diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/51873-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51873-0.txt | 9059 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 9059 deletions
diff --git a/old/51873-0.txt b/old/51873-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9902764..0000000 --- a/old/51873-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9059 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Practical Guide to English Versification, by Tom Hood - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Practical Guide to English Versification - With a Compendious Dictionary of Rhymes, an Examination - of Classical Measures, and Comments Upon Burlesque and - Comic Verse, Vers de Société, and Song-writing - -Author: Tom Hood - -Release Date: April 26, 2016 [EBook #51873] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENGLISH *** - - - - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, readbueno and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENGLISH VERSIFICATION. - - - - - PRACTICAL GUIDE - - TO - - ENGLISH VERSIFICATION. - - WITH A COMPENDIOUS DICTIONARY OF RHYMES, - - AN EXAMINATION OF CLASSICAL MEASURES - - AND COMMENTS UPON BURLESQUE AND COMIC VERSE, - - VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ, AND SONG-WRITING. - - - BY TOM HOOD. - - - _A New and Enlarged Edition._ - - TO WHICH ARE ADDED, - - BYSSHE'S "RULES FOR MAKING ENGLISH|VERSE," &c. - - LONDON:|JOHN HOGG, PATERNOSTER ROW.|1877. - - - - - PREFACE. - - -I am anxious at the first outset that the object of this work should not -be misunderstood. It does not assume to be a handbook for poets, or a -guide to poetry. The attempt to compile such a book as is implied by -either of those titles would be as absurd as pretentious. - -A Poet, to paraphrase the Latin, is created, not manufactured. Cicero's -"nascimur poetæ, fimus oratores," is, with some modification, even more -to the point. In a word, poetical genius is a gift, but education and -perseverance will make almost any man a versifier. - -All, therefore, that this book aims to teach is the art of -Versification. That art, like Logic, is "ars instrumentalis, dirigens -mentem inter cognitionem rerum." As Logic does not supply you with -arguments, but only defines the mode in which they are to be expressed -or used, so Versification does not teach you how to write poetry, but -how to construct verse. It may be a means to the end, but it does not -pretend to assure its attainment. Versification and Logic are to Poetry -and Reason what a parapet is to a bridge: they do not convey you across, -but prevent you from falling over. The difference is that which exists -between τεχνη and ἐπιστήμη. - -This definition is rendered necessary by the Dogberry spirit which is -now abroad, and which insists that "to be a well-favoured man is the -gift of fortune,"—fortune in the sense of wealth, I presume,—"but to -write and read comes by nature;" in fact, that to be "a poet" a man -needs to be advantageously placed in the world, but that any one can -"write poetry." - -With this conviction, I have discarded the title of a guide for "Poets," -feeling that there is much real poetry that is not in verse, and a vast -deal of verse that is not poetry; and that therefore "a hard and fast -line" was of the first importance to mark the boundary of my -undertaking. Poetry is far less a question of manner than of matter, -whereas versification is purely a question of form. I will even venture -to say that some of our noblest poems are in prose; and that many great -poets have been but inferior versifiers. But what these last wrote has -possessed qualities compared with which the mere mechanism of their -verse is as nothing. The poet gives to the world in his sublime thoughts -diamonds of the purest water. It would be idle to quibble about minor -points of the polishing and setting of such gems—they would lose in the -process! But the writer of verse does not—and should not—pretend to give -us diamonds. He offers paste-brilliants; and therefore it the more -behoves him to see to the perfection of the cutting, on which their -beauty depends. - -The thoughts presented by the poet may be rough-hewn; the fancies of the -versifier must be accurately finished, and becomingly set. Poetry, -therefore, abounds in licences, while Versification boasts only of laws. - -To enumerate, explain, and define these laws is the object of this work. -Nor is such a task a waste of time, as those may be inclined to think, -who argue that if one cannot write poetry, 'tis absurd to try to write -verse. Yet versification is an elegant accomplishment to say the -least—"emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros." But it is something more -than an elegant accomplishment—much more. - -In the dead languages—leaving in abeyance the question of classical -_versus_ mathematical education—nothing gives such scholarly finish as -the practice of Greek and Latin verse-writing, nothing such an intimate -knowledge and understanding of the genius of either language. - -Were English versification taught in our schools, I believe the boys -would acquire a better understanding and appreciation of their own -tongue. With such training, a lad would shrink from a mispronunciation -as he does from a false quantity in Latin or Greek. He would not fall -into the slipshod way of pronouncing "doing" as if it were spelt -"doin'," "again" as if "agen," and "written and spoken" as if "writtun -and spokun." He would not make dissyllables of words like "fire" and -"mire," or of the trisyllable "really." Nor would he make another -mistake (very common now, as revealed in magazine verse where such words -are put to rhyme, "before" and "more") of pronouncing "ure" as -"ore,"—"shore" and "asshore" for "sure" and "assure," of which, of -course, the correct pronunciation is "shewre," "ashewre."[1] - -The purging of our pronunciation would be of general benefit. At present -it is shifting and uncertain—because it is never taught. The dropping of -the "h" is almost the only error in pronunciation that is ever noticed -at school; and there being no standard set up, the pronunciation of -English becomes every day more and more degraded by the mere force of -the majority of uneducated vulgar. The Americanising of our -language—which seems to me a less remote and no less undesirable -possibility than "the Americanising of our institutions," about which we -hear so much—can only be checked by some such educational system. Surely -the deterioration of our language is not a minor matter, and when it can -be removed by the encouragement of verse-writing at our schools, -strictly and clearly taught, it seems astonishing that no effort has -been made in that direction.[2] - -However, whether, by establishing a system of English versifying at our -schools, we shall ever endeavour to give fixity to our pronunciation, is -a question hardly likely, I fear, to be brought to the test yet awhile. -That English versifying is a strong educational power, I do not doubt, -and in that belief, have endeavoured to render this handbook as complete -as possible. I have therefore laid down the most stringent rules and the -clearest formulæ in my power. - -Verse is but the A B C of Poetry, and the student must learn his -alphabet correctly. We should not allow a child to arrange the letters -as he chose,—"A, Z, B, G, C,"—nor must the beginner in verse dream of -using any licences of a similar kind. I should fail in my duty if I -admitted anything of the kind; for while it would be presumption to lay -down laws for poets, it would be incapacity to frame licences for -versifiers. - -I therefore conclude these prefatory remarks by adducing the two chief -regulations for the student. - - First, That he must use such rhymes only as - are perfect to the ear, when correctly pronounced. - - Second, That he must never write a line - which will not sooner or later in the - stanza have a line to correspond with a rhyme. - -To these I may add, as a rider, this piece of advice (somewhat in the -style of the whist maxim, "When in doubt, play a trump"): If you have -reason to choose between two styles of versification, select the more -difficult. - -It is only by sustaining your verse at the highest elevation that you -can hope even to approach poetry. - - "Be bold—be bold—but not too bold!" - -And bear in mind the words of Sir Philip Sidney:—"Who shootes at the -midday Sonne, though he be sure he shall neuer hit the marke; yet as -sure he is, he shall shoote higher than who aymes but at a bush." - - T. H. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. VERSE GENERALLY, 1 - - II. CLASSIC VERSIFICATION, 8 - - III. GUIDES AND HANDBOOKS, 16 - - IV. OF FEET AND CÆSURA, 23 - - V. OF METRE AND RHYTHM, 27 - - VI. OF RHYME, 44 - - VII. OF FIGURES, 49 - - VIII. OF BURLESQUE AND COMIC VERSE, AND _VERS DE - SOCIÉTÉ_, 54 - - IX. OF SONG-WRITING, 61 - - THE DICTIONARY OF RHYMES, 65 - - APPENDIX. - - 1. AN ESSAY ON ENGLISH VERSIFICATION, 151 - - 2. BYSSHE'S "RULES FOR MAKING ENGLISH VERSE," 207 - - - CHAPTER I.—_Of the Structure of English Verses._ - - SECT. 1. Of the several Sorts of Verses; and, first, - of those of Ten Syllables: of the due - Observation of the Accents, and of the Pause. 209 - - - SECT. 2. Of the other Sorts of Verses that are used in - our Poetry. 213 - - SECT. 3. Several Rules conducing to the Beauty of our - Versification. 215 - - SECT. 4. Doubts concerning the number of Syllables of - certain Words. 217 - - SECT. 5. Of the Elisions that are allowed in our - Versification. 219 - - CHAPTER II.—_Of Rhyme._ - - SECT. 1. What Rhyme is, and the Several Sorts of it. 223 - - SECT. 2. Of Double and Treble Rhyme. 224 - - SECT. 3. Further Instructions concerning Rhyme. 224 - - CHAPTER III.—_Of the Several Sorts of Poems, or Composition in - Verse._ - - SECT. 1. Of the Poems composed in Couplets. 227 - - SECT. 2. Of the Poems composed in Stanzas; and, first, - of the Stanzas consisting of Three, and of - Four Verses. 228 - - SECT. 3. Of the Stanzas of Six Verses. 230 - - SECT. 4. Of the Stanzas of Eight Verses. 231 - - SECT. 5. Of the Stanzas of Ten and of Twelve Verses. 233 - - SECT. 6. Of the Stanzas that consist of an odd Number - of Verses. 234 - - SECT. 7. Of Pindaric Odes, and Poems in Blank Verse. 236 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - VERSE GENERALLY. - - -There is no better text for this chapter than some lines from Pope's -"Essay on Criticism":— - - "But most by numbers judge a poet's song, - And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong: - These equal syllables alone require, - Tho' oft the ear the open vowels tire; - While expletives their feeble aid do join; - And ten low words oft creep in one dull line: - While they ring round the same unvaried chimes, - With sure returns of still recurring rhymes; - Where'er you find 'the cooling western breeze,' - In the next line it 'whispers through the trees:' - If crystal streams 'with pleasing murmurs creep,' - The reader's threaten'd—not in vain—with 'sleep.' - Then at the last and only couplet, fraught - With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, - A needless Alexandrine ends the song, - That like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. - Leave such to tune their own dull rhymes, to know - What's roundly smooth, or languishingly slow; - And praise the easy vigour of a line - Where Denham's strength, and Waller's sweetness join. - True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, - As those move easiest who have learnt to dance. - 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, - The sound must seem an echo to the sense. - Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, - And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows; - But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, - The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar: - When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, - The line, too, labours, and the words move slow. - Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, - Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main." - -Johnson sneers somewhat at the attempt at what he styles "representative -metre." He quotes "one of the most successful attempts,"— - - "With many a weary step, and many a groan, - Up a high hill he heaves a huge round stone; - The huge round stone, resulting with a bound, - Thunders impetuous down and smokes along the ground." - -After admitting that he sees the stone move slowly upward, and roll -violently back, he says, "try the same numbers to another sense— - - "While many a merry tale and many a song - Cheer'd the rough road, we wish'd the rough road long. - The rough road then returning in a round - Mock'd our impatient steps, for all was fairy ground." - -"We have now," says the Doctor, "lost much of the delay and much of the -rapidity." Truly so!—but why? The choice of words has really altered the -measure, though not the number of syllables. If we look at the second -line of the first extract, we see how the frequent use of the aspirate, -with a long sound after it, gives the labour of the ascent. There is -nothing of this in the corresponding line, where the "r" gives a run -rather than a halt to the measure. But Johnson more decidedly shows how -he was mistaken when he finds fault with Pope's— - - "The varying verse, the full resounding line, - The long majestic march, and energy divine." - -His objection to this is, that the same sequence of syllables gives "the -rapid race" and "the march of slow-paced majesty;" and he adds, "the -exact prosodist will find the line of _swiftness_ by one time longer -than that of _tardiness_." By this it is to be presumed he alludes to -the trisyllabic nature of the first foot of the first line—"varying." -But it is just that which gives the rapidity. The other half of the line -is not meant to give rapidity, but "resounding." The second line, by the -repetition of the "a" in "march" and "majesty," gives the tramp of the -march to admiration. - - So much for Johnson's objections. We will now see how far the lines of -Pope can guide us in the construction of verse. - - LINE THIRD indicates the necessity—which Pope himself, even, did not -adequately recognise—the necessity of varying the fall of the verse on -the ear. Pope did this by graduating his accents. The line should scan -with an accented syllable following an unaccented one— - - "And smo´oth or ro´ugh, with the´m, is ri´ght or wro´ng." - -Pope varied this by a sort of compromise— - - "And the´ smooth strea´m in smo´other nu´mbers flo´ws," - -would be the right scansion. But the accent passes in a subdued form -from "the" to "smooth," which pleasantly modulates the line, and gives -the flow required for the figure treated of.[3] - - But there was another means of varying the verse which was not in -those days adopted. It was not then recognised that there were some -cases in which the unaccented syllable might have two "beats." Pope -wrote, - - "The gen'rous pleasure to be charm'd with wit." - -Had he written "generous," it might have stood, and would have given a -variety. And this would have saved the eyesore of such lines as— - - "T' admire superior sense and doubt our own." - - LINE FOURTH does not exactly describe the fault it commits. "The open -vowel" is no offence, but rather a beauty, though like all beauty it -must not be too lavishly displayed. The fault of the line really lies in -the repetition of the same broad sound—"o." The same vowel-sounds should -not be repeated in a line.[4] This especially holds good where they are -so associated with consonants as to form a rhyme, or anything -approaching to it. - - LINE FIFTH points out an inelegance which no one with any ear could be -guilty of—the use of "do" and "did," to eke out a line or help a rhyme. - - LINE SIXTH indicates a practice which those who have studied Latin -versification would avoid without such a hint, since the nature of the -cæsura compels the avoidance of monosyllables. - - LINE NINTH, with the following three lines, warns against an error -which naturally becomes the more frequent the longer English verse is -written, since rhymes become more and more hackneyed every day. - - LINE SIXTEENTH. The Alexandrine will come under discussion in its -place among metres. - - LINE TWENTY-FIRST might well serve for a motto for this little -treatise. If a poet said this of poetry, how much more does it apply to -versification! - - LINE TWENTY-FIFTH. Here, and in the following line, by delicate -manipulation of the accent, Pope gets the desired effect. Instead of "So -so´ft the stra´in," he attracts the ear with "So´ft is," and the -unexpected word gives the key-note of the line. - - LINE TWENTY-SEVENTH. It is almost needless to point out how in this, -and the next line, the poet, by artful management of accent and careful -selection of onomatopoetic words, gives the required assonance to the -lines. - - LINE TWENTY-NINTH. The broad vowels here give the requisite pause and -"deliberation" to the verse. In the following line, the introduction of -"too"—(under some circumstances it might well come under the -condemnation of Line Fifth)—makes the line labour, and the open "o" at -the end of the line "tires the ear." - - LINE THIRTY-FIRST. Here the poet gets the slide of the "s" to give the -idea of motion. In the following line by the elision and the apt -introduction of short syllables he repeats the notion. In my opinion the -artistic skill of Pope is peculiarly observable in the last few -couplets. In the first line in each instance the effect is produced by -the use of a different artifice from that employed in the second. - -These rules were of course intended by Pope to apply only to the measure -called "heroic," _i.e._, decasyllabic verse. But, _mutatis mutandis_, -they will be equally applicable to general verse. - -Coleridge in his "Christabel" struck out what he considered a new metre, -which he describes as "not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may -seem so from its being founded on a new principle: namely, that of -counting in each line the accents, not the syllables. Though the latter -may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be -found to be only four." This was a decided step in the right direction, -being in truth a recognition of the principle that measure in English -was not exhausted—was, indeed, hardly satisfied—by the old rule of -thumb; that, in short, it needed a compromise between _accent_ and -_quantity_. - -Southey in his "Thalaba" essayed a new style of versification, of which -he writes as follows:— - -"It were easy to make a parade of learning by enumerating the various -feet which it admits; it is only needful to observe that no two lines -are employed in sequence, which can be read into one. Two six-syllable -lines (it will perhaps be answered) compose an Alexandrine; the truth -is, that the Alexandrine, when harmonious, is composed of two -six-syllable lines. One advantage this metre assuredly possesses; the -dullest reader cannot distort it into discord.... I do not wish the -_improvisatore_ time, but something that denotes the sense of harmony; -something like the accent of feeling; like the tone which every poet -necessarily gives to poetry." - - Of course, by "six syllables" Southey means "six feet." He was -evidently struggling for emancipation from the old rule of thumb. - - Of late many eccentricities of versification have been attempted after -the manner of Mr Whitman, but for these, like the Biblical echo of Mr -Tupper's muse, there seem to be no perceptible rules, even should it be -desirable to imitate them. - - I would here add a few words of advice to those who, by the study of -our greatest writers, would endeavour to improve their own style. For -smoothness I should say Waller, in preference even to Pope, because the -former wrote in far more various measures, and may challenge comparison -with Pope, on Pope's own ground, with "The Ode to the Lord Protector," -in decasyllabic verse. For music—"lilt" is an expressive word that -exactly conveys what I mean—they cannot do better than choose Herrick. -Add to these two George Herbert, and I think the student will have a -valuable guide in small space. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - CLASSIC VERSIFICATION. - - -There is little doubt that the best and easiest way of learning English -grammar is through the Latin. That English versification cannot be -similarly acquired through the Latin is due to the fact that the Latin -system depends on quantity, and the English chiefly on accent and rhyme. -Nevertheless, a slight acquaintance with the classic measures will prove -useful to the student of English verse. In the absence of all teaching -of English versification at our schools, they have done good service in -giving our boys some insight into the structure of verse. - - The structure of Latin and Greek verse depends on the quantity—the -length or shortness expressed by the forms — ᴗ. A long syllable is equal -in duration to two short syllables, which may therefore take its place -(as it may take theirs) in certain positions. The combinations of -syllables are called feet, of which there are about nine-and-twenty. -Twelve of the most common are here given:— - - Spondee — — - Pyrrhic ᴗ ᴗ - Trochee — ᴗ - Iambus ᴗ — - Molossus — — — - Tribrach ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ - Dactyl — ᴗ ᴗ - Anapæst ᴗ ᴗ — - Bacchic ᴗ — — - Antibacchic — — ᴗ - Amphimacer — ᴗ — - Amphibrach ᴗ — ᴗ - -Of the styles of verse produced by combinations of these feet the most -important are the Heroic, or Hexameter; the Elegiac, alternate -Hexameters and Pentameters; and the Dramatic or Iambic. All others may -be classed as Lyrics. - -The Cæsura (division) is the separation of each verse into two parts by -the ending of a word in the middle of a certain foot.[5] It may be here -noted that this principle (the ending of a word in the middle of a foot) -applies generally to the verse, it being an inelegance to construct -lines of words of which each constitutes a foot. The well-known line of -Virgil, marked to show the feet, will explain this at a glance— - - "Arma vi|rumque ca|no || Tro|jæ qui | primus ab | oris." - -In this the cæsura occurs in the third foot, between _cano_ and _Trojæ_. -But in no case is one foot composed of one word only. - -The Hexameter line consists of, practically, five dactyls and a spondee -or trochee. A spondee may take the place of each of the first four -dactyls—and sometimes, but very rarely, of the fifth. The cæsura falls -in the third foot at the end of the first—and sometimes at the end of -the second—syllable of the dactyl. In some cases it is in the fourth -foot, after the first syllable. The last word in the line should be -either a dissyllable or trisyllable. - -The Pentameter is never used alone, but, with a Hexameter preceding it -in the distich, forms Elegiac Verse. It consists of two parts, divided -by a cæsura, each part composed of two dactyls (interchangeable with -spondees) and a long syllable.[6] The last place in the line should be -occupied by a dissyllabic word—at least it should not be a monosyllable -or trisyllable. - - The Iambic is most commonly used in a six-foot line of iambics (the -trimeter iambic, _vide_ note on last paragraph). In the first, third, -and fifth place a spondee may be substituted, and there are other -licenses which we need not here enter upon, as the measure is not of -much importance for our purposes. The cæsura occurs in the third or -fourth foot. - - The Lyrics are, as a rule, compound verses; different sorts of feet -enter into the formation of the lines; and the stanzas consist of lines -of different kinds, and are styled strophes. - - The chief of the lyric measures are the Sapphic and Alcaic. - - The Sapphic is a combination of three Sapphic verses with an Adonic. - - Lines 1, 2, 3, — ᴗ | — — | — || ᴗ ᴗ | — ᴗ | — ᴗ | — —ᴗ - - Line 4, — ᴗ ᴗ | — — - -The double line represents the cæsura, which in rare instances falls a -syllable later. - - The Alcaic is, like the Sapphic, a four-line stanza. Its scheme is— - - Lines 1 and 2, —ᴗ — | ᴗ — | — || — ᴗ ᴗ | — ᴗ —ᴗ - - Line 3, —ᴗ — | ᴗ — | — — | ᴗ — | —ᴗ - - Line 4, — ᴗ ᴗ | — ᴗ ᴗ | — ᴗ | — —ᴗ - -That is to say, it consists of two eleven-syllable, one nine-syllable, -and one ten-syllable Alcaic lines (Alcaici hendeka-, ennea-, and -deka-syllabici). Much of the success of the stanza depends on the flow -of the third line, which, according to the best models, should consist -of three trisyllables (or equivalent combinations, _e.g._ a dissyllable -noun with its monosyllabic preposition). - - When it is stated that Horace wrote in four or five-and-twenty lyric -measures, it will be obvious that I cannot exhaust, or attempt to -exhaust, the list of measures in a work like this. The reader will have -acquired some notion of the nature of classic versification, from what I -have stated of Latin composition applying with unimportant differences -to Greek. Those who have the leisure or the inclination might do worse -than study Greek and Latin poetry, if only to see if they can suggest no -novelties of metre. I can recall no English verse that reproduces -Horace's musical measure:— - - "Mĭsĕrār' est | nĕqu' ămōrī dărĕ lūdūm | nĕqŭe dūlcī - Mălă vīnō | lăvĕr' āut ēx|ănĭmārī | mĕtŭēntēs - Pătrŭǣ vēr| bĕră līnguǣ." - -Greek verse seems a less promising field than Latin at a first glance. -But one of the choruses in Aristophanes's "Plutus" has an exact echo in -Engish verse. - - "ἄνδρες φίλοι κὰι δημόται κὰι τοῦ πονεῖν ἐραστάι." - -may fairly run in a curricle with - - "A captain bold of Halifax who lived in country quarters." - - The great difficulty of finding a corresponding measure in English for -Latin or Greek verse, on the accepted theory that the English acute -accent answers to the Latin long quantity, and the grave accent to the -short, will be found in the spondee. We have no means of replacing the -two longs in juxtaposition, and are compelled to find refuge in what, -according to the accent-quantity theory, is either an iamb or a trochee. - - I subjoin the following attempts to render a few Latin metres, -commencing with a translation of the Horatian measure just alluded to:— - - "Hapless lasses who in glasses may not drown those pangs of passion, - Or disclose its bitter woes, it's—so they tell you—not the fashion." - -Yet this, in spite of the sub-rhymes which give the swing of the Ionicus -( ᴗ ᴗ — ´ — ) may well be read as a succession of trochees—that is to -say, according to the quantity-accent system. - - Here is an attempt at the Sapphic:— - - "Never—ah me—now, as in days aforetime - Rises o'erwhelming memory—'tis banish'd! - Scenes of loved childhood, cannot ye restore time, - Though it has vanish'd?" - - The Alcaic measure is essayed in the following:— - - "Ah woe! the men who gallantly sallying - Strode forth undaunted, rapidly rallying— - No longer advancing attack-ward, - Rush'd a disorderly tumult backward." - -In these, again, the difficulty of exactly replacing quantity by accent -is great—if not insurmountable. Hence it is that, as a rule, the -attempts at giving the exact reproductions of Latin measures have -failed. Nevertheless I believe that corresponding measures, suitable to -the genius of our language, may be suggested by a study of the classics. - -The often-quoted lines of Coleridge on the hexameter and pentameter -appear to me faulty:— - - "In the hex|ameter | rises || the | fountain's | silvery | column— - In the pen|tameter | aye || falling in | melody | back." - -The first feet of both lines are less dactyls than anapæsts. The cæsura -of the first line is not the "worthier" cæsura. In the second line the -monosyllable is inadmissible in the last place. - - Here I may as well point out what seems to me to be a difficulty of -English versification which has given much trouble. The substitution of -accent for quantity is not all that is required to make the best verse. -Quantity enters into the consideration too. A combination of consonants, -giving an almost imperceptible weight to the vowel preceding them, goes -far to disqualify it for a place as an unaccented syllable. To my -thinking "rises a" would be a better English dactyl than "rises the," -and "falls it in" than "falling in." But no agglomeration of consonants -can make such a syllable accented. Two lines from Coleridge's "Mahomet" -will evidence this— - - "Huge wasteful | empires | founded and | hallowed | slow - perse|cution, - Soul-wither|ing but | crush'd the | blasphemous | rites of - the | Pagan." - -"Huge wasteful" is not a dactyl, and "ing but" is certainly not a -spondee—nor is "crushed the." "Hallowed," by force of the broad "o," is -almost perfect as a spondee, on the other hand; as is "empires" also. -Longfellow, in his "Evangeline," has perhaps done the best that can be -done to give an exact rendering of the Latin hexameter; but Tennyson, in -portions of "Maud," has caught its spirit, and transfused it into an -English form. No poet, indeed, has done so much as the Laureate to -introduce new or revive old forms of versification, and enrich the -language with musical measure. - - It may be well to note here that the classic poets did not forget the -use of the maxim which Pope expresses in the line— - - "The sound must seem an echo to the sense." - -In this they were greatly assisted by the use of the quantity, which -enabled them the more readily to give rapidity or weight to their lines. -Nothing could more admirably represent a horse's gallop than the beat of -the words— - - "Quadrupedante putrem sonittu quatit ungula campum." - -The unwieldiness of the Cyclops is splendidly shadowed in the line— - - "Monstrum, horrendum, informe, ingens cui lumen ademptum." - -And again the beat of the Cyclopean hammers is well imitated in the -verse— - - "Illi inter sese magnâ vi brachia tollunt." - -Too much stress may easily be laid on this adornment, and some poets -have carried it to excess. But the beginner in verse will do well not to -overlook it. - - * * * * * - - NOTE.—The Poet Laureate, whose mastery of metre is remarkable, has -given us alcaics in his lines to Milton— - - "Oh, mighty-mouth'd inventor of harmonies, - Oh, skill'd to sing of time and eternity, - God-gifted organ-voice of England— - Milton, a name to resound for ages." - -I would especially commend to those whom these remarks have interested -in any way, the perusal, with a view to this particular object, of -"Father Prout's Reliques." - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - GUIDES AND HANDBOOKS. - - -The earliest handbook of verse appears to be that of Bysshe, who is, by -the way, described in the British Museum Catalogue as "the Poet." The -entry is the only ground I can find for so describing him. He is, -however, amusingly hard on simple versifiers. "Such Debasers of Rhyme, -and Dablers in Poetry would do well to consider that a Man would justly -deserve a higher Esteem in the World by being a good Mason or -Shoe-Maker, than by being an indifferent or second-Rate Poet." -Furthermore, with touching modesty, he says, "I pretend not by the -following sheets to teach a man to be a Poet in Spight of Fate and -Nature." His "Rules for making English Verse" are reprinted in the -Appendix. - - His dictionary of rhymes is better than those of his -successors,—perhaps I should say "that" of his successors, for Walker's -has been repeated with all its errors, or nearly all, in every -subsequent handbook. Bysshe is to be praised for setting his face -against what Walker styles "allowable" rhymes, such as "haste" and -"feast."[7] - - Bysshe's theory of verse was "the seat of the accent, and the pause," -as distinguished from quantity—that is, it depended on the number of -syllables. As a result of this undivided devotion, he misses much of the -power to be attained by making the sound the echo of the sense, as Pope -puts it. He proposes to alter a line of Dryden's from - - "But forced, harsh, and uneasy unto all." - -into - - "But forced and harsh, uneasy unto all." - -One would fancy the merest tyro would see the intentional harshness of -the line as Dryden wrote it, and its utter emasculation as Bysshe -reforms it. - - Bysshe is strongly in favour of clipping syllables, a very pitiable -error, for the chief drawback of English as a poetical language is the -preponderance of consonants. He prefers to make "beauteous" dissyllabic, -and "victorious" trisyllabic. He recommends the elision which makes -"bower," "Heaven," "Prayer" and "higher," monosyllables, and advises the -use of such abortions as "temp'rance," "fab'lous," "med'cine," -"cov'nant," and even "wall'wing," for wallowing! To compensate for these -clippings, however, he considers "ism" a dissyllable! - - As a consequence of his narrowing verse to a question of syllable and -accent only, he vulgarises many words unnecessarily. The student of -verse who considers quantity as well as accent will find no difficulty -in reading the following lines without eliding any vowels. - - "From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold."—_Milton._ - - "A violet by a mossy stone."—_Wordsworth._ - - "With vain but violent force their darts they threw."—_Cowley._ - - "His ephod, mitre, well-cut diadem on."—_Cowley._ - - "My blushing hyacinth and my bays I keep."—_Dryden._ - - Bysshe cuts down to "di'mond," "vi'let," "vi'lent," "di'dem," -"hy'cinth," words which need no such debasing elision. As in music two -short sharp beats are equivalent to one long one (two minims = one -semi-breve) so in verse two brief vowels, or syllables even, are -admissible—indeed, at times desirable for the sake of variety in lieu of -one. - -Among less questionable maxims of Bysshe's is one, "avoid a concourse of -vowels," instanced by— - - "Should th_y_ _I_ambics swell into a book." - -This means, it is to be presumed, "avoid a concourse of repetitions of -one sound," a very necessary rule. Some poets are careful not to get the -same vowel sound twice in any line. "Avoid ending a verse with an -adjective whose substantive follows in the next line" is another sound -precept, instanced by— - - "Some lost their quiet rivals, some their kind - Parents." - -The same rule applies to the separation of a preposition from the case -which it governs, as exemplified in— - - "The daily lessening of our life shows by - A little dying," &c. - -With less reason Bysshe condemns alliteration. It is an artifice that -can be overdone, as is often the case in Poe's poems, and those of Mr -Swinburne,[8] - - Following the example of the old _Gradus ad Parnassum_, Bysshe gives -an anthology with his guide. An anthology in a guide to English verse is -worse than useless, for it serves no purpose save to provoke plagiarism -and imitation. Any one who wishes to write verse will do little unless -he has a fair acquaintance with English poetry—an acquaintance for which -an anthology can never be a substitute; while it will but cripple and -hamper his fancy and originality by supplying him with quotations on any -given subject, from "April" to "Woman." - - Walker's Rhyming Dictionary has greater faults, but also greater -merits than Bysshe's Art of Poetry. Walker admits and defends -"allowable" rhymes. "It may be objected," he says, "that a work of this -kind contributes to extend poetical blemishes, by furnishing imperfect -materials and apologies for using them. But it may be answered, that if -these imperfect rhymes were allowed to be blemishes, it would still be -better to tolerate them than cramp the imagination by the too narrow -boundaries of exactly similar sounds." Now, it is perfectly true, of -course, that a _poet_ may well be allowed to effect the compromise of -sacrificing a rhyme for a thought; but the versifier (for whom Walker's -book is meant) must have no such license. He must learn to walk before -he runs. Yet apart from this, Walker's argument is singularly -illogical;—there can be no need to catalogue the blemishes, even on the -ground he urges, since the imagination would suggest the license, not -the license stimulate the imagination. Walker's book being simply -mechanical should have been confined to the correct machinery of verse, -and imagination should have been allowed to frame for itself the -licenses, which it would not dream of seeking in a handbook. - - But for this defect, Walker's Dictionary would be the best book of the -sort possible. It contains, beside an Index in which rhymes are arranged -under various terminations, as in Bysshe's work, a terminational -dictionary of three hundred pages; a dictionary, that is, in which the -words are arranged as in ordinary dictionaries, save that the last and -not the first letter of the word is that under which it is ranged. - - Walker's Index is by no means exhaustive. In arranging the index of -this little book I have added about a hundred terminations to his list, -beside subdividing headings which have two sounds (as ASH, in "cash" and -"wash"). Walker's _Dictionary_ of rhymes, though by no means exhaustive, -is useful, and is the only one extant. His _Index_ of rhymes has been -copied so servilely by all compilers of "handbooks of poetry" that, in -dismissing it now, we dismiss all so-called rhyming dictionaries of -later date. - - Of these recent books there are but two of any note or importance. One -claims to be a "complete practical guide to the whole subject of English -versification"—"an exhaustive treatise," in which the writer, by way of -simplifying matters, proposes to supersede the old titles of spondee, -dactyl, &c., by the titles of "march," "trip," "quick," and "revert," -and makes accents intelligible by calling them "backward" and "forward," -with such further lucidities as "hover," "main," "midabout," and other -technicalities afford. Its chief characteristic, however, is a decided -condemnation of rhyme altogether, and a suggestion of the substitution -of "assonance," under which "path" and "ways," and "pride" and "wife" -would do duty for rhyme! The treatise, though spoiled by pedantic aiming -after novelties of nomenclature, and too assertive language, is worth -perusal. But as "a practical guide" it is at present useless, and will -remain so until English rhyme is disestablished and disendowed by Act of -Parliament. Although its author modestly describes it as "the first -treatise of the kind ever completed," and considers it "will in no mean -degree serve to advance" the study of English verse, it is to be feared -that there is little danger of its setting the Pierian spring on fire. - - A more practical "Handbook of Poetry" is the best work of the kind I -have met with, but it is full of grave errors. It begins with a -definition of "Poetry" which makes it identical with "Verse," and it -tends too much to the side of license in consequence, from the fact of -permitting to the versifier freedoms which poets only can claim. On -rhyme it is singularly inconsistent. It pronounces as no rhyme "heart" -and "art," which to any but a cockney ear are perfect rhymes. Yet, a few -paragraphs farther on, its only objection to the coupling of "childhood" -and "wildwood" as a double rhyme, is that it is hackneyed; whereas it is -not a double rhyme at all! In a chapter on "Imagery," though "metaphor" -is catalogued, "simile" is omitted, and both together reappear under the -needless subdivision "tropes." An anthology is added, and a dictionary -of double and treble rhymes—as if it were possible to give anything like -an exhaustive list of them in twenty pages! - - Such being the imperfections, whether of shortcoming or excess, of the -various existing handbooks, I venture to hope that this little treatise -may plead some excuse for its appearance. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - OF FEET AND CÆSURA. - - -The feet most often met with in English verse are those corresponding -with the trochee and iambus,[9] that is approximately. The iambic is -most common perhaps, represented by two syllables with the accent on the -last syllable. The trochee has two syllables, with the accent on the -first. An example of a line in each metre will show the difference— - - _Four Foot Iambic._ - - "To fai´r Fide´le's gra´ssy to´mb." - - _Four Foot Trochaic._ - - "No´t a si´ngle ma´n depa´rted." - - Dactyls (an accented followed by two unaccented syllables) and -anapæsts (two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one) are most -frequently used in combination with the other feet— - - _Anapæstic._ - - "O´r the wo´rld | from the hou´r | of her bi´rth." - - _Dactylic._ - - "Ma´ke no deep | scru´tiny - I´nto her | mu´tiny." - -It appears to me preferable to retain the classic names for these feet, -rather than to try and invent new titles for them. One writer on -versification has attempted to do this, and calls the iambic "march" -measure, and the trochaic "trip." This seems to me to render the nature -of the measure liable to misconstruction, as if the former only suited -elevated themes, and the latter light ones; whereas the metre of -Hudibras is iambic, and Aytoun's ballad of the "Battle of Flodden" is -trochaic. The truth is, that the form of the foot has little to do with -the "march" or "trip" of the verse, for "The Bridge of Sighs" is written -in a dactylic form; and, according to the authority just alluded to, if -the trochee be a "trip," the dactyl must be a "jig"! - - By the combinations of these feet in certain numbers a line is -constituted. Those in which two, three, and four feet occur—dimeters, -trimeters, and tetrameters—are not so general as lines of more feet, and -in these latter a new feature has to be recognised and provided for—the -cæsura or pause. Strictly, the cæsura causes poetry to be written in -lines, the end of each being a cæsura; but there are other cæsuras in -the line, one or more according to its length. In the best verse they -correspond with a natural pause in the sense of the words. When they do -not, the artificial punctuation injures the harmony with which the sound -and the sense should flow together. It is by varying the fall of the -cæsura that the best writers of blank decasyllabic verse contrive to -divest it of monotony. In some of the more irregular forms of verse, -especially when it is unrhymed, the cæsura is all-important, giving to -the lines their rise and fall—a structure not altogether unlike what has -been termed the parallelism of Hebrew versification. - - It is scarcely possible to lay down rules for the use of the cæsura, -or pause, in English verse. It differs from the classic cæsura in -falling at the end of both foot and word. Of its possible varieties we -may gain some idea when we note that, in the decassyllabic line, for -instance, it may fall after each foot, and it is by the shifting of its -place that in this, as in blank verse, monotony is avoided. In shorter -measures, especially of a lyric nature, it generally falls midway in the -line. - - The plan of giving to our accentual feet the titles given to the -classical quantitative feet has been strongly condemned by some writers. -I venture to think they have hardly considered the matter sufficiently. -It must be better to use these meaningless terms (as we use the -gibberish of Baroko and Bramantip in logic) than to apply new names -which, by aiming at being expressive, may be misleading. But there is -something more than this to be considered. There is in accent this, in -common with quantity, that just as two shorts make a long, and can be -substituted for it, so two unaccented syllables may take the place of -one rather more accented; or perhaps it will be found that the -substitution is due less to the correspondence in accent alone, than to -correspondence of quantity as well as accent. To put it briefly, these -resolutions of the foot into more syllables are—like similar resolutions -in music—a question of time, and time means quantity rather than accent. -As an instance of this, I may give the much-quoted, often-discussed -line— - - "Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes." - -The ordinary method of scanning this is to make a dissyllable of -"tired," as if it were "ti-erd," a vulgarism of which its author would -never have been guilty. The truth is, that the long "i" and the roll of -the "r" correspond in time to a dissyllable, and by changing the run of -the line, carry out perfectly Pope's notion of the sound echoing the -sense. - - These resolutions, therefore, need a most accurate ear, and no slight -experience. The versifier will do well, as a beginner, to refrain from -attempting them. When he has gone on writing verse by rule of thumb -until he begins to discover a formality in them that would be the better -for variation, he may fairly try his hand at it—but not until then. -Before that, his redundancy of syllables would be the result of faulty -or unfinished expression, not the studied cause of a change in run. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - METRE AND RHYTHM. - - -I t was scarcely possible to explain what the feet in verse are without -assuming the existence of lines, in order to give intelligible examples -of the various feet. But the consideration of the construction of lines -really belongs to this chapter. - - A line is composed of a certain number of feet, from two to almost any -number short of ten or so—if indeed we may limit the number exactly, for -there is nothing to prevent a man from writing a line of twenty feet if -he have ingenuity enough to maintain the harmony and beat necessary to -constitute verse. As a rule, we seldom meet with more than eight feet in -a line. - - A line may consist of feet of the same description, or of a -combination of various feet. And this combination may be exactly -repeated in the corresponding line or lines, or one or more of the feet -may be replaced by another corresponding in time or quantity. Here is an -instance— - - "I knew | by the smoke that so gracefully curled ... - And I said | 'if there's peace to be found in the world.'" - -Here the iambic "I kne´w" is resolved into the anapæst, "and I -sa´id,"[10]—or rather (as the measure is anapæstic) the iambic takes the -place of the anapæst. - - When only two feet go to a line, it is a dimeter. Three form a -trimeter, four a tetrameter, five a pentameter, six a hexameter, seven a -heptameter, eight an octameter, which, however, is usually resolved into -two tetrameters. If the feet be iambics or trochees, of course the -number of syllables will be double that of the feet—thus a pentameter -will be decasyllabic. When dactyls or anapæsts are used, of course the -number of syllables exceeds the double of the feet. But there is no -necessity for enlarging on this point: I have given enough to explain -terms, with which the student may perhaps meet while reading up the -subject of versification. As he may also meet with the terms -"catalectic" and "acatalectic," it may be as well to give a brief -explanation of them also. A catalectic line is one in which the last -foot is not completed. An acatalectic is one in which the line and the -foot terminate together. An extract from the "Bridge of Sighs," a -dactylic poem, will illustrate this. - - "Make no deep | scrutiny - Into her | mutiny; - Rash and un|dutiful, - Past all dis|honour; - Death has left | on her - Only the | beautiful. - - Take her up | tenderly, - Lift her with | care; - Fashion'd so | slenderly - Young and so | fair." - - Here the fourth and fifth, the eighth and tenth lines are catalectic. -In the first two the last foot needs one syllable, in the others it -requires two. It is scarcely necessary to point out how such variations -improve and invigorate the measure, by checking the gallop of the verse. - - We have now seen that the line may be composed of various numbers of -the different feet. The next step to consider is the combination of -lines into stanzas. - - Stanzas are formed of two or more lines. Two lines are styled a -couplet, three a triplet, and four a quatrain, while other combinations -owe their titles to those who have used them first or most, as in the -case of the Spenserian stanza. - - The reader will see at once that, each of these kinds of stanzas being -constructible of any of the styles of line before enumerated, each style -of line being in its turn constructible of any of the sorts of feet -described in a previous chapter, to make any attempt to give an -exhaustive list of stanzas would be to enter upon an arithmetical -progression alarming to think of.[11] I shall therefore only enumerate a -few, giving, as seems most useful for my purpose, examples of the most -common form of a peculiar stanza, as in the case of the decasyllabic -couplet of Pope, and the nine-line stanza of Spenser, or the least -common, as when, in the quatrain, it appears preferable to give, instead -of the alternate-rhymed octosyllabic tetrameters which have been -repeated _ad nauseam_, such fresh forms as will be found in the extracts -from "The Haunted House," or Browning's "Pretty Woman." - - - EXAMPLES. - - - THE COUPLET OR DISTICH.[12] - - - Dimeter (four-syllabled). - - "Here, here I live - And somewhat give." - —_Herrick_, _Hesperides_. - - Tetrameter (eight-syllabled). - - "His tawny beard was th' equal grace - Both of his wisdom and his face." - —_Butler_, _Hudibras_. - - Tetrameter (seven-syllabled). - - "As it fell upon a day - In the merry month of May." - —_Shakespeare._ - - Pentameter (ten-syllabled, "Pope's decasyllable"). - - "Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, - And fools who came to scoff remained to pray." - —_Goldsmith_, _Deserted Village_. - - Hexameter (twelve-syllabled). - - "Doth beat the brooks and ponds for sweet refreshing soil: - That serving not—then proves if he his scent may foil." - —_Drayton_, _Polyolbion_. - - Heptameter (fourteen-syllabled). - - "Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are; - And glory to our sovereign liege, king Henry of Navarre." - —_Macaulay_, _Battle of Ivry_. - - The couplet may also be formed of two lines of irregular length. - - "Belovëd, O men's mother, O men's queen! - Arise, appear, be seen." - —_Swinburne_, _Ode to Italy_. - - "Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles - Miles on miles." - —_Browning_, _Love among the Ruins_. - - "Morning, evening, noon, and night, - 'Praise God,' sang Theocrite." - —_Browning_, _The Boy and the Angel_. - - "Take the cloak from his face and at first - Let the corpse do its worst." - —_Browning_, _After_. - - "Or for a time we'll lie - As robes laid by." - —_Herrick_, _Hesperides_. - - "Give me a cell - To dwell." - —_Herrick_, _Hesperides._ - - Two couplets are at times linked together into a quatrain. More often -they are formed into six-line stanzas, that is a couplet followed by a -line which has its rhyme in another line following the second couplet. -But indeed the combination of stanzas is almost inexhaustible. - - - TRIPLETS. - - Trimeter (six-syllabled). - - "And teach me how to sing - Unto the lyric string - My measures ravishing." - —_Herrick_, _Hesperides_. - - Tetrameter (seven-syllabled). - - "O, thou child of many prayers, - Life hath quicksands, life hath snares, - Care and age come unawares." - —_Longfellow_, _Maidenhood_. - - Octameter (fifteen syllabled). - - "Was a lady such a lady, cheeks so round and lips so red— - On her neck the small face buoyant, like a bell-flower o'er its bed, - O'er the breast's superb abundance where a man might base his head." - —_Browning_, _A Toccata_. - - The triplet pure and simple, is not a very common form; it is most -frequently combined with other forms to make longer stanzas. At times -the second line, instead of rhyming with the first or third, finds an -echo in the next triplet—sometimes in the second, but more often in the -first and third lines. - - "Make me a face on the window there, - Waiting, as ever mute the while, - My love to pass below in the square. - And let me think that it may beguile - Dreary days, which the dead must spend - Down in their darkness under the aisle." - —_Browning_, _The Statue and the Bust_. - - Another species of triplet occurs in the Pope measure -(pentameter-decasyllabic). It is formed by the introduction, after an -ordinary couplet, of a third line, repeating the rhyme and consisting of -eleven syllables and six feet. Dryden, however, and some other writers, -gave an occasional triplet without the extra foot. The Alexandrine, -_i.e._, the six-foot line, ought to close the sense, and conclude with a -full stop. - - - THE QUATRAIN. - - Of this form of stanza the name is legion. Of the most common styles, -the reader's memory will supply numerous examples. I shall merely give a -few of the rarer kinds. The quatrain may consist practically of two -couplets, or of a couplet divided by a couplet, as in Tennyson's "In -Memoriam." But the usual rule is to rhyme the first and third, and -second and fourth. The laxity which leaves the two former unrhymed, is a -practice which cannot be too strongly condemned. Quatrains so formed -should in honesty be written as couplets, but such a condensation would -possibly not suit the views of the mob of magazine-versifiers, who have -inflicted this injury, with many others, upon English versification. - - It may be well to note here that the rhyme of the first and third -lines should be as dissimilar as possible in sound to that of the second -and fourth. This is, in fact, a part of the rule which forbids -repetitions of the same vowel-sounds in a line—chief of all, a -repetition of the particular vowel-sound of the rhyme. The rhymes -recurring give a beat which is something like a cæsura, and when -therefore the rhyme-sound occurs elsewhere than at its correct post it -mars the flow. Here follow a few examples of the quatrain. I have not -specified the syllables or feet, as the reader by this time will have -learned to scan for himself; and, owing to the varieties of measure, -such a specification would be cumbrous:— - - "The woodlouse dropp'd and roll'd into a ball, - Touch'd by some impulse, occult or mechanic, - And nameless beetles ran along the wall - In universal panic." - —_Hood_, _Haunted House_. - - "That fawn-skin-dappled hair of hers, - And the blue eye, - Dear and dewy, - And that infantine fresh air of hers." - —_Browning, A Fair Woman_. - - "All thoughts, all passions, all delights, - Whatever stirs this mortal frame; - All are but ministers of love, - And feed his sacred flame." - —_Coleridge_, _Love_. - - "What constitutes a state? - Not high-raised battlement or labour'd mound, - Thick wall, or moated gate, - Nor cities proud with spires and turrets crown'd." - —_Jones_, _Ode_. - - "Whither, midst falling dew, - While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, - Far through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue - Thy solitary way." - —_Bryant_, _To a Waterfowl_. - - "Sweet day, so calm, so cool, so bright, - The bridal of the earth and sky, - The dews shall weep thy fall to-night, - For thou must die." - —_Herbert_, _Virtue_. - - - THE FIVE-LINE STANZA. - - I am inclined to think this one of the most musical forms of the -stanza we possess. It is capable of almost endless variety, and the -proportions of rhymes, three and two, seem to be especially conducive to -harmony. It would be curious to go into the question how many popular -poems are in this form. Here are two examples—both of them from -favourite pieces:— - - "Go, lovely rose, - Tell her that wastes her time and me, - That now she knows - When I resemble her to thee, - How sweet and fair she seems to be." - —_Waller_, _To a Rose_. - - "Higher still and higher - From the earth thou springest; - Like a cloud of fire, - The blue deep thou wingest, - And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest." - —_Shelley_, _The Skylark_. - - Mr Browning frequently uses this stanza, and with admirable effect. -Although he has been accused of ruggedness by some critics, there is no -modern poet who has a greater acquaintance with the various forms of -verse, or can handle them more ably. The following are examples of his -treatment:— - - "Is it your moral of life? - Such a web, simple and subtle, - Weave we on earth here, in impotent strife - Backward and forward each throwing his shuttle— - Death ending all with a knife?" - —_Master Hugues._ - - "And yonder at foot of the fronting ridge, - That takes the turn to a range beyond, - Is the chapel, reach'd by the one-arch'd bridge, - Where the water is stopp'd in a stagnant pond, - Danced over by the midge." - —_By the Fireside._ - - "Stand still, true poet that you are! - I know you; let me try and draw you. - Some night you'll fail us; when afar - You rise, remember one man saw you— - Knew you—and named a star," - —_Popularity._ - - "Not a twinkle from the fly, - Not a glimmer from the worm. - When the crickets stopp'd their cry, - When the owls forbore a term, - You heard music—that was I!" - —_A Serenade._ - - "When the spider to serve his ends, - By a sudden thread, - Arms and legs outspread, - On the table's midst descends— - Comes to find God knows what friends!" - —_Mesmerism._ - - - THE SIX-LINE STANZA. - - With the increasing number of lines comes an increasing number of -combinations of rhymes. There is the combination of three couplets, and -there is that of two couplets, with another pair of rhymes one line -after the first, the other after the second couplet. Then there is a -quatrain of alternate rhymes, and a final couplet—to mention no others. - - "Fear no more the heat o' the sun, - Nor the furious winter's rages; - Thou thy worldly task hast done. - Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages— - Golden lads and girls all must - Like chimney-sweepers come to dust." - —_Shakespeare._ - - "One day, it matters not to know - How many hundred years ago, - A Spaniard stopt at a posada door; - The landlord came to welcome him and chat - Of this and that, - For he had seen the traveller here before." - —_Southey_, _St Romuald_. - - "And wash'd by my cosmetic brush, - How Beauty's cheeks began to blush - With locks of auburn stain— - Not Goldsmith's Auburn, nut-brown hair - That made her loveliest of the fair, - Not loveliest of the plain." - —_Hood_, _Progress of Art_. - - "Some watch, some call, some see her head emerge - Wherever a brown weed falls through the foam; - Some point to white eruptions of the surge— - But she is vanish'd to her shady home, - Under the deep inscrutable, and there - Weeps in a midnight made of her own hair." - —_Hood_, _Hero and Leander_. - - "Ever drifting, drifting, drifting, - On the shifting - Currents of the restless heart— - Till at length in books recorded, - They like hoarded - Household words no more depart." - —_Longfellow_, _Seaweed_. - - "Before me rose an avenue - Of tall and sombrous pines; - Abroad their fanlike branches grew, - And where the sunshine darted through, - Spread a vapour, soft and blue, - In long and sloping lines." - —_Longfellow_, _Prelude_. - -The following form may be looked upon as Burns's exclusively:— - - "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower,— - Thou'st met me in an evil hour, - For I maun crush among the stour - Thy slender stem; - To spare thee now is past my power, - Thou bonnie gem." - —_To a Mountain Daisy._ - - - THE SEVEN-LINE STANZA. - - This form is not very common. It may be formed of a quatrain and -triplet; of a quatrain, a line rhyming the last of the quatrain, and a -couplet; of a quatrain, a couplet, and a line rhyming the fourth line. -Or these may be reversed. - - - THE EIGHT-LINE STANZA. - - This is susceptible of endless variety, commencing with two quatrains, -or a six-line stanza and a couplet, or two triplets with a brace of -rhyming lines, one after each triplet. - - "Thus lived—thus died she; nevermore on her - Shall sorrow light or shame. She was not made - Through years or moons the inner weight to bear, - Which colder hearts endure till they are laid - By age in earth; her days and pleasures were - Brief but delightful; such as had not staid - Long with her destiny. But she sleeps well - By the sea-shore whereon she loved to dwell." - —_Byron_, _Don Juan_. - - - THE NINE-LINE STANZA. - - Of this form the most generally used is the Spenserian, or the -following variation of it:— - - "A little, sorrowful, deserted thing, - Begot of love and yet no love begetting; - Guiltless of shame, and yet for shame to wring; - And too soon banish'd from a mother's petting - To churlish nature and the wide world's fretting, - For alien pity and unnatural care; - Alas! to see how the cold dew kept wetting - His childish coats, and dabbled all his hair - Like gossamers across his forehead fair." - —_Hood_, _Midsummer Fairies_. - - The Spenserian has the same arrangement of the rhymes, but has an -extra foot in the last line. The two last lines of a stanza from "Childe -Harold" will illustrate this:— - - "To mingle with the universe and feel - What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal." - —_Byron._ - - The formation of the ten, eleven, twelve, &c., line stanzas is but an -adaptation of those already described. A single fourteen-line stanza of -a certain arrangement of rhyme is a sonnet, but as the sonnet is -scarcely versifiers' work, I will not occupy space by the lengthy -explanation it would require. On the same grounds, I am almost inclined -to omit discussion of blank verse, but will give a brief summary of its -varieties. The ordinary form of blank verse is the decasyllabic in which -Milton's "Paradise Lost" is written— - - "Of man's first disobedience and the fruit - Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste - Brought death into the world and all our woe." - - This consists of ten syllables with an accented following an -unaccented syllable. It is preserved from monotony by the varying fall -of the cæsura or pause. It occurs but rarely after the first foot or the -eighth foot, and not often after the third and seventh. Elisions and the -substitution of a trisyllable, equivalent in time for a dissyllable, are -met with, and at times the accent is shifted, when by the change the -sense of the line gains in vigour of expression, as in— - - "Once found, which yet unfound, most would have thought - Impossible." - -According to scansion "most wo'uld," but by the throwing back of the -accent strengthened and distinguished into "_most_ would have thought." -[In addition to this in the blank verse of the stage, we find -occasionally additional syllables, as— - - "Or to take arms against a sea of troub(les)."] - -Other forms of blank verse follow:— - - 1. "If aught of oaten stop or pastoral song - May hope, chaste Eve, to soothe thy modest ear, - Like thy own solemn springs, - Thy springs and dying gales." - —_Collins_, _Ode to Evening._ - - 2. "But never could I tune my reed - At morn, or noon, or eve, so sweet, - As when upon the ocean shore - I hail'd thy star-beam mild." - —_Kirke White_, _Shipwrecked Solitary's Song_. - - 3. "Who at this untimely hour - Wanders o'er the desert sands? - No station is in view, - No palm-grove islanded amidst the waste,— - The mother and her child, - The widow'd mother and the fatherless boy, - They at this untimely hour - Wander o'er the desert sands."[13] - —_Southey_, _Thalaba_. - - 4. "Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother, - Why wast not thou born in my father's dwelling? - So might we talk of the old familiar faces." - —_Lamb_. - - 5. "See how he scorns all human arguments - So that no oar he wants, nor other sail - Than his own wings between so distant shores."[14] - —_Longfellow_, _Translation of Dante_. - - 6. "Yet dost thou recall - Days departed, half-forgotten, - When in dreamy youth I wander'd - By the Baltic." - —_Longfellow_, _To a Danish Song-Book_. - - 7. "All things in earth and air - Bound were by magic spell - Never to do him harm; - Even the plants and stones, - All save the mistletoe, - The sacred mistletoe." - —_Longfellow_, _Tegner's Drapa_. - - 8. "Give me of your bark, O birch-tree! - Of your yellow bark, O birch-tree! - Growing by the rushing river, - Tall and stately in the valley." - —_Longfellow_, _Hiawatha_. - - 9. "Heard he that cry of pain; and through the hush that succeeded - Whisper'd a gentle voice, in accents tender and saintlike, - 'Gabriel, oh, my beloved!' and died away into silence." - —_Longfellow, Evangeline_. - - An extremely musical form of blank verse, the trochaic, will be found -in Browning's "One Word More":— - - "I shall never in the years remaining, - Paint you pictures, no, nor carve you statues, - Make you music that should all-express me; - So it seems; I stand on my attainment: - This of verse alone one life allows me; - Verse and nothing else have I to give you. - Other heights in other loves, God willing— - All the gifts from all the heights, your own, love!" - - This by no means exhausts the varieties of blank verse; but, as I have -already said, blank verse is, on the whole, scarcely to be commended to -the student for practice, because it is, while apparently the easiest, -in reality the most difficult form he could attempt. It is in fact -particularly easy to attain the blankness—but the verse is another -matter. The absence of rhymes necessitates the most perfect melody and -harmony, if the lines are to be anything beyond prose chopped up into -lengths. - - There are, I should mention before closing this chapter, many more -styles of stanza than I have named, and many varieties of them. The ode -is of somewhat irregular construction, but like the sonnet it is, I -consider, beyond the scope of those for whom this book is intended, and -it needs not to be discussed on that account. - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - OF RHYME. - - -A rhyme must commence on an accented syllable. From the accented vowel -of that syllable to the end, the two or more words intended to rhyme -must be identical in sound; but the letters preceding the accented vowel -must in each case be dissimilar in sound. Thus "learn," "fern," -"discern," are rhymes, with the common sound of "ern" preceded by the -dissimilar sounds of "l," "f," "sc." "Possess" and "recess" do not -rhyme, having besides the common "ess" the similar pronunciation of the -"c" and the double "s" preceding it. The letters "r" and "l," when -preceded by other consonants, so as practically to form new letters, can -be rhymed to the simple "r" and "l" respectively, thus "track" and -"rack," "blame" and "lame," are rhymes. The same rule applies to letters -preceded by "s," "smile" being a rhyme to "mile." Similarly "h" and its -compound rhyme, _e.g._, "shows," "those," "chose," and any word ending -in "phose" with "hose." - - The aspirate to any but a Cockney would of course pass as constituting -the needful difference at the beginning of a rhyme, as in "heart" and -"art," "hair" and "air."[15] - - In the case of "world" and "whirl'd," however, I fear common usage -must compel us to declare against the rhyme, since the practice of -pronouncing the "h" after "w" is daily becoming more and more uncommon. - - Rhymes are single, double, or treble—or more properly one-syllabled, -two-syllabled, and three-syllabled. Rhymes of four or more syllables are -peculiar to burlesque or comic verse. Indeed, Dryden declared that only -one-syllabled rhymes were suitable for grave subjects: but every one -must have at his fingers' ends scores of proofs to the contrary, of -which I will instance but one—"The Bridge of Sighs." - - Monosyllables or polysyllables accented on the last syllable are -"single" rhymes. Words accented on the penultimate or last syllable but -one supply "double" rhymes; _e.g._, agita´ted, ela´ted. When the accent -is thrown another syllable back, and falls on the antepenultimate as in -"a´rrogate," it is in the first place a "triple" rhyme. But as in -English there is a tendency to alternate the acute and grave accent, the -trisyllable has practically two rhymes, a three-syllabled and a -one-syllabled—thus "arrogate" and "Harrogate" rhyme, but "arrogate" may -also pair off with "mate." Nevertheless it is necessary to be cautious -in the use of words with this spurious accent—it is perhaps better still -to avoid them. Such words as "merrily," "beautiful," "purity," ought -never to be used as single-syllabled rhymes:—even such words as -"merited" and "happiness" have a forced sound when so used. - - Elisions should be avoided, though "bow'r" and "flow'r" may pass -muster, with some others. "Ta'en," "e'er," "e'en," and such contractions -may of course be used. The articles, prepositions, and such, cannot in -serious verse stand as rhymes, under the same rule which condemns the -separation of the adjective from its substantive in the next line. - - It is scarcely necessary to premise that to write verse decently the -student must have a thorough knowledge of grammar. From ignorance on -that score arise naturally blemishes enough to destroy verse, as they -would poetry, almost. I have seen verses which, beginning by -apostrophising some one as "thou," slipped in a few lines into "yours" -and "you"—or, worse still, have said "thou doeth," or "thou, who is." - - Expletives and mean expressions also must be excluded. The verse -should never soar to "high-falutin," or sink to commonplace language. -Simplicity is not commonplace, and nobility is not "high-falutin," and -they should be aimed at accordingly;—when you have acquired the one, you -will as a rule find the other in its company. - - When three or more lines are intended to rhyme together, the common -base or accented vowel in each instance must be preceded by a different -sound. For example "born," "corn," and "borne," will not serve for a -triplet, because, though the first and third are both rhymes to the -second, they are not rhymes to each other. - - It is as well, unless you are thoroughly acquainted with the -pronunciation of foreign languages, to abstain from using them in verse, -especially in rhymes. I met with the following instance of the folly of -such rhyming in a magazine, not long ago— - - "Prim Monsieurs fresh from Boulogne's _Bois_... - For these the Row's a certain _draw_." - -This is about as elegant as rhyming "Boulogne" and "Song." - - _It_ is wise—on the principle of rhyme, the difference of sounds -preceding the common base—to avoid any similarity by combination. For -example, "is" is a good rhyme for "'tis," but you should be careful not -to let "it" immediately precede the "is," as it mars the necessary -dissimilarity of the opening sound of the two rhymes. - - Let the beginner remember one thing:—rhyme is a fetter, undoubtedly. -Let him therefore refrain from attempting measures with frequent rhymes, -for experience alone can give ease in such essays. Only the skilled can -dance gracefully in fetters. Moreover, a too frequent repetition of -rhyme at short intervals gives a jigginess to the verse. It is on this -account that the use in a line of a sound similar to the rhyme should be -avoided.[16] - - As a final warning, let me entreat the writer of verses to examine his -rhymes carefully, and see that they chime to an educated ear. Such -atrocities as "morn" and "dawn," "more" and "sure," "light in" and -"writing," "fought" and "sort," are fatal to the success of verse. They -stamp it with vulgarity, as surely as the dropping of the "h" stamps a -speaker. Furthermore, do not make a trisyllable of a dissyllable—as, for -instance, by pronouncing "ticklish" "tick-el-ish," and if you have cause -to rhyme "iron," try "environ" or "Byron," not "my urn," because only -the vulgar pronounce it "iern," or "apron" "apern," &c. - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - OF FIGURES. - - -The figures most commonly used in verse are similes and metaphors. A -simile is a figure whereby one thing is likened to another. It is -ushered in by a "like" or an "as." - - "Like sportive deer they coursed about" - —_Hood_, _Eugene Aram_. - - "Such a brow - His eyes had to live under, clear as flint." - —_Browning_, _A Contemporary_. - - "Resembles sorrow only - As the mist resembles rain." - —_Longfellow_, _The Day is Done_. - - "Look how a man is lower'd to his grave ... - So is he sunk into the yawning wave." - —_Hood_, _Hero and Leander_. - - A metaphor is a figure whereby the one thing, instead of being likened -to the other, is, as it were, transformed into it, and is described as -doing what it (the other) does. - - "Poetry is - The grandest chariot wherein king-thoughts ride." - —_Smith_, _Life Drama_. - - "The anchor, whose giant hand - Would reach down and grapple with the land." - —_Longfellow_, _Building of the Ship_. - - Sometimes the two are united in one passage, as in— - - "The darkness - Falls from the wings of night, - As a feather is wafted downward." - —_Longfellow_, _The Day is Done_. - - The last line is a simile, but "the wings of night" is metaphorical. -"A simile," says Johnson, "to be perfect, must both illustrate and -ennoble the subject; but either of these qualities may be sufficient to -recommend it." - - Alliteration, when not overdone, is an exquisite addition to the charm -of verse. The Poet Laureate thoroughly understands its value. Mr -Swinburne allows it too frequently to run riot. Edgar Allan Poe carried -it to extravagance. I select an example from each:— - - "The moan of doves in immemorial elms, - And murmur of innumerable bees." - —_Tennyson._ - - "The lilies and languors of virtue, - For the raptures and roses of vice." - —_Swinburne, Dolores_. - - "Come up through the lair of the lion - With love in her luminous eyes." - —_Poe_, _Ulalume_. - - The instance from the Poet Laureate is a strong one—the repetition of -the "m" is to express the sound of the bees and the elms. The -alternation in the others is only pleasing to the ear, and the artifice -in the last instance certainly is too obvious. In the Poet Laureate's -lines the alliteration is so ingeniously contrived that one scarcely -would suppose there are as many as seven repetitions of the "m." In -Poe's, one is surprised to find the apparent excess of alliteration is -due to but four repetitions. But the "l's" are identical with the -strongest beats in the line, whereas the "m's" in Tennyson's line are -interspersed with other letters at the beats. He uses this artifice more -frequently than those would suspect who have not closely examined his -poems, for he thoroughly appreciates the truth of the maxim, _ars est -celare artem_. A few lines from "The Princess" will illustrate this:— - - "The baby that by us, - Half-lapt in glowing gauze and golden brede, - Lay like a new-fall'n meteor on the grass, - Uncared-for, spied its mother and began - A blind and babbling laughter, and to dance - Its body, and reach its falling innocent arms - And lazy ling'ring fingers." - - Here a careful study will reveal alliteration within alliteration, and -yet the effect is perfect, for there is no sign of labour. - - Under this category may come, I think, a description of the Rondeau—a -poem of which the first few words are repeated at the end. It was at one -time ruled to be of a certain number of lines, but the restriction -scarcely holds good now. The best rondeau in the language is Leigh -Hunt's:— - - "Jenny kiss'd me when we met, - Jumping from the chair she sat in; - Time, you thief, who love to get - Sweets upon your list, put that in! - Say I'm weary, say I'm sad; - Say that health and wealth have miss'd me; - Say I'm growing old, but add— - Jenny kiss'd me!" - - Elision must be used with a sparing hand. Generally speaking, a vowel -that is so slightly pronounced that it can be elided, as in -"temperance"—"temp'rance," may just as well be left in, and accounted -for by managing to get the "quantity" to cover it. Where it is too -strongly pronounced, to cut it out is to disfigure and injure the line, -as in the substitution of "wall'wing" for "wallowing." That elision is -often used unnecessarily may be seen in the frequency with which, in -reading verse, we—according to most authorities—elide the "y" of "many"— - - "Full many a flower is doom'd to blush unseen." - —_Gray._ - -Here we are told we elide the "y" of "many," and some would replace -"flower" by "flow'r." Yet to the most sensitive ear these may receive, -in reading, their share of pronunciation, without damage to the flow of -the line, if the reader understands quantity. "To" is often similarly -"elided," as in— - - "Can he to a friend—to a son so bloody grow?" - —_Cowley._ - - On the other hand, it is as well not to make too frequent use of the -accented "ed," as in "amazéd." In "belovéd" and a few more words it is -commonly used, and does not, therefore, sound strange. In others it -gives a forced and botched air to the verse. - - In verse some latitude is allowed in arranging the order of words in a -sentence, but it must not be indulged in too freely. A study of the -style of our best poets is the only means of learning what is allowable -and what is not; it is impossible to explain it within the limits of -this treatise. It may, however, be laid down, as a first principle, that -no change in the order of words is admissible, if it gives rise to any -doubt as to their real meaning:—for example, if you wish to say, "the -dog bit the cat," although such an inversion of construction as putting -the objective before, and the nominative after, the verb, is allowed in -verse, it is scarcely advisable to adopt it, and say, "the cat bit the -dog." - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - OF BURLESQUE AND COMIC VERSE, AND - _VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ_. - - -I t will be as well for the reader to divest himself at once of the -notion that verse of this class is the lowest and easiest form he can -essay, or that the rules which govern it are more lax than those which -sway serious composition. The exact contrary is the case. Comic or -burlesque verse is ordinary verse _plus_ something. Ordinary verse may -pass muster if its manner be finished, but comic verse must have some -matter as well. Yet it does not on that account claim any license in -rhyme, for it lacks the gravity and importance of theme which may at -times, in serious poetry, be pleaded as outweighing a faulty rhyme. - - This style of writing needs skill in devising novel and startling -turns of rhyme, rhythm, or construction, and can hardly be employed by -those who do not possess some articulate wit or humour—that is to say, -the power of expressing, not merely of appreciating, those qualities. - - A defective rhyme is a fault in serious verse—it is a crime in comic. -It is no sin to be ignorant of Greek or Latin, but it is worse than a -blunder, under such circumstances, to quote them—and quote them -incorrectly. In the same way, one is not compelled to write comic verse, -but if he does write it, and cannot do so correctly, he deserves severe -handling. - - One of the leading characteristics of this style is dexterous -rhyming—and the legerdemain must be effected with genuine coin, not -dumps. In the very degree that clever composite rhyming assists in -making the verse sparkling and effective, it must bear the closest -scrutiny and analysation—must be real Moet, not gooseberry. - - All, then, that has been said with regard to serious verse applies -with double force to the lighter form of _vers de société_. According to -the definition of Mr Frederick Locker, no mean authority, _vers de -société_ should be "short, elegant, refined, and fanciful, not seldom -distinguished by chastened sentiment, and often playful. The tone should -not be pitched high; it should be idiomatic, and rather in the -conversational key; the rhythm should be crisp and sparkling, and the -rhyme frequent, and never forced, while the entire poem should be marked -by tasteful moderation, high finish, and completeness: _for however -trivial the subject-matter may be,—indeed, rather in proportion to its -triviality,—subordination to the rules of composition, and perfection of -execution, should be strictly enforced_." - - Let me entreat the reader to bear that italicised sentence in memory -when writing any style of verse, but most especially when he essays the -comic or burlesque. - - No precedent for laxity can be pleaded because the poets who have at -times indulged in such trifling, have therein availed themselves of the -licenses which they originally took out for loftier writing. _Non semper -arcum tendit Apollo_, and the poet may be excused for striking his lyre -with careless fingers. But we, who do not pretend to possess lyres, must -be careful about the fingering of our kits. Apollo's slackened bow -offers no precedent for the popgun of the poetaster. - - As I have already said, much of the merit of this style depends on the -scintillations, so to speak, of its rhymes. They must therefore be -perfect. When Butler wrote the much-quoted couplet:— - - "When pulpit, drum ecclesiastick, - Was beat with fist instead of a stick." - -he was guilty of coupling "astick" and "a stick" together as a rhyme, -which they do not constitute. But he who on that account claims -privilege to commit a similar offence, not only is guilty of the vanity -of demanding to be judged on the same level as Butler, but is illogical. -Two wrongs cannot constitute a right, and all the bad rhyming in the -world can be no extenuation of a repetition of the offence. - - The results of carelessness in such matters are but too apparent! The -slipshod that has been for so long suffered to pass for comic verse, has -brought the art into disrepute. In the case of burlesque, this is even -more plainly discernible. It is held in so small esteem, that people -have come to forget that it boasts Aristophanes as its founder! Halting -measures, cockney rhymes, and mere play on sound, instead of sense, in -punning, have gone near to being the death of what at its worst was an -amusing pastime, at its best was healthy satire. - - The purchase of half-a-dozen modern burlesques at Mr Lacy's, will -account for the declining popularity of burlesque. _All_ of them will be -found defaced by defective rhymes, and cockneyisms too common to provoke -a smile. In the majority of them the decasyllabic metre will be found to -range from six or eight syllables to twelve or fourteen! Most bear the -same relation to real burlesque-writing, that the schoolboy's picture of -his master—a circle for head and four scratches for arms and legs—bears -to genuine caricature. - - The most telling form of rhyme in comic versification is the -polysyllabic, and the greater the number of assonant syllables in such -rhymes the more effective they prove. The excellence is co-extensive, -however, with the unexpectedness and novelty, and there is therefore but -small merit in such a polysyllabic rhyme as— - - "From Scotland's mountains down he came, - And straightway up to town he came." - - This merely consists of the single rhymes "down" and "town," with "he -came" as a common affix. Such polysyllables may be admitted here and -there in a long piece, but when they constitute the whole or even a -majority of the rhymes, the writer is imposing on his readers. He is -swelling his balance at his banker's by adding noughts on the right hand -of the pounds' figure without paying in the cash. - - Another feature of this style of verse is the repetition of rhymes. -Open the "Ingoldsby Legends,"[17] which may be taken as the foundation -of one school of comic verse, and you will scarcely fail to light upon a -succession of rhymes, coming one after the other, like a string of boys -at leap-frog, as if the well-spring of rhyme were inexhaustible. - - Although punning scarcely comes within the scope of this treatise, it -may not be amiss to remind those who may desire to essay comic verse, -that a pun is a double-_meaning_. It is not sufficient to get two words -that clink alike, or to torture by mispronunciation a resemblance in -sound between words or combinations of words. There must be an echo in -the sense—"a likeness in unlikeness" in the idea. - - Proper names should not be used as rhymes. The only exception is in -the case of any real individual of note—a statesman, author, or actor, -when to find a telling rhyme to the name, a rhyme suggestive of the -habits or pursuits of the owner of that name, has some merit, especially -if the name be long and peculiar. But to introduce an imaginary name for -the sake of a rhyme, is work that is too cheap to be good. A child can -write such rhyme as— - - "A man of strict veracity - Was Peter James M'Assity." - - In composite rhyming the greatest care should be taken to see that -each syllable after the first is identical in sound in each line. In -"use he was" and "juicy was," the "h" destroys the rhyme, and the -difference in sound in the last syllable (however carelessly pronounced) -between such words as "oakum" and "smoke 'em" has a similar -disqualifying power. It is scarcely necessary to refer to such -inadmissible couples as "protector" and "neglect her," "birching" and -"urchin," "oracle" and "historical." - - One trick in rhyming is often very effective, but it must not be put -into force too often. In some instances, however, it tells with great -comical effect, by affording a rhyme to a word which at first glance the -reader thinks it is impossible to rhyme. Canning, in the "Anti-Jacobin," -used it with ludicrous effect in Rogero's song, and a few lines from -that will illustrate and explain the trick I allude to:— - - "Here doom'd to starve on water gru- - -el, never shall I see the U- - -niversity of Gottingen!" - - Here the division of the words "gruel" and "University" has an -extremely absurd effect. But the artifice must be used sparingly, and -those who employ it must beware of one pitfall. The moiety of the word -which is carried over to begin the next line must be considered as a -fresh word occupying the first foot. There is a tendency to overlook it, -and count it as part of the previous line, and that of course is a fatal -error. - - Parody may be considered as a form of comic versification. It is not -enough that a parody should be in the same metre as the original poem it -imitates. Nor is it sufficient that the first line or so has such a -similarity as to suggest the original. In the best parodies each line of -the original has an echo in the parody, and the words of the former are -retained as far as possible in the latter, or replaced by others very -similar. - - Another form of parody is the parody of style, when, instead of -selecting a particular poem to paraphrase, we imitate, in verse modelled -on the form he usually adopts, the mannerisms of thought or expression -for which any particular writer is distinguished. - - Examples of both kinds of parody will be found in the "Rejected -Addresses" of James and Horace Smith, which should be studied together -with Hood, Barham, Wolcot, and Thackeray, by those who would read the -best models of humorous, comic, or burlesque writing. I may add here -that _vers de société_ will be best studied in the writings of Praed, -Prior, and Moore. From living writers it would be invidious to single -out any, either as models or warnings. - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - OF SONG-WRITING. - - -Although song-writing is one of the most difficult styles of -versification, it is now held in but little repute, owing to the -unfortunate condition of the musical world in England. "Any rubbish will -do for music" is the maxim of the music-shopkeeper, who is practically -the arbiter of the art now-a-days, and who has the interests, he is -supposed to represent, so little at heart that he would not scruple to -publish songs, consisting of "nonsense verses"—as schoolboys call -them,—set to music, if he thought that the usual artifice of paying -singers a royalty on the sale for singing a song would prevail on the -public to buy them. - - Another reason why "any rubbish will do for music" has passed into -a proverb is, that few amateur singers—and not too many -professionals—understand "phrasing." How rarely can one hear what -the words of a song are! Go to a "musical evening" and take note, -and you will see that, in nine cases out of ten, when a new song has -been sung, people take the piece of music and look over the words. A -song is like a cherry, and ought not to require us to make two bites -at it. - - Nor is the injury inflicted on music due only to the amount of rubbish -which is made to do duty for songs. The writings of our poets are -ransacked for "words," and accompaniments are manufactured to poems -which were never intended, and are absolutely unfitted, for musical -treatment. Then, because it is found that poems are not to be converted -into songs so easily as people think, the cry is not merely that "any -rubbish will do for songs," but that "_only_ rubbish will do,"—a cry -that is vigorously taken up by interested persons. - - The truth lies between the two extremes. A peculiar style of verse is -required, marked by such characteristics, and so difficult of -attainment, that some of our greatest poets—Byron for one—have failed as -song-writers. English literature reckons but few really good -song-writers. When you have named Moore, Lover, Burns, and Barry -Cornwall, you have almost exhausted the list. - - There is in the last edition of the works of the lamented writer I -have just named—Samuel Lover—a preface in which he enters very minutely -into the subject of song-writing. The sum of what he says is, that "the -song being necessarily of brief compass, the writer must have powers of -condensation. He must possess ingenuity in the management of metre. He -must frame it of open vowels, with as few guttural or hissing sounds as -possible, and he must be content sometimes to sacrifice grandeur or -vigour to the necessity of selecting _singing_ words and not _reading_ -ones." He adds that "the simplest words best suit song, but simplicity -must not descend to baldness. There must be a thought in the song, -gracefully expressed, and it must appeal either to the fancy or -feelings, or both, but rather by suggestion than direct appeal; and -philosophy and didactics must be eschewed." - - He adduces Shelley, with his intense poetry and exquisite -sensitiveness to sweet sounds, as an instance of a poet who failed to -see the exact necessities of song-writing, and gives a quotation from -one of Shelley's "songs" to prove this. The line is— - - "The fresh earth in new leaves drest." - -and he says very pertinently, "It is a sweet line, and a pleasant -image—but I defy any one to sing it: _nearly every word shuts up the -mouth instead of opening it_." That last sentence is the key to -song-writing. I use the word song-writing in preference to "lyrical -writing," because "lyrical" has been warped from its strict meaning, and -applied to verse which was not intended for music. It is not absolutely -necessary that a song-writer should have a practical knowledge of music, -but it is all the better if he have: beyond doubt, Moore owed much of -his success to his possession of musical knowledge. - -[Illustration] - - - DICTIONARY OF RHYMES. - - - _Explanation of Signs, etc._ - - † Words obsolete, antiquated, and rare. - - * Provincialisms, or local terms. - - § Slang, vulgar, or commonplace words. - - ¶ Technical or unusual words. - - || Foreign words, naturalised to some extent. - - _N.B._—When under one termination other spellings occur,—_e.g._, under - IRM, _term_ and _worm_,—the reader should refer to them; _i.e._, - ERM and ORM. - - - A. - -There is an uncertainty, and therefore a choice, as to the pronunciation -of many words ending in "a." Most are of classical or foreign -derivation, and hence may come under A1, or A2; or perhaps even under a -third sound, not exactly corresponding with either, as for instance -"Julia," which is neither "Juli_ay_" nor "Juli_ah_" exactly. Here are a -few:—Angelica, Basilica, sciatica, area, Omega (?), assafœtida, -apocrypha, cyclopædia, regalia, paraphernalia, battalia, aurelia, -parabola, cupola, nebula, phenomena, ephemera, amphora, plethora, etc. - - A1 (as "a," definite article[18]), rhymes AY, EY, EIGH, EH, appliqué -and similar French words; but A2 (as in "mamma"), rhymes AH, baa, ha, -ah, la, papa, mamma, huzza, psha. - - AB, or ABB. - -(As in "cab"), bab,§ cab, dab, Mab, gab,§ nab, blab,§ crab, drab,§ scab, -stab, shab,§ slab, St Abb. (As in "squab"), see OB.§ - - ABE. - -Babe, astrolabe. - - AC. - -Rhymes ACK, zodiac, maniac, demoniac, ammoniac, almanac, symposiac, -hypochondriac, aphrodisiac, crack, lac. - - ACE. - -Ace, dace, pace, face, lace, mace, race, brace, chace, grace, place, -Thrace, space, trace, apace, deface, efface, disgrace, displace, -misplace, embrace, grimace, interlace, retrace, populace, carapace, -base, case, abase, debase, etc. - - ACH. - -(As in "attach"), rhymes ATCH, attach, detach, batch, match, etc. (As in -"brach"), rhymes AC, ACK, brach. - - ACHE. - -(As in "ache"), rhymes EAK, AKE, AQUE. (As in "tache"), rhymes ASH, -tache,† patache,† panache.|| - - ACK. - -Back, brack,† hack, jack, lack, pack, quack, tack, sack, rack, black, -clack,§ crack, knack, slack, snack,§ stack, track, wrack, attack, -zodiac, demoniac, symposiac, almanac, smack, thwack,§ arrack. - - ACS. - -Genethliacs, rhymes AX, ACKS, plural of nouns, or third person singular -present of verbs in ACK, AC. - - ACT. - -Act, fact, fract,† pact, tract, attract, abstract, extract, compact, -contract, subact, co-act, detract, distract, exact, protract, enact, -infract, subtract, transact, retract, charact,§ re-act, cataract, -counteract, the preterites and participles of verbs in ACK. - - AD, or ADD. - -(As in "bad"), add, bad, dad,§ gad, fad,§ had, lad, mad, pad, sad, brad, -clad, glad, plaid (?), cad,§ chad,† etc. (As in "wad"), rhymes OD, ODD, -quad,¶ wad. - - ADE. - -Cade, fade, made, jade, lade, wade, blade, bade, glade, shade, spade, -trade, degrade, evade, dissuade, invade, persuade, blockade, brigade, -estrade, arcade, esplanade, cavalcade, cascade, cockade, crusade, -masquerade, renegade, retrograde, serenade, gambade, brocade, ambuscade, -cannonade, pallisade, rhodomontade,§ aid, maid, raid, braid, afraid, -etc. and the preterites and participles of verbs in AY, EY, and EIGH. -[The word "pomade" still retains the French "ade," and rhymes with -huzzaed, psha'd, baad.] - - ADGE. - -Badge, cadge,§ fadge.§ - - ADZE. - -Adze, rhymes plural of nouns, or third person singular present of verbs, -in AD, ADD. - - AEN. - -Ta'en, rhymes AIN, ANE, AIGN, EIGN. - - AFE. - -Safe, chafe, vouchsafe, waif, nafe,† naif,|| etc. - - AFF. - -Gaff, chaff, draff, graff, quaff, staff, distaff, engraff, epitaph, -cenotaph, paragraph, laugh, half, calf. [Here varieties of pronunciation -interfere, some giving the short vowel "chăff," others the long -"chāff."] - - AFT. - -Aft, haft, raft, daft,* waft, craft, shaft, abaft, graft, draft, -ingraft, handicraft, draught, and the preterites and participles of -verbs in AFF and AUGH, etc. - - AG. - -Bag, cag, dag,† fag, gag, hag, jag, lag, nag, quag,* rag, sag,† tag, -wag, brag, crag, drag, flag, knag, shag, snag, stag, swag,§ scrag,§ -Brobdingnag. - - AGD. - -Smaragd,† preterites and participles of verbs in AG. - - AGE. - -Age, cage, gage, mage,† page, rage, sage, wage, stage, swage, assuage, -engage, disengage, enrage, presage, appanage, concubinage, heritage, -hermitage, parentage, personage, parsonage, pasturage, patronage, -pilgrimage, villanage, equipage, and gauge. - - AGM. - -Diaphragm,¶ rhymes AM, AHM. - - AGUE. - -Plague, vague. - - AHM. - -Brahm,|| rhymes AM, AGM. - - AH. - -Ah, bah, pah, rhymes A. - - AI. - -Serai,|| almai,|| ai,|| papai,|| ay. - - AIC - -[Really, a dissyllable], haic,|| caic,|| alcaic,¶ saic.|| See AKE. - -AID, see ADE and AD. AIGHT, see ATE. AIGN, see ANE. - - AIL. - -Bail, brail,¶ fail, grail,† hail, jail, mail, nail, pail, quail, rail, -sail, shail,† tail, wail, flail, frail, snail, trail, assail, avail, -detail, bewail, entail, prevail, aventail,† wassail,† retail, -countervail, curtail, Abigail,§ ale, bale, dale, gale, hale, male, pale, -sale, tale, vale, wale, scale, shale, stale, swale,† whale, wale,† -impale, exhale, regale, veil, nightingale, etc. - - AIM, see AME. - - AIN. - -Cain, blain, brain, chain, fain, gain, grain, lain, main, pain, rain, -vain, wain, drain, plain, slain, Spain, stain, swain, train, twain, -sprain, strain, abstain, amain, attain, complain, contain, constrain, -detain, disdain, distrain, enchain, entertain, explain, maintain, -ordain, pertain, obtain, refrain, regain, remain, restrain, retain, -sustain, appertain, thane,† Dane, bane, cane, crane, fane, Jane, lane, -mane, plane, vane, wane, profane, hurricane, etc., deign, arraign, -campaign, feign, reign, vein, rein, skein, thegn,† etc. - - AINST. - -Against, rhymes abbreviated second person singular present of verbs in -AIN, ANE, AIGN, EIN, EIGN - - AIQUE. - -Caique,|| see AIC. - - AINT. - -Ain't,§ mayn't,§ faint, plaint, quaint, saint, taint, teint, acquaint, -attaint, complaint, constraint, restraint, distraint, feint. - -AIR and AIRE, see ARE, EAR, EIR, AIR, ERE, EER. - - AIRD. - -Laird,* rhymes preterites and participles of verbs in AIR, etc. - - AIRN. - -Bairn,* cairn.* - - AISE, see AZE. - - AISLE. - -Aisle, see ILE. - - AIT, see ATE, EIGHT. - - AITH. - -Faith, wraith, rath,† baith.* - - AIZE, see AZE. - - AK. - -Dâk,|| rhymes ALK. - - AKE. - -Ake, bake, cake, hake, lake, make, quake, rake, sake, take, wake, brake, -drake, flake, shake, snake, stake, strake,† spake,† awake, betake, -forsake, mistake, partake, overtake, undertake, bespake, mandrake, -break, steak, etc. See AIC. - - AL. - -Shall, pal,§ mall (?), sal, gal,§ fal-lal,§ cabal, canal, animal, -admiral, cannibal, capital, cardinal, comical, conjugal, corporal, -criminal, critical, festival, fineal, funeral, general, hospital, -interval, liberal, madrigal, literal, magical, mineral, mystical, -musical, natural, original, pastoral, pedestal, personal, physical, -poetical, political, principal, prodigal, prophetical, rational, -satirical, reciprocal, rhetorical, several, temporal, tragical, -tyrannical, carnival, schismatical, whimsical, arsenal, and many others. - - ALD. - -(As in "bald"), bald, scald, rhymes the preterites and participles of -verbs in ALL, AUL, and AWL. (As in "emerald"), rhymes preterite and -participle of "cabal," etc. - - ALE, see AIL. - - ALF. - -Calf, half, behalf, staff, laugh, epitaph, etc. - - ALK. - -Balk, chalk, stalk, talk, walk, calk, dâk,|| baulk, caulk, catafalque, -hawk, auk. - - ALL. - -All, ball, call, gall, caul, haul, appal, enthral, bawl, brawl, crawl, -scrawl, sprawl,§ squall. - - ALM, ALMS. - -Calm, balm, becalm, psalm, palm, embalm, etc.; plurals and third persons -singular rhyme with ALMS, as alms, calms, becalms, etc. - - ALP. - -Scalp, Alp. - - ALQUE. - -Catafalque, see ALK. - - ALSE. - -False, valse. - - ALT. - -(As in "halt"), halt, malt, exalt, salt, vault, assault, default, and -fault. (As in "shalt"), asphalt, alt,¶ shalt. - - ALVE. - -(As in "calve"), calve, halve, salve. (As in "valve"), valve, alve.† - - AM. - -Am, dam, ham, pam,¶ ram, Sam, cram, dram, flam,§ sham, swam, kam,† clam, -epigram, anagram, damn, lamb. - - AMB. - -Lamb, jamb, oriflamb,† am, dam, etc. - - AME. - -Blame, came, dame, same, flame, fame, frame, game, lame, name, prame,|| -same, tame, shame, inflame, became, defame, misname, misbecame, -overcame, aim, claim, maim, acclaim, declaim, disclaim, exclaim, -proclaim, reclaim. - - AMM. - -Lamm,† see AM. - - AMME. - -Oriflamme,|| see AM. - - AMN. - -Damn, see AM. - - AMP. - -(As in "camp"), camp, champ, cramp, damp, stamp, vamp,§ lamp, clamp, -decamp, encamp, etc. (As in "swamp"), swamp, pomp, romp. - - AN. - -(As in "ban"), ban, can, Dan, fan, man, Nan, pan, ran, tan, van, bran, -clan, plan, scan, span, than, unman, foreran, began, trepan, courtesan, -partisan, artisan, pelican, caravan, shandydan,* barracan¶ (As in -"wan"), wan, swan, on, upon, etc. - - ANCE. - -Chance, dance, glance, lance, trance, prance, intrance, romance, -advance, mischance, complaisance, circumstance, countenance, -deliverance, consonance, dissonance, extravagance, ignorance, -inheritance, maintenance, temperance, intemperance, exorbitance, -ordinance, concordance, sufferance, sustenance, utterance, arrogance, -vigilance, expanse, enhance, France. [Here the "ance" is pronounced -differently by different people, "ănce" and "ānce."] - - ANCH. - -Branch, staunch, launch, blanch, haunch, paunch,§ ganch.* - - AND. - -(As in "band"), and, band, hand, land, rand, sand, brand, bland, grand, -gland, stand, strand, command, demand, countermand, disband, expand, -withstand, understand, reprimand, contraband, and preterites and -participles of verbs in AN. (As in "wand"), wand, fond, bond, etc., and -the preterites and participles of verbs in ON. - - ANE, see AIN. - - ANG. - -Bang, fang, gang, hang, pang, tang,§ twang, sang, slang,§ rang, -harangue, swang, stang,* lang,* chang,|| clang. - - ANGE. - -Change, grange, range, strange, estrange, arrange, exchange, -interchange. - - ANGUE. - -Harangue, rhyme ANG. - - ANK. - -Yank,* bank, rank, blank, shank, clank, dank, drank, slank, frank, -spank,§ stank, brank,¶ hank, lank, plank, prank, rank, thank, disrank, -mountebank, etc. - - ANSE, see ANCE. - - ANT. - -(As in "ant"), ant, cant, chant, grant, pant, plant, rant, slant, -aslant, complaisant, displant, enchant, gallant, implant, recant, -supplant, transplant, absonant, adamant, arrogant, combatant, consonant, -cormorant, protestant, significant, visitant, covenant, dissonant, -disputant, elegant, elephant, exorbitant, conversant, extravagant, -ignorant, insignificant, inhabitant, militant, predominant, sycophant, -vigilant, petulant, etc. (As in "can't"), can't, shan't, aunt, haunt, -etc. (As in "want"), want, upon't, font. - - AP. - -(As in "cap"), cap, dap, gap, hap, lap, map, nap, pap, rap, sap, tap, -chap, clap, trap, fap,† flap, knap,§ slap, snap, wrap, scrap, strap, -enwrap, entrap, mishap, affrap, mayhap, etc. (As in "swap"), swap, top, -chop, etc. - - APE. - -Ape, cape, shape, grape, rape, scape, scrape, escape, nape, chape,† -trape,† jape,§ crape, tape, etc. - - APH, see AFF. - -APSE. - -Apse,¶ lapse, elapse, relapse, perhaps, and the plurals of nouns and -third persons singular present tense of verbs in AP. - - APT. - -Apt, adapt, etc. Rhymes, the preterites and participles of verbs in AP. - - AQUE. - -Opaque, plaque,¶ make, ache, break. - - AR. - -(As in "bar"), rhymes Czar,|| bar, car, far, jar, mar, par, tar, spar, -scar, star, char, afar, debar, petar,§ unbar, catarrh, particular, -perpendicular, secular, angular, regular, popular, singular, titular, -vinegar, scimetar, calendar, avatar,|| cinnabar, caviare,|| are. (As in -"war"), rhymes for, and perhaps bore, pour, etc. - - ARB. - -Barb, garb, rhubarb, etc. - - ARCE. - -Farce, parse, sarse,† sparse. ["Scarce" has no rhyme.] - - ARCH. - -(As in "march"), arch, march, larch, parch, starch, countermarch, etc. -(As in "hierarch"), hierarch, heresiarch, park, ark, etc. - - ARD. - -(As in "bard"), bard, card, guard, hard, lard, nard, shard, yard, -basilard,† bombard, discard, regard, interlard, retard, disregard, etc., -and the preterites and participles of verbs in AR. (As in "ward"), ward, -sward, afford, restored, etc. - - ARE. - -(As in "bare"), rhymes care, dare, fare, gare,† hare, mare, pare, tare, -ware, flare, glare, scare, share, snare, spare, square, stare, sware, -yare,† prepare, aware, beware, compare, declare, ensnare, air, vair,¶ -fair, hair, lair, pair, chair, stair, affair, debonnair, despair, -impair, glaire, repair, etc.; bear, pear, swear, tear, wear, forbear, -forswear, etc.; there, were, where, ere, e'er, ne'er, elsewhere, -whate'er, howe'er, howsoe'er, whene'er, where'er, etc,; heir, coheir, -their. (As in "are"), rhymes AR. - - ARES. - -Unawares. Rhymes, theirs, and the plurals of nouns and third persons -singular of verbs in are, air, eir, ear. - - ARF. - -Dwarf, wharf. - - ARGE. - -Barge, charge, large, marge, targe,† discharge, o'er-charge, surcharge, -enlarge. - - ARK. - -Ark, bark, cark,† clark, dark, lark, mark, park, chark,† shark, spark, -stark, embark, remark, etc. - - ARL. - -Carl,† gnarl, snarl, marl, harl,¶ parle.† - - ARM. - -(As in "arm"), arm, barm, charm, farm, harm, alarm, disarm. (As in -"warm"), warm, swarm, storm, etc. - - ARN. - -(As in "barn"), barn, yarn, etc. (As in "warn"), warn, forewarn, horn, -morn, etc. - - ARP. - -(As in "carp"), carp, harp, sharp, counterscarp, etc. (As in "warp"), -warp, thorp,* etc. - - ARRH. - -Catarrh, bar, jar. - - ARSE, see ARCE. - - ARSH. - -Harsh, marsh, etc. - - ART. - -(As in "art"), heart, art, cart, dart, hart, mart, part, smart, tart, -start, apart, depart, impart, dispart, counterpart. (As in "wart"), -wart, thwart, quart, swart, port, fort, court, short, retort, sport, -etc. - - ARTH. - -Swarth, forth, north. - - ARVE. - -Carve, starve. - - AS. - -(As in "was"), was, 'cos,§ poz.§ (As in "gas"), gas, lass, ass, alias. -(As in "has"), has, as. - - ASE, see ACE. - - ASH. - -(As in "ash"), ash, cash, dash, clash, crash, flash, gash, gnash, hash, -lash, plash, bash,† pash,† brash,† rash, thrash, slash, trash, abash, -etc. (As in "wash"), wash, bosh,§ squash,§ quash,¶ swash.† - - ASK. - -Ask, task, task, cask, flask, mask, hask.† - - ASM. - -Chasm, spasm, miasm, enthusiasm, cataplasm, phantasm. - - ASP. - -Asp, clasp, rasp, gasp, grasp, hasp, wasp (?). - - ASQUE. - -Casque, mask, etc. - - ASS. - -Ass, brass, class, grass, lass, mass, pass, alas, amass, cuirass, -repass, surpass, morass, etc. - - AST. - -(As in "cast"), cast, last, blast, mast, past, vast, fast, aghast, -avast,¶ forecast, overcast, outcast, repast, the preterites and -participles of verbs in ASS. (As in "wast"), wast, tost, lost, etc. - - ASTE. - -Baste, chaste, haste, paste, taste, waste, distaste, waist, and the -preterites and participles of verbs in ACE, ASE. - - AT. - -(As in "at"), at, bat, cat, hat, fat, mat, pat, rat, sat, tat, vat, -brat, chat, flat, lat, sprat, that, gnat. (As in "what"), what, spot, -not, etc. - - ATCH. - -(As in "catch"), catch, match, hatch, latch, patch, scratch, smatch, -snatch, despatch, ratch,† slatch,¶ swatch, attach, thatch. (As in -"watch"), watch, botch,§ Scotch. - - ATE. - -Bate, date, fate, gate, grate, hate, mate, pate,§ plate, prate, rate, -sate, state, scate,† slate, abate, belate, collate, create, debate, -elate, dilate, estate, ingrate, innate, rebate,¶ relate, sedate, -translate, abdicate, abominate, abrogate, accelerate, accommodate, -accumulate, accurate, adequate, affectionate, advocate, adulterate, -aggravate, agitate, alienate, animate, annihilate, antedate, anticipate, -antiquate, arbitrate, arrogate, articulate, assassinate, calculate, -capitulate, captivate, celebrate, circulate, coagulate, commemorate, -commiserate, communicate, compassionate, confederate, congratulate, -congregate, consecrate, contaminate, corroborate, cultivate, candidate, -co-operate, celibate, considerate, consulate, capacitate, debilitate, -dedicate, degenerate, delegate, deliberate, denominate, depopulate, -dislocate, deprecate, discriminate, derogate, dissipate, delicate, -disconsolate, desolate, desperate, educate, effeminate, elevate, -emulate, estimate, elaborate, equivocate, eradicate, evaporate, -exaggerate, exasperate, expostulate, exterminate, extricate, facilitate, -fortunate, generate, gratulate, hesitate, illiterate, illuminate, -irritate, imitate, immoderate, impetrate, importunate, imprecate, -inanimate, innovate, instigate, intemperate, intimate, intimidate, -intoxicate, intricate, invalidate, inveterate, inviolate, legitimate, -magistrate, meditate, mitigate, moderate, necessitate, nominate, -obstinate, participate, passionate, penetrate, perpetrate, personate, -potentate, precipitate, predestinate, predominate, premeditate, -prevaricate, procrastinate, profligate, prognosticate, propagate, -recriminate, regenerate, regulate, reiterate, reprobate, reverberate, -ruminate, separate, sophisticate, stipulate, subjugate, subordinate, -suffocate, terminate, titivate,§ tolerate, vindicate, violate, -unfortunate, bait, strait, waite, await, great, tête-à-tête, eight,|| -weight, straight. [Ate (from "cat") rhymes "yet."] - - ATH. - -(As in "bath"), bath, path, swath,* wrath. (As in "hath"), hath, -aftermath. (As in "rath"), rath, faith, etc. - - ATHE. - -Bathe, swathe, rathe,† scathe. - - AUB. - -Daub, kebaub,|| Punjaub. - - AUD. - -Fraud, laud, applaud, defraud, broad, abroad, and the preterites and -participles of verbs in AW, etc. - - AUGH. - -(As in "laugh"), laugh, quaff, etc. (As in "usquebaugh"), usquebaugh,* -law, etc. - - AUGHT. - -(As in "draught"), draught, quaffed, etc. (As in "caught"), caught, -ought, taut, haught,§ etc. - - AUK. - -Auk, squauk,§ chalk, hawk, etc. - - AULM. - -Haulm, shawm. - - AULK. - -Caulk, see ALK. - - AULT, see ALT - - AUN. - -Aun,† shaun,* lawn, prawn, dawn, etc. - - AUNCH, see ANCH. - - AUND. - -Maund,* preterites and participles of verbs in AWN. - - AUNCE. - -Askaunce, romance, glance, etc. - - AUNT. - -Aunt, daunt, gaunt, haunt, jaunt, taunt, vaunt, avaunt, shan't, can't, -slant, aslant. - - AUR. - -Bucentaur,|| before, explore, soar. - - AUSE. - -Cause, pause, clause, applause, because, the plurals of nouns and third -persons singular of verbs in AW. - - AUST. - -Holocaust, frost, cost. - - AUZE. - -Gauze, cause, laws, etc. - - AVE. - -Cave, brave, gave, grave, crave, lave, nave, knave, pave, rave, save, -shave, slave, stave, wave, behave, deprave, engrave, outbrave, forgave, -misgave, architrave. ["Have" is without a rhyme.] - - AW. - -Craw, daw, law, chaw,§ claw, draw, flaw, gnaw, jaw, maw, paw, raw, saw, -scraw,† shaw, straw, thaw, withdraw, foresaw, usquebaugh.* - - AWD, see AUD. AWK, see ALK. - - AWL. - -Bawl, brawl, drawl, crawl, scrawl, sprawl, squaul,§ ball, call, fall, -gall, small, hall, pall, tall, wall, stall, install, forestall, thrall, -inthrall. - - AWM. - -Shawm, see AULM. - - AWN. - -Dawn, brawn, fawn, pawn, spawn, drawn, yawn, awn, withdrawn. - - AX. - -Ax, tax, lax, pax,¶ wax, relax, flax, the plurals of nouns and third -persons singular of verbs in ACK. - - AY. - -Bray, clay, day, dray, tray, flay, fray, gay, hay, jay, lay, may, nay, -pay, play, ray, say, way, pray, spray, slay, stay, stray, sway, tway,† -fay,† affray, allay, array, astray, away, belay,¶ bewray, betray, decay, -defray, delay, disarray, display, dismay, essay, forelay, gainsay, -inlay, relay, repay, roundelay, Twankay,|| virelay, neigh, weigh, -inveigh, etc.; prey, they, convey, obey, purvey, survey, disobey, grey, -aye, denay.† - - AZE. - -Craze, draze, blaze, gaze, glaze, raze, maze, amaze, graze, raise, -praise, dispraise, phrase, paraphrase, etc., and the nouns plural and -third persons singular of the present tense of verbs in AY, EIGH, and -EY. - - E. - - E, see EE. - - CRE. CHRE, TRE. - -Sepulchre, massacre, theatre, stir, err, fur, myrrh, etc. - - EA. - -(As in "sea"), sea, see, free, etc. (As in "yea"), yea, way, obey, -neigh, etc. - - EACE, see EASE. - - EACH. - -Beach, breach, bleach, each, peach, preach, teach, impeach, beech, -leech, speech, beseech. - - EAD. - -(As in "bread"), bread, shed, wed, dead, etc. (As in "read"), read, -secede, feed, etc. - - EAF. - -(As in "sheaf"), rhymes IEF. (As in "deaf"), rhymes EF. - - EAGUE. - -League, Teague, etc., intrigue, fatigue, renege,§ etc. - - EAK. - -(As in "beak"), beak, speak, bleak, creak, freak, leak, peak, sneak,§ -squeak, streak, weak, tweak,§ wreak, bespeak, cheek, leek, eke,† creek, -meek, reek, seek, sleek, pique,|| week, shriek. (As in "break"), break, -take, sake, etc. - - EAL. - -Deal, heal, reveal, meal, peal, seal, steal, teal, veal, weal, squeal,§ -leal,* zeal, repeal, conceal, congeal, repeal, anneal, appeal, wheal,* -eel, heel, feel, keel, kneel, peel, reel, steal, wheel. [Real is a -dissyllable, and therefore does not count here.] - - EALD. - -Weald,* see IELD. - - EALM. - -Realm, elm, whelm. - - EALTH. - -Health, wealth, stealth, commonwealth, etc. - - EAM. - -Bream, cream, gleam, seam, scream, stream, team, beam, dream, enseam,† -scheme, theme, blaspheme, extreme, supreme, deem, teem, beseem, misdeem, -esteem, disesteem, redeem, seem, beteem,† etc. - - EAMT. - -Dreamt, exempt, attempt, empt,† etc. - - EAN. - -Bean, clean, dean, glean, lean, mean, wean, yean, demean, unclean, -convene, demesne, intervene, mien, hyen,† machine, keen, screen, seen, -skean,† green, spleen, between, careen, teen,† foreseen, serene, -obscene, terrene, queen, spleen, etc. - - EANS. - -Means, rhymes plural of nouns, and third persons singular present of -verbs, in EAN, EEN, ENE. - - EANSE. - -Cleanse, plural of nouns, and third person singular present of verbs, in -EN. - - EANT, see ENT. EAP, see EEP. EAR see EER and AIR. - - EARCH. - -Search, perch, research, church, smirch,† etc. - - EARD. - -(As in "heard"), heard, herd, sherd,† etc., the preterites and -participles of verbs in ER, UR, etc. (As in "beard"), beard, feared, -revered, weird, preterites and participles of verbs in EAR, ERE, etc. - - EARL. - -Earl, pearl, girl, curl,† churl, whirl, purl,§ furl, etc. - - EARN, see ERN. EARSE, see ERSE. EART, see ART. - - EARTH. - -Earth, dearth, birth, mirth, worth, Perth, berth, etc. - - EASE (sounded EACE. For hard "s," see EEZE). - -Cease, lease, release, grease, decease, decrease, increase, release, -surcease, peace, piece, niece, fleece, geese, frontispiece, apiece, etc. - - EAST. - -East, feast, least, beast, priest, the preterites and participles of -verbs in EASE (sounded EACE). - - EAT. - -(As in "bleat"), bleat, eat, feat, heat, meat, neat, seat, treat, wheat, -beat, cheat, defeat, estreat, escheat, entreat, retreat, obsolete, -replete, concrete, complete, feet, fleet, greet, meet, sheet, sleet, -street, sweet, discreet. (As in "great"), great, hate, bate, wait, -tête.|| - - EATH. - -(As in "breath"), breath, death, saith, Elizabeth, etc., and antiquated -third person singular present, accented on the antipenult, _e.g._, -"encountereth." (As in "heath"), heath, sheath, teeth, wreath, beneath. - - EATHE. - -Breathe, sheathe, wreathe, inwreathe, bequeathe, seethe, etc. - - EAU. - -Beau,|| bureau,|| though, go, show, doe, etc. - - EAVE. - -Cleave, heave, interweave, leave, weave, bereave, inweave, receive, -conceive, deceive, perceive, eve, grieve, sleeve, thieve, aggrieve, -achieve, believe, disbelieve, relieve, reprieve, retrieve. - - EB, and EBB. - -Web, neb,* ebb, bleb,† etc. - - ECK, and EC. - -Beck, peck, neck, check, fleck, deck, speck, wreck, hypothec,|| spec,§ -geck.§ - - EKS. - -I'fecks,§ third person singular of verbs and plural of nouns in ECK. - - ECT. - -Sect, affect, correct, incorrect, collect, deject, detect, direct, -disrespect, disaffect, dissect, effect, elect, eject, erect, expect, -indirect, infect, inspect, neglect, object, project, protect, recollect, -reflect, reject, respect, select, subject, suspect, architect, -circumspect, direct, intellect, the preterites and participles of verbs -in ECK, etc. - - ED. - -Bed, bled, fed, fled, bred, Ted, red, shred, shed, sped, wed, abed, -inbred, misled, said, bread, dread, dead, head, lead, read, spread, -thread, tread, behead, o'erspread, and the preterites and participles of -verbs, which, when the "éd" (pronounced) is added, have the accent on -the antepenultimate [_e.g._, vanishéd; but see Chap. VIII.] - - EDE. - -Glede, rede,† brede,† discede, see EED, EAD. - - EDGE. - -Edge, wedge, fledge, hedge, ledge, pledge, sedge, allege, kedge,¶ -privilege, sacrilege, sortilege, etc. - - EE. - -Bee, free, glee, knee, see, three, thee, tree, agree, decree, degree, -disagree, flee, foresee, o'ersee, pedigree, he, me, we, she, be, -jubilee, lee, ne,† sea, plea, flea, tea, key, cap-à-pie,|| gree,† dree,† -calipee. - - EECE, see EASE. EECH, see EACH. - - EED. - -Creed, deed, indeed, bleed, breed, feed, heed, meed, need, reed, speed, -seed, steed, weed, proceed, succeed, exceed, knead, read, intercede, -precede, recede, concede, impede, supersede, bead, lead, mead, plead, -etc. - - EEF, see IEF. EEK, see EAK. EEL, see EAL. - EEM, see EAM. EEN, see EAN. - - EEP. - -Creep, deep, sleep, keep, peep, sheep, steep, sweep, weep, asleep, -cheap, heap, neap,¶ etc. - - EER. - -(As in "beer"), beer, deer, fleer,† geer, jeer, peer, mere, leer, sheer, -steer, sneer, cheer, veer, pickeer, domineer, cannoneer, compeer, -engineer, mutineer, pioneer, privateer, charioteer, chanticleer, career, -mountaineer, fere,† here, sphere, adhere, cohere, interfere, persevere, -revere, austere, severe, sincere, hemisphere, &c.; ear, clear, dear, -fear, here, near, sear, smear, spear, tear, rear, year, appear, besmear, -bandolier,† disappear, endear, auctioneer. (As in "e'er"), ne'er, ARE, -AIR, etc. - - EESE, see EEZE. EET, see EAT. EETH, see - EATH. EETHE, see EATHE. EEVE, see EAVE. - - EEVES. - -Eeaves, rhymes plural of nouns, and third person singular present of -verbs in EEVE, IEVE, etc. - - EEZE. - -Breeze, freeze, wheeze, sneeze, squeeze, and the plurals of nouns and -third persons singular present tense of verbs in EE, cheese, leese,† -these, ease, appease, disease, displease, tease, seize, etc., and the -plurals of nouns in EA, EE, etc. - - EF. - -Clef,¶ nef,† semibref,¶ kef,|| deaf, etc. - - EFT. - -Cleft, left, theft, weft, bereft, etc. - - EG, and EGG. - -Egg, leg, beg, peg, Meg, keg. - - EGE. - -Renege,§ see EAGUE. - - EGM. - -Phlegm, apothegm, parapegm, diadem, etc. - - EGN. - -Thegn,|| vain, mane, etc. - - EH. - -Eh? rhymes A, AY, EY, EIGH. - - EIGH, see AY. EIGHT, see ATE and ITE. EIGN, - see AIN. EIL, see EEL and AIL. EIN, see - AIN. EINT, see AINT. EIR, see ARE. - - EIRD. - -Weird, see EARD. - - EIT, see EAT. EIVE, see EAVE. EIZE, - -see EEZE. EKE, see EAK. - - EL, and ELL. - -Ell, dwell, fell, hell, knell, quell, sell, bell, cell, mell,† dispel, -foretell, excel, compel, befell, yell, well, tell, swell, spell, smell, -shell, parallel, sentinel, infidel, citadel, refel, repel, rebel, impel, -expel, asphodel, petronel,† calomel, muscatel. - - ELD. - -Held, geld, withheld, upheld, beheld, eld,§ etc., the preterites and -participles of verbs in EL, ELL. - - ELF. - -Elf, delf, pelf,§ self, shelf, himself, etc. - - ELK. - -Elk, kelk,† whelk, etc. - - ELM. - -Elm, helm, realm, whelm, overwhelm, etc. - - ELP. - -Help, whelp, kelp,* yelp, etc. - - ELT. - -Belt, gelt,|| melt, felt, welt,¶ smelt, pelt, dwelt, dealt. - - ELVE. - -Delve, helve, shelve, twelve, etc. - - ELVES. - -Elves, themselves, etc., the plurals of nouns and third persons singular -of verbs in ELVE. - - EM. - -Gem, hem, stem, them, diadem, stratagem, anadem, kemb,† phlegm, condemn, -contemn, etc. - - EME, see EAM. - - EMN. - -Condemn, contemn, gem, hem, them. See EM, etc. - - EMPT. - -Tempt, exempt, attempt, contempt, dreamt. - - EN. - -Den, hen, fen, ken, men, pen, ten, then, when, wren, denizen. [Hyen§ -rhymes EEN.] - - ENCE. - -Fence, hence, pence, thence, whence, defence, expense, offence, -pretence, commence, abstinence, circumference, conference, confidence, -consequence, continence, benevolence, concupiscence, difference, -diffidence, diligence, eloquence, eminence, evidence, excellence, -impenitence, impertinence, impotence, impudence, improvidence, -incontinence, indifference, indigence, indolence, inference, -intelligence, innocence, magnificence, munificence, negligence, -omnipotence, penitence, preference, providence, recompense, reference, -residence, reverence, vehemence, violence, sense, dense, cense, -condense, immense, intense, propense, dispense, suspense, prepense, -incense, frankincense. - - ENCH. - -Bench, drench, retrench, quench, clench, stench, tench, trench, wench, -wrench, intrench, blench.† - - END. - -Bend, mend, blend, end, fend,† lend, rend, send, spend, tend, vend, -amend, attend, ascend, commend, contend, defend, depend, descend, -distend, expend, extend, forefend, impend, mis-spend, obtend, offend, -portend, pretend, protend, suspend, transcend, unbend, apprehend, -comprehend, condescend, discommend, recommend, reprehend, dividend, -reverend, friend, befriend, and the preterites and participles of verbs -in EN, etc. - - ENDS. - -Amends, the plurals of nouns and third persons singular present tense of -verbs in END. - - ENE, see EAN. - - ENGE. - -Avenge, revenge, no rhyme. - - ENGTH. - -Length, strength, etc. - - ENS. - -Lens, plural of nouns, and third person singular present of verbs, in -EN. - - ENT - -Bent, lent, rent, pent, scent, sent, shent,† spent, tent, vent, went, -blent, cement, brent,† hent,† absent, meant, ascent, assent, attent, -augment, cement, content, consent, descent, dissent, event, extent, -foment, frequent, indent, intent, invent, lament, mis-spent, o'erspent, -present, prevent, relent, repent, resent, ostent, ferment, outwent, -underwent, discontent, unbent, circumvent, represent, abstinent, -accident, accomplishment, admonishment, acknowledgment, aliment, -arbitrement, argument, banishment, battlement, blandishment, -astonishment, armipotent, bellipotent, benevolent, chastisement, -competent, complement, compliment, confident, continent, corpulent, -detriment, different, diligent, disparagement, document, element, -eloquent, eminent, equivalent, establishment, evident, excellent, -excrement, exigent, experiment, firmament, fraudulent, government, -embellishment, imminent, impenitent, impertinent, implement, impotent, -imprisonment, improvident, impudent, incident, incompetent, incontinent, -indifferent, indigent, innocent, insolent, instrument, irreverent, -languishment, ligament, lineament, magnificent, management, medicament, -malecontent, monument, negligent, nourishment, nutriment, occident, -omnipotent, opulent, ornament, parliament, penitent, permanent, -pertinent, president, precedent, prevalent, provident, punishment, -ravishment, regiment, resident, redolent, rudiment, sacrament, sediment, -sentiment, settlement, subsequent, supplement, intelligent, tenement, -temperament, testament, tournament, turbulent, vehement, violent, -virulent, reverent. - - ENTS. - -Accoutrements, the plurals of nouns and third persons singular present -tense of verbs in ENT. - - EP. - -Step, nep, skep,* rep, demirep,§ etc. - - EPE. - -Clepe,† keep, reap, etc. - - EPT. - -Accept, adept, except, intercept, crept, sept,* slept, wept, kept, etc. - - ER, and ERR. - -Her, sir, fir, burr, cur, err, aver, defer, infer, deter, inter, refer, -transfer, confer, prefer, whirr, administer, waggoner, islander, -arbiter, character, villager, cottager, dowager, forager, pillager, -voyager, massacre, gardener, slanderer, flatterer, idolater, provender, -theatre, amphitheatre, foreigner, lavender, messenger, passenger, -sorcerer, interpreter, officer, mariner, harbinger, minister, register, -canister, chorister, sophister, presbyter, lawgiver, philosopher, -artrologer, loiterer, prisoner, grasshopper, astronomer, sepulchre, -thunderer, traveller, murderer, usurer. - - ERCH, see EARCH. ERCE, see ERSE. IERCE, - see ERSE. ERD, see EARD. ERE, see EER. - - ERF. - -Serf, turf, surf, scurf, etc. - - ERGE. - -Verge, absterge,† emerge, immerge, dirge, urge, purge, surge. - - ERGUE. - -Exergue,† burgh. - - ERM. - -Term, firm, worm, etc. - - ERN. - -Fern, stern, discern, hern,† concern, learn, earn, yearn, quern,* dern,† -burn, turn, etc. - - ERNE. - -Eterne,† see ERN. - - ERP. - -Discerp,† see IRP. - - ERSE. - -Verse, absterse, adverse, averse, converse, disperse, immerse, perverse, -reverse, asperse, intersperse, universe, amerce, coerce, hearse, purse, -curse, etc. - - ERT. - -Wert, advert, assert, avert, concert, convert, controvert, desert, -divert, exert, expert, insert, invert, pervert, subvert, shirt, dirt, -hurt, spurt,§ etc. - - ERTH. - -Berth, birth, mirth, earth, worth, etc. - - ERVE. - -Serve, nerve, swerve, preserve, deserve, conserve, observe, reserve, -disserve, subserve, curve, etc. - - ES, ESS, or ESSE. - -Yes, bless, dress, cess,* chess, guess, less, mess, press, stress, -acquiesce, access, address, assess, compress, confess, caress, depress, -digress, dispossess, distress, excess, express, impress, oppress, -possess, profess, recess, repress, redress, success, transgress, -adultress, bashfulness, bitterness, cheerfulness, comfortless, -comeliness, dizziness, diocess, drowsiness, eagerness, easiness, -ambassadress, emptiness, evenness, fatherless, filthiness, foolishness, -forgetfulness, forwardness, frowardness, fruitfulness, fulsomeness, -giddiness, greediness, gentleness, governess, happiness, haughtiness, -heaviness, idleness, heinousness, hoariness, hollowness, holiness, -lasciviousness, lawfulness, laziness, littleness, liveliness, loftiness, -lioness, lowliness, manliness, masterless, mightiness, motherless, -motionless, nakedness, neediness, noisomeness, numberless, patroness, -peevishness, perfidiousness, pitiless, poetess, prophetess, ransomless, -readiness, righteousness, shepherdess, sorceress, sordidness, -spiritless, sprightliness, stubbornness, sturdiness, surliness, -steadiness, tenderness, thoughtfulness, ugliness, uneasiness, -unhappiness, votaress, usefulness, wakefulness, wantonness, weaponless, -wariness, willingness, wilfulness, weariness, wickedness, wilderness, -wretchedness, drunkenness, childishness, duresse,|| cesse.† - - ESE, see EEZE. - - ESH. - -Flesh, fresh, refresh, thresh, afresh, nesh,† mesh. - - ESK, and ESQUE. - -Desk, grotesque, burlesque, arabesque, picturesque, moresque, etc. - - EST. - -Best, chest, crest, guest, jest, nest, pest, quest, rest, test, vest, -lest, west, arrest, attest, bequest, contest, detest, digest, divest, -invest, palimpsest,¶ alcahest,|| infest, molest, obtest, protest, -request, suggest, unrest, interest, manifest, breast, abreast, etc., and -the preterites and participles of verbs in ESS. - - ET. - -Bet, get, jet, fret, let, met, net, set, wet, whet, yet, debt, abet, -beget, beset, forget, regret, alphabet, amulet, anchoret, cabinet, -epithet, parapet, rivulet, violet, coronet, parroquet, basinet, -wagonette,|| cadet, epaulette, piquette, sweat, threat, etc. - - ETCH. - -Fetch, stretch, wretch, sketch, etc. - - ETE. - -Effete, see EAT. - - ETH. - -Elizabeth, see EATH. - - ETTE. - -Rosette, silhouette,|| wagonette,|| cassolette,|| bet, etc. - - EVE, see EAVE. - - EUCE. - -Deuce, see USE. - - EUD. - -Feud, rude, mood, stewed, etc. - - EUM. - -Rheum, see OOM, UME. - - EUR. - -Amateur,|| connoisseur,|| bon-viveur.|| - - EW. - -Blew, chew, dew, brew, drew, flew, few, grew, new, knew, hew, Jew, mew,† -view, threw, yew, crew, slew, anew, askew, bedew, eschew, renew, review, -withdrew, screw, interview, emmew,† clue, due, cue, glue, hue, rue, sue, -true, accrue, ensue, endue, imbue, imbrue, pursue, subdue, adieu, -purlieu,|| perdue,|| residue, avenue, revenue, retinue, through, pooh, -you. [News takes plural of nouns, and third person singular present of -verbs, of this class.] - - EWD. - -Flewd,§ lewd, screwed, see UDE. - - EWN. - -Hewn, see UNE. - - EX. - -Sex, vex, annex, convex, complex, perplex, circumflex, and the plurals -of nouns and third persons singular of verbs in EC, ECK. - - EXT. - -Next, pretext, and the preterites and participles of verbs in EX. - - EY. - -(As in "prey"), rhymes AY, A. (As in "key"), rhymes EE, EA. - - EYNE. - -Eyne,§ rhymes INE. - - I. - - I. - -Alibi,|| alkali,|| try, eye, high, bye, vie, etc. - - IB. - -Bib, crib, squib, drib,§ glib,§ nib, rib. - - IBE. - -Bribe, tribe, kibe,† scribe, ascribe, describe, superscribe, prescribe, -proscribe, subscribe, transcribe, inscribe, imbibe, diatribe. - - IC. - -Catholic, splenetic, heretic, arithmetic, brick, etc. - - ICE. - -Ice, dice, mice, nice, price, rice, spice, slice, thrice, trice, splice, -advice, entice, vice, device, concise, precise, paradise, sacrifice, -etc. - - ICHE and ICH, see ITCH. - - ICK. - -Brick, sick, chick, kick, lick, nick, pick, quick, stick, thick, trick, -arithmetic, choleric, catholic, heretic, rhetoric, splenetic, lunatic, -politic. - - ICT. - -Strict, addict, afflict, convict, inflict, contradict, Pict, etc. The -preterites and participles of verbs in ICK, etc. - - ID. - -Bid, chid, hid, kid, lid, slid, rid, bestrid, pyramid, forbid, quid,§ -squid, katydid,|| etc. - - IDE. - -Bide, chide, hide, gride,† glide, pride, ride, slide, side, nide,† -stride, tide, wide, bride, abide, guide, aside, astride, beside, -bestride, betide, confide, decide, deride, divide, preside, provide, -subside, misguide, subdivide, etc., the preterites and participles of -verbs in IE, IGH, and Y. - - IDES. - -Ides, besides, the plurals of nouns and third persons singular of verbs -in IDE, etc. - - IDGE. - - Bridge, ridge, midge, fidge,§ abridge, etc. - - IDST. - -Midst, amidst, didst, etc., the second persons singular of the present -tense of verbs in ID. - - IE, or Y. - -By, buy, cry, die, dry, eye, fly, fry, fie, hie, lie, pie, ply, pry, -rye, shy, sly, spy, sky, sty, tie, try, vie, why, ally, apply, awry, -bely, comply, decry, defy, descry, deny, imply, espy, outvie, outfly, -rely, reply, supply, untie, amplify, beautify, certify, crucify, deify, -dignify, edify, falsify, fortify, gratify, glorify, indemnify, justify, -magnify, modify, mollify, mortify, pacify, petrify, purify, putrify, -qualify, ratify, rectify, sanctify, satisfy, scarify, signify, specify, -stupefy, terrify, testify, verify, vilify, vitrify, vivify, prophesy, -high, nigh, sigh, thigh. [Such words as "lunacy," "polygamy," "tyrrany," -cannot well be used, as it is difficult to get the "y" sound without -over-accentuating it.] - - IECE, see EASE. - - IED. - -Pied, side, sighed, rhymes with preterites and participles of verbs in Y -or IE. - - IEF. - -Grief, chief, fief,† thief, brief, belief, relief, reef, beef, leaf, -sheaf, etc. - - IEGE. - -Liege, siege, assiege, besiege. - - IELD. - -Field, yield, shield, wield, afield, weald,* and the preterites and -participles of verbs in EAL. - - IEN, see EEN. - - IEND. - -(As in "fiend"), rhymes preterites and participles of verbs in EAN, EEN. -(As in "friend"), rhymes END. - - IER. - -Pier, bier, tier, rhymes EER. - - IERCE. - -Fierce, pierce, tierce. - - IEST. - -Priest, rhymes EAST. ("Diest," second person singular present, at times -pronounced as a monosyllable, rhymes "spiced," etc.) - - IEVE. - -(As in "sieve"), rhymes "give," see IVE. (As in "grieve"), rhymes EVE, -EAVE. - - IEU, IEW. - -Lieu,|| review, rhyme EW, UE, etc. - - IEZE. - -Frieze, rhymes EEZE, etc. - - IF, IFF. - -If, skiff, stiff, whiff, cliff, sniff,§ tiff,§ hieroglyph. - - IFE. - -Rife, fife, knife, wife, strife, life. - - IFT. - -Gift, drift, shift, lift, rift, sift, thrift, adrift, etc., and the -preterites and participles of verbs in IFF. - - IG. - -Big, dig, gig, fig, pig, rig,§ sprig, twig, swig,§ grig,* Whig, wig, -jig, prig. - - IGE. - -Oblige, no rhyme. - - IGH, see IE. IGHT, see ITE. - - IGM. - -Paradigm, rhymes IME. - - IGN, see INE. IGUE, see EAGUE. - - IKE. - -Dike, like, pike, spike, strike, alike, dislike, shrike, glike.† - - IL, ILL. - -Bill, chill, fill, drill, gill, hill, ill, kill, mill, pill, quill, -rill, shrill, fill, skill, spill, still, swill,§ thrill, till, trill, -will, distil, fulfil, instil, codicil, daffodil. - - ILCH. - -Filch, milch. - - ILD. - -(As in "child"), rhymes mild, wild, etc., the preterites and participles -of verbs of one syllable in ILE, or of more syllables, provided the -accent be on the last. (As in "gild"), rhymes build, rebuild, etc., and -the preterites and participles of verbs in ILL. - - ILE. - -Bile, chyle,¶ file, guile, isle, mile, pile, smile, stile, style, tile, -vile, while, awhile, compile, revile, defile, exile, erewhile, -reconcile, beguile, aisle. [There is also the "eel" sound, as in -imported words like bastile,|| pastile,|| rhyming with EEL, EAL.] - - ILGE. - -Bilge, no rhyme. - - ILK. - -Milk, silk, bilk,§ whilk,* etc. - - ILN. - -Kiln, no rhyme. - - ILT. - -Gilt, jilt, built, quilt, guilt, hilt, spilt, stilt, tilt, milt. - - ILTH. - -Filth, tilth, spilth, etc. - - IM. - -Brim, dim, grim, him, rim, skim, slim, trim, whim, prim, limb, hymn, -limn. - - IMB. - -(As in "limb"), rhymes IM. (As in "climb"), rhymes IME. - - IME. - -Chime, time, grime,§ climb, clime, crime, prime, mime, rhyme, slime, -thyme, lime, sublime. - - IMES. - -Betimes, sometimes, etc. Rhymes the plurals of nouns and third persons -singular present tense of verbs in IME. - - IMN, see IM. - - IMP. - -Imp, limp, pimp,§ gimp, jimp. - - IMPSE. - -Glimpse. Rhymes, the plurals of nouns and third persons singular present -tense of verbs in IMP. - - IN, INN. - -Bin, chin, din, fin, gin, grin, in, inn, kin, pin, shin, sin, spin, -skin, linn,* thin, twin, tin, win, within, javelin, begin, whin, -baldachin,† cannikin. - - INC. - -Zinc, rhymes INK. - - INCE. - -Mince, prince, since, quince, rinse, wince, convince, evince. - - INCH. - -Clinch, finch, winch, pinch, inch. - - INCT. - -Instinct, distinct, extinct, precinct, succinct, tinct,† &c., and the -preterites and participles of certain verbs in INK, as linked, pinked, -&c. - - IND. - -(As in "bind"), find, mind, blind, kind, grind, rind, wind, behind, -unkind, remind, etc., and the preterites and participles of verbs in -INE, IGN, etc. (As in "rescind"), preterites and participles of verbs in -IN. - - INE. - -Dine, brine, mine, chine, fine, line, nine, pine, shine, shrine, kine, -thine, trine, twine, vine, wine, whine, combine, confine, decline, -define, incline, enshrine, entwine, opine, recline, refine, repine, -superfine, interline, countermine, undermine, supine, concubine, -porcupine, divine, sign, assign, consign, design, eyne,† condign, -indign.† [There is also the short "ine," as in "discipline," rhyming -IN.] - - ING. - -Bring, sing, cling, fling, king, ring, sling, spring, sting, string, -ging,† swing, wing, wring, thing, etc., and the participles of the -present tense in ING, with the accent on the antepenultimate, as -"recovering." - - INGE. - -Cringe, fringe, hinge, singe, springe, swinge,§ tinge, twinge, infringe. - - INK. - -Ink, think, wink, drink, blink, brink, chink, clink, link, pink, shrink, -sink, slink, stink, bethink, forethink, skink,† swink.† - - INQUE. - -Cinque, appropinque, see INK. - - INSE. - -Rinse, see INCE. - - INT. - -Dint, mint, hint, flint, lint, print, squint, asquint, imprint, sprint,¶ -quint.¶ - - INTH. - -Plinth,¶ hyacinth, labyrinth.|| - - INX. - -Minx,§ sphinx,|| jinks,§ plural of nouns, and third person singular -present of verb in INK. - - IP. - -Chip, lip, hip, clip, dip, drip, lip, nip, sip, rip, scrip, ship, skip, -slip, snip, strip, tip, trip, whip, equip, eldership, fellowship, -workmanship, rivalship, and all words in SHIP with the accent on the -antepenultimate. - - IPE. - -Gripe, pipe, ripe, snipe, type, stripe, wipe, archetype, prototype. - - IPSE. - -Eclipse. Rhymes, the plurals of nouns and third persons singular present -tense in IP. - - IQUE. - -Oblique, clique,|| critique,|| bézique,|| antique, pique,|| see EAK. - - IR, see UR. IRCH, see URCH. IRD, see URD. - - IRE. - -Fire, dire, hire, ire, lyre, mire, quire, sire, spire, squire, wire, -tire, attire, acquire, admire, aspire, conspire, desire, inquire, -entire, expire, inspire, require, retire, transpire, pyre, gipsire,† -gire.† - - IRGE, see ERGE. - - IRK. - -Dirk, firk,§ kirk, stirk,* quirk,§ shirk, work, burke, murk. - - IRL. - -Girl, whirl,* twirl, curl, furl, churl, thirl,* etc. - - IRM. - -Firm, affirm, confirm, infirm, worm, term, chirm,† etc. - - IRP. - -Chirp, see URP. - - IRR. - -Whirr, skirr,§ see UR. - - IRST, See URST. IRT, see URT. - - IRTH. - -Birth, mirth, earth, dearth, worth. - - IS, pronounced like IZ. - -Is, his, whiz. - - ISS. - -Bliss, miss, hiss, kiss, this, abyss, amiss, submiss, dismiss, remiss, -wis,† Dis, spiss.† - - ISC. - -Disc, whisk, risk, see ISK. - - ISE, see ICE and IZE. - - ISH. - -Dish, fish, wish, cuish,† pish,§ squish.§ - - ISK. - -Brisk, frisk, disc, risk, whisk, basilisk, tamarisk. - - ISM. - -Chrism, solecism, anachronism, abysm, schism, syllogism, witticism, -criticism, organism, heroism, prism, egotism, cataclysm. - - ISP. - -Crisp, wisp, lisp. - - IST. - -Fist, list, mist, twist, wrist, assist, consist, desist, exist, insist, -persist, resist, subsist, alchemist, amethyst, anatomist, antagonist, -annalist, evangelist, eucharist, exorcist, herbalist, humorist, oculist, -organist, satirist, etc., and the preterites and participles of verbs in -ISS, etc. - - IT. - -Bit, Cit,§ hit, fit, grit, flit, knit, pit, quit, sit, split, twit, wit, -chit,§ whit, writ, admit, acquit, commit, emit, omit, outwit, permit, -remit, submit, transmit, refit, benefit, perquisite. - - ITCH. - -Ditch, pitch, rich, which, flitch, itch, stitch, switch, twitch, witch, -bewitch, niche, enrich, fitch. - - ITE, and IGHT. - -Bite, cite, kite, blite, mite, quite, rite, smite, spite, trite, white, -write, contrite, disunite, despite, indite, excite, incite, invite, -polite, requite, recite, unite, reunite, aconite, appetite, parasite, -proselyte, expedite, blight, benight, bright, fight, flight, fright, -height, light, knight, night, might, wight, plight, right, tight, -slight, sight, spright, wight, affright, alight, aright, foresight, -delight, despite, unsight, upright, benight, bedight,† oversight, -height, accite,§ pight.§ - - ITH. - -Pith, smith, frith,* sith.† ("With" has strictly no rhyme.) - - ITHE. - -Hithe, blithe, tithe, scythe, writhe, lithe. - - ITS. - -Quits, rhymes plural of nouns, and third person singular, present of -verbs in IT. - - IVE. - -(As in "five"), rhymes dive, alive, gyve, hive, drive, rive, shrive, -strive, thrive, arrive, connive, contrive, deprive, derive, revive, -survive. (As in "give"), rhymes live, sieve, fugitive, positive, -sensitive, etc. - - IX. - -Fix, six, mix, nix,§ affix, infix, prefix, transfix, intermix, crucifix, -etc., and the plurals of nouns and third persons singular of verbs in -ICK. - - IXT. - -Betwixt. Rhymes, the preterites and participles of verbs in IX. - - ISE, and IZE. - -Prize, wise, rise, size, guise, disguise, advise, authorise, canonise, -agonise,§ chastise, civilise, comprise, criticise, despise, devise, -enterprise, excise, exercise, idolise, immortalise, premise, revise, -signalise, solemnise, surprise, surmise, suffice, sacrifice, sympathise, -tyrannise, and the plurals of nouns and third persons singular present -tense of verbs in IE or Y. - - O - -Mo',† calico, bo,§ portico, go, ago, undergo, ho, though, woe, adagio,¶ -seraglio,|| owe, beau, crow, lo, no, fro',† so. - - OACH. - -Broach, coach, poach, abroach, approach, encroach, reproach, loach. - - OAD, see ODE. - - OAF. - -Oaf,† loaf. - - OAK. - -Cloak, oak, croak, soak, joke, see OKE. - - OAL, see OLE. OAM, see OME. OAN, see ONE. - OAP, see OPE. OAR, see ORE. OARD, see - ORD. OAST, see OST. OAT, see OTE. - - OATH. - -Oath, loath, both, see OTH. - - OAVES. - -Loaves, groves, roves, cloves, etc. - - OAX. - -Hoax, coax, rhymes plural of nouns, and third person singular present of -verbs in OKE. - - OB. - -Cob, fob,§ bob, lob, hob, nob, mob, knob, sob, rob, throb, cabob,|| -swab,¶ squab.§ - - OBE. - -Globe, lobe, probe, robe, conglobe. - - OCE, see OSE. - - OCH. - -Loch,* epoch, see OCK. - - OCHE. - -Caroche,|| gauche.|| - - OCK. - -Block, lock, cock, clock, crock, dock, frock, flock, knock, mock, rock, -shock, stock, sock, brock, hough. - - OCT. - -Concoct, rhymes the preterites and participles of verbs in OCK. - - OD. - -Cod, clod, God, rod, sod, trod, nod, plod, odd, shod, quod,§ pod, wad, -quad,§ odd, hod, tod.* - - ODE. - -Bode, ode, code, mode, rode, abode, corrode, explode, forebode, commode, -incommode, episode, à-la-mode,|| road, toad, goad, load, etc., and the -preterites and participles of verbs in OW, OWE. - - ODGE. - -Dodge,§ lodge, Hodge, podge,§ bodge.† - - OE. - -(As in "shoe"), rhymes OO. (As in "toe"), rhymes foe, doe, roe, sloe, -mistletoe, OWE and OW. - - OFF. - -Doff, off, scoff, cough, etc. - - OFT. - -Oft, croft, soft, aloft, etc., and the preterites and participles of -verbs in OFF, etc. - - OG. - -Hog, bog, cog,† dog, clog, fog, frog, log, jog,§ agog,§ Gog, prog,§ -quog,* shog,§ tog,§ pollywog,* dialogue, epilogue, synagogue, catalogue, -pedagogue. - - OGE. - -Gamboge, rouge. - - OGUE. - -(As in "rogue"), rhymes vogue, prorogue, collogue,* disembogue. (As in -"catalogue"), rhymes OG. - - OH. - -Oh, rhymes OW and OWE. - - OICE. - -Choice, voice, rejoice. - - OID. - -Void, avoid, devoid, asteroid, alkaloid, etc., and the preterites and -participles of verbs in OY. - - OIF. - -Coif,¶ no rhyme. - - OIGN. - -Coign,|| rhymes OIN. - - OIL. - -Oil, boil, coil, moil, soil, spoil, toil, despoil, embroil recoil, -turmoil, disembroil. - - OIN. - -Coin, join, subjoin, groin, loin, adjoin, conjoin, disjoin, enjoin, -foin,† proin,† purloin, rejoin. - - OINT. - -Oint, joint, point, disjoint, anoint, appoint, aroint,† disappoint, -counterpoint.¶ - - OIR. - -(As in "choir"), rhymes IRE, but the foreign sound, as in "devoir," -"reservoir," is nearer AR, but must not be so rhymed. "Coir" is a -dissyllable. - - OISE. - -Poise, noise, counterpoise, equipoise, etc., and the plurals of nouns -and third persons singular present tense of verbs in OY. ["Turquoise" -would rhyme with plurals of AH, etc.] - - OIST. - -Hoist, moist, foist,§ the preterites and participles of verbs in OICE. - - OIT. - -Doit,§ exploit, adroit, quoit, etc. - - OKE. - -Broke, choke, smoke, spoke, stroke, yoke, bespoke, invoke, provoke, -revoke, cloak, oak, soak. - - OL. - -Alcohol, loll,§ doll, extol, capitol, Moll, Poll, etc. - - OLD. - -Old, bold, cold, gold, hold, mold, scold, sold, told, behold, enfold, -unfold, uphold, withhold, foretold, manifold, marigold, preterites and -participles of verbs in OLL, OWL, OLE, and OAL. - - OLE. - -Bole, dole, jole, hole, mole, pole, sole, stole, whole, shoal, cajole, -girandole,|| condole, parole,|| patrole,|| pistole,|| console,|| -aureole,|| vole,* coal, foal, goal, bowl, roll, scroll, toll, troll, -droll, poll, control, enrol, soul, etc. - - OLL. - -(As in "loll"), rhymes OL. (As in "droll"), rhymes OLE. - - OLN. - -Stol'n, swoln. - - OLP. - -Holp,† golpe.¶ - - OLT. - -Bolt, colt, jolt, holt, dolt,§ revolt, thunderbolt, moult. - - OLVE. - -Solve, absolve, resolve, convolve, involve, devolve, dissolve, revolve. - - OM. - -OM is by general consent degraded to UM; Tom, from, Christendom, -aplomb.|| But for "whom," see OOM. - - OMB. - -(As in "tomb"), see OOM. (As in "comb"), see OME, clomb. (As in "bomb"), -see UM. "Rhomb" has no rhyme. (As in "aplomb"||), see OM. - - OME. - -Dome, home, mome, foam, roam, loam. - - OMP. - -Pomp, swamp, romp. - - OMPT. - -Prompt, preterite and participle of romp. - - ON. - -(As in "don"), rhymes on, con, upon, anon, bonne;|| (as in "won"), -rhymes ton, fun, done, etc. [By some, "gone," "hone," and other like -words are so pronounced as to rhyme with "on."] - - ONCE. - -(As in "sconce"), rhymes response, etc. (As in "once"), rhymes dunce, -etc. - - ONCH. - -Conch, jonque.¶ - - OND. - -Pond, bond, fond, beyond, abscond, correspond, despond, diamond, -vagabond, etc., and the preterites and participles of verbs in ON. - - ONDE. - -Blonde,|| rhymes OND. - - ONE. - -Prone, bone, drone, throne, alone, stone, tone, lone, zone, atone, -enthrone, dethrone, postpone, grown, flown, disown, thrown, sown, own, -loan, shown, overthrown, groan, blown, moan, known, cone, loan, etc. -[With regard to "gone" and "shone," some pronounce them so that they -rhyme with "one" others so that the first rhymes with "lawn," and the -second with "prone."] - - ONG. - -(As in "long"), rhymes prong, song, thong, strong, throng, wrong, along, -belong, prolong. (As in "among"), rhymes hung, tongue, etc. - - ONGE. - -Sponge, see UNGE. - - ONGUE, see UNG. - - ONK. - -(As in "monk"), rhymes "drunk." (As in "conk"§), rhymes jonque.¶ - - ONQUE. - -Jonque,¶ see ONK. - - ONSE. - -Response, sconce, ensconce. - - ONT. - -(As in "font"), rhymes want. (As n "front"), rhymes punt, etc. [The -abbreviated negatives, won't, don't, rhyme together.] - - OO. - -Coo, woo, shoe, two, too, who, do, ado, undo, through, you, true, blue, -flew, stew, etc. See O, UE, EW, etc. - - OOCH, see OACH. - - OOD. - -(As in "brood"), rhymes mood, food, rood, feud, illude, etc., the -preterites and participles of verbs in OO, and EW, UE, etc. (As in -"wood"), rhymes good, hood, stood, withstood, understood, could, would, -brotherhood, livelihood, likelihood, neighbourhood, widowhood. (As in -"blood"), rhymes flood, cud, mud, etc. - - OOF. - -Hoof, proof, roof, woof, aloof, disproof, reproof, behoof. - - OOH. - -Pooh,§ rhymes EW, etc. - - OOK. - -Book, brook, cook, crook, hook, look, rook, shook, took, mistook, -undertook, forsook, stook,* betook. - - OOL. - -Cool, fool, pool, school, stool, tool, befool, spool,† buhl,|| pule, -rule. - - OOM. - -Gloom, groom, loom, room, spoom,† bloom, doom, tomb, entomb, whom, womb, -plume, spume, etc. - - OON, see UNE. - -Boon, soon, moon, noon, spoon, swoon, buffoon, lampoon, poltroon, tune, -prune, coon,§ June, hewn, dune,* shalloon, dragoon. - - OOP. - -Loop, poop, scoop, stoop, troop, droop, whoop, coop, hoop, soup, group, -dupe. - - OOR. - -(As in "boor"), rhymes poor, moor, tour,|| amour, paramour,|| contour, -pure, sure, your, etc. (As in "door"), rhymes floor, bore, pour, etc. - - OOSE. - -Goose, loose, juice, truce, deuce, noose, use, profuse, seduce, etc. - - OOT. - -(As in "root"), rhymes boot, coot, hoot, loot,|| shoot, toot,§ suit, -fruit, lute, impute, etc. (As in "foot"), rhymes put. [It is difficult -to say whether "soot" should rhyme "root" or "but," the pronunciation so -varies.] - - OOTH. - -(As in "booth"), rhymes smooth, soothe, etc. (As in "tooth"), rhymes -youth, uncouth, truth. - - OOVE. - -Groove, see OVE. - - OOZE. - -Ooze, noose, whose, choose, lose, use, abuse, the plurals of nouns and -third persons singular present tense of verbs in EW, UE. - - OP. - -Chop, hop, drop, crop, fop,§ top, pop, prop, flop,§ shop, slop sop, -stop, swop,§ underprop. - - OPE. - -Hope, cope, mope, grope, pope, rope, scope, slope, trope, aslope, elope, -interlope, telescope, heliotrope, horoscope, antelope, etc., and ope, -contracted in poetry for open. - - OPH. - -Soph,¶ see OFF. - - OPT. - -Adopt, rhymes with the preterites and participles of verbs in OP, etc. - - OQUE. - -Equivoque, see OAK. - - OR. - -Or, for, creditor, counsellor, competitor, emperor, ancestor, -ambassador, progenitor, conspirator, conqueror, governor, abhor, -metaphor, bachelor, senator, etc., and every word in OR having the -accent on the last, or last syllable but two, pour, bore, tore, boar, -hoar, war, corps,|| tor.* - - ORB. - -Orb, sorb,¶ corb.† - - ORCE, see ORSE. - - ORCH. - -Scorch, torch, porch, etc. - - ORD. - -(As in "cord"), rhymes lord, record, accord, abhorr'd, hoard, board, -aboard, ford, afford, sword, and the preterites and participles of verbs -in OAR, ORE. (As in "word"), rhymes bird, stirred, absurd, erred, curd, -etc. - - ORDE. - -Horde, see ORD. - - ORE. - -Bore, core, gore, lore, more, ore, pore, score, shore, snore, sore, -store, swore, tore, wore, adore, afore, ashore, deplore, explore, -implore, restore, forebore, foreswore, heretofore, hellebore, sycamore, -albicore, boar, oar, roar, soar, four, door, floor, o'er, orator, -senator, abhor. - - ORGE. - -George, gorge, disgorge, regorge, forge. - - ORK. - -Ork,† cork, fork, stork, pork. - - ORLD. - -World, rhymes with the preterites and participles of verbs in URL and -IRL. - - ORM. - -(As in "form"), rhymes storm, conform, deform, inform, perform, reform, -misinform, uniform, multiform, transform. (As in "worm"), rhymes "term," -ERM. - - ORN. - -Born, corn, morn, horn, scorn, thorn, adorn, suborn, unicorn, sorn,¶ -capricorn, shorn, torn, worn, lorn, forlorn, lovelorn, sworn, foresworn, -overborne, foreborne, mourn. - - ORP. - -Thorp,* rhymes ARP. - - ORPS. - -Corps,|| rhymes ORE. - - ORPSE. - -Corpse, rhymes plurals of nouns, and preterites and participles of verbs -in ARP. - - ORSE. - -Horse, endorse, unhorse, force, remorse, coarse, course, torse,† morse,† -corse, etc. - - ORST, see URST. - - ORT. - -Short, sort, exhort, consort, distort, extort, resort retort, snort, -mort,|| wart, fort, port, court, report. - - ORTS. - -Orts,† plural of nouns, and third person singular present of verbs in -ORT. - - ORTH. - -(As in "north"), rhymes fourth. (As in "worth"), rhymes birth, earth, -&c. - - OSE. - -(As in "jocose"), rhymes close, dose, morose, gross, engross, verbose. -(As in "pose"), rhymes close, dose, hose, chose, glose, froze, nose, -prose, those, rose, compose, depose, disclose, dispose, discompose, -expose, impose, enclose, interpose, oppose, propose, recompose, repose, -suppose, transpose, arose, presuppose, foreclose, etc., and the plurals -of nouns and apostrophised preterites and participles of verbs in OW, -OE, O, etc. (As in "lose"), rhymes use, etc. See OOZE, USE. - - OSH. - -Bosh,§ wash, &c. - - OSM. - -Microcosm,|| no rhyme. - - OSQUE, OSK. - -Mosque,|| kiosk.|| - - OSS. - -Boss, cross, dross, moss, loss, across, albatross, doss,§ emboss. - - OST. - -(As in "cost"), rhymes frost, lost, accost, etc., and the preterites and -participles of words in OSS. (As in "ghost"), rhymes post, most, coast, -and second person singular present of verbs in OW, as ow'st. (As in -"dost"), rhymes UST. - - OT. - -Clot, cot, blot, got, hot, jot, lot, knot, not, plot, pot, scot, shot, -polyglot, sot,§ spot, apricot, trot, rot, grot, begot, forgot, allot, -complot, yacht, quat,§ melilot, counterplot. - - OTCH. - -Botch,§ notch, crotch,† blotch, Scotch, watch. - - OTE. - -Note, vote, lote,† mote, quote, rote, wrote, smote, denote, tote,* -promote, remote, devote, anecdote, antidote, boat, coat, bloat, doat, -float, gloat, goat, oat, overfloat, afloat, throat, moat. - - OTH. - -(As in "broth"), rhymes cloth, froth, troth, wrath. (As in "both"), -rhymes loth, sloth, oath, growth. ["Moth" has no rhyme, though at times -pronounced to rhyme "cloth."] - - OTHE. - -Clothe, loathe (with "s" added rhymes "oaths;" though "clothes," the -noun, in comic verse may rhyme with "snows," being colloquially spoken -"clo's"). - - OU. - -(As in "thou"), see OW. (As in "you"), see OO. - - OUBT. - -Doubt, see OUT. - - OUC. - -Caoutchouc, rhymes book.|| - - OUCH. - -Couch, pouch, vouch, slouch,§ avouch, crouch. - - OUCHE. - -Cartouche,|| buche.¶ - - OUD. - -Shroud, cloud, loud, proud, aloud, crowd, o'er-shroud, etc., and the -preterites and participles of verbs in OW. - - OUGH has various pronunciations; see OFF, OW, - OWE, OCK, O, EW, and UFF. - - OUGE. - -(As in "rouge"), rhymes gamboge. - - OUGHT. - -Bought, thought, ought, brought, forethought, fought, nought, sought, -wrought, besought, bethought, methought, aught, naught, caught, taught, -&c. - - OUL. - -(As in "foul"), see OWL. (As in "soul"), see OLE. - - OULD. - -Mould, fold, old, cold, etc., and the preterites and participles of -verbs in OWL, OLL, and OLE. - - OULT. - -Moult. See OLT. - - OUN. - -Noun, see OWN. - - OUNCE. - -Bounce,§ flounce, renounce, pounce, ounce, denounce, pronounce. - - OUND. - -(As in "bound"), rhymes found, mound, ground, hound, pound, round, -sound, wound (verb), abound, aground, around, confound, compound, -expound, profound, rebound, resound, propound, surround, etc., and the -preterites and participles of verbs in OWN. (As in "wound"—the noun), -rhymes preterites and participles of verbs in OON, UNE. etc. - - OUNG. - -Young, see UNG. - - OUNT. - -Count, mount, fount, amount, dismount, remount, surmount, account, -discount, miscount, account. - - OUP. - -Stoup,† group, see OOP. - - OUPH, or OUPHE. - -Ouphe or ouph,† see OOF. - - OUQUE. - -Chibouque,|| see UKE. - - OUR. - -(As in "hour"), rhymes lour, sour, our, scour, deflow'r, devour, bow'r, -tow'r, etc. (As in "pour"), rhymes bore, more, roar, pour, war, etc. (As -in "tour"), rhymes your, amour,|| contour, pure, etc. - - OURGE. - -Scourge, rhymes URGE. - - OURN. - -(As in "adjourn"), rhymes URN. (As in "mourn"), rhymes ORN. - - OURNE. - -Bourne,† rhymes ORN. - - OURS. - -(As in "ours"), rhymes the plurals of nouns and third persons singular -present tense of verbs in OUR and OW'R. (As in "yours"), rhymes the -plurals of nouns and third persons singular present tense of verbs in -URE, OOR, etc. - - OURSE. - -Course, see ORSE. - - OURT. - -Court, see ORT. - - OURTH. - -Fourth, see ORTH. - - OUS. - -Nous,§ house, mouse, chouse,§ douse,§ etc. - - OUSE. - -(As in "house"—noun), rhymes nous.§ (As in "spouse"), rhymes browze, and -plural of nouns and third persons singular present of verbs in OW. - - OUST. - -Joust,† rhymes UST. - - OUT. - -Bout, stout, out, clout, pout, gout, grout, rout, scout, shout, tout,§ -snout,§ spout, stout, sprout, trout, about, devout, without, throughout, -doubt, redoubt, misdoubt, drought, &c. - - OUTH. - -(As in "mouth"—noun), rhymes south, drouth, etc. (As in "youth"), rhymes -truth. (As in "mouth"—verb), no rhyme. - - OVE. - -(As in "wove"), rhymes inwove, interwove, hove, alcove, clove, grove, -behove, rove, stove, strove, throve, drove. (As in "dove"), rhymes love, -shove, glove, above. (As in "move"), rhymes approve, disprove, -disapprove, improve, groove, prove, reprove, etc. - - OW. - -(As in "now"), rhymes bow, how, mow, cow, brow, sow, vow, prow, avow, -allow, trow, disallow, endow, bough, plough, slough (mire), thou, etc. -(As in "blow"), rhymes stow, crow, bow, flow, glow, grow, know, low, -mow, row, show, sow, strow, slow, snow, throw, below, bestow, foreknow, -outgrow, overgrow, overflow, overthrow, reflow, foreshow, go, no, toe, -foe, owe, wo, oh, so, lo, though, hoe, ho, ago, forego, undergo, dough, -roe, sloe, and sew. - - OWD. - -Crowd, see OUD. - - OWE. - -Owe, see OW. - - OWL. - -(As in "cowl"), rhymes growl, owl, fowl, howl, prowl, scowl, fowl, &c. -(As in "bowl"), rhymes soul, hole, goal, dole. - - OWN. - -(As in "brown"), rhymes town, clown, crown, down, drown, frown, gown, -adown, renown, embrown, noun. (As in "thrown"), rhymes shown, blown, -tone, bone, moan, own, etc. - - OWSE. - -Bowse,¶ rouse, see OUSE. - - OWTH. - -Growth, oath, both. - - OWZE - -Blowze, browse, rouse, spouse, carouse, touse,§ espouse, the verbs to -house, mouse, etc., and the plurals of nouns and third persons singular -present tense of verbs in OW. - - OX. - -Ox, box, fox, equinox, orthodox, heterodox, the plurals of nouns and -third persons singular present tense of verbs in OCK. - - OY. - -Boy, buoy,¶ coy, employ, cloy, joy, toy, alloy, annoy, convoy, decoy, -destroy, enjoy, employ. - - OYNT. - -Aroynt,† see OINT. - - OYLE. - -Scroyle,† see OIL. - - OYNE. - -Royne,† see OIN. - - OZ. - -(As in "poz"), rhymes was. (As in "coz"), rhymes buzz. - - OZE. - -Gloze, see OSE. - - U. - -Ormolu,|| few, adieu,|| lieu, || through, do, true, too. - - UB. - -Cub, club, dub, chub, drub,§ grub, hub,§ rub, snub,§ shrub, tub. - - UBE. - -Cube, tube. - - UCE. - -Truce, sluice, spruce, deuce, conduce, deduce, induce, introduce, puce, -produce, seduce, traduce, juice, reduce, use, abuse, profuse, abstruse, -disuse, excuse, misuse, obtuse, recluse. - - UCH. - -Much, touch, such, see UTCH. - - UCK. - -Buck, luck, pluck, suck, struck, tuck, truck, duck. - - UCT. - -Conduct, deduct, instruct, obstruct, aqueduct. The preterites and -participles of verbs in UCK. - - UD. - -Bud, scud, stud, mud, cud, blood, flood. ["Suds" rhymes plurals of nouns -and third person present singular of verbs in UD.] - - UDE. - -Rude, crude, prude, allude, conclude, delude, elude, exclude, exude, -snood,† include, intrude, obtrude, seclude, altitude, fortitude, -gratitude, interlude, latitude, longitude, magnitude, multitude, -solicitude, solitude, vicissitude, aptitude, habitude, ingratitude, -inaptitude, lassitude, plenitude, promptitude, servitude, similitude, -lewd, feud, brood, etc., and the preterities and participles of verbs in -EW, UE, etc. - - UDGE. - -Judge, drudge, grudge, trudge, adjudge, prejudge, fudge,§ smudge, nudge, -budge,§ sludge.* - - UE. - -True, hue, see EW, OO, etc. - - UFF. - -Buff, cuff, chuff,§ bluff, huff, gruff, luff,¶ puff, snuff, stuff, ruff, -rebuff, counterbuff, rough, tough, enough, slough (cast skin), chough, -etc. - - UFT. - -Tuft, rhymes the preterites and participles of verbs in UFF. - - UG. - -Lug,§ bug, dug, drug, hug, jug, rug, slug, smug,§ snug, mug, shrug, pug. - - UGH. - -Pugh (old form of "pooh"), see OO. - - UGUE. - -Fugue,¶ no rhyme. - - UHL. - -Buhl,|| see ULE, OOL. - - UICE. - -Sluice, see USE. - - UIDE. - -Guide, see IDE. - - UILD. - -Guild, see ILD. - - UILT. - -Guilt, see ILT. - - UINT. - -Squint, see INT. - - UISE. - -(As in "guise"), see ISE. (As in "bruise"), see USE. - - UISH. - -Cuish,† see ISH. - - UIT. - -Fruit, bruit,† suit, see OOT, UTE. - - UKE. - -Duke, puke,† rebuke, fluke,§ chibouque,|| etc. - - UL, and ULL. - -(As in "cull"), rhymes dull, gull, hull, lull, mull, null, trull,† -skull, annul, disannul. (As in "full"), rhymes wool, bull, pull, -bountiful, fanciful, sorrowful, dutiful, merciful, wonderful, -worshipful, and every word ending in ful, having the accent on the -ante-penultimate. - - ULCH. - -Mulch,¶ gulch.† - - ULE. - -Mule, pule,† Yule, rule, overrule, ridicule, misrule, fool, tool, -buhl.|| [Gules, heraldic term, rhymes plural of nouns, and third person -singular present of verbs in ULE, etc.] - - ULF. - -Gulf, no rhyme. - - ULGE. - -Bulge, indulge, divulge, etc. - - ULK. - -Bulk, hulk, skulk, sulk. - - ULM. - -Culm,¶ no rhyme. - - ULP. - -Gulp, sculp, pulp, ensculp.§ - - ULSE. - -Pulse, repulse, impulse, expulse, convulse, insulse.† - - ULT. - -Result, adult, exult, consult, indult, occult, insult, difficult, -catapult,|| etc. - - UM. - -Crum,† chum,§ drum, glum,§ gum, hum, mum,§ scum, plum, sum, swum, -thrum,¶ thumb, dumb, succumb come, become, overcome, burdensome, -cumbersome, frolicsome, humoursome, quarrelsome, troublesome, encomium, -opium, etc. - - UMB. - -Dumb, thumb, crumb. See UM. - - UME. - -Fume, plume, assume, consume, perfume, resume, presume, deplume, room, -doom, tomb, rheum. - - UMP. - -Bump, pump, jump, lump, plump, rump, stump, trump, thump, clump. - - UN. - -Dun, gun, nun, pun, run, sun, shun, tun, stun, spun, begun, son, won, -ton, done, one, none, undone. - - UNCE. - -Dunce, once, etc. - - UNCH. - -Bunch, punch, hunch, lunch, munch, scrunch,§ crunch.§ - - UNCT. - -Defunct, disjunct, rhymes preterites and participles of verbs in UNK. - - UND. - -Fund, refund, preterites of verbs in UN, etc. - - UNE. - -June, tune, untune, jejune, prune, croon, hewn, swoon, moon, soon, etc. - - UNG. - -Bung, clung, dung, flung, hung, rung, strung, sung, sprung, slung, -stung, swung, wrung, unsung, young, tongue, among. - - UNGE. - -Plunge, sponge, expunge, etc. - - UNK. - -Drunk, bunk,§ hunk,§ sunk, shrunk, stunk, punk,† trunk, slunk, funk,§ -chunk,* monk. [Hunks,§ rhymes plural of nouns and third person singular -present of verbs in UNK. - - UNT. - -Brunt, blunt, hunt, runt, grunt, front, etc., and (?) wont (to be -accustomed). - - UOR. - -Fluor,¶ rhymes four, bore, roar. - - UP. - -Cup, sup, pup, dup,† up. - - UPT. - -Abrupt, corrupt, interrupt, the participles and preterites of verbs in -UP, etc. - - UR. - -Blur, cur, bur, fur, slur, spur, concur, demur, incur, her, whirr, err, -sir, stir, fir, sepulchre, etc. - - URB. - -Curb, disturb, verb, herb, etc. - - URCH. - -Church, lurch, birch, perch, search, smirch.§ - - URD. - -Curd, absurd, bird, gird,§ word, and the preterites and participles of -verbs in UR and IR. - - URE. - -Cure, pure, dure, lure, sure, abjure, allure, assure, demure, conjure, -endure, manure, inure, insure, immature, immure, mature, obscure, -procure, secure, adjure, calenture, coverture, epicure, investiture, -forfeiture, furniture, miniature, nourriture, overture, portraiture, -primogeniture, temperature, poor, moor, etc. - - URF. - -Turf, scurf, serf, surf, etc. - - URGE. - -Purge, urge, surge, scourge, thaumaturge, gurge,† verge, diverge, etc. - - URK. - -Lurk, Turk, work, irk,† jerk, perk, quirk, mirk. - - URL. - -Churl, curl, furl, hurl, purl,§ uncurl, unfurl, earl, girl, twirl, -pearl, etc. - - URM. - -Turm,|| see ERM. - - URN. - -Burn, churn, spurn, turn, urn, return, overturn, tern, discern, earn, -sojourn, adjourn, rejourn. - - URP. - -Usurp, chirp, extirp, discerp, etc. - - URR. - -Purr, see UR. - - URSE. - -Nurse, curse, purse, accurse, disburse, imburse, reimburse, worse, -verse, hearse, disperse, etc. - - URST. - -Burst, curst, durst, accurst, thirst, worst, first, versed, etc. - - URT. - -Blurt,§ hurt, spurt,§ dirt, shirt, flirt, squirt, wort,¶ vert,¶ etc. - - US, or USS. - -Pus,¶ us, thus, buss,§ truss, discuss, incubus, overplus, arquebus,† -cuss,§ amorous, boisterous, clamorous, credulous, dangerous, ungenerous, -generous, emulous, abulous, frivolous, hazardous, idolatrous, infamous, -miraculous, mischievous, mountainous, mutinous, necessitous, numerous, -ominous, perilous, poisonous, populous, prosperous, ridiculous, riotous, -ruinous, scandalous, scrupulous, sedulous, traitorous, treacherous, -tyrannous, venomous, vigorous, villanous, adventurous, adulterous, -ambiguous, blasphemous, dolorous, fortuitous, gluttonous, gratuitous, -incredulous, lecherous, libidinous, magnanimous, obstreperous, -odoriferous, ponderous, ravenous, rigorous, slanderous, solicitous, -timorous, valorous, unanimous, calamitous. - - USE - -(As in the noun "use") rhymes disuse, abuse, deuce, truce, sluice, -juice, loose, goose, noose, moose. (As in "muse") rhymes the verb use, -abuse, loose, choose, shoes, amuse, diffuse, excuse, infuse, misuse, -peruse, refuse, suffuse, transfuse, accuse, bruise, and the plurals of -nouns and third persons singular of verbs in EW and UE, etc. - - USH - -(As in "blush") rhymes brush, crush, gush, flush, rush, lush,† tush, -frush,† hush. (As in "bush") rhymes push, etc. - - USK. - -Busk,†; tusk, dusk, husk, musk. - - USP. - -Cusp,† no rhyme. - - UST. - -Bust, crust, dust, just, must, lust, rust, thrust, trust, adjust, -disgust, distrust, intrust, mistrust, robust, unjust, the preterites and -participles of verbs in US, USS, etc. - - UT, or UTT. - -But, butt, cut, hut, gut, glut, jut, nut, shut, strut, englut, rut, -scut,†; slut, smut, abut, and soot.(?) - - UTCH. - -Hutch, crutch, Dutch, much, such, touch, etc. - - UTE. - -Brute, lute, flute, mute, acute, compute, confute, dispute, dilute, -depute, impute, minute, pollute, refute, salute, absolute, attribute, -contribute, constitute, destitute, dissolute, execute, institute, -persecute, prosecute, resolute, substitute, fruit, bruit,† suit, -recruit, boot, etc., soot(?). - - UTH. - -Azimuth,¶ rhymes doth. - - UX. - -Dux,|| crux,|| lux,|| flux, reflux. The plurals of nouns and third -persons singular of verbs in UCK. - - Y. - -Fly, affy,† aby,† see IE, IGH, etc. - - YB. - -Syb, see IB. - - YM. - -Sym,† see IM. - - YMN. - -Hymn, see IM. - - YMPH. - -Nymph, lymph, etc. - - YN. - -Baudekyn,† see IN. - - YNE. - -Anodyne, see INE. - - YNX. - -Lynx, rhymes plurals of nouns and third persons present singular of -verbs in INK. - - YP. - -Gyp,§ hyp,§ see IP. - - YPE. - -Type, see IPE. - - YPH. - -Hieroglyph,|| see IFF. - - YPSE. - -Apocalypse,|| see IPSE. - - YRE. - -Lyre, pyre, byre,* see IRE. - - YRRH. - -Myrrh, her, err, sir, cur, etc. - - YSM. - -Abysm, cataclysm, schism, etc. - - YST. - -Amethyst, analyst, cyst, see IST. - - YVE. - -Gyve, see IVE. - - YX. - -Sardonyx, pyx, fix, rhymes plural of nouns and third persons singular -present of verbs in ICK. - - YZE. - -Analyze, see ISE. - - - - - APPENDIX[19] - - - - - ENGLISH VERSIFICATION. - - -I n normal English Verse, the most determinate characteristic is -uniformity of syllabic structure. RHYME, indeed, is a common but not an -essential adjunct, some of our noblest poems being composed in unrhymed -or Blank Verse. MEASURE, RHYTHM, ACCENT, and PAUSE, are all features of -much moment in English Versification, but they cannot be reduced to -absolutely uniform rules. The variations to which they are subject are -many and important. Of the positive and correct signification of the -terms Rhyme, Measure, Rhythm, Accent, and Pause, it is needful to give -some explanation. - - RHYME consists in a likeness or uniformity of sound in the closing, -syllable, or syllables, of successive or contiguous lines of verse. We -find used, in English poetry, three several sorts of Rhymes, namely, -Single, Double, and Treble. Of the first, or one-syllabled rhyme, the -following is an example:— - - "O, mortals, blind in fate, who never know - To bear high fortune, or endure the low!" - -The closing word, however, is not necessarily a monosyllable. There may -be two syllables, as here:— - - "What though his mighty soul his grief contains, - He meditates revenge who least complains." - -Or three:— - - "Seeking amid those untaught foresters, - If I could find one form resembling hers." - -Or four:— - - "We might be otherwise—we might be all - We dream of, happy, high, majestical." - -Or there might be any number in this kind of verse under ten, if the -long and short (accented and unaccented) syllables were rightly placed, -and if the penultimate syllable, in particular, was short or unaccented. -It is only to be observed further, that it is the sound in which -uniformity is required, and not the spelling. Thus the following words -make good rhymes:—made, plaid, and stayed; course, force, and hoarse; -ride, lied, dyed; be, glee, lea; lo, blow, foe; beer, clear, here, and -so forth. The most perfect single rhymes in our language, however, are -those in which the rhyming vowels of two lines, and their closing letter -or letters (if there be any), are exactly the same. "So" and "no," "day" -and "say," "content" and "unbent," "oculist" and "humorist," -"ambassadress" and "unhappiness"—all of these are perfect rhymes, seeing -that the consonant preceding the rhyming vowel varies in each pair of -words, all being alike after it. This is the criterion of an absolutely -perfect rhyme.[20] However, such, rhymes as "away" and "sway," "strain" -and "drain," "tress" and "dress," are not unfrequently used in good -poetry. But those rhymes are held decidedly bad which merely repeat the -same sounds, whether the words spell alike or not. Thus "amid" and -"pyramid," "light" and "satellite," "maid" and "made," are defective -rhymes. In short, it may be laid down as a rule, that, where the -immediate consonants are not varied before the vowels in two rhyming -lines, the letters before these consonants must be markedly different, -as in "strain" and "drain," to make the rhymes at all good. "Away" and -"sway," or "loud" and "cloud," though tolerated, are imperfect in a -strict sense. No rhymes are more uncertain, it may be observed, than -those of words ending in _y_, as "privacy," "remedy," and the like. In -monosyllables and dissyllables so ending, as "try" and "rely," the -termination always rhymes to _ie_, as in "vie" or "hie;" and it seems -right that _y_ should always so be rhymed.[21] Nevertheless, it as often -rhymes to an _e_, as in "be" and "she." The plural of nouns in _y_, -again, having their termination in "ies," rhyme very uncertainly. They -are sometimes placed to correspond with "lies," and sometimes with -"lees." There is no fixed rule on this subject. - -On many other points, also, the student of English poetry must gather -information for himself from reading and observation. Of Double Rhymes -it is not necessary to say much here. They are formed by adding a short -or unaccented syllable to the measure of ordinary verses of any kind, -and composing the rhyme out of it and the preceding syllable, now the -penultimate one. Thus— - - "Then all for women, painting, rhyming, _drinking_, - Besides ten thousand freaks that died in _thinking_." - -In grave poetry, which uses the double rhyme occasionally, but on the -whole sparingly, the last or short syllable should be entirely alike in -double rhymes, and to the penultimate or accented one the same rules -should apply as in the case of perfect single rhymes. That is to say, -the consonants preceding the accented vowels should be varied, though -licenses are taken in this respect. "Trading" and "degrading," for -example, would be held a passable rhyme. The unison of sound,[22] and -not the spelling, largely guides the formation of double rhymes, even in -serious verse. "Liquor" and "thicker," "ever" and "river," "motion" and -"ocean," "debtor" and "better," are instances in proof; and many, many -worse cases pass muster occasionally. Faulty double rhymes are rendered -faulty much in the same way as single ones. Thus, "minion" and -"dominion," "million" and "vermilion," are bad rhymes. In burlesque and -satiric poetry, a great deal of freedom is used in the composition of -double rhymes.[23] Butler often frames them most amusingly in his -"Hudibras." For example— - - "When pulpit, drum ecclesi_astic_, - Was beat with fists, instead of _a stick_." - - "Though stored with deletery _med'cines_, - Which whosoever took is _dead since_." - -Occasionally in the highest serious verse we find the double rhyme -composed of two several words, as in the following specimen from -Wordsworth:[24]— - - "Through many a long blue field of ether, - Leaving ten thousand stars beneath her." - -In light or burlesque pieces, however, as Butler shows, the double rhyme -is compounded in any way which gives the sound required. The Treble -Rhyme is only found in such pieces. Butler says:— - - "There was an ancient sage philosopher, - Who had read Alexander Ross over." - -But, as the treble rhyme occurs but three or four times even in -"Hudibras," it need not be dilated on here. - - The word MEASURE, when employed in reference to poetry, indicates the -length of line and general syllabic structure of peculiar kinds and -forms of verse. Thus, a piece written in lines of eight syllables is -said to be in the octo-syllabic measure, and one of ten-syllabled lines -in the deca-syllabic measure. The term RHYTHM, again, denotes the -arrangement of the syllables in relation to one another, as far as -accentuation is concerned, and the particular cadence resulting from -that arrangement. All the common measures of verse have a prevailing and -normal rhythm—that is, long and short, or accented and unaccented, -syllables follow each other in a certain order of succession. Thus, the -normal octo-syllabic measure consists of short and long alternately, as -does also the deca-syllabic. But variations, as will be shown, occur in -these respects. What rhythm, again, is to measures of verse in the -aggregate, ACCENT nearly is to each line specifically and individually. -In one and all has the accent its peculiar seat; and the more that seat -is varied, generally speaking, the more beautiful is the verse. The -PAUSE is another feature of some importance in English poetry. In every -line a point occurs, at which a stop or rest is naturally made, and this -independently of commas or periods. It will be found impossible to read -poetry without making this pause, even involuntarily. The seat of it -varies with the accent, seeing that it always follows immediately after -the accent From the want of a right distribution of accent and pause -verse becomes necessarily and unpleasingly monotonous. - - On the whole, English poetry, as remarked, has not one well-marked and -unvariable characteristic of structure, saving that syllabic uniformity -which distinguishes it in all its accurate forms and phases. However, -this feature of our verse has been far from stamping it with anything -like sameness. Though our bards have habitually measured their verses by -the syllabic scale—with the exception of our old ballad writers, and a -few moderns, who have written professedly after their exemplars—yet no -language in the world contains stores of poetry more varied than the -English in respect of construction. Lines of all lengths, containing -from three syllables to twenty, have been tried by our poets, and, in -general, pleasingly and successfully. Fletcher has even attempted -tri-syllabic verses, though, as may be supposed, only in a slight choral -form. - - "Move your feet - To our sound, - Whiles we greet - All this ground." - -In verses of four syllables, again, pretty long poems have actually been -composed, and particularly by John Skelton, a poet of the time of Henry -VIII. Much of what he wrote was sheer doggerel, no doubt being rendered -so partly by the nature of his own talent and disposition, and partly -because his chosen form of verse would scarcely admit of the conveyance -of serious sentiments. Now and then, however, he does contrive to make -his miniature lines interesting, as in the following address to Mistress -Margaret Hussey:— - - "Merry Margaret, - As midsummer flower, - Gentle as falcon, - Or hawk of the tower; - With solace and gladness, - Much mirth and no madness. - All good and no badness; - So joyously, - So maidenly, - So womanly, - Her demeaning, - In every thing - Far, far passing - That I can indite - Or suffice to write - Of merry Margaret, - As midsummer flower, - Gentle as falcon, - Or hawk of the tower." - -It will be observed that Skelton, while taking four syllables for the -basial structure of his lines, uses five occasionally, forming either a -dissyllabic ending, or giving two short syllables for a long one, as in -the lines— - - "Gentle as _falcon_, - Or hawk _of the_ tower." - - At the same time it will be noticed, that the same number of accents, -or accented syllables, is kept up throughout. This will be found to be -the case with most of our irregular or ballad compositions. They vary as -to the number of syllables, but not of long ones or accents. Scott's -romantic poetry exemplifies the same fact, which is a striking one, and -explains why the melody of ballad-verses is so little affected by their -syllabic irregularities. This law of composition should be specially -noted by young cultivators of the Muses. Dryden has used four syllables -in verses of the choral order. Thus he says— - - "To rule by love, - To shed no blood, - May be extoll'd above; - But here below, - Let princes know, - 'Tis fatal to be good." - -It is obvious that the four-syllabled line is much too curt to allow of -its being habitually used in serious compositions. The same thing may be -said of lines of five syllables. They have been, and can only be, -introduced in minor pieces. And here it may be observed, that the -measure of four syllables, when used gravely, is of simple rhythm, -consisting of a short and long syllable alternately, as in the verses of -Dryden. Skelton, indeed, has confined himself to no rule. The measure of -five syllables necessarily changes its rhythm; and the second and fourth -lines of the subjoined stanza show what may be called the normal form of -the measure:— - - "My love was false, but I was firm - From my hour of birth; - Upon my buried body, lie - Lightly, gentle earth." - -Long and short syllables (three long or accented) occur here in -alternation, and compose the line in its regular rhythmical shape. Some -other lines of an odd number of syllables, as seven, are for the most -part similarly framed. But, in these respects, variations are often -adopted. For instance, the following five-syllabled verses are -differently constructed:— - - "Now, now the mirth comes, - With cake full of plums, - Where bean's the king of the sport here; - Besides, we must know, - The pëa also[25] - Must revel as queen in the court here. - - "Begin then to choose - This night, as ye use, - Who shall for the present delight here; - Be king by the lot, - And who shall not - Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here." - -The first, second, fourth, and fifth lines here do not present alternate -long and short syllables, as in the former quotation. But, however poets -may indulge in such variations, the alternation of longs and shorts -constitutes the proper rhythmical arrangement in the measure of verse -now under notice. Without three accents, indeed, the five-syllabled -verse becomes but a variety of the four-syllabled, as in Skelton's -pieces. - -In the measure of six syllables, we find many beautiful pieces wholly -and continuously composed, grave as well as gay. Drayton, for example, -has a fine "Ode written in the Peaks," of which the ensuing stanza may -give a specimen:— - - "This while we are abroad, - Shall we not touch our lyre? - Shall we not sing an ode? - Shall all that holy fire, - In us that strongly glow'd - In this cold air expire?" - -In a mixed and lyrical shape, the six-syllabled line is also used finely -by Shakspeare:— - - "Blow, blow, thou winter wind, - Thou art not so unkind - As man's ingratitude; - Thy tooth is not so keen, - Because thou art not seen, - Although thy breath be rude. - Heigh ho! sing heigh ho!" - - It is only as we come to consider verses of some length, that the -subject of Accent and Pause can be clearly illustrated by examples. The -Accent practically consists in either an elevation or a falling of the -voice, on a certain word or syllable of a word, when verse is read; and -that word or syllable is called the seat of the Accent. The term Rhythm -has nothing to do with the sense; whereas the Accent rests mainly on the -sense; and on the sense, moreover, of each individual line. The Pause, -again, was before stated to be a rest or stop, made in pronouncing lines -of verse, and dividing each, as it were, into two parts or hemistiches. -Though, in the six-syllabled measure, the brevity of the lines confines -the reader in a great degree to the ordinary rhythm, which consists of a -short and long syllable alternately, or three unaccented and three -accented, yet, in Drayton's ode, though the lines cannot well exemplify -the Pause, there is a slight variation in the seat of the Accent— - - "Shall we not touch our lyre? - Shall we not sing an ode?" - -The accent here plainly falls on the initial "shall," giving force to -the interrogation. Shakspeare's "Under the green-wood tree" is similarly -accented. - -The seven-syllabled measure is one in which many exquisite poems have -been composed by English writers. Raleigh used it, as did likewise -Shakspeare many incidental passages in his plays, and afterwards Cowley, -Waller, and other bards of note. But it was by Milton that the -seven-syllabled verse was developed, perhaps, to the greatest -perfection, in his immortal "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso." In its -systematic shape, this species of verse consists of a long and short -syllable in alternation, the long beginning and closing each line, and -therefore giving four accents. The measure is graceful and easy -exceedingly, though apt to become monotonous in enunciation. To obviate -this effect, Milton, who, either from natural fineness of ear, or from -observation and experience, had acquired a consummate mastery of rhythm, -roughened his lines purposely, sometimes by introducing eight syllables, -and sometimes by varying the seat of the accent. This will partly be -seen in the following brief extracts, which will also show how admirably -he could make the measure the vehicle either of the gay or the grave:— - - "Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee - Jest and youthful Jollity, - Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, - Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, - Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, - And love to live in dimple sleek; - Sport that wrinkled care derides, - And Laughter holding both his sides." - -So speaks the poet to Euphrosyne; and now he addresses "divinest -Melancholy:"— - - "Come, pensive nun, devout and pure, - Sober, steadfast, and demure, - All in a robe of darkest grain, - Flowing with majestic train, - And sable stole of cypress lawn, - Over thy decent shoulders drawn. - Come, but keep thy wonted state, - With even step and musing gait, - And looks commercing with the skies." - -It will be observed how finely the dancing effect of the seven-syllabled -verse is brought out, in accordance with the sense, in the first quoted -passage, and with what skill it is repressed in the second, principally -by the use of the graver octosyllabic line. John Keats employed the -measure now under consideration very beautifully in his "Ode to Fancy," -and gave it variety chiefly by changing the ordinary rhythm. Thus— - - "Sit thou by the ingle, when - The sear faggot blazes bright, - Spirit of a winter's night." - -The second line, from the position of "sear faggot," is rendered so far -harsh, and tends to prevent the "linked sweetness" from being too long -drawn out, and cloying the ear. Shakspeare—what under the sun escaped -his eye?—had noticed the sing-song proclivities of the seven-syllabled -measure, since he makes Touchstone say, on hearing a sample, "I'll rhyme -you so eight years together; dinners, and suppers, and sleeping hours -excepted; it is the right butter-woman's rank (trot) to market. For a -taste." And he gives a taste:— - - "If a hart do lack a hind, - Let him seek out Rosalind, - If the cat will after kind, - So, be sure, will Rosalind. - Sweetest nut hath sourest rind, - Such a nut is Rosalind." - -"This is the very false gallop of verses," continueth the sententious -man of motley. He is partly in the right; but the reader has now been -told in what way the great poets, who have employed this measure of -verse effectively, overcame the difficulties attending its perfect -composition. In speaking of long syllables, they were before called -accents; but the reader must guard against confounding these with the -proper single accent, occurring in each line, and connected with the -sense, as well as with the pause. As exemplifying both such accent and -pause in the seven-syllabled line, the following couplets may be cited -from Cowley. The accent is on the third syllable, the pause at third and -fourth, as marked:— - - "Fill the bowl—with rosy wine, - Round our temples—roses twine; - Crown'd with roses—we contemn - Gyges' wealthy—diadem." - -These pauses must not be deemed arbitrary. The tongue is compelled to -make them in the act of utterance. - - The octosyllabic measure has been long the most common, if not the -most popular, of all forms of English verse. It was in use among the -Romancers of the Middle Ages, before England possessed a national -literature, or even a proper national language. "Maister Wace" composed -in this measure his "Roman de Rou;" and it was adopted by many of the -early "Rhyming Chroniclers," and "Metrical Romancers" of Great Britain. -Father Chaucer also, though his noblest efforts were made in what became -the heroic verse (the decasyllabic) of his country, produced many pieces -in the eight-syllabled measure; and Gower used it solely and wholly. So -likewise did Barbour in his famous history of the Bruce, and Wyntoun in -his Metrical Chronicle of Scotland. Since their days to the present, it -has been ever a favourite form of verse among us, and, indeed, has been -at no period more popular than during the current century. At the same -time, poems of the very highest class, epic or didactic, have never been -composed in the octosyllabic measure. It wants weight and dignity to -serve as a fitting vehicle for the loftiest poetic inspirations. It has -been the basis, however, of much of the finest lyrical poetry of -England. It has likewise been splendidly wielded for the purposes of -satire, as witness the burlesque or comic epos of Butler, and the works -of Swift. And, in our own immediate age, it has been magnificently -employed by Scott, Moore, Byron, Campbell, and others, in the -composition of poetical romances. - - Byron spoke of the octosyllabic verse as having about it "a fatal -facility"—meaning that, from its simple brevity of construction, it was -too apt to degenerate into doggerel. It is almost needless to give -examples of a species of poetry so well known. Though the lines thereof -are too short to permit of very full variety of cadence or emphasis, yet -these are always marked and traceable, more or less. As graceful and -flowing octosyllables, the following lines from the "Tam o' Shanter" of -Burns have not many equals in our poetry:— - - "But pleasures are like poppies spread; - You seize the flower—its bloom is shed; - Or like the snow-falls in the river, - A moment white, then gone for ever; - Or like the Borealis race, - That flit ere you can point their place; - Or like the rainbow's lovely form, - Evanishing amid the storm." - -Long and short syllables alternately form the regular rhythm of this -kind of verse; but occasional changes of rhythm and accentuation are -used by all good writers. In the following lines Andrew Marvel -introduces finely such a change:— - - "He hangs in shades the orange bright, - _Like golden lamps in a green night_." - -The emphasis is sometimes placed on the first syllable, as in the -subjoined:— - - "Fling but a stone—the giant dies." - "Smoothing the rugged brow of night." - -The decasyllabic verse, however, will allow more fully of the -illustration of the subjects of Accent and Pause. - - In the meantime, a word, and only a word, requires to be said -regarding verses of nine syllables. Such verses, in their normal and -most natural shape, start with two short syllables, followed by a long -one; and the same arrangement, repeated twice afterwards successively, -completes the line. It has thus but three accented to six unaccented -vowel-sounds. Few poets of any repute have used this measure -extensively, if we except Shenstone, to whose style it gives an almost -unique caste. For example— - - "Not a pine in my grove is there seen, - But with tendrils of woodbine is bound; - Not a beech's more beautiful green, - But a sweet-briar entwines it around. - One would think she might like to retire - To the bower I have labour'd to rear; - Not a shrub that I heard her admire, - But I hasted and planted it there." - -Shenstone often introduces eight syllables only, as in the following -stanza:— - - "Ye shepherds, so cheerful and gay, - Whose flocks never carelessly roam, - Should Corydon's happen to stray, - Oh! call the poor wanderers home." - -But he here retains the proper rhythm of the measure of nine syllables, -and the lines just quoted may rightly be looked on as still in that -verse, though defective in a syllable. There are several modes of -writing the same measure, different from that of Shenstone, but it may -suffice to notice one instance:— - - "When in death I shall calmly recline, - Oh bear my heart to my mistress dear; - Tell her it lived upon smiles and wine - Of the brightest hue, while it linger'd here." - -These lines are far from being very musical in themselves, and were only -so written to suit precomposed music. They are indeed positively harsh, -if read without a recollection of that music, and confirm the remark -made, that each numerical assemblage or series of syllables appears to -have only one kind of rhythm proper and natural to it, and apart from -which it is usually immelodious. - - The ten-syllabled line is the heroic one of the English language, and -a noble one it is, rivalling the lofty hexameter of Greece and Rome, and -casting utterly into the shade the dancing, frivolous epic measure of -French poetry. The latter runs in this rhythmical fashion:— - - "She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps." - -And in this measure is composed the "Henriade" of Voltaire, with all the -famed tragedies of Corneille and Racine, as well as the pungent satires -of Boileau. How characteristic of the Gaul the adoption and use of such -a sing-song form of heroic verse! The decasyllabic line of England is of -a more dignified caste, while, at the same time, capable of serving far -more numerous and varied purposes. "All thoughts, all passions, all -delights, whatever stirs this mortal frame," it has been found fitted to -give expression to in a manner worthy of the themes. A glorious vehicle -it proved for the inspirations of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, Jonson, -Beaumont, Fletcher, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Thomson, Akenside, Young, -Goldsmith, Cowper, and other bards of past generations; while scarcely -less magnificent has been the handling of the same measure by the poets -of the last age, the third great one in our literary annals. Crabbe, -Wordsworth, Coleridge, Rogers, Campbell, Southey, Byron, Shelley, and -Keats, with other recent poets of deserved renown, have all wielded the -decasyllabic line, with or without rhyme, with success, as well as with -singularly varied ability. A long list of dramatists of the Elizabethan, -Annean, and Georgean eras, has of course to be added to the roll now -given. - - The heroic or epic measure of English verse consists of ten-syllabled -lines, each of which, in its ordinary rhythmical form, presents a short -and long syllable alternately. The length of the line enables us -distinctly to trace in it both accent and pause; and it is upon frequent -changes in the seats of these that the varied harmony of the heroic -measure depends. The general accentuation falls on the long syllables, -the sense, however, always directing the reader to accent some single -syllable specially in each line. The pause uniformly follows the -syllable or word so accented specially, unless that syllable be the -first part of a long word, or be followed by short monosyllables. Thus, -in the following lines the accent is severed from the pause.[26] Both -are marked:— - - "As bu´sy—as intentive emmets are." - "So fresh the wou´nd is—and the grief so vast." - "Those seats of lu´xury—debate and pride." - -The pause is usually marked by a comma or period, but this, as before -said, is not necessarily the case. In reading the decasyllabic line, a -pause must somewhere be made, whether or not the sense be divided by -points of any kind. The writings of Pope exemplify strikingly the formal -or normal rhythm, accent, and pause of the heroic line, and a quotation -may be made to exhibit these fully. The pause is marked in each line, -and the same mark shows the seat of the accent:— - - "Here as I watch'd´ the dying lamps around, - From yonder shrine´ I heard a hollow sound. - Come, sister, come´! (it said, or seem'd to say) - Thy place is here´; sad sister, come away; - Once like thyself´, I trembled, wept, and pray'd, - Love's victim then´, though now a sainted maid: - But all is calm´ in this eternal sleep; - Here grief forgets to groan´, and love to weep; - Even superstition´ loses every fear, - For God, not man´, absolves our frailties here." - -This passage contains the secret of that smoothness which so peculiarly -characterises the versification of Pope. In the preceding fourteen -lines, the accent and the pause are seated, in all save three instances, -at the same or fourth syllable; or rather the seat of the accent is only -once altered (at the twelfth line), while the pause, changed there, is -also changed in the fourth and thirteenth lines, where it occurs on the -fifth and short syllables in the words "echoes" and "superstition," the -accent remaining on the fourth in both cases. Now, the versification of -Pope is by no means so monotonous at all times, but it is sufficiently -marked by the peculiar features exhibited here—that is, the reiterated -location of the accent and pause near the middle of each line, with the -pause most frequently at long syllables—to render his verses smooth even -to a wearisome excess. It is this characteristic of structure, often -felt but seldom understood, which distinguishes the poetry of Pope from -that of almost every other writer of note in the language. Darwin -resembles him most closely, though the latter poet had marked -peculiarities of his own. He emphasised more particularly nearly -one-half the first syllables of his lines. Verse after verse runs thus:— - - "Sighs in the gale, and whispers in the grot." - "Spans the pale nations with colossal stride." - -The sweetness here is great, but, most undoubtedly, verse possessed of a -much more perfect and uncloying species of melody has been produced by -those poets who have admitted greater variety into the composition of -their lines. The licence used by Shakspeare, for example, in respect of -rhythm, accent, and pause, is unlimited; and beautiful, indeed, are the -results:— - - "The quality of mercy´ is not strain'd. - It droppeth´ as the gentle dew from heaven - Upon the place beneath´. It is twice bless'd: - It blesseth him that gives´, and him that takes; - 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest´; it becomes - The throned monarch´ better than his crown; - It is an attribute´ to God himself." - - "Sweet´ are the uses of adversity, - Which, like a toad´, ugly and venomous, - Wears yet a precious jewel´ in his head." - - "I know a bank´ whereon the wild thyme blows, - Where oxlips´ and the nodding violet grows, - Quite over-canopied´ with lush woodbine, - With sweet musk-ro´ses, and with eglantine." - -It is unnecessary to multiply examples of this sort. The decasyllabic -line of Shakspeare is varied in structure, as said, almost unlimitedly, -the seat of the accent and pause being shifted from the first word to -the last, as if at random, but often, in reality, with a fine regard to -the sense. Ben Jonson, and indeed all our older writers, indulge in the -like free variations of the heroic measure; and the poets of the present -day, in imitating their higher qualities, have also followed their -example in respect of mere versification. Wordsworth and Keats, perhaps, -may be held as having excelled all the moderns, their contemporaries, in -the _art_ of "building the lofty rhyme." Both attended specially to the -subject, deeming it by no means beneath them to meditate well the melody -of single lines, and the aptitude even of individual words. Hence may -Coleridge justly praise Wordsworth for "his austere purity of language," -and "the perfect appropriateness of his words to the meaning"—for his -"sinewy strength" in isolated verses, and "the frequent _curiosa -felicitas_ of his diction." But Wordsworth himself owns his artistic -care and toil in composition even more strongly:— - - "When happiest fancy has inspired the strains, - How oft the malice of one luckless word - Pursues the Enthusiast to the social board, - Or haunts him lated on the silent plains!" - - The beauties of the Bard of Rydal are, at the same time, too widely -spread to render him the best example for our present purpose. Keats -attended more closely to the minutiæ of pure versification in single -passages, and may furnish better illustrations here. The subjoined -Arcadian picture displays exquisite ease and freedom of composition:— - - "Leading the way´, young damsels danced along, - Bearing the burden´ of a shepherd's song; - Each having a white wicker´, overbrimm'd - With April's tender younglings´; next well trimm'd, - A crowd of shepherds´ with as sunburn'd looks - As may be read of´ in Arcadian books; - Such´ as sat listening round Apollo's pipe. - When the great deity´, for earth too ripe, - Let his divinity´ o'erflowing die - In music through the vales of Thessaly." - - Equally fine is the varied melody of the young poet's blank verse:— - - "As when´, upon a trancèd summer night, - Those green-robed senators´ of mighty woods, - Tall oaks´, branch-charmèd by the earnest stars, - ´ Dream', and so dream all night without a stir, - Save from one gradual´ solitary gust - Which comes upon the silence´, and dies off, - As if the ebbing air´ had but one wave; - So came these words and went." - - Before adverting to other characters and peculiarities of English -Versification generally, a very few words may be said in reference to -those measures that exceed the decasyllabic in length. Lines of eleven -feet have never been used in the composition of great or extended poems. -When employed in lyrics and occasional pieces, the rhythm has usually -been thus regulated:— - - "Oh! breathe not his name, let it sleep in the shade, - Where, cold and unhonour'd, his relics are laid; - Sad, silent, and dark be the tears which we shed - As (the) night-dew that falls on the grass o'er his head." - - This rhythmical arrangement seems to be the natural one, and composes -merely the normal line of nine syllables, with a prefix of two others. -Some other forms of the eleven-syllabled line may be found in lyrical -collections, and more particularly in the works of Thomas Moore, who, -writing to pre-existing music, has produced specimens of almost every -variety of rhythm of which the English language is capable. - - The measure of twelve syllables has been employed by one eminent and -true poet in the composition of a work of importance. The "Polyolbian" -of Drayton is here alluded to. As in the case of other verses of an even -number of syllables, the regular alternation of short and long seems -most suitable to lines of twelve. Drayton thought so, as the following -brief extract descriptive of Robin Hood will show:— - - "Then, taking them to rest, his merry men and he - Slept many a summer's night beneath the greenwood tree. - From wealthy abbots' chests, and churls' abundant store, - What oftentimes he took he shared among the poor; - No lordly bishop came in lusty Robin's way, - To him before he went, but for his pass must pay; - The widow in distress he graciously relieved, - And remedied the wrongs of many a virgin grieved." - - It is superfluous to dwell on accentuation or pauses here, the line -being commonly divided into two even parts, or, in truth, two -six-syllabled lines. The rhythm, however, is often arranged differently -in lyrics, as the first lines of some of those of Moore will evince:— - - "As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow." - "We may roam through this world like a child at a feast." - "Like the bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane." - - In these instances, two short syllables and a long one occur in -alternation throughout the twelve. Moore has given other varieties of -this measure, as— - - "Through grief and through danger, thy smile hath cheer'd my way;" - -but these are merely capriccios to suit certain music, and need not -occupy our time here. The same poet has even a line of thirteen -syllables.[27] - - "At the mid-hour of night, when stars are weeping I fly." - - This measure is a most awkward one, certainly. The line of fourteen -syllables is more natural, and was used in at least one long piece -called "Albion's England," by Thomas Warner, a rhymer of the sixteenth -century. A maid is advised whom to love in these terms:— - - "The ploughman's labour hath no end, and he a churl will prove; - The craftsman hath more work on hand than fitteth one to love; - The merchant trafficking abroad, suspects his wife at home; - A youth will play the wanton, and an old will play the mome: - Then choose a shepherd." - -This is but the lumbering dodecasyllabic verse rendered more lumbering -still by two fresh feet, it will be generally allowed. In fact, these -lines of twelve and fourteen feet have only been used effectually as -"Alexandrines," or single lines introduced to wind up, or heighten the -force of passages, in the heroic or the octosyllabic measure. Pope -ridicules this practice, though it was a favourite one with Dryden:— - - "A needless Alexandrine ends the song, - That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along." - -In Dryden's "Ode to music," the following instances of the two kinds of -Alexandrines occur:— - - "Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire." - "And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain." - -By giving lines of ten, twelve, and fourteen syllables in succession, as -he occasionally does in his translation of Virgil, Dryden brings -passages with artistic skill to a very noble climax. But the Alexandrine -is now nearly obsolete in our poetry. - - The most common features and peculiarities of English Versification -have now received a share of attention. Measure and Rhythm,—Accent and -Pause, have all been duly noticed. There are yet other points, however, -connected with the subject, which merit equal attention from the student -of poetical composition. Every rule that has been mentioned may be -preserved, and still most inharmonious verse may be the result. The -greatest poets, either from experience or innate musical taste, adopted -additional means to arrive at perfect versification. Pope points to some -of these in his well-known lines:— - - "The sound must seem an echo to the sense. - Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, - And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows; - But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, - The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar." - -The poet, as all will of course see, here exemplifies the meaning of his -lines practically in their structure. The Greek and Roman writers were -quite aware of the effect of congruous sound and sense. Virgil has -several famous lines constructed on this principle, as— - - "Monstrum, horrendum, informe, ingens cui lumen ademptum." - (A monster, horrid, formless, gross, and blind.) - -To give a better idea of the efficient way in which the poet has -roughened the above verse to suit the picture of a monster, one of his -ordinary lines may be quoted:— - - "Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas." - -But it is wrong to call this an ordinary line, since Dr. Johnson -considered it to be the most musical in any human language. Ovid, again, -has made the sense and sound (and also construction) agree finely in the -following passage:— - - "Sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos, - Et quod tentabam dicere versus erat." - -Pope has imitated these lines, and applied them to himself, the -signification being simply— - - "I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came." - -Among our own great bards, Milton stands peculiarly distinguished for -success in the use of this ornament of verse. The "Allegro" and -"Penseroso" exhibit various exquisite instances. - - "Swinging slow with sullen roar." - "On the light fantastic toe." - "Through the high wood echoing shrill." - "And the busy hum of men." - "Most musical, most melancholy." - "Lap me in soft Lydian airs." - -In the "Paradise Lost," again, there occur many passages rendered -forcible in the extreme by the adaptation of sound to sense. Thus— - - "Him the Almighty power - Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, - With hideous ruin and combustion, down - To bottomless perdition." - -Still more remarkable is the following passage, as expressive of slow -and toilsome travel:— - - "The fiend - O'er bog or steep, through straight, rough, dense, or rare, - With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, - And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies." - -The chief mean of attaining _general harmony_ in verse is _a free and -happy distribution of the vowel-sounds_. For producing a _special -harmony_, consonant with _special signification_, other rules require to -be followed. But, in the first place, let us look particularly to the -means of rendering verse simply and aggregately melodious. It must not -be supposed, as many are apt to do, that even the most illustrious poets -considered it beneath them to attend to such minutiæ as the distribution -of the vowels in their verses. Look at the grand opening of "Paradise -Lost." It is scarcely conceivable that the remarkable variation of the -vowels there, on which the effect will be found largely to depend, can -have been the result of chance. No one line almost, it will be seen, -gives the same vowel-_sound_ twice. - - "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 heavenly seat, - Sing, heavenly Muse." - -The following stanza of Leyden was considered by Scott one of the most -musical in the language, and it is rendered so mainly by its vowel -variety:— - - "How sweetly swell on Jura's heath - The murmurs of the mountain bee! - How sweetly mourns the writhèd shell, - Of Jura's shore, its parent sea!" - -A passage from the "Laodamia" of Wordsworth may be pointed to as an -equally striking illustration of the same rule:— - - "He - Spake of heroic arts in graver mood - Revived, with finer harmony pursued; - Of all that is most beauteous—imaged there - In happier beauty; more pellucid streams, - An ampler ether, a diviner air, - And fields invested with purpureal glaems; - Climes which the sun, who sheds the brightest day - Earth knows, is all unworthy to survey." - -Wordsworth, who in truth is the perfect master of this species of -Melody, as the "Excursion" will prove to all those who look thereinto -attentively, has scarcely once repeated the same exact sound in any two -words, of any one line, in the preceding quotation. One more passage -(from "Lycidas") may be given to undeceive yet more completely those who -have been want to ascribe the rich Miltonic melody to mere chance:— - - "Alas! what boots it with incessant care - To tend the homely, slighted shepherd's trade. - And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? - Were it not better done, as others use, - To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, - Or with the tangles of Neæra's hair?" - -This most melodious passage has often been quoted, but the source of its -melody has not been generally recognised by ordinary readers. The key -which unlocks the secret has here been given. Let it be applied to our -poetry at large, and it will be found to explain the effect of many of -its grandest and sweetest passages. - -The proper distribution of the vowels, then, so effective in the hands -of Milton and Wordsworth, may be decisively viewed as a main help to -harmony of versification generally. But when the poet desires to make -his language express _particular_ meanings by sounds, he studies more -specially, in the first place, the right disposition of accent and -pause, and so advances partly to his object. Thus Milton, in describing -the fall of Mulciber or Vulcan from heaven, leaves him, as it were, -tumbling and tumbling in the verse, by a beautiful pause:— - - "From morn - To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, - A summer's day." - -A similar and not less exquisite pause is made in the famed passage, -otherwise beautiful from variety of vowels, where, after swelling -allusions to - - "What resounds - In fable or romance of Uther's son - Begirt with British and Armoric knights, - And all who since, baptized or infidel, - Jousted in Aspramount or Montalbalm," - -a dying and most melodious close is attained— - - "When Charlemain with all his peerage fell - _By Fontarabia_." - -Often are similar pauses made effectively at the opening of lines:— - - "The schoolboy, wandering through the wood, - To pull the primrose gay, - _Starts_, the new voice of spring to hear, - And imitates thy lay." - - "My song, its pinions disarray'd of night, - _Droop'd_." - "The carvèd angels, ever eager eyed, - _Stared_." - - "Liberty, - From heart to heart, from tower to tower, o'er Spain - Scattering contagious fire into the sky, - _Gleam'd_." - -Much more striking instances of the effect of laying marked and -compulsory pauses on first syllables might be adduced, but these, taken -by chance, may suffice as illustrations. Such aids to impressive -versifying must not be overlooked by young poets. The pause and accent, -however, may both be similarly employed and fixed without the help of -positive periods. Thus Wordsworth, in lines likewise beautiful from -vowel-variety:— - - "What time the hunter's earliest horn is heard, - _Startling_ the golden hills." - -The voice accents the word "startling" naturally; and mind and ear both -own its peculiar aptitude where it is placed. Not less marked is the -force of the same word in the middle of the Miltonic line:— - - "To hear the lark begin his flight, - And singing _startle_ the dull night." - -And again, in the case of the word "start"— - - "The patriot nymph _starts_ at imagined sounds." - -The following are examples of sense brought clearly out, by placing the -pause and accent at different points of the verses:— - - "My heart _aches_, and a drowsy numbness pains - My sense." - "Cut mercy with a sharp _knife_ to the bone." - -The strong effect of these lines arises from the accent being thrown on -syllables usually short or unaccented in the decasyllabic verse. This is -a common stroke of art with Milton, when he would lay force on -particular words. Most of our great poets, indeed, knew and practised -the same rule. - -So much for the effects of the structure of the verse, and the location -of the accent and pause. But the simple choice of _apt diction_ is still -more important to the art of effective versification, as far as the -evolution of special meanings is concerned. Reference is not here made -to diction that is apt through signification merely, but such, more -particularly, as by its _sound_ enhances the force of the thoughts or -images which it conveys. In this shape is the congruity of sound and -sense best developed. To the instances given from Pope and Milton others -may now be added, with an explanation of the artistic rules employed in -the case. - - Observe how finely appropriate is the sound to the sense in the line:— - - "The surgy murmurs of the lonely sea." - -By the use of the _rs_ here it is, that the very sound of the surge -seems to be brought to the ear; and even the open vowels at the close -give something like the sense of a great and cold waste of waters beyond -the surge. Equally apt is the impression made by the lines:— - - "The murmurous haunt of flies on summer-eves." - "Couches of rugged stone, and slaty ridge - Stubborn'd with iron." - "A ghostly under-song, - Like hoarse night-gusts sepulchral briars among." - "The snorting of the war-horse of the storm." - -These are instances in which the roughening effect of the _r_ is felt to -aid the meaning powerfully. The actual and direct meaning of the words -chosen, beyond a doubt, is by far the most important point in all kinds -of composition; but the art of the poet may be more or less evinced in -his selection of such as have a fit and correspondent sound. All great -poets have recognised this law. The art, however, must not be too -palpable. Pope, in exemplifying the harsh effect of the letter _r_, -allowed the art to be too easily seen. - - "The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar." - -Keats, before quoted, manages the matter more delicately. - - We refer to the use of the letter _r_ simply in illustration of a -principle of great consequence in poetical composition. It is also of -the widest application. Not a letter, or combination of letters, in the -English language, is without some peculiar force of sound of its own, -enhancing sense; and above all does this assertion hold good in respect -to the Anglo-Saxon elements or portions of our vernacular tongue. This -circumstance arises from the fact of the Anglo-Saxon being a very pure -dialect of a primitive language, the earliest words of which languages -are ever mere descriptions, as far as sound goes, of the acts or objects -implied or spoken of. _Hiss_ and _howl_, for instance, are clearly -imitative of the noises of hissing and howling; and thousands of -similarly derived vocables are not less expressive in a kindred way. Our -most eminent national poets, whether taught by the ear or by experience, -have shown themselves well aware of these things, and have turned to -fine account the Anglo-Saxon constituents of the mother-tongue. In those -languages, again, which have passed through various shapes since their -first invention by man—as the French, Spanish, and Italian—nearly all -traces of congruous sound and sense have been lost, and general -modulation has taken place of specific expressiveness. The gain here, -which practically rests on the use of a multiplicity of vowels, cannot -be held to counterbalance the loss. Exquisitely melodious as are the -verses of Tasso and Ariosto, for example, no one wholly ignorant of -Italian could ever even guess at the meaning of a single line or word -from the mere hearing. The English language stands placed, in the main, -very differently: and happily does it do so, as far as force, -impressiveness, and picturesque beauty are concerned. No doubt, we have -many words founded on the Latin and its modern derivations; and these -are far from unserviceable, inasmuch as they lend general harmony to our -tongue, spoken and written. But our special strength of diction comes -from the Anglo-Saxon; and fortunate is it, that that primitive form of -speech still forms the chief constituent of the national language of -Britain. - -The reader now understands by what means our best national poets have -striven to render sound and sense congruous in their verses. It has -mainly been, as said, by the use of Anglo-Saxon words which could -scarcely fail to suit the end well, since they were actually formed, -primarily, upon that very principle. Much of the power, of course, lies -in the consonants which occur so freely in the language; and yet the -vowels, while essential to the use and force of the consonants, are not -without their individual and respective kinds and shades of -expressiveness. The _o_, for instance, has a breadth and weight not -pertaining to the other vowels, as in the last of these two lines— - - "Some words she spake - In solemn tenour and deep organ tone." - -The other vowels have also their respective degrees of depth, lightness, -and other qualities. But mere general harmony only, or chiefly, can be -attained by the use of vowel-sounds unaided by consonants of particular -powers; and it has already been pointed out, that, to develop that -harmony fully, an extensive variation of the said sounds is the -principal thing required, and has ever been employed by the greatest -poets. - - With regard to Consonants, there is scarcely one in the alphabet -without some well-marked and special force of its own. By conjunction -with others, or with vowels, this special force may likewise be modified -vastly, giving rise to numberless varieties of expression, or rather -expressiveness. The roughening power of the letter _r_ has been adverted -to, and other consonants may now be noticed, with exemplifications, of -their efficient use in poetry. The consonants are noticeable for their -peculiar powers, at once at the beginning, in the middle, and at the -close of words; but the present purpose will be best served by taking -them up successively, as initial letters. - - The consonant _b_, at the opening of words, has no very marked force; -but it originates many expressive terms, often finely employed in -poetry. - - "He _babbled_ of green fields." - -Here the word paints the act to perfection. "_Beslubbered_ all with -tears." "A _blubbering_ boy." "Fire burn, and caldron _bubble_." All of -these words exemplify sound and sense clearly combined; and our poets -have also used, with like effect, _bawl_, _brawl_, _bray_, and many -other common terms, beginning with _b_. But on the whole, its initial -power is not great; and it is, indeed, rather a soft consonant, like the -labials generally. _C_, again, sounded as _k_, has really a special -power, quick, sharp, and cutting, at the commencement of words, and more -particularly when followed by _l_ and _r_, and aided by apt -terminations. Well did Milton and others of our bards know this fact, as -the subjoined lines may partly show:— - - "_Clash'd_ their sounding shields the din of war." - "Till all his limbs do _crack_." - "I _cleave_ with rapid fin the wave." - "In one wild havoc _crash'd_." - "The moonbeams _crisp_ the _curling_ surge." - "By the howling of the dog." - "By the _croaking_ of the frog." - -All these are effective terms, both in the opening and close. Those who -recollect any great actor in "Hamlet," must have noticed the splendid -emphasis placeable on the words— - - "What should such fellows as I do, - _Crawling_ betwixt earth and heaven!" - -The following is most aptly heavy:— - - "Save that a _clog_ doth hang yet at my heel." - -And we have here a fine expression, with an equally good pause:— - - "I plead a pardon for my tale, - And having hemmed and _cough'd_—begin." - -But _cough_ must be pronounced in the old Anglo-Saxon way, and not as -_coff_. The power of the letter _d_, at the commencement of words, is -not quick and sharp like the _c_, but rather slow and heavy; and this -effect is vastly increased when an _r_ is added. Thus, for instance:— - - "_Drags_ its slow length along." - - "Not all the _drowsy_ syrups of the world." - - "The _dreary_ melody of bedded reeds." - - "Snivelling and _drivelling_ folly without end." - - "Good shepherds after shearing _drench_ their sheep." - - "And _dropping_ melody with every tear." - -Such words, too, as _drawl_, _droop_, _drip_, _drizzle_, _drum_, and -others, may be, have been used excellently in poetry. The _f_ is a -letter expressive of a light and rapid action, at least when conjoined -with other consonants. Campbell uses it finely in both ways:— - - "But see! 'mid the _fast-flashing_ lightnings of war. - What steed to the desert _flies frantic and far_?" - -The quick action is also signified in _flay_, _flog_, _fling_, -_flitter_, and other vocables. Coriolanus portrays verbally the very -deed, when he tells how, - - "Like an eagle in a dovecot, he - _Flutter'd_ their Volsces in Corioli." - -_G_, by itself, is rather a soft consonant; and, followed by _l_, it has -also a mild effect, as in the very expressive words, _gleam_, _glide_, -_glitter_, _glisten_, _gloom_, and the like. _Gr_, again, is singularly -heavy and harsh, as in the succeeding cases:— - - "And _grinn'd_, terrific, a sardonic look." - - "_Grinn'd_ horribly a ghastly smile." - - "_Grapple_ him to thy soul with hooks of steel." - - "In came Margaret's _grimly_ ghost." - -Of kindred force are _grasp_, _gripe_, _grope_, and others. _Gnash_ and -_gnaw_ have a sort of convulsive twist in sense, and so should they have -in sound, when rightly pronounced, and after the original mode. By the -way, though _grin_ be a strong word, in its old shape it is stronger; -and that _girn_, still used in Scotland. - -All of these specimens of the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary, and many of a -kindred order, have been often made to tell exquisitely in our national -poetry. The same averment may be made regarding hosts of other words, -differently begun and formed; but we must so far content ourselves with -having shown the principle, and go over what is to come more quickly. -However, the aspirate _h_ must not be lightly overpassed, having a -striking value in verse. Being pronounced with an _aspiration_, it gives -a certain energy to almost all words which it begins, as _hack_, -_harsh_, _hawl_, _haste_, _hit_, _hunt_, and the like. To some terms it -imparts a sort of laboriously _elevative_ force. Pope composed the -following line purposely to exemplify this property:— - - Up the high hill, he heaves a huge round stone." - -The merely expiratory force of the _h_ is felt equally in naming the -"heights of heaven" and the "hollows of hell." Though but half a letter, -it is thus potent in poetry, and is often beautifully turned to account -by Milton, as in the passage, "Him the Almighty power _hurled -headlong_," and so on. - - The letter _j_ gives the initiative to many expressive words, though -their expressiveness rests mainly on the terminations. Such is the case -with _jar_, _jerk_, _jig_, _jilt_, _jog_, _jostle_, _jumble_, _jump_. -Our comic writers have used the most of these to good purpose. It is -worth while specially to notice _jeer_. It would seem as if the _eer_ -was an ending peculiarly fitted to express the meaning which _jeer_ -bears, since it gives a pretty similar force to _sneer_, _fleer_, -_leer_, _peer_, _queer_, and some others. Sound and sense concur in all -these terms. The _k_ merely gives to words the same power as the hard -_c_. _L_ has no great force as the initial letter of words, though it -yet possesses so far its own peculiar expressiveness. That the whole -members of the alphabet do so, indeed, may be very simply proved. Of the -following twelve monosyllables closing in _ash_, the different opening -letters give a different force, in respect of sound, to each word, and -such as perfectly accords with the actual and several meanings. The -words are, _clash_, _crash_, _dash_, _flash_, _gnash_, _lash_, _mash_, -_quash_, _plash_, _slash_, _smash_, and _thrash_. The distinction here -may not be great in some instances, but it certainly is so in the -grating _crash_, the rapid _flash_, and the ponderous _smash_! These -points are well worthy the attention of the student of English -Versification—in truth, of English literature generally. - -Many expressive words, opening with _l_, are formed by apt closes, as -_lift_, _lisp_, _limp_, _loathe_, _log_, _lull_, and _lurk_. How fine -the _loll_ in Shakspeare's line:— - - "The large Achilles, on his press'd bed _lolling_, - From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause!" - -_M_ and _n_, opening words isolatedly, have little peculiarity of power, -but gain it by continuations and terminations:— - - "Hell is _murky_." - - "To pluck the _mangled_ Tybalt from his shroud." - - "Thrice the brinded cat hath _mew'd_." - - "The _matted_ woods." - - "Thou detestable womb, thou _maw_ of death." - - "So the two brothers and their _murder'd_ man." - - "This hand is _moist_, my lady." - - "The _muffled_ drum." - -And so on. _Neigh_, _nod_, _nip_, _nick_ and so forth, exemplify the _n_ -sufficiently. There are fewer words of a very expressive kind opened by -_p_, than by any other letter which may be followed by other consonants, -as _l_and _r_. Nor need _q_ delay our progress. _R_, however, as already -observed, is one of the most emphatic letters in the alphabet; and, -whether at the beginning, in the middle, or at the close of words, it -gives them a striking and specific force in enunciation. Rude and rough -power lies in its sound. The monosyllabic verbs which it commences show -well what its original effect was felt to be. _Race_, _rage_, _rack_, -_rail_, _rain_, _rake_, _ramp_, _range_, _rant_, _rate_, _rave_, _rash_, -_raze_—all these words have an affinity of meaning, derived from the -_ra_, though modified by the endings. Followed by other vowels, the _r_ -softens somewhat, as in _reach_, _reap_, _ride_, _rise_, and the like; -but still there is force of action implied in the sound. _Ring_, _rip_, -and _rift_, may be styled _ear-pictures_. It is impossible, by -citations, to give any conception of the extent to which the _r_ has -been used in imparting fitting emphasis to poetry. Nearly all words, -implying terror or horror, rest mainly on it for their picturesque -force. This point, however, has been already illustrated sufficiently -for the present purpose. - - _S_, by itself, opens many words of mild action, as _sail_, _sew_, -_sit_, _soar_, and _suck_. With an additional consonant; _sc_, _sh_, -_sk_, _sl_, _sm_, _sn_, _sp_, _sq_, _st_, and _su_ it gives rise to most -potent verbs of action; and still stronger ones are formed when another -consonant is added, as in the cases of _scr_, _spr_, and _str_. What is -chiefly to the point here, sense and sound are strikingly congruous in -terms of this formation. The initials give force whatever the endings -may be, though these may modify it largely. Let the reader look well at -the following list. _Scald_, _scalp_, _scare_, _scamper_, _scatter_, -_scoff_, _scorn_, _scowl_, _scour_, _scourge_, _scrape_, _scrawl_, -_scratch_, _scream_, _screw_, _scrub_, _scramble_, _scraggy_, _scud_; -_shake_, _shape_, _shave_, _shift_, _shine_, _shirk_, _shiver_, _shock_, -_shoot_, _shout_, _shriek_, _shrill_, _shrink_, _shrug_, _shuffle_, -_shudder_, _skate_, _skim_, _skiff_, _skirr_; _slap_, _slay_, _sleep_, -_slumber_, _slip_, _slit_, _slink_, _sling_, _slow_, _slough_, -_sluggish_, _slur_, _slut_, _sly_; _smash_, _smite_, _smile_, _smooth_, -_smug_, _smuggle_, _smother_; _snap_, _snarl_, _snare_, _snatch_, -_snib_, _snip_, _snub_, _sneap_, _snack_, _snort_, _snivel_, _snell_; -_speed_, _spit_, _split_, _splash_, _spout_, _spring_, _spur_, _spurt_, -_spurn_, _sputter_, _spy_, _sprinkle_; _squeeze_, _squall_, _squeak_, -_squat_, _squash_, _squabble_, _squib_; _stab_, _stamp_, _stare_, -_start_, _steal_, _steam_, _steep_, _steer_, _step_, _stem_, _stick_, -_sting_, _stir_, _stoop_, _storm_, _stow_; _strain_, _strap_, _streak_, -_stress_, _stretch_, _strew_, _stride_, _strike_, _string_, _strip_, -strive, stroll, strut, stuff, stump, stun, stagger, stammer, _startle_, -_strangle_, _stutter_, _struggle_, _stumble_; _sway_, _sweep_, _swell_, -_swing_, _swoop_, _swirl_. - - This is truly a long roll; but it is one deserving of all attention -from those who are studying the euphony, or the happy cacophony, of the -English vocabulary, with an eye to poetic composition. Each word here -is, to repeat a somewhat dubious phrase, a positive auricular picture. -There is variety in sense, but it is still accompanied by fit variety of -sound. And yet a general similarity of significations exists among the -words formed by _s_ with one or more additional consonants: while still -more akin are the sets of words begun alike. The whole, collectively, -express force, and for the most part strong force. _Scare_ and _scream_ -imply (in sound and sense) sharp action; _shake_ and _shrink_, soft and -moderate; _skate_ and _skim_, quick and smooth; _slip_ and _sling_, -rapid and easy; _smash_ and _smite_, strong and suppressive; _snarl_ and -_snap_, snarling and snappish; _spit_ and _split_, slight but decisive; -_squeeze_ and _squeak_, forcible but petty; _stab_ and _stamp_, direct -and powerful; _strain_ and _strike_, full of _straining strength_, and -with their congeners, the most energetic of words, in sound and sense, -in the language. In verbs opened by _sw_, as in _sweep_ and _swirl_, the -_s_ gives an onward impulse, as it were, and the _w_ renders it so far -rotatory. Leigh Hunt applies the word swirl finely to ships:— - - "They chase the whistling brine, and swirl into the bay." - - Most of the words formed with _t_ as the initial derive from it no -very marked force, and depend for that quality on the same terminations -which have been noticed as giving force to others. The _t_ need not, -therefore, occupy our space. The _w_ is also weak alone, but forms terms -of some initial pith with the aspirate _h_ as _wheel_, _whiff_, _whelm_, -_whip_, _whirl_, _whisk_, and _whoop_. There is a sort of sense of -circuitous motion given by the _wh_; and, with their well-discriminated -terminations, the verbs of action which it opens are very expressive. -When _wr_ was pronounced _uurr_, the words, _wrangle_, _wrestle_, -_wreath_, _wring_, _wrench_, and _wrath_ were words of potency, twisting -and convulsive. But the _w_ is now mute, and their might has departed. - - It is because much, very much, of the power, the majesty, and the -beauty of English Poetry, as left to us by our fathers, is traceable to -the liberal use of the Anglo-Saxon elements of our national language, -that the subject has been treated of here so lengthily. Moreover, there -has been evinced of late, it is painful to add, a growing tendency on -the part of many writers to cultivate Gallicisms, as words of Roman -derivation are rightly named, to a still greater extent than has yet -been done amongst us, and to the repression of our true native -vocabulary. A gain may be made in this way in respect of general -harmony, as before observed, but it is a gain which never can -counterbalance the loss in point of pith and picturesqueness. It is not -said here, that our greater recent poets have been the chief deserters -of the Anglo-Saxon tongue. On the contrary, many of them have shown a -full sense of its merits, and have used it finely. It is a remarkable -corroboration, indeed, of the present argument, that in all their best -passages, they almost uniformly employ the said tongue, whether -consciously or unconsciously. Look at the following passage of Burns. It -has been pronounced by critics to embody the most powerful picture in -modern poetry. - - "Coffins stood round like open presses, - That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses; - And by some devilish cantrip sleight, - Each in its cauld hand held a light, - By which heroic Tam was able - To note upon the haly table - A murderer's banes in gibbet-airns; - Twa span-lang, wee unchristen'd bairns; - A thief, new cuttit frae a rape— - Wi' his last gasp his gab did gape; - A garter which a babe had strangled; - A knife, a father's throat had mangled, - Whom his ain son o' life had reft— - The gray hairs yet stack to the heft." - -This passage forms a splendid specimen of almost pure Anglo-Saxon; and, -among the few words of a different origin, one of the most marked may -perhaps be rightly held a blemish—namely _heroic_. Like Burns, -Wordsworth, and all those moderns who have studied ear-painting (if this -phrase may be again pardoned) as well as eye-painting in their verses, -have drawn freely on the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary. All young and incipient -versifiers should study their works, and "Go and do likewise." - - The general construction of English verse, and the various rules by -which it is rendered melodious, expressive, and picturesque, having now -been explained, it remains but to indicate, in a few words, the -principal divisions of Poetry common, among us. Epic verse is held to be -the highest description of poetical composition. The "Iliad" of Homer -and "Æneid" of Virgil have always formed models in this department; and -it is remarkable, but true, that we can scarcely be said to have one -English epic that rises to their standard, saving "Paradise Lost." Of -the character of an epic, it need but be said here, that the subject, -the diction, and the treatment must all be alike lofty and sustained. In -English, the decasyllabic is the epic line, sometimes called the Heroic. -If we have so few epics, however, we have many poems of high note that -are usually styled Didactic, from their _teaching_ great truths. -Akenside, Thomson, Cowper, Rogers, and Campbell wrote such poems, some -in blank verse, others in rhyme. Where rhymed, they are all written in -Couplets, or pairs of lines, rhyming to one another, in regular -succession. Narrative, Descriptive, and Satiric poems (the several -objects of which may be drawn from these epithets) are important species -of composition, and for the most part constructed similarly to the Epic -and Didactic pieces. In truth, the ten-syllabled line, in couplets or in -blank verse, though best adapted for grave subjects, has been employed -on almost all themes by English poets. Nearly the same thing may be said -of the octosyllabic verse, also written commonly in couplets, when used -in long compositions. Many poems, which may be generally termed -Romantic, have likewise been framed in the eight-syllabled line, though -not usually in couplets. - - The name of Stanzas is bestowed, aggregately, on all assemblages of -lines, exceeding two in number, when they are arranged continuously. The -following is a stanza of three lines, termed isolatedly a Triplet:— - - "Nothing, thou elder brother even to Shade. - Thou hadst a being ere the world was made, - And (well fix'd) art alone of ending not afraid." - -Stanzas in four lines, called specially Quatrains, are exemplified in -Gray's "Churchyard Elegy." Indeed, that stanza has long been denominated -the Elegiac. Tennyson's "In Memoriam" is composed in octosyllabic -quatrains. In stanzas of four lines, also, half the minor poetry in the -language is composed. The general name of "Lyrical" is given to such -poetry, and implies the subjects to be occasional and detached, and the -pieces usually brief. "Songs" come within the Lyric category. It would -be needless to exemplify a stanza so well known, either in its frequent -form of alternate rhyming lines of eight and eight syllables, or its yet -more common one of eight and six. No continuous poems of any length or -moment have been written in five-line stanzas, and few in those of six -lines. The latest piece in the latter shape has been Sir E. L. Bulwer's -"King Arthur;" but the stanza is too like the very famous one called in -Italy the _ottava rima_, with two lines lopped off and not beneficially. -The "Don Juan" of Byron is composed in this _ottava rima_, or -eight-lined stanza; but it was borrowed from the Italians (the real -inventors) by William Tennant, and used in his "Anster Fair," long -before Frere or Byron thought of its appropriation—a circumstance of -which many critics have shown a discreditable ignorance. It is the best -of all stanzas for a light or burlesque epic, the principle of its -construction being—seriousness in the first six lines, and in the last -two a mockery of that seriousness. The great poet, however, can make any -stanza great. Shakspeare used the six-line stanza in his "Venus and -Adonis," and that of seven lines in his "Lucrece." - - The only other regular English stanza, of high note, and calling for -mention here, is the Spenserian, consisting of nine lines, the first -eight decasyllabic, and the last an Alexandrine of twelve feet. Many -noble poems have been written in this stanza, from Spenser's "Fairy -Queen" to Byron's "Childe Harold," which may be viewed as romantic and -narrative epics respectively. It is calculated to convey aptly the -loftiest poetry, though Thomson and Shenstone have employed it for -lighter purposes, in the "Castle of Indolence" and "Schoolmistress." - - The sonnet is, in its highest moods, an epic in fourteen lines; and, -as regards its normal structure, should present but four different -rhymes in all. So Milton wrote it, and so often Wordsworth, _facile -principes_ in this walk of poetic composition; but six or more rhymes -are commonly admitted. The rhymes of the successive lines stand thus, in -the Miltonic sonnet:—"arms, seize, please, harms, charms, these, seas, -warms, bower, spare, tower, air, power, bare." In a sonnet, Wordsworth -splendidly exemplifies the sonnet, and tells its uses and its history. -("Scorn not," &c. Wordsworth's Miscellaneous Sonnets.) - - The Ode is a poem of irregular construction, or rather was so -constructed by the Greek bard Pindar, and after him by Dryden and -Collins, his best English imitators. Wordsworth and Coleridge also wrote -fine odes of late years, and they followed the same irregularities of -composition. Shelley and Keats, however, produced noble pieces, of the -same kind, as those on "Liberty" and "Melancholy," in which they used a -very free measure, but in orderly stanzas. It would be out of place to -describe at length the plan of the Pindaric ode—for it had a general -plan, though fantastic in details. The wildest forms of it were styled -the dithyrambic; and impassioned grandeur of sentiment and diction were -its characteristics. Horace, in his best odes, contented himself with -aiming at dignity and justness of thoughts, and pointedness of -expression. Dryden and Collins, as well as Coleridge and Shelley, copied -and approached the dithyrambic fervour; while Keats sought but after -beauty, and left us masterpieces in that kind—"alas, too few!" - - With yet a word on the art of Song-Writing, this essay may be closed. -It well merits a word, and chiefly because it is an art the most easy in -seeming, and the most difficult in reality, in the entire range of -literary composition. People might easily discern this truth, if they -would but take note how few really great song-writers have ever -flourished among men, at any time, or in any country. Without forgetting -Ramsay, Hogg, and Cunningham, it may be justly asserted that Scotland -has seen but one such bard, Robert Burns. Ireland has likewise produced -but one, Thomas Moore. England has given birth to—not one song-writer of -the same high order! Such is the fact; for to such parties as the -Dibdins, Charles Morris, or Haynes Bayly, the rank of great song-writers -cannot be assigned. However, it is but fair to admit that Moore should -be reckoned as in the main a song-writer of England, his music only, and -occasionally his subjects, being Irish. His pieces are wholly in the -English tongue, and by the English nation he may so far be claimed. That -numberless individuals have written one or two good songs, is -unquestionable, but the circumstance only strengthens the present -argument. It shows the difficulty of fitly carrying out and sustaining -the practice of song-writing. - - Notwithstanding these glaring truths, the young, on feeling the first -prompting of the muse, fly to this species of composition almost -invariably. Now, whether they do or do not possess the requisite -poetical powers (which is not the point under consideration here), they -certainly take up the said task, almost always, in total ignorance of -the rules of construction necessary to be observed in song-writing. -These are few, but all-important. After simplicity and concentration of -thought and diction—the first elements in such compositions—simplicity -of grammatical arrangement stands next in consequence. An inverted -expression is most injurious, and a parenthetic clause almost uniformly -fatal. All forms of complication are indeed alike hurtful; and even -epithets, and adjectives of every kind, can be employed but sparingly, -and must be most direct and simple. That mode of poetic diction, which -introduces its similitudes by "as the," "so the," and "like the," is -ruinous in songs. Scarcely less so are interjections, especially when of -some length. Look how sadly even Wordsworth failed, when he thought to -improve on the old ballad of Helen of Kirkconnel! - - "Fair Ellen Irvine, _when, she sate_ - _Upon the braes of Kirtle_, - Was lovely _as a Grecian maid_, - _Adorn'd with wreaths of myrtle_." - - Compare the effect of this stanza with its parenthetic clause and its -tale-tagged similitude, to that of the old ballad, so remarkable for its -simplicity:— - - "I wish I were where Helen lies; - Night and day on me she cries; - Oh! that I were where Helen lies, - On fair Kirkconnel lea." - - * * * * * * - - "Curst be the head that thought the thought, - Curst be the hand that shot the shot, - When in my arms burd Helen dropt, - And died to succour me." - -Even on a reading, the effect of these pieces is widely different, and -would be felt ten times more were they sung. The best music is ever cast -away on involved phraseology; and herein lies, in fact, the main reason -for simplicity of construction in songs. - - With these hints on the Art of composing Songs, most of the -suggestions before given respecting the selection of words of peculiar -sounds, may also be kept in mind. Burns forgot them not. Observe his -Wandering Willie:— - - "Rest, ye wild winds, in the caves of your slumbers, - How your dread howling a lover alarms." - -But let all the most admired songs of Burns, and of Moore also, be -examined attentively, and the skilful adaptation of the words to the -sentiment, the position and the purpose will appear clearly. What -language, for example, could be more artistically suited to an -exquisitely soft air than the following by Moore?— - - "'Tis the last rose of summer, - Left blooming alone, - All its lovely companions - Are faded and gone." - -If these lines were written in a dialect utterly strange to the hearer, -he still could not but feel their admirable melodiousness, so -appropriate to the melodious music. In the case, therefore, of -song-writing generally—whether to known or unknown music—the purpose of -the composition must ever be kept in mind. A song, if not satisfactorily -fitted for vocal utterance, and intelligible on the hearing of a moment, -neither deserves, nor will receive, popular appreciation and acceptance. -Where true poetry is interfused, as in the productions of Burns and -Moore, then, indeed, is mastership in the art of song-writing really -shown. Of all classes of writers, the song-writer is perhaps the most -truly an artist. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Rules for Making English Verse. - - BY EDWARD BYSSHE. - -These rules I have, according to the best of my judgment, endeavoured to -extract from the practice, and to frame after the examples, of the poets -that are most celebrated for a fluent and numerous turn of verse. - -In the English versification there are two things chiefly to be -considered: - - 1. The verses. - - 2. The several sorts of poems, or composition in verse. - - But because in the verses there are also two things to be - observed, the structure of the verse and the rhyme, this - treatise shall be divided into three chapters; - - I. Of the structure of English verses. - - II. Of rhyme. - - III. Of the several sorts of poems, or composition in verse. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - OF THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH VERSES. - - -The structure of our verses, whether blank or in rhyme, consists in a -certain number of syllables; not in feet composed of long and short -syllables, as the verses of the Greeks and Romans. And though some -ingenious persons formerly puzzled themselves in prescribing rules for -the quantity of English syllables, and, in imitation of the Latins, -composed verses by the measure of spondees, dactyls, &c., yet the -success of their undertaking has fully evinced the vainness of their -attempt, and given ground to suspect they had not thoroughly weighed -what the genius of our language would bear, nor reflected that each -tongue has its peculiar beauties, and that what is agreeable and natural -to one, is very often disagreeable, nay, inconsistent with another. But -that design being now wholly exploded, it is sufficient to have -mentioned it. - -Our verses, then, consist in a certain number of syllables; but the -verses of double rhyme require a syllable more than those of single -rhyme. Thus in a poem whose verses consist of ten syllables, those of -the same poem that are accented on the last save one, which we call -verses of double rhyme, must have eleven, as may be seen by these -verses:— - - "A Man so various that he seem'd to be - Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome: - Stiff in Opinion, always in the Wrong, - Was ev'ry thing by starts, and nothing long; - But, in the Course of our revolving moon: - Was Fiddler, Chymist, Statesman and Buffoon: - Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking, - Besides Ten thousand Freaks that dy'd in Thinking, - Praising and Railing were his usual Themes, - And both, to shew his Judgment, in Extreams. - So over-violent, or over-civil, - That every Man with him was God or Devil."—_Dryden._ - - Where the four verses that are accented on the last save one have -eleven syllables, the others, accented on the last, but ten. - -In a poem whose verses consist of eight, the double rhymes require nine; -as, - - "When hard Words, Jealousies, and Fears, - Set Folks together by the ears; - And made 'em fight, like mad, or drunk, - For Dame Religion as for Punk; - Whose honesty they all durst swear for, - Tho' not a Man of 'em knew wherefore: - Then did Sir Knight abandon Duelling, - And out he rode a Colonelling."—_Hudibras._ - - In a poem whose verses consist of seven, the double rhymes require -eight; as, - - "All thy verse is softer far - Than the downy Feathers are - Of my Wings, or of my Arrows, - Of my Mother's Doves or Sparrows."—_Cowley._ - - This must also be observed in blank verse; as, - - "Welcome, thou worthy Partner of my Laurels! - Thou Brother of my Choice! A Band more sacred - Than Nature's brittle Tye. By holy Friendship! - Glory and Fame stood still for thy Arrival: - My Soul seem'd wanting of its better Half, - And languish'd for thy Absence like a Prophet, - Who waits the Inspiration of his God."—_Rowe._ - - And this verse of Milton, - - "Void of all Succour and needful Comfort," - -wants a syllable; for, being accented on the last save one, it ought to -have eleven, as all the verses but two of the preceding example have. -But if we transpose the words thus, - - "Of Succour and all needful Comfort void," - -it then wants nothing of its due measure, because it is accented on the -last syllable. - - -SECTION I.—_Of the several sorts of verses; and, first, of those of ten -syllables: of the due observation of the accents, and of the pause._ - -Our poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of verses; that -is to say, of verses of ten, eight, or seven syllables. Those of four, -six, nine, eleven, twelve, and fourteen, are generally employed in masks -and operas, and in the stanzas of lyric and Pindaric odes, and we have -few entire poems composed in any of those sort of verses. Those of -twelve and fourteen syllables are frequently inserted in our poems in -heroic verse, and when rightly made use of, carry a peculiar grace with -them. See the next section towards the end. - - The verses of ten syllables, which are our heroic, are used in heroic -poems, in tragedies, comedies, pastorals, elegies, and sometimes in -burlesque. - - In these verses two things are chiefly to be considered: - - 1. The seat of the accent. - 2. The pause. - - For 'tis not enough that verses have their just number of syllables; -the true harmony of them depends on a due observation of the accent and -pause. - - The accent is an elevation or a falling of the voice on a certain -syllable of a word. - - The pause is a rest or stop that is made in pronouncing the verse, and -that divides it, as it were, into two parts; each of which is called an -hemistich, or half-verse. - - But this division is not always equal, that is to say, one of the -half-verses does not always contain the same number of syllables as the -other. And this inequality proceeds from the seat of the accent that is -strongest, and prevails most in the first half-verse. For the pause must -be observed at the end of the word where such accents happen to be, or -at the end of the following word. - - Now, in a verse of ten syllables this accent must be either on the -second, fourth, or sixth; which produces five several pauses, that is to -say, at the third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh syllable of the -verse: - - For, - - When it happens to be on the second, the pause will be either at the -third or fourth. - - At the third in two manners: - - 1. When the syllable accented happens to be the last save one of a -word; as, - - "As busy—as intentive Emmets are; - Or Cities—whom unlook'd for Sieges scare."—_Davenant._ - - 2. Or when the accent is on the last of a word, and the next a -monosyllable, whose construction is governed by that on which the accent -is; as, - - "Despise it,—and more noble Thoughts pursue."—_Dryden._ - -When the accent falls on the second syllable of the verse, and the last -save two of a word, the pause will be at the fourth; as, - - "He meditates—his absent Enemy."—_Dryden._ - -When the accent is on the fourth of a verse, the pause will be either at -the same syllable, or at the fifth or sixth. - - At the same, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last of -a word; as, - - "Such huge Extreams—inhabit thy great Mind, - God-like, unmov'd,—and yet, like Woman, kind."—_Waller._ - - At the fifth in two manners: - - 1. When it happens to be the last save one of a word; as, - - "Like bright Aurora—whose refulgent Ray - Fortells the Feavour—of ensuing Day; - And warns the Shepherd—with his Flocks, retreat - To leafy Shadows—from the threaten'd Heat."—_Waller._ - - 2. Or the last of the word, if the next be a monosyllable governed by -it; as, - - "So fresh the Wound is—and the Grief so vast."—_Waller._ - -At the sixth, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last -save two of a word; as, - - "Those Seeds of Luxury,—Debate, and Pride."—_Waller._ - -Lastly, when the accent is on the sixth syllable of the verse, the pause -will be either at the same syllable or at the seventh. - -At the same, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last of a -word; as, - - "She meditates Revenge—resolv'd to die."—_Waller._ - -At the seventh in two manners: - - 1. When it happens to be the last save one of a word; as, - - "Nor when the War is over,—is it Peace."—_Dryden._ - - "Mirrors are taught to flatter,—but our Springs."—_Waller._ - - 2. Or the last of a word, if the following one be a monosyllable whose -construction depends on the preceding word on which the accent is; as, - - "And since he could not save her—with her dy'd."—_Dryden._ - -From all this it appears, that the pause is determined by the seat of -the accent; but if the accents happen to be equally strong on the -second, fourth, and sixth syllable of a verse, the sense and -construction of the words must then guide to the observation of the -pause. For example, in one of the verses I have cited as an instance of -it at the seventh syllable, - - "Mirrors are taught to flatter, but our Springs." - -The accent is as strong on _taught_, as on the first syllable of -_flatter_; and if the pause were observed at the fourth syllable of the -verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its sound; as, - - "Mirrors are taught—to flatter, but our Springs - Present th' impartial Images of things." - -Which though it be no violence to the ear, yet it is to the sense, and -that ought always carefully to be avoided in reading or in repeating of -verses. - - For this reason it is, that the construction or sense should never end -at a syllable where the pause ought not to be made; as at the eighth and -second in the two following verses:— - - "Bright Hesper twinkles from afar:—Away - My Kids!—for you have had a Feast to Day."—_Stafford._ - -Which verses have nothing disagreeable in their structure but the pause, -which in the first of them must be observed at the eighth syllable, in -the second at the second; and so unequal a division can produce no true -harmony. And for this reason too, the pauses at the third and seventh -syllables, though not wholly to be condemned, ought to be but sparingly -practised. - - The foregoing rules ought indispensably to be followed in all our -verses of ten syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right -time in music, will produce harmony; the neglect of them harshness and -discord; as appears by the following verses:— - - "None think Rewards render'd worthy their Worth. - And both Lovers, both thy Disciples were." - -In which, though the true number of syllables be observed, yet neither -of them have so much as the sound of a verse. Now their disagreeableness -proceeds from the undue seat of the accent. For example, the first of -them accented on the fifth and seventh syllables; but if we change the -words, and remove the accent to the fourth and sixth, the verse will -become smooth and easy; as, - - "None think Rewards are equal to their Worth." - -The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on -the third syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one -word: - - "And Lovers both, both thy Disciples were." - -In like manner the following verses, - - "To be massacred, not in Battle slain."—_Blac._ - - "But forc'd, harsh, and uneasy unto all."—_Cowley._ - - "Against the Insults of the Wind and Tide."—_Blac._ - - "A second Essay will the Pow'rs appease."—_Blac._ - - "With Scythians expert in the Dart and Bow."—_Dryden._ - -are rough, because the foregoing rules are not observed in their -structure; for example, the first where the pause is at the fifth -syllable, and the accent on the third, is contrary to the rule, which -says, that the accent that determines the pause must be on the second, -fourth, or sixth syllable of the verse; and to mend that verse we need -only place the accent on the fourth, and then the pause at the fifth -will have nothing disagreeable; as, - - "Thus to be murther'd, not in Battle slain." - -The second verse is accented on the third syllable, and the pause is -there too; which makes it indeed the thing it expresses, forced, harsh, -and uneasy; it may be mended thus: - - "But forc'd and harsh, uneasy unto all." - - The third, fourth, and fifth of those verses have like faults; for the -pauses are at the fifth, and the accent there too; which is likewise -contrary to the foregoing rules. Now they will be made smooth and -flowing, by taking the accent from the fifth, and removing the seat of -the pause; as, - - "Against th' Insults both of the Wind and Tide - A second Tryal will the Pow'rs appease. - With Scythians skilful in the Dart and Bow." - -From whence we conclude, that in all verses of ten syllables, the most -prevailing accents ought to be on the second, fourth, or sixth -syllables; for if they are on the third, fifth, or seventh, the verses -will be rough and disagreeable, as has been proved by the preceding -instances. - -In short, the wrong placing of the accent is as great a fault in our -versification, as false quantity was in that of the ancients; and -therefore we ought to take equal care to avoid it, and endeavour so to -dispose the words that they may create a certain melody in the ear, -without labour to the tongue, or violence to the sense. - - -SECTION II.—_Of the other sorts of verses that are used in our poetry._ - - After the verses of ten syllables those of eight are most frequent, -and we have many entire poems composed in them. - - In the structure of these verses, as well as of those of ten -syllables, we must take care that the most prevailing accents be neither -on the third nor fifth syllables of them. - - They also require a pause to be observed in pronouncing them, which is -generally at the fourth or fifth syllable; as, - - "I'll sing of Heroes,—and of Kings, - In mighty Numbers—mighty things; - Begin, my Muse,—but to the Strings, - To my great Song—rebellious prove, - The Strings will sound—of nought but Love."—_Cowley._ - - The verses of seven syllables, which are called anacreontic, are most -beautiful when the strongest accent is on the third, and the pause -either there or at the fourth; as, - - "Fill the Bowl—with rosy Wine, - Round our Temples—Roses twine - Crown'd with Roses—we contemn - Gyges' wealthy—Diadem."—_Cowley._ - - The verses of nine and of eleven syllables, are of two sorts; one is -those that are accented upon the last save one, which are only the -verses of double rhyme that belong to those of eight and ten syllables, -of which examples have already been given. The other of those that are -accented on the last syllable, which are employed only in compositions -for music, and in the lowest sort of burlesque poetry; the -disagreeableness of their measure having wholly excluded them from grave -and serious subjects. They who desire to see examples of them may find -some scattered here and there in our masks and operas, and in the -burlesque writers. I will give but two: - - "Hylas, O Hylas, why sit we mute? - Now that each Bird saluteth the Spring."—_Waller._ - - "Apart let me view then each Heavenly Fair, - For three at a time there's no Mortal can bear."—_Congreve._ - - The verses of twelve syllables are truly heroic both in their measure -and sound, though we have no entire works composed in them; and they are -so far from being a blemish to the poems they are in, that on the -contrary, when rightly employed, they conduce not a little to the -ornament of them; particularly in the following rencontres:— - - 1. When they conclude an episode in an heroic poem. Thus Stafford ends -his translation of that of Camilla from the eleventh Æneid with a verse -of twelve syllables: - - "The ling'ring Soul th' unwelcome Doom receives, - And, murm'ring with Disdain, the beauteous Body leaves." - - 2. When they conclude a triplet and full sense together; as, - - "Millions of op'ning Mouths to Fame belong; } - And every Mouth is furnish'd with a Tongue; } - And round with list'ning Ears the flying Plague is hung." } - —_Dryden._ - -And here we may observe by the way, that whenever a triplet is made use -of in an heroic poem, it is a fault not to close the sense at the end of -the triplet, but to continue it into the next line; as Dryden has done -in his translation of the eleventh Æneid, in these lines: - - "With Olives crown'd, the Presents they shall bear, } - A Purple Robe, a Royal Iv'ry Chair, } - And all the Marks of Sway that Latian Monarchs wear, } - And Sums of Gold," &c. } - -And in the seventh Æneid he has committed the like fault: - - "Then they, whose Mothers, frantick with their Fear, } - In Woods and Wilds the Flags of Bacchus bear, } - And lead his Dances with dishevell'd Hair, } - Increase thy Clamours," &c. } - -But the sense is not confined to the couplet, for the close of it may -fall into the middle of the next verse, that is, the third, and -sometimes farther off, provided the last verse of the couplet exceed not -the number of ten syllables; for then the sense ought always to conclude -with it. Examples of this are so frequent, that it is needless to give -any. - - 3. When they conclude the stanzas of lyric or Pindaric odes; examples -of which are often seen in Dryden, and others. - - In these verses the pause ought to be at the sixth syllable, as may be -seen in the foregoing examples. - - We sometimes find it, though very rarely, at the seventh; as, - - "That such a cursed Creature—lives so long a Space." - - When it is at the fourth, the verse will be rough and hobbling; as, - - "And Midwife Time—the ripen'd Plot to Murther brought." - —_Dryden._ - - "The Prince pursu'd,—and march'd along with great equal Pace." - —_Dryden._ - -In the last of which it is very apparent, that if the sense and -construction would allow us to make the pause at the sixth syllable, - - "The Prince pursu'd, and march'd—along with equal pace," - -the verse would be much more flowing and easy. - - The verses of fourteen syllables are less frequent than those of -twelve; they are likewise inserted in heroic poems, &c., and are -agreeable enough when they conclude a triplet and sense, and follow a -verse of twelve; as, - - "For Thee the Land in fragrant Flowers is drest; } - For thee the Ocean smiles, and smooths her wavy Breast, } - And Heav'n itself with more serene and purer Light is blest." } - —_Dryden._ - -But if they follow one of ten syllables, the inequality of the measure -renders them less agreeable; as, - - "While all thy Province, Nature, I survey, } - And sing to Memmius an immortal Lay } - Of Heav'n and Earth; and everywhere thy wonderous Pow'r display." } - —_Dryden._ - -Especially if it be the last of a couplet only; as, - - "With Court-Informer's Haunts, and Royal Spies, - Things done relates, not done she feigns, and mingles Truth - with Lies." - —_Dryden._ - - But this is only in heroics; for in their Pindarics and lyrics, verses -of twelve or fourteen syllables are frequently and gracefully placed, -not only after those of twelve or ten, but of any other number of -syllables whatsoever. - -The verses of four and six syllables have nothing worth observing, and -therefore I shall content myself with having made mention of them. They -are, as I said before, used only in operas and masks, and in lyric and -Pindaric odes. Take one example of them:— - - "To rule by love, - To shed no Blood, - May be extoll'd above; - But here below, - Let Princes know, - 'Tis fatal to be good." - —_Dryden_. - - -SECTION III.—_Several rules conducing to the beauty of our -versification._ - - Our poetry being very much polished and refined since the days of -Chaucer, Spenser, and the other ancient poets, some rules which they -neglected, and that conduce very much to the ornaments of it, have been -practised by the best of the moderns. - - The first is to avoid as much as possible the concourse of vowels, -which occasions a certain ill-sounding gaping, called by the Latins -_hiatus_; and which they thought so disagreeable to the ear, that, to -avoid it, whenever a word ended in a vowel, and the next began with one, -they never, even in prose, sounded the vowel of the first word, but lost -it in the pronunciation; and it is a fault in our poets not to do the -like, whenever our language will admit of it. - - For this reason the _e_ of the particle the ought always to be cut off -before the words that begin with a vowel; as, - - "With weeping Eyes she heard th' unwelcome News."—_Dryden._ - -And it is a fault to make the and the first syllable of the following -word two distinct syllables, as in this, - - "Restrain'd a while by the unwelcome Night."—_Waller._ - - A second sort of hiatus, and that ought no less to be avoided, is when -a word that ends in a vowel that cannot be cut off, is placed before one -that begins with the same vowel, or one that has the like sound; as, - - "Should thy Iambicks swell into a Book."—_Waller._ - - The second rule is, to contract the two last syllables of the -preterperfect tenses of all the verbs that will admit of it; which are -all the regular verbs whatsoever, except only those ending in _d_ or -_t_, and _de_ or _te_. And it is a fault to make amazed of three -syllables, and loved of two, instead of amazed of two, and loved of one. - - And the second person of the present and preterperfect tenses of all -verbs ought to be contracted in like manner; as thou lov'st, for thou -lovest, &c. - -The third rule is, not to make use of several words in a verse that -begin with the same letter; as, - - "The Court he knew to Steer in Storms of State, - He in these Miracles Design discern'd." - -Yet we find an instance of such a verse in Dryden's translation of the -first pastoral of Virgil: - - "Till then a helpless, hopeless, homely swain." - -Which I am persuaded he left not thus through negligence or -inadvertency, but with design to paint in the number and sound of the -words the thing he described—a shepherd in whom - - "Nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculi." - -Now how far the sound of the _h_ aspirate, with which three feet of that -verse begin, expresses the despair of the swain, let the judicious -judge. I have taken notice of it only to say, that it is a great beauty -in poetry, when the words and numbers are so disposed, as by their order -and sound to represent the things described. - - The fourth is, to avoid ending a verse by an adjective whose -substantive begins the following; as, - - "Some lost their quiet Rivals, some their kind - Parents," &c.—_Davenant._ - -Or, by a preposition when the case it governs begins the verse that -follows; as, - - "The daily less'ning of our life, shews by - A little dying, how outright to dye." - - The fifth is, to avoid the frequent use of words of many syllables, -which are proper enough in prose, but come not into verse without a -certain violence altogether disagreeable; particularly those whose -accent is on the fourth syllable from the last, as undutifulness. - - -SECTION IV.—_Doubts concerning the number of syllables of certain -words._ - - There is no language whatsoever that so often joins several vowels -together to make diphthongs of them, as ours; this appears in our having -several composed of three different vowels, as _eau_ and _eou_ in -beauteous, _iou_ in glorious, _uai_ in acquaint, &c. - - Now from hence may arise some difficulties concerning the true -pronunciation of those vowels, whether they ought to be founded -separately in two syllables, or jointly in one. - - The ancient poets made them sometimes of two syllables, sometimes but -of one, as the measure of their verse required; but they are now become -to be but of one, and it is a fault to make them of two: from whence we -may draw this general rule:—That whenever one syllable of a word ends in -a vowel, and the next begins with one, provided the first of those -syllables be not that on which the word is accented, those two syllables -ought in verse to be contracted and made but one. - - Thus beauteous is but two syllables, victorious but three; and it is a -fault in Dryden to make it four, as he has done in this verse: - - "Your arms are on the Rhine victorious." - -To prove that this verse wants a syllable of its due measure, we need -but add one to it; as, - - "Your arms are on the Rhine victorious now." - -Where, though the syllable _now_ be added to the verse, it has no more -than its due number of syllables; which plainly proves it wanted it. - - But if the accent be upon the first of these syllables, they cannot be -contracted to make a diphthong, but must be computed as two distinct -syllables: thus poet, lion, quiet, and the like, must always be used as -two syllables; poetry, and the like, as three. And it is a fault to make -riot, for example, one syllable, as Milton has done in this verse, - - "Their Riot ascends above the lofty Tow'rs." - - The same poet has in another place made use of a like word twice in -one verse, and made it two syllables each time; - - "With Ruin upon Ruin, Rout on Rout." - -And any ear may discover that this last verse has its true measure, the -other not. - - But there are some words that may be excepted; as diamond, violet, -violent, diadem, hyacinth, and perhaps some others, which, though they -are accented upon the first vowel, are sometimes used but as two -syllables; as in the following verses:— - - "From Diamond Quarries hewn, and Rocks of Gold."—_Milton._ - - "With Poppies, Daffadils, and Violets join'd."—_Tate._ - - "With vain, but violent force their Darts they flung."—_Cowley._ - - "His Ephod, Mitre, well-cut Diadem on."—_Cowley._ - - "My blushing Hyacinths, and my Bays I keep."—_Dryden._ - -Sometimes as three; as, - - "A Mount of Rocky Diamond did rise."—_Blac._ - - "Hence the blue Violet and blushing Rose."—_Blac._ - - "And set soft Hyacinths of Iron blue."—_Dryden._ - - When they are used but as two syllables they suffer an elision of one -of their vowels, and are generally written thus, di'mond, vi'let, &c. - - This contraction is not always made of syllables of the same word -only; for the particle _a_ being placed after a word that ends in a -vowel, will sometimes admit of the like contraction; for example, after -the word many; as, - - "Tho' many a victim from my Folds was bought, - And many a Cheese to Country Markets brought."—_Dryden._ - - "They many a Trophy gain'd with many a Wound."—_Davenant._ - - After _to_; as, - - "Can he to a Friend, to a Son so bloody grow?"—_Cowley._ - - After _they_; as, - - "From thee, their long-known King, they a King desire."—_Cowley._ - - After _by_; as, - - "When we by a foolish Figure say."—_Cowley._ - -And perhaps after some others. - - There are also other words whose syllables are sometimes contracted, -sometimes not; as bower, heaven, prayer, nigher, towards, and many more -of the like nature, but they generally ought to be used but as one -syllable; and then they suffer an elision of the vowel that precedes -their final consonant, and ought to be written thus, bow'r, heav'n, -pray'r, nigh'r, tow'rds. - - The termination _ism_ is always used but as one syllable; as, - - "Where grisly Schism and raging Strife appear."—_Cowley._ - "And Rheumatisms I send to rack the Joynts."—_Dryden._ - -And, indeed, considering that it has but one vowel, it may seem absurd -to assert that it ought to be reckoned two syllables; yet in my opinion -those verses seem to have a syllable more than their due measure, and -would run better if we took one from them; as, - - "Where grisly Schism, raging Strife appear," - "I Rheumatisms send to rack the Joynts." - -Yet this opinion being contrary to the constant practice of our poets, I -shall not presume to advance it as a rule for others to follow, but -leave it to be decided by such as are better judges of poetical numbers. - - The like may be said of the terminations _asm_ and _osm_. - - -SECTION V.—_Of the elisions that are allowed in our versification._ - - In verses consisting only of a certain number of syllables, nothing -can be of more ease, or greater use to poets, than the retaining or -cutting off a syllable from a verse, according as the measure of it -requires; and therefore it is requisite to treat of the elisions that -are allowable in our poetry, some of which have been already taken -notice of in the preceding section. - - By elision I mean the cutting off one or more letters from a word, -whereby two syllables come to be contracted into one, or the taking away -an entire syllable. Now when in a word of more than two syllables, which -is accented on the last save two, the liquid _r_ happens to be between -two vowels, that which precedes the liquid admits of an elision. Of this -nature are many words in _ance_, _ence_, _ent_, _er_, _ous_, and _ry_; -as temperance, preference, different, flatterer, amorous, victory: which -are words of three syllables, and often used as such in verse; but they -may be also contracted into two by cutting off the vowel that precedes -the liquid, as temp'rance, pref'rence, diff'rent, flatt'rer, am'rous, -vict'ry. The like elision is sometimes used when any of the other -liquids _l_, _m_, or _n_, happen to be between two vowels in words -accented like the former; as fabulous, enemy, mariner, which may be -contracted fab'lous, en'my, mar'ner. But this is not so frequent. - - Observe, that I said accented on the last save two; for if the word be -accented on the last save one, that is to say, on the vowel that -precedes the liquid, that vowel may not be cut off. And therefore it is -a fault to make, for example, sonorous two syllables, as in this verse; - - "With Son'rous Metals wak'd the drowsy Day."—_Blac._ - -Which always ought to be three, as in this, - - "Sonorous Metals blowing martial sounds."—_Milton._ - -In like manner, whenever the letter _s_ happens to be between two vowels -in words of three syllables, accented on the first, one of the vowels -may be cut off; as pris'ner, bus'ness, &c. - -Or the letter _c_ when it is sounded like _s_; that is to say, whenever -it precedes the vowel _e_ or _i_; as med'cine for medicine. Or _v_ -consonant, as cov'nant for covenant. - -To these may be added the gerunds of all verbs whose infinities end in -any of the liquids, preceded by a vowel or a diphthong, and that are -accented on the last save one; for the gerunds being formed by adding -the syllable _ing_ to the infinitive, the liquid that was their final -letter comes thereby to be between two vowels; and the accent that was -on the last save one of the infinitive, comes to be on the last save two -of the gerunds: and therefore the vowel or diphthong that precedes the -liquid may be cut off; by means whereof the gerund of three syllables -comes to be but of two; as from travel, travelling, or trav'ling; from -endeavour, endeavouring, or endeav'ring, &c. - -But if the accent be on the last syllable of such a verb, its gerund -will not suffer such an elision. Thus the gerund of devour must always -be three syllables, devouring, not dev'ring; because all derivatives -still retain the accent of their primitives, that is, on the same -syllable; and the accent always obliges the syllable on which it is to -remain entire. - -The gerunds of the verbs in _ow_, accented on the last save two, suffer -an elision of the _o_ that precedes the _w_; as foll'wing, wall'wing. - -The particle _it_ admits of an elision of its vowel before it was, were, -will, would; as 'tis, 'twas, 'twere, 'twill, 'twould, for it is, it was, -&c. - -It likewise sometimes suffers the like elision when placed after a word -that ends in a vowel; as by't for by it, do't for do it; or that ends in -a consonant after which the letter _t_ can be pronounced; as was't for -was it, in't for in it, and the like. But this is not so frequent in -heroic verse. - -The particle _is_ may lose its _i_ after any word that ends in a vowel, -or in any of the consonants after which the letter _s_ may be sounded; -as she's for she is, the air's for the air is, &c. - -To (sign of the infinitive mood) may lose its _o_ before any verb that -begins with a vowel; as t'maze, t'undo, &c. - -To (sign of the dative case) may likewise lose its _o_ before any noun -that begins with a vowel; as t'air, t'every, &c. But this elision is not -so allowable as the former. - -Are may lose its _a_ after the pronouns personal, we, you, they; as -we're, you're, they're. And thus it is that this elision ought to be -made, and not, as some do, by cutting off the final vowels of the -pronouns personal, w'are, y'are, th'are. - -Will and would may lose all their first letters, and retain only their -final one, after any of the pronouns personal; as I'll for I will, he'd -for he would; or after who, who'll for who will, who'd for who would. - -Have may lose its two first letters after I, you, we, they; as I've, -you've, we've, they've. - -Not, its two first letters after can; as can't for cannot. - -Am, its _a_ after _i_; I'm for I am. - -Us, its _u_ after let; let's for let us. - -Taken, its _k_, ta'en; for so it ought to be written, not ta'ne. - -Heaven, seven, even, eleven, and the participles driven, given, thriven, -and their compounds, may lose their last vowel; as heav'n, forgiv'n, &c. -See the foregoing section. - -To these may be added, bow'r, pow'r, flow'r, tow'r, show'r, for bower, -tower, &c. - -Never, ever, over, may lose their _v_, and are contracted thus, ne'er, -e'er, o'er. - -Some words admit of an elision of their first syllable; as 'tween, -'twixt, 'mong, 'mongst, 'gainst, 'bove, 'cause, 'fore, for between, -betwixt, among, amongst, against, above, because, before, and some -others that may be observed in reading our poets. - -I have already, in the third section of this chapter, spoken of the -elision of the _e_ of the particle the before vowels; but it is -requisite likewise to take notice, that it sometimes loses its vowel -before a word that begins with a consonant, and then its two remaining -letters are joined to the preceding word; as to th' wall for to the -wall, by th' wall for by the wall, &c., but this is scarcely allowable -in heroic poetry. - -The particles in, of, and on, sometimes lose their consonants, and are -joined to the particle the in like manner, as i'th', o'th', for in the, -of the. - -In some of our poets we find the pronoun his loses its two first letters -after any word that ends in a vowel; as to's, by's, &c., for to his, by -his, &c.; or after many words that end in a consonant, after which the -letter _s_ can be pronounced; as in's, for's, for in his, for his, &c. -This is frequent in Cowley, who often takes too great liberty in his -contractions; as t'your for to your, t'which for to which, and many -others; in which we must be cautious in following his example, but the -contracting of the pronoun his in the manner I mentioned is not wholly -to be condemned. - -We sometimes find the word who contracted before words that begin with a -vowel; as, - - "Wh' expose to Scorn and Hate both them and it."—_Cowley._ - -And the preposition in like manner; as, - - "B' unequal Fate and Providence's Crime."—_Dryden._ - "Well did he know how Palms b' Oppression speed."—_Cowley._ - -And the pronouns personal, he, she, they, we; as, - - "Timely h' obeys her wise Advice, and strait - To unjust Force sh' opposes just Deceit."—_Cowley._ - - "Themselves at first against themselves th' excite."—_Cowley._ - - "Shame and Woe to us, if w' our Wealth obey."—_Cowley._ - -But these and the like contractions are very rare in our most correct -poets, and indeed ought wholly to be avoided, for 'tis a general rule -that no vowel can be cut off before another, when it cannot be sunk in -the pronunciation of it: and therefore we ought to take care never to -place a word that begins with a vowel after a word that ends in one -(mute _e_ only excepted), unless the final vowel of the former can be -lost in its pronunciation, for to leave two vowels opening on each -other, causes a very disagreeable hiatus. Whenever therefore a vowel -ends a word, the next ought to begin with a consonant, or what is -equivalent to it; as our _w_ and _h_ aspirate plainly are. - -For which reason it is a fault in some of our poets to cut off the _e_ -of the particle the; for example, before a word that begins by an _h_ -aspirate; as, - - "And th' hasty Troops march'd loud and cheerful down."—_Cowley._ - -But if the _h_ aspirate be followed by another _e_, that of the particle -the may be cut off; as, - - "Th' Heroick Prince's Courage or his love."—_Waller._ - - Th' Hesperian Fruit, and made the Dragon sleep."—_Waller._ - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - OF RHYME. - - -SECTION I.—_What rhyme is, and the several sorts of it._ - -Rhyme is a likeness or uniformity of sound in the terminations of two -words. I say of sound, not of letters; for the office of rhyme being to -content and please the ear, and not the eye, the sound only is to be -regarded, not the writing: thus maid and persuade, laugh and quaff, -though they differ in writing, rhyme very well: but plough and cough, -though their terminations are written alike, rhyme not at all. - -In our versification we may observe three several sorts of rhyme: -single, double, and treble. - -The single rhyme is of two sorts: one, of the words that are accented on -the last syllable; another, of those that have their accent on the last -save two. - -The words accented on the last syllable, if they end in a consonant, or -mute _e_, oblige the rhyme to begin at the vowel that precedes their -last consonant, and to continue to the end of the word. In a consonant; -as, - - "Here might be seen, the Beauty, Wealth, and Wit, - And Prowess, to the Pow'r of Love submit." - —_Dryden._ - -In mute _e_; as, - - "A Spark of Virtue, by the deepest Shade - Of sad Adversity, is fairer made." - —_Waller._ - -But if a diphthong precede the last consonant the rhyme must begin at -that vowel of it whose sound most prevails; as, - - "Next to the Pow'r of making Tempest cease, - Was in that storm to have so calm a Peace." - —_Waller._ - -If the words accented on the last syllable end in any of the vowels, -except mute _e_, or in a diphthong, the rhyme is made only to that vowel -or diphthong. To the vowel; as, - - "So wing'd with Praise we penetrate the Sky, - Teach Clouds and Stars to praise him as we fly."—_Waller._ - -To the diphthong; as, - - "So hungry Wolves, tho' greedy of their Prey, - Stop when they find a Lion in the Way."—_Waller._ - - The other sort of single rhyme is of the words that have their accent -on the last syllable save two, and these rhyme to the other in the same -manner as the former; that is to say, if they end in any of the vowels, -except mute _e_, the rhyme is made only to that vowel; as, - - "So seems to speak the youthful Deity; - Voice, Colour, Hair, and all like Mercury."—_Waller._ - -But if they end in a consonant or mute _e_, the rhyme must begin at the -vowel that precedes that consonant, and continue to the end of the word; -as has been shewn by the former examples. - -But we must take notice, that all the words that are accented on the -last save two, will rhyme not only to one another, but also to all the -words whose terminations have the same sound, though they are accented -on the last syllable. Thus tenderness rhymes not only to poetess, -wretchedness, and the like, that are accented on the last save two, but -also to confess, excess, &c., that are accented on the last; as, - -"Thou art my Father now these Words confess That Name, and that -indulgent Tenderness."—_Dryden._ - - -SECTION II.—_Of double and treble rhyme._ - -All words that are accented on the last save one, require rhyme to begin -at the vowel of that syllable, and to continue to the end of the word; -and this is what we call double rhyme; as, - - "Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking, - Besides ten thousands Freaks that dy'd in Thinking."—_Dryden._ - -But it is convenient to take notice, that the ancient poets did not -always observe this rule, and took care only that the last syllables of -the words should be alike in sound without any regard to the seat of the -accent. Thus nation and affection, tenderness and hapless, villany and -gentry, follow and willow, and the like, were allowed as rhymes to each -other in the days of Chaucer, Spenser, and the rest of the ancients; but -this is now become a fault in our versification; and these two verses of -Cowley rhyme not at all, - - "A dear and lively Brown was Merab's Dye; - Such as the proudest Colours might envy." - -Nor these of Dryden, - - "Thus Air was void of Light, and Earth unstable, - And Waters dark Abyss unnavigable." - - Because we may not place an accent on the last syllable of envy, nor -on the last save one of unnavigable; which nevertheless we must be -obliged to do, if we make the first of them rhyme to dye, the last to -unstable. - - But we may observe, that in burlesque poetry it is permitted to place -an accent upon a syllable that naturally has none; as, - - "When Pulpit, Drum Ecclesiastick, - Was beat with Fist instead of a Stick." - -Where, unless we pronounce the particle _a_ with a strong accent upon -it, and make it sound like the vowel _a_ in the last syllable but one of -ecclesiastic, the verse will lose all its beauty and rhyme. But this is -allowable in burlesque poetry only. - - Observe that these double rhymes may be composed of two several words, -provided the accent be on the last syllable of the first of them; as -these verses of Cowley, speaking of gold, - - "A Curse on him who did refine it, - A Curse on him who first did coin it." - -Or some of the verses may end in an entire word, and the rhyme to it be -composed of several; as, - - "Tho' stor'd with Deletery Med'cines - Which whosoever took is dead since."—_Hudibras._ - - The treble rhyme is very seldom used, and ought wholly to be exploded -from serious subjects; for it has a certain flatness unworthy the -gravity required in heroic verse. In which Dryden was of opinion, that -even the double rhymes ought very cautiously to find place; and in all -his translations of Virgil he has made use of none, except only in such -words as admit of a contraction, and therefore cannot properly be said -to be double rhymes; as giv'n, driv'n, tow'r, pow'r, and the like. And -indeed, considering their measure is indifferent from that of a heroic -verse, which consists but of ten syllables, they ought not to be too -frequently used in heroic poems; but they are very graceful in the -lyric, to which, as well as to the burlesque, those rhymes more properly -belong. - - -SECTION III.—_Further instructions concerning rhyme._ - - The consonants that precede the vowels where the rhyme begins, must be -different in sound, and not the same; for then the rhyme will be too -perfect; as light, delight; vice, advice, and the like; for though such -rhymes were allowable in the days of Spenser and the other old poets, -they are not so now, nor can there be any music in one single note. -Cowley himself owns, that they ought not to be allowed except in -Pindaric odes, which is a sort of free poetry, and there too very -sparingly and not without a third rhyme to answer to both; as, - - "In barren Age wild and inglorious lye, - And boast of past Fertility, - The poor relief of present Poverty."—_Cowley._ - -Where the words fertility and poverty rhyme very well to the last word -of the first verse, lye; but cannot rhyme to each other, because the -consonants that precede the last vowels are the same, both in writing -and sound. - - But this is yet less allowable, if the accent be on the last syllable -of the rhyme; as, - - "Her Language melts Omnipotence, arrests - His hand, and thence the vengeful Light'ning wrests."—_Blac._ - -From hence it follows, that a word cannot rhyme to itself though the -signification be different; as, he leaves to the leaves, &c. - - Nor the words that differ both in writing and sense, if they have the -same sound, as maid and made, prey and pray, to bow and a bough; as, - - "How gaudy Fate may be in Presents sent, - And creep insensible by Touch or Scent."—_Oldham._ - -Nor a compound to its simple; as move to remove, taught to untaught, &c. - - Nor the compounds of the same words to one another, as disprove to -approve, and the like. All which proceeds from what I said before, viz., -that the consonants that precede the vowels where the rhyme begins, must -not be the same in sound, but different. In all which we vary from our -neighbours; for neither the French, Italians, nor Spaniards, will allow, -that a rhyme can be too perfect; and we meet with frequent examples in -their poetry, where not only the compounds rhyme to their simples, and -to themselves, but even where words written and pronounced exactly -alike, provided they have a different signification, are made use of as -rhymes to another. But this is not permitted in our poetry. - - We must take care not to place a word at the middle of a verse that -rhymes to the last word of it; as, - - "So young in show, as if he still should grow." - - But this fault is still more inexcusable, if the second verse rhyme to -the middle and end of the first; as, - - "Knowledge he only sought, and so soon caught, - As if for him Knowledge had rather sought."—_Cowley._ - - "Here Passion sways, but there the Muse shall raise - Eternal Monuments of louder Praise."—_Waller._ - - Or both the middle and end of the second to the last word of the -first; as, - - "Farewell, she cry'd, my Sister, thou dear Part, - Thou sweetest Part of my divided Heart."—_Dryden._ - -Where the tenderness of expression will not atone for the jingle. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - OF THE SEVERAL SORTS OF POEMS, OR COMPOSITION IN VERSE. - - -All our poems may be divided into two sorts: the first are those -composed in couplets; the second those that are composed in stanzas, -consisting of several verses. - - - SECTION I.—_Of the poems composed in couplets._ - - In the poems composed in couplets, the rhymes follow one another, and -end at each couplet; that is to say, the second verse rhymes to the -first, the fourth to the third, the sixth to the fifth, and in like -manner to the end of the poem. - - The verses employed in this sort of poems are either verses of ten -syllables; as, - - "Oh! could I flow like thee, and make thy Stream - My great Example, as it is my Theme; - Tho' dark yet clear; tho' gentle, yet not dull; - Strong without Rage; without o'erflowing full."—_Denham._ - -Or of eight; as, - - "O fairest Piece of well-form'd Earth, - Why urge you thus your haughty Birth? - The Pow'r, which you have o'er us lies, - Not in your Race, but in your Eyes. - Smile but on me, and you shall scorn - Henceforth to be of Princes born: - I can describe the shady Grove, - Where your lov'd Mother slept with Jove: - And yet excuse the faultless Dame, - Caught with her Spouse's Shape and Name: - Thy matchless Form will credit bring, - To all the Wonders I shall sing."—_Waller._ - -Or of seven; as, - - "Phillis, why should we delay - Pleasures shorter than the Day? - Could we, which we never can, - Stretch our Lives beyond their Span, - Beauty like a Shadow flies, - And our Youth before us dies. - Or would Youth and Beauty stay, - Love has Wings, and will away. - Love has swifter Wings than Time." - - But the second verse of the couplet does not always contain a like -number of syllables with the first; as, - - "What shall I do to be for ever known, - And make the Age to come my own? - I shall like Beast and common People die, - Unless you write my Elegy." - - - SECTION II.—_Of the poems composed in stanzas; - and first, of the stanzas consisting of three and of four verses._ - -In the poems composed of stanzas, each stanza contains a certain number -of verses, consisting for the most part of a different number of -syllables; and a poem that consists of several stanzas we generally call -an ode; and this is lyric poetry. - -But we must not forget to observe, that our ancient poets frequently -made use of intermixed rhyme in their heroic poems, which they disposed -into stanzas and cantos. Thus the "Troilus and Cressida" of Chaucer is -composed in stanzas consisting of seven verses; the "Fairy Queen" of -Spenser in stanzas of nine, &c.; and this they took from the Italians, -whose heroic poems generally consist in stanzas of eight. But this is -now wholly laid aside, and Davenant, who composed his "Gondibert" in -stanzas of four verses in alternate rhyme, was the last that followed -their example of intermingling rhymes in heroic poetry. - -The stanzas employed in our poetry cannot consist of less than three, -and are seldom of more than twelve verses, except in Pindaric odes, -where the stanzas are different from one another in number of verses, as -shall be shown. - -But to treat of all the different stanzas that are employed or may be -admitted in our poetry would be a labour no less tedious than useless; -it being easy to demonstrate that they may be varied almost to an -infinity, that would be different from one another, either in the number -of the verses of each stanza, or in the number of the syllables of each -verse; or, lastly, in the various intermingling of the rhyme. I shall -therefore confine myself to mention only such as are most frequently -used by the best of our modern poets. And first of the stanzas -consisting of three verses. - -In the stanzas of three verses, or triplets, the verses of each stanza -rhyme to one another, and are either heroic; as, - - "Nothing, thou elder Brother even to Shade! } - Thou hadst a Being ere the World was made, } - And (well fix'd) art alone of ending not afraid."—_Rochester._ } - -Or else they consist of eight syllables; as these of Waller, "Of a fair -lady playing with a snake," - - "Strange that such Horror and such Grace } - Should dwell together in one Place, } - A Fairy's Arm, an Angel's Face." } - -Nor do the verses of the stanzas always contain a like number of -syllables; for the first and third may have ten, the second but eight; -as, - - "Men without Love have oft so cunning grown, } - That something like it they have shown, } - But none who had it, ever seem'd t'have none." } - - "Love's of a strangely open, simple Kind, } - Can no Arts or Disguises find; } - But thinks none sees it, 'cause itself is blind."—_Cowley._ } - -In the stanzas of four verses, the rhyme may be intermixed in two -different manners; for either the first and third verse may rhyme to -each other, and by consequence the second and fourth, and this is called -alternate rhyme; or the first and fourth may rhyme, and by consequence -the second and third. - -But there are some poems, in stanzas of four verses, where the rhymes -follow one another, and the verses differ in number of syllables only; -as in Cowley's "Hymn to the Light," which begins thus— - - "First-born of Chaos! who so fair didst come - From the old Negro's darksome Womb: - Which, when it saw the lovely Child, - The melancholy Mass put on kind Looks and smil'd." - -But these stanzas are generally in alternate rhyme, and the verses -either consist of ten syllables; as, - - "She ne'er saw Courts, but Courts could have undone - With untaught Looks and an unpractis'd Heart: - Her nets the most prepar'd could never shun; - For Nature spread them in the scorn of Art."—_Davenant._ - -Or of eight; as, - - "Had Echo with so sweet a Grace, - Narcissus loud Complaint return'd: - Not for Reflection of his Face, - But of his Voice the Boy had burn'd."—_Waller._ - -Or of ten and eight, that is to say, the first and third of ten, the -second and fourth of eight; as, - - "Love from Time's Wings has stol'n the Feathers sure - He has, and put them to his own: - For Hours of late as long as Days endure, - And very Minutes Hours are grown."—_Cowley._ - -Or of eight and six in the like manner; as, - - "Then ask not Bodies doom'd to die, - To what Abode they go: - Since Knowledge is but Sorrow's Spy, - 'Tis better not to know."—_Davenant._ - -Or of seven; as, - - "Not the silver Doves that fly, - Yoak'd in Cythera's Car; - Nor the Wings that lift so high, - And convey her Son so far, - Are so lovely sweet and fair, - Or do more ennoble Love; - Are so choicely match'd a Pair, - Or with more consent do move."—_Waller._ - - - _Note._—That it is absolutely necessary that both the construction and -sense should end with the stanza, and not fall into the beginning of the -following one as it does in the last example, which is a fault wholly to -be avoided. - - - SECTION III.—_Of the stanzas of six verses._ - - - The stanzas of six verses are generally only one of the -before-mentioned quadrans or stanzas of four verses, with two verses at -the end, that rhyme to one another; as, - - "A rural Judge dispos'd of Beauty's Prize, - A simple Shepherd was preferr'd to Jove: - Down to the Mountains from the Partial Skies, - Came Juno, Pallas, and, the Queen of Love, - To plead for that which was so justly giv'n, - To the bright Carlisle of the Courts of Heaven." - -Where the four first verses are only a quadran, and consist of ten -syllables, each in alternate rhyme. - - The following stanza, in like manner, is composed of a quadran, whose -verses consist of eight syllables, and to which two verses that rhyme to -one another are added to the end; as, - - "Hope waits upon the flow'ry Prime, - And Summer, tho' it be less gay, - Yet is not look'd on as a Time - Of Declination and Decay; - For with a full Hand that does bring - All that was promis'd by the Spring."—_Waller._ - - Sometimes the quadran ends the stanza, and the two lines of the same -rhyme begin it; as, - - "Here's to thee, Dick; this whining Love despise; - Pledge me my Friend, and drink till thou be'st wise. - It sparkles brighter far than she; - 'Tis pure and right without Deceit; - And such no Woman e'er can be: - No; they are all sophisticate."—_Cowley._ - - Or as in these, where the first and last verse of the stanza consist -of ten syllables, - - "When Chance or cruel Bus'ness parts us two, - What do our Souls, I wonder, do? - While Sleep does our dull Bodies tie, - Methinks at Home they should not stay, - Content with Dreams, but boldly fly - Abroad, and meet each other half the way."—_Cowley._ - - Or as in the following stanza, where the fourth and fifth verses rhyme -to each other, and the third and sixth, - - "While what I write I do not see, - I dare thus ev'n to you write Poetry. - Ah! foolish Muse! thou dost so high aspire, - And knows't her judgment well, - How much it does thy Pow'r excel; - Yet dar'st be read by thy just Doom the Fire."—_Cowley._ - (Written in Juice of Lemon.) - - But in some of these stanzas the rhymes follow one another; as, - - "Take heed, take heed, thou lovely Maid, - Nor be by glitt'ring Ills betray'd: - Thyself for Money! Oh! let no Man know - The Price of Beauty fall'n so low. - What Dangers ought'st thou not to dread, - When Love, that's blind, is by blind Fortune led?"—_Cowley._ - - Lastly, some of these stanzas are composed of two triplets; as, - - "The Lightning which tall Oaks oppose in vain, - To strike sometimes does not disdain - The humble Furzes of the Plain. - She being so high and I so low, - Her Pow'r by this does greater show, - Who at such Distance gives so sure a blow."—_Cowley._ - - - SECTION IV.—_Of the stanzas of eight verses._ - - I have already said that the Italians compose their heroic poems in -stanzas of eight verses, where the rhyme is disposed as follows: The -first, third, and fifth verses rhyme to one another, and the second, -fourth, and sixth, the two last always rhyme to each other. Now our -translators of their heroic poems have observed the same stanza and -disposition of rhyme, of which take the following example from Fairfax's -translation of Tasso's "Goffredo," cant. 1, stan. 3, - - "Thither thou know'st the World is best inclin'd, - Where luring Parnass most his Beams imparts; - And Truth, convey'd in verse of gentlest Kind, - To read sometimes will move the dullest Hearts; - So we, if Children young diseas'd we find, - Anoint with Sweets the Vessel's foremost parts, - To make them take the Potions sharp we give; - They drink deceiv'd, and so deceiv'd they live." - - But our poets seldom employ this stanza in compositions of their own; -where the following stanza of eight verses are most frequent, - - "Some others may with Safety tell - The mod'rate Flames which in them dwell; - And either find some Med'cine there, - Or cure themselves ev'n by Despair: - My Love's so great, that it might prove - Dang'rous to tell her that I love. - So tender is my Wound it cannot bear - Any Salute, tho' of the kindest Air."—_Cowley._ - -Where the rhymes follow one another, and the six first verses consist of -eight syllables each, the two last of ten. - -We have another sort of stanza of eight verses, where the fourth rhymes -to the first, the third to the second, and the four last are two -couplets; and where the first, fourth, sixth, and eighth are of ten -syllables each, the four others but of eight; as, - - "I've often wish'd to love: What shall I do? - Me still the cruel Boy does spare; - And I a double Task must bear, - First to woo him, and then a Mistress too. - Come at last, and strike for shame, - If thou art any Thing besides a Name; - I'll think thee else no God to be, - But Poets rather Gods, who first created thee."—_Cowley._ - - Another, when the two first and two last verses consist of ten -syllables each, and rhyme to one another, the four other but of eight in -alternate rhyme. - - "Tho' you be absent hence, I needs must say, - The Trees as beauteous are, and Flow'rs as gay, - As ever they were wont to be: - Nay the Birds rural Musick too - Is as melodious and free, - As if they sung to pleasure you. - I saw a Rose bud ope this Morn; I'll swear - The blushing Morning open'd not more fair."—_Cowley._ - - Another, where the four first verses are two couplets, the four last -in alternate rhyme; as in Cowley's "Ode of a Lady that made Posies for -Rings," - - "I little thought the Time would ever be, - That I should Wit in dwarfish Posies see, - As all Words in few Letters live, - Thou to few Words all Sense dost give. - 'Twas Nature taught you this rare Art, - In such a Little, Much to show; - Who all the Good she did impart - To womankind, epitomiz'd in you. - - - SECTION V.—_Of the stanzas of ten and twelve verses._ - - The stanzas of ten and twelve verses are seldom employed in our -poetry, it being very difficult to confine ourselves to a certain -disposition of rhyme, and measure of verse, for so many lines together; -for which reason those of four, six, and eight verses are the most -frequent. However, we sometimes find some of ten and twelve; as in -Cowley's ode, which he calls "Verses Lost upon a Wager," where the -rhymes follow one another; but the verses differ in the number of -syllables. - - "As soon hereafter will I Wagers lay - 'Gainst what an Oracle shall say; - Fool that I was to venture to deny - A Tongue so us'd to Victory; - A Tongue so blest by Nature and by Art, - That never yet it spoke, but gain'd a heart. - Tho' what you said had not been true, - If spoke by any else but you; - Your speech will govern Destiny, - And Fate will change rather than you shall lye."—_Cowley._ - - The same poet furnishes us with an example of a stanza of twelve -verses in the ode he calls "The Prophet," where the rhymes are observed -in the same manner as in the former examples. - - "Teach me to love! Go teach thy self Wit: - I chief Professor am of it. - Teach Craft to Scots, and Thrift to Jews, - Teach Boldness to the Stews. - In Tyrants Courts teach supple Flattery, - Teach Jesuits that have travell'd far too lie, - Teach fire to burn, and Winds to blow, - Teach restless Fountains how to flow, - Teach the dull Earth fixt to abide, - Teach Womankind Inconstancy and Pride, - See if your Diligence there will useful prove; - But prithee teach not me to love." - - - SECTION VI.—_Of the stanzas that consist of an odd - -number of verses._ - - We have also stanzas that consist of odd numbers of verses, as of -five, seven, nine, and eleven; in all which it of necessity follows that -three verses of the stanza rhyme to one another, or that one of them be -a blank verse. - - In the stanzas of five verses the first and third may rhyme, and the -second and two last; as, - - "See not my Love how Time resumes - The Beauty which he lent these Flow'rs: - Tho' none should taste of their Perfumes, - Yet they must live but some few Hours: - Time what we forbear devours."—_Waller._ - -Which is only a stanza of four verses in alternate rhyme, to which a -fifth verse is added that rhymes to the second and fourth. - - See also an instance of a stanza of five verses, where the rhymes are -intermixed in the manner as the former, but the first and third verses -are composed but of four syllables each. - - "Go, lovely Rose, - Tell her that wastes her time and me, - That now she knows, - When I resemble her to thee, - How sweet and fair she seems to be."—_Waller._ - - In the following example the two first verses rhyme, and the three -last. - - "'Tis well, 'tis well with them, said I, - Whose short-liv'd Passions with themselves can die. - For none can be unhappy, who } - 'Midst all his Ills a Time does know, } - Tho' ne'er so long, when he shall not be so."—_Cowley._ } - - In this stanza the two first and the last, and the third and fourth -rhyme to one another. - - "It is enough, enough of Time and Pain - Hast thou consum'd in vain; - Leave, wretched Cowley, leave, - Thy self with Shadows to deceive. - Think that already lost which thou must never gain."—_Cowley._ - - The stanzas of seven verses are frequent enough in our poetry, -especially among the ancients, who composed many of their poems in this -sort of stanza; see the example of one of them taken from Spenser in the -"Ruins of Time," where the first and third verses rhyme to one another, -the second, fourth, and fifth, and the two last. - - "But Fame with golden Wings aloft does fly - Above the Reach of ruinous Decay, - And with brave Plumes does beat the Azure Sky, - Admir'd of base-born Men from far away: - Then whoso will with virtuous Deeds assay, - To mount to Heaven, on Pegasus must ride, - And in sweet Poets verse be glorify'd." - - I have rather chosen to take notice of this stanza, because that poet -and Chaucer have made use of it in many of their poems, though they have -not been followed in it by any of the moderns, whose stanzas of seven -verses are generally composed as follows. - - Either the four first verses are a quadran in alternate rhyme, and the -three last rhyme to one another; as, - - "Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that is, - None loves you half so well as I; - I do not ask your Love for this; - But for Heav'ns sake believe me or I die. - No Servant sure but did deserve } - His Master should believe that he did serve; } - And I'll ask no more Wages, tho' I starve." } - -Or the four first two couplets, and the three last a triplet; as, - - "Indeed I must confess - When Souls mix 'tis a Happiness, - But not compleat 'till Bodies too combine, - And closely as our Minds together join. - But half of Heav'n the Souls in Glory taste } - 'Till by Love in Heav'n at last } - Their Bodies too are plac'd." } - -Or, on the contrary, the three first may rhyme, and the four last be in -rhymes that follow one another; as, - - "From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free, } - And all the Passions else that be, } - In vain I boast of Liberty: } - In vain this State a Freedom call, - Since I have Love; and Love is all. - Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag - That I have no Disease besides the Plague."—_Cowley._ - -Or the first may rhyme to the two last, the second to the fifth, and -third and fourth to one another; as, - - "In vain thou drowsy God I thee invoke, - For thou who dost from Fumes arise, - Thou who Man's Soul dost overshade - With a thick Cloud by Vapours made, - Canst have no Pow'r to shut his Eyes, - Or Passage of his Spirits to choak, - Whose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no Smoak."—_Cowley._ - -Or lastly, the four first and two last may be in the following rhyme, -and the fifth a blank verse; as, - - "Thou robb'st my Days of Bus'ness and Delights, - Of Sleep thou robb'st my Nights. - Ah lovely Thief! what wilt thou do? - What, rob me of Heav'n too! - Thou e'en my Prayers dost from me steal, - And I with wild Idolatry - Begin to God, and end them all in thee."—_Cowley._ - - The stanzas of nine and of eleven syllables are not so frequent as -those of five and seven. Spenser has composed his "Fairy Queen" in -stanzas of nine verses, where the first rhymes to the third, the second -to the fourth, fifth and seventh, and the sixth to the last; but this -stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky choice of it -reduced him often to the necessity of making use of many exploded words; -nor has he, I think, been followed in it by any of the moderns, whose -six first verses of the stanzas that consist of nine are generally in -rhymes that follow one another, and the three last a triplet; as, - - "Beauty, Love's Scene and Masquerade, - So well by well-plac'd Lights, and Distance made; - False Coin! with which th' Imposter cheats us still, - The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill: - Which light or base we find, when we - Weigh by Enjoyment, and examine thee. - For tho' thy Being be but Show, - 'Tis chiefly Night which Men to thee allow, - And chuse t' enjoy thee, when thou least art thou." - —_Cowley._ - - In the following example the like rhyme is to be observed, but the -verses differ in measure from the former, - - "Beneath this gloomy Shade, - By Nature only for my Sorrows made, - I'll spend this Voice in Cries; - In Tears I'll waste these Eyes, - By Love so vainly fed; - So Lust of old the Deluge punished. - Ah wretched Youth! said I; - Ah wretched Youth! twice did I sadly cry; - Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply."—_Cowley._ - - The stanzas consisting of eleven verses are yet less frequent than -those of nine, and have nothing particular to be observed in them. Take -an example of one of them, where the six first are three couplets, the -three next a triplet, the two last a couplet; and where the fourth, the -seventh, and the last verses are of ten syllables each, the others of -eight, - - "No, to what Purpose should I speak? - No, wretched Heart, swell till you break: - She cannot love me if she would, - And, to say Truth, 'twere Pity that she should. - No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear, - As silent as they will be there; - Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give. - So handsomely the Thing contrive, - That she may guiltless of it live: - So perish, that her killing thee - May a Chance-Medley, and no Murder be."—_Cowley._ - - - SECTION VII.—_Of Pindaric odes, and poems in blank verse._ - - The stanzas of Pindaric odes are neither confined to a certain number -of verses, nor the verses to a certain number of syllables, nor the -rhymes to a certain distance. Some stanzas contain fifty verses or more, -others not above ten, and sometimes not so many; some verses fourteen, -nay, sixteen syllables, others not above four: sometimes the rhymes -follow one another for several couplets together, sometimes they are -removed six verses from each other; and all this in the same stanza. -Cowley was the first who introduced this sort of poetry into our -language: nor can the nature of it be better described than as he -himself has done it, in one of the stanzas of his ode upon liberty, -which I will transcribe, not as an example, for none can properly be -given where no rule can be prescribed; but to give an idea of the nature -of this sort of poetry. - - "If Life should a well-order'd Poem be, - In which he only hits the White, - Who joins true Profit with the best Delight; - The more heroick Strain let others take, - Mine the Pindarick Way I'll make: - The Matter shall be grave, the Numbers loose and free; - It shall not keep one settled Pace to Time, - In the same Tune it shall not always Chime, - Nor shall each Day just to his Neighbour rhyme. - A thousand Liberties it shall dispense, - And yet shall manage all without Offence, - Or to the Sweetness of the Sound, or Greatness of the Sense, - Nor shall it ever from one Subject start, - Nor seek Transitions to depart; - Nor its set Way o'er Stiles and Bridges make, - Nor thro' Lanes a compass take, - As if fear'd some Trespass to commit, - When the wide Air's a Road for it. - So the Imperial Eagle does not stay - 'Till the whole Carcass he devour, - That's fall'n into his Pow'r, - As if his gen'rous Hunger understood, - That he can never want Plenty of Food; - He only sucks the tasteful Blood, - And to fresh Game flies cheerfully away, - To Kites and meaner Birds, he leaves the mangled Prey." - - This sort of poetry is employed in all manner of subjects; in -pleasant, in grave, in amorous, in heroic, in philosophical, in moral, -and in divine. - - Blank verse is where the measure is exactly kept without rhyme. -Shakespeare, to avoid the troublesome constraint of rhyme, was the first -who invented it; our poets since him have made use of it in many of -their tragedies and comedies; but the most celebrated poem in this kind -of verse is Milton's "Paradise Lost," from the fifth book of which I -have taken the following lines for an example of blank verse. - - "These are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good! - Almighty! thine this universal Frame, - Thus wond'rous fair! thyself how wond'rous then! - Speak you, who best can tell, ye Sons of Light, - Angels! for you behold him, and with Songs, - And Choral Symphonies, Day without Night, - Circle his Throne rejoycing, you in Heaven. - On Earth, join all ye Creatures, to extol - Him first, him last, him midst, and without End! - Fairest of Stars, last in the Train of Night, - If better thou belong not to the Dawn, - Sure Pledge of Day, that crown'st the smiling Morn - With the bright Circlet, praise him in thy Sphere, - While Day arises, that sweet hour of Prime! - Thou Sun! of this great World both Eye and Soul, - Acknowledge him thy Creator, sound his Praise - In thy eternal Course, both when thou climb'st, - And when high Noon hast gain'd and when thou fall'st. - Moon! that now meet'st the Orient Sun, now fly'st - With the fix'd Stars, fix'd in their Orb that flies, - And ye five other wand'ring Fires! that move - In Mystick Dance, not without Song resound - His Praise, who out of Darkness call'd up Light. - Air! and ye Element! the eldest Birth - Of Nature's Womb, that in Quaternion run - Perpetual Circle multiform and mix - And nourish all Things; let your ceaseless Change - Vary to our great Maker still new praise. - Ye Mists and Exhalations! that now rise - From Hill or standing Lake, dusky or gray, - Till the Sun paint your fleecy Skirts with gold, - In Honour to the World's great Author rise; - Whether to deck with Clouds th' uncolour'd Sky, - Or wet the thirsty Earth with falling show'rs, - Rising or falling still advance his Praise. - His Praise, ye Winds! that from our Quarters blow, - Breathe soft or loud; and wave your Tops, ye Pines! - With ev'ry Plant, in sign of Worship, wave. - Fountains! and ye that warble as you flow - Melodious Murmurs, warbling tune his Praise. - Join Voices all ye living Souls, ye Birds! - That singing, up to Heav'ns high Gate ascend, - Bear on your Wings, and in your Notes his Praise - Ye that in Waters glide! and ye that walk - The Earth! and stately tread, or lovely creep; - Witness if I be silent, Ev'n or Morn, - To Hill or Valley, Fountain, or fresh Shade, - Made Vocal by my Song, and taught his Praise." - - Thus I have given a short account of all the sorts of poems that are -most used in our language. The acrostics, anagrams, &c., deserve not to -be mentioned, and we may say of them what an ancient poet said long ago, - - "_Stultum est difficiles habere nugas,_ - _Et stultus labor est ineptarum._" - -FINIS. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -"Decidedly, this Life of De Quincey is the best biography of the year in -the English language."—_Vide Critical Notices._ - -In Two Volumes, crown 8vo, cloth, with Portrait, price 21s. - - THOMAS DE QUINCEY: - - HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS. - - _WITH UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE._ - - By H. A. PAGE, - - Author of "Memoir of Hawthorne," "Golden Lives," &c. - - ---------- - -The letters comprise nearly one hundred, from Mr. de Quincey to his -family, the Wordsworths, and others; and to him from Mr. Thomas Carlyle, -Professor Wilson, and others. - - ---------- - -=Times.=—The work is enriched by letters which his two surviving -daughters have brought out of long-closed repositories.... In taking -leave of this creditable book, we thank Mr. Page for his labour of love, -and congratulate him on the collaboration that he has been favoured -with. - -=Academy.=—At last we are indulged with a Life of De Quincey, ... and we -are mistaken if the result be not to set Thomas de Quincey on a higher -pinnacle as a man with conduct and conscience, a man with responsible -family relations, a true gentleman as well as a cultivated scholar, than -he had hitherto reached. The author is one practised in kindred -pursuits, and has had the great advantage of Mr. James Hogg's -reminiscences of De Quincey, as well as free access to De Quincey's -daughters, and the papers and documents in their possession. - -=Pall Mall Gazette.=—This biography deserves to be commended. Mr. Page's -mastery of the subject is evident, and his criticism exhibits many -delicate touches.... Among the reminiscences, those by Mr. Hogg will be -read with special interest; they give us a life-like portrait of De -Quincey, and tell some quaint anecdotes, which give us a better insight -into some of his characteristics than the most elaborate disquisition. - -=Illustrated London News.=—It would be as well to consult these two -volumes before any rash assertion be made that everybody knows all that -can be known, or is worthy of being known, about the celebrated "English -Opium-Eater." - -=New York Herald.=—After reading Mr. Page's biography, we have a very -home-like feeling for De Quincey, and we cannot help saying, "Dear old -man!" as we read his letters.... Mr. Hogg's reminiscences are very -entertaining, and show the genial side of De Quincey's nature; and Dr. -Eatwell's medical view is curious and interesting. Altogether Mr. Page's -Life of De Quincey is one of the most valuable books of the year, and is -as full of anecdote as a nut is of meat. - -=Glasgow Herald.=—Mr. Page merits great praise for the pains he has -taken to fix De Quincey's position in literature, and to trace the -workings of a mind richly endowed indeed with gifts, even when measured -by the standard of his own bright compeers. - -⁂ A Prospectus will be forwarded on application, giving Extracts from -ALL the Criticisms which have appeared, upwards of fifty. - - LONDON: JOHN HOGG, PATERNOSTER ROW. - - -_A HANDBOOK OF REFERENCE AND QUOTATION._ - -MOTTOES AND APHORISMS FROM SHAKESPERE: - -a Collection of Two Thousand Seven Hundred Mottoes and Aphorisms, -alphabetically arranged, with a copious Index of Nine Thousand -References to the infinitely varied Words and Ideas of the Mottoes. Any -word or idea can be traced at once, and the correct quotation (with name -of play, act, and scene) had without going further. Second edition, -fcap. 8vo, cloth, price 2s. 6d. - -"A very useful Handbook, ... rendering the wit and wisdom of Shakespere -practically available to all speakers and writers,—yea, it may even be -adapted to ordinary conversation.... The book might almost be called a -Shakespere concordance."—_Cambridge Chronicle._ - - _WOOD ENGRAVINGS BY THOMAS BEWICK._ - -THE PARLOUR MENAGERIE: wherein are exhibited, in a Descriptive and -Anecdotical Form, the Habits, Instinct, Natural Peculiarities, and -Mysterious Existences of the more Interesting Portions of the Animal -Creation, with upwards of 300 Wood Engravings, chiefly by Bewick and two -of his pupils. Large crown 8vo, gilt edges, price 7s. 6d. - -"One of the best of the gossiping natural history books for an -intelligent boy that we have seen for some time. It is brimfull of -interesting anecdotes.... The eulogistic note from Professor Owen is a -good guaranty of the accuracy of the information which it -contains."—_Church Times._ - - ---------- - -THE POSTHUMOUS WORKS OF THE LATE REV. G. OLIVER, D.D., - -Author of "THE LANDMARKS OF MASONRY," &c. &c. - -I.—THE DISCREPANCIES OF FREEMASONRY: Examined during a Week's Gossip -with the late celebrated Bro. Gilkes, and other Eminent Masons. Crown -8vo, cloth, with numerous Diagrams, price 7s. 6d. - -"It is difficult to imagine a more charming book, or one more calculated -to inspire the Masonic Student with enthusiasm for the Royal -Art."—_Freemason's Chronicle._ - -"A most amusing and curious book."—_Standard._ - - * * * * * - -II.—THE PYTHAGOREAN TRIANGLE; or, The Science of Numbers. Crown 8vo, -cloth, with Diagrams, price 6s. - -"In addition to all its stores of curious and varied learning, as -connected with the Craft, the Rev. Doctor's treatise contains many sage -remarks on a host of other interesting topics, which will please all -curious readers."—_Standard._ - - ---------- - - _Dedicated by permission to JOHN HERVEY, Esq., Grand Secretary._ - -THE ROYAL MASONIC CYCLOPÆDIA OF HISTORY, RITES, SYMBOLISM, AND -BIOGRAPHY. Containing upwards of 3000 Subjects, together with numerous -Original Articles on Archæological and other topics. Edited by Kenneth -R. H. Mackenzie. Demy 8vo, 792 pp., half morocco, Roxburgh style, gilt -top, price 21s. - -"_The work is marked by extreme learning and moderation._"— " _Public -Opinion._ - - ---------- - - LONDON: JOHN HOGG, PATERNOSTER ROW. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE - - -Indents are as per the original. - -Variations in spelling hyphenation, punctuation and accentuation were -maintained. - -Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with -underscores and bold text with equals signs. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Practical Guide to English -Versification, by Tom Hood - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENGLISH *** - -***** This file should be named 51873-0.txt or 51873-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/8/7/51873/ - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, readbueno and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |