PART IV.-PROSODY. 400. Prosody consists of two parts, Orthoëpy and Versification. I. ORTHOEPY. 401. Orthoëpy, or correct pronunciation, comprises accent, quantity, emphasis, pause, and tone. 402. Accent is a stress of the voice laid on a particular syllable of a word, in order to distinguish that syllable from others; as, the syllable glo in the word glo'ry. Obs. 1.-Accent is of two kinds, the primary or greater, and the secondary or less accent; thus, in the word ap'pel-la'tion, the third syllable has the primary, and the first syllable the secondary accent. Obs. 2.-In English, (as in all Gothic languages,) the accent is generally on the root. The English language has a tendency to throw the accent towards the beginning of the word. Pope wrote barrier'; we have barrier. Milton and Spenser accent adverse, uproar, contrite, etc., on the second syllable; Shakespeare accents aspect and character on the second syllable; as, "The sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin ;" K. Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. "Look thou charac'ter"—Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 3. 403. The Quantity of a syllable is the time occupied in pronouncing it. Obs. 1.-In the word Au'gust (noun) the quantity of the syllable Au is the same as in the adjective august', but the accent in the one falls on the first, and in the other, on the second syllable. Obs. 2.-A syllable is long, when the accent is on the vowel; and short, when the accent is on the consonant. A long syllable requires twice the time in pronouncing it that a short one does. Long syllables are marked thus ( ̄); as, fāte; short syllables, thus (); as, făt. 1 The term Prosody is derived from gos, to, and won, a song. 2 Accents on the first syllable generally make nouns, whilst accents on the last syllable make verbs; as, Ac'cent (noun,) accent (verb); sometimes the change of accent converts nouns into adjectives; as, in Au'gust (noun,) august' (adjective). A copious list of "Words whose meanings vary with the Accent," is given in the Author's "Practical English Spelling Book," pp. 51, 52. 404. Emphasis is a stress of the voice laid upon a particular word or words. Obs.-Emphasis is laid on a word; accent on a syllable. As a general rule, the emphasis should be placed on the word or words that we wish to render prominent; always upon the most impor tant words, and never upon the insignificant particles, such as; and, with, the, of, etc. 405. A Pause is a temporary cessation of the voice, in speaking or reading. Obs. 1.-The Emphatical pause is made after some important word or clause on which we wish to fix the hearer's attention. The Distinctive pause serves to distinguish the sense. Obs. 2.--In poetry, there are two pauses. The Final pause generally occurs at the end of each line; the Casural_pause (||) generally occurs at or near the middle of the line, and divides it into two portions, equal or unequal, called hemistichs. In reading verse, the final pause should be made sensible to the ear merely by a slight suspension of the voice, calculated to distinguish the transition from one line to another. 406. Tone is the change or modulation of the voice, in speaking or reading. Obs.-Accent and quantity refer to the pronunciation of words; tone usually refers to the feelings of the speaker. II. VERSIFICATION. 407. Versification is that part of Prosody, which treats of metrical or poetical composition. Obs. 1.-Prose is language in which the accent falls at irregular intervals, and which is not restricted by a definite number of syllables. Poetry, or verse, is a measured arrangement of words, in which the accent falls at regular intervals, according to certain laws. 408. A Verse is a line of poetry, consisting of a certain definite series of accented and unaccented syllables. Obs.-Half a verse is termed a Hemistich. Two verses in rhyme are termed a Couplet, or Distich; three, a Triplet. A verse exceeding the regular number of syllables is termed hypercatalectic, hypermeter, or redundant. 409. A stanza is a combination of several verses, constituting a regular division of a poem. Obs.-Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of different words, and usually following at regular intervals, as, "Apt alliterations artful aid."—Churchill. In the early periods of the Anglo-Saxon language, rhyme was un known, and verses were constructed on the principle of alliteration; as, "In a Somer Season | when Set was the Sunne, PIERCE PLOUGHMAN's Vissions Alliteration was in use until the end of the fifteenth century, when rhyming was borrowed from the French. 410. A foot is a portion of a verse, consisting of two or more syllables combined according to accent. Obs.-A certain number of syllables are called feet, "because, by their aid, the voice steps along as it were, through the verse, in a measured pace." Metre or Measure is the number of poetical feet which a verse contains. In its widest sense, "Metre," as Dr. Latham remarks, "is the recurrence, within certain intervals, of syllables similarly affected." 411. Scansion, or scanning, is the art of dividing a verse into its component feet. Obs. 1.-All feet used in poetry consist either of two, or of three syllables, and are reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables, and four of three, as follows: Dissyllable. 1. An Iambus (~~); as, rětūrn. Trisyllable. 5. A Dactyl (~~); as, beautiful. fere. 7. An Amphibrach (~~~); as, ǎnnōyǎnce. 8. A Tribrach (~~~); as, (con)quěrăblě. Obs. 2.-Quantity is measured in classic languages by the length of the syllable as a whole; in English, by the length of the vowel only. "Monument," for example, would be, in Latin measurement, two short syllables and a long one; "seeing" would be in Latin, a short and a long syllable. In English, "monument" is three short syllables, and seeing" is a long syllable and a short one. Still more important is the result of measuring feet by accent. In Latin measurement, "monument" is an anapæst (~~), and "seeing" an iambus (~). In English, "mónument" is a dactyl (~~), and 'seeing" a trochee (). The peculiarity of our metre is in our accents.-The Handbook of the English Tongue. 66 412. Verse is of two kinds; namely, rhyme and blank verse. Obs.-Rhythm is the regular arrangement of feet in a verse, and it is essential to all kinds of poetry, whether in rhyme or in blank verse. 413. Rhyme is the correspondence in sound of the last word or syllable of one verse, with that of the last word or syllable of another. Obs.-Single rhyme is that in which only the final syllables agree; as, in restrain, complain; in double rhyme, the two final syllables agree; as, in stranger, danger. 414. To form a perfect rhyme, three things are essential; 1. The vowel and the parts following it must be the same in sound; 2. The parts preceding the vowel must be different; 3. The rhyming syllables must be accented alike. Obs. 1.-Thus the word side rhymes with pride; in both, the vowel sound (i) and the parts following it (de) correspond in sound, while the parts preceding it (s and pr) are different; and both words are accented alike. Imperfect rhymes are those which do not fulfil the above conditions. Obs. 2.-Such rhymes as do not fulfil the above conditions are called imperfect; as, taste and last; toil and smile; so are breath and beneath, cough and though, because, although spelt alike, they are pronounced differently. But perfect rhymes may be spelt differently, if only they sound alike; as, 'Bound where thou wilt, my barb, or glide my prow, But be the star that guides the wanderer-thou! Allowable rhymes are those which are sanctioned by the practice of our best poets; as, love, move; sun, upon; mar, war; etc. 415. Blank verse is verse without rhyme. It is formed exclusively by the regular recurrence of accented syllables. Different kinds of Verse. 416. English Verse may be divided into three classes, the Iambic, the Trochaic, and the Anapastic. 417. These classes are so denominated from the feet of which they principally consist. The Iambus, Trochee, and Anapest are the principal feet employed in English verse. The others are termed secondaryfeet. L 418. Iambic verse is suitable for serious and elevated subjects, and has every second, fourth, and other even syllable accented. I. Specimens of Iambic Verse. 419 Of two feet (Tambic Dimeter.) The monarch hears.'-Dryden. And sa traps throng'd | the hall | The minstrel was infirm | ănd old.'-Sott. This is the Romantic Measure of English poetry, and it is also called the Octosyllabic Metre, since it consists of eight syllables. It is the metre of Butler's Hudibras; Scott's Lady of the Lake, Lay of the Last Minstrel, etc.; Byron's Giaour, Prisoner of Chillon, etc. Its most impressive form is the Tennysonian Stanza, as in the Laureate's" In Memoriam ;" in which two rhyming verses come between the other two; as, 'That loss is common would | not māke My own less bit | těr, rā |ther mōre: To evening būt | some heart | dīd break.'-Tennyson. 422. Of five feet; (Iambic Pentameter.) "The thunder rolls, | bě hush'd | the pros trate world, While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn.'-Thomson. This is called the Heroic Measure; it is generally used for solemn and dignified subjects. Almost all our great poems are written in it; as, Milton's Paradise Lost; Thomson's Seasons; Young's Night Thoughts; Campbell's Pleasures of Hope, etc. Four lines of simple pentameters rhyming alternately, form the Elegiac Stanza of English poetry; as, The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 423. Of six feet; (Iambic Hexameter.) 'If aūght | which he had ōwn'd | might still remain | fōr mē.' Wordsworth. This is called the Alexandrine Metre, because it was employed in some ancient poems written in praise of Alexander the Great. It is now seldom used except in the Spenserian Stanza, (such as in Byron's Childe Harold,) which is composed of eight lines of Heroics, followed by one line of the Alexandrine Metre. |