accurate; "The celebrated orator, L. Cassius, died of the same disease
(the pleurisy,) which might probably be then, as I _was_ told in Rome
it _is now_, the peculiar distemper of the place." _Was_ refers to time
completely _past_; but _is_ declares a fact that exists generally, at
all times; the verb is therefore in the present tense, or as Harris
terms it,[123] the _aorist of the present_. So also in Dr. Reid's
Essays, vol. 1. p. 18. "Those philosophers _held_, that there _are_
three first principles of all things;" which is correct English.
"Aristotle _thought_ every object of human understanding _enters_ at
first by the senses."--Page 110. The following passage is equally
correct. "There is a courage depending on nerves and blood, which _was_
improved to the highest pitch among the Greeks."----Gillies, Hist. of
Greece, vol. 1. p. 248. This courage is derived from the constitution
of the human body; it exists therefore at _all times_; and had our
author said, "there _was_ a courage depending on nerves and blood,
which the Greeks _improved_ to the highest pitch," the sense would
have been left imperfect. Here then we see the indefinite use of this
form of the present tense; for were the verb is, in the foregoing
example, limited to time _now present_, it would make the author write
nonsense; it being absurd to say, "the Greeks 2000 years ago _improved_
a courage which exists only _at the present time_." So that verbs, in
the _present_ tense, express facts that have an uninterrupted existence
in _past_, _present_, and _future_ time.
[123] Hermes, page 123.
[124] _Previous_ may be vindicated on another principle; viz. by
considering it as qualifying the whole subsequent member of the
sentence. "The resolutions of Congress could not be enforced by legal
penalties; this _fact_ was _previous_ to the establishment," &c. But
the other is the real construction.
[Illustration]
DISSERTATION V.
_Of the Construction of English Verse.--Pauses.--Expression.--Of
reading Verse._
[Illustration]
_Of the_ CONSTRUCTION _of_ ENGLISH VERSE.
[Illustration]
As poetry has ever been numbered among the _fine arts_, and
has employed the pens of the first geniuses in all nations, an
investigation of the subject must be gratifying to readers of taste.
And it must be the more agreeable, as it has been much neglected, and
the nature and construction of English verse have frequently been
misunderstood.
Most prosodians who have treated particularly of this subject, have
been guilty of a fundamental error, in considering the movement of
English verse as depending on long and short syllables, formed by
long and short vowels. This hypothesis has led them into capital
mistakes. The truth is, many of those syllables which are considered
as _long_ in verse, are formed by the shortest vowels in the language;
as _strength_, _health_, _grand_. The doctrine, that long vowels are
requisite to form long syllables in poetry, is at length exploded, and
the principles which regulate the movement of our verse, are explained;
viz. _accent_ and _emphasis_. Every emphatical word, and every
accented syllable, will form what is called in verse, a long syllable.
The unaccented syllables, and unemphatical monosyllabic words, are
considered as short syllables.
But there are two kinds of emphasis; a natural emphasis, which arises
from the importance of the idea conveyed by a word; and an accidental
emphasis, which arises from the importance of a word in a particular
situation.
The first or natural emphasis belongs to all nouns, verbs, participles
and adjectives, and requires no elevation of voice; as,
"Not _half_ so _swift_ the _tremb_ling _doves_ can _fly_."
The last or accidental emphasis is laid on a word when it has some
particular meaning, and when the force of a sentence depends on it;
this therefore requires an elevation of voice; as,
"Perdition catch my soul--but I _do_ love thee."
So far the prosody of the English language seems to be settled; but
the rules laid down for the construction of verse, seem to have been
imperfect and disputed.
Writers have generally supposed that our heroic verse consists of five
feet, all pure Iambics, except the first foot, which they allow may be
a Trochee. In consequence of this opinion, they have expunged letters
from words which were necessary; and curtailed feet in such a manner as
to disfigure the beauty of printing, and in many instances, destroyed
the harmony of our best poetry.
The truth is, so far is our heroic verse from being confined to the
Iambic measure, that it admits of eight feet, and in some instances of
nine. I will not perplex my readers with a number of hard names, but
proceed to explain the several feet, and show in what places of the
line they are admissible.
An Iambic foot, which is the ground of English numbers, consists of
two syllables, the first _short_ and the second _long_. This foot is
admitted into every place of the line. Example, all Iambics.
"Wh[)e]re sl[=a]ves [)o]nce m[=o]re th[)e]ir n[=a]t[)i]ve l[=a]nd
b[)e]h[=o]ld,
N[)o] fi[=e]nds t[)o]rm[=e]nt, n[)o] chr[=i]sti[)a]ns th[=i]rst,
f[)o]r g[=o]ld."
Pope.
The Trochee is a foot consisting of two syllables, the first _long_ and
the second _short_. Example.
"_W[=a]rms_ [)i]n the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
_Glows in_ the stars, and blossoms in the trees."
Pope.
The Trochee is not admissible into the second place of the line;
but in the third and fourth it may have beauty, when it creates a
correspondence between the sound and sense.
"Eve rightly call'd _m[=o]th[)e]r_ of all mankind."
"And staggered by the stroke, _dr[=o]ps th[)e]_ large ox."
The Spondee is a foot consisting of two long syllables. This may be
used in any place of the line.
1. "_G[=o]od l[=i]fe_ be now my task, my doubts are done."
Dryden.
2. "As some _l[=o]ne mo[=u]nt_ain's monstrous growth he stood."
Pope.
But it has a greater beauty, when preceded by a Trochee.
"L[=o]ad th[)e] _t[=a]ll b[=a]rk_ and launch into the main."
3. "The mountain goats _c[=a]me b[=o]und_ing o'er the lawn."
4. "He spoke, and speaking in _pr[=o]ud tr[=i]_umph spread,
The long contended honors of her head."
Pope.
5. "Singed are his brows, the scorching lids _gr[=o]w bl[=a]ck_."
Pope.
The Pyrrhic is a foot of two short syllables; it is graceful in the
first and fourth places, and is admissible into the second and third.
1. "_N[)o]r [)i]n_ the helpless orphan dread a foe."
Pope.
2. ----"On they move,
Indis_s[)o]l[)u]_bly firm."----Milton.
3. "The two extremes appear like man and wife,
Coupled togeth_[)e]r f[)o]r_ the sake of strife."
Churchill.
But this foot is most graceful in the fourth place.
"The dying gales that pant _[)u]p[)o]n_ the trees."
"To farthest shores the ambrosial spirit flies,
Sweet to the world and grate_f[)u]l t[)o]_ the skies."
The Amphibrach is a foot of three syllables, the first and third short,
and the second long. It is used in heroic verse only when we take the
liberty to add a short syllable to a line.
"The piece you say is incorrect, _wh[)y] t[=a]ke [)i]t_,
I'm all submission, what you'd have _[)i]t, m[=a]ke [)i]t_."
This foot is hardly admissible in the solemn or sublime stile. Pope has
indeed admitted it into his Essay on Man:
"What can ennoble sots or slaves [)o]r c[=o]w[)a]rds,
Alas! not all the blood of all th[)e] H[=o]w[)a]rds."
Again:
"To sigh for ribbands, if thou art s[)o] s[=i]ll[)y],
Mark how they grace Lord Umbra or S[)i]r B[=i]ll[)y]."
But these lines are of the high burlesque kind, and in this stile the
Amphibrach closes lines with great beauty.
The Tribrach is a foot of three syllables, all short; and it may be
used in the third and fourth places.
"And rolls impet_[)u]o[)u]s t[)o]_ the subject plain."
Or thus:
"And thunders down impet_[)u]o[)u]s t[)o]_ the plain."
The Dactyl, a foot of three syllables, the first long and the two last
short, is used principally in the first place in the line.
"_F[=u]r[)i]o[)u]s_ he spoke, the angry chief replied."
"_M[=u]rm[)u]r[)i]ng_, and with him fled the shades of night."
The Anapæst, a foot consisting of three syllables, the two first short
and the last long, is admissible into every place of the line.
"C[)a]n [)a] b[=o]s[)o]m s[)o] g[=e]ntl[)e] r[)e]m[=a]in,
Unmoved when her Corydon sighs?
Will a nymph that is fond of the plains,
These plains and these valleys despise?
Dear regions of silence and shade,
Soft scenes of contentment and ease,
Where I could have pleasingly stay'd,
If ought in her absence could please."
The trissyllabic feet have suffered most by the general ignorance of
critics; most of them have been mutilated by apostrophes, in order to
reduce them to the Iambic measure.
Thus in the line before repeated,
"_Murmuring_, and with him fled the shades of night,"
we find the word in the copy reduced to two syllables, _murm'ring_, and
the beauty of the Dactyl is destroyed.
Thus in the following:
"On every side with shadowy squadrons deep,"
by apostrophizing _every_ and _shadowy_, the line loses its harmony.
The same remark applies to the following:
"And hosts infuriate shake the shudd'ring plain."
"But fashion so directs, and moderns raise
On fashion's _mould'ring_ base, their transient praise."
Churchill.
Poetic lines which abound with these trissyllabic feet, are the most
flowing and melodious of any in the language; and yet the poets
themselves, or their printers, murder them with numberless unnecessary
contractions.
It requires but little judgement and an ear indifferently accurate, to
distinguish the contractions which are necessary, from those which are
needless and injurious to the versification. In the following passage
we find examples of both.
"She went from op'ra, park, assembly, play,
To morning walks and pray'rs three times a day;
To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,
To muse and spill her solitary tea;
Or o'er cold coffee trifle with the spoon,
Count the slow clock, and dine exact at noon;
Divert her eyes with pictures in the fire,
Hum half a tune, tell stories to the 'squire;
Up to her godly garret after sev'n,
There starve and pray, for that's the way to heav'n."
Pope's Epistles.
Here _e_ in _opera_ ought not to be apostrophized, for such a
contraction reduces an Amphibrachic foot to an Iambic. The words
_prayers_, _seven_ and _heaven_ need not the apostrophe of _e_; for
it makes no difference in the pronunciation. But the contraction of
_over_ and _betwixt_ is necessary; for without it the measure would be
imperfect.
PAUSES.
Having explained the several kinds of feet, and shown in what places
of a verse they may be used, I proceed to another important article,
the pauses. Of these there are two kinds, the _cesural_ pause, which
divides the line into two equal or unequal parts; and the _final_ pause
which closes the verse. These pauses are called _musical_, because
their sole end is the melody of verse.
The pauses which mark the sense, and for this reason are denominated
_sentential_, are the same in verse as in prose. They are marked by the
usual stops, a comma, a semicolon, a colon, or a period, as the sense
requires, and need no particular explanation.
The cesural pause is not essential to verse, for the shorter kinds of
measure are without it; but it improves both the melody and the harmony.
Melody in music is derived from a succession of sounds; harmony from
different sounds in concord. A single voice can produce melody; a union
of voices is necessary to form harmony. In this sense harmony cannot
be applied to verse, because poetry is recited by a single voice.
But harmony may be used in a figurative sense, to express the effect
produced by observing the proportion which the members of verse bear to
each other.[125]
The cesural pause may be placed in any part of the verse; but has the
finest effect upon the melody, when placed after the second or third
foot, or in the middle of the third. After the second:
"In what retreat, inglorious and unknown,
Did genius sleep, when dulness seized the throne."
After the third:
"O say what stranger cause, yet unexplored,
Could make a gentle belle reject a lord?"
In the middle of the third:
"Great are his perils, in this stormy time,
Who rashly ventures, on a sea of rhime."
In these examples we find a great degree of melody, but not in all the
same degree. In comparing the divisions of verse, we experience the
most pleasure in viewing those which are equal; hence those verses
which have the pause in the middle of the third foot, which is the
middle of the verse, are the most melodious. Such is the third example
above.
In lines where the pause is placed after the second foot, we perceive
a smaller degree of melody, for the divisions are not equal; one
containing four syllables, the other six, as in the first example.
But the melody in this example, is much superior to that of the verses
which have the cesural pause after the third foot; for this obvious
reason: When the pause bounds the second foot, the latter part of the
verse is the greatest, and leaves the most forcible impression upon the
mind; but when the pause is at the end of the third foot, the order is
reversed. We are fond of proceeding from small to great, and a climax
in sound, pleases the ear in the same manner as a climax in sense
delights the mind. Such is the first example.
It must be observed further, that when the cesural pause falls after
the second and third feet, both the final and cesural pauses are on
accented syllables; whereas when the cesural pause falls in the middle
of the third foot, this is on a weak syllable, and the final pause, on
an accented syllable. This variety in the latter, is another cause of
the superior pleasure we derive from verses divided into equal portions.
The pause may fall in the middle of the fourth foot; as,
"Let favor speak for others, worth for me;"
but the melody, in this case, is almost lost. At the close of the first
foot, the pause has a more agreeable effect.
"That's vile, should we a parent's fault adore,
And err, because our fathers err'd before?"
In the middle of the second foot, the pause may be used, but produces
little melody.
"And who but wishes to invert the laws
Of order, sins against the eternal cause."
Harmony is produced by a proportion between the members of the same
verse, or between the members of different verses. Example.
"Thy forests, Windsor, and thy green retreats,
At once the monarch's, and the muse's seats,
Invite my lays. Be present sylvan maids,
Unlock your springs, and open all your shades."
Here we observe, the pause in the first couplet, is in the middle
of the third foot; both verses are in this respect similar. In the
last couplet, the pause falls after the second foot. In each couplet
separately considered, there is a uniformity; but when one is compared
with the other, there is a diversity. This variety produces a pleasing
effect.[126] The variety is further encreased, when the first lines
of several succeeding couplets are uniform as to themselves, and
different from the last lines, which are also uniform as to themselves.
Churchill, speaking of reason, lord chief justice in the court of man,
has the following lines.
"Equally form'd to rule, in age and youth,
The friend of virtue, and the guide to youth;
To _her_ I bow, whose sacred power I feel;
To _her_ decision, make my last appeal;
Condemn'd by _her_, applauding worlds in vain
Should tempt me to take up my pen again;
By _her_ absolv'd, the course I'll still pursue;
If _Reason_'s for me, _God_ is for me too."
The first line of three of these couplets, has the pause after the
second foot; in this consists their similarity. The last line in three
of them, has the pause in the middle of the third foot; they are
uniform as to themselves, but different from the foregoing lines. This
passage, which on the whole is very beautiful, suffers much by the
sixth line, which is not verse, but rather hobbling prose.[127]
The foregoing remarks are sufficient to illustrate the use and
advantages of the cesural pause.
The final pause marks the close of a line or verse, whether there is
a pause in the sense or not. Sentential pauses should be marked by a
variation of tone; but the final pause, when the close of one line is
intimately connected with the beginning of the next, should be merely a
suspension of the voice without elevation or depression. Thus:
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe," &c.
When these lines are read without a pause after the words _fruit_
and _taste_, they degenerate into prose. Indeed in many instances,
particularly in blank verse, the final pause is the only circumstance
which distinguishes verse from prose.
EXPRESSION.
One article more in the construction of verse deserves our observation,
which is _Expression_. Expression consists in such a choice and
distribution of poetic feet as are best adapted to the subject, and
best calculated to impress sentiments upon the mind. Those poetic feet,
which end in an accented syllable, are the most forcible. Hence the
Iambic measure is best adapted to solemn and sublime subjects. This is
the measure of the Epic, of poems on grave moral subjects, of elegies,
&c. The Spondee, a foot of two long syllables, when admitted into the
Iambic measure, adds much to the solemnity of the movement.
"While the clear sun, rejoicing still to rise,
In pomp _rolls round_ immeasurable skies."
Dwight.
The Dactyl, _rolls round_, expresses beautifully the majesty of the sun
in his course.
It is a general rule, that the more important syllables there are in a
passage, whether of prose or verse, the more heavy is the stile. For
example:
"A past, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd new piece."
"Men, bearded, bald, cowl'd, uncowl'd, shod, unshod."
Such lines are destitute of melody and are admissible only when they
suit the sound to the sense. In the high burlesque stile, of which
kind is Pope's Dunciad, they give the sentiment an ironical air of
importance, and from this circumstance derive a beauty. On the other
hand, a large proportion of unaccented syllables or particles, deprives
language of energy; and it is this circumstance principally which in
prose constitutes the difference between the grave historical, and the
familiar stile. The greatest number of long syllables ever admitted
into a heroic verse, is seven, as in the foregoing; the smallest number
is three.
"Or to a s[=a]d var[=i]ety of w[=o]e."
The Trochaic measure, in which every foot closes with a weak syllable,
is well calculated for lively subjects.
"Softly sweet in Lydian measures
Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures;
War he sung is toil and trouble,
Honor but an empty bubble," &c.
The Anapæstic measure, in which there are two short syllables to one
long, is best adapted to express the impetuosity of passion or action.
Shenstone has used it to great advantage, in his inimitable pastoral
ballad. It describes beautifully the strong and lively emotions which
agitate the lover, and his anxiety to please, which continually hurries
him from one object and one exertion to another.
"I have found out a gift for my fair,
I have found where the wood pigeons breed;
Yet let me that plunder forbear,
She will say 'twas a barbarous deed.
For he ne'er could prove true, she averr'd,
Who could rob a poor bird of her young:
And I lov'd her the more when I heard
Such tenderness fall from her tongue."
The Amphibrachic measure, in which there is a long syllable between two
short ones, is best adapted to lively comic subjects; as in Addison's
Rosamond.
"Since conjugal passion
Has come into fashion,
And marriage so blest on the throne is,
Like Venus I'll shine,
Be fond and be fine,
And Sir Trusty shall be my Adonis."
Such a measure gives sentiment a ludicrous air, and consequently is ill
adapted to serious subjects.
Great art may be used by a poet in choosing words and feet adapted to
his subject. Take the following specimen.
"Now here, now there, the warriors fall; amain
Groans murmur, armor sounds, and shouts convulse the plain."
The feet in the last line are happily chosen. The slow Spondee, in the
beginning of the verse, fixes the mind upon the dismal scene of woe;
the solemnity is heightened by the pauses in the middle of the second
and at the end of the third foot. But when the poet comes to shake the
plains, he closes the line with three forcible Iambics.
Of a similar beauty take the following example.
"She all night long, her amorous descant sung."
The poet here designs to describe the length of the night, and the
music of the Nightingale's song. The first he does by two slow
Spondees, and the last by four very rapid syllables.
The following lines, from Gray's Elegy, written in a country church
yard, are distinguished by a happy choice of words.
"For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd?
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one _longing lingering_ look behind?"
The words _longing_ and _lingering_ express most forcibly the
reluctance with which mankind quit this state of existence.
Pope has many beauties of this kind.
"And grace and reason, sense and virtue split,
With all the rash dexterity of wit."
The mute consonants, with which these lines end, express the idea of
_rending asunder_, with great energy and effect. The words _rash_ and
_dexterity_ are also judiciously chosen.
In describing the delicate sensations of the most refined love, he
is remarkable for his choice of smooth flowing words. There are some
passages in his Eloisa and Abelard, which are extended to considerable
length, without a single mute consonant or harsh word.
_Of_ READING VERSE.
With respect to the art of reading verse, we can lay down but a few
simple rules; but these may perhaps be useful.
1. Words should be pronounced as they are in prose and in conversation;
for reading is but rehearsing another's conversation.
2. The emphasis should be observed as in prose. The voice should
bound from accent to accent, and no stress should be laid on little
unimportant words, nor on weak syllables.
3. The sentential pauses should be observed as in prose; these are not
affected by the kind of writing, being regulated entirely by the sense.
But as the cesural and final pauses are designed to encrease the melody
of verse, the strictest attention must be paid to them in reading. They
mark a suspension of voice without rising or falling.
To read prose well it is necessary to understand what is read; and to
read poetry well, it is further necessary to understand the structure
of verse. For want of this knowlege, most people read all verse like
the Iambic measure. The following are pure Iambics.
"Above how high progressive life may go!
Around how wide, how deep extend below!"
It is so easy to lay an accent on every second syllable, that any
school boy can read this measure with tolerable propriety. But the
misfortune is, that when a habit of reading this kind of meter is once
formed, persons do not vary their manner to suit other measures. Thus
in reciting the following line,
"Load _the_ tall _bark_, and launch in_to_ the main,"
many people would lay the accent on every second syllable; and thus
read, our poetry becomes the most monotonous and ridiculous of all
poetry in the world.
Let the following line be repeated without its pauses, and it loses its
principal beauty.
"Bold, as a hero,, as a virgin, mild."
So in the following.
"Reason, the card,, but passion, is the gale."
"From storms, a shelter,, and from heat, a shade."
The harmony is, in all these instances, improved much by the
semipauses, and at the same time the sense is more clearly understood.
Considering the difficulty of reading verse, I am not surprised to find
but few who are proficients in this art. A knowlege of the structure
of verse, of the several kinds of feet, of the nature and use of the
final, the cesural and the semicesural pauses, is essential to a
graceful manner of reading poetry; and even this, without the best
examples, will hardly effect the purpose. It is for this reason, that
children should not be permitted to read poetry of the more difficult
kind, without the best examples for them to imitate. They frequently
contract, in early life, either a monotony or a sing song cant, which,
when grown into a habit, is seldom ever eradicated.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[125] Sheridan's Art of Reading.
[126] Sheridan.
[127] Churchill has improved English versification, but was sometimes
too incorrect. It is a remark of some writer, "That the greatest
geniuses are seldom correct," and the remark is not without foundation.
Homer, Shakespear, and Milton, were perhaps the greatest geniuses that
ever lived, and they were certainly guilty of the greatest faults.
Virgil and Pope were much inferior in point of genius, but excelled
in accuracy. Churchill had genius, but his contempt of rules made him
sometimes indulge a too great latitude of expression.
[Illustration]
NOTES,
HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.
[Illustration]
[A], page 42, Text.
The author of the "Specimen of an Etymological Vocabulary," asserts
that "the Celtic was demonstrably the origin of the Greek and Latin; of
most, if not all the languages of Europe; of part of Africa and the two
Tartaries."