his el\-egant mirth,
'Let us make \ us a heav'n \ of our own \ upon earth,
And wake, \ with the lips \ that we dip \ in our bowls,
That divin\-est of mu\-sic—conge\-nial souls.'
So say\-ing, he led \ through the din\-ing-room door,
And, seat\-ing the po\-ets, cried, 'Lau\-rels for four!'
No soon\-er demand\-ed, than, lo! \ they were there,
And each \ of the bards \ had a wreath \ in his hair.
Tom Camp\-bell's with wil\-low and pop\-lar was twin'd,
And South\-ey's, with moun\-tain-ash, pluck'd \ in the wind;
And Scott's, \ with a heath \ from his old \ garden stores,
And, with vine\-leaves and jump\-up-and-kiss\-me, Tom Moore's."
LEIGH HUNT: from line 330 to line 342.
Example IV.—"Glenara."—First Two of Eight Stanzas.
"O heard \ ye yon pi\-broch sound sad \ in the gale,
Where a band \ cometh slow\-ly with weep\-ing and wail!
'Tis the chief \ of Glena\-ra laments \ for his dear;
And her sire, \ and the peo\-ple, are called \ to her bier.
Glena\-ra came first \ with the mourn\-ers and shroud;
Her kins\-men, they fol\-lowed, but mourned \ not aloud;
Their plaids \ all their bo\-soms were fold\-ed around;
They marched \ all in si\-lence—they looked \ on the ground."
T. CAMPBELL'S Poetical Works, p. 105.
Example V.—"Lochiel's Warning."—Ten Lines from Eighty-six.
"'Tis the sun\-set of life \ gives me mys\-tical lore,
And com\-ing events \ cast their shad\-ows before.
I tell \ thee, Cullo\-den's dread ech\-oes shall ring
With the blood\-hounds that bark \ for thy fu\-gitive king.
Lo! anoint\-ed by Heav'n \ with the vi\-als of wrath,
Behold, \ where he flies \ on his des\-olate path!
Now, in dark\-ness and bil\-lows he sweeps \ from my sight;
Rise! rise! \ ye wild tem\-pests, and cov\-er his flight!
'Tis fin\-ished. Their thun\-ders are hushed \ on the moors;
Cullo\-den is lost, \ and my coun\-try deplores."—Ib., p. 89.
Example VI.—"The Exile of Erin."—The First of Five Stanzas.
"There came \ to the beach \ a poor Ex\-ile of E\-rĭn,
The dew \ on his thin \ robe was heav\-y and chill;
For his coun\-try he sighed, \ when at twi\-light repair\-ĭng
To wan\-der alone \ by the wind\-beaten hill.
But the day\-star attract\-ed his eye's \ sad devo\-tĭon,
For it rose \ o'er his own \ native isle \ of the o\-cĕan,
Where once, \ in the fire \ of his youth\-ful emo \ tĭon,
He sang \ the bold an\-them of E\-rin go bragh."—Ib., p. 116.
Example VII.—"The Poplar Field."
"The pop\-lars are fell'd, \ farewell \ to the shade,
And the whis\-pering sound \ of the cool \ colonnade;
The winds \ play no lon\-ger and sing \ in the leaves,
Nor Ouse \ on his bo\-som their im\-age receives.
Twelve years \ have elaps'd, \ since I last \ took a view
Of my fa\-vourite field, \ and the bank \ where they grew;
And now \ in the grass \ behold \ they are laid,
And the tree \ is my seat \ that once lent \ me a shade.
The black\-bird has fled \ to anoth\-er retreat,
Where the ha\-zels afford \ him a screen \ from the heat,
And the scene, \ where his mel\-ody charm'd \ me before,
Resounds \ with his sweet\-flowing dit\-ty no more.
My fu\-gitive years \ are all hast\-ing away,
And I \ must ere long \ lie as low\-ly as they,
With a turf \ on my breast, \ and a stone \ at my head,
Ere anoth\-er such grove \ shall arise \ in its stead.
'Tis a sight \ to engage \ me, if an\-y thing can,
To muse \ on the per\-ishing pleas\-ures of man;
Though his life \ be a dream, \ his enjoy\-ments, I see,
Have a be\-ing less dur\-able e\-ven than he."
COWPER'S Poems, Vol. i, p. 257.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Everett avers, that, "The purely Anapestic measure is more easily constructed than the Trochee, [Trochaic,] and of much more frequent occurrence."—English Versification, p. 97. Both parts of this assertion are at least very questionable; and so are this author's other suggestions, that, "The Anapest is [necessarily] the vehicle of gayety and joy;" that, "Whenever this measure is employed in the treating of sad subjects, the effect is destroyed;" that, "Whoever should attempt to write an elegy in this measure, would be sure to fail;" that, "The words might express grief, but the measure would express joy;" that, "The Anapest should never be employed throughout a long piece;" because "buoyancy of spirits can never be supposed to last,"—"sadness never leaves us, BUT joy remains but for a moment;" and, again, because, "the measure is exceedingly monotonous."—Ibid., pp. 97 and 98.
- Most anapestic poetry, so far as I know, is in pieces of no great length; but Leigh Hunt's "Feast of the Poets," which is thrice cited above, though not a long poem, may certainly be regarded as "a long piece," since it extends through fifteen pages, and contains four hundred and thirty-one lines, all, or nearly all, of anapestic tetrameter. And, surely, no poet had ever more need of a metre well suited to his purpose, than he, who, intending a critical as well as a descriptive poem, has found so much fault with the versification of others. Pope, as a versifier, was regarded by this author, "not only as no master of his art, but as a very indifferent practiser."—Notes on the Feast of the Poets, p. 35. His "monotonous and cloying" use of numbers, with that of Darwin, Goldsmith, Johnson, Haley, and others of the same "school," is alleged to have wrought a general corruption of taste in respect to versification—a fashion that has prevailed, not temporarily,
"But ever since Pope spoil'd the ears of the town
With his cuckoo-song verses, half up and half down"—Ib. - Excessive monotony is thus charged by one critic upon all verse of "the purely Anapestic measure;" and, by an other, the same fault is alleged in general terms against all the poetry "of the school of Pope," well-nigh the whole of which is iambic. The defect is probably in either case, at least half imaginary; and, as for the inherent joyousness of anapestics, that is perhaps not less ideal. Father Humphrey says, "Anapæstic and amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous compositions; and sometimes to elegiac compositions, and subjects important and solemn."—Humphrey's English Prosody, p. 17.
- The anapest, the dactyl, and the amphibrach, have this in common,—that each, with one long syllable, takes two short ones. Hence there is a degree of similarity in their rhythms, or in their several effects upon the ear; and consequently lines of each order, (or of any two, if the amphibrachic be accounted a separate order,) are sometimes commingled. But the propriety of acknowledging an order of "Amphibrachic verse," as does Humphrey, is more than doubtful; because, by so doing, we not only recognize the amphibrach as one of the principal feet, but make a vast number of lines ambiguous in their scansion. For our Amphibrachic order will be made up of lines that are commonly scanned as anapestics—such anapestics as are diversified by an iambus at the beginning, and sometimes also by a surplus short syllable at the end; as in the following verses, better divided as in the sixth example above:
"Thĕre cāme tŏ \ thĕ bēach ă \ pŏor Exĭle \ ŏf Erĭn
The dew on \ his thin robe \ was heavy \ and chill:
Fŏr hĭs coūn\-trў hĕ sīghed, \ whēn ăt twī\-lĭght rĕpāir\-ĭng
To wander \ alone by \ the wind-beat\-en hill."
MEASURE II.—ANAPESTIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
[edit]Example I.—"Alexander Selkirk."—First Two Stanzas.
I.
"I am mon\-arch of all \ I survey,
My right \ there is none \ to dispute;
From the cen\-tre all round \ to the sea,
I am lord \ of the fowl \ and the brute.
O Sol\-itude! where \ are the charms
That sa\-ges have seen \ in thy face?
Better dwell \ in the midst \ of alarms,
Than reign \ in this hor\-rible place.
II.
I am out \ of human\-ity's reach,
I must fin\-ish my jour\-ney alone,
Never hear \ the sweet mu\-sic of speech,
I start \ at the sound \ of my own.
The beasts \ that roam o\-ver the plain,
My form \ with indif\-ference see;
They are so \ unacquaint\-ed with man,
Their tame\-ness is shock\-ing to me."
COWPER'S Poems, Vol. i, p. 199.
Example II.—"Catharina."—Two Stanzas from Seven.
IV.
"Though the pleas\-ures of Lon\-don exceed
In num\-ber the days \ of the year,
Cathari\-na, did noth\-ing impede,
Would feel \ herself hap\-pier here;
For the close\-woven arch\-es of limes
On the banks \ of our riv\-er, I know,
Are sweet\-er to her \ many times
Than aught \ that the cit\-y can show.
V.
So it is, \ when the mind \ is endued
With a well\-judging taste \ from above;
Then, wheth\-er embel\-lish'd or rude,
'Tis na\-ture alone \ that we love.
The achieve\-ments of art \ may amuse,
May e\-ven our won\-der excite,
But groves, \ hills, and val\-leys, diffuse
A last\-ing, a sa\-cred delight."
COWPER'S Poems, Vol. ii, p. 232.
Example III.—"A Pastoral Ballad."—Two Stanzas from Twenty-seven.
(8.)
"Not a pine \ in my grove \ is there seen,
But with ten\-drils of wood\-bine is bound;
Not a beech \ 's more beau\-tiful green,
But a sweet\-briar twines \ it around,
Not my fields \ in the prime \ of the year
More charms \ than my cat\-tle unfold;
Not a brook \ that is lim\-pid and clear,
But it glit\-ters with fish\-es of gold.
(9)
One would think \ she might like \ to retire
To the bow'r \ I have la\-bour'd to rear;
Not a shrub \ that I heard \ her admire,
But I hast\-ed and plant\-ed it there.
O how sud\-den the jes\-samine strove
With the li\-lac to ren\-der it gay!
Alread\-y it calls \ for my love,
To prune \ the wild branch\-es away."
SHENSTONE: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 139.
Anapestic lines of four feet and of three are sometimes alternated in a stanza, as in the following instance:
Example IV.—"The Rose."
"The rose \ had been wash'd, \ just wash'd \ in a show'r,
Which Ma\-ry to An\-na convey'd;
The plen\-tiful moist\-ure encum\-ber'd the flow'r,
And weigh'd \ down its beau\-tiful head.
The cup \ was all fill'd, \ and the leaves \ were all wet,
And it seem'd \ to a fan\-ciful view,
To weep \ for the buds \ it had left, \ with regret,
On the flour\-ishing bush \ where it grew.
I hast\-ily seized \ it, unfit \ as it was
For a nose\-gay, so drip\-ping and drown'd,
And, swing\-ing it rude\-ly, too rude\-ly, alas!
I snapp'd \ it,—it fell \ to the ground.
And such, \ I exclaim'd, \ is the pit\-iless part
Some act \ by the del\-icate mind,
Regard\-less of wring\-ing and break\-ing a heart
Alread\-y to sor\-row resign'd.
This el\-egant rose, \ had I shak\-en it less,
Might have bloom'd \ with its own\-er a while;
And the tear \ that is wip'd \ with a lit\-tle address,
May be fol\-low'd perhaps \ by a smile."
COWPER: Poems, Vol. i, p. 216; English Reader, p. 212.
MEASURE III.—ANAPESTIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
[edit]Example I.—Lines with Hypermeter and Double Rhyme.
"CORONACH," OR FUNERAL SONG.
1.
"He is gone \ on the mount\-aĭn
He is lost \ to the for\-ĕst
Like a sum\-mer-dried foun\-taĭn
When our need \ was the sor\-ĕst.
The font, \ reappear\-ĭng,
From the rain\-drops shall bor\-rŏw,
But to us \ comes no cheer\-ĭng,
Do Dun\-can no mor\-rŏw!
2.
The hand \ of the reap\-ĕr
Takes the ears \ that are hoar\-ў,
But the voice \ of the weep\-ĕr
Wails man\-hood in glo\-rў;
The au\-tumn winds rush\-ĭng,
Waft the leaves \ that are sear\-ĕst,
But our flow'r \ was in flush\-ĭng,
When blight\-ing was near\-ĕst."
WALTER SCOTT: Lady of the Lake, Canto iii, St. 16.
Example II.—Exact Lines of Two Anapests.
"Prithee, Cu\-pid, no more
Hurl thy darts \ at threescore;
To thy girls \ and thy boys,
Give thy pains \ and thy joys;
Let Sir Trust\-y and me
From thy frol\-ics be free."
ADDISON: Rosamond, Act ii, Scene 2; Ev. Versif., p. 100.
Example III—An Ode, from the French of Malherbe.
"This An\-na so fair,
So talk'd \ of by fame,
Why dont \ she appear?
Indeed, \ she's to blame!
Lewis sighs \ for the sake
Of her charms, \ as they say;
What excuse \ can she make
For not com\-ing away?
If he does \ not possess,
He dies \ with despair;
Let's give \ him redress,
And go find \ out the fair"
"Cette Anne si belle,
Qu'on vante si fort,
Pourquoi ne vient elle?
Vraiment, elle a tort!
Son Louis soupire,
Après ses appas;
Que veut elle dire,
Qu'elle ne vient pas?
S'il ne la posséde,
Il s'en va mourir;
Donnons y reméde,
Allons la quérir."
WILLIAM KING, LL. D.: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. iii, p. 590.
Example IV.—'Tis the Last Rose of Summer.
1.
"'Tis the last \ rose of sum\-mĕr,
Left bloom\-ing alone;
All her love\-ly compan\-iŏns
Are fad\-ed and gone;
No flow'r \ of her kin\-drĕd,
No rose\-bud is nigh,
To give \ back her blush\-ĕs,
Or give \ sigh for sigh.
2.
I'll not leave \ thee, thou lone \ ŏne!
To pine \ on the stem!
Since the love\-ly are sleep\-ĭng,
Go, sleep \ thou with them;
Thus kind\-ly I scat\-tĕr
Thy leaves \ o'er thy bed,
Where thy mates \ of the gar\-dĕn
Lie scent\-less and dead.
3.
So, soon \ may I fol\-lŏw,
When friend\-ships decay,
And, from love's \ shining cir\-clĕ,
The gems \ drop away;
When true \ hearts lie with\-ĕr'd,
And fond \ ones are flown,
Oh! who \ would inhab\-it
This bleak \ world alone ?"
T. MOORE: Melodies, Songs, and Airs, p. 171.
Example V.—Nemesis Calling up the Dead Astarte.
"Shadow! \ or spir\-ĭt!
Whatev\-er thou art,
Which still \ doth inher\-ĭt
The whole \ or a part
Of the form \ of thy birth,
Of the mould \ of thy clay,
Which return'd \ to the earth,
Re-appear \ to the day!
Bear what \ thou bor\-ĕst,
The heart \ and the form,
And the as\-pect thou wor\-ĕst
Redeem \ from the worm!
Appear!—Appear!—Appear!"
LORD BYRON: Manfred, Act ii, Sc. 4.
Example VI.—Anapestic Dimeter with Trimeter.
FIRST VOICE.
"Make room \ for the com\-bat, make room;
Sound the trum\-pet and drum;
A fair\-er than Ve\-nus prepares
To encoun\-ter a great\-er than Mars.
Make room \ for the com\-bat, make room;
Sound the trum\-pet and drum."
SECOND VOICE.
"Give the word \ to begin,
Let the com\-batants in,
The chal\-lenger en\-ters all glo \ rĭoŭs;
But Love \ has decreed,
Though Beau\-ty may bleed,
Yet Beau\-ty shall still \ be victo\-rĭoŭs."
GEORGE GRANVILLE: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. v, p. 58.
Example VII.—Anapestic Dimeter with Tetrameter.
AIR.
"Let the pipe's \ merry notes \ aid the skill \ of the voice;
For our wish\-es are crown'd, \ and our hearts \ shall rejoice.
Rejoice, \ and be glad;
For, sure, \ he is mad,
Who, where mirth, \ and good hum\-mour, and har\-mony's found,
Never catch\-es the smile, \ nor lets pleas\-ure go round.
Let the stu\-pid be grave,
'Tis the vice \ of the slave;
But can nev\-er agree
With a maid\-en like me,
Who is born \ in a coun\-try that's hap\-py and free."
LLOYD: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. viii, p, 178.
MEASURE IV.—ANAPESTIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
[edit]This measure is rarely if ever used except in connexion with longer lines. The following example has six anapestics of two feet, and two of one; but the latter, being verses of double rhyme, have each a surplus short syllable; and four of the former commence with the iambus:
Example I.—A Song in a Drama.
"Now, mor\-tal, prepare,
For thy fate \ is at hand;
Now, mor\-tal, prepare,
Ănd sŭrrēn\-dĕr.
For Love \ shall arise,
Whom no pow'r \ can withstand,
Who rules \ from the skies
Tŏ thĕ cēn\-trĕ."
GRANVILLE, VISCOUNT LANSDOWNE: Joh. Brit. Poets, Vol. v, p. 49.
The following extract, (which is most properly to be scanned as anapestic, though considerably diversified,) has two lines, each of which is pretty evidently composed of a single anapest:
Example II.—A Chorus in the Same.
"Let trum\-pets and tym\-băls,
Let ată \—bals and cym\-băls,
Let drums \ and let haut\-boys give o\-vĕr;
Bŭt lĕt flūtes,
And lĕt lūtes
Our pas\-sions excite
To gent\-ler delight,
And ev\-ery Mars \ be a lov\-ĕr."
Ib., p. 56.
OBSERVATIONS.
- That a single anapest, a single foot of any kind, or even a single long syllable, may be, and sometimes is, in certain rather uncommon instances, set as a line, is not to be denied. "Dr. Caustic," or T. G. Fessenden, in his satirical "Directions for Doing Poetry," uses in this manner the monosyllables, "Whew," "Say," and "Dress" and also the iambs, "The gay" and, "All such," rhyming them with something less isolated.
- Many of our grammarians give anonymous examples of what they conceive to be "Anapestic Monometer," or "the line of one anapest," while others—(as Allen, Bullions, Churchill, and Hiley—) will have the length of two anapests to be the shortest measure of this order. Prof. Hart says, "The shortest anapæstic verse is a single anapæst; as,
'Ĭn ā swēet
Rĕsŏnānce,
Ăll thĕir fēet
Ĭn thē dānce
ĂAll thē nīght
Tĭnklĕd līght.'This measure," it is added, "is, however, ambiguous; for by laying an accent on the first, as well as the third syllable, we may generally make it a trochaic."—Hart's English Gram., p. 188. The same six versicles are used as an example by Prof. Fowler, who, without admitting any ambiguity in the measure, introduces them, rather solecistically, thus: "Each of the following lines consist of a single Anapest."—Fowler's E. Gram., 8vo, 1850, §694.
- Verses of three syllables, with the second short, the last long, and the first common, or variable, are, it would seem, doubly doubtful in scansion; for, while the first syllable, if made short, gives us an anapest, to make it long, gives either an amphimac or what is virtually two trochees. For reasons of choice in the latter case, see Observation 1st on Trochaic Dimeter. For the fixing of variable quantities, since the case admits no other rule, regard should be had to the analogy of the verse, and also to the common principles of accentuation. It is doubtless possible to read the six short lines above, into the measure of so many anapests; but, since the two monosyllables "In" and "All" are as easily made long as short, whoever considers the common pronunciation of the longer words, "Resonance" and "Tinkled," may well doubt whether the learned professors have, in this instance, hit upon the right mode of scansion. The example may quite as well be regarded either as Trochaic Dimeter, cataletic, or as Amphimacric Monometer, acatalectic. But the word resonance, being accented usually on the first syllable only, is naturally a dactyl; and, since the other five little verses end severally with a monosyllable, which can be varied in quantity, it is possible to read them all as being dactylics; and so the whole may be regarded as trebly doubtful with respect to the measure.
- L. Murray says, "The shortest anapæstic verse must be a single anapæst; as,
Bŭt ĭn vāin
They complain."And then he adds, "This measure is, however, ambiguous; for, by laying the stress of the voice on the first and third syllables, we might make a trochaic. And therefore the first and simplest form of our genuine Anapæstic verse, is made up of two anapæsts."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 257; 12mo, p. 207. This conclusion is utterly absurd, as well as completely contradictory to his first assertion. The genuineness of this small metre depends not at all on what may be made of the same words by other pronunciation; nor can it be a very natural reading of this passage, that gives to "But" and "They" such emphasis as will make them long.
- Yet Chandler, in his improved grammar of 1847, has not failed to repeat the substance of all this absurdity and self-contradiction, carefully dressing it up in other language, thus: "Verses composed of single Anapæsts are frequently found in stanzas of songs; and the same is true of several of the other kinds of feet; but we may consider the first [i.e., shortest] form of anapæstic verse as consisting of two Anapæsts."—Chandler's Common School Gram., p. 196.
- Everett, speaking of anapestic lines, says, "The first and shortest of these is composed of a single Anapest following an Iambus."—English Versification, p. 99. This not only denies the existence of Anapestic Monometer, but improperly takes for the Anapestic verse what is, by the statement itself, half Iambic, and therefore of the Composite Order. But the false assertion is plainly refuted even by the author himself and on the same page. For, at the bottom of the page, he has this contradictory note: "It has been remarked (§15) that though the Iambus with an additional short syllable
is the shortest line that is known to Iambic verse, there are isolated instances of a single Iambus, and even of a single long syllable. There are examples of lines made up of a single Anapest, as the following example will show:
'Jove in his chair,
Of the sky lord mayor,
With his nods
Men and gods
Keeps in awe;
When he winks,
Heaven shrinks;
* * * *Cock of the school,
He bears despotic rule;
His word,
Though absurd,
Must be law.
Even Fate,
Though so great,
Must not prate;His bald pate
Jove would cuff,
He's so bluff,
For a straw.
Cowed deities,
Like mice in cheese,
To stir must cease
Or gnaw.'O'HARA:—Midas, Act i, Sc. 1."—Everett's Versification, p. 99
ORDER IV.—DACTYLIC VERSE.
[edit]In pure Dactylic verse, the stress is laid on the first syllable of each successive three; that is, on the first, the fourth, the seventh, and the tenth syllable of each line of four feet. Full dactylic generally forms triple rhyme. When one of the final short syllables is omitted, the rhyme is double; when both, single. These omissions are here essential to the formation of such rhymes. Dactylic with double rhyme, ends virtually with a trochee; dactylic with single rhyme, commonly ends with a cæsura; that is, with a long syllable taken for a foot. Dactylic with single rhyme is the same as anapestic would be without its initial short syllables. Dactylic verse is rather uncommon; and, when employed, is seldom perfectly pure and regular.
MEASURE I.—DACTYLIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.
[edit]Example : Nimrod.
Nimrod the \ hunter was \ mighty in \ hunting, and \ famed as the \ ruler of \ cities of \ yore;
Babel, and \ Erech, and \ Accad, and \ Calneh, from \ Shinar's fair \ region his \ name afar \ bore.
MEASURE II.—DACTYLIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.
[edit]Example : Christ's Kingdom.
Out of the \ kingdom of \ Christ shall be \ gathered, by \ angels o'er \ Satan vic\-torious,
All that of\-fendeth, that \ lieth, that \ faileth to \ honour his \ name ever \ glorious.
MEASURE III.—DACTYLIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.
[edit]Example I : Time in Motion.
Time, thou art \ ever in \ motion, on \ wheels of the \ days, years, and \ ages;
Restless as \ waves of the \ ocean, when \ Eurus or \ Boreas \ rages.
Example II : Where, is Grand-Pré?
"This is the \ forest pri\-meval; but \ where are the \ hearts that be\-neath it
Leap'd like the \ roe, when he \ hears in the \ woodland the \ voice of the \ huntsman?
Where is the \ thatch-rooféd \ village, the \ home of A\-cadian \ farmers?"
H. W. Longfellow: Evangeline, Part i, l. 7–9.
MEASURE IV.—DACTYLIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER.
[edit]Example : Salutation to America.
"Land of the \ beautiful, \ beautiful, \ land of the \ free,
Land of the \ negro-slave, \ negro-slave, \ land of the \ chivalry,
Often my \ heart had turned, \ heart had turned, \ longing to \ thee;
Often had \ mountain-side, \ mountain-side, \ broad lake, and \ stream,
Gleamed on my \ waking thought, \ waking thought, \ crowded my \ dream.
Now thou dost \ welcome me, \ welcome me, \ from the dark \ sea,
Land of the \ beautiful, \ beautiful, \ land of the \ free,
Land of the \ negro-slave, \ negro-slave, \ land of the \ chivalry."
MEASURE V.—DACTYLIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.
[edit]Example 1—The Soldier's Wife.
"Weary way\-wanderer, \ languid and \ sick at heart,
Travelling \ painfully \ over the \ rugged road,
Wild-visaged \ Wanderer! \ God help thee, \ wretched one!
Sorely thy \ little one \ drags by thee \ barefooted;
Cold is the \ baby that \ hangs at thy \ bending back,
Meagre, and \ livid, and \ screaming for \ misery.
Woe-begone \ mother, half \ anger, half \ agony,
Over thy \ shoulder thou \ lookest to \ hush the babe,
Bleakly the \ blinding snow \ beats in thy \ haggard face.
Ne'er will thy \ husband re\-turn from the \ war again,
Cold is thy \ heart, and as \ frozen as \ Charity!
Cold are thy \ children.—Now \ God be thy \ comforter!"
ROBERT SOUTHEY: Poems, Philad., 1843, p. 250.
Example II.—Boys.—A Dactylic Stanza.
"Boys will an\-ticipate, \ lavish, and \ dissipate
All that your \ busy pate \ hoarded with \ care;
And, in their \ foolishness, \ passion, and \ mulishness,
Charge you with \ churlishness, \ spurning your pray'r."
Example III—"Labour."—The First of Five Stanzas.
"Pause not to \ dream of the \ future be\-fore us;
Pause not to \ weep the wild \ cares that come \ o'er us:
Hark, how Cre\-ation's deep, \ musical \ chorus,
Uninter\-mitting, goes \ up into \ Heaven!
Never the \ ocean-wave \ falters in \ flowing;
Never the \ little seed \ stops in its \ growing;
More and more \ richly the \ rose-heart keeps \ glowing,
Till from its \ nourishing \ stem it is \ riven."
FRANCES S. OSGOOD: Clapp's Pioneer, p. 94.
Example IV : "Boat Song."—First Stanza of Four.
"Hail to the \ chief who in \ triumph ad\-vances!
Honour'd and \ bless'd be the \ ever-green \ pine!
Long may the \ tree in his \ banner that \ glances,
Flourish, the \ shelter and \ grace of our \ line!
Heaven send it happy dew,
Earth lend it sap anew,
Gayly to \ bourgeon, and \ broadly to \ grow,
While ev'ry \ Highland glen
Sends our shout \ back agen,
'Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! ieroe!'"
WALTER SCOTT: Lady of the Lake, C. ii, St. 19.
MEASURE VI.—DACTYLIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
[edit]Example : To the Katydid.
"Ka-ty-did, \ Ka-ty-did, \ sweetly sing,—
Sing to thy \ loving mates \ near to thee;
Summer is \ come, and the \ trees are green,—
Summer's glad \ season so \ dear to thee.
Cheerily, \ cheerily, \ insect, sing;
Blithe be thy \ notes in the \ hickory;
Every \ bough shall an \ answer ring,
Sweeter than \ trumpet of \ victory."
MEASURE VII.—DACTYLIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
[edit]Example I.—The Bachelor.—Four Lines from Many.
"Free from sa\-tiety,
Care, and anx\-iety,
Charms in va\-riety,
Fall to his \ share."—ANON.: Newspaper.
Example II : The Pibroch.—Sixteen Lines from Forty.
"Pibroch of \ Donuil Dhu,
Pibroch of \ Donuil,
Wake thy wild \ voice anew.
Summon Clan\-Conuil.
Come away, \ come away!
Hark to the \ summons!
Come in your \ war-array,
Gentles and \ commons!
"Come as the \ winds come, when
Forests are \ rended;
Come as the \ waves come, when
Navies are \ stranded;
Faster come, \ faster come,
Faster and \ faster!
Chief, vassal, \ page, and groom,
Tenant and \ master."—W. SCOTT.
Example III : "My Boy."
‘There is even a happiness that makes the heart afraid.’—HOOD.
1.
"One more new \ claimant for
Human fra\-ternity,
Swelling the \ flood that sweeps
On to e\-ternity;
I who have \ filled the cup,
Tremble to \ think of it;
For, be it \ what it may,
I must yet \ drink of it.
2.
Room for him \ into the
Ranks of hu\-manity;
Give him a \ place in your
Kingdom of \ vanity!
Welcome the \ stranger with
Kindly af\-fection;
Hopefully, \ trustfully,
Not with de\-jection.
3.
See, in his \ waywardness
How his fist \ doubles;
Thus pugi\-listical,
Daring life's \ troubles:
Strange that the \ neophyte
Enters ex\-istence
In such an \ attitude,
Feigning re\-sistance.
4.
Could he but \ have a glimpse
Into fu\-turity,
Well might he \ fight against
Farther ma\-turity;
Yet does it \ seem to me
As if his \ purity
Were against \ sinfulness
Ample se\-curity.
5.
Incompre\-hensible,
Budding im\-mortal,
Thrust all a\-mazedly
Under life's \ portal;
Born to a \ destiny
Clouded in \ mystery,
Wisdom it\-self cannot
Guess at its \ history.
6.
Something too \ much of this
Timon-like \ croaking;
See his face \ wrinkle now,
Laughter pro\-voking.
Now he cries \ lustily—
Bravo, my \ hearty one!
Lungs like an \ orator
Cheering his \ party on.
7.
Look how his \ merry eyes
Turn to me \ pleadingly!
Can we help \ loving him—
Loving ex\-ceedingly?
Partly with \ hopefulness,
Partly with \ fears,
Mine, as I \ look at him,
Moisten with \ tears.
8.
Now then to \ find a name;—
Where shall we \ search for it?
Turn to his \ ancestry,
Or to the \ church for it?
Shall we en\-dow him with
Title he\-roic,
After some \ warrior,
Poet, or \ stoic?
9.
One aunty \ says he will
Soon 'lisp in \ numbers,'
Turning his \ thoughts to rhyme,
E'en in his \ slumbers;
Watts rhymed in \ babyhood,
No blemish \ spots his fame—
Christen him \ even so:
Young Mr. \ Watts his name."
ANONYMOUS: Knickerbocker, and Newspapers, 1849.
MEASURE VIII.—DACTYLIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
[edit] "Fearfully,
Tearfully."
OBSERVATIONS.
- A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it. Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet, if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an amphimac, or amphimacer. Of this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the piece, may serve as a specimen:
"Far from the \ battle's shock,
Fate hath fast \ bound thee;
Chain'd to the \ rugged rock,
Waves warring \ round thee.[Now, for] the \ trumpet's sound,
Sea-birds are \ shrieking;
Hoarse on thy \ rampart's bound,
Billows are \ breaking." - This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and, perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line is varied to a different measure.
"ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK.""Bird of the \ wilderness,
Blithesome and \ cumberless,
Light be thy \ matin o'er \ moorland and \ lea;
Emblem of \ happiness,
Blest is thy \ dwelling-place;
O! to a\-bide in the \ desert with \ thee!"Wild is thy \ lay, and loud,
Far on the \ downy cloud;
Love gives it \ energy, \ love gave it \ birth:
Where, on thy \ dewy wing,
Where art thou \ journeying?
Thy lay \ is in heav\-en, thy love \ is on earth."O'er moor and \ mountain green,
O'er fell and \ fountain sheen,
O'er the red \ streamer that \ heralds the \ day;
Over the \ cloudlet dim,
Over the \ rainbow's rim,
Musical \ cherub, hie, \ hie thee a\-way."Then, when the \ gloamin comes,
Low in the \ heather blooms.
Sweet will thy \ welcome and \ bed of love \ be.
Emblem of \ happiness,
Blest is thy \ dwelling-place;
O! to a\-bide in the \ desert with \ thee!"
Help us to \ sigh and groan
Heavily, \ heavily.
Graves, yawn and \ yield your dead,
Till death be \ uttered
Heavily, \ heavily."—Much Ado, V, 3
"One more un\-fortunate,
Weary of \ breath,
Rashly im\-portunate,
Gone to her \ death!
Take her up \ tenderly,
Lift her with \ care;
Fashioned so \ slenderly,
Young, and so \ fair!
Clinging like \ cerements,
Whilst the wave \ constantly
Drips from her \ clothing;
Take her up \ instantly,
Loving, not \ loathing.
Think of her \ mournfully,
Gently, and \ humanly;
Not of the \ stains of her:
All that re\-mains of her
Now, is pure \ womanly.
Into her \ mutiny,
Rash and un\-dutifull;
Past all dis\-honour,
Death has left \ on her
Only the \ beautiful.
One of Eve's \ family,—
Wipe those poor \ lips of hers,
Oozing so \ clammily.
Loop up her \ tresses,
Escaped from the comb,—
Her fair auburn tresses;
Whilst wonderment guesses,
Where was her \ home?
Who was her \ mother?
Had she a \ sister?
Had she a \ brother?
Was there a \ dearer one
Yet, than all \ other?
Of Christian charity
Under the \ sun!
O, it was \ pitiful!
Near a whole \ city full,
Home she had \ none.
Fatherly, \ motherly,
Feelings had \ changed;
Love, by harsh \evidence,
Thrown from its \eminence
Even God's \ providence
Seeming e\-stranged.
So far in the river,
With many a light,
From window and casement,
From garret to basement,
She stood, with amazement,
Houseless, by \ night.
Made her tremble and shiver;
But not the dark arch,
Or the black-flowing river:
Mad from life's \ history,
Glad to death's \ mystery,
Swift to be \ hurled,—
Anywhere, \ anywhere,
Out of the \ world!
No matter how coldly
The rough \ river ran,—
Over the \ brink of it:
Picture it, \ think of it,
Dissolute \ man!"
Clapp's Pioneer, p. 54.
"Glad was our \ meeting: thy \ glittering \ bosom I \ heard,
Beating on \ mine, like the \ heart of a \ timorous \ bird;
Bright were thine \ eyes as the \ stars, and their \ glances were \ radiant as \ gleams
Falling from \ eyes of the \ angels, when \ singing by \ Eden's pur\-pureal \ streams.
Trembling with \ passionate \ thrills, when the \ twilight had \ flown:
Even the \ echo was \ silent: our \ kisses and \ whispers of \ love
Languish'd un\-heard and un\-known, like the \ breath of the \ blossoming \ buds of the \ grove.
Sin hath its \ sorrows, and \ sadly we \ turn'd from those \ bowers;
Bright were the \ angels be\-hind with their \ falchions of \ heavenly \ flame!
Dark was the \ desolate \ desert be\-fore us, and \ darker the \ depth of our \ shame!"
—HENRY B. HIRST: Hart's English Grammar, p. 190.
Rise we to higher, &c."—Gram., 12mo, p. 207; 8vo, p. 257.
Read this example with "we rise" for "Rise we," and all the poetry of it is gone! Humphrey says, "Dactyle verse is seldom used, as remarked heretofore; but is used occasionally, and has three metres; viz. of 2, 3, and 4 feet. Specimens follow. 2 feet. Free from anxiety. 3 feet. Singing most sweetly and merrily. 4 feet. Dactylic measures are wanting in energy."—English Prosody, p. 18. Here the prosodist has made his own examples; and the last one, which unjustly impeaches all dactylics, he has made very badly—very prosaically; for the word "Dactylic," though it has three syllables, is properly no dactyl, but rather an amphibrach.
'I'll rūsh ŏn thĕ fōe.' ADDISON."—Blair's Pract. Gram., p. 119.
'Whŏse flōcks nĕvĕr cārelĕsslў rōam;
'Shŏuld Cōrўdŏn's hāppĕn tŏ strāy,
'Oh! cāll thĕ pōor wāndĕrĕrs hōme.' SHENSTONE."—Ib., p. 120.
It is manifest, that these lines are not dactylic at all. There is not a dactyl in them. They are composed of iambs and anapests. The order of the versification is Anapestic; but it is here varied by the very common diversification of dropping the first short syllable. The longer example is from a ballad of 216 lines, of which 99 are thus varied, and 117 are full anapestics.
Cōme \ lēave ŏff yŏur \ jōkes,
And \ būy ŭp mў \ hālfpĕnce sŏ \ fīne;
Sŏ \ fāir ănd sŏ \ brīght,
Thĕy'll \ gīve yŏu dĕ\-līght:
Ob\-sērve hŏw thĕy \ glīstĕr ănd \ shīne. SWIFT.
Whĭch \ sērv'd hĭm fŏr \ kītchĕn, fŏr \ pārlŏur ănd \ hall;
Nŏ \ cōin ĭn hĭs \ pōckĕt, nŏ \ cāre ĭn hĭs \ pāte;
Nŏ ăm\-bītĭon hĕ \ hād, ănd nŏ \ dūns ăt hĭs \ gāte."
—Comp. Gram., p. 150.
To this, the author adds, "Dactylic measure becomes Anapestic by setting off an Iambic foot in the beginning of the line."—Ib. These verses, all but the last one, unquestionably have an iambic foot at the beginning; and, for that reason, they are not, and by no measurement can be, dactylics. The last one is purely anapestic. All the divisional bars, in either example, are placed wrong.
ORDER V.—COMPOSITE VERSE.
[edit]Composite verse is that which consists of various metres, or different feet, combined,—not accidentally, or promiscuously, but by design, and with some regularity. In Composite verse, of any form, the stress must be laid rhythmically, as in the simple orders, else the composition will be nothing better than unnatural prose. The possible variety of combinations in this sort of numbers is unlimited; but, the pure and simple kinds being generally preferred, any stated mixture of feet is comparatively uncommon. Certain forms which may be scanned by other methods, are susceptible also of division as Composites. Hence there cannot be an exact enumeration of the measures of this order, but instances, as they occur, may be cited to exemplify it.
Example I.—From Swift's Irish Feast.
"O'Rourk's \ noble fare \ will ne'er \ be forgot,
By those \ who were there, \ or those \ who were not.
His rev\-els to keep, \ we sup \ and we dine
On sev\-en score sheep, \ fat bul\-locks, and swine.
Usquebaugh \ to our feast \ in pails \ was brought up,
An hun\-dred at least, \ and a mad\-der our cup.
O there \ is the sport! \ we rise \ with the light,
In disor\-derly sort, \ from snor\-ing all night.
O how \ was I trick'd! \ my pipe \ it was broke,
My pock\-et was pick'd, \ I lost \ my new cloak.
I'm ri\-fled, quoth Nell, \ of man\-tle and kerch\-er:
Why then \ fare them well, \ the de'il \ take the search\-er."
Johnson's Works of the Poets, Vol. v, p. 310.
Here the measure is tetrameter; and it seems to have been the design of the poet, that each hemistich should consist of one iamb and one anapest. Such, with a few exceptions, is the arrangement throughout the piece; but the hemistichs which have double rhyme, may each be divided into two amphibrachs. In Everett's Versification, at p. 100, the first six lines of this example are broken into twelve, and set in three stanzas, being given to exemplify "The Line of a single Anapest preceded by an Iambus," or what he improperly calls "The first and shortest species of Anapestic lines." His other instance of the same metre is also Composite verse, rather than Anapestic, even by his own showing. "In the following example," says he, "we have this measure alternating with Amphibrachic lines:"
Example II.—From Byron's Manfred.
"The Captive Usurper,
Hurl'd down \ from the throne.
Lay buried in torpor,
Forgotten and lone;
I broke through his slumbers,
I shiv\-er'd his chain,
I leagued him with numbers—
He's Ty\-rant again!
With the blood \ of a mill\-ion he'll an\-swer my care,
With a na\-tion's destruc\-tion—his flight \ and despair."
—Act ii, Sc. 3.
Here the last two lines, which are not cited by Everett, are pure anapestic tetrameters; and it may be observed, that, if each two of the short lines were printed as one, the eight which are here scanned otherwise, would become four of the same sort, except that these would each begin with an iambus. Hence the specimen sounds essentially as anapestic verse.
Example III.—Woman on the Field of Battle.
"Gentle and \ lovely form,
What didst \ thou here,
When the fierce \ battle storm
Bore down \ the spear?
Banner and \ shiver'd crest,
Beside \ thee strown,
Tell that a\-midst the best
Thy work was done!
Low lies the \ stately head,
Earth-bound \ the free:
How gave those \ haughty dead
A place \ to thee?
Slumb'rer! thine \ early bier
Friends should \ have crown'd,
Many a \flow'r and tear
Shedding \ around.
Soft voices, \ dear and young,
Mingling \ their swell,
Should o'er thy \ dust have sung
Earth's last \ farewell.
Sisters a\-bove the grave
Of thy \ repose
Should have bid \ vi'lets wave
With the \ white rose.
Now must the \ trumpet's note.
Savage \ and shrill,
For requi'm \ o'er thee float,
Thou fair \ and still!
And the swift \ charger sweep,
In full \ career,
Trampling thy \ place of sleep—
Why cam'st \ thou here?
Why?—Ask the \ true heart why
Woman \ hath been
Ever, where \ brave men die,
Unshrink\-ing seen.
Unto this \ harvest ground,
Proud reap\-ers came,
Some for that \ stirring sound,
A warr\-ior's name:
Some for the \ stormy play,
And joy \ of strife,
And some to \ fling away
A wea\-ry life.
But thou, pale \ sleeper, thou,
With the \ slight frame,
And the rich \ locks, whose glow
Death can\-not tame;
Only one \ thought, one pow'r,
Thee could \ have led,
So through the \ tempest's hour
To lift \ thy head!
Only the \ true, the strong,
The love \ whose trust
Woman's deep \ soul too long
Pours on \ the dust."
Hemans: Poetical Works, Vol. ii, p. 157.
Here are fourteen stanzas of composite dimeter, each having two sorts of lines; the first sort consisting, with a few exceptions, of a dactyl and an amphimac; the second, mostly, of two iambs; but, in some instances, of a trochee and an iamb;—the latter being, in such a connexion, much the more harmonious and agreeable combination of quantities.
Example IV.—Airs from a "Serenata."
Air 1.
"Love sounds \ the alarm,
And fear \ is a-flyĭng;
When beau\-ty's the prize,
What mor\-tal fears dy\-ĭng?
In defence \ of my treas\-ŭre,
I'd bleed \ at each vein;
Without \ her no pleas\-ure;
For life \ is a pain."
Air 2.
"Consid\-er, fond shep\-hĕrd,
How fleet\-ing's the pleas\-ŭre,
That flat\-ters our hopes
In pursuit \ of the fair:
The joys \ that attend \ ĭt,
By mo\-ments we meas\-ŭre;
But life \ is too lit\-tle
To meas\-ure our care."
Gay's Poems: Johnson's Works of the Poets, VoL vii, p. 378.
These verses are essentially either anapestic or amphibrachic. The anapest divides two of them in the middle; the amphibrach will so divide eight. But either division will give many iambs. By the present scansion, the first foot is an iamb in all of them but the two anapestics.
Example V.—"The Last Leaf."
1.
"I saw \ him once \ before
As he pass\-ĕd by \ the door,
And again
The pave\-ment stones \ resound
As he tot\-ters o'er \ the ground
With his cane.
2.
They say \ that in \ his prime,
Ere the prun\-ing knife of Time
Cut him down,
Not a bet\-ter man \ was found
By the cri\-er on \ his round
Through the town.
3.
But now \ he walks \ the streets,
And he looks \ at all \ he meets
So forlorn;
And he shakes \ his fee\-ble head,
That it seems \ as if \ he said,
They are gone.
4.
The mos\-sy mar\-bles rest
On the lips \ that he \ has press'd
In their bloom;
And the names \ he lov'd \ to hear
Have been carv'd \ for man\-y a year
On the tomb.
5.
My grand\-mamma \ has said,—
Poor old La\-dy! she \ is dead
Long ago,—
That he had \ a Ro\-man nose,
And his cheek \ was like \ a rose
In the snow.
6.
But now \ his nose \ is thin,
And it rests \ upon \ his chin
Like a staff;
And a crook \ is in \ his back
And a mel\-anchol\-y crack
In his laugh.
7.
I know \ it is \ a sin
For me [thus] \ to sit \ and grin
At him here;
But the old \ three-cor\-ner'd hat,
And the breech\-es, and \ all that,
Are so queer!
8.
And if I \ should live \ to be
The last leaf \ upon \ the tree
In the spring,—
Let them smile, \ as I \ do now,
At the old \ forsak\-en bough
Where I cling."
Oliver W. Holmes: The Pioneer, 1843, p. 108.
OBSERVATIONS.
- Composite verse, especially if the lines be short, is peculiarly liable to uncertainty, and diversity of scansion; and that which does not always abide by one chosen order of quantities, can scarcely be found agreeable; it must be more apt to puzzle than to please the reader. The eight stanzas of this last example, have eight lines of iambic trimeter; and, since seven times in eight, this metre holds the first place in the stanza, it is a double fault, that one such line seems strayed from its proper position. It would be better to prefix the word Now to the fourth line, and to mend the forty-third thus:
"And should \ I live \ to be"—
The trissyllabic feet of this piece, as I scan it, are numerous; being the sixteen short lines of monometer, and the twenty-four initial feet of the lines of seven syllables. Every one of the forty—(except the thirty-sixth, "The last leaf"—) begins with a monosyllable which may be varied in quantity; so that, with stress laid on this monosyllable, the foot becomes an amphimac; without such stress, an anapest.
- I incline to read this piece as composed of iambs and anapests; but E. A. Poe, who has commended "the effective harmony of these lines," and called the example "an excellently well conceived and well managed specimen of versification," counts many syllables long, which such a reading makes short, and he also divides all but the iambics in a way quite different from mine, thus: "Let us scan the first stanza.
'I sāw \ hĭm ōnce \ bĕfōre
As hĕ \ pāssĕd \ bȳ thĕ \ dōor,
And ă-\gāinThĕ pāve-\mĕnt stōnes \ rĕsōund
As hĕ \ tōttĕrs \ ō'er thĕ \ grōund
Wīth hĭs cāne.'This," says he, "is the general scansion of the poem. We have first three iambuses. The second line shifts the rhythm into the trochaic, giving us three trochees, with a cæsura equivalent, in this case, to a trochee. The third line is a trochee and equivalent cæsura."—POE'S NOTES UPON ENGLISH VERSE: Pioneer, p. 109. These quantities are the same as those by which the whole piece is made to consist of iambs and amphimacs.
- In its rhythmical effect upon the ear, a supernumerary short syllable at the end of a line, may sometimes, perhaps, compensate for the want of such a syllable at the beginning of the next line, as may be seen in the fourth example above; but still it is unusual, and seems improper, to suppose such syllables to belong to the scansion of the subsequent line; for the division of lines, with their harmonic pauses, is greater than the division of feet, and implies that no foot can ever actually be split by it. Poe has suggested that the division into lines may be disregarded in scanning, and sometimes must be. He cites for an example the beginning of Byron's "Bride of Abydos,"—a passage which has been admired for its easy flow, and which, he says, has greatly puzzled those who have attempted to scan it. Regarding it as essentially anapestic tetrameter, yet as having some initial iambs, and the first and fifth lines dactylic, I shall here divide it accordingly, thus:
"Knōw yĕ thĕ \ lānd whĕre thĕ \ cȳprĕss ănd \ mȳrtlĕ
Arĕ ēm\-blĕms ŏf dēeds \ thăt ăre dōne \ ĭn thĕir clīme—
Where the rage \ of the vul\-ture, the love \ of the tur\-tle,
Now melt \ into soft\-ness, now mad\-den to crime?
Know ye the \ land of the \ cedar and \ vine.
Where the flow'rs \ ever blos\-som, the beams \ ever shine,
And the light \ wings of Zeph\-yr, oppress'd \ with perfume,
Wax faint \ o'er the gar\-dens of Gul \ in her bloom?
Where the cit\-ron and ol\-ive are fair\-est of fruit,
And the voice \ of the night\-ingale nev\-er is mute?
Where the vir\-gins are soft as the ros\-es they twine,
And all, \ save the spir\-it of man, \ is divine?
'Tis the land \ of the East- \ 't is the clime \ of the Sun—
Can he smile \ on such deeds \ as his chil\-dren have done?
Oh, wild \ as the ac\-cents of lov\-ers' farewell,
Are the hearts \ that they bear, \ and the tales \ that they tell." - These lines this ingenious prosodist divides not thus, but, throwing them together like prose unpunctuated, finds in them "a regular succession of dactylic rhythms, varied only at three points by equivalent spondees, and separated into two distinct divisions by equivalent terminating cæsuras." He imagines that, "By all who have ears—not over long—this will be acknowledged as the true and the sole true scansion."—E. A. Poe: Pioneer, p. 107. So it may, for aught I know; but, having dared to show there is an other way quite as simple and plain, and less objectionable, I submit both to the judgement of the reader:
"Knōw yĕ thĕ \ lānd whĕre thĕ \ cȳprĕss ănd \ mȳrtlĕ ăre \ ēmblĕms ŏf \ dēeds thăt ăre \ dōne ĭn thĕir \ clīme whĕre thĕ \ rāge ŏf thĕ \ vūltŭre thĕ \ lōve ŏf thĕ \ tūrtlĕ nŏw \ mēlt ĭntŏ \ sōftnĕss nŏw \ maddĕn tŏ \ crime. Knōw yĕ thĕ \ lānd ŏf thĕ \ cēdăr ănd \ vīne whĕre thĕ \ flōw'rs ĕvĕr \ blōssŏm thĕ \ bēams ĕvĕr \ shīne whĕre thē \ līght wĭngs ōf \ zēphȳr ŏp\-prēss'd wĭth pĕr\-fūme wāx \ fāint ŏ'er thĕ \ gārdĕns ŏf \ Gūl ĭn hĕr \ blōom whĕre thĕ \ cītrŏn ănd \ ōlĭve ăre \ fāirĕst ŏf \ frūit ănd thĕ \ vōice ŏf thĕ \ nīghtĭngăle \ nēvĕr ĭs \ mūte whĕre thĕ \ vīrgĭns ăre \ sōft ăs thĕ \ rōsĕs thĕy \ twīne ānd \ āll săve thĕ \ spīrĭt ŏf \ mān ĭs dĭ-\vīne 'tĭs thĕ \ lānd ŏf thĕ \ Eāst 'tĭs thĕ \ clīmĕ ŏf thĕ \ Sūn căn hĕ \ smīle ŏn sŭch \ dēeds ăs hĭs \ chīldrĕn hăve \ dŏne ōh wīld ăs thĕ \ āccĕnts ŏf \ lōvĕrs' făre-\wēll ăre thĕ \ hēarts thăt thĕy \ beār and thĕ \ tāles thăt thĕy \ tēll."—Ib.
- In the sum and proportion of their quantities, the anapest, the dactyl, and the amphibrach, are equal, each having two syllables short to one long; and, with two short quantities between two long ones, lines may be tolerably accordant in rhythm, though the order, at the commencement, be varied, and their number of syllables be not equal. Of the following sixteen lines, nine are pure anapestic tetrameters; one may be reckoned dactylic, but it may quite as well be said to have a trochee, an iambus, and two anapests or two amphimacs; one is a spondee and three anapests; and the rest may be scanned as amphibrachics ending with an iambus, but are more properly anapestics commencing with an iambus. Like the preceding example from Byron, they lack the uniformity of proper composites, and are rather to be regarded as anapestics irregularly diversified.
THE ALBATROSS.
"'Tis said the Albatross never rests."—Buffon.
"Whĕre thĕ fāth\-ŏmlĕss wāves \ in magnif\-icence toss,
Hōmelĕss \ ănd hīgh \ soars the wild \ Albatross;
Unwea\-ried, undaunt\-ed, unshrink\-ing, alone,
The o\-cean his em\-pire, the tem\-pest his throne.
When the ter\-rible whirl\-wind raves wild \ o'er the surge,
And the hur\-ricane howls \ out the mar\-iner's dirge,
In thy glo\-ry thou spurn\-est the dark\-heaving sea,
Prōud bīrd \ of the o\-cean-world, home\-less and free.
When the winds \ are at rest, \ and the sun \ in his glow,
And the glit\-tering tide \ sleeps in beau\-ty below,
In the pride \ of thy pow\-er trium\-phant above,
With thy mate \ thou art hold\-ing thy rev\-els of love.
Untir\-ed, unfet\-tered, unwatched, \ unconfined,
Be my spir\-it like thee, \ in the world \ of the mind;
No lean\-ing for earth, \ e'er to wea\-ry its flight,
And fresh \ as thy pin\-ions in re\-gions of light."
Samuel Daly Langtree: North American Reader, p. 443. - It appears that the most noted measures of the Greek and Latin poets were not of any simple order, but either composites, or mixtures too various to be called composites. It is not to be denied, that we have much difficulty in reading them rhythmically, according to their stated feet and scansion; and so we should have, in reading our own language rhythmically, in any similar succession of feet. Noticing this in respect to the Latin Hexameter, or Heroic verse, Poe says, "Now the discrepancy in question is not observable in English metres; where the scansion coincides with the reading, so far as the rhythm is concerned—that is to say, if we pay no attention to the sense of the passage. But these facts indicate a radical difference in the genius of the two languages, as regards their capacity for modulation. In truth, * * * the Latin is a far more stately tongue than our own. It is essentially spondaic; the English is as essentially dactylic."—Pioneer, p. 110. (See the marginal note in §3d. at Obs. 22d, above.) Notwithstanding this difference, discrepance, or difficulty, whatever it may be, some of our poets have, in a few instances, attempted imitations of certain Latin metres; which imitations it may be proper briefly to notice under the present head. The Greek or Latin Hexameter line has, of course, six feet, or pulsations. According to the Prosodies, the first four of these may be either dactyls or spondees; the fifth is always, or nearly always, a dactyl; and the sixth, or last, is always a spondee: as,
"Lūdĕrĕ \ quǣ vēl\-lēm călă\-mō pēr\-mīsĭt ă\-grēstī."—Virg.
"Infān-\dūm, Rē\-gīnă, jŭ\-bēs rĕnŏ\-vārĕ dŏ\-lōrēm."—Id.
Of this sort of verse, in English, somebody has framed the following very fair example:
"Mān ĭs ă \ cōmplēx, \ cōmpōund \ cōmpōst, \ yēt ĭs hĕ \ Gōd-bōrn."
- Of this species of versification, which may be called Mixed or Composite Hexameter, the most considerable specimen that I have seen in English, is Longfellow's Evangeline, a poem of one thousand three hundred and eighty-two of these long lines, or verses. This work has found admirers, and not a few; for, of these, nothing written by so distinguished a scholar could fail: but, surely, not many of the verses in question exhibit truly the feet of the ancient Hexameters; or, if they do, the ancients contented themselves with very imperfect rhythms, even in their noblest heroics. In short, I incline to the opinion of Poe, that, "Nothing less than the deservedly high reputation of Professor Longfellow, could have sufficed to give currency to his lines as to Greek Hexameters. In general, they are neither one thing nor another. Some few of them are dactylic verses—English dactylics. But do away with the division into lines, and the most astute critic would never have suspected them of any thing more than prose."—Pioneer, p. 111. The following are the last ten lines of the volume, with such a division into feet as the poet is presumed to have contemplated:
"Still stands the \ forest pri\-meval; but \ under the \ shade of its \ branches
Dwells an\-other \ race, with \ other \ customs and \ language.
Only a\-long the \ shore of the \ mournful and \ misty At\-lantic
Linger a \ few A\-cadian \ peasants, whose \ fathers from \ exile
Wandered \ back to their \ native \ land to \ die in its \ bosom.
In the \ fisherman's \ cot the \ wheel and the \ loom are still \ busy;
Maidens still \ wear their \ Norman \ caps and their \ kirtles of \ homespun,
And by the \ evening \ fire re\-peat E\-vangeline's story,
While from its \ rocky \ caverns the \ deep-voiced, \ neighbouring \ ocean
Speaks, and in \ accents dis\-consolate \ answers the \ wail of the \ forest."
Henry W. Longfellow: Evangeline, p. 162. - An other form of verse, common to the Greeks and Romans, which has sometimes been imitated—or, rather, which some writers have attempted to imitate—in English, is the line or stanza called Sapphic, from the inventress, Sappho, a Greek poetess. The Sapphic verse, according to Fabricius, Smetius, and all good authorities, has eleven syllables, making "five feet—the first a trochee, the second a spondee, the third a dactyl, and the fourth and fifth trochees." The Sapphic stanza, or what is sometimes so called, consists of three Sapphic lines and an Adonian, or Adonic,—this last being a short line composed of "a dactyl and a spondee." Example from Horace:
"Īntĕ\-gēr vī\-tæ, scĕlĕ\-rīsquĕ \ pūrŭs
Non e\-get Mau\-ri jacu\-lis ne\-qu' arcu,
Nec ven\-ena\-tis gravi\-dâ sa\-gittis,
Fusce, pha\-retra." - To arrange eleven syllables in a line, and have half or more of them to form trochees, is no difficult matter; but, to find rhythm in the succession of "a trochee, a spondee, and a dactyl," as we read words, seems hardly practicable. Hence few are the English Sapphics, if there be any, which abide by the foregoing formule of quantities and feet. Those which I have seen, are generally, if not in every instance, susceptible of a more natural scansion as being composed of trochees, with a dactyl, or some other foot of three syllables, at the beginning of each line. The cæsural pause falls sometimes after the fourth syllable, but more generally, and much more agreeably, after the fifth. Let the reader inspect the following example, and see if he do not agree with me in laying the accent on only the first syllable of each foot, as the feet are here divided. The accent, too, must be carefully laid. Without considerable care in the reading, the hearer will not suppose the composition to be any thing but prose:
"The Widow."—(In "Sapphics.")
"Cold was the \ night-wind, \ drifting \ fast the \ snow fell,
Wide were the \ downs, and \ shelter\-less and \ naked,
When a poor \ Wanderer \ struggled \ on her \ journey,
Weary and \ way-sore.Drear were the \ downs, more \ dreary \ her re\-flections;
Cold was the \ night-wind, \ colder \ was her \ bosom;
She had no \ home, the \ world was \ all be\-fore her;
She had no \ shelter.Fast o'er the \ heath a \ chariot \ rattlee \ by her;
'Pity me!' \ feebly \ cried the \ lonely \ wanderer;
'Pity me, \ strangers! \ lest, with \ cold and \ hunger,
Here I should \ perish.'Once I had \ friends,—though \ now by \ all for\-saken!
'Once I had \ parents, \ —they are \ now in \ heaven!
'I had a \ home once, \ —I had \ once a \ husband—
Pity me, \ strangers!'I had a \ home once, \ —I had \ once a \ husband—
'I am a \ widow, \ poor and \ broken\-hearted!'
Loud blew the \ wind; un\-heard was \ her com\-plaining;
On drove the \ chariot.Then on the \ snow she \ laid her \ down to \ rest her;
She heard a \ horseman; \ 'Pity \ me!' she \ groan'd out;
Loud was the \ wind; un\-heard was \ her com\-plaining;
On went the \ horseman.Worn out with \ anguish, \ toil, and \ cold, and \ hunger,
Down sunk the \ Wanderer; \ sleep had \ seized her \ senses;
There did the \ traveller \ find her \ in the \ morning;
God had re\-leased her."
Robert Southey: Poems, Philad., 1843, p. 251. - Among the lyric poems of Dr. Watts, is one, entitled, "THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT; an Ode attempted in English Sapphic." It is perhaps as good an example as we have of the species. It consists of nine stanzas, of which I shall here cite the first three, dividing them into feet as above:
"When the fierce \ North Wind, \ with his \ airy \ forces,
Rears up the \ Baltic \ to a \ foaming \ fury;
And the red \ lightning \ with a \ storm of \ hail comes
Rushing a\-main down;How the poor \ sailors \ stand a\-maz'd and \ tremble!
While the hoarse \ thunder, \ like a bloody \ trumpet,
Roars a loud \ onset \ to the \ gaping \ waters,
Quick to de\-vour them.Such shall the \ noise be, \ and the \ wild dis\-order,
(If things e\-ternal \ may be \ like these \ earthly,)
Such the dire \ terror, \ when the \ great Arch\-angel
Shakes the cre\-ation."—Horæ Lyricæ, p. 67. - "These lines," says Humphrey, who had cited the first four, "are good English Sapphics, and contain the essential traits of the original as nearly as the two languages, Greek and English, correspond to each other. This stanza, together with the poem, from which this was taken, may stand for a model, in our English compositions."—Humphrey's E. Prosody, p. 19. This author erroneously supposed, that the trissyllabic foot, in any line of the Sapphic stanza, must occupy the second place: and, judging of the ancient feet and quantities by what he found, or supposed he found, in the English imitations, and not by what the ancient prosodists say of them, yet knowing that the ancient and the modern Sapphics are in several respects unlike, he presented forms of scansion for both, which are not only peculiar to himself, but not well adapted to either. "We have," says he, "no established rule for this kind of verse, in our English compositions, which has been uniformly adhered to. The rule for which, in Greek and Latin verse, as far as I can ascertain, was this: ¯ ˘ \ ¯ ¯ ¯ \ ˘ ˘ \ ¯ ˘ \ ¯ ¯ a trochee, a moloss, a pyrrhic, a trochee, and [a] spondee; and sometimes, occasionally, a trochee, instead of a spondee, at the end. But as our language is not favourable to the use of the spondee and moloss, the moloss is seldom or never used in our English Sapphics; but, instead of which, some other trissyllable foot is used. Also, instead of the spondee, a trochee is commonly used; and sometimes a trochee instead of the pyrrhic, in the third place. As some prescribed rule, or model for imitation, may be necessary, in this case, I will cite a stanza from one of our best English poets, which may serve for a model.
'Whēn thĕ \ fiērce nōrth-wĭnd, \ wĭth hĭs \ āirў \ fōrcĕs [,]
Rēars ŭp \ thĕ Bāltĭc \ tŏ ă \ fōamĭng \ fūrў;
And thĕ \ rēd līghtnĭng \ wĭth ă \ stōrm ŏf \ hāil cŏmes
Rūshĭng \ ămāin dōwn.'—Watts."—Ib., p. 19. - In "the Works of George Canning," a small book published in 1829, there is a poetical dialogue of nine stanzas, entitled, "The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder," said to be "a burlesque on Mr. Southey's Sapphics." The metre appears to be near enough like to the foregoing. But these verses I divide, as I have divided the others, into trochees with initial dactyls. At the commencement, the luckier party salutes the other thus:
"'Needy knife\-grinder! \ whither \ are you \ going?
Rough is the \ road, your \ wheel is \ out of \ order—
Bleak blows the \ blast;—your \ hat has \ got a \ hole in't,
So have your \ breeches!'Weary knife\-grinder! \ little \ think the \ proud ones
Who in their \ coaches \ roll a\-long the \ turnpike—
Road, what hard \ work 'tis, \ crying \ all day, \ 'Knives and
Scissors to \ grind O!'"—P. 44. - Among the humorous poems of Thomas Green Fessenden, published under the sobriquet of Dr. Caustic, or "Christopher Caustic, M. D.," may be seen an other comical example of Sapphics, which extends to eleven stanzas. It describes a contra-dance, and is entitled, "Horace Surpassed." The conclusion is as follows:
"Willy Wagnimble dancing with Flirtilla,
Almost as light as air-balloon inflated,
Rigadoons around her, 'till the lady's heart is
Forced to surrender.Benny Bamboozle cuts the drollest capers,
Just like a camel, or a hippopot'mus;
Jolly Jack Jumble makes as big a rout as
Forty Dutch horses.See Angelina lead the mazy dance down;
Never did fairy trip it so fantastic;
How my heart flutters, while my tongue pronounces,
'Sweet little seraph!'Such are the joys that flow from contra-dancing,
Pure as the primal happiness of Eden,
Love, mirth, and music, kindle in accordance
Raptures extatic."—Poems, p. 208.
SECTION V.—ORAL EXERCISES.
[edit]IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE.
LESSON I.—RESTORE THE RHYTHM.
"The lion is laid down in his lair."—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 134.
[Formule.—Not proper, because the word "lion," here put for Cowper's word "beast" destroys the metre, and changes the line to prose. But, according to the definition given on p. 827, "Verse, in opposition to prose, is language arranged into metrical lines of some determinate length and rhythm—language so ordered as to produce harmony by a due succession of poetic feet." This line was composed of one iamb and two anapests; and, to such form, it should be restored, thus: "The beast is laid down in his lair."—Cowper's Poems, Vol. i, p. 201.]
—Hallock's Gram., 1842, p. 66.
"Canst thou grow sad, thou sayest, as earth grows bright?"
—Frazee's Gram., 1845, p. 140.
"It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well."
—Wells's Gram., 1846, p. 122.
"Slow rises merit, when by poverty depressed."
—Ib., p. 195; Hiley, 132; Hart, 179.
"Rapt in future times, the bard begun."
—Wells's Gram., 1846, p. 153.
"Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow? Whereunto serves mercy,
But to confront the visage of offence!"
—Hallock's Gram., 1842, p. 118.
"Look! in this place ran Cassius's dagger through."
—Kames, El. of Cr., Vol. i, p. 74.
"----When they list their lean and flashy songs,
Harsh grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."
—Jamieson's Rhet., p. 135.
"Did not great Julius bleed for justice's sake?"
—Dodd's Beauties of Shak., p. 253.
"Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake?"
—Singer's Shakspeare, Vol. ii, p. 266.
"May I, unblam'd, express thee? Since God is light."
—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 290.
"Or hearest thou, rather, pure ethereal stream!"
—2d Perversion, ib.
"Republics; kingdoms; empires, may decay;
Princes, heroes, sages, sink to nought."
—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 287.
"Thou bringest, gay creature as thou art,
A solemn image to my heart."
—E. J. Hallock's Gram., p. 197.
"Know thyself presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man."
—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 285.
"Raised on a hundred pilasters of gold."
—Charlemagne, C. i, St. 40.
"Love in Adalgise's breast has fixed his sting."
—Ib., C. i, St. 30.
"Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
February twenty-eight alone,
All the rest thirty and one."
Colet's Grammar, or Paul's Accidence. Lond., 1793, p. 75.
LESSON II.—RESTORE THE RHYTHM.
Or tales in old records and annals seen."
—Rowe's Lucan, B. i, l. 274.
"And Asia now and Afric are explor'd,
For high-priced dainties, and citron board."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 311.
"Who knows not, how the trembling judge beheld
The peaceful court with arm'd legions fill'd?"
—Eng. Poets; ib., B. i, l. 578.
"With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
With thee burning Libyan sands explore."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 661.
"Hasty and headlong different paths they tread,
As blind impulse and wild distraction lead."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 858.
"But Fate reserv'd to perform its doom,
And be the minister of wrath to Rome."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 136.
"Thus spoke the youth. When Cato thus exprest
The sacred counsels of his most inmost breast."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 435.
"These were the strict manners of the man,
And this the stubborn course in which they ran;
The golden mean unchanging to pursue,
Constant to keep the proposed end in view."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 580.
"What greater grief can a Roman seize,
Than to be forc'd to live on terms like these!"
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 782.
"He views the naked town with joyful eyes,
While from his rage an arm'd people flies."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 880.
"For planks and beams he ravages the wood,
And the tough bottom extends across the flood."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 1040.
"A narrow pass the horned mole divides,
Narrow as that where Euripus' strong tides
Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 1095.
"No force, no fears their hands unarm'd bear,
But looks of peace and gentleness they wear."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. iii, l. 112.
"The ready warriors all aboard them ride,
And wait the return of the retiring tide."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. iv, l. 716.
"He saw those troops that long had faithful stood,
Friends to his cause, and enemies to good,
Grown weary of their chief, and satiated with blood."
—Eng. Poets: ib., B. v, l. 337.
Notes
[edit]- ↑ [483] To this principle there seems to be now and then an exception, as when a weak dissyllable begins a foot in an anapestic line, as in the following examples:
"I think—let me see—yes, it is, I declare,
As long ago now as that Buckingham there."—Leigh Hunt.
"And Thomson, though best in his indolent fits,
Either slept himself weary, or blasted his wits."—Id.Here, if we reckon the feet in question to be anapests, we have dissyllables with both parts short. But some, accenting "ago" on the latter syllable, and "Either" on the former, will call "ago now" a bacchy, and "Either slept" an amphimac: because they make them such by their manner of reading.—G. B.
- ↑ [484] "Edgar A. Poe, the author, died at Baltimore on Sunday" [the 7th].—Daily Evening Traveller, Boston Oct. 9, 1849. This was eight or ten months after the writing of these observations.—G. B.
- ↑ [485] "Versification is the art of arranging words into lines of correspondent length, so as to produce harmony by the regular alternation of syllables differing in quantity"—Brown's Institutes of E. Gram., p. 235.
- ↑ [486] This appears to be an error; for, according to Dilworth, and other arithmeticians, "a unit is a number;" and so is it expounded by Johnson, Walker, Webster, and Worcester. See, in the Introduction, a note at the foot of p. 117. Mulligan, however, contends still, that one is no number; and that, "to talk of the singular number is absurd—a contradiction in terms;"—because, "in common discourse," a "number" is "always a plurality, except"—when it is "number one!"—See Grammatical Structure of the E. Language, §33. Some prosodists have taught the absurdity, that two feet are necessary to constitute a metre, and have accordingly applied the terms, monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, and hexameter,—or so many of them as they could so misapply,—in a sense very different from the usual acceptation. The proper principle is, that, "One foot constitutes a metre."—Dr. P. Wilson's Greek Prosody, p. 53. And verses are to be denominated Monometer, Dimeter, Trimeter, &c., according to "the number of feet."—See ib. p. 6. But Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary has the following not very consistent explanations: "Monometer, n. One metre. Beck. Dimeter, n. A poetic measure of four feet; a series of two meters. Beck. Trimeter, a. Consisting of three poetical measures, forming an iambic of six feet. Tyrwhitt. Tetrameter, n. A Latin or Greek verse consisting of four feet; a series of four metres. Tetrameter, a. Having four metrical feet. Tyrwhitt. Pentameter, n. A Greek or Latin verse of five feet; a series of five metres. Pentameter, a. Having five metrical feet. Warton. Hexameter, n. A verse or line of poetry, having six feet, either dactyls or spondees; the heroic, and most important, verse among the Greeks and Romans;—a rhythmical series of six metres. Hexameter, a. Having six metrical feet. Dr. Warton." According to these definitions, Dimeter has as many feet as Tetrameter; and Trimeter has as many as Hexameter!
- ↑ [487] It is common, at any rate, for prosodists to speak of "the movement of the voice," as do Sheridan, Murray, Humphrey, and Everett; but Kames, in treating of the Beauty of Language from Resemblance, says "There is no resemblance of sound to motion, nor of sound to sentiment."—Elements of Criticism, Vol. ii, p. 63. This usage, however, is admitted by the critic, had cited to show how, "causes that have no resemblance may produce resembling effects."—Ib. 64. "By a number of syllables in succession, an emotion is sometimes raised extremely similar to that raised by successive motion: which may be evident even to those who are defective in taste, from the following fact, that the term movement in all languages is equally applied to both."—Ib. ii. 66.
- ↑ [488] "From what has been said of accent and quantity in our own language, we may conclude them to be essentially distinct and perfectly separable: nor is it to be doubted that they were equally separable in the learned languages."—Walkers's Observations on Gr. and Lat. Accent and Quantity, §20; Key, p. 326. In the speculative essay here cited, Walker meant by accent the rising or the falling inflection,—an upward or a downward slide of the voice: and by quantity, nothing but the open or close sound of some vowel; as of "the a in scatter" and in "skater," the initial syllables of which words be supposed to differ in quantity as much as any two syllables can!—Ib., §24; Key, p. 331. With these views of the things, it is perhaps the less to be wondered at, that Walker, who appears to have been a candid and courteous writer, charges "that excellent scholar Mr. Forster—with a total ignorance of the accent and quantity of his own language," (Ib., Note on §8; Key, p. 317;) and, in regard to accent, ancient or modern, elsewhere confesses his own ignorance, and that of every body else, to be as "total." See marginal note on Obs. 4th below.
- ↑ [489]
- "We shall now take a view of sounds when united into syllables. Here a beautiful variation of quantity presents itself as the next object of our attention. The knowledge of long and short syllables, is the most excellent and most neglected quality in the whole art of pronunciation.The disputes of our modern writers on this subject, have arisen chiefly from an absurd notion that has long prevailed; viz. that there is no difference between the accent and the quantity, in the English language; that the accented syllables are always long, and the unaccented always short.An absurdity so glaring, does not need refutation. Pronounce any one line from Milton, and the ear will determine whether or not the accent and quantity always coincide. Very seldom they do."—Herries: Bicknell's Gram., Part ii, p. 108.
- "Some of our Moderns (especially Mr. Bishe, in his Art of Poetry) and lately Mr. Mattaire, in what he calls, The English Grammar, erroneously use Accent for Quantity, one signifying the Length or Shortness of a Syllable, the other the raising or falling of the Voice in Discourse."—Brightland's Gram., London, 1746, p. 156.
- "Tempus cum accentu a nonnullis malè confunditur; quasi idem sit acui et produci. Cum brevis autem syllaba acuitur, elevatur quidem vox in eà proferendà, sed tempus non augetur. Sic in voce hominibus acuitur mi; at ni quæ sequitur, æquam in efferendo moram postulat."—Lily's Gram., p. 125. Version: "By some persons, time is improperly confounded with accent; as if to acute and to lengthen were the same. But when a short syllable is acuted, the voice indeed is raised in pronouncing it, but the time is not increased. Thus, in the word hominibus, mi as the acute accent; but ni, which follows, demands equal slowness in the pronunciation." To English ears, this can hardly seem a correct representation; for, in pronouncing hominibus, it is not mi, but min, that we accent; and this syllable is manifestly as much longer than the rest, as it is louder.
- ↑ [490]
- "Syllables, with respect to their quantity, are either long, short, or common."—Gould's Adam's Lat. Gram., p. 243. "Some syllables are common; that is, sometimes long, and sometimes short."—Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram., p. 252. Common is here put for variable, or not permanently settled in respect to quantity: in this sense, from which no third species ought to be inferred, our language is, perhaps, more extensively "common" than any other.
- "Most of our Monosyllables either take this Stress or not, according as they are more or less emphatical; and therefore English Words of one Syllable may be considered as common; i.e. either as long or short in certain Situations. These Situations are chiefly determined by the Pause, or Cesure, of the Verse, and this Pause by the Sense. And as the English abounds in Monosyllables, there is probably no Language in which the Quantity of Syllables is more regulated by the Sense than in English."—W. Ward's Gram., Ed. of 1765, p. 156.
- Bicknell's theory of quantity, for which he refers to Herries, is this: "The English quantity is divided into long, short, and common. The longest species of syllables are those that end in a vowel, and are under the accent; as, mo in harmonious, sole in console, &c. When a monosyllable, which is unemphatic, ends in a vowel, it is always short; but when the emphasis is placed upon it, it is always long. Short syllables are such as end in any of the six mutes; as cut, stop, rapid, rugged, lock. In all such syllables the sound cannot be lengthened: they are necessarily and invariably short. If another consonant intervenes between the vowel and mute, as rend, soft, flask, the syllable is rendered somewhat longer. The other species of syllables called common, are such as terminate in a half-vowel or aspirate. For instance, in the words run, swim, crush, purl, the concluding sound can be continued or shortened, as we please. This scheme of quantity," it is added, "is founded on fact and experience."—Bicknell's Gram., Part ii, p. 109. But is it not a fact, that such words as cuttest, stopping, rapid, rugged, are trochees, in verse? and is not unlock an iambus? And what becomes of syllables that end with vowels or liquids and are not accented?
- ↑ [491] I do not say the mere absence of stress is never called accent; for it is, plainly, the doctrine of some authors that the English accent differs not at all in its nature from the accent of the ancient Greeks or Romans, which was distinguished as being of three sorts, acute, grave, inflex; that "the stronger breathing, or higher sound," which distinguishes one syllable of a word from or above the rest, is the acute accent only; that "the softer breathing, or lower sound," which belongs to an unacuted (or unaccented) syllable, is the grave accent; and that a combination of these two sounds, or "breathings," upon one syllable, constitutes the inflex or circumflex accent. Such, I think, is the teaching of Rev. William Barnes; who further says, "English verse is constructed upon sundry orders of acute and grave accents and matchings of rhymes, while the poetic language of the Romans and Greeks is formed upon rules of the sundry clusterings of long and short syllables."—Philological Grammar, p. 263. This scheme is not wholly consistent, because the author explains accent or accents as being applicable only to "words of two or more syllables;" and it is plain, that the accent which includes the three sorts above, must needs be "some other thing than what we call accent," if this includes only the acute.
- ↑ [492] Sheridan used the same comparison, "To illustrate the difference between the accent of the ancients and that of ours" [our tongue]. Our accent he supposed, with Nares and others, to have "no reference to inflections of the voice."—See Art of Reading, p. 75; Lectures on Elocution, p. 56; Walker's Key, p. 313.
- ↑ [493]
- It may in some measure account for these remarkable omissions, to observe that Walker, in his lexicography, followed Johnson in almost every thing but pronunciation. On this latter subject, his own authority is perhaps as great as that of any single author. And here I am led to introduce a remark or two touching the accent and quantity with which he was chiefly concerned; though the suggestions may have no immediate connexion with the error of confounding these properties.
- Walker, in his theory, regarded the inflections of the voice as pertaining to accent, and as affording a satisfactory solution of the difficulties in which this subject has been involved; but, as an English orthoëpist, he treats of accent in no other sense, than as stress laid on a particular syllable of a word—a sense implying contrast, and necessarily dividing all syllables into accented and unaccented, except monosyllables. Having acknowledged our "total ignorance of the nature of the Latin and Greek accent," he adds: "The accent of the English language, which is constantly sounding in our ears, and every moment open to investigation, seems as much a mystery as that accent which is removed almost two thousand years from our view. Obscurity, perplexity, and confusion, run through every treatise on the subject, and nothing could be so hopeless as an attempt to explain it, did not a circumstance present itself, which at once accounts for the confusion, and affords a clew to lead us out of it. Not one writer on accent has given such a definition of the voice as acquaints us with its essential properties. * * * But let us once divide the voice into its rising and falling inflections, the obscurity vanishes, and accent becomes as intelligible as any other part of language. * * * On the present occasion it will be sufficient to observe, that the stress we call accent is as well understood as is necessary for the pronunciation of single words, which is the object of this treatise."—Walker's Dict., p. 53, Princip. 486, 487, 488.
- Afterwards, on introducing quantity, as an orthoëpical topic, he has the following remark: "In treating this part of pronunciation, it will not be necessary to enter into the nature of that quantity which constitutes poetry; the quantity here considered will be that which relates to words taken singly; and this is nothing more than the length or shortness of the vowels, either as they stand alone, or as they are differently combined with the vowels or consonants." Ib., p. 62, Princip. 529. Here is suggested a distinction which has not been so well observed by grammarians and prosodists, or even by Walker himself, as it ought to have been. So long as the practice continues of denominating certain mere vowel sounds the long and the short, it will be very necessary to notice that these are not the same as the syllabic quantities, long and short, which constitute English verse.
- ↑ [494]
- In the Latin and Greek languages, this is not commonly supposed to be the case; but, on the contrary, the quantity of syllables is professedly adjusted by its own rules independently of what we call accent; and, in our English pronunciation of these languages, the accentuation of all long words is regulated by the quantity of the last syllable but one. Walker, in the introduction to his Key, speaks of "The English pronunciation of Greek and Latin [as] injurious to quantity." And no one can deny, that we often accent what are called short syllables, and perhaps oftener leave unaccented such as are called long; but, after all, were the quantity of Latin and Greek syllables always judged of by their actual time, and not with reference to the vowel sounds called long and short, these our violations of the old quantities would be found much fewer than some suppose they are.
- Dr. Adam's view of the accents, acute and grave, appears to be peculiar; and of a nature which may perhaps come nearer to an actual identity with the quantities, long and short, than any other. He says,
"1. The acute or sharp accent raises the voice in pronunciation, and is thus marked [´]; prófero, prófer. [The English word is written, not thus, but with two Effs, proffer.—G. B.]
"2. The grave or base accent depresses the voice, or keeps it in its natural tone; and is thus marked [`]; as, doctè. ☞ This accent properly belongs to all syllables which have no other.
"The accents are hardly ever marked in English books, except in dictionaries, grammars, spelling-books, or the like, where the acute accent only is used. The accents are likewise seldom marked in Latin books, unless for the sake of distinction; as in these adverbs, aliquò, continuò, doctè, unà, &c."—Adam's Latin and English Grammar, p. 266.
- As stress naturally lengthens the syllables on which it falls, if we suppose the grave accent to be the opposite of this, and to belong to all syllables which have no peculiar stress,—are not enforced, not acuted, not circumflected, not emphasized; then shall we truly have an accent with which our short quantity may fairly coincide. But I have said, "the mere absence of stress, which produces short quantity, we do not call accent;" and it may be observed, that the learned improver of Dr. Adam's Grammar, B. A. Gould, has totally rejected all that his predecessor taught concerning accent, and has given an entirely different definition of the thing. See marginal notes on page 771, above. Dr. Johnson also cites from Holder a very different explanation of it, as follows: "Accent, as in the Greek names and usage, seems to have regarded the tune of the voice; the acute accent, raising the voice in some certain syllables, to a higher, (i.e. more acute) pitch or tone; and the grave, depressing it lower; ☞ and both having some emphasis, i.e. more vigorous pronunciation. Holder."—Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. Accent.
- ↑ [495]
- "Amongst them [the ancients,] we know that accents were marked by certain inflexions [inflections] of the voice like musical notes; and the grammarians to this day, with great formality inform their pupils, that the acute accent, is the raising [of] the voice on a certain syllable; the grave, a depression of it; and the circumflex, a raising and depression both, in one and the same syllable. This jargon they constantly preserve, though they have no sort of ideas annexed to these words; for if they are asked to shew how this is to be done, they cannot tell, and their practice always belies their precept."—Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc., p. 54.
- "It is by the accent chiefly that the quantity of our syllables is regulated; but not according to the mistaken rule laid down by all who have written on the subject, that the accent always makes the syllable long; than which there cannot be any thing more false."—Ib., p. 57.
- "And here I cannot help taking notice of a circumstance, which shews in the strongest light, the amazing deficiency of those, who have hitherto employed their labours on that subject, [accent, or pronunciation,] in point of knowledge of the true genius and constitution of our tongue. Several of the compilers of dictionaries, vocabularies, and spelling books, have undertaken to mark the accents of our words; but so little acquainted were they with the nature of our accent, that they thought it necessary only to mark the syllable on which the stress is to be laid, without marking the particular letter of the syllable to which the accent belongs."—Ib., p. 59.
- "The mind thus taking a bias under the prejudice of false rules, never arrives at a knowledge of the true nature of quantity; and accordingly we find that all attempts hitherto to settle the prosody of our language, have been vain and fruitless."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 52.
- ↑ [496] In the following extract, this matter is stated somewhat differently: "The quantity depends upon the seat of the accent, whether it be on the vowel or [on the] consonant; if on the vowel, the syllable is necessarily long: as it makes the vowel long; if on the consonant, it may be either long or short, according to the nature of the consonant, or the time taken up in dwelling upon it."—Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc., p. 57. This last clause shows the "distinction" to be a very weak one.—G. Brown.
- ↑ [497] "If the consonant be in its nature a short one, the syllable is necessarily short. If it be a long one, that is, one whose sound is capable of being lengthened, it may be long or short at the will of the speaker. By a short consonant I mean one whose sound cannot be continued after a vowel, such as c or k p t, as ac, ap, at—whilst that of long consonants can, as, el em en er ev, &c."—Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution, p. 58. Sheridan here forgets that "bor'row" is one of his examples of short quantity. Murray admits that "accent on a semi-vowel" may make the syllable long; and his semivowels are these: "f, l, m, n, r, v, s, z, x, and c and g soft." See his Octavo Gram., p. 240 and p. 8.
- ↑ [498] On account of the different uses made of the breve, the macron, and the accents, one grammarian has proposed a new mode of marking poetic quantities. Something of the kind might be useful; but there seems to be a reversal of order in this scheme, the macrotone being here made light, and the stenotone dark and heavy. "Long and short syllables have sometimes been designated by the same marks which are used for accent, tones, and the quality of the vowels; but it will be better[,] to prevent confusion[,] to use different marks. This mark ° may represent a long syllable, and this • a short syllable; as,
• • ° • • ° • • ° • ° [sic: no ‘•’ over ‘let’ —KTH] At the close of the day when the hamlet is still —Perley's Gram., p. 73.
- ↑ [499] Dr. Adam's Gram., p. 267; B. A. Gould's, 257. The Latin word cæsura signifies "a cutting, or division." This name is sometimes Anglicized, and written "Cesure." See Brightland's Gram., p. 161; or Worcester's Dict., w. Cesure.
- ↑ [500] "As to the long quantity arising from the succession of two consonants, which the ancients are uniform in asserting, if it did not mean that the preceding vowel was to lengthen its sound, as we should do by pronouncing the a in scatter as we do in skater, (one who skates,) I have no conception of what it meant; for if it meant that only the time of the syllable was prolonged, the vowel retaining the same sound, I must confess as ut er [sic—KTH] an inability of comprehending this source of quantity in the Greek and Latin as in English."—Walker on Gr. and L. Accent, §24; Key, p. 331. This distinguished author seems unwilling to admit, that the consonants occupy time in their utterance, or that other vowel sounds than those which name the vowels, can be protracted and become long; but these are truths, nevertheless; and, since every letter adds something to the syllable in which it is uttered, it is by consequence a "source of quantity," whether the syllable be long or short.
- ↑ [501] Murray has here a marginal note, as follows: "Movement and measure are thus distinguished. Movement expresses the progressive order of sounds, whether from strong to weak, from long to short, or vice versa. Measure signifies the proportion of time, both in sounds and pauses."—Octavo Gram., p. 259. This distinction is neither usual nor accurate; though Humphrey adopts it, with slight variations. Without some species of measure,—Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, Dactylic, or some other,—there can be no regular movement, no "progressive order of sounds." Measure is therefore too essential to movement to be in contrast with it. And the movement "from strong to weak, from long to short," is but one and the same, a trochaic movement; its reverse, the movement, "vice versa," from weak to strong, or from short to long, is, of course, that of iambic measure. But Murray's doctrine is, that strong and long, weak and short, may be separated; that strong may be short, and weak be long; so that the movement from weak to strong may be from long to short, and vice versa: as if a trochaic movement might arise from iambic measure, and an iambic movement from trochaic feet! This absurdity comes of attempting to regulate the movement of verse by accent, and not by quantity, while it is admitted that quantity, and not accent, forms the measure, which "signifies the proportion of time." The idea that pauses belong to measure, is an other radical error of the foregoing note. There are more pauses in poetry than in prose, but none of them are properly "parts" of either. Humphrey says truly, "Feet are the constituent parts of verse."—English Prosody, p. 8. But L. Murray says, "Feet and pauses are the constituent parts of verse."—Octavo Gram., p. 252. Here Sheridan gave bias. Intending to treat of verse, and "the pauses peculiarly belonging to it," the "Cæsural" pause and the "Final," the rhetorician had improperly said, "The constituent parts of verse are, feet, and pauses."—Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram., p. 64.
- ↑ [502] "But as many Ways as Quantities may be varied by Composition and Transposition, so many different Feet have the Greek Poets contriv'd, and that under distinct Names, from two to six Syllables, to the Number of 124. But it is the Opinion of some Learned Men in this Way, that Poetic Numbers may be sufficiently explain'd by those of two or three Syllables, into which the rest are to be resolv'd."—Brightland's Grammar, 7th Ed., p. 161.
- ↑ [503] "THE BELLS OF ST. PETERSBURGH."
- "Those ev'ning bells, those ev'ning bells,
- How many a tale their music tells!"—Moore's Melodies, p. 263.
- "Those ev'\-ning bells, \ those ev'\-ning bells,
- How man\-y a tale \ their mu\-sic tells!"
- ↑ [504] Lord Kames, too, speaking of "English Heroic verse," says: "Every line consists of ten syllables, five short and five long; from which [rule] there are but two exceptions, both of them rare."—Elements of Criticism, Vol. ii, p. 89.
- ↑ [505] "The Latin is a far more stately tongue than our own. It is essentially spondaic; the English is as essentially dactylic. The long syllable is the spirit of the Roman (and Greek) verse; the short syllable is the essence of ours."—Poe's Notes upon English Verse; Pioneer, Vol. i, p. 110. "We must search for spondaic words, which, in English, are rare indeed."—Ib., p. 111.
- ↑ [506] "There is a rule, in Latin prosody, that a vowel before two consonants is long. We moderns have not only no such rule, but profess inability to comprehend its rationale."—Poe's Notes: Pioneer, p. 112.
- ↑ [507] The opponents of capital punishment will hardly take this for a fair version of the sixth commandment.—G. B.
- ↑ [508] These versicles, except the two which are Italicized, are not iambic. The others are partly trochaic; and, according to many of our prosodists, wholly so; but it is questionable whether they are not as properly amphimacric, or Cretic.
- ↑ [509] See exercises in Punctuation, on page 786, of this work.—G. B.
- ↑ [510] The Seventieth Psalm is the same as the last five verses of the Fortieth, except a few unimportant differences of words or points.
- ↑ [511] It is obvious, that these two lines may easily be reduced to an agreeable stanza, by simply dividing each after the fourth foot—G. B.
- ↑ [512] In Sanborn's Analytical Grammar, on page 279th, this couplet is ascribed to "Pope;" but I have sought in vain for this quotation, or any example of similar verse, in the works of that poet. The lines, one or both of them, appear, without reference, in L. Murray's Grammar, Second Edition, 1796, p. 176, and in subsequent editions; in W. Allen's, p. 225; Bullions's, 178; N. Butler's, 192; Chandler's New, 196; Clark's, 201; Churchill's, 187; Cooper's Practical, 185; Davis's, 137; Farnum's, 106; Felton's, 142; Frazee's, 184; Frost's, 164; S. S. Greene's, 250; Hallock's, 244; Hart's, 187; Hiley's, 127; Humphrey's Prosody, 17; Parker and Fox's Gram., Part iii, p. 60; Weld's, 211; Ditto Abridged, 138; Wells's, 200; Fowler's, 658; and doubtless in many other such books.
- ↑ [513] "Owen succeeded his father Griffin in the principality of North Wales, A. D. 1120. This battle was fought near forty years afterwards. North Wales is called, in the fourth line, 'Gwyneth;' and 'Lochlin,' in the fourteenth, is Denmark."—Gray. Some say "Lochlin," in the Annals of Ulster, means Norway.—G. B.
- ↑ [514] "The red dragon is the device of Cadwallader, which all his descendants bore on their banners."—Gray.
- ↑ [515] This passage, or some part of it, is given as a trochaic example, in many different systems of prosody. Everett ascribes it entire to "John Chalkhill;" and Nutting, more than twenty years before, had attached the name of "Chalkhill" to a part of it. But the six lines "of three syllables," Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar, credits to "Walton's Angler;" and Bicknell, too, ascribes the same to "Walton." The readings also have become various. Johnson, Bicknell, Burn, Churchill, and Nutting, have "Here" for "Where" in the fifth line above; and Bicknell and Burn have "Stop" in the eighth line, where the rest read "Stops." Nutting has, for the ninth line, "Others' joys," and not, "Other joys," as have the rest.—G. B.