"Untwist'- | ing all' | the chains' | that tie' The last feet in these couplets from Scott and Milton are wanting in accent and time, as well as in perfect rhyme, and the reader must not attempt to mend them by changing the words to "chivalre" and "harmoni." We may find the same defective foot in Shakespeare occasionally, as in the second foot of the opening line of Portia's speech in "The Merchant of Venice": "The qual'- | ity | of mer'- | cy is' | not strained'"; or in the third foot of this line from Tennyson's "Ode on the Death of Wellington" "In' his | simplic'- | ity | sublime'." Such feet are used for the sake of the words which best express the poet's thoughts, as the idea is more important than the measure; and the reader is not called on to show more wit in rendering, than the author has in writing, such lines. But these unaccented feet are the rare exceptions, remember, and when read as they are written, to accommodate the sense, may serve, like the irregular feet, to break the monotony of the full measure. VI.-EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT METERS. "The Skylark," by Shelley, is written in stanzas of five lines. Four have the meter of three feet, and the fifth is a double line of six feet. The standard measure is "dissyllabic," with the accent on the first syllable in the foot (trochaic), which changes to the last syllable in most of the longer lines, and elsewhere often enough to give rhythmic variety. In' "Hail' to thee, | blithe' | spir'it— That' from heaven', or | near' it, pro- | fuse' strains | of un'- | premed'- | itat'- | ed art'!” The feet in the third line only are regular, with two syllables in each foot, and the accent on the first. Note the feet in the first and fourth lines. The first foot has three syllables, and the second, one. Mark how the accent brings two long accented syllables together (in separate feet), and thus gives a peculiar dignity to the rhythm. This occurs in several other lines in the poem; as, "The blue' | deep' thou | wing'est." "In' the broad' | day'light." "From one' | lone'ly cloud'." "The moon' | rains' out | her beams'." A whole line is sometimes made of the monosyllabic foot, as in Hood's "Song of the Shirt": "Work', | work', | work', Till the brain' | begins' | to swim'.” The line has the three regular accents of the line fol lowing it, and should be read in the same time. The meter is three feet, dissyllabic measure. When such monosyllabic feet are made of a syllable which can not, in good taste, be prolonged, the time of the standard measure must be filled out by a rest after the word. Its unrelieved monotony fitly "echoes the sense" of the dolorous song. So, too, in Tennyson's "Break', break', | break', On thy cold', gray stones', | O sea'!" the three emphatic syllables must fill, by quantity and rest, the metric time of the line which follows them. The monotone of the recurring waves, and of the poet's tender grief, is most effectively expressed by this repeated 66 monosyllabic foot." Lines of more than five feet are usually but combinations of two shorter lines; as in Macaulay's "Battle of Ivry," "Now glo'ry to' the Lord' of hosts', from whom' all glo’ries are'," of seven dissyllabic feet, with the accent on the last syllable. It might as well have been printed in lines of four and three feet; as, "And glo'ry to' our sov'reign liege', King Hen'ry of' Navarre'!" Tennyson's "Locksley Hall" is written in long lines of fifteen syllables, with seven "dissyllabic feet" and one "monosyllabic foot,” accent on the first (trochaic): "Com'rades, leave' me here' a lit'tle, while' as yet' 'tis early morn'.' But this is the same measure as two lines of fourfeet meter; as thus, "Yet' I doubt' not through' the a' ges One' increas'ing pur'pose runs', And' the thoughts' of men' are wi'dened In this same rhythm and meter "The Raven," by Poe, is written, except that the long lines (or two short ones) have sixteen syllables. As an example of a pleasing VARIETY OF METER, read "Ye Mariners of England," by Campbell. It is composed in stanzas of ten lines. Six of them are in three-feet meter, three of them in four-feet, and one line-the seventh—is in the meter of two feet. This seventh line has the trisyllabic measure, and rhythm also; while the standard measure is dissyllabic, with the accent on the last syllable: "Ye mariners' of England, That guard' our na'tive seas', Whose flag' has braved', a thou'sand years', Your glorious stand'ard launch' again', And sweep' through the deep', VII. THE CESURAL PAUSE. The pause which usually separates one line from another, and which often comes in the middle of a line, is not an arbitrary part of verse, but simply the natural pause, used in prose as well, which separates important ideas. This pause, called "the cœsura" (the break, or rest), is not to be counted in the metric time of the feet. Its length depends on the emphasis and the independence of the ideas. When a poem is very regular in rhythm, as "The Raven" and "Locksley Hall" are (that is, when the number of syllables and the accent of the feet are but rarely changed), this pause after the emphatic ideas is of very great use in calling the attention away from the too regular measure, and fixing it on the SENSE. XCIX. PUCK AND THE FAIRY. Puck-How now, spirit-whither wander you? Fairy-Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier, Thorough flood, thorough fire, In those freckles live their savors. Puck-The king doth keep his revels here to-night: |