Ever | guards the | _virtuous_ | fair,
While in | distant | climes I | wander,
Let my | Mary | be your | care:
Let her | form so | fair and | faultless,
Fair and | faultless | as your | own;
Let my | Mary's | kindred | spirit
Draw your | choicest | _influence_ | down.
Make the | gales you | waft a | -round her
Soft and | peaceful | as her | breast;
Breathing | in the | breeze that | fans her,
Soothe her | bosom | into | rest:
_Guardian_ | angels, | O pro | -tect her,
When in | distant | lands I | roam;
_To realms_ | _unknown_ | _while fate_ | _exiles me_,
Make her | bosom | still my | home."
BURNS'S SONGS, Same Volume, p. 165.
_Example III.--Song of Juno and Ceres_.
_Ju_. "Honour, | riches, marriage | -blessing,
Long con | _-tinuance_, | and in | -creasing,
Hourly | joys be | still up | -on you!
Juno | sings her | blessings | on you."
_Cer_. "Earth's in | -crease, and | foison | plenty;
Barns and | garners | never | empty;
Vines with | clust'ring | bunches | growing;
Plants with | goodly | burden | bowing;
Spring come | to you, | at the | farthest,
In the | very | end of | harvest!
Scarci | -ty and | want shall | shun you;
Ceres' | blessing | so is | on you."
SHAKSPEARE: _Tempest_, Act iv, Sc. 1.
_Example IV.--On the Vowels_.
"We are | little | airy | creatures,
All of | diff'rent | voice and | features;
One of | us in | glass is | set,
One of | us you'll | find in | jet;
T'other | you may | see in | tin,
And the | fourth a | box with | -in;
If the | fifth you | should pur | -sue,
It can | never | fly from | you."
SWIFT: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 343.
_Example V.--Use Time for Good_.
"Life is | short, and | time is | swift;
Roses | fade, and | shadows | shift;
But the ocean | and the | river
Rise and | fall and | flow for | ever;
Bard! not | vainly | heaves the | ocean;
Bard! not | vainly | flows the | river;
Be thy | song, then, | like their | motion,
Blessing | now, and | blessing | ever."
EBENEZER ELLIOT: _From a Newspaper_.
_Example IV.[sic for VI--KTH]--"The Turkish Lady"--First Four Stanzas_.
1.
"'Twas the | hour when | rites un | -holy
Called each | Paynim | voice to | pray'r,
And the | star that | faded | slowly,
Left to | dews the | freshened | air.
2.
Day her | sultry | fires had | wasted,
Calm and | sweet the | moonlight | rose;
E'en a | captive's | spirit | tasted
Half ob | -livion | of his | woes.
3.
Then 'twas | from an | Emir's | palace
Came an | eastern | lady | bright;
She, in | spite of | tyrants | jealous,
Saw and | loved an | English | knight.
4.
'Tell me, | captive, | why in | anguish
Foes have | dragged thee | here to | dwell
Where poor | Christians, | as they | languish.
Hear no | sound of | sabbath | bell?'"
THOMAS CAMPBELL: _Poetical Works_, p. 115.
_Example VII.--The Palmer's Morning Hymn_.
"Lauded | be thy | name for | ever,
Thou, of | life the | guard and | giver!
Thou canst | guard thy | creatures | sleeping,
Heal the | heart long | broke with | weeping,
Rule the | =ouphes ~and | =elves ~at | w=ill
_Th~at v=ex_ | _th~e =air_ | _~or h=aunt_ | _th~e h=ill_,
_~And =all_ | _th~e f=u_ | _-r~y s=ub_ | _-j~ect k=eep_
_~Of b=oil_ | _-~ing cl=oud_ | _~and ch=af_ | _-~ed d=eep!_
I h~ave | s=een, ~and | w=ell I | kn=ow ~it!
Thou hast | done, and | Thou wilt | do it!
God of | stillness | and of | motion!
Of the | rainbow | and the | ocean!
Of the | mountain, | rock, and | river!
Blessed | be Thy | name for | ever!
I have | seen thy | wondrous | might
Through the | shadows | of this | night!
Thou, who | slumber'st | not, nor | sleepest!
Blest are | they thou | kindly | keepest!
Spirits, | from the | ocean | under,
Liquid | flame, and | levell'd | thunder,
Need not | waken | nor a |-larm them--
All com |-bined, they | cannot | harm them.
God of | evening's | yellow | ray,
God of | yonder | dawning | day,
Thine the | flaming | sphere of | light!
Thine the | darkness | of the | night!
Thine are | all the | gems of | even,
God of | angels! | God of | heaven!"
JAMES HOGG: _Mador of the Moor, Poems_, p. 206.
_Example VIII--A Short Song, of Two Stanzas_.
"Stay, my | charmer, | can you | leave me?
Cruel, | cruel, | to de |-ceive me!
Well you | know how | much you | grieve me:
Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?
Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?
By my | love, so | ill re |-quited;
By the | faith you | fondly plighted;
By the | pangs of | lovers slighted;
Do not, | do not | leave me | so!
Do not, | do not | leave me | so!"
ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol. ii, p. 129.
_Example IX.--Lingering Courtship_.
1.
"Never | wedding, | ever | wooing,
Still | lovelorn | heart pur |-suing,
Read you | not the | wrong you're | doing,
In my | cheek's pale | hue?
All my | life with | sorrow | strewing,
Wed, or | cease to | woo.
2.
Rivals | banish'd, | bosoms | plighted,
Still our | days are | disu |-nited;
Now the | lamp of | hope is | lighted,
Now half | quench'd ap | -pears,
Damp'd, and | _wavering_, and be | -nighted,
Midst my | sighs and | tears.
3.
Charms you | call your | dearest | blessing,
Lips that | thrill at | your ca | -ressing,
Eyes a | _mutual_ soul con | -fessing,
Soon you'll | make them | grow
Dim, and | worthless | your pos | -sessing,
Not with | age, but | woe!"
CAMPBELL: _Everett's System of Versification_, p. 91.
_Example X.--"Boadicea"--Four Stanzas from Eleven_.
1.
"When the | British | warrior | queen,
Bleeding | from the | Roman | rods,
Sought, with | an in | -dignant | mien,
Counsel | of her | country's | gods,
2.
Sage be | -neath the | spreading | oak,
Sat the | Druid, | hoary | chief;
_Every_ burning | word he | spoke
Full of | rage, and | full of | grief.
3.
Princess! | if our | aged | eyes
Weep up | -on thy | matchless | wrongs,
'Tis be | -cause re | -sentment | ties
All the | terrors | of our | tongues.
4.
ROME SHALL | PERISH-- | write that | word
In the | blood that | she hath | spilt;
Perish, | hopeless | and ab | -horr'd,
Deep in | ruin | as in | guilt."
WILLIAM COWPER: _Poems_, Vol. ii, p. 244.
_Example XI--"The Thunder Storm"--Two Stanzas from Ten_.
"Now in | deep and | dreadful | gloom,
Clouds on | clouds por | -tentous | spread,
Black as | if the | day of | doom
Hung o'er | Nature's | shrinking | head:
Lo! the | lightning | breaks from | high,
God is | coming! |--God is | nigh!
Hear ye | not his | _chariot_ | wheels,
As the | mighty | thunder | rolls?
Nature, | startled | Nature | reels,
From the | centre | to the | poles:
Tremble! | --Ocean, | Earth, and | Sky!
Tremble! | --God is | passing | by!"
J. MONTGOMERY: _Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems_, p. 130.
_Example XII.--"The Triumphs of Owen," King of North Wales._[513]
"Owen's | praise de | -mands my song,
Owen | swift and | Owen | strong;
Fairest | flow'r of | _Roderick's_ | stem,
Gwyneth's | shield, and | Britain's | gem.
He nor | heaps his | brooded | stores,
Nor the | whole pro | -fusely | pours;
Lord of | _every_ | regal | art,
_Liberal_ | hand and | open | heart.
Big with | hosts of | mighty | name,
Squadrons | three a | -gainst him came;
This the | force of | Eirin | hiding,
Side by | side as | proudly | riding,
On her | shadow | long and | gay,
Lochlin | ploughs the | _watery_ | way:
There the Norman | sails a | -far
Catch the | winds, and | join the | war;
Black and | huge, a | -long they | sweep,
Burthens | of the | angry | deep.
Dauntless | on his | native | sands,
_The Drag | -on-son | of Mo | -na stands;[514]
In glit | -tering arms | and glo | -ry drest_,
High he | rears his | ruby | crest.
There the | thundering | stroke be | -gin,
There the | press, and | there the | din;
Taly | -malfra's | rocky | shore
_Echoing_ | to the | battle's | roar;
Where his | glowing | eyeballs | turn,
Thousand | banners | round him | burn.
Where he | points his | purple | spear,
Hasty, | hasty | rout is | there,
Marking | with in | -dignant | eye
Fear to | stop, and | shame to | fly.
There Con | -fusion, | Terror's | child,
Conflict | fierce, and | Ruin | wild,
Ago | -ny, that | pants for | breath,
_Despair_, | and HON | -OURA | -BLE DEATH."
THOMAS GRAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 285.
_Example XIII.--"Grongar Hill."--First Twenty-six Lines_.
"Silent | Nymph, with | _curious_ | eye,
Who, the | purple | eve, dost | lie
On the | mountain's | lonely | van,
_Beyond_ | _the noise_ | _of bus_ | _-y man_;
Painting | fair the | form of | things,
While the | yellow | linnet | sings;
Or the | tuneful | nightin | -gale
Charms the | forest | with her | tale;
Come, with | all thy | various hues,
Come, and | aid thy | sister | Muse.
Now, while | Phoebus, | riding | high,
_Gives lus_ | _-tre to_ | _the land_ | _and sky_,
Grongar | Hill in | -vites my | song;
Draw the | landscape | bright | and strong;
Grongar, | in whose | mossy | cells,
Sweetly | -musing | Quiet | dwells;
Grongar, | in whose | silent | shade,
For the | modest | Muses | made,
_So oft_ | _I have_, | _the eve_ | _-ning still_,
At the | fountain | of a | rill,
Sat up | -on a | _flowery_ | bed,
With my | hand be | -neath my | head,
_While stray'd_ | _my eyes_ | _o'er Tow_ | _-y's flood_,
Over | mead and | over wood,
_From house_ | _to house_, | _from hill_ | _to hill_,
_Till Con_ | _-templa_ | _-tion had_ | _her fill_."
JOHN DYER: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 65.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--This is the most common of our trochaic measures; and it seems to
be equally popular, whether written with single rhyme, or with double; in
stanzas, or in couplets; alone, or with some intentional intermixture. By a
careful choice of words and style, it may be adapted to all sorts of
subjects, grave, or gay; quaint, or pathetic; as may the corresponding
iambic metre, with which it is often more or less mingled, as we see in
some of the examples above. Milton's _L'Allegro_, or _Gay Mood_, has one
hundred and fifty-two lines; ninety-eight of which are iambics; fifty-four
trochaic tetrameters; a very few of each order having double rhymes. These
orders the poet has _not_--"very ingeniously _alternated_" as Everett
avers; but has simply interspersed, or commingled, with little or no regard
to alternation. His _Il Penseroso_, or _Grave Mood_, has twenty-seven
trochaic tetrameters, mixed irregularly with one hundred and forty-nine
iambics.
OBS. 2.--Everett, who divides our trochaic tetrameters into two species of
metre, imagines that the catalectic form, or that which is single-rhymed,
"has a _solemn effect_,"--"imparts to all pieces _more dignity_ than any of
the other short measures,"--"that no trivial or humorous subject should be
treated in this measure,"--and that, "besides dignity, it imparts an air of
_sadness_ to the subject."--_English Verses._, p. 87. Our "line of four
trochees" he supposes to be "_difficult_ of construction,"--"not of very
_frequent_ occurrence,"--"the most _agreeable_ of all the trochaic
measures,"--"remarkably well adapted to lively subjects,"--and "peculiarly
expressive of the eagerness and fickleness of the passion of love."--_Ib._,
p. 90. These pretended metrical characteristics seem scarcely more worthy
of reliance, than astrological predictions, or the oracular guessings of
our modern craniologists.
OBS. 3.--Dr. Campbell repeats a suggestion of the older critics, that
gayety belongs naturally to all trochaics, as such, and gravity or
grandeur, as naturally, to iambics; and he attempts to find a reason for
the fact; while, perhaps, even here--more plausible though the supposition
is--the fact may be at least half imaginary. "The iambus," says he, "is
expressive of dignity and grandeur; the trochee, on the contrary, according
to Aristotle, (Rhet. Lib. Ill,) is frolicsome and gay. It were difficult to
assign a reason of this difference that would be satisfactory; but of the
thing itself, I imagine, most people will be sensible on comparing the two
kinds together. I know not whether it will be admitted as a sufficient
reason, that the distinction into metrical feet hath a much greater
influence in poetry on the rise and fall of the voice, than the distinction
into words; and if so, when the cadences happen mostly after the long
syllables, the verse will naturally have an air of greater gravity than
when they happen mostly after the short."--_Campbell's Philosophy of
Rhetoric_, p. 354.
MEASURE VI.--TROCHAIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
_Example I.--Youth and Age Contrasted_.
"Crabbed | age and | youth
Cannot | live to | -gether;
Youth is | full of | pleasance,
Age is | full of | care:
Youth, like | summer | morn,
Age, like | winter | weather;
Youth, like | summer, | brave;
Age, like | winter, | bare.
Youth is | full of | sport,
Age's | breath is | short,
Youth is | nimble, | age is | lame;
Youth is | hot and | bold,
Age is | weak and | cold;
Youth is | wild, and | age is | tame."
_The Passionate Pilgrim_; SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE, Vol. ii p. 594.
_Example II--Common Sense and Genius_.
3.
"While I | touch the | string,
Wreathe my | brows with | laurel;
For the | tale I | sing,
Has, for | once, a | moral!
4.
Common | Sense went | on,
Many | wise things | saying;
While the | light that | shone,
Soon set | Genius | straying.
5.
One his eye ne'er | rais'd
From the | path be | -fore him;
T' other | idly | gaz'd
On each | night-cloud | o'er him.
6.
While I | touch the | string,
Wreathe my | brows with | laurel;
For the | tale I | sing,
Has, for | once, a | moral!
7.
So they | came, at | last,
To a | shady | river;
Common | Sense soon |pass'd
Safe,--as | he doth | ever.
8.
While the | boy whose | look
Was in | heav'n that | minute,
Never | saw the | brook,--
_But tum_ | _-bled head_ | _-long in it_."
_Six Stanzas from Twelve_.--MOORE'S MELODIES, p. 271.
This short measure is much oftener used in stanzas, than in couplets. It
is, in many instances, combined with some different order or metre of
verse, as in the following:--
_Example III.--Part of a Song_.
"Go where | glory | waits thee,
But while | fame e | -lates thee,
_Oh! still | remem | -ber me_.
When the | praise thou | meetest,
To thine | ear is | sweetest,
_Oh! then | remem | -ber me_.
Other | arms may | press thee,
Dearer | friends ca | -ress thee,
All the | joys that | bless thee,
Sweeter | far may | be:
But when | friends are | nearest,
And when | joys are | dearest,
_Oh! then | remem | -ber me._
When, at | eve, thou | rovest,
By the | star thou | lovest,
_Oh! then | remem | -ber me_.
Think when | home re | -turning,
Bright we've | seen it | burning;
_Oh! thus | remem | -ber me_.
Oft as | summer | closes,
When thine | eye re | -poses
On its | ling'ring | roses,
Once so | loved by | thee,
Think of | her who | wove them,
Her who | made thee | love them;
_Oh! then | remem | -ber me_."
MOORE'S _Melodies, Songs, and Airs_, p. 107.
_Example IV.--From an Ode to the Thames_.
"On thy | shady | margin,
Care its | load dis | -charging,
_Is lull'd | to gen | -tle rest_:
Britain | thus dis | -arming,
Nothing | her a | -larming,
_Shall sleep on Cæ | -sar's breast_."
See ROWE'S POEMS: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. iv, p. 58.
_Example V.--"The True Poet"--First Two of Nine Stanzas_.
1.
"Poet | of the | heart,
Delving | in its | mine,
From man | -kind a | -part,
Yet where | jewels | shine;
Heaving | upward | to the | light,
Precious | wealth that | charms the | sight;
2.
Toil thou | still, deep | down,
For earth's | hidden | gems;
They shall | deck a | crown,
Blaze in | dia | -dems;
_And when | thy hand | shall fall | to rest_,
Brightly | jewel | beauty's | breast."
JANE B. LOCKE: _N. Y. Evening Post; The Examiner, No. 98_.
_Example VI.--"Summer Longings"--First Two of Five Stanzas_.
"Ah! my | heart is | ever | waiting,
Waiting | for the | May,--
Waiting | for the | pleasant | rambles
Where the | fragrant | hawthorn | brambles,
With the | woodbine | alter | -nating,
Scent the | dewy | way.
Ah! my | heart is | weary | waiting,
Waiting | for the | May.
Ah! my | heart is | sick with | longing,
Longing | for the | May,--
Longing | to e | -scape from | study,
To the | young face | fair and | ruddy,
And the | thousand | charms be | -longing
To the | Summer's | day.
Ah! my | heart is | sick with | longing,
Longing | for the | May."
"D. F. M. C.:" _Dublin University Magazine; Liberator, No_. 952.
MEASURE VII.--TROCHAIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
_Example I.--Three Short Excerpts._
1.
"My flocks | feed not,
My ewes | breed not,
My rams | speed not,
All is | _amiss_:
Love's de | -nying,
Faith's de | -fying,
Heart's re | -nying,
Causer | _of this_."
2.
"In black | mourn I,
All fears | scorn I,
Love hath | lorn me,
Living | _in thrall_:
Heart is | bleeding,
All help | needing.
(Cruel | speeding,)
Fraughted | _with gall_."
3.
"Clear wells | spring not.
Sweet birds | sing not,
Loud bells | ring not
_Cheerfully_;
Herds stand | weeping,
Flocks all | sleeping,
Nymphs back | creeping
_Fearfully_."
SHAKSPEARE: _The Passionate Pilgrim_. See Sec. xv.
_Example II.--Specimen with Single Rhyme.
"To Quinbus Flestrin, the Man-Mountain"_
A LILLIPUTIAN ODE
I.
"In a | -maze,
Lost, I | gaze.
Can our | eyes
Reach thy | size?
May my | lays
Swell with | praise,
Worthy | thee,
Worthy | me!
Muse, in | -spire
All thy | fire!
Bards of | old
Of him | told,
When they | said
Atlas' | head
Propp'd the | skies:
See! and | _believe_ | _your eyes!_
II.
"See him | stride
Valleys | wide:
Over | woods,
Over | floods,
When he | treads,
Mountains' | heads
Groan and | shake:
Armies | quake,
Lest his | spurn
Over | -turn
Man and | steed:
Troops, take | heed!
Left and | right
Speed your | flight!
Lest an | host
_Beneath_ | _his foot_ | _be lost_.
III.
"Turn'd a | -side
From his | hide,
Safe from | wound,
Darts re | -bound.
From his | nose,
Clouds he | blows;
When he | speaks,
Thunder | breaks!
When he | eats,
Famine | threats!
When he | drinks,
Neptune | shrinks!
Nigh thy | ear,
In mid | air,
On thy | hand,
Let me | stand.
So shall | I
(Lofty | poet!) touch the sky."
JOHN GAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 376.
_Example III.--Two Feet with Four._
"Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish,
When we | love, and | when we | languish!
Wishes | rising!
Thoughts sur | -prising!
Pleasure | courting!
Charms trans | -porting!
Fancy | viewing
Joys en | -suing!
Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish!"
ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act i, Scene 6.
_Example IV.--Lines of Three Syllables with Longer Metres_.
1. WITH TROCHAICS.
"Or we | sometimes | pass an | hour
Under | a green | willow,
That de | -fends us | from the | shower,
Making | earth our | pillow;
Where we | may
Think and | pray,
B=e'fore | death
Stops our | breath:
Other | joys,
Are but | toys,
And to | be la | -mented." [515]
2. WITH IAMBICS.
"What sounds | were heard,
What scenes | appear'd,
O'er all | the drear | -y coasts!
Dreadful | gleams,
Dismal | screams,
Fires that | glow,
Shrieks of | wo,
Sullen | moans,
Hollow | groans,
And cries | of tor | -tur'd ghosts!"
POPE: _Johnson's Brit. Poets_, Vol. vi, p. 315.
_Example V.--"The Shower."--In Four Regular Stanzas_.
1.
"In a | valley | that I | know--
Happy | scene!
There are | meadows | sloping | low,
There the | fairest | flowers | blow,
And the | brightest | waters | flow.
All se | -rene;
But the | sweetest | thing to | see,
If you | ask the | dripping | tree,
Or the | harvest | -hoping | swain,
Is the | Rain.
2.
Ah, the | dwellers | of the | town,
How they | sigh,--
How un | -grateful | -ly they | frown,
When the | cloud-king | shakes his | crown,
And the | pearls come | pouring | down
From the | sky!
They de | -scry no | charm at | all
Where the | sparkling | jewels | fall,
And each | moment | of the | shower,
Seems an | hour!
3.
Yet there's | something | very | sweet
In the | sight,
When the | crystal | currents | meet
In the | dry and | dusty | street,
And they | wrestle | with the | heat,
In their | might!
While they | seem to | hold a | talk
With the | stones a | -long the | walk,
And re | -mind them | of the | rule,
To 'keep | cool!'
4.
Ay, but | in that | quiet | dell,
Ever | fair,
Still the | Lord doth | all things | well,
When his | clouds with | blessings | swell,
And they | break a | brimming | shell
On the | air;
There the | shower | hath its | charms,
Sweet and | welcome | to the | farms
As they | listen | to its | voice,
And re | -joice!"
Rev. RALPH HOYT'S _Poems: The Examiner_, Nov. 6, 1847.
_Example VI.--"A Good Name?"--Two Beautiful Little Stanzas_.
1.
"Children, | choose it,
Don't re | -fuse it,
'Tis a | precious | dia | -dem;
Highly | prize it,
Don't de | -spise it,
You will | need it | when you're | men.
2.
Love and | cherish,
Keep and | nourish,
'Tis more | precious | far than | gold;
Watch and | guard it,
Don't dis | -card it,
You will | need it | when you're | old."
_The Family Christian Almanac, for 1850_, p. 20.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Trochaics of two feet, like those of three, are, more frequently
than otherwise, found in connexion with longer lines, as in some of the
examples above cited. The trochaic line of three syllables, which our
prosodists in general describe as consisting, not of two feet; but "of one
Trochee and a long syllable," may, when it stands alone, be supposed to
consist of one _amphimac_; but, since this species of foot is not admitted
by all, and is reckoned a secondary one by those who do admit it, the
better practice is, to divide even the three syllables into two feet, as
above.
OBS. 2.--Murray, Hart, Weld, and many others, erroneously affirm, that,
"The _shortest_ Trochaic verse in our language, consists of one Trochee and
a long syllable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 256; _Hart's, First Edition_, p.
186; _Weld's, Second Edition_, p. 210. The error of this will be shown by
examples below--examples of _true "Trochaic Monometer_," and not of Dimeter
mistaken for it, like Weld's, Hart's, or Murray's.
OBS. 3.--These authors also aver, that, "This measure is _defective in
dignity_, and can seldom be used on serious occasions."--_Same places_.
"Trochaic of _two feet_--is likewise so _brief_, that," in their opinion,
"it is rarely used for any very serious purpose."--_Same places_. Whether
the expression of love, or of its disappointment, is "any very serious
purpose" or not, I leave to the decision of the reader. What lack of
dignity or seriousness there is, in several of the foregoing examples,
especially the last two, I think it not easy to discover.
MEASURE VIII.--TROCHAIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
_Examples with Longer Metres_.
1. WITH IAMBICS.
"Fr~om w=alk | t~o w=alk, | fr~om sh=ade | t~o sh=ade,
From stream to purl | -ing stream | convey'd,
Through all | the ma | -zes of | the grove,
Through all | the ming | -ling tracks | I rove,
Turning,
Burning,
Changing,
Ranging,
F=ull ~of | gri=ef ~and | f=ull ~of | l=ove."
ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act I, Sc. 4:
_Everett's Versification_, p. 81.
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 | Meta_mor_ | -_phoses_.
For, omit | -ting the first, | (where I make | a com_par_ | -_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, "Anapæstic 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,
Après ses appas;
Que veut elle dire,
Qu'elle ne vient pas?
S'il ne la posséde,
Il s'en va mourir;
Donnons y reméde,
Allons la quérir."
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 vic_to | -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 anapæstic verse is a _single_ anapæst; 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, §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 anapæstic verse must be a single
anapæst_; 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
Anapæstic verse, is made up of _two anapæsts_."--_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 Anapæsts _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 anapæstic verse as consisting of _two_
Anapæsts."--_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 (§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 _cæsura_; 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-Pré?_
"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-rooféd | 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.