PART III.

PROSODY.

§ 223. Metre.-Metre, in English, is the result of the recurrence, at certain intervals, of accented syllables. In

Then fare thee well, mine own dear love,

The world hath nów for ús

No greáter griéf, nor paín above

The paín of párting thús

every second, in

At the close of the day, when the hámlet is stíll,
And the mortals the sweets of forgetfulness próve,

And when nought but the torrent is heard on the hill,

And there's noúght but the níghtingale's sóng in the grove

every third, syllable is accented.

§ 224. Dissyllabic measures.—For an accented syllable write a, for an unaccented one x. Hence

runs

The way was lóng, the wind was cold,

x а x а x а xa,

where a coincides with the, a with way, &c.

Measure the length of the line in question. Measure it by the syllables, and it consists of eight; by the accents, and it consists of four. In the latter case you take the accented syllable with its corresponding unaccented one, and group the two together. A group of syllables thus taken together is called a measure.

§ 225. Analysis of a pair of Rhyming syllables.-Let the syllables told and bold be taken to pieces. They consist of three parts or elements: 1, the vowel (o); 2, the parts preceding the vowel (t and b respectively); 3, the parts following the vowel (ld). Now for two words to fully, truly, and perfectly rhyme to each other, it is necessary—(1) That the vowel be the same in both; (2) that the parts following the vowel be the same; (3) that the parts preceding the vowel be different. Beyond this the syllables should be accented. Sky and lie form good

rhymes, but sky and the ly in merrily bad ones.

$226. Imperfect Rhymes.-None and own are better rhymes than none and man; because there are degrees in the amount to which sounds differ from one another. In like manner breathe and teeth are nearer to rhymes than breathe and teal.

In matters of rhyme the letter h, being no articulate sound, counts as nothing. High and I, hair and air, are imperfect rhymes:

Whose generous children narrow'd not their hearts
With commerce, giv'n alone to arms and arts.

Words where the letters coincide, but the sounds differ, are only rhymes to the eye. Breathe and beneath are in this predicament; so also are cease and ease (eazē). In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease,

Sprang the rank weed, and thrived with large increase.

§ 227. Single Rhymes.—An accented syllable standing by itself, constitutes a single rhyme.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill

Appear in writing or in judging ill.

§ 228. Double Rhymes.An accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, constitutes a double rhyme.

The meeting points the sacred hair dissever

From her fair head for ever and for ever.

§ 229. Treble Rhymes.-An accented syllable followed by two unaccented ones, constitutes a treble rhyme. Beware that its fatal ascendancy

Do not tempt thee to mope and repine;
With a humble and hopeful dependency
Still await the good pleasure divine.
Success in a higher beátitude,

Is the end of what's under the Pole;
A philosopher takes it with grátitude,

And believes it the best on the whole.

§ 230. Blank Metres.-Accent is essential to English metre. Rhyme, on the other hand, is only an ornament. Metres where there is no rhyme are called Blank Metres.

Of man's first disobedience and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse!-MILTON.

§ 231. The Measures.—The English measures are as

follows:

1. a x.-týrant, silly,

2. x a. presúme, detér,

3. a x x.-mérrily, fórtify,

Dissyllabic.

4. x a x.-disáble, preférring, Trisyllabic.

5. x x a.-refugée, cavaliér,

The last measure of a

§ 232. Last Measure indifferent.line is indifferent as to its length. In the verses of § 228 the original character of the measure is a throughout, until we get to the words disséver and for ever. Here, at the first view, it seems x a is converted into xa x. A different view, however, is the more correct one. Disséver and for ever are rather x a with a syllable over. This extra syllable may be expressed by the sign plus (+), so that the words in point may be expressed by x a +, rather than by xa x. A measure, whereof the last

syllable is accented, can only vary from its original character on the side of excess; that is, it can only be altered by the addition of fresh syllables. With the measures a x, a x x, x ax, the case is different. Here a syllable or syllables may be subtracted.

Queen and húntress, cháste and faír,

Nów the sun is laid to sleep,

Seated in thy silver chaír,

Státe in wonted spléndour keép.

Hésperús invokes thy light,

Goddess, éxquisítely bright.

The formula for expressing fair, sléep, chaír, &c., is not a, but rather a x followed by the minus sign (-), or

ax-.

§ 233. Metrical Notation.-By using the sign x we may write xa x 4, or x a × 5, instead of x a, x a, xa, xa, and x a, x α, x α, x α, xa, in full. If so, lines like

and

Rích the treasure,
Sweet the pleasure,

Túmult ceáse,

Sínk to peace

are a x × 2, and a x × 2 —, respectively.

§ 234. Chief English Metres.-The chief metres in English are of the formula x a.

1. Gay's Stanza.-Lines of three measures, a a, with alternate rhymes; the odd ones being double.

'Twas when the seas were roaring

With hollow blasts of wind,

A damsel lay deploring

All on a rock reclined,

2. Common octosyllabics.-Four measures, x a, with rhyme, and (unless the rhymes be double) eight syllables (octo syllaba).-Butler's Hudibras, Scott's Poems, The Giaour, and other poems of Lord Byron.

3. Elegiac octosyllabics.-Same as the last, except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses arranged in stanzas.

And on her lover's arm she leant,

And round her waist she felt it fold,
And far across the hills they went,

In that new world which now is old:
Across the hills and far away,

Beyond their utmost purple rim,

And deep into the dying day

The happy princess followed him.

TENNYSON.

4. Octosyllabic triplets.-Three rhymes in succession. Generally arranged as stanzas.

I blest them, and they wander'd on ;
spoke, but answer came there none:
The dull and bitter voice was gone.

5. Blank verse.-Five measures, a a, without rhyme.Paradise Lost, Young's Night Thoughts, Cowper's Task. 6. Heroic couplets.-Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. Chaucer, Denham, Dryden, Waller, Pope, Goldsmith, Cowper, Byron, Moore, Shelley, &c. This is the common metre for narrative, didactic, and descriptive poetry.

7. Heroic triplets.- Five measures, xa. Three rhymes in succession. Arranged in stanzas.

8. Elegiacs.-Five measures, x a; with regularly alternate rhymes, and arranged in stanzas.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea,
The ploughman homewards plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

GRAY.

9. Rhymes royal.-Seven lines of heroics, with the last two rhymes in succession, and the first five recurring at intervals.