in which taken together form a complete word or sentence, but most
frequently a name. The invention of this kind of composition cannot be
traced to any particular individual, but it is believed to have originated
on the decline of pure classic literature. The early French poets, from
the time of Francis I. to that of Louis XIV., practised it, but it was
carried to its greatest perfection by the Elizabethan poets. Sir John
Davies has no fewer than twenty-six poems entitled "Hymns to Astræa,"
every one of which is an acrostic on the words, "Elizabetha Regina."
Traces of something akin are to be found in the poetry of the Jews,--for
example, the 119th Psalm,--and also in the Greek "Anthology." Here it may
be noted that in Greek the word _Adam_ is compounded of the initial
letters of the four cardinal points:
Arktos = north,
Dusis = west,
Anatolê = east,
Mesembria = south;
and that the Hebrew word, ADM forms the acrostic of A[dam], D[avid],
M[essiah].
It is hardly necessary to give many specimens of this kind of literary
composition in these days, since there are so many periodicals continually
giving acrostics and relative verses, and a very few instances may
suffice. The following old verses were originally written in a copy of
Parkhurst's poems presented by the author to Thomas Buttes, who himself
wrote this acrostic on his own name:
"_T_he longer lyfe that man on earth enjoyes,
_H_is God so much the more hee dooth offende;
_O_ffending God, no doubt, mannes soule destroyes;
_M_annes soule destroyed, his torments have no ende;
_A_nd endles torments sinners must endure,
_S_ith synne Gods wrath agaynst us doth procure.
_B_eware, therefore, O wretched sinfull Wight,
_U_se well thy toongue, doo well, think not amysse;
_T_o God praye thou to guyde thee by his spright,
_T_hat thou mayest treade the path of perfect blisse.
_E_mbrace thou Christe, by faythe and fervent love,
_S_o shalt thou reyne with hym in heaven above.
Thomas Buttes
havying the first letter of everie lyne
begynnyng with a letter of his name."
A SONG OF REJOYSING FOR THE PROSPEROUS REIGNE OF OUR MOST GRATIOUS
SOVERAIGNE LADY, QUEENE ELIZABETH.
"G Geve laude unto the Lorde,
And prayse His holy name
O O let us all with one accorde
Now magnifie the same
D Due thanks unto Him yeeld
Who evermore hath beene
S So strong defence buckler and shielde
To our most Royall Queene.
A And as for her this daie
Each where about us rounde
V Up to the skie right solemnelie
The bells doe make a sounde
E Even so let us rejoice
Before the Lord our King
T To him let us now frame our voyce
With chearefull hearts to sing.
H Her Majesties intent
By thy good grace and will
E Ever O Lorde hath bene most bent
Thy lawe for to fulfil
Q Quite Thou that loving minde
With love to her agayne
U Unto her as Thou hast beene kinde
O Lord so still remaine.
E Extende Thy mightie hand
Against her mortall foes
E Expresse and shewe that Thou wilt stand
With her against all those
N Nigh unto her abide
Upholde her scepter strong
E Eke graunt us with a joyfull guide
She may continue long.
Amen."
The next is from Planché's "Songs and Poems:"
TO BEATRICE.
"_B_eauty to claim, amongst the fairest place,
_E_nchanting manner, unaffected grace,
_A_rch without malice, merry but still wise,
_T_ruth ever on her lips as in her eyes;
_R_eticent not from sullenness or pride,
_I_ntensity of feeling but to hide;
_C_an any doubt such being there may be?
_E_ach line I pen, points, matchless maid, to thee!"
Mdlle. Rachel was the recipient of the most delicate compliment the
acrostic has ever been employed to convey. A diadem was presented to her,
so arranged that the initial of the name of each stone was also the
initial of one of her principal _rôles_, and in their order formed her
name--
_R_uby, _R_oxana,
_A_methyst, _A_menaide,
_C_ornelian, _C_amille,
_H_ematite, _H_ermione,
_E_merald, _E_milie,
_L_apis lazuli, _L_aodice.
The following is an ingenious combination of acrostic and telestic
combined:
"_U_nite and untie are the same--so say yo_u_
_N_ot in wedlock, I ween, has the unity bee_n_
_I_n the drama of marriage, each wandering gou_t_
_T_o a new face would fly--all except you and _I_
_E_ach seeking to alter the _spell_ in their scen_e_."
Edgar A. Poe was the author of a complicated poem of this class, in which
the first letter in the lady's name is the first in the first line; the
second, second in the second line; the third, third in the third line, and
so on--
A VALENTINE.
(_Frances Sargent Osgood._)
"For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines!--they hold a treasure
Divine--a talisman--an amulet
That must be worn _at heart_. Search well the measure--
The words--the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labour!
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eye's scintillating soul, there lie _perdus_
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets by poets--as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the Knight Pinto--Mendez Ferdinando--
Still form a synonym for Truth. Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you _can_ do!"
_ALLITERATIVE AND ALPHABETIC VERSE._
There are some clever lines which illustrate this style on the Bunker Hill
Monument celebration:
"Americans arrayed and armed attend
Beside battalions bold, bright beauties blend,
Chiefs, clergy, citizens, conglomerate,--
Detesting despots,--daring deeds debate;
Each eye emblazoned ensigns entertain,--
Flourishing from far, fan freedom's flame.
Guards greeting guards grown gray,--guest greeting guest.
High-minded heroes hither homeward haste,
Ingenuous juniors join in jubilee,
Kith kenning kin, kind knowing kindred key.
Lo, lengthened lines lend Liberty liege love,
Mixed masses, marshalled, Monumentward move.
Note noble navies near--no novel notion
Oft our oppressors overawed old Ocean;
Presumptuous princes pristine patriots paled,
Queen's quarrel questing quotas, quondam quailed.
Rebellion roused, revolting ramparts rose.
Stout spirits, smiting servile soldiers, strove.
These thrilling themes, to thousands truly told,
Usurpers' unjust usages unfold.
Victorious vassals, vauntings vainly veiled,
Where, whilesince, Webster warlike Warren wailed.
'Xcuse 'xpletives, 'xtra queer 'xpressed,
Yielding Yankee yeomen Zest."
PRINCE CHARLES AFTER CULLODEN.
"All ardent acts affright an age abased
By brutal broils, by braggart bravery braced.
Craft's cankered courage changed Culloden's cry;
'Deal deep' deposed 'deal death'--'decoy'--'defy!'
Enough. Ere envy enters England's eyes,
Fancy's false future fades, for Fortune flies.
Gaunt, gloomy, guarded, grappling giant griefs,
Here hunted hard, his harassed heart he heaves;
In impious ire incessant ills invests,
Judging Jove's jealous judgments, jaundiced jests!
Kneel kirtled knight! keep keener kingcraft known,
Let larger lore life's levelling lesson's loan;
Marauders must meet malefactors' meeds.
No nation noisy nonconformists needs.
O, oracles of old! our orb ordain
Peace's possession--Plenty's palmy plain!
Quiet Quixotic quests; quell quarrelling;
Rebuke red riot's resonant rifle ring.
Slumber seems strangely sweet since silence smote
The threatening thunders throbbing through their throat.
Usurper! under uniform unwont
Vail valour's vaguest venture, vainest vaunt.
Well wot we which were wise. War's wildfire won
Ximenes, Xerxes, Xavier, Xenophon:
Yet you, ye yearning youth, your young years yield
Zuinglius' zealous zest--Zinzendorf Zion-zealed."
AN ANIMAL ALPHABET.
"Alligator, beetle, porcupine, whale,
Bobolink, panther, dragon-fly, snail,
Crocodile, monkey, buffalo, hare,
Dromedary, leopard, mud-turtle, bear,
Elephant, badger, pelican, ox,
Flying-fish, reindeer, anaconda, fox,
Guinea-pig, dolphin, antelope, goose,
Humming-bird, weasel, pickerel, moose,
Ibex, rhinoceros, owl, kangaroo,
Jackal, opossum, toad, cockatoo,
Kingfisher, peacock, anteater, bat,
Lizard, ichneumon, honey-bee, rat,
Mocking-bird, camel, grasshopper, mouse,
Nightingale, spider, cuttle-fish, grouse,
Ocelot, pheasant, wolverine, auk,
Periwininkle, ermine, katydid, hawk,
Quail, hippopotamus, armadillo, moth,
Rattlesnake, lion, woodpecker, sloth,
Salamander, goldfinch, angleworm, dog,
Tiger, flamingo, scorpion, frog,
Unicorn, ostrich, nautilus, mole,
Viper, gorilla, basilisk, sole,
Whippoorwill, beaver, centipede, fawn,
Xantho, canary, polliwog, swan,
Yellowhammer, eagle, hyena, lark,
Zebra, chameleon, butterfly, shark."
Of affected alliteration as used by modern poets, there is a very good
imitation of Swinburne's style in Bayard Taylor's "Diversions of the Echo
Club,"[9] where Galahad chants "in rare and rhythmic redundancy, the
viciousness of virtue:"
THE LAY OF MACARONI.
"As a wave that steals when the winds are stormy
From creek to cove of the curving shore,
Buffeted, blown, and broken before me,
Scattered and spread to its sunlit core.
As a dove that dips in the dark of maples,
To sip the sweetness of shelter and shade,
I kneel in thy nimbus, O noon of Naples,
I bathe in thine beauty, by thee embayed.
What is it ails me that I should sing of her?
The queen of the flashes and flames that were!
Yea, I have felt the shuddering sting of her,
The flower-sweet throat and the hands of her!
I have swayed and sung to the sound of her psalters,
I have danced her dances of dizzy delight,
I have hallowed mine hair to the horns of her altars,
Between the nightingale's song and the night!
What is it, Queen, that now I should do for thee?
What is it now I should ask at thine hands?
Blow of the trumpets thine children once blew for thee
Break from thine feet and thine bosom the bands?
Nay, as sweet as the songs of Leone Leoni,
And gay as her garments of gem-sprinkled gold,
She gives me mellifluous, mild macaroni,
The choice of her children when cheeses are old!
And over me hover, as if by the wings of it,
Frayed in the furnace by flame that is fleet,
The curious coils and the strenuous strings of it,
Dropping, diminishing down, as I eat;
Lo! and the beautiful Queen, as she brings of it,
Lifts me the links of the limitless chain,
Bidding mine mouth chant the splendidest things of it,
Out of the wealth of my wonderful brain!
Behold! I have done it; my stomach is smitten
With sweets of the surfeit her hands have enrolled.
Italia, mine cheeks with thine kisses are bitten:
I am broken with beauty, stabbed, slaughtered, and sold!
No man of thy millions is more macaronied,
Save mighty Mazzini, than musical Me:
The souls of the Ages shall stand as astonied,
And faint in the flame I am fanning for thee!"
The above reminds of the anecdote told of Mrs. Crawford, who is said to
have written one line of her "Kathleen Mavourneen," on purpose to confound
the Cockney warblers, who would sing it--
"The 'orn of the 'unter is 'eard on the 'ill;"
and again, in Moore's "Ballad Stanzas":
"If there's peace to be found in the world,
A 'eart that was 'umble might 'ope for it 'ere!"
Or--
"Ha helephant heasily heats hat his hease
Hunder humbrageous humbrella trees!"
In the number of "Society" for April 23, 1881, there appeared several
excellent specimens of alliterative verse, in compliance with a
competition instituted by that paper for certain prizes--the selected
verses all begin with the letter _b_:
"Bloom, beauteous blossoms, budding bowers beneath!
Behold, Boreas' bitter blast by brief
Bright beams becalmed; balmy breezes breathe,
Banishing blight, bring bliss beyond belief.
Build, bonny birds! By bending birchen bough,
By bush, by beech, by buttressed branches bare,
By bluebell-brightened bramble-brake; bestow
Bespeckled broods; but bold bad boys beware!
Babble, blithe brooklet! Barren borders breach,
Bathe broomy banks, bright buttercups bedew,
Briskly by bridge, by beetling bluff, by beach,
Beckoned by bravely bounding billows blue!"
--_Sir Patrick Fells._
"Brimming brooklets bubble,
Buoyant breezes blow,
Baby-billows breaking
Bashfully below.
Blossom-burdened branches,
Briared banks betide,
Bright bewitching bluebells
Blooming bend beside.
But beyond be breakers,
Bare blasts brooding black,
Bitterly bemoaning
Broken barks borne back."
--_A. M. Morgan._
"Beverage by bibbers blest,
Balmy beer--bewitching bane,
British brewings, boasted best,
Blunting Bacchus' brandied brain.
Bonny bumpers brimmed by beads,
Barley-born, bring blind relief,
Bubbling Bass-brewed Burton breed
Bland beguilement, bright but brief.
Bar-bought beer--bah! bitter brine--
Barrel-broaching braves, beware!
Bid Bavaria, benign,
Better brews bold Britons bear."
--_W. H. Evans._
Mr. Swinburne, of whose style there has been given an imitation, is not
the only poet who is prone to alliteration--in fact, all poets are given
more or less to it, though not to the same extent. When used excessively
it is as disagreeable as any other excess, yet its occasional use
unquestionably adds to grace and style.
Pope says on this point in the following lines, which are also
alliterative--
"'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense.
Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar."
We find this example in Tennyson:
"The splendour falls on castle walls,
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying."
Crabbe also used this ornament profusely, as:
"Then 'cross the bounding brook they make their way
O'er its rough bridge, and there behold the bay;
The ocean smiling to the fervid sun,
The waves that faintly fall and slowly run,
The ships at distance, and the boats at hand,
And now they walk upon the seaside sand,
Counting the number, and what kind they be,
Ships softly sinking in the sleepy sea."
Take also this from Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark:"
"Teach me half the gladness
That my brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow,
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
* * * * *
Waking or asleep,
Thou of death must deem
Things more true and deep
Than we mortals dream,
Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?"
In the numbers of "Truth" for November 1881, there appeared a variety of
excellent examples of alphabetic verses in the course of a competition,
and of these there follows one:
A YACHT ALPHABET.
"A was the Anchor which held fast our ship;
B was the Boatswain, with whistle to lip;
C was the Captain, who took the command;
D was the Doctor, with physic at hand;
E was the Euchre we played on the quiet;
F was the Fellow who kicked up a riot;
G was the Girl who was always so ill;
H was the Hammock from which I'd a spill
I was the Iceberg we passed on our way;
J was the Jersey I wore all the day;
K was the Keel, which was stuck on the shore;
L was the Lubber we all thought a bore;
M was the Mate, no one better I'd wish;
N was the Net in which I caught a fish;
O was the Oar which I broke--'twas so weak;
P was the Pennon which flew at our peak;
Q was the Quoit which was made out of rope;
R was the Rat which would eat all our soap;
S was the Sailor who got very tight;
T was the Tempest which came on one night;
U was the Uproar the night of the storm;
V was the Vessel we spoke in due form;
W's the Watch which the crew kept in turn;
X was Xantippe, whom each one did spurn;
Y was our Yacht, which flew through the foam;
Z was the Zany who wouldn't leave home."
_NONSENSE VERSE._
The following lines have been kindly sent us by Professor E. H. Palmer,
who wrote them after a cruise on a friend's yacht, and are an abortive
attempt to get up a knowledge of nautical terms.
THE SHIPWRECK.
"Upon the poop the captain stands,
As starboard as may be;
And pipes on deck the topsail hands
To reef the top-sail-gallant strands
Across the briny sea.
'Ho! splice the anchor under-weigh!'
The captain loudly cried;
'Ho! lubbers brave, belay! belay!
For we must luff for Falmouth Bay
Before to-morrow's tide.'
The good ship was a racing yawl,
A spare-rigged schooner sloop,
Athwart the bows the taffrails all
In grummets gay appeared to fall,
To deck the mainsail poop.
But ere they made the Foreland Light,
And Deal was left behind;
The wind it blew great gales that night,
And blew the doughty captain tight,
Full three sheets in the wind.
And right across the tiller head
The horse it ran apace,
Whereon a traveller hitched and sped
Along the jib and vanishéd
To heave the trysail brace.
What ship could live in such a sea!
What vessel bear the shock?
'Ho! starboard port your helm-a-lee!
Ho! reef the maintop-gallant-tree,
With many a running block!'
And right upon the Scilly Isles
The ship had run aground;
When lo! the stalwart Captain Giles
Mounts up upon the gaff and smiles,
And slews the compass round.
'Saved! saved!' with joy the sailors cry,
And scandalise the skiff;
As taut and hoisted high and dry
They see the ship unstoppered lie
Upon the sea-girt cliff.
And since that day in Falmouth Bay,
As herring-fishers trawl,
The younkers hear the boatswains say
How Captain Giles that awful day
Preserved the sinking yawl."
Mr. Charles G. Leland sends the following, with the remark that he thinks
the lines "the finest and daintiest nonsense" he ever read:
"Thy heart is like some icy lake,
On whose cold brink I stand;
Oh, buckle on my spirit's skate,
And lead, thou living saint, the way
To where the ice is thin--
That it may break beneath my feet
And let a lover in!"
A short time ago in the new series of _Household Words_, a prize was
offered for the writing of Nonsense Verses of eight lines. Of the lines
sent in by the competitors we give three specimens:
"How many strive to force a way
Where none can go save those who pay,
To verdant plains of soft delight
The homage of the silent night,
When countless stars from pole to pole
Around the earth unceasing roll
In roseate shadow's silvery hue,
Shine forth and gild the morning dew."
--_Arym._
"And must we really part for good,
But meet again here where we've stood?
No more delightful trysting-place,
We've watched sweet Nature's smiling face.
No more the landscape's lovely brow,
Exchange our mutual breathing vow.
Then should the twilight draw around
No loving interchange of sound."
--_Culver._
"Less for renown than innate love,
These to my wish must recreant prove;
Nor whilst an impulse here remain,
Can ever hope the soul to gain;
For memory scanning all the past,
Relaxes her firm bonds at last,
And gives to candour all the grace
The heart can in its temple trace."
--_Dum Spiro Spero._
The curious style of some versifiers has been well imitated in the
following
BALLAD OF THE PERIOD.
"An auld wife sat at her ivied door
(_Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese_);
A thing she had frequently done before;
And her knitting reposed on her aproned knees.
The piper he piped on the hill-top high
(_Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese_);
Till the cow said, 'I die,' and the goose said, 'Why?'
And the dog said nothing but searched for fleas.
The farmer's daughter hath soft brown hair
(_Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese_);
And I've met a ballad, I can't tell where,
Which mainly consisted of lines like these."
W. S. Gilbert has some verses which are true nonsense, of which this is
one:
"Sing for the garish eye,
When moonless brandlings cling!
Let the froddering crooner cry,
And the braddled sapster sing.
For never and never again,
Will the tottering beechlings play,
For bratticed wrackers are singing aloud,
And the throngers croon in May!"
Mr. Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark"[10] is a very curious little
book, full of the most delicate fun and queer nonsense, with delightful
illustrations. It gives an account of how a Bellman, Boots, Barrister,
Broker, Billiard-marker, Banker, Beaver, Baker, and Butcher go a-hunting
after a mythical Beast called a "Snark." It is difficult to detach a
passage for quotation, but the following few lines will show how the
"Quest of the Snark" was purposed to be carried on:
"To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care:
To pursue it with forks and hope;
To threaten its life with a railway share;
To charm it with smiles and soap!
For the Snark's a peculiar creature, that won't
Be caught in a commonplace way;
Do all that you know, and try all that you don't:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!"
The verses which follow are from the "Comic Latin Grammar," and if they
are not nonsense they show at least how thin the partition line is between
true nonsense verse and many of those pieces which were wont to be known
by the name of Album Verses:
LINES BY A FOND LOVER.
"Lovely maid, with rapture swelling,
Should these pages meet thine eye,
Clouds of absence soft dispelling;--
Vacant memory heaves a sigh.
As the rose, with fragrance weeping,
Trembles to the tuneful wave,
So my heart shall twine unsleeping,
Till it canopies the grave.
Though another's smile's requited,
Envious fate my doom should be;
Joy for ever disunited,
Think, ah! think, at times on me!
Oft, amid the spicy gloaming,
Where the brakes their songs instil,
Fond affection silent roaming,
Loves to linger by the rill--
There, when echo's voice consoling,
Hears the nightingale complain,
Gentle sighs my lips controlling,
Bind my soul in beauty's chain.
Oft in slumber's deep recesses,
I thy mirror'd image see;
Fancy mocks the vain caresses
I would lavish like a bee!
But how vain is glittering sadness!
Hark, I hear distraction's knell!
Torture gilds my heart with madness!
Now for ever fare thee well!"
_LIPOGRAMS._
The reading of Lope de Vega's five novels, in each of which a different
vowel is omitted, led to Lord Holland writing the following curious
production, in which no vowel is used but _e_:
EVE'S LEGEND.
"Men were never perfect; yet the three brethren Veres were ever
esteemed, respected, revered, even when the rest, whether the select
few, whether the mere herd, were left neglected.
"The eldest's vessels seek the deep, stem the element, get pence; the
keen Peter when free, wedded Hester Green,--the slender, stern,
severe, erect Hester Green. The next, clever Ned, less dependent,
wedded sweet Ellen Heber. Stephen, ere he met the gentle Eve, never
felt tenderness: he kept kennels, bred steeds, rested where the deer
fed, went where green trees, where fresh breezes greeted sleep. There
he met the meek, the gentle Eve; she tended her sheep, she ever
neglected self; she never heeded pelf, yet she heeded the shepherds
even less. Nevertheless, her cheek reddened when she met Stephen; yet
decent reserve, meek respect, tempered her speech, even when she
showed tenderness. Stephen felt the sweet effect: he felt he erred
when he fled the sex, yet felt he defenceless when Eve seemed tender.
She, he reflects, never deserved neglect; she never vented spleen; he
esteems her gentleness, her endless deserts; he reverences her steps;
he greets her:
"Tell me whence these meek, these gentle sheep,--whence the yet
meeker, the gentler shepherdess?"
"'Well bred, we were eke better fed, ere we went where reckless men
seek fleeces. There we were fleeced. Need then rendered me
shepherdess, need renders me sempstress. See me tend the sheep, see me
sew the wretched shreds. Eve's need preserves the steers, preserves
the sheep; Eve's needle mends her dresses, hems her sheets; Eve feeds
the geese; Eve preserves the cheese.'
"Her speech melted Stephen, yet he nevertheless esteems, reveres her.
He bent the knee where her feet pressed the green; he blessed, he
begged, he pressed her.
"'Sweet, sweet Eve, let me wed thee; be led where Hester Green, where
Ellen Heber, where the brethren Vere dwell. Free cheer greets thee
there; Ellen's glees sweeten the refreshments; there severer Hester's
decent reserve checks heedless jests. Be led there, sweet Eve.'
"'Never! we well remember the Seer. We went where he dwells--we
entered the cell--we begged the decree,--
"'Where, whenever, when, 'twere well
Eve be wedded? Eld Seer, tell!