The Grammar of English Grammars
by
Gould Brown

Part 38 out of 54



_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.

OBS. 1.--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 caesura.

OBS. 2.--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 caesura 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,

Praise | to God, | immor |-tal praise,
For | the love | that crowns | our days."[--BARBAULD.]
_Hiley's E. Gram._, Third Edition, London, p. 124;
_Wells's_, Third Edition, p. 198.

OBS. 3.--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.

OBS. 4.--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.

"V=it~al | sp=ark of | he=av'nly | _fl=me_,
Q=uit ~oh | q=uit th~is | m=ort~al | _fr=ame_." [509][--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 caesura, 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!

OBS. 5.--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!

OBS. 6.--"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 govern my passion with absolute sway,
And grow wiser and better as life wears away.' _Dr. Pope_.

"In this measure a syllable is often retrenched from the first foot, [;] as
[,]

'When present we love, and when absent agree,
I th'nk not of I'ris [.] nor I'ris of me.' _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 his
_Quarto Dict._ Here, except a few less important remarks, and sundry
examples of the metres named, is Johnson's _whole scheme_ of versification.

OBS. 7.--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.

OBS. 8.--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 anapaestic 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; [Fist] _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.

_Example I.--"The Raven"--First Two out of Eighteen Stanzas_.

1.
"Once up | -on a | midnight | dreary, | while I | pondered, | weak and
| weary,
Over | _m=any ~a_ | quaint and | _c=ur~io~us_ | volume | of for
| -gotten | lore,
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 | _s=ep~ar~ate_ | 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 | _r=ad~i~ant_ | 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 | Caesar'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 LAETITIA 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.

_Example.--Psalm LXX,[510] 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
caesural 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 caesural 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." [511]

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.

_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.'"[512]

Again: "We have the following from BISHOP HEBER:--

'H=ol~y, | h=ol~y | h=ol~y! | =all th~e | s=aints ~a | -d=ore th~ee,
C=ast~ing | d=own th~eir | g=old~en | cr=owns ~a | -r=ound th~e
| gl=ass~y | s=ea;
Ch=er~u | -b=im ~and | s=er~a | -ph=im [~_are_,] | f=all~ing
| d=own b~e | -f=ore th~ee,
_Wh~ich_ w=ert, | ~and =art, | ~and =ev | -~erm=ore | sh~alt b=e!

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,
P=erf~ect | ~in p=ow'r, | ~in l=ove, | ~and p=u | -r~it=y.'

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._

"C=ome ~un |-t=o th~ese | y=ell~ow | s=ands,
And th=en | t~ake h=ands:
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

_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 | _m=em~or~ies_ | 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,
_G=ath~er~ing_ | up from | all the lower | ground:
_N=arr~ow~ing_ | in to | where they | sat as |-sembled,
Low vo |_-l~upt~uo~us_ | 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,

=I |-dl~e =af |-t~er d=inn |-n~er =in | h~is ch=air [,]
S=at | ~a f=ar |-m~er [,] r=ud |-dy, f=at, | =and f=air."
_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,

=In th~e | d=ark ~and | gr=een ~and | gl=oom~y | v=all~ey,
S=at~yrs | b=y th~e | br=ookl~et | l=ove t~o | d=all~y."

And again: [[Fist]] "_The SAME with an ADDITIONAL accented syllable_; as,

Wh=ere th~e | w=ood ~is | w=av~ing |gr=een ~and |_h=igh_,
F=auns ~and | Dr=y~ads | w=atch th~e | st=arr~y | _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 caesura
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.

_Example I.--A Mournful Song_.

1.

"Raving | winds a | -round her | blowing,
Yellow | leaves the | woodlands | strewing,
By a | river | hoarsely | roaring,
Isa | -bella | strayed de | -ploring.
'Farewell | hours that | late did | measure
Sunshine | days of | joy and | pleasure;
Hail, thou | gloomy | night of | sorrow,
Cheerless | night that | knows no | morrow.

2.

O'er the | past too | fondly | _wandering_,
On the | hopeless | future | _pondering_,
Chilly | grief my | life-blood | freezes,
Fell de | -spair my | fancy | seizes.
Life, thou | soul of | _every_ | blessing,
Load to | _misery_ | most dis | -tressing,
O how | gladly | I'd re | -sign thee,
And to | dark ob | _-livion_ | join thee.'"
ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol. ii, p. 131

_Example II.--A Song Petitionary_.

"_Powers ce_ | -lestial, | whose pro | -tection
Ever | guards the | _virtuous_ | fair,
While in | distant | climes I | wander,
Let my | Mary | be your | care:
Let her | form so | fair and | faultless,
Fair and | faultless | as your | own;
Let my | Mary's | kindred | spirit
Draw your | choicest | _influence_ | down.

Make the | gales you | waft a | -round her
Soft and | peaceful | as her | breast;
Breathing | in the | breeze that | fans her,
Soothe her | bosom | into | rest:
_Guardian_ | angels, | O pro | -tect her,
When in | distant | lands I | roam;
_To realms_ | _unknown_ | _while fate_ | _exiles me_,
Make her | bosom | still my | home."
BURNS'S SONGS, Same Volume, p. 165.

_Example III.--Song of Juno and Ceres_.

_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."
SHAKSPEARE: _Tempest_, Act iv, Sc. 1.

_Example IV.--On the Vowels_.

"We are | little | airy | creatures,
All of | diff'rent | voice and | features;
One of | us in | glass is | set,
One of | us you'll | find in | jet;

T'other | you may | see in | tin,
And the | fourth a | box with | -in;
If the | fifth you | should pur | -sue,
It can | never | fly from | you."
SWIFT: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 343.

_Example V.--Use Time for Good_.

"Life is | short, and | time is | swift;
Roses | fade, and | shadows | shift;
But the ocean | and the | river
Rise and | fall and | flow for | ever;

Bard! not | vainly | heaves the | ocean;
Bard! not | vainly | flows the | river;
Be thy | song, then, | like their | motion,
Blessing | now, and | blessing | ever."
EBENEZER ELLIOT: _From a Newspaper_.

_Example IV.[sic for VI--KTH]--"The Turkish Lady"--First Four Stanzas_.

1.
"'Twas the | hour when | rites un | -holy
Called each | Paynim | voice to | pray'r,
And the | star that | faded | slowly,
Left to | dews the | freshened | air.

2.
Day her | sultry | fires had | wasted,
Calm and | sweet the | moonlight | rose;
E'en a | captive's | spirit | tasted
Half ob | -livion | of his | woes.

3.
Then 'twas | from an | Emir's | palace
Came an | eastern | lady | bright;
She, in | spite of | tyrants | jealous,
Saw and | loved an | English | knight.

4.
'Tell me, | captive, | why in | anguish
Foes have | dragged thee | here to | dwell
Where poor | Christians, | as they | languish.
Hear no | sound of | sabbath | bell?'"
THOMAS CAMPBELL: _Poetical Works_, p. 115.

_Example VII.--The Palmer's Morning Hymn_.

"Lauded | be thy | name for | ever,
Thou, of | life the | guard and | giver!
Thou canst | guard thy | creatures | sleeping,
Heal the | heart long | broke with | weeping,
Rule the | =ouphes ~and | =elves ~at | w=ill
_Th~at v=ex_ | _th~e =air_ | _~or h=aunt_ | _th~e h=ill_,
_~And =all_ | _th~e f=u_ | _-r~y s=ub_ | _-j~ect k=eep_
_~Of b=oil_ | _-~ing cl=oud_ | _~and ch=af_ | _-~ed d=eep!_

I h~ave | s=een, ~and | w=ell I | kn=ow ~it!
Thou hast | done, and | Thou wilt | do it!
God of | stillness | and of | motion!
Of the | rainbow | and the | ocean!
Of the | mountain, | rock, and | river!
Blessed | be Thy | name for | ever!
I have | seen thy | wondrous | might
Through the | shadows | of this | night!

Thou, who | slumber'st | not, nor | sleepest!
Blest are | they thou | kindly | keepest!
Spirits, | from the | ocean | under,
Liquid | flame, and | levell'd | thunder,
Need not | waken | nor a |-larm them--
All com |-bined, they | cannot | harm them.

God of | evening's | yellow | ray,
God of | yonder | dawning | day,
Thine the | flaming | sphere of | light!
Thine the | darkness | of the | night!
Thine are | all the | gems of | even,
God of | angels! | God of | heaven!"
JAMES HOGG: _Mador of the Moor, Poems_, p. 206.

_Example VIII--A Short Song, of Two Stanzas_.

"Stay, my | charmer, | can you | leave me?
Cruel, | cruel, | to de |-ceive me!
Well you | know how | much you | grieve me:
Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?
Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?

By my | love, so | ill re |-quited;
By the | faith you | fondly plighted;
By the | pangs of | lovers slighted;
Do not, | do not | leave me | so!
Do not, | do not | leave me | so!"
ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol. ii, p. 129.

_Example IX.--Lingering Courtship_.

1.
"Never | wedding, | ever | wooing,
Still | lovelorn | heart pur |-suing,
Read you | not the | wrong you're | doing,
In my | cheek's pale | hue?
All my | life with | sorrow | strewing,
Wed, or | cease to | woo.

2.
Rivals | banish'd, | bosoms | plighted,
Still our | days are | disu |-nited;
Now the | lamp of | hope is | lighted,
Now half | quench'd ap | -pears,
Damp'd, and | _wavering_, and be | -nighted,
Midst my | sighs and | tears.

3.
Charms you | call your | dearest | blessing,
Lips that | thrill at | your ca | -ressing,
Eyes a | _mutual_ soul con | -fessing,
Soon you'll | make them | grow
Dim, and | worthless | your pos | -sessing,
Not with | age, but | woe!"
CAMPBELL: _Everett's System of Versification_, p. 91.

_Example X.--"Boadicea"--Four Stanzas from Eleven_.

1.
"When the | British | warrior | queen,
Bleeding | from the | Roman | rods,
Sought, with | an in | -dignant | mien,
Counsel | of her | country's | gods,

2.
Sage be | -neath the | spreading | oak,
Sat the | Druid, | hoary | chief;
_Every_ burning | word he | spoke
Full of | rage, and | full of | grief.

3.
Princess! | if our | aged | eyes
Weep up | -on thy | matchless | wrongs,
'Tis be | -cause re | -sentment | ties
All the | terrors | of our | tongues.

4.
ROME SHALL | PERISH-- | write that | word
In the | blood that | she hath | spilt;
Perish, | hopeless | and ab | -horr'd,
Deep in | ruin | as in | guilt."
WILLIAM COWPER: _Poems_, Vol. ii, p. 244.

_Example XI--"The Thunder Storm"--Two Stanzas from Ten_.

"Now in | deep and | dreadful | gloom,
Clouds on | clouds por | -tentous | spread,
Black as | if the | day of | doom
Hung o'er | Nature's | shrinking | head:
Lo! the | lightning | breaks from | high,
God is | coming! |--God is | nigh!

Hear ye | not his | _chariot_ | wheels,
As the | mighty | thunder | rolls?
Nature, | startled | Nature | reels,
From the | centre | to the | poles:
Tremble! | --Ocean, | Earth, and | Sky!
Tremble! | --God is | passing | by!"
J. MONTGOMERY: _Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems_, p. 130.

_Example XII.--"The Triumphs of Owen," King of North Wales._[513]

"Owen's | praise de | -mands my song,
Owen | swift and | Owen | strong;
Fairest | flow'r of | _Roderick's_ | stem,
Gwyneth's | shield, and | Britain's | gem.
He nor | heaps his | brooded | stores,
Nor the | whole pro | -fusely | pours;
Lord of | _every_ | regal | art,
_Liberal_ | hand and | open | heart.
Big with | hosts of | mighty | name,
Squadrons | three a | -gainst him came;
This the | force of | Eirin | hiding,
Side by | side as | proudly | riding,
On her | shadow | long and | gay,
Lochlin | ploughs the | _watery_ | way:
There the Norman | sails a | -far
Catch the | winds, and | join the | war;
Black and | huge, a | -long they | sweep,
Burthens | of the | angry | deep.
Dauntless | on his | native | sands,
_The Drag | -on-son | of Mo | -na stands;[514]
In glit | -tering arms | and glo | -ry drest_,
High he | rears his | ruby | crest.
There the | thundering | stroke be | -gin,
There the | press, and | there the | din;
Taly | -malfra's | rocky | shore
_Echoing_ | to the | battle's | roar;
Where his | glowing | eyeballs | turn,
Thousand | banners | round him | burn.
Where he | points his | purple | spear,
Hasty, | hasty | rout is | there,
Marking | with in | -dignant | eye
Fear to | stop, and | shame to | fly.
There Con | -fusion, | Terror's | child,
Conflict | fierce, and | Ruin | wild,
Ago | -ny, that | pants for | breath,
_Despair_, | and HON | -OURA | -BLE DEATH."
THOMAS GRAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 285.

_Example XIII.--"Grongar Hill."--First Twenty-six Lines_.

"Silent | Nymph, with | _curious_ | eye,
Who, the | purple | eve, dost | lie
On the | mountain's | lonely | van,
_Beyond_ | _the noise_ | _of bus_ | _-y man_;
Painting | fair the | form of | things,
While the | yellow | linnet | sings;
Or the | tuneful | nightin | -gale
Charms the | forest | with her | tale;
Come, with | all thy | various hues,
Come, and | aid thy | sister | Muse.
Now, while | Phoebus, | riding | high,
_Gives lus_ | _-tre to_ | _the land_ | _and sky_,
Grongar | Hill in | -vites my | song;
Draw the | landscape | bright | and strong;
Grongar, | in whose | mossy | cells,
Sweetly | -musing | Quiet | dwells;
Grongar, | in whose | silent | shade,
For the | modest | Muses | made,
_So oft_ | _I have_, | _the eve_ | _-ning still_,
At the | fountain | of a | rill,
Sat up | -on a | _flowery_ | bed,
With my | hand be | -neath my | head,
_While stray'd_ | _my eyes_ | _o'er Tow_ | _-y's flood_,
Over | mead and | over wood,
_From house_ | _to house_, | _from hill_ | _to hill_,
_Till Con_ | _-templa_ | _-tion had_ | _her fill_."
JOHN DYER: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 65.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--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.

OBS. 2.--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.

OBS. 3.--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.

_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 Cae | -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.

_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,
B=e'fore | death
Stops our | breath:
Other | joys,
Are but | toys,
And to | be la | -mented." [515]

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.

OBS. 1.--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.

OBS. 2.--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.

OBS. 3.--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.

_Examples with Longer Metres_.

1. WITH IAMBICS.

"Fr~om w=alk | t~o w=alk, | fr~om sh=ade | t~o sh=ade,
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,
F=ull ~of | gri=ef ~and | f=ull ~of | l=ove."
ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act I, Sc. 4:
_Everett's Versification_, p. 81.

2. WITH ANAPESTICS, &c.

"T~o l=ove ~and t~o l=angu~ish,
T~o s=igh | ~and c~ompl=ain,
H~ow cr=u~el's th~e =angu~ish!
H~ow t~orm=ent | -~ing th~e p=ain!
Suing,
Pursuing,
Flying,
Denying,
O the curse | of disdain!
How torment | -ing's the pain!"
GEO. GRANVILLE: _Br. Poets_, Vol. v, p. 31.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--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.

OBS. 2.--"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.

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 | -_~it~y_--
[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.

_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 | Meta_mor_ | -_phoses_.
For, omit | -ting the first, | (where I make | a com_par_ | -_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 | -_r~in_,
The dew | on his thin | robe was heav | -y and chill;
For his coun | -try he sighed, | when at twi | -light repair | -_~ing_
To wan | -der alone | by the wind | -beaten hill.
But the day | -star attract | -ed his eye's | sad devo | -_t~ion_,
For it rose | o'er his own | native isle | of the o | -_c~ean_,
Where once, | in the fire | of his youth | -ful emo | _t~ion_,
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.

OBS. 1.--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.

OBS. 2.--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._

OBS. 3.--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, "Anapaestic 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.

OBS. 4.--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:--

"Th~ere c=ame t~o | th~e b=each ~a | p~oor Ex~ile | ~of Er~in
The dew on | his thin robe | was heavy | and chill:
F~or h~is co=un | -tr~y h~e s=ighed, | wh=en ~at tw=i
| -l~ight r~ep=air | _-~ing_
To wander | alone by | the wind-beat | -en hill."


MEASURE II.--ANAPESTIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

_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.

_Example I.--Lines with Hypermeter and Double Rhyme._

"CORONACH," OR FUNERAL SONG.

1.

"He is gone | on the mount | -a~in
He is lost | to the for | -~est
Like a sum | -mer-dried foun | -ta~in
When our need | was the sor | -~est.
The font, | reappear | -~ing,
From the rain | -drops shall bor | -r~ow,
But to us | comes no cheer | -~ing,
Do Dun | -can no mor | -r~ow!

2.

The hand | of the reap | -~er
Takes the ears | that are hoar | -~y,
But the voice | of the weep | -~er
Wails man | -hood in glo | -r~y;
The au | -tumn winds rush | -~ing,
Waft the leaves | that are sear | -~est,
But our flow'r | was in flush | -~ing,
When blight | -ing was near | -~est."
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,
Apres ses appas;
Que veut elle dire,
Qu'elle ne vient pas?
S'il ne la possede,
Il s'en va mourir;
Donnons y remede,
Allons la querir."
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 | -_m~er_,
Left bloom | -ing alone;
All her love | -ly compan | -_i~ons_
Are fad | -ed and gone;
No flow'r | of her kin | -_dr~ed_,
No rose | -bud is nigh,
To give | back her blush | -_~es_,
Or give | sigh for sigh.

2.

I'll not leave | thee, thou lone | _~one!_


 


Back to Full Books