§ 654. The accented lines are composed of two Amphibrachs.

The black' bands | came o ́ver

The Alps and their snow;
With Bourbon, the rov'er,
They pass'd the broad Po:
We [have] beat'en all foe'men,
We [have] captured a king;
We [have] turn'd' back on no' men,

And so let us sing:

The Bour'bon forev'er!

Though penniless all,

We'll [have] one' more endeav'or
At yonder old wall.-BYRON.

AMPHIBRACH TRIMETER.
Formula xa x × 3.

§ 655. The accented lines are composed of three Amphibrachs. A con'quest, how hard' and | how glo'rious! Though fate had fast bound her

With Styx nine times round her!

Yet mu'sic and love' were victorious!-POPE.

Formula x axx3-.

Here one syllable is wanting.

§ 656.

Ye shepherds, so cheer'ful | and gay',
Whose flocks never carelessly roam,
Should Corydon's happen to stray,
Oh call the poor wanderers home.

Allow me to muse and to sigh,

Nor talk of the change that ye

None once was so watchful as I;

find;

I have left my dear Phyllis behind.-SHENSTone.

AMPHIBRACH TETRAMETER.

Formula xa x x 4.

[Thanks], my lord', for your ven'ison; | for fin'er | nor fat'ter
Ne'er ranged' in the for'est nor smoked' on the plat ́ter:

The flesh was a picture for painters to study,

The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy.

[Though] my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting
To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.-GOLDSMITH.

Formula x ax×4-.

The accented lines are composed of four Amphibrachs, want

ing one syllable.

§ 657.

But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature,

To lay down thy head' like | the meek' mountain lamb';
When wilder'd he drops from some cliff huge in stature,

And draws' his | last sob' by | the side' of | his dam'.
And more stately thy couch by this desert lake lying,
Thy obsequies sung by the gray plover flying,
With one faithful friend to witness thy dying,

In the arms of Helvellyn and Catchedicam.-Scott.

Formula a xxx 2 and a xxx2-.

§ 658. In the following the lines 1, 3, 5, &c., consist of two Dactyls, and the lines 2, 4, 6, &c., consist of two Dactyls wanting the last syllable.

Pi'broch of Don'uil Dhu,

Pibroch of Donuil,

Wake' thy wild voice' anew,
Summon Clan-Conuil.
Come away, come away!

Hark to the summons!

Come in your war-array,
Gentles and commons!

Come from the deep glen, and

From mountain so rocky;

The war-pipe and pennon

Are at Inverlochy.
Come every hill-plaid, and

True heart that wears one;
Come every steel blade, and
Strong hand that bears one!

Leave untended the herd,

The flock without shelter;

The corpse uninterr'd,
The bride at the altar;

§ 659.

§ 660.

DACTYLIC TETRAMETER.

Formula a x x x 4.

Hail to the chief who in triumph advances!

Hon'or'd and bless'd be the | ev'er-green | pine!
Long' may the tree' in his ban'ner that glanc ́es
Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line!

Heaven send it happy dew,

Earth lend it sap anew,

Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow;

While every Highland glen

Sends our shout back agen,

"Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! ieroe!"-SCOTT.

§ 661. The last line in each verse is a Spondee. The accent

ed lines have five Dactyis.

'This' is the for'est prime'val; but | where' are the | hearts' that beneath it Leap'd' like the roe', when it hears' in the wood'land the voice' of the huntsWhere is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers? [man?

Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,
Darken'd by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of Heaven?
LONGFELLOW.

§ 662. THIS consists of nine Iambic lines, the eight first being Heroics, and the ninth an Alexandrine. The law of the rhyme may be seen in the following:

I care not, Fortune, what you me deny :

You can not rob me of free Nature's grace;

You can not shut the windows of the sky,

Through which Aurora shows her bright'ning face;

You can not bar my constant feet to trace

The woods and lawns by living stream at eve;

Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace,

And I their toys to the great children leave:

Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave.—THOMSON.

A STANZA is a combination of several lines constituting the regular division of a poem.

GAY'S STANZA.

§ 663. The formula for the odd lines is x ax3+; for the even lines, xax 3. The rhymes are alternate, and the odd rhymes double.

""Twas when the seas were roaring

With hollow blasts of wind,

A damsel lay deploring,

All on a rock reclined;

Wide o'er the foaming billows

She cast a wistful look;

Her head was crown'd with willows,

That trembled o'er the brook."

ELEGIAC OCTOSYLLABICS.

§ 664. These are the same as the common octosyllabics (see § 637), except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses are arranged in stanzas.

§ 665. Four measures, 2 a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 637.

§ 666. Four measures, xa, with three rhymes regularly in succession.

A still, small voice spake unto me:
"Thou art so full of misery,

Were it not better not to be?"

Then to the still, small voice I said:

"Let me not cast in endless shade

What is so wonderfully made!"-TENNYSON.

HEROIC COUPLETS.

§ 667. Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 638.

HEROIC TRIPLETS.

§ 668. Five measures, 2 a, with three rhymes in succession. By this the brides are waked, their grooms are dress'd;

All Rhodes is summon'd to the nuptial feast:

All but myself, the sole unbidden guest.-DRYDEN.

ELEGIAC HEROICS.

§ 669. These are the same as the common heroics, except that the lines regularly alternate, and are arranged in stanzas.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea;

The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.-GRAY.

RHYME ROYAL.

$670. Seven lines of heroics, with the last two rhymes in succession, and the five first recurring at intervals. It admits of varieties, according to the distribution of the five first rhymes.

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