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EDWARD BYSSHE
_The Art of English Poetry_
(1708)
With an Introduction by
A. Dwight Culler
Publication Number 40
Los Angeles
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
University of California
1953
GENERAL EDITORS
H. Richard Archer, _Clark Memorial Library_
Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_
Ralph Cohen, _University of California, Los Angeles_
Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_
ASSISTANT EDITOR
W. Earl Britton, _University of Michigan_
ADVISORY EDITORS
Emmett L. Avery, _State College of Washington_
Benjamin Boyce, _Duke University_
Louis Bredvold, _University of Michigan_
John Butt, _King's College, University of Durham_
James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_
Edward Niles Hooker, _University of California, Los Angeles_
Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_
Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
Earnest Mossner, _University of Texas_
James Sutherland, _University College, London_
H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Edna C. Davis, _Clark Memorial Library_
INTRODUCTION
The _Art of English Poetry_ (1702) may be roughly described as an
English version of the _Gradus ad Parnassum_. At least that is the
tradition to which it belongs. Its immediate predecessor was the
pleasant _English Parnassus: Or, a Helpe to English Poesie_ (1657)
compiled by a Middlesex schoolmaster named Joshua Poole, and this work
was avowedly modeled on Ravisius Textor's _Epitheta_ and the _Thesaurus
Poeticus_ of Joannes Buchler. But whereas the _English Parnassus_ was
designed for the schoolroom, the _Art of English Poetry_ was designed
for the world of polite letters, and so may be called the first example
in English of the handbook for the serious poet.
In its original form the work was an octavo of nearly four hundred pages
divided into three parts: "Rules For making English Verse," a rhyming
dictionary, and a poetical commonplace book containing all the "Most
Natural, Agreeable, and Noble _Thoughts_" of the English poets digested
alphabetically by their subject. Only the first part is reproduced here,
but it seems desirable to say something about the book as a whole.[1]
It is one of those works which is scorned by all, and used by all who
scorn it. In the sixty years after its publication it went through nine
editions, and though Charles Gildon thought it "a book too scandalously
mean to name," he was constrained to admit that it had "spread, by many
editions, thro' all _England_" and had "carried off so many Impressions,
as have made it with the ignorant, the _Standard_ of Writing."[2] Not
only with the ignorant. Pope knew and used the work, and likewise
Richardson, Fielding, Isaac Watts, Johnson, Goldsmith, Walpole, Blake,
Sir Walter Scott, Bulwer-Lytton, and many others. Indeed, it would be
safe to say that there was hardly a literary man in the eighteenth
century who was not familiar with it. If he used a rhyming dictionary,
he used that in Bysshe, at least until 1775, when it was superseded by
John Walker's _Dictionary of the English Language_. And if he used a
poetical commonplace book, he used either Bysshe or one of the five
other works which were produced in imitation of Bysshe. "Quoi qu'ils en
disent," said the Abbe du Bos of a similar work in French, "ils ont tous
ce livre dans leur arriere cabinet."
The _Art of English Poetry_ is dominated in every part by the concept of
the heroic poem. The rhyming dictionary, which was enlarged and improved
from that in Poole, contains only those words which "both for their
Sense and Sound are judg'd most proper for the Rhymes of Heroick
Poetry;"[3] and the quotations in the commonplace book are drawn chiefly
from the heroic poem and the heroic drama. In the last revised edition
(1718) the most frequently quoted authors were Lee (104 passages), Rowe
(116), Milton (117), Shakespeare (118), Blackmore (125), Otway (127),
Butler (140), Cowley (143), Pope (155), and Dryden (1,201). Dryden,
therefore, was the great exemplar of the heroic poet, and his _Aeneid_,
which was cited 493 times, was the great exemplar of the heroic poem.
Its meter, the heroic couplet, was for Bysshe the only serious poetic
instrument, all longer lines being used merely to vary and decorate it
and the shorter ones being fit only for masks and operas and Pindaric
odes. As for stanzas, the rhyme royal was not "follow'd" anymore,
Spenser's choice was "unlucky," and in general, as Cowley had said, "no
kind of Staff is proper for a Heroic Poem; as being all too
lirical...."[4]
The "Rules For making English Verse," which is the most important part
of Bysshe's work, is the first attempt to treat English prosody in a
systematic and comprehensive way. As the title indicates, it is
prescriptive in tone, and it is strictly syllabic in what it
prescribes. The English verse line, according to Bysshe, consists of a
specified number of syllables, usually ten, but permissably from four to
twelve with double rhyme adding an uncounted syllable. A verse with an
extra or a missing syllable (as compared with the pattern established by
the rest of the poem) is either a faulty verse or, more properly, just a
verse of a different kind. There are no feet in English poetry.
Nevertheless, accent, which Bysshe apparently considered a variation in
pitch rather than in duration or loudness, is recognized, and its role
is clearly prescribed. It falls on the even syllables in verses whose
total number is even and on the odd syllables in verses whose odd number
is not due to double rhyme. This, of course, means duple time only, and
Bysshe recognizes no other. When he quotes Congreve's verse, "Apart let
me view then each Heavenly fair," he feels that the measure is somehow
disagreeable, but he does not notice that the accents fall other than he
had prescribed, and he apparently thinks that the line is distinguished
from heroic verse only in having eleven syllables instead of ten. This
is highly important because it shows that although the nomina basis of
his prosody is both accentual and syllabic, the latter element is really
its defining principle.
In a syllabic prosody it is clearly necessary to determine the number of
syllables in a word whenever that is doubtful and also, if convenient,
to provide ways of regulating that number by syncope and elision. A
large part of Bysshe's treatise, therefore, is concerned with this task,
and in order to understand this part it is necessary to realize that the
shortened forms which he recommends (_am'rous_, _ta'en_, and the like)
were not originally "poetic" in character. By his day some very few had
become slightly archaic and hence were usually restricted to poetry;
others existed side by side, in both prose and poetic speech, with the
longer forms which at last superseded them; but the great majority
represent the regular colloquial idiom of the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth century. Bysshe wanted them used in poetry because he wanted
the language of poetry to conform to that of cultivated conversation and
prose and because he did not want the heroic line weakened by allowing
for syllables that were not there, or were there only to the eye.
Bysshe says that he extracted his rules from the practice of the best
poets, but this is not true. He extracted them almost entirely from the
_Quatre Traitez de Poesies, Latine, Francoise, Italienne, et Espagnole_
(1663) by Claude Lancelot, one of the Port Royal educators. From the
Italian, Spanish, and possibly the Latin sections of this work Bysshe
took his rules on the position of the caesura and a few other hints; but
from the French section, the "Breve Instruction sur les Regles de la
Poesie Francoise," he took almost his entire prosodical system. Indeed,
his "Rules" are simply a translation and adaptation of the "Breve
Instruction" with English examples replacing the French. The opening
sentence, for example, which contains the very heart of his doctrine,
reads: "The Structure of our Verses, whether Blank, or in Rhyme,
consists in a certain Number of Syllables; not in Feet compos'd of long
and short Syllables, as the Verses of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_." And
the source: "La structure ne consiste qu'en vn certain nombre de
syllabes, & non pas en pieds composez de syllabes longues & breves,
comme les vers des Grecs & des Romains."[5]
Needless to say, this description is accurate when applied to French
verse, but it is not accurate when applied to English. The rhythm of
English verse consists in the regular recurrence of a unit whose exact
nature is variously conceived but which is easily identified by the
accent which signalizes it. In French, however, stress in connected
speech is too weak and uncertain to be made the basis of a satisfactory
rhythm and is replaced in this function by the verse unit itself. These
units are made equal by their having an equal number of syllables, and
their recurrence is signalized by the final pause, by rhyme, and by the
accentuation of the rhymed syllable. In each language there are, of
course, other subsidiary rhythms, but the basic rhythm is founded upon
the verse unit in French and upon a unit within the verse in English.
Clearly, a prosody which applied to one system could not apply to the
other, and to suppose that it did was Bysshe's sole but disastrous
mistake. He was not the first to make it. What prosody there had been
before him had hesitated uncertainly among three systems, the
quantitative, the accentual, and the syllabic, but Bysshe, by
formulating for the first time a complete and explicit _prosodia_,
confirmed it in the one it was already favoring, the syllabic system of
the French. Through him the mistake became irreparable for over a
hundred years, and thus his "Rules" have an importance which is far
beyond their merit. Critically, they are nothing; but historically, they
dominated the popular prosodic thought of the eighteenth century.
Their supremacy was finally ended in 1816 by the preface to
_Christabel_. There Coleridge wrote that the meter of the poem was not,
properly speaking, irregular, though it might seem so from its being
founded on "a new principle: namely, that of counting in each line the
accents, not the syllables."[6] Scholars have wondered what was "new"
about this, and the answer is that it was not new in English poetry, but
in English prosodical criticism it was new, for it was a departure from
Bysshe.
A. Dwight Culler
Yale University
A NOTE ON THE TEXT
The nine editions of the _Art of English Poetry_ were as follows: 1702,
1705, 1708, 1710, 1714, 1718, 1724, 1737, and 1762. Four of these--1705,
1708, 1710, and 1718--represent a revision of the preceding edition,
that of 1718 only in the matter of adding new passages to the
commonplace book. The last revised text of the "Rules," therefore, is
that of the fourth edition (1710), but since this differs from the third
only by the omission of one passage, which is of some interest, it
seemed best to reproduce the text of the third edition (1708). The
omitted passage is the last five lines, beginning "and therefore ...,"
of the second paragraph on page 22.
NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
[1] For a fuller discussion see my "Edward Bysshe and the Poet's
Handbook," _PMLA_ LXIII (September, 1948), 858-885, from which the
material for this introduction is largely taken. I am indebted to the
Editor for permission to use it again.
[2] Charles Gildon, _The Laws of Poetry_ (London, 1721), p. 72, and _The
Complete Art of Poetry_ (London, 1718), I, 93.
[3] Edward Bysshe, _The Art of English Poetry_ (London, 1708), p. ii of
the rhyming dictionary (the three parts are paginated separately).
[4] _Ibid._, "Rules," pp. 32-33; Cowley is quoted in Dryden, tr., _The
Works of Virgil_ (London, 1697), sig. fl^v.
[5] _Ibid._, "Rules," p. 1; _Quatre Traitez_, p. 51. Lancelot adds that
Italian and Spanish verse, "like that of all other vernacular
languages," are syllabic (_ibid._, p. 93).
[6] Coleridge, _Complete Poetical Works_, ed. E. H. Coleridge (Oxford,
1912), I, 215.
THE
ART
OF
ENGLISH POETRY
CONTAINING
I. _Rules_ for making _VERSES_.
II. A _Collection_ of the most Natural,
Agreeable, and Sublime _THOUGHTS_, viz.
Allusions, Similes, Descriptions and Characters,
of Persons and Things; that are to be found
in the best _ENGLISH_ POETS.
III. A _Dictionary_ of _RHYMES_.
_By_ Edw. Bysshe. _Gent._
The Third Edition, with large Improvements.
_LONDON_
Printed for Sam. Buckley, at the _Dolphin_ in
_Little Britain_. MDCCVIII.
_The PREFACE._
So many are the Qualifications, as well natural as acquir'd, that are
essentially requisite to the making of a good Poet, that 'tis in vain
for any Man to aim at a great Reputation on account of his Poetical
Performances, by barely following the Rules of others, and reducing
their Speculations into Practice. It may not be impossible indeed for
Men, even of indifferent Parts, by making Examples to the Rules
hereafter given, to compose Verses smooth, and well-sounding to the Ear;
yet if such Verses want strong Sense, Propriety and Elevation of
Thought, or Purity of Diction, they will be at best but what _Horace_
calls them, _Versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae_, and the Writers of
them not Poets, but versifying Scriblers. I pretend not therefore by the
following Sheets to teach a Man to be a Poet in spight of Fate and
Nature, but only to be of Help to the few who are born to be so, and
whom _audit vocatus Apollo_.
To this End I give in the first Place _Rules for making_ English
_Verse_: And these Rules I have, according to the best of my Judgment,
endeavour'd to extract from the Practice, and to frame after the
Examples of the Poets that are most celebrated for a fluent and numerous
Turn of Verse.
Another Part of this Treatise, is a _Dictionary of Rhymes_: To which
having prefix'd a large Preface shewing the Method and Usefulness of it,
I shall trouble the Reader in this place no farther than to acquaint
him, that if it be as useful and acceptable to the Publick, as the
composing it was tedious and painful to me, I shall never repent me of
the Labour.
What I shall chiefly speak of here, is the largest Part of this
Treatise, which I call a _Collection of the most natural and sublime
Thoughts that are in the best_ English _Poets_. And to be ingenuous in
the Discovery, this was the Part of it that principally induc'd me to
undertake the Whole: The Task was indeed laborious, but pleasing; and
the sole Praise I expected from it, was, that I made a judicious Choice
and proper Disposition of the Passages I extracted. A Mixture of so
many different Subjects, and such a Variety of Thoughts upon them, may
possibly not satisfy the Reader so well, as a Composition perfect in its
Kind on one intire Subject; but certainly it will divert and amuse him
better; for here is no Thread of Story, nor Connexion of one Part with
another, to keep his Mind intent, and constrain him to any Length of
Reading. I detain him therefore only to acquaint him, why it is made a
Part of this Book, and how Serviceable it may be to the main Design of
it.
Having drawn up Rules for making Verses, and a Dictionary of Rhymes,
which are the Mechanick Tools of a Poet; I came in the next Place to
consider, what other human Aid could be offer'd him; a Genius and
Judgment not being mine to give. Now I imagin'd that a Man might have
both these, and yet sometimes, for the sake of a Syllable or two more or
less, to give a Verse its true Measure, be at a stand for Epithets and
Synonymes, with which I have seen Books of this Nature in several
Languages plentifully furnish'd.
Now, tho' I have differ'd from them in Method, yet I am of Opinion this
Collection may serve to the same End, with equal Profit and greater
Pleasure to the Reader. For, what are Epithets, but Adjectives that
denote and express the Qualities of the Substantives to which they are
join'd? as _Purple_, _Rosie_, _Smiling_, _Dewy_, Morning: _Dim_,
_Gloomy_, _Silent_, Night. What Synonymes, but Words of a like
Signification? as _Fear_, _Dread_, _Terrour_, _Consternation_,
_Affright_, _Dismay_, &c. Are they not then naturally to be sought for
in the Descriptions of Persons and Things? And can we not better judge
by a Piece of Painting, how Beautifully Colours may be dispos'd; than by
seeing the same several Colours scatter'd without Design on a Table?
When you are at a Loss therefore for proper Epithets or Synonymes, look
in this Alphabetical Collection for any Word under which the Subject of
your Thought may most probably be rang'd; and you will find what have
been imploy'd by our best Writers, and in what Manner.
It would have been as easie a Task for me as it has been to others
before me, to have threaded tedious Bead-rolls of Synonymes and Epithets
together, and put them by themselves: But when they stand alone, they
appear bald, insipid, uncouth, and offensive both to the Eye and Ear. In
that Disposition they may indeed help the Memory, but cannot direct the
Judgment in the Choice.
But besides, to confess a Secret, I am very unwilling it should be laid
to my Charge, that I have furnish'd Tools, and given a Temptation of
Versifying, to such as in spight of Art and Nature undertake to be
Poets; and who mistake their Fondness to Rhyme, or Necessity of Writing,
for a true Genius of Poetry, and lawful Call from _Apollo_. Such
Debasers of Rhyme and Dablers in Poetry would do well to consider, that
a Man would justly deserve a higher Esteem in the World by being a good
Mason or Shoo-maker, or by excelling in any other Art that his Talent
inclines him to, and that is useful to Mankind, than by being an
indifferent or second-Rate Poet. Such have no Claim to that Divine
Appellation:
_Neque enim concludere Versum
Dixeris esse satis: Neque, si quis scribat, uti nos,
Sermoni propiora, putes hunc esse Poetam.
Ingenium cui sit, cui Mens divinior, atque Os
Magna sonaturum, des Nominis hujus Honorem._ Horat.
I resolv'd therefore to place these, the principal Materials, under the
awful Guard of the immortal _Shakespear_, _Milton_, _Dryden_, &c.
_Procul o procul este Profani!_ Virg.
But let Men of better Minds be excited to a generous Emulation.
I have inserted not only Similes, Allusions, Characters, and
Descriptions; but also the most Natural and Sublime Thoughts of our
Modern Poets on all Subjects whatever. I say, of our Modern; for tho'
some of the Antient, as _Chaucer_, _Spencer_, and others, have not been
excell'd, perhaps not equall'd, by any that have succeeded them, either
in Justness of Description, or in Propriety and Greatness of Thought;
yet their Language is now become so antiquated and obsolete, that most
Readers of our Age have no Ear for them: And this is the Reason that
the good _Shakespear_ himself is not so frequently cited in this
Collection, as he would otherwise deserve to be.
I have endeavour'd to give the Passages as naked and stript of
Superfluities and foreign Matter, as possibly I could: but often found
my self oblig'd for the sake of the Connexion of the Sense, which else
would have been interrupted, and consequently obscure, to insert some of
them under Heads, to which every Part or Line of them may be thought not
properly to belong: Nay, I sometimes even found it difficult to chuse
under what Head to place several of the best Thoughts; but the Reader
may be assur'd, that if he find them not where he expects, he will not
wholly lose his Labour; for
_The Search it self rewards his Pains;
And if like Chymists his great End he miss,
Yet things well worth his Toil he gains;
And does his Charge and Labour pay
With good unsought Experiments by the way._ Cowley.
That the Reader may judge of every Passage with due Deference for each
Author, he will find their Names at the End of the last Line; and as the
late Versions of the Greek and Roman Poets have not a little
contributed to this Collection, _Homer_, _Anacreon_, _Lucretius_,
_Catullus_, _Virgil_, _Horace_, _Ovid_, _Juvenal_, &c. are cited with
their Translators: And after each Author's Name are quoted their Plays
and other Poems, from whence the Passages are extracted.
The Reader will likewise observe, that I have sometimes ascrib'd to
several Authors the Quotations taken from one and the same Play. Thus to
those from the first and third Act of _Oedipus_, I have put _Dryden_; to
those from the three other, _Lee_: Because the first and third Act of
that Play were written by _Dryden_, the three other by _Lee_. To those
from _Troilus_ and _Cressida_ I have sometimes put _Shakespear_,
sometimes _Dryden_; because he having alter'd that Play, whatever I
found not in the Edition of _Shakespear_, ought to be ascrib'd to him.
And in like manner of several other Plays.
As no Thought can be justly said to be fine, unless it be true, I have
all along had a great regard for Truth; except only in Passages that
are purely Satirical, where some Allowance must be given: For Satire may
be fine and true Satire, tho' it be not directly and according to the
Letter, true: 'tis enough that it carry with it a Probability or
Semblance of Truth. Let it not here be objected, that I have from the
Translators of the Greek and Roman Poets, taken some Descriptions meerly
fabulous: for the well-invented Fables of the Antients were design'd
only to inculcate the Truth with more Delight, and to make it shine with
greater Splendour.
_Rien n'est beau que le Vrai. Le Vrai seul est Aimable:
Il doit regner par tout; & meme dans la Fable:
De toute Fiction l'adroite Faussete
Ne tend qu' a faire aux yeux briller la Verite._ Boileau.
I have upon every Subject given both _Pro_ and _Con_ whenever I met with
them, or that I judg'd them worth giving: and if both are not always
found, let none imagine that I wilfully suppress'd either; or that what
is here uncontradicted must be unanswerable.
If any take Offence at the Loosness of some of the Thoughts, as
particularly upon _Love_, where I have given the different Sentiments
which Mankind, according to their several Temperaments, ever had, and
ever will have of it; such may observe, that I have strictly avoided all
manner of Obscenity throughout the whole Collection: And tho' here and
there a Thought may perhaps have a Cast of Wantonness, yet the cleanly
Metaphors palliate the Broadness of the Meaning, and the Chastness of
the Words qualifies the Lasciviousness of the Images they represent. And
let them farther know, that I have not always chosen what I most
approv'd, but what carries with it the best Stroaks for Imitation: For,
upon the whole matter, it was not my Business to judge any farther, than
of the Vigour and Force of Thought, of the Purity of Language, of the
Aptness and Propriety of Expression; and above all, of the Beauty of
Colouring, in which the Poet's Art chiefly consists. Nor, in short,
would I take upon me to determine what things should have been said; but
have shewn only what are said, and in what manner.
RULES
For making
ENGLISH VERSE.
In the _English_ Versification there are two Things chiefly to be
consider'd;
1. The Verses.
2. The several Sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.
But because in the Verses there are also two Things to be observ'd; The
Structure of the Verse; and the Rhyme; this Treatise shall be divided
into three Chapters.
I. Of the Structure of _English_ Verses.
II. Of Rhyme.
III. Of the several Sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.
CHAP. I.
_Of the Structure of_ English _Verses._
The Structure of our Verses, whether Blank, or in Rhyme, consists in a
certain Number of Syllables; not in Feet compos'd of long and short
Syllables, as the Verses of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. And though some
ingenious Persons formerly puzzled themselves in prescribing Rules for
the Quantity of _English_ Syllables, and, in Imitation of the _Latins_,
compos'd Verses by the measure of _Spondees_, _Dactyls_, &c., yet the
Success of their Undertaking has fully evinc'd the Vainness of their
Attempt, and given ground to suspect they had not throughly weigh'd what
the Genius of our Language would bear; nor reflected that each Tongue
has its peculiar Beauties, and that what is agreeable and natural to
one, is very often disagreeable, nay, inconsistent with another. But
that Design being now wholly exploded, it is sufficient to have
mention'd it.
Our Verses then consist in a certain Number of Syllables; but the Verses
of double Rhyme require a Syllable more than those of single Rhyme. Thus
in a Poem whose Verses consist of ten Syllables, those of the same Poem
that are accented on the last save one, which we call Verses of double
Rhyme, must have eleven; as may be seen by these Verses.
_A Man so various that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome:
Stiff in Opinion, always in the Wrong,
Was ev'ry thing by starts, and nothing long:
But, in the Course of one revolving Moon,
Was Fidler, Chymist, Statesman, and Buffoon:
Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking;
Besides ten thousand Freaks that dy'd in Thinking.
Praising and Railing were his usual Themes;
And both, to shew his Judgment, in Extreams.
So over-violent, or over-civil,
That every Man with him was God or Devil._ Dryd.
Where the 4 Verses that are accented on the last save one, have 11
Syllables; the others, accented on the last, but 10.
In a Poem whose Verses consist of 8, the double Rhymes require 9, as,
_When hard Words, Jealousies and Fears,
Set Folks together by the Ears;
And made 'em fight, like mad, or drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for Punk;
Whose Honesty they all durst swear for,
Tho' not a Man of 'em know wherefore:
Then did Sir Knight abandon Dwelling,
And out he rode a Collonelling._ Hud.
In a Poem whose Verses consist of 7, the double Rhymes require 8, as,
_All thy Verse is softer far
Than the downy Feathers are
Of my Wings, or of my Arrows;
Of my Mother's Doves or Sparrows._ Cowl.
This must also be observ'd in Blank Verse; as,
_Welcom, thou worthy Partner of my Lawrels!
Thou Brother of my Choice! a Band more sacred
Than Nature's brittle Tye. By holy Friendship!
Glory and Fame stood still for thy Arrival,
My Soul seem'd wanting of its better Half,
And languish'd for thy Absence, like a Prophet,
Who waits the Inspiration of his God._ Rowe.
And this Verse of _Milton_,
_Void of all Succour and needful Comfort,_
wants a Syllable; for, being accented on the last save one, it ought to
have 11, as all the Verses, but two, of the preceeding Example have: But
if we transpose the Words thus,
_Of Succour and all needful Comfort void,_
it then wants nothing of its due Measure, because it is accented on the
last Syllable.
SECT. I.
_Of the several Sorts of Verses; and first of those of ten Syllables. Of
the due Observation of the Accent; and of the Pause._
Our Poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of Verses; that
is to say, of Verses of 10, 8, or 7 Syllables: Those of 4, 6, 9, 11, 12,
and 14, are generally imploy'd in Masks and Operas, and in the Stanzas
of Lyrick and Pindarick Odes, and we have few intire Poems compos'd in
any of those sorts of Verses. Those of 12, and of 14 Syllables, are
frequently inserted in our Poems in Heroick Verse, and when rightly made
use of, carry a peculiar Grace with them. _See the next Section towards
the end._
The Verses of 10 Syllables, which are our Heroick, are us'd in Heroick
Poems, in Tragedies, Comedies, Pastorals, Elegies; and sometimes in
Burlesque.
In these Verses two things are chiefly to be consider'd.
1. The Seat of the Accent.
2. The Pause.
For, 'tis not enough that Verses have their just Number of Syllables:
the true Harmony of them depends on a due Observation of the Accent and
Pause.
The Accent is an Elevation, or a Falling of the Voice, on a certain
Syllable of a Word.
The Pause is a Rest or Stop that is made in pronouncing the Verse, and
that divides it, as it were, into two parts; each of which is call'd an
Hemistich, or Half-Verse.
But this Division is not always equal, that is to say, one of the
Half-verses does not always contain the same Number of Syllables as the
other: and this Inequality proceeds from the Seat of the Accent that is
strongest, and prevails most in the first Half-verse. For, the Pause
must be observ'd at the end of the Word where such Accent happens to
be, or at the end of the following Word.
Now in a Verse of 10 Syllables, this Accent must be either on the 2d,
4th, or 6th; which produces 5 several Pauses, that is to say, at the 3d,
4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th Syllable of the Verse; For,
When it happens to be on the 2d, the Pause will be either at the 3d, or
4th.
At the 3d, in two manners:
1. When the Syllable accented happens to be the last save one of a Word;
as,
_As busy--as intentive Emmets are;
Or Cities--whom unlook'd-for Sieges scare._ Dav.
2. Or, when the Accent is on the last of a Word, and the next a
Monosyllable, whose Construction is govern'd by that on which the Accent
is; as,
_Despise it,--and more noble Thoughts pursue._ Dryd.
When the Accent falls on the 2d Syllable of the Verse, and the last save
two of a Word, the Pause will be at the 4th; as,
_He meditates--his absent Enemy._ Dryd.
When the Accent is on the 4th of a Verse, the Pause will be either at
the same Syllable, or at the 5th, or 6th.
At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a
Word; as,
_Such huge Extreams--inhabit thy great Mind,
God-like, unmov'd,--and yet, like Woman, kind._ Wall.
At the 5th in 2 manners:
1. When it happens to be the last save one of a Word; as,
_Like bright_ Aurora--_whose refulgent Ray
Foretells the Fervour--of ensuing Day;
And warns the Shepherd--with his Flocks, retreat
To leafy Shadows--from the threaten'd Heat._ Wall.
2. Or the last of the Word, if the next be a Monosyllable govern'd by
it; as,
_So fresh the Wound is--and the Grief so vast._ Wall.
At the 6th, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last save
two of a Word; as,
_Those Seeds of Luxury,--Debate, and Pride._ Wall.
Lastly, When the Accent is on the 6th Syllable of the Verse, the Pause
will be either at the same Syllable, or at the 7th.
At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a
Word; as,
_She meditates Revenge--resolv'd to die._ Wall.
At the 7th in two manners:
1. When it happens to be the last save one of a Word; as,
_Nor when the War is over,--is it Peace._ Dryd.
_Mirrors are taught to flatter,--but our Springs._ Wall.
2. Or the last of a Word, if the following one be a Monosyllable whose
Construction depends on the preceeding Word on which the Accent is; as,
_And since he could not save her,--with her dy'd._ Dryd.
From all this it appears, that the Pause is determin'd by the Seat of
the Accent; but if the Accents happen to be equally strong, on the 2d,
4th, and 6th Syllable of a Verse, the Sense and Construction of the
Words must then guide to the Observation of the Pause: For Example; In
one of the Verses I cited as an Instance of it at the 7th Syllable,
_Mirrors are taught to flatter, but our Springs._
The Accent is as strong on _Taught_, as on the first Syllable of
_Flatter_, and if the Pause were observ'd at the 4th Syllable of the
Verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its Sound: as,
_Mirrors are taught--to flatter, but our Springs
Present th' impartial Images of things._
Which tho' it be no Violence to the Ear, yet it is to the Sense, and
that ought always carefully to be avoided in reading or in repeating of
Verses.
For this Reason it is, that the Construction or Sense should never end
at a Syllable where the Pause ought not to be made; as at the 8th and 2d
in the two following Verses:
_Bright_ Hesper _twinkles from afar:--Away
My Kids!--for you have had a Feast to day._ Staff.
Which Verses have nothing disagreeable in their Structure but the Pause;
which in the first of them must be observ'd at the 8th Syllable, in the
2d at the 2d; and so unequal a Division can produce no true Harmony. And
for this Reason too, the Pauses at the 3d and 7th Syllables, tho' not
wholly to be condemn'd, ought to be but sparingly practis'd.
The foregoing Rules ought indispensibly to be follow'd in all our Verses
of 10 Syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right Time in
Musick, will produce Harmony; the neglect of them, Harshness and
Discord; as appears by the following Verses.
_None think Rewards render'd worthy their Worth.
And both Lovers, both thy Disciples were,_ Dav.
In which tho' the true Number of Syllables be observ'd, yet neither of
them have so much as the Sound of a Verse: Now their Disagreeableness
proceeds from the undue Seat of the Accent: For Example, the first of
them is accented on the 5th and 7th Syllables; but if we change the
Words, and remove the Accent to the 4th and 6th, the Verse will become
smooth and easie; as,
_None think Rewards are equal to their Worth._
The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on
the 3d Syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one Word;
_And Lovers both, both thy Disciples were._
In like manner the following Verses,
_To be massacred, not in Battle slain._ Blac.
_But forc'd, harsh, and uneasie unto all._ Cowl.
_Against the Insults of the Wind and Tide._ Blac.
_A second Essay will the Pow'rs appease._ Blac.
_With_ Scythians _expert in the Dart and Bow._ Dryd.
are rough, because the foregoing Rules are not observ'd in their
Structure: For Example, the first, where the Pause is at the 5th
Syllable, and the Accent on the 3d, is contrary to the Rule which says,
that the Accent that determines the Pause must be on the 2d, 4th, or 6th
Syllable of the Verse; and to mend that Verse we need only place the
Accent on the 4th, and then the Pause at the 5th will have nothing
disagreeable, as,
_Thus to be murther'd, not in Battle slain._
The second Verse is Accented on the 3d Syllable, and the Pause is there
too; which makes it indeed the thing it expresses, forc'd, harsh, and
uneasie; it may be mended thus,
_But forc'd and harsh, uneasie unto all._
The 3d, 4th, and 5th of those Verses, have like faults; for the Pauses
are at the 5th, and the Accent there too, which is likewise contrary to
the foregoing Rules: Now they will be made smooth and flowing, by taking
the Accent from the 5th, and removing the Seat of the Pause; as,
_Against th' Insults both of the Wind and Tide.
A second Trial will the Pow'rs appease.
With_ Scythians _skilfull in the Dart and Bow._
From whence we conclude, that in all Verses of 10 Syllables, the most
prevailing Accents ought to be on the 2d, 4th, or 6th Syllables; for if
they are on the 3d, 5th, or 7th, the Verses will be rough and
disagreeable, as has been prov'd by the preceeding Instances.
In short, the wrong placing of the Accent is as great a fault in our
Versification, as false Quantity was in that of the Antients; and
therefore we ought to take equal care to avoid it, and endeavour so to
dispose the Words, that they may create a certain Melody in the Ear,
without Labour to the Tongue, or Violence to the Sense.
SECT. II.
_Of the other Sorts of Verses that are us'd in our Poetry._
After the Verses of 10 Syllables, those of 8 are most frequent, and we
have many intire Poems compos'd in them.
In the Structure of these Verses, as well as of those of 10 Syllables,
we must take care that the most prevailing Accents be neither on the 3d
nor 5th Syllables of them.
They also require a Pause to be observ'd in pronouncing them, which is
generally at the 4th, or 5th Syllable; as,
_I'll sing of Heroes,--and of Kings, }
In mighty Numbers--mighty things; }
Begin, my_ Muse,--_but lo the Strings, }
To my great Song--rebellious prove,
The Strings will sound--of nought but Love._ Cowl.
The Verses of 7 Syllables, which are call'd _Anacreontick_, are most
beautiful when the strongest Accent is on the 3d, and the Pause either
there, or at the 4th, as,
_Fill the Bowl--with rosy Wine,
Round our Temples--Roses twine;
Crown'd with Roses--we contemn_
Gyges _wealthy--Diadem._ Cowl.
The Verses of 9, and of 11 Syllables, are of two sorts, one is those
that are accented upon the last save one, which are only the Verses of
double Rhyme that belong to those of 8 and 10 Syllables, of which
Examples have already been given. The other is those that are accented
on the last Syllable, which are employ'd only in Compositions for
Musick, and in the lowest sort of Burlesque Poetry; the disagreeableness
of their Measure having wholly excluded them from grave and serious
Subjects. They who desire to see Examples of them, may find some
scatter'd here and there in our Masks, and Operas, and in our Burlesque
Writers. I will give but two.
Hilas, O Hilas, _why sit we mute?
Now that each Bird saluteth the Spring._ Wall.
_Apart let me view then each Heavenly Fair,
For three at a time there's no Mortal can bear._ Congr.
The Verses of 12 Syllables are truly Heroick, both in their Measure and
Sound; tho' we have no intire Works compos'd in them; and they are so
far from being a Blemish to the Poems they are in, that on the contrary,
when rightly employed, they conduce not a little to the Ornament of
them; particularly in the following Rencounters.
1. When they conclude an Episode in an Heroick Poem: Thus _Stafford_
ends his Translation of that of _Camilla_ from the 11th AEneid, with a
Verse of 12 Syllables.
_The ling'ring Soul th' unwelcom Doom receives,
And, murm'ring with Disdain, the beauteous Body leaves._
2. When they conclude a Triplet and full Sense together; as,
_Millions of op'ning Mouths to Fame belong; }
And every Mouth is furnish'd with a Tongue; }
And round with list'ning Ears the flying Plague is hung._ Dryd. }
And here we may observe by the way, that whenever a Triplet is made use
of in an Heroick Poem, it is a fault not to close the Sense at the end
of the Triplet, but to continue it into the next Line; as _Dryden_ has
done in his Translation of the 11th AEneid in those Lines.
_With Olives crown'd, the Presents they shall bear, }
A Purple Robe, a Royal Iv'ry Chair, }
And all the Marks of Sway that_ Latian _Monarchs wear, }
And Sums of Gold_, &c.
And in the 7th AEneid he has committed the like fault.
_Then they, whose Mothers, frantick with their Fear, }
In Woods and Wilds the Flags of_ Bacchus _bear, }
And lead his Dances with dishevel'd Hair, }
Increase the Clamour_, &c.
But the Sense is not confin'd to the Couplet, for the Close of it may
fall into the middle of the next Verse, that is the Third, and sometimes
farther off: Provided the last Verse of the Couplet exceed not the
Number of ten Syllables; for then the Sense ought always to conclude
with it. Examples of this are so frequent, that 'tis needless to give
any.
3. When they conclude the Stanzas of Lyrick or Pindarick Odes; Examples
of which are often seen in _Dryden_, and others.
In these Verses the Pause ought to be at the 6th Syllable, as may be
seen in the foregoing Examples.
We sometimes find it, tho' very rarely, at the 7th; as,
_That such a cursed Creature--lives so long a space._
When it is at the 4th, the Verse will be rough and hobbling: as,
_And Midwife Time--the ripen'd Plot to Murther brought._ Dryd.
_The Prince pursu'd--and march'd along with equal Pace._ Dryd.
In the last of which it is very apparent, that if the Sense and
Construction would allow us to make the Pause at the 6th Syllable,
_The Prince pursu'd, and march'd--along with equal Pace._
the Verse would be much more flowing and easie.
The Verses of 14 Syllables are less frequent than those of 12; they are
likewise inserted in Heroick Poems, _&c._ and are agreeable enough when
they conclude a Triplet and Sense, and follow a Verse of 12; as,
_For thee the Land in fragrant Flowers is drest; }
For thee the Ocean smiles, and smooths her wavy Breast, Dryd.}
And Heav'n it self with more serene and purer Light is blest._ }
But if they follow one of 10 Syllables, the Inequality of the Measure
renders them less agreeable; as,
_While all thy Province, Nature, I survey, (Dryd.}
And sing to_ Memmius _an Immortal Lay }
Of Heav'n and Earth; and every where thy wondrous Pow'r display_ }
Especially if it be the last of a Couplet only; as,
_With Court-Informers haunts, and Royal Spies,
Things done relates, not done she feigns, and mingles Truth with
Lies._ (Dryd.
But this is only in Heroicks; for in Pindaricks and Lyricks, Verses of
12 or 14 Syllables are frequently and gracefully plac'd, not only after
those of 12 or 10, but of any other number of Syllables whatsoever.
The Verses of 4 and 6 Syllables have nothing worth observing, and
therefore I shall content my self with having made mention of them. They
are, as I said before, us'd only in Operas, and Masks, and in Lyrick and
Pindarick Odes. Take one Example of them.
_To rule by Love,
To shed no Blood,
May be extoll'd above;
But here below,
Let Princes know,
'Tis fatal to be good._ Dryd.
SECT. III.
_Several Rules conducing to the Beauty of our Versification._
Our Poetry being very much polish'd and refin'd since the Days of
_Chaucer_, _Spencer_ and the other antient Poets, some Rules which they
neglected, and that conduce very much to the Ornament of it, have been
practis'd by the best of the Moderns.
The first is, to avoid as much as possible the Concourse of Vowels,
which occasions a certain ill-sounding Gaping, call'd by the Latins
_Hiatus_; and which they thought so disagreeable to the Ear, that, to
avoid it, whenever a Word ended in a Vowel, and the next began with one,
they never, even in Prose, sounded the Vowel of the first Word, but lost
it in the Pronunciation; and it is a fault in our Poets not to do the
like, whenever our Language will admit of it.
For this Reason, the _e_ of the Particle _The_ ought always to be cut
off before the Words that begin by a Vowel; as,
_With weeping Eyes she heard th' unwelcome News._ Dryd.
And it is a fault to make _The_ and the first Syllable of the following
word two distinct Syllables, as in this,
_Refrain'd a while by the unwelcome Night._ Wall.
A second sort of _Hiatus_, and that ought no less to be avoided is, when
a Word that ends in a Vowel that cannot be cut off, is plac'd before one
that begins by the same Vowel, or one that has the like Sound; as,
_Should thy Iambicks swell into a Book._ Wall.
The second Rule is, to contract the two last Syllables of the
Preterperfect Tenses of all the Verbs that will admit of it; which are
all the Regular Verbs whatsoever, except only those ending in D or T,
and DE or TE. And it is a fault to make _Amazed_ of three Syllables, and
_Loved_ of two; instead of _Amaz'd_ of two, and _Lov'd_ of one.
And the second Person of the Present and Preterperfect Tenses of all
Verbs ought to be contracted in like manner; as _thou lov'st_, for _thou
lovest_, &c.
The third Rule is, not to make use of several Words in a Verse that
begin by the same Letter; as,
_The Court he knew to steer in Storms of State.
He in these Miracles Design discern'd._ Dav.
Yet we find an Instance of such a Verse in _Dryden's_ Translation of the
first Pastoral of _Virgil_;
_Till then a helpless, hopeless, homely Swain._
Which I am perswaded he left not thus through Negligence or
Inadvertency, but with design to paint in the Number and Sound of the
Words the thing he describ'd, a Shepherd in whom
_Nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculi._
Now how far the Sound of the _H_ aspirate, with which three Feet of that
Verse begin, expresses the Despair of the Swain, let the Judicious
judge: I have taken notice of it only to say, that 'tis a great Beauty
in Poetry, when the Words and Numbers are so dispos'd, as by their Order
and Sound to represent the things describ'd.
The fourth is, to avoid ending a Verse by an Adjective whose Substantive
begins the following; as,
_Some lost their quiet Rivals, some their kind
Parents_, &c. Dav.
Or, by a Preposition when the Case it governs begins the Verse that
follows; as,
_The daily less'ning of our Life, shews by
A little dying, how outright to dye._ Wall.
The fifth is, to avoid the frequent Use of Words of many Syllables,
which are proper enough in Prose, but come not into Verse without a
certain Violence altogether disagreeable; particularly those whose
Accent is on the fourth Syllable from the last; as _Undutifulness_.
SECT. IV.
_Doubts concerning the Number of Syllables of certain Words._
There is no Language whatsoever, that so often joyns several Vowels
together to make Diphthongs of them, as ours; this appears in our having
several compos'd of three different Vowels: as EAU, and EOU in
_Beauteous_: IOU in _Glorious_, UAI in _Acquaint_, &c.
Now from hence may arise some Difficulties concerning the true
Pronunciation of those Vowels: Whether they ought to be sounded
separately in two Syllables, or joyntly in one.
The antient Poets made them sometimes of two Syllables, sometimes but of
one, as the Measure of their Verse requir'd; but they are now become to
be but of one, and it is a fault to make them of two: From whence we may
draw this general Rule;
That whenever one Syllable of a Word ends in a Vowel, and the next
begins by one, provided the first of those Syllables be not that on
which the Word is accented, those two Syllables ought in Verse to be
contracted and made but one.
Thus _Beauteous_ is but two Syllables, _Victorious_ but three, and it is
a fault in _Dryden_, to make it four, as he has done in this Verse:
_Your Arms are on the_ Rhine _victorious._
To prove that this Verse wants a Syllable of its due Measure, we need
but add one to it; as,
_Your Arms are on the_ Rhine _victorious now._
Where tho' the Syllable _now_ be added to the Verse, it has no more than
its due number of Syllables, which plainly proves it wanted it.
But if the Accent be upon the first of these Syllables, they cannot be
contracted to make a Diphthong, but must be computed as two distinct
Syllables: Thus _Poet_, _Lion_, _Quiet_, and the like, must always be
us'd as two Syllables: _Poetry_ and the like, as three.
And it is a fault to make _Riot_, for Example, one Syllable, as _Milton_
has done in this Verse.
_Their Riot ascends above their lofty Tow'rs._
The same Poet has in another place made use of a like Word twice in one
Verse, and made it two Syllables each time.
_With Ruin upon Ruin, Rout on Rout._
And any Ear may discover that this last Verse has its true Measure, the
other not.
But there are some Words that may be excepted; as _Diamond_, _Violet_,
_Violent_, _Diadem_, _Hyacinth_, and perhaps some others, which, though
they are accented upon the first Vowel, are sometimes us'd but as two
Syllables; as in the following Verses,
_From Diamond Quarries hewn, and Rocks of Gold._ Milt.
_With Poppies, Daffadils, and Violets joyn'd._ Tate.
_With vain, but violent Force their Darts they flung._ Cowl.
_His Ephod, Mitre, well-cut Diadem on._ Cowl.
_My blushing Hyacinths, and my Bays I keep._ Dryd.
Sometimes as three; as
_A Mount of rocky Diamond did rise._ Blac.
_Hence the blue Violet and blushing Rose._ Blac.
_And set soft Hyacinths of Iron Blue._ Dryd.
When they are us'd but as two Syllables they suffer an Elision of one of
their Vowels, and are generally written thus, _Di'mond_, _Vi'let_, &c.
This Contraction is not always made of Syllables of the same Word only;
for the Particle _A_ being plac'd after a Word that ends in a Vowel,
will sometimes admit of the like Contraction: For Example, after the
Word _many_; as,
_Tho' many a Victim from my Folds was bought,
And many a Cheese to Country-Markets brought._ Dryd.
_They many a Trophy gain'd with many a Wound._ Dav.
After _To_; as,
_Can he to a Friend, to a Son so bloody grow._ Cowl.
After _They_; as,
_From thee, their long-known King, they a King desire._ Cowl.
After _By_; as,
_When we by a foolish Figure say._ Cowl.
And perhaps after some others.
There are also other Words whose Syllables are sometimes contracted,
sometimes not: as, _Bower_, _Heaven_, _Prayer_, _Nigher_, _Towards_, and
many more of the like Nature: But they generally ought to be us'd but as
one Syllable; and then they suffer an Elision of the Vowel that precedes
their final Consonant, and ought to be written thus: _Pow'r_, _Heav'n_,
_Pray'r_, _Nigh'r_, _tow'rds_.
The Termination ISM is always us'd but as one Syllable; as
_Where griesly Schism and raging Strife appear._ Cowl.
_And Rhumatisms I send to rack the Joynts._ Dryd.