Es war ein Kön_ig in Thu_le,
Gar treu bis an das Grab,
Dem, sterbend, seine Buhle
_Einen gold_enen Becher gab.
Es ging ihm nichts darüber,
Er leert' ihn jeden Schmaus,
Die Augen gin_gen ihm ü_ber
So oft er trank daraus.
Und als er kam zu sterben,
Zählt' er _seine Städt'_ im Reich,
Gönnt' alles seinem Erben,
Den Becher nicht zugleich:--
and the end:--
Die Augen thä_ten ihm sin_ken,
Trank nie _einen Trop_fen mehr.
The _italicised_ trisyllabic measures are fine. Observe also the
elisions of final _-e_ before a following vowel (_Städt'_ being very
unusual), and the omission of the dative _-e_ in _im Reich_, to rhyme
with _zugleich_."
I have only to add that my special thanks are due to Sir F. Madden for
his permission to make use of his valuable notes, glossary, and preface,
and for his assistance; as also to Mr Ellis for his notes, which,
however, reached me only at the last moment, when much alteration of the
proofs was troublesome. There are many things probably which Mr Ellis
does not much approve of in this short popular sketch of the metre, in
which attention is drawn only to some of the _principal_ points. In
particular, he disapproves of the term _slurring over_, though I believe
that I mean precisely the same thing aa he does, viz. that these light
syllables are really _fully pronounced_, and not in any way forcibly
suppressed; but that, owing to their being light syllables, and
occurring before vowel sounds, the full pronunciation of them does not
cause the verse to halt, but merely imparts to it an agreeable vivacity.
As I have already said elsewhere[46]-- "A poet's business is, in fact,
to take care that the syllables which _are_ to be rapidly pronounced are
such as easily _can_ be so; and that the syllables which are to be
heavily accented are naturally those that _ought_ to be. If he gives
attention to this, it does not much matter whether each foot has _two_
or _three_ syllables in it."
[Footnote 45: _Riche_ being both A.S. and French, has the _e_
even when indefinite; a riche king, 841; a riche man, 373.]
[Footnote 46: Preface to Mr Morris's Genesis and Exodus, p.
xxxviii.]