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Whene er their suffering years ǎre run,
Spring forth to greet the glittering sun.

Five feet.

Swift fly the years, and rise the expēctěd mōrn.

To leafless shrubs the flowering palms succeed,
And ōdorous myrtles to the noisome weed.

In the last quoted line, the second foot is an anapest, and the third a pyrrhic. Few lines can be produced more melodious. In most of the foregoing examples, it has been customary to leave out a short syllable in such words as glittering, victory, and to note the omission by an apostrophe; thus, glitt'ring, vict'ry. This contraction, if observed in reading, would reduce the foot to an iambus. In some of the examples, however, this contraction cannot be made with propriety in the reading; as in the words radiant and glorious, the dropping of the i in either word would appear uncouth. In the words glittering, thundering, suffering, the i could indeed be dropped without producing harshness; but by retaining the vowel and the full number of syllables the sound is more full and harmonious. In all such words as have two or more short syllables in succession, it is better, in general, to preserve the full number in the pronunciation, and make a foot of three syllables than of two. When two or three short syllables come together, one of them, at least, is very short, so much so that the quantity of three is about the same as that of two in ordinary cases, and the quantity of two as that of one.

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When the article the comes before a vowel, it is most commonly written and printed with the vowel cut off; but it ought generally to be preserved in pronunciation, though it should be made very short. In the phrase, "rise the expected morn,' quoted above, the article could not be incorporated, by apocope,* with the following syllable without producing a sound both unpleasant and difficult to be uttered. It would, in most cases, be better to write and print the word in full, as well as to pronounce it in full. In like manner, the preposition to occasionally suffers an apocope, as t' attend, for to attend; but this practice is more objectionable than the former. So the particle though, being first deprived of gh so as to be written tho', is made to suffer an apocope of the o before another word beginning with a vowel, as th' oft for tho' oft,—a species of contraction no more to be favored than the former.

* Apocope, the omission of the last letter or syllable in a word.

VI. The sixth form of iambic measure consists of six feet. This is usually called the Alexandrine line or measure, and is always used singly and at the close of a paragraph or subject. It ought never to be used with. frequency; but if introduced with judgment, it sometimes gives dignity and emphasis, as well as variety.

EXAMPLE.

The Greeks běhōld-they tremble, and they fly;

The shōre is heaped with dead, and tumult rēnds the sky; The brazen hinges fly, the walls resound;

Heaven trembles, rōar the mountains, thūnders all the ground.

VII. The seventh form of iambic verse contains seven iambic feet.

EXAMPLE.

The melancholy days are cōme, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds, and nākěd woods, and meadows brown and

sere.

Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the withered leaves lie

dead;

They rustle to the eddying gūst, and to the rabbit's tread.

Instead

This form of iambic measure is very uncommon. of it, alternate lines of four and three feet are employed. The above lines might have been written in this manner :

The melancholy days are come,

The saddest of the

year,

Of wailing winds, and naked woods,

And meadows brown and sere.

Trochaic verse.

Our shortest trochaic verse has one trochee, with a long syllable.

EXAMPLE.

Dreadful gleams,
Dismal screams.

II. The second form of trochaic verse has two feet; thus,

Rich the treasure,

Sweet the pleasure.

A long syllable is sometimes added; but neither this nor the preceding form is much used, both being too brief to be consistent with much dignity.

III. The third species of trochaic verse has three trochees, or three trochees with an additional long syllable; as,

ōr where Hébrus wānders,
Rölling in meanders.

Little inmate, full of mirth,

Chirping on my kitchen hearth,
Wheresoe'er be thine abode,

Always harbinger of good.

The first form, without the additional syllable, is seldom used; the other is often met with.

IV. The fourth trochaic measure contains four trochees, as in the following alternate lines:

Fly ǎbroad, thou mighty gōspěl;

Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting, wide dominions,
Multiply and still increase.

This form may admit an additional long syllable, but very rarely.

V. The fifth species of trochaic verse has five trochees. The form, however, is very uncommon.

VI. The sixth form of this verse contains six feet; but this and the preceding form is so unusual that I shall give no examples.

Anapestic verse.

I. The first and simplest form of this verse has two anapestic feet, to which another short syllable is sometimes added; as,

'Tis but fair to bělievē

That too many deceive.

From the center ǎll rōund it.

II. The second species contains three anapests; thus,
O yě woods, spread your branches ǎpāce;
To your deepest recesses I fly ;-

I would hide with the beasts of the chase;
I would vanish from évěry eye.

III. The third species of anapestic verse has four feet; thus,

From the hall of our fathers in anguish we flēd,
Nor ǎgain will its marble rě-echo our tread,

For the breath of the Siroc has blasted our name,

And the frown of Jehovah has crushed us in shame. This form admits a short additional syllable at the end of a line, as,

His robe was the whirlwind, his voice was the thunder,
And earth, at his footstep, was rīvĕn ăsūndĕr.

In this example, however, the first foot in each line is an iambus, and whatever may be the length of the anapestic measure, it is the common practice of poets to substitute very freely the iambus or a spondee for an anapest in the first foot of a verse, and occasionally in other places. This substitution of an iambus or spondee for an anapest is never an addition to the melody of this species of verse, but rather detracts from it. If the poetry is designed only to be read or spoken, the melody is not so much impaired as when it is intended to be sung, unless the tune be especially adapted to the words, as is the case in set pieces. Every tune which is not a set one is adapted to a particular number of uniform feet, each of which has its appropriate number of syllables; hence, if it is designed for a certain number of anapests, and a shorter foot is substituted for one of them, or for a certain number of iambuses or trochees, and a longer foot is made to supply their place, there will not be a corresponding number of notes in the tune. Again, if the notes of a tune are designed for a trochee, and an iambus occurs in its place, or if for an iambus, and a trochee should be substituted for it, the musical accent would fall on a wrong syllable.

EXAMPLES OF A TROCHEE OR IAMBUS SUBSTITUTED FOR AN ANAPEST.

I ăm mōnărch of all I survey;

My right there is none to dispute;

From the center åll rõund to the sẽa,
I ăm lord of the fowl and the brute.

But the sound of ǎ church-going bell
These valleys and rocks nevěr* heard—
Ne'er sighed at the sound of ǎ knēll,

Nor smiled when ǎ sābbăth ăppeared.

See truth, lově, and mercy in triumph descending,
And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom
On the cold cheek of death smilest and roses are blending,
And beauty immōrtăl ǎwākes from the tōmb.

* The word never in this place is an example of shortening an accented syllable in poetry for the sake of the measure. The accent, in fact, is destroyed, and the vowel remains short. This is done by what is called poetic license. + A long syllable shortened by poetic license.

We occasionally meet with poems which have an iambus or spondee regularly for the first foot in each line or verse, with an anapest in the other places, instead of using one or the other indiscriminately. This regularity is better adapted to music than this interchange of feet.

Poems containing dactyls alone are extremely rare. I shall give but a single specimen, in which, however, after three dactyls, the line closes with a long syllable or with a trochee.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

We have no poems which consist entirely or principally of amphibrachs or tribrachs, nor of pyrrhics. It would be impossible, indeed, to construct a poem which should consist only of short syllables. The only use to which these feet are ever put is to substitute them occasionally for others, for the sake of variety, or to give expression, or, what is more frequently the fact, from the carelessness and bad taste of authors.

CHAPTER II.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF POEMS.-RULES FOR READING POETRY.PAUSES.-CESURAL PAUSES.

Epic or (as it is sometimes called) heroic poetry is a continued narration of important events, given in regular order according to certain general rules. If the subject of the narration should be destitute of dignity and importance, the poem which should describe it would not be called heroic, nor, according to general usage, would it be called epic, although the latter word merely signifies narrative or something relating to a story. The term, as it is universally employed, has a technical meaning.

An epic poem consists of lines or verses, each of which contains five iambic feet. Other feet are occasionally substituted in the manner already pointed out; but the number of feet in a line is not thereby varied. This substitution of one foot for another, if managed with skill, produces an agreeable variety, and oftentimes adds to the melody of the verse; but if not skilfully introduced, it is quite a blemish. The Alexandrine verse of six iambic feet, as mentioned under the sixth form, is sometimes substituted for one of the regular length.

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