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.

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 AEneid 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 -n~ed; But now its gen -der by the pope far bet -ter is defi -n~ed." Churchill's New Grammar, p. 188.

MEASURE III.—IAMBIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.

Example I.—A Couplet.

"S~o v=a -r~y~ing still th~eir m=oods, ~obs=erv -~ing =yet ~in =all 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. St=ud~y 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' o~ut 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;[507] 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 w=ith =a M=aid -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 ~un=e -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.

Example I.—Hector to Andromache.

"Andr=om -~ach=e! m=y s=oul's f~ar b=et -t~er p=art, Wh=y w~ith 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 t~er ~ing j=oy, 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.

Example III.—Deceptive Glosses.

"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 religi~on, What dam n~ed er -ror, but some so -ber brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text, Hid~ing 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 cr~e=a -tion in her close embrace. Behold a Chris -tian! and without the fires The found -~er ~of 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-=us -~ed wine, After the Tus -can mar -iners transform'd, Coasting the Tyr -rhene shore, ~as th~e winds list~ed, On Cir -ce's isl -and fell. Who knows not Circ~e, The daugh -ter of the sun? whose charm -~ed cup Whoev -er tast -ed, lost his up -right shape, And down -ward fell =int~o a grov -elling swine." MILTON: Comus; British Poets, Vol. ii, p. 147.

(2.) By a synaeresis 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 st~ance ~of a grief hath twen -ty shad~ows, Which show like grief itself, but are not so: For sor -row's eye, gl=az~ed with blind -ing tears, Divides one thing entire to man y obj~ects; 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, Lo=ok~ing awry upon your lord's depart~ure, Finds shapes of grief, more than himself, to wail; Which, look'd on as it is, is nought but shad~ows." 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.

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 -li~est c=ol -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 -=ow=y fl=ocks of pur -est snow Seemed graz -ing in a world below." JAMES HOGG: The Queen's Wake, p. 76.

Example III.—Two Stanzas from Eighteen, Addressed to the Ettrick Shepherd.

"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 -pli~ant 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 ~an =an -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.

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.

Example IV.—Lyric Stanzas.

"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, "Horae Lyricae," 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."

"L=ove ~is 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.

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 -~er=y m=or -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.

"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, M=eet =a l=ady 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." [508] IDEM: Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act iii, Sc. 2.

ORDER II.—TROCHAIC VERSE.

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.

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.