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 Metamor -phoses. For, omit -ting the first, (where I make a compar -ison, With a sort of allu -sion to Put -land or Har -rison,) Yet, by my descrip -tion, you'll find he in short is A pack and a gar -ran, a top and a tor -toise. So I hope from hencefor -ward you ne'er will ask, can I maul This teas -ing, conceit -ed, rude, in -solent an -imal? And, if this rebuke might be turn'd to his ben -efit, (For I pit -y the man,) I should be glad then of it" SWIFT'S POEMS: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. v, p. 324.

Example II.—"The Feast of the Poets."—First Twelve Lines.

"T' other day, as Apol -lo sat pitch -ing his darts Through the clouds of Novem -ber, by fits and by starts, He began to consid -er how long it had been Since the bards of Old Eng -land had all been rung in. 'I think,' said the god, recollect -ing, (and then He fell twid -dling a sun -beam as I may my pen,) 'I think let me see yes, it is, I declare, As long ago now as that Buck -ingham there; And yet I can't see why I've been so remiss, Unless it may be and it cer -tainly is, That since Dry -den's fine ver -ses and Mil -ton's sublime, I have fair -ly been sick of their sing -song and rhyme.'" LEIGH HUNT: Poems, New-York Edition, of 1814.

Example III.—The Crowning of Four Favourites.

"Then, 'Come,' cried the god in his el -egant mirth, 'Let us make us a heav'n of our own upon earth, And wake, with the lips that we dip in our bowls, That divin -est of mu -sic conge -nial souls.' So say -ing, he led through the din -ing-room door, And, seat -ing the po -ets, cried, 'Lau -rels for four!' No soon -er demand -ed, than, lo! they were there, And each of the bards had a wreath in his hair. Tom Camp -bell's with wil -low and pop -lar was twin'd, And South -ey's, with moun -tain-ash, pluck'd in the wind; And Scott's, with a heath from his old garden stores, And, with vine -leaves and jump -up-and-kiss -me, Tom Moore's." LEIGH HUNT: from line 330 to line 342.

Example IV.—"Glenara."—First Two of Eight Stanzas.

"O heard ye yon pi -broch sound sad in the gale, Where a band cometh slow -ly with weep -ing and wail! 'Tis the chief of Glena -ra laments for his dear; And her sire, and the peo -ple, are called to her bier.

Glena -ra came first with the mourn -ers and shroud; Her kins -men, they fol -lowed, but mourned not aloud; Their plaids all their bo -soms were fold -ed around; They marched all in si -lence they looked on the ground." T. CAMPBELL'S Poetical Works, p. 105.

Example V.—"Lochiel's Warning."—Ten Lines from Eighty-six.

"'Tis the sun -set of life gives me mys -tical lore, And com -ing events cast their shad -ows before. I tell thee, Cullo -den's dread ech -oes shall ring With the blood -hounds that bark for thy fu -gitive king. Lo! anoint -ed by Heav'n with the vi -als of wrath, Behold, where he flies on his des -olate path! Now, in dark -ness and bil -lows he sweeps from my sight; Rise! rise! ye wild tem -pests, and cov -er his flight! 'Tis fin -ished. Their thun -ders are hushed on the moors; Cullo -den is lost, and my coun -try deplores." Ib., p. 89.

Example VI.—"The Exile of Erin."—The First of Five Stanzas.

"There came to the beach a poor Ex -ile of E -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! To pine on the stem! Since the love -ly are sleep -~ing, Go, sleep thou with them; Thus kind -ly I scat -t~er Thy leaves o'er thy bed, Where thy mates of the gar -d~en Lie scent -less and dead.

3.

So, soon may I fol -l~ow, When friend -ships decay, And, from love's shining cir -cl~e, The gems drop away; When true hearts lie with -~er'd, And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhab -it This bleak world alone ?" T. MOORE: Melodies, Songs, and Airs, p. 171.

Example V.—Nemesis Calling up the Dead Astarte.

"Shadow! or spir -~it! Whatev -er thou art, Which still doth inher -~it The whole or a part Of the form of thy birth, Of the mould of thy clay, Which return'd to the earth, Re-appear to the day! Bear what thou bor -~est, The heart and the form, And the as -pect thou wor -~est Redeem from the worm! Appear! Appear! Appear!" LORD BYRON: Manfred, Act ii, Sc. 4.

Example VI.—Anapestic Dimeter with Trimeter.

FIRST VOICE.

"Make room for the com -bat, make room; Sound the trum -pet and drum; A fair -er than Ve -nus prepares To encoun -ter a great -er than Mars. Make room for the com -bat, make room; Sound the trum -pet and drum."

SECOND VOICE.

"Give the word to begin, Let the com -batants in, The chal -lenger en -ters all glo r~io~us; But Love has decreed, Though Beau -ty may bleed, Yet Beau -ty shall still be victo -r~io~us." GEORGE GRANVILLE: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. v, p. 58.



Example VII.—Anapestic Dimeter with Tetrameter.

AIR.

"Let the pipe's merry notes aid the skill of the voice; For our wish -es are crown'd, and our hearts shall rejoice. Rejoice, and be glad; For, sure, he is mad, Who, where mirth, and good hum -mour, and har -mony's found, Never catch -es the smile, nor lets pleas -ure go round. Let the stu -pid be grave, 'Tis the vice of the slave; But can nev -er agree With a maid -en like me, Who is born in a coun -try that's hap -py and free." LLOYD: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. viii, p, 178.

MEASURE IV.—ANAPESTIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

This measure is rarely if ever used except in connexion with longer lines. The following example has six anapestics of two feet, and two of one; but the latter, being verses of double rhyme, have each a surplus short syllable; and four of the former commence with the iambus:—

Example I.—A Song in a Drama.

"Now, mor -tal, prepare, For thy fate is at hand; Now, mor -tal, prepare, ~And s~urr=en -d~er.

For Love shall arise, Whom no pow'r can withstand, Who rules from the skies T~o th~e c=en -tr~e." GRANVILLE, VISCOUNT LANSDOWNE: Joh. Brit. Poets, Vol. v, p. 49.

The following extract, (which is most properly to be scanned as anapestic, though considerably diversified,) has two lines, each of which is pretty evidently composed of a single anapest:—

Example II.—A Chorus in the Same.

"Let trum -pets and tym -b~als, Let at~a bals and cym -b~als, Let drums and let haut -boys give o -v~er; B~ut l~et fl=utes, And l~et l=utes Our pas -sions excite To gent -ler delight, And ev -ery Mars be a lov -~er." Ib., p. 56.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—That a single anapest, a single foot of any kind, or even a single long syllable, may be, and sometimes is, in certain rather uncommon instances, set as a line, is not to be denied. "Dr. Caustic," or T. G. Fessenden, in his satirical "Directions for Doing Poetry," uses in this manner the monosyllables, "Whew," "Say," and "Dress" and also the iambs, "The gay" and, "All such," rhyming them with something less isolated.

OBS. 2.—Many of our grammarians give anonymous examples of what they conceive to be "Anapestic Monometer," or "the line of one anapest," while others—(as Allen, Bullions, Churchill, and Hiley—) will have the length of two anapests to be the shortest measure of this order. Prof. Hart says, "The shortest anapaestic verse is a single anapaest; as,

'~In =a sw=eet R~es~on=ance,

~All th~eir f=eet ~In th=e d=ance

~All th=e n=ight T~inkl~ed l=ight.'

This measure," it is added, "is, however, ambiguous; for by laying an accent on the first, as well as the third syllable, we may generally make it a trochaic."—Hart's English Gram., p. 188. The same six versicles are used as an example by Prof. Fowler, who, without admitting any ambiguity in the measure, introduces them, rather solecistically, thus: "Each of the following lines consist of a single Anapest."—Fowler's E. Gram., 8vo, 1850, Sec.694.

OBS. 3.—Verses of three syllables, with the second short, the last long, and the first common, or variable, are, it would seem, doubly doubtful in scansion; for, while the first syllable, if made short, gives us an anapest, to make it long, gives either an amphimac or what is virtually two trochees. For reasons of choice in the latter case, see Observation 1st on Trochaic Dimeter. For the fixing of variable quantities, since the case admits no other rule, regard should be had to the analogy of the verse, and also to the common principles of accentuation. It is doubtless possible to read the six short lines above, into the measure of so many anapests; but, since the two monosyllables "In" and "All" are as easily made long as short, whoever considers the common pronunciation of the longer words, "Resonance" and "Tinkled," may well doubt whether the learned professors have, in this instance, hit upon the right mode of scansion. The example may quite as well be regarded either as Trochaic Dimeter, cataletic, or as Amphimacric Monometer, acatalectic. But the word resonance, being accented usually on the first syllable only, is naturally a dactyl; and, since the other five little verses end severally with a monosyllable, which can be varied in quantity, it is possible to read them all as being dactylics; and so the whole may be regarded as trebly doubtful with respect to the measure.

OBS. 4.—L. Murray says, "The shortest anapaestic verse must be a single anapaest; as,

B~ut ~in v=ain They complain."

And then he adds, "This measure is, however, ambiguous; for, by laying the stress of the voice on the first and third syllables, we might make a trochaic. And therefore the first and simplest form of our genuine Anapaestic verse, is made up of two anapaests."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 257; 12mo, p. 207. This conclusion is utterly absurd, as well as completely contradictory to his first assertion. The genuineness of this small metre depends not at all on what may be made of the same words by other pronunciation; nor can it be a very natural reading of this passage, that gives to "But" and "They" such emphasis as will make them long.

OBS. 5.—Yet Chandler, in his improved grammar of 1847, has not failed to repeat the substance of all this absurdity and self-contradiction, carefully dressing it up in other language, thus: "Verses composed of single Anapaests are frequently found in stanzas of songs; and the same is true of several of the other kinds of feet; but we may consider the first [i.e., shortest] form of anapaestic verse as consisting of two Anapaests."—Chandler's Common School Gram., p. 196.

OBS. 6.—Everett, speaking of anapestic lines, says, "The first and shortest of these is composed of a single Anapest following an Iambus."—English Versification, p. 99. This not only denies the existence of Anapestic Monometer, but improperly takes for the Anapestic verse what is, by the statement itself, half Iambic, and therefore of the Composite Order. But the false assertion is plainly refuted even by the author himself and on the same page. For, at the bottom of the page, he has this contradictory note: "It has been remarked (Sec.15) that though the Iambus with an additional short syllable is the shortest line that is known to Iambic verse, there are isolated instances of a single Iambus, and even of a single long syllable. There are examples of lines made up of a single Anapest, as the following example will show:—

'Jove in his chair, Of the sky lord mayor, With his nods Men and gods Keeps in awe; When he winks, Heaven shrinks; * * * *

Cock of the school, He bears despotic rule; His word, Though absurd, Must be law. Even Fate, Though so great, Must not prate;

His bald pate Jove would cuff, He's so bluff, For a straw. Cowed deities, Like mice in cheese, To stir must cease Or gnaw.'

O'HARA:—Midas, Act i, Sc. 1."—Everett's Versification, p. 99



ORDER IV.—DACTYLIC VERSE.

In pure Dactylic verse, the stress is laid on the first syllable of each successive three; that is, on the first, the fourth, the seventh, and the tenth syllable of each line of four feet. Full dactylic generally forms triple rhyme. When one of the final short syllables is omitted, the rhyme is double; when both, single. These omissions are here essential to the formation of such rhymes. Dactylic with double rhyme, ends virtually with a trochee; dactylic with single rhyme, commonly ends with a caesura; that is, with a long syllable taken for a foot. Dactylic with single rhyme is the same as anapestic would be without its initial short syllables. Dactylic verse is rather uncommon; and, when employed, is seldom perfectly pure and regular.

MEASURE I.—DACTYLIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.

Example.—Nimrod.

Nimrod the hunter was mighty in hunting, and famed as the ruler of cities of yore; Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, from Shinar's fair region his name afar bore.

MEASURE II.—DACTYLIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.

Example.—Christ's Kingdom.

Out of the kingdom of Christ shall be gathered, by angels o'er Satan vic -torious, All that of -fendeth, that lieth, that faileth to honour his name ever glorious.

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

Example I.—Time in Motion.

Time, thou art ever in motion, on wheels of the days, years, and ages; Restless as waves of the ocean, when Eurus or Boreas rages.

Example II.—Where, is Grand-Pre?

"This is the forest pri -meval; but where are the hearts that be -neath it Leap'd like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman? Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of A -cadian farmers?" H. W. LONGFELLOW: Evangeline, Part i, l. 7 9.

MEASURE IV.—DACTYLIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER.

Example.—Salutation to America.

"Land of the beautiful, beautiful, land of the free, Land of the negro-slave, negro-slave, land of the chivalry, Often my heart had turned, heart had turned, longing to thee; Often had mountain-side, mountain-side, broad lake, and stream, Gleamed on my waking thought, waking thought, crowded my dream. Now thou dost welcome me, welcome me, from the dark sea, Land of the beautiful, beautiful, land of the free, Land of the negro-slave, negro-slave, land of the chivalry."

MEASURE V.—DACTYLIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

Example 1—The Soldier's Wife.

"Weary way -wanderer, languid and sick at heart, Travelling painfully over the rugged road, Wild-visaged Wanderer! God help thee, wretched one! Sorely thy little one drags by thee barefooted; Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back, Meagre, and livid, and screaming for misery. Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony, Over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe, Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy haggard face. Ne'er will thy husband re -turn from the war again, Cold is thy heart, and as frozen as Charity! Cold are thy children. Now God be thy comforter!" ROBERT SOUTHEY: Poems, Philad., 1843, p. 250.

Example II.—Boys.—A Dactylic Stanza.

"Boys will an -ticipate, lavish, and dissipate All that your busy pate hoarded with care; And, in their foolishness, passion, and mulishness, Charge you with churlishness, spurning your pray'r."

Example III—"Labour."—The First of Five Stanzas.

"Pause not to dream of the future be -fore us; Pause not to weep the wild cares that come o'er us: Hark, how Cre -ation's deep, musical chorus, Uninter -mitting, goes up into Heaven! Never the ocean-wave falters in flowing; Never the little seed stops in its growing; More and more richly the rose-heart keeps glowing, Till from its nourishing stem it is riven." FRANCES S. OSGOOD: Clapp's Pioneer, p. 94.

Example IV.—"Boat Song."—First Stanza of Four.

"Hail to the chief who in triumph ad -vances! Honour'd and bless'd be the ever-green pine! Long may the tree in his banner that glances, Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! Heaven send it happy dew, Earth lend it sap anew, Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow, While ev'ry Highland glen Sends our shout back agen, 'Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! ieroe!'" WALTER SCOTT: Lady of the Lake, C. ii, St. 19.

MEASURE VI.—DACTYLIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

Example.—To the Katydid.

"Ka-ty-did, Ka-ty-did, sweetly sing, Sing to thy loving mates near to thee; Summer is come, and the trees are green, Summer's glad season so dear to thee.

Cheerily, cheerily, insect, sing; Blithe be thy notes in the hickory; Every bough shall an answer ring, Sweeter than trumpet of victory."

MEASURE VII.—DACTYLIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.

Example I.—The Bachelor.—Four Lines from Many.

"Free from sa -tiety, Care, and anx -iety, Charms in va -riety, Fall to his share." ANON.: Newspaper.

Example II.—The Pibroch.—Sixteen Lines from Forty.

"Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, Pibroch of Donuil, Wake thy wild voice anew. Summon Clan -Conuil. Come away, come away! Hark to the summons! Come in your war-array, Gentles and commons!

"Come as the winds come, when Forests are rended; Come as the waves come, when Navies are stranded; Faster come, faster come, Faster and faster! Chief, vassal, page, and groom, Tenant and master." W. SCOTT.

Example III.—"My Boy."

'There is even a happiness that makes the heart afraid.'—HOOD.

1. "One more new claimant for Human fra -ternity, Swelling the flood that sweeps On to e -ternity;

I who have filled the cup, Tremble to think of it; For, be it what it may, I must yet drink of it.

2. Room for him into the Ranks of hu -manity; Give him a place in your Kingdom of vanity! Welcome the stranger with Kindly af -fection; Hopefully, trustfully, Not with de -jection.

3. See, in his waywardness How his fist doubles; Thus pugi -listical, Daring life's troubles: Strange that the neophyte Enters ex -istence In such an attitude, Feigning re -sistance.

4. Could he but have a glimpse Into fu -turity, Well might he fight against Farther ma -turity; Yet does it seem to me As if his purity Were against sinfulness Ample se -curity.

5. Incompre -hensible, Budding im -mortal, Thrust all a -mazedly Under life's portal; Born to a destiny Clouded in mystery, Wisdom it -self cannot Guess at its history.

6. Something too much of this Timon-like croaking; See his face wrinkle now, Laughter pro -voking. Now he cries lustily Bravo, my hearty one! Lungs like an orator Cheering his party on.

7. Look how his merry eyes Turn to me pleadingly! Can we help loving him Loving ex -ceedingly? Partly with hopefulness, Partly with fears, Mine, as I look at him, Moisten with tears.

8. Now then to find a name; Where shall we search for it? Turn to his ancestry, Or to the church for it? Shall we en -dow him with Title he -roic, After some warrior, Poet, or stoic?

9. One aunty says he will Soon 'lisp in numbers,' Turning his thoughts to rhyme, E'en in his slumbers; Watts rhymed in babyhood, No blemish spots his fame Christen him even so: Young Mr. Watts his name." ANONYMOUS: Knickerbocker, and Newspapers, 1849.

MEASURE VIII.—DACTYLIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

"Fearfully, Tearfully."

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it. Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet, if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an amphimac, or amphimacer. Of this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the piece, may serve as a specimen:—

"Far from the battle's shock, Fate hath fast bound thee; Chain'd to the rugged rock, Waves warring round thee.

[Now, for] the trumpet's sound, Sea-birds are shrieking; Hoarse on thy rampart's bound, Billows are breaking."

OBS. 2.—This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and, perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line is varied to a different measure.

"ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK."

"Bird of the wilderness, Blithesome and cumberless, Light be thy matin o'er moorland and lea; Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place; O! to a -bide in the desert with thee!

"Wild is thy lay, and loud, Far on the downy cloud; Love gives it energy, love gave it birth: Where, on thy dewy wing, Where art thou journeying? Thy lay is in heav -en, thy love is on earth.

"O'er moor and mountain green, O'er fell and fountain sheen, O'er the red streamer that heralds the day; Over the cloudlet dim, Over the rainbow's rim, Musical cherub, hie, hie thee a -way.

"Then, when the gloamin comes, Low in the heather blooms. Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be. Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place; O! to a -bide in the desert with thee!"

OBS. 3.—It is observed by Churchill, (New Gram., p. 387,) that, "Shakspeare has used the dactyl, as appropriate to mournful occasions." The chief example which he cites, is the following:—

"Midnight, as -sist our moan, Help us to sigh and groan Heavily, heavily. Graves, yawn and yield your dead, Till death be uttered Heavily, heavily." Much Ado, V, 3

OBS. 4.—These six lines of Dactylic (or Composite) Dimeter are subjoined by the poet to four of Trochaic Tetrameter. There does not appear to me to be any particular adaptation of either measure to mournful subjects, more than to others; but later instances of this metre may be cited, in which such is the character of the topic treated. The following long example consists of lines of two feet, most of them dactylic only; but, of the seventy-six, there are twelve which may be otherwise divided, and as many more which must be, because they commence with a short syllable.

"THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS."—BY THOMAS HOOD.

"One more un -fortunate, Weary of breath, Rashly im -portunate, Gone to her death! Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care; Fashioned so slenderly, Young, and so fair!

Look at her garments Clinging like cerements, Whilst the wave constantly Drips from her clothing; Take her up instantly, Loving, not loathing.

Touch her not scornfully; Think of her mournfully, Gently, and humanly; Not of the stains of her: All that re -mains of her Now, is pure womanly.

Make no deep scrutiny Into her mutiny, Rash and un -dutifull; Past all dis -honour, Death has left on her Only the beautiful.

Still, for all slips of hers, One of Eve's family, Wipe those poor lips of hers, Oozing so clammily. Loop up her tresses, Escaped from the comb, Her fair auburn tresses; Whilst wonderment guesses, Where was her home?

Who was her father? Who was her mother? Had she a sister? Had she a brother? Was there a dearer one Yet, than all other?

Alas, for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the sun! O, it was pitiful! Near a whole city full, Home she had none.

Sisterly, brotherly, Fatherly, motherly, Feelings had changed; Love, by harsh evidence, Thrown from its eminence Even God's providence Seeming e -stranged.

Where the lamps quiver So far in the river, With many a light, From window and casement, From garret to basement, She stood, with amazement, Houseless, by night.

The bleak wind of March Made her tremble and shiver; But not the dark arch, Or the black-flowing river: Mad from life's history, Glad to death's mystery, Swift to be hurled, Anywhere, anywhere, Out of the world!

In she plung'd boldly, No matter how coldly The rough river ran, Over the brink of it: Picture it, think of it, Dissolute man!" Clapp's Pioneer, p. 54.

OBS. 5.—As each of our principal feet,—the Iambus, the Trochee, the Anapest, and the Dactyl,—has always one, and only one long syllable; it should follow, that, in each of our principal orders of verse,—the Iambic, the Trochaic, the Anapestic, and the Dactylic,—any line, not diversified by a secondary foot, must be reckoned to contain just as many feet as long syllables. So, too, of the Amphibrach, and any line reckoned Amphibrachic. But it happens, that the common error by which single-rhymed Trochaics have so often been counted a foot shorter than they are, is also extended by some writers to single-rhymed Dactylics—the rhyming syllable, if long, being esteemed supernumerary! For example, three dactylic stanzas, in each of which a pentameter couplet is followed by a hexameter line, and this again by a heptameter, are introduced by Prof. Hart thus: "The Dactylic Tetrameter, Pentameter, and Hexameter, with the additional or hypermeter syllable, are all found combined in the following extraordinary specimen of versification. * * * This is the only specimen of Dactylic hexameter or even pentameter verse that the author recollects to have seen."

LAMENT OF ADAM.

"Glad was our meeting: thy glittering bosom I heard, Beating on mine, like the heart of a timorous bird; Bright were thine eyes as the stars, and their glances were radiant as gleams Falling from eyes of the angels, when singing by Eden's pur -pureal streams.

"Happy as seraphs were we, for we wander'd a -lone, Trembling with passionate thrills, when the twilight had flown: Even the echo was silent: our kisses and whispers of love Languish'd un -heard and un -known, like the breath of the blossoming buds of the grove.

"Life hath its pleasures, but fading are they as the flowers; Sin hath its sorrows, and sadly we turn'd from those bowers; Bright were the angels be -hind with their falchions of heavenly flame! Dark was the desolate desert be -fore us, and darker the depth of our shame!" HENRY B. HIRST: Hart's English Grammar, p. 190.

OBS. 6.—Of Dactylic verse, our prosodists and grammarians in general have taken but very little notice; a majority of them appearing by their silence, to have been utterly ignorant of the whole species. By many, the dactyl is expressly set down as an inferior foot, which they imagine is used only for the occasional diversification of an iambic, trochaic, or anapestic line. Thus Everett: "It is never used except as a secondary foot, and then in the first place of the line."—English Versification, p. 122. On this order of verse, Lindley Murray bestowed only the following words: "The DACTYLIC measure being very uncommon, we shall give only one example of one species of it:—

Fr=om th~e l~ow pl=eas~ures ~of th=is f~all~en n=at~ure, Rise we to higher, &c."—Gram., 12mo, p. 207; 8vo, p. 257.

Read this example with "we rise" for "Rise we," and all the poetry of it is gone! Humphrey says, "Dactyle verse is seldom used, as remarked heretofore; but is used occasionally, and has three metres; viz. of 2, 3, and 4 feet. Specimens follow. 2 feet. Free from anxiety. 3 feet. Singing most sweetly and merrily. 4 feet. Dactylic measures are wanting in energy."—English Prosody, p. 18. Here the prosodist has made his own examples; and the last one, which unjustly impeaches all dactylics, he has made very badly—very prosaically; for the word "Dactylic," though it has three syllables, is properly no dactyl, but rather an amphibrach.

OBS. 7.—By the Rev. David Blair, this order of poetic numbers is utterly misconceived and misrepresented. He says of it, "DACTYLIC verse consists of a short syllable, with one, two, or three feet, and a long syllable; as,

'D~istr=act~ed w~ith w=oe, 'I'll r=ush ~on th~e f=oe.' ADDISON."—Blair's Pract. Gram., p. 119.

"'Y~e sh=eph~erds s~o ch=eerf~ul ~and g=ay, 'Wh~ose fl=ocks n~ev~er c=arel~essl~y r=oam; 'Sh~ould C=or~yd~on's h=app~en t~o str=ay, 'Oh! c=all th~e p=oor w=and~er~ers h=ome.' SHENSTONE."—Ib., p. 120.

It is manifest, that these lines are not dactylic at all. There is not a dactyl in them. They are composed of iambs and anapests. The order of the versification is Anapestic; but it is here varied by the very common diversification of dropping the first short syllable. The longer example is from a ballad of 216 lines, of which 99 are thus varied, and 117 are full anapestics.

OBS. 8.—The makers of school-books are quite as apt to copy blunders, as to originate them; and, when an error is once started in a grammar, as it passes with the user for good learning, no one can guess where it will stop. It seems worth while, therefore, in a work of this nature, to be liberal in the citation of such faults as have linked themselves, from time to time, with the several topics of our great subject. It is not probable, that the false scansion just criticised originated with Blair; for the Comprehensive Grammar, a British work, republished in its third edition, by Dobson, of Philadelphia, in 1789, teaches the same doctrine, thus: "Dactylic measure may consist of one, two, or three Dactyls, introduced by a feeble syllable, and terminated by a strong one; as,

M~y d=ear Ir~ish f=olks, C=ome l=eave ~off y~our j=okes, And b=uy ~up m~y h=alfp~ence s~o f=ine; S~o f=air ~and s~o br=ight, Th~ey'll g=ive y~ou d~e -l=ight: Ob -s=erve h~ow th~ey gl=ist~er ~and sh=ine. SWIFT.

A c=obl~er th~ere w=as ~and h~e l=iv'd ~in ~a st=all, Wh~ich s=erv'd h~im f~or k=itch~en, f~or p=arl~our ~and hall; N~o c=oin ~in h~is p=ock~et, n~o c=are ~in h~is p=ate; N~o ~am -b=it~ion h~e h=ad, ~and n~o d=uns ~at h~is g=ate." Comp. Gram., p. 150.

To this, the author adds, "Dactylic measure becomes Anapestic by setting off an Iambic foot in the beginning of the line."—Ib. These verses, all but the last one, unquestionably have an iambic foot at the beginning; and, for that reason, they are not, and by no measurement can be, dactylics. The last one is purely anapestic. All the divisional bars, in either example, are placed wrong.



ORDER V.—COMPOSITE VERSE.

Composite verse is that which consists of various metres, or different feet, combined,—not accidentally, or promiscuously, but by design, and with some regularity. In Composite verse, of any form, the stress must be laid rhythmically, as in the simple orders, else the composition will be nothing better than unnatural prose. The possible variety of combinations in this sort of numbers is unlimited; but, the pure and simple kinds being generally preferred, any stated mixture of feet is comparatively uncommon. Certain forms which may be scanned by other methods, are susceptible also of division as Composites. Hence there cannot be an exact enumeration of the measures of this order, but instances, as they occur, may be cited to exemplify it.

Example I.—From Swift's Irish Feast.

"O'Rourk's noble fare will ne'er be forgot, By those who were there, or those who were not. His rev -els to keep, we sup and we dine On sev -en score sheep, fat bul -locks, and swine. Usquebaugh to our feast in pails was brought up, An hun -dred at least, and a mad -der our cup. O there is the sport! we rise with the light, In disor -derly sort, from snor -ing all night. O how was I trick'd! my pipe it was broke, My pock -et was pick'd, I lost my new cloak. I'm ri -fled, quoth Nell, of man -tle and kerch -er: Why then fare them well, the de'il take the search -er." Johnson's Works of the Poets, Vol. v, p. 310.

Here the measure is tetrameter; and it seems to have been the design of the poet, that each hemistich should consist of one iamb and one anapest. Such, with a few exceptions, is the arrangement throughout the piece; but the hemistichs which have double rhyme, may each be divided into two amphibrachs. In Everett's Versification, at p. 100, the first six lines of this example are broken into twelve, and set in three stanzas, being given to exemplify "The Line of a single Anapest preceded by an Iambus," or what he improperly calls "The first and shortest species of Anapestic lines." His other instance of the same metre is also Composite verse, rather than Anapestic, even by his own showing. "In the following example," says he, "we have this measure alternating with Amphibrachic lines:"

Example II.—From Byron's Manfred.

"The Captive Usurper, Hurl'd down from the throne. Lay buried in torpor, Forgotten and lone; I broke through his slumbers, I shiv -er'd his chain, I leagued him with numbers He's Ty -rant again! With the blood of a mill -ion he'll an -swer my care, With a na -tion's destruc -tion his flight and despair." Act ii, Sc. 3.

Here the last two lines, which are not cited by Everett, are pure anapestic tetrameters; and it may be observed, that, if each two of the short lines were printed as one, the eight which are here scanned otherwise, would become four of the same sort, except that these would each begin with an iambus. Hence the specimen sounds essentially as anapestic verse.

Example III.—Woman on the Field of Battle.

"Gentle and lovely form, What didst thou here, When the fierce battle storm Bore down the spear?

Banner and shiver'd crest, Beside thee strown, Tell that a -midst the best Thy work was done!

Low lies the stately head, Earth-bound the free: How gave those haughty dead A place to thee?

Slumb'rer! thine early bier Friends should have crown'd, Many a flow'r and tear Shedding around.

Soft voices, dear and young, Mingling their swell, Should o'er thy dust have sung Earth's last farewell.

Sisters a -bove the grave Of thy repose Should have bid vi'lets wave With the white rose.

Now must the trumpet's note. Savage and shrill, For requi'm o'er thee float, Thou fair and still!

And the swift charger sweep, In full career, Trampling thy place of sleep Why cam'st thou here?

Why? Ask the true heart why Woman hath been Ever, where brave men die, Unshrink -ing seen.

Unto this harvest ground, Proud reap -ers came, Some for that stirring sound, A warr -ior's name:

Some for the stormy play, And joy of strife, And some to fling away A wea -ry life.

But thou, pale sleeper, thou, With the slight frame, And the rich locks, whose glow Death can -not tame;

Only one thought, one pow'r, Thee could have led, So through the tempest's hour To lift thy head!

Only the true, the strong, The love whose trust Woman's deep soul too long Pours on the dust."

HEMANS: Poetical Works, Vol. ii, p. 157.

Here are fourteen stanzas of composite dimeter, each having two sorts of lines; the first sort consisting, with a few exceptions, of a dactyl and an amphimac; the second, mostly, of two iambs; but, in some instances, of a trochee and an iamb;—the latter being, in such a connexion, much the more harmonious and agreeable combination of quantities.

Example IV.—Airs from a "Serenata."

Air 1.

"Love sounds the alarm, And fear is a-fly~ing; When beau -ty's the prize, What mor -tal fears dy -~ing? In defence of my treas -~ure, I'd bleed at each vein; Without her no pleas -ure; For life is a pain."

Air 2.

"Consid -er, fond shep -h~erd, How fleet -ing's the pleas -~ure, That flat -ters our hopes In pursuit of the fair: The joys that attend ~it, By mo -ments we meas -~ure; But life is too lit -tle To meas -ure our care."

GAY'S POEMS: Johnson's Works of the Poets, VoL vii, p. 378.

These verses are essentially either anapestic or amphibrachic. The anapest divides two of them in the middle; the amphibrach will so divide eight. But either division will give many iambs. By the present scansion, the first foot is an iamb in all of them but the two anapestics.

Example V.—"The Last Leaf."

1. "I saw him once before As he pass -~ed by the door, And again The pave -ment stones resound As he tot -ters o'er the ground With his cane.

2. They say that in his prime, Ere the prun -ing knife of Time Cut him down, Not a bet -ter man was found By the cri -er on his round Through the town.

3. But now he walks the streets, And he looks at all he meets So forlorn; And he shakes his fee -ble head, That it seems as if he said, They are gone.

4. The mos -sy mar -bles rest On the lips that he has press'd In their bloom; And the names he lov'd to hear Have been carv'd for man -y a year On the tomb.

5. My grand -mamma has said, Poor old La -dy! she is dead Long ago, That he had a Ro -man nose, And his cheek was like a rose In the snow.

6. But now his nose is thin, And it rests upon his chin Like a staff; And a crook is in his back And a mel -anchol -y crack In his laugh.

7. I know it is a sin For me [thus] to sit and grin At him here; But the old three-cor -ner'd hat, And the breech -es, and all that, Are so queer!

8. And if I should live to be The last leaf upon the tree In the spring, Let them smile, as I do now, At the old forsak -en bough Where I cling." OLIVER W. HOLMES: The Pioneer, 1843, p. 108.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—Composite verse, especially if the lines be short, is peculiarly liable to uncertainty, and diversity of scansion; and that which does not always abide by one chosen order of quantities, can scarcely be found agreeable; it must be more apt to puzzle than to please the reader. The eight stanzas of this last example, have eight lines of iambic trimeter; and, since seven times in eight, this metre holds the first place in the stanza, it is a double fault, that one such line seems strayed from its proper position. It would be better to prefix the word Now to the fourth line, and to mend the forty-third thus:—

"And should I live to be"

The trissyllabic feet of this piece, as I scan it, are numerous; being the sixteen short lines of monometer, and the twenty-four initial feet of the lines of seven syllables. Every one of the forty—(except the thirty-sixth, "The last leaf"—) begins with a monosyllable which may be varied in quantity; so that, with stress laid on this monosyllable, the foot becomes an amphimac; without such stress, an anapest.

OBS. 2.—I incline to read this piece as composed of iambs and anapests; but E. A. Poe, who has commended "the effective harmony of these lines," and called the example "an excellently well conceived and well managed specimen of versification," counts many syllables long, which such a reading makes short, and he also divides all but the iambics in a way quite different from mine, thus: "Let us scan the first stanza.

'I s=aw h~im =once b~ef=ore As h~e p=ass~ed b=y th~e d=oor, And ~a- g=ain

Th~e p=ave- m~ent st=ones r~es=ound As h~e t=ott~ers =o'er th~e gr=ound W=ith h~is c=ane.'

This," says he, "is the general scansion of the poem. We have first three iambuses. The second line shifts the rhythm into the trochaic, giving us three trochees, with a caesura equivalent, in this case, to a trochee. The third line is a trochee and equivalent caesura."—POE'S NOTES UPON ENGLISH VERSE: Pioneer, p. 109. These quantities are the same as those by which the whole piece is made to consist of iambs and amphimacs.

OBS. 3.—In its rhythmical effect upon the ear, a supernumerary short syllable at the end of a line, may sometimes, perhaps, compensate for the want of such a syllable at the beginning of the next line, as may be seen in the fourth example above; but still it is unusual, and seems improper, to suppose such syllables to belong to the scansion of the subsequent line; for the division of lines, with their harmonic pauses, is greater than the division of feet, and implies that no foot can ever actually be split by it. Poe has suggested that the division into lines may be disregarded in scanning, and sometimes must be. He cites for an example the beginning of Byron's "Bride of Abydos,"—a passage which has been admired for its easy flow, and which, he says, has greatly puzzled those who have attempted to scan it. Regarding it as essentially anapestic tetrameter, yet as having some initial iambs, and the first and fifth lines dactylic, I shall here divide it accordingly, thus:—

"Kn=ow y~e th~e l=and wh~ere th~e c=ypr~ess ~and m=yrtl~e Ar~e =em -bl~ems ~of d=eeds th~at ~are d=one ~in th~eir cl=ime Where the rage of the vul -ture, the love of the tur -tle, Now melt into soft -ness, now mad -den to crime? Know ye the land of the cedar and vine. Where the flow'rs ever blos -som, the beams ever shine, And the light wings of Zeph -yr, oppress'd with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gar -dens of Gul in her bloom? Where the cit -ron and ol -ive are fair -est of fruit, And the voice of the night -ingale nev -er is mute? Where the vir -gins are soft as the ros -es they twine, And all, save the spir -it of man, is divine? 'Tis the land of the East- 't is the clime of the Sun Can he smile on such deeds as his chil -dren have done? Oh, wild as the ac -cents of lov -ers' farewell, Are the hearts that they bear, and the tales that they tell."

OBS. 4.—These lines this ingenious prosodist divides not thus, but, throwing them together like prose unpunctuated, finds in them "a regular succession of dactylic rhythms, varied only at three points by equivalent spondees, and separated into two distinct divisions by equivalent terminating caesuras." He imagines that, "By all who have ears—not over long—this will be acknowledged as the true and the sole true scansion."—E. A. Poe: Pioneer, p. 107. So it may, for aught I know; but, having dared to show there is an other way quite as simple and plain, and less objectionable, I submit both to the judgement of the reader:—

"Kn=ow y~e th~e l=and wh~ere th~e c=ypr~ess ~and m=yrtl~e ~are =embl~ems ~of d=eeds th~at ~are d=one ~in th~eir cl=ime wh~ere th~e r=age ~of th~e v=ult~ure th~e l=ove ~of th~e t=urtl~e n~ow m=elt ~int~o s=oftn~ess n~ow madd~en t~o crime. Kn=ow y~e th~e l=and ~of th~e c=ed~ar ~and v=ine wh~ere th~e fl=ow'rs ~ev~er bl=oss~om th~e b=eams ~ev~er sh=ine wh~ere th=e l=ight w~ings =of z=eph=yr ~op -pr=ess'd w~ith p~er -f=ume w=ax f=aint ~o'er th~e g=ard~ens ~of G=ul ~in h~er bl=oom wh~ere th~e c=itr~on ~and =oli~ve ~are f=air~est ~of fr=uit ~and th~e v=oice ~of th~e n=ight~ing~ale n=ev~er ~is m=ute wh~ere th~e v=irg~ins ~are s=oft ~as th~e r=os~es th~ey tw=ine =and =all s~ave th~e sp=ir~it ~of m=an ~is d~i- v=ine 't~is th~e l=and ~of th~e E=ast 't~is th~e cl=im~e ~of th~e S=un c~an h~e sm=ile ~on s~uch d=eeds ~as h~is ch=ildr~en h~ave d~one =oh w=ild ~as th~e =acc~ents ~of l=ov~ers' f~are- w=ell ~are th~e h=earts th~at th~ey be=ar and th~e t=ales th~at th~ey t=ell." Ib.

OBS. 5.—In the sum and proportion of their quantities, the anapest, the dactyl, and the amphibrach, are equal, each having two syllables short to one long; and, with two short quantities between two long ones, lines may be tolerably accordant in rhythm, though the order, at the commencement, be varied, and their number of syllables be not equal. Of the following sixteen lines, nine are pure anapestic tetrameters; one may be reckoned dactylic, but it may quite as well be said to have a trochee, an iambus, and two anapests or two amphimacs; one is a spondee and three anapests; and the rest may be scanned as amphibrachics ending with an iambus, but are more properly anapestics commencing with an iambus. Like the preceding example from Byron, they lack the uniformity of proper composites, and are rather to be regarded as anapestics irregularly diversified.

THE ALBATROSS.

"'Tis said the Albatross never rests."—Buffon.

"Wh~ere th~e f=ath -~oml~ess w=aves in magnif -icence toss, H=omel~ess ~and h=igh soars the wild Albatross; Unwea -ried, undaunt -ed, unshrink -ing, alone, The o -cean his em -pire, the tem -pest his throne. When the ter -rible whirl -wind raves wild o'er the surge, And the hur -ricane howls out the mar -iner's dirge, In thy glo -ry thou spurn -est the dark -heaving sea, Pr=oud b=ird of the o -cean-world, home -less and free. When the winds are at rest, and the sun in his glow, And the glit -tering tide sleeps in beau -ty below, In the pride of thy pow -er trium -phant above, With thy mate thou art hold -ing thy rev -els of love. Untir -ed, unfet -tered, unwatched, unconfined, Be my spir -it like thee, in the world of the mind; No lean -ing for earth, e'er to wea -ry its flight, And fresh as thy pin -ions in re -gions of light." SAMUEL DALY LANGTREE: North American Reader, p. 443.

OBS. 6.—It appears that the most noted measures of the Greek and Latin poets were not of any simple order, but either composites, or mixtures too various to be called composites. It is not to be denied, that we have much difficulty in reading them rhythmically, according to their stated feet and scansion; and so we should have, in reading our own language rhythmically, in any similar succession of feet. Noticing this in respect to the Latin Hexameter, or Heroic verse, Poe says, "Now the discrepancy in question is not observable in English metres; where the scansion coincides with the reading, so far as the rhythm is concerned—that is to say, if we pay no attention to the sense of the passage. But these facts indicate a radical difference in the genius of the two languages, as regards their capacity for modulation. In truth, * * * the Latin is a far more stately tongue than our own. It is essentially spondaic; the English is as essentially dactylic."—Pioneer, p. 110. (See the marginal note in Sec.3d. at Obs. 22d, above.) Notwithstanding this difference, discrepance, or difficulty, whatever it may be, some of our poets have, in a few instances, attempted imitations of certain Latin metres; which imitations it may be proper briefly to notice under the present head. The Greek or Latin Hexameter line has, of course, six feet, or pulsations. According to the Prosodies, the first four of these may be either dactyls or spondees; the fifth is always, or nearly always, a dactyl; and the sixth, or last, is always a spondee: as,

"L=ud~er~e qu=ae v=el -l=em c~al~a -m=o p=er -m=is~it ~a -gr=est=i." Virg.

"Inf=an- d=um, R=e -g=in~a, j~u -b=es r~en~o -v=ar~e d~o -l=or=em." Id.

Of this sort of verse, in English, somebody has framed the following very fair example:—

"M=an ~is ~a c=ompl=ex, c=omp=ound c=omp=ost, y=et ~is h~e G=od-b=orn."

OBS. 7.—Of this species of versification, which may be called Mixed or Composite Hexameter, the most considerable specimen that I have seen in English, is Longfellow's Evangeline, a poem of one thousand three hundred and eighty-two of these long lines, or verses. This work has found admirers, and not a few; for, of these, nothing written by so distinguished a scholar could fail: but, surely, not many of the verses in question exhibit truly the feet of the ancient Hexameters; or, if they do, the ancients contented themselves with very imperfect rhythms, even in their noblest heroics. In short, I incline to the opinion of Poe, that, "Nothing less than the deservedly high reputation of Professor Longfellow, could have sufficed to give currency to his lines as to Greek Hexameters. In general, they are neither one thing nor another. Some few of them are dactylic verses—English dactylics. But do away with the division into lines, and the most astute critic would never have suspected them of any thing more than prose."—Pioneer, p. 111. The following are the last ten lines of the volume, with such a division into feet as the poet is presumed to have contemplated:—

"Still stands the forest pri -meval; but under the shade of its branches Dwells an -other race, with other customs and language. Only a -long the shore of the mournful and misty At -lantic Linger a few A -cadian peasants, whose fathers from exile Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom. In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still busy; Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of homespun, And by the evening fire re -peat E -vangeline's story, While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighbouring ocean Speaks, and in accents dis -consolate answers the wail of the forest." HENRY W. LONGFELLOW: Evangeline, p. 162.

OBS. 8.—An other form of verse, common to the Greeks and Romans, which has sometimes been imitated—or, rather, which some writers have attempted to imitate—in English, is the line or stanza called Sapphic, from the inventress, Sappho, a Greek poetess. The Sapphic verse, according to Fabricius, Smetius, and all good authorities, has eleven syllables, making "five feet—the first a trochee, the second a spondee, the third a dactyl, and the fourth and fifth trochees." The Sapphic stanza, or what is sometimes so called, consists of three Sapphic lines and an Adonian, or Adonic,—this last being a short line composed of "a dactyl and a spondee." Example from Horace:—

"=Int~e -g=er v=i -tae, sc~el~e -r=isqu~e p=ur~us Non e -get Mau -ri jacu -lis ne -qu' arcu, Nec ven -ena -tis gravi -da sa -gittis, Fusce, pha -retra."

To arrange eleven syllables in a line, and have half or more of them to form trochees, is no difficult matter; but, to find rhythm in the succession of "a trochee, a spondee, and a dactyl," as we read words, seems hardly practicable. Hence few are the English Sapphics, if there be any, which abide by the foregoing formule of quantities and feet. Those which I have seen, are generally, if not in every instance, susceptible of a more natural scansion as being composed of trochees, with a dactyl, or some other foot of three syllables, at the beginning of each line. The caesural pause falls sometimes after the fourth syllable, but more generally, and much more agreeably, after the fifth. Let the reader inspect the following example, and see if he do not agree with me in laying the accent on only the first syllable of each foot, as the feet are here divided. The accent, too, must be carefully laid. Without considerable care in the reading, the hearer will not suppose the composition to be any thing but prose:—

"THE WIDOW."—(IN "SAPPHICS.")

"Cold was the night-wind, drifting fast the snow fell, Wide were the downs, and shelter -less and naked, When a poor Wanderer struggled on her journey, Weary and way-sore.

Drear were the downs, more dreary her re -flections; Cold was the night-wind, colder was her bosom; She had no home, the world was all be -fore her; She had no shelter.

Fast o'er the heath a chariot rattlee by her; 'Pity me!' feebly cried the lonely wanderer; 'Pity me, strangers! lest, with cold and hunger, Here I should perish.

'Once I had friends, though now by all for -saken! 'Once I had parents, they are now in heaven! 'I had a home once, I had once a husband Pity me, strangers!

'I had a home once, I had once a husband 'I am a widow, poor and broken -hearted!' Loud blew the wind; un -heard was her com -plaining; On drove the chariot.

Then on the snow she laid her down to rest her; She heard a horseman; 'Pity me!' she groan'd out; Loud was the wind; un -heard was her com -plaining; On went the horseman.

Worn out with anguish, toil, and cold, and hunger, Down sunk the Wanderer; sleep had seized her senses; There did the traveller find her in the morning; God had re -leased her." ROBERT SOUTHEY: Poems, Philad., 1843, p. 251.

Among the lyric poems of Dr. Watts, is one, entitled, "THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT; an Ode attempted in English Sapphic." It is perhaps as good an example as we have of the species. It consists of nine stanzas, of which I shall here cite the first three, dividing them into feet as above:—

"When the fierce North Wind, with his airy forces, Rears up the Baltic to a foaming fury; And the red lightning with a storm of hail comes Rushing a -main down;

How the poor sailors stand a -maz'd and tremble! While the hoarse thunder, like a bloody trumpet, Roars a loud onset to the gaping waters, Quick to de -vour them.

Such shall the noise be, and the wild dis -order, (If things e -ternal may be like these earthly,) Such the dire terror, when the great Arch -angel Shakes the cre -ation." Horae Lyricae, p. 67.

"These lines," says Humphrey, who had cited the first four, "are good English Sapphics, and contain the essential traits of the original as nearly as the two languages, Greek and English, correspond to each other. This stanza, together with the poem, from which this was taken, may stand for a model, in our English compositions." Humphrey's E. Prosody, p. 19. This author erroneously supposed, that the trissyllabic foot, in any line of the Sapphic stanza, must occupy the second place: and, judging of the ancient feet and quantities by what he found, or supposed he found, in the English imitations, and not by what the ancient prosodists say of them, yet knowing that the ancient and the modern Sapphics are in several respects unlike, he presented forms of scansion for both, which are not only peculiar to himself, but not well adapted to either. "We have," says he, "no established rule for this kind of verse, in our English compositions, which has been uniformly adhered to. The rule for which, in Greek and Latin verse, as far as I can ascertain, was this: = ~ = = = ~ ~ = ~ = = a trochee, a moloss, a pyrrhic, a trochee, and [a] spondee; and sometimes, occasionally, a trochee, instead of a spondee, at the end. But as our language is not favourable to the use of the spondee and moloss, the moloss is seldom or never used in our English Sapphics; but, instead of which, some other trissyllable foot is used. Also, instead of the spondee, a trochee is commonly used; and sometimes a trochee instead of the pyrrhic, in the third place. As some prescribed rule, or model for imitation, may be necessary, in this case, I will cite a stanza from one of our best English poets, which may serve for a model.

'Wh=en th~e fi=erce n=orth-w~ind, w~ith h~is =air~y f=orc~es [,] R=ears ~up th~e B=alt~ic t~o ~a f=oam~ing f=ur~y; And th~e r=ed l=ightn~ing w~ith ~a st=orm ~of h=ail c~omes R=ush~ing ~am=ain d=own.' Watts." Ib., p. 19.

OBS. 12.—In "the Works of George Canning," a small book published in 1829, there is a poetical dialogue of nine stanzas, entitled, "The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder," said to be "a burlesque on Mr. Southey's Sapphics." The metre appears to be near enough like to the foregoing. But these verses I divide, as I have divided the others, into trochees with initial dactyls. At the commencement, the luckier party salutes the other thus:—

"'Needy knife -grinder! whither are you going? Rough is the road, your wheel is out of order Bleak blows the blast; your hat has got a hole in't, So have your breeches!

'Weary knife -grinder! little think the proud ones Who in their coaches roll a -long the turnpike Road, what hard work 'tis, crying all day, 'Knives and Scissors to grind O!'" P. 44.

OBS. 13.—Among the humorous poems of Thomas Green Fessenden, published under the sobriquet of Dr. Caustic, or "Christopher Caustic, M. D.," may be seen an other comical example of Sapphics, which extends to eleven stanzas. It describes a contra-dance, and is entitled, "Horace Surpassed." The conclusion is as follows:—

"Willy Wagnimble dancing with Flirtilla, Almost as light as air-balloon inflated, Rigadoons around her, 'till the lady's heart is Forced to surrender.

Benny Bamboozle cuts the drollest capers, Just like a camel, or a hippopot'mus; Jolly Jack Jumble makes as big a rout as Forty Dutch horses.

See Angelina lead the mazy dance down; Never did fairy trip it so fantastic; How my heart flutters, while my tongue pronounces, 'Sweet little seraph!'

Such are the joys that flow from contra-dancing, Pure as the primal happiness of Eden, Love, mirth, and music, kindle in accordance Raptures extatic."—Poems, p. 208.



SECTION V.—ORAL EXERCISES.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE.

LESSON I.—RESTORE THE RHYTHM.

"The lion is laid down in his lair."—O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 134.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the word "lion," here put for Cowper's word "beast" destroys the metre, and changes the line to prose. But, according to the definition given on p. 827, "Verse, in opposition to prose, is language arranged into metrical lines of some determinate length and rhythm—language so ordered as to produce harmony by a due succession of poetic feet." This line was composed of one iamb and two anapests; and, to such form, it should be restored, thus: "The beast is laid down in his lair."—Cowper's Poems, Vol. i, p. 201.]

"Where is thy true treasure? Gold says, not in me." —Hallock's Gram., 1842, p. 66.

"Canst thou grow sad, thou sayest, as earth grows bright?" —Frazee's Gram., 1845, p. 140.

"It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well." —Wells's Gram., 1846, p. 122.

"Slow rises merit, when by poverty depressed." —Ib., p. 195; Hiley, 132; Hart, 179.

"Rapt in future times, the bard begun." —Wells's Gram., 1846, p. 153.

"Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow? Whereunto serves mercy, But to confront the visage of offence!" —Hallock's Gram., 1842, p. 118.

"Look! in this place ran Cassius's dagger through." —Kames, El. of Cr., Vol. i, p. 74.

"——When they list their lean and flashy songs, Harsh grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw." —Jamieson's Rhet., p. 135.

"Did not great Julius bleed for justice's sake?" —Dodd's Beauties of Shak., p. 253.

"Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake?" —Singer's Shakspeare, Vol. ii, p. 266.

"May I, unblam'd, express thee? Since God is light." —O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 290.

"Or hearest thou, rather, pure ethereal stream!" —2d Perversion, ib.

"Republics; kingdoms; empires, may decay; Princes, heroes, sages, sink to nought." —O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 287.

"Thou bringest, gay creature as thou art, A solemn image to my heart." —E. J. Hallock's Gram., p. 197.

"Know thyself presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is Man." —O. B. Peirce's Gram., p. 285.

"Raised on a hundred pilasters of gold." —Charlemagne, C. i, St. 40.

"Love in Adalgise's breast has fixed his sting." —Ib., C. i, St. 30.

"Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November, February twenty-eight alone, All the rest thirty and one." Colet's Grammar, or Paul's Accidence. Lond., 1793, p. 75.

LESSON II.—RESTORE THE RHYTHM.

"'Twas not the fame of what he once had been, Or tales in old records and annals seen." —Rowe's Lucan, B. i, l. 274.

"And Asia now and Afric are explor'd, For high-priced dainties, and citron board." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 311.

"Who knows not, how the trembling judge beheld The peaceful court with arm'd legions fill'd?" —Eng. Poets; ib., B. i, l. 578.

"With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er, With thee burning Libyan sands explore." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 661.

"Hasty and headlong different paths they tread, As blind impulse and wild distraction lead." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. i, l. 858.

"But Fate reserv'd to perform its doom, And be the minister of wrath to Rome." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 136.

"Thus spoke the youth. When Cato thus exprest The sacred counsels of his most inmost breast." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 435.

"These were the strict manners of the man, And this the stubborn course in which they ran; The golden mean unchanging to pursue, Constant to keep the proposed end in view." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 580.

"What greater grief can a Roman seize, Than to be forc'd to live on terms like these!" —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 782.

"He views the naked town with joyful eyes, While from his rage an arm'd people flies." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 880.

"For planks and beams he ravages the wood, And the tough bottom extends across the flood." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 1040.

"A narrow pass the horned mole divides, Narrow as that where Euripus' strong tides Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. ii, l. 1095.

"No force, no fears their hands unarm'd bear, But looks of peace and gentleness they wear." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. iii, l. 112.

"The ready warriors all aboard them ride, And wait the return of the retiring tide." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. iv, l. 716.

"He saw those troops that long had faithful stood, Friends to his cause, and enemies to good, Grown weary of their chief, and satiated with blood." —Eng. Poets: ib., B. v, l. 337.



CHAPTER V.—QUESTIONS.

ORDER OF REHEARSAL, AND METHOD OF EXAMINATION.

PART FOURTH, PROSODY.

[Fist][The following questions call the attention of the student to the main doctrines in the foregoing code of Prosody, and embrace or demand those facts which it is most important for him to fix in his memory; they may, therefore, serve not only to aid the teacher in the process of examining his classes, but also to direct the learner in his manner of preparation for recital.]

LESSON I.—OF PUNCTUATION.

1. Of what does Prosody treat? 2. What is Punctuation? 3. What are the principal points, or marks? 4. What pauses are denoted by the first four points? 5. What pauses are required by the other four? 6. What is the general use of the Comma? 7. How many rules for the Comma are there, and what are their heads? 8. What says Rule 1st of Simple Sentences? 9. What says Rule 2d of Simple Members? 10. What says Rule 3d of More than Two Words? 11. What says Rule 4th of Only Two Words? 12. What says Rule 5th of Words in Pairs? 13. What says Rule 6th of Words put Absolute? 14. What says Rule 7th of Words in Apposition? 15. What says Rule 8th of Adjectives? 16. What says Rule 9th of Finite Verbs? 17. What says Rule 10th of Infinitives? 18. What says Rule 11th of Participles? 19. What says Rule 12th of Adverbs? 20. What says Rule 13th of Conjunctions? 21. What says Rule 14th of Prepositions? 22. What says Rule 15th of Interjections? 23. What says Rule 16th of Words Repeated? 24. What says Rule 17th of Dependent Quotations?

LESSON II.—OF THE COMMA.

1. How many exceptions, or forms of exception, are there to Rule 1st for the comma? 2.—to Rule 2d? 3.—to Rule 3d? 4.—to Rule 4th? 5.—to Rule 5th? 6.—to Rule 6th? 7.—to Rule 7th? 8.—to Rule 8th? 9.—to Rule 9th? 10.—to Rule 10th? 11.—to Rule 11th? 12.—to Rule 12th? 13.—to Rule 13th? 14.—to Rule 14th? 15.—to Rule 15th? 16.—to Rule 16th? 17.—to Rule 17th? 18. What says the Exception to Rule 1st of a Long Simple Sentence? 19. What says Exception 1st to Rule 2d of Restrictive Relatives? 20. What says Exception 2d to Rule 2d of Short Terms closely Connected? 21. What says Exception 3d to Rule 2d of Elliptical Members United? 22. What says Exception 1st to Rule 4th of Two Words with Adjuncts? 23. What says Exception 2d to Rule 4th of Two Terms Contrasted? 24. What says Exception 3d to Rule 4th of a mere Alternative of Words? 25. What says Exception 4th to Rule 4th of Conjunctions Understood?

LESSON III.—OF THE COMMA.

1. What rule speaks of the separation of Words in Apposition? 2. What says Exception 1st to Rule 7th of Complex Names? 3. What says Exception 2d to Rule 7th of Close Apposition? 4. What says Exception 3d to Rule 7th of a Pronoun without a Pause? 5. What says Exception 4th to Rule 7th of Names Acquired? 6. What says the Exception to Rule 8th of Adjectives Restrictive? 7. What is the rule which speaks of a finite Verb Understood? 8. What says the Exception to Rule 9th of a Very Slight Pause? 9. What is the Rule for the pointing of Participles? 10. What says the Exception to Rule 11th of Participles Restrictive?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Comma in Section First.]

LESSON IV.—OF THE SEMICOLON.

1. What is the general use of the Semicolon? 2. How many rules are there for the Semicolon? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Complex Members? 5. What says Rule 2d of Simple Members? 6. What says Rule 3d of Apposition, &c.?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Semicolon in Section Second.]

LESSON V.—OF THE COLON.

1. What is the general use of the Colon? 2. How many rules are there for the Colon? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Additional Remarks? 5. What says Rule 2d of Greater Pauses? 6. What says Rule 3d of Independent Quotations?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Colon in Section Third.]

LESSON VI.—OF THE PERIOD.

1. What is the general use of the Period? 2. How many rules are there for the Period? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Distinct Sentences? 5. What says Rule 2d of Allied Sentences? 6. What says Rule 3d of Abbreviations?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Period in Section Fourth.]

LESSON VII.—OF THE DASH.

1. What is the general use of the Dash? 2. How many rules are there for the Dash? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Abrupt Pauses? 5. What says Rule 2d of Emphatic Pauses? 6. What says Rule 3d of Faulty Dashes?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Dash in Section Fifth.]

LESSON VIII.—OF THE EROTEME.

1. What is the use of the Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation? 2. How many rules are there for this mark? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Questions Direct? 5. What says Rule 2d of Questions United? 6. What says Rule 3d of Questions Indirect?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Eroteme in Section Sixth.]

LESSON IX—OF THE ECPHONEME.

1. What is the use of the Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation? 2. How many rules are there for this mark? 2. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of Interjections? 5. What says Rule 2d of Invocations? 6. What says Rule 3d of Exclamatory Questions?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Ecphoneme in Section Seventh.]

LESSON X.—OF THE CURVES.

1. What is the use of the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis? 2. How many rules are there for the Curves? 3. What are their titles, or heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of the Parenthesis? 5. What says Rule 2d of Included Points?

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules given, some or all of the various examples of False Punctuation, which are arranged under the rules for the Curves in Section Eighth.]

LESSON XI.—OF THE OTHER MARKS.

1. What is the use of the Apostrophe? 2. What is the use of the Hyphen? 3. What is the use of the Diaeresis, or Dialysis? 4. What is the use of the Acute Accent? 5. What is the use of the Grave Accent? 6. What is the use of the Circumflex? 7. What is the use of the Breve, or Stenotone? 8. What is the use of the Macron, or Macrotone? 9. What is the use of the Ellipsis, or Suppression? 10. What is the use of the Caret? 11. What is the use of the Brace? 12. What is the use of the Section? 13. What is the use of the Paragraph? 14. What is the use of the Guillemets, or Quotation Points? 15. How do we mark a quotation within a quotation? 16. What is the use of the Crotchets, or Brackets? 17. What is the use of the Index, or Hand? 18. What are the six Marks of Reference in their usual order? 19. How can references be otherwise made? 20. What is the use of the Asterism, or the Three Stars? 21. What is the use of the Cedilla?

[Having correctly answered the foregoing questions, the pupil should be taught to apply the principles of punctuation; and, for this purpose, he may be required to read a portion of some accurately pointed book, or may be directed to turn to the Fourteenth Praxis, beginning on p. 821,—and to assign a reason for every mark he finds.]

LESSON XII.—OF UTTERANCE.

1. What is Utterance? 2. What does it include? 3. What is articulation? 4. How does articulation differ from pronunciation? 5. How does Comstock define it? 6. What, in his view, is a good articulation? 7. How does Bolles define articulation? 8. Is a good articulation important? 9. What are the faults opposite to it? 10. What says Sheridan, of a good articulation? 11. Upon what does distinctness depend? 13. Why is just articulation better than mere loudness? 13. Do we learn to articulate in learning to speak or read?

LESSON XIII.—OF PRONUNCIATION.

1. What is pronunciation? 2. What is it that is called Orthoepy? 3. What knowledge does pronunciation require? 4. What are the just powers of the letters? 5. How are these learned? 6. Are the just powers of the letters in any degree variable? 7. What is quantity? 8. Are all long syllables equally long, and all short ones equally short? 9. What has stress of voice to do with quantity? 10. What is accent? 11. Is every word accented? 12. Do we ever lay two equal accents on one word? 13. Have we more than one sort of accent? 14. Can any word have the secondary accent, and not the primary? 15. Can monosyllables have either? 16. What regulates accent? 17. What four things distinguish the elegant speaker?

LESSON XIV.—OF ELOCUTION.

1. What is elocution? 2. What does elocution require? 3. What is emphasis? 4. What comparative view is taken of accent and emphasis? 5. How does L. Murray connect emphasis with quantity? 6. Does emphasis ever affect accent? 7. What is the guide to a right emphasis? 8. Can one read with too many emphases? 9. What are pauses? 10. How many and what kinds of pauses are there? 11. What is said of the duration of pauses, and the taking of breath? 12. After what manner should pauses be made? 13. What pauses are particularly ungraceful? 14. What is said of rhetorical pauses? 15. How are the harmonic pauses divided? 16. Are such pauses essential to verse?

LESSON XV.—OF ELOCUTION.

17. What are inflections? 18. What is called the rising or upward inflection? 19. What is called the falling or downward inflection? 20. How are these inflections exemplified? 21. How are they used in asking questions? 22. What is said of the notation of them? 23. What constitutes a circumflex? 24. What constitutes the rising, and what the falling, circumflex? 25. Can you give examples? 26. What constitutes a monotone, in elocution? 27. Which kind of inflection is said to be most common? 28. Which is the best adapted to strong emphasis? 29. What says Comstock of rules for inflections? 30. Is the voice to be varied for variety's sake? 31. What should regulate the inflections? 32. What is cadence? 33. What says Rippingham about it? 34. What says Murray? 35. What are tones? 36. Why do they deserve particular attention? 37. What says Blair about tones? 38. What says Hiley?

LESSON XVI.—OF FIGURES.

1. What is a Figure in grammar? 2. How many kinds of figures are there? 3. What is a figure of orthography? 4. What are the principal figures of orthography? 5. What is Mimesis? 6. What is an Archaism? 7. What is a figure of etymology? 8. How many and what are the figures of etymology? 9. What is Aphaeresis? 10. What is Prosthesis? 11. What is Syncope? 12. What is Apocope? 13. What is Paragoge? 14. What is Diaeresis? 15. What is Synaeresis? 16. What is Tmesis? 17. What is a figure of syntax? 18. How many and what are the figures of syntax? 19. What is Ellipsis, in grammar? 20. Are sentences often elliptical? 21. What parts of speech can be omitted, by ellipsis? 22. What is Pleonasm? 23. When is this figure allowable? 24. What is Syllepsis? 25. What is Enallage? 26. What is Hyperbaton? 27. What is said of this figure?

LESSON XVII.—OF FIGURES.

28. What is a figure of rhetoric? 29. What peculiar name have some of these? 30. Do figures of rhetoric often occur? 31. On what are they founded? 32. How many and what are the principal figures of rhetoric? 33. What is a Simile? 34. What is a Metaphor? 35. What is an Allegory? 36. What is a Metonymy? 37. What is Synecdoche? 38. What is Hyperbole? 39. What is Vision? 40. What is Apostrophe? 41. What is Personification? 42. What is Erotesis? 43. What is Ecphonesis? 44. What is Antithesis? 45. What is Climax? 46. What is Irony? 47. What is Apophasis, or Paralipsis? 48. What is Onomatopoeia?

[Now, if you please, you may examine the quotations adopted for the Fourteenth Praxis, and may name and define the various figures of grammar which are contained therein.]

LESSON XVIII.—OF VERSIFICATION.

1. What is Versification? 2. What is verse, as distinguished from prose? 3. What is the rhythm of verse? 4. What is the quantity of a syllable? 5. How are poetic quantities denominated? 6. How are they proportioned? 7. What quantity coincides with accent or emphasis? 8. On what but the vowel sound does quantity depend? 9. Does syllabic quantity always follow the quality of the vowels? 10. Where is quantity variable, and where fixed, in English? 11. What is rhyme? 12. What is blank verse? 13. What is remarked concerning the rhyming syllables? 14. What is a stanza? 15. What uniformity have stanzas? 16. What variety have they?