_SIR,_
It has been said by several Persons, especially by Foreigners, that
there is no such thing as Measure or Feet, or long and short Syllables
in _English_ Words. This Mistake, I believe, is chiefly owing to
_Vossius_, who has advanc'd it in his Treatise _De Poematum Cantu_,
&c. As also, that the _French_ Language is more fit for Heroick Verse
than the _English_. To examine one or both of these Points will be the
Subject of this Letter.
That our Language does not abound with Dactyls and Spondees is very
true; but that we have Words enough which are perfect Iambick and
Trochaick Feet is very certain, and this naturally makes our Verse
Iambick.
_Divine_, _Attend_, _Directs_, are as perfect Iambicks as any _Latin_
Words of two Syllables, and so are most of our Monosyllable Nouns with
their Particles.
_The Lord_, _The Man_, _The Rock_. Every one must perceive that in all
these Words, the last Syllable strikes the Ear more than the first,
or, in other Words, the last is longer than the first, which is all
that makes an Iambick _Latin_ Foot.
The following Words, _People_, _Substance_, _Angels_, _Chearful_, and
the like, are all Trochaick Feet; for it is easily observ'd, that the
first Syllable dwells longer on the Ear than the latter.
I wonder that _Vossius_, who was a Canon of _Windsor_, did not
perceive this in the Metre which he could not but often have heard at
Church.
"All People that on Earth do dwell
Sing to the Lord with chearful Voice.
Suppose these two Lines were alter'd thus,
"All ye People that on Earth dwell,
Sing to the Lord with Voice chearful.
Here the natural Sound of the Words _People_ and _Chearful_ is very
much alter'd, by their being wrong plac'd; or rather, the Verse is
quite destroy'd: But to chuse an Example from _Milton_.
"And if our _Substance_ be _indeed Divine_.--
Let this be alter'd,
"And indeed Divine if be our Substance.--
Is not the Verse quite destroy'd by this Alteration? And does it not
appear to be so, because _Indeed_ and _Divine_, which are Iambick
Feet, are plac'd as if they were Trochaick, and _Substance_, which is
a Trochaick Foot, is plac'd as if it were an Iambick? But I might have
omitted the altering of this Line of _Milton_'s, if I had thought of
one in _Cowley's Davideis_, which is as barbarous as it is possible
for the Wit of Man to make a Verse.
"To Divine Nobé directs then his Flight.
_Lib. 3. v. 3._
_Nobé_, Mr. _Cowley_ says in his Notes, he puts instead of _Nob_,
because that Word seem'd to him to be _unheroical_. But that is not
what I am chiefly to take notice of. _Divine_ and _Directs_ are both
Iambicks, but Mr. _Cowley_ has made them both Trochaicks, which makes
this Line so terrible to the Ear.
It is plain that _Vossius_, who came into _England_ when he was pretty
much advanc'd in Years, and in all probability convers'd chiefly in
_Latin_ or _French_, knew nothing at all of the Pronunciation of
_English_ Words. We have as certainly Feet or Numbers in our Language,
as in the _Latin_; and indeed the _Latin_ seems to me to be rather
more arbitrary in this respect than the _English_. What Reason can be
given why _ma_ in _manus_ is short, and _ma_ in _manes_ long? Why is
_a_ in _amens_ long, and _a_ in _amans_ short, and the like of other
Words too numerous to relate?
That all _English_ Verses are _Iambick_, appears most plainly by
considering Monosyllable Lines. For Example:
"Arms and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate.
Here _Arms_, _the_, _I_, _who_, _by_, appear to be shorter in their
Sound than _and_, _man_, _sing_, _forc'd_, _fate_.
Again,
"Breathe soft or loud, and wave your Tops, ye Pines.
In this Line the same Difference is perceiv'd between _breathe_, _or_,
_your_, _ye_; and _soft_, _loud_, _wave_, _tops_, _pines_.
Whence it is evident that these Lines are perfectly Iambick.
The Particle _and_, as well as some other Monosyllables, may be said
to be common, like many Words in _Latin_; they submit themselves to be
alter'd by the Voice in reading, and may be pronounced either long or
short: But this is not so in other Words. And here it may be proper to
observe, that _Milton_ has a very artful Way of varying his Numbers,
by putting a Trochaick Foot at the Beginning of a Verse; and the
Reason why he could do it, is, that the Verse is not enough form'd in
that place for the Ear to perceive the Want of the proper Measure. The
Examples of this kind are very numerous: I will mention but two.
"_Angels_, for ye behold him, and with Song.
And again,
"_Fountains_, and ye that warble as ye flow.
Nov. 27. 1736.
_I am_, SIR, _&c._