Infulæ Ionio in magno, quas dira Celano, Virg. 2. ECTHLIPSIS is, when m is cut off, with the vowel before is, in the end of a word, because the following word begins with a vowel; as, thus, O curas hominum! O quantum eft in rebus inane? Perf. O cũ- | rãs hăm- } n', ô quân- | tỉ ēft in | rebus in- | āne. Sometimes the Synalpha and Echlipfis are found at the end of the verse; as, Sternitur infelix alieno vulnere, cœlumque Adfpicit, et dulces moriens reminifcitur Argos. Virg. Ardua cernebant juvenes, murofque fubibant. Id. Thefe verfes are called Hypermetri, because a syllable Lemains to be carried to the beginning of the next line; thus, qu' Adfpicit; r Ardua. 3. SYNÆRESIS is the contraction of two fyllables into one, which is likewife called Crafis; as, Phathon, for Phaethon. So ei in Thefei, Orphei, deinde, Pompei; üi in huic, cui; öi in proinde; ëá in aureá; thus, Notus amor Phædræ, nota eft injuria Thefei. Ovid. Filius huic contrà, torquet qui fidera mundi. Id. So in antehac, eadem, alvearia, deeft, deerit, vehemens, anteit, eodem, alveo, graveolentis, omnia, femianimis, femibomo, fuviorum, totius, promontorium, &c. as, Unâ câdemque viâ fanguifque animusque ferunter. Virg. Id. Vilis amicorum eft annona, bonis ubi quid deeft. Hor. Te femper anteit dira neceffitas. Alcaic. Hor. Id. To this figure may be referred the changing of i and u intoj and v, or pronouncing them in the fame fyllable with the following vowel; as in genva, tenvis; arjetat, tenvia, abjete, pitvita; parjetibus, Nafidjenus; for genua, renuis, &c. as, Propterea qui corpus aquæ naturaque tenvis. Lucr. 4. DIERESIS divides one fyllable into two; as, aulai, for aulæ; Tröiæ, for Troja; Perseus, for Perfeus; milü us, for milvus; folüit, for folvit; volüit, for volvit; aquæ, süetus, süafit, Süevos, relangüit, reliqüas, for aquæ, fuetus, &c. as, Aula in medio libabant pocula Bacchi. Virg. Stamina non ulli diffoluenda Deo. Pentam. Tibullus. Quæ calidum faciunt aqüæ tactum atque vaporem. Lucr. 5. SYSTOLE is when a long fyllable is made fhort; as the penult in tulerunt; thus, Matri longa decem tulĕrunt fafidia menfes. Virg. 6. DIASTOLE is when a fyllable ufually fhort is made long; as the laft syllable in amor, in the following verfe : Confidant, fi tantus amōr, et mœnia condant. To these may be fubjoined the Figures of Didion, as they are called, which are chiefly used by the poets, tho' fome of them likewife frequently occur in profe. 1. When a letter or fyllable is added to the beginning of a word, it is called PROSTHESIS: as, gnavus, for navus ; tetuli, for tuli. When a letter or fyllable is interpofed in the middle of a word, it is called EPENTHESIS; as, relligio, for religios induperator, for imperator. When a letter or fyllable is added to the end, it is called PARAGŌGE; as, dicier, for dici. 2. If a letter or fyllable be taken from the beginning of a word, it is called APHERESIS; as, natus, for gnatus; tenderant, for tetenderant. If from the middle of a word, it is called SYNCOPE; as, dixti, for dixifli; deûm, for deorum. If from the end, APOCŎpe; as, viden', for videfne; Antoni, for Antonii. 3. When a letter or fyllable is tranfpofed, it is called METATHESIS; as, piftris, for priftis; Lybia, for Libya. When one letter is put for another, it is called ANTITHESIS; as, faciundum, for faciendum; olli, for illi; voltis, for vultis. DIFFERENT KINDS OF POEMS. Any work compofed in verfe is called a Poem, (Poema or Carmen) :Poems are called by various names, from their fubject, their form, the manner of treating the fubject, and their style. 1. A poem on the celebration of a marriage is called an EPITHALAMIUM; on a mournful subject, an ELEGY or LAMENTATION; in praise of the fupreme Being, a HYMN; in praife of any perfon or thing, a PANEGYRIC OF ENCOMIUM; on the vices of any one, a SATIRE OF INVECTIVE; a poem to be infcribed on a tomb, an EriTAPE, &c. 2. A fhort poem adapted to the lyre or harp, is called an ODE, whence fuch compofitions are called Lyric Poems: A poem in the form of a letter is called an EPISTLE; a fhort witty poem, playing on the fancies or conceits, which arife from any fubject, is called an EPIGRAM; as thofe of Catullus and Martial. A fharp, unexpected, lively turn of wit in the end of an epigram, is called its Point. A poem expreffing the moral of any device or picture, is called an EMBLEM. A poem containing an obfcure question to be explained, is called an ENIGMA or RIDDLE. When a character is defcribed fo that the first letters of each verfe, and sometimes the middle and final letters, express the name of the perfon or thing described, it is called an ACROSTIC; as the following on our Saviour; Inter cuncta micans I gniti fidera cœl I, 3. From the manner of treating a subject, a poem is either Exegetic, Drematic, or Mixt. The Exegetic, where the poet always fpeaks himself, is of three kinds, Historical, Didactic or Inftructive, (as the Satire or Epiftle ;) and Defcriptive, Of the Dramatic, the chief kinds are COMEDY, representing the actions of ordinary life, generally with a happy issue; and TRAGEDY, representing the actions and diftreffes of illuftrious perfonages, commonly with an unhappy iffue. To which may be added Paftoral Poems or BUCOLICS, reprefenting the actions and conversations of fhepherds; as most of the eclogues of Virgil, The Mixt kind - where the poet fometimes fpeaks in his own perfon, and fome imes makes other characters to speak. Of this kind is chiefly the EPIC or HEROIC poem, which treats of fome one great tranfaction of some great illuftrious perfon, with its various circumstances; as, the wrath of Achilles in the Iliad of Homer; the settlement of Æneas in Italy in the Eneid of Virgil; the fall of man in the Paradife Loft of Milton, &c. 4. The style of poetry, as of profe, is of three kinds, the Gimple, ernate, and fublime. COMBINATION OF VERSES IN POEMS. In long poems there is commonly but one kind of verfe ufed. Thus Virgil, Lucretius, Horace in his Satyres and Epiftles, Ovid in his Metamorphofis, Lucan, Silius Itali cus, Valerius Flaccus, Juvenal, &c. always ufe Hexame ter verfe: Plautus, Terence, and other writers of Come. dy, generally use the Iambic, and fometimes the Trochaic. It is chiefly in fhorter poems, particularly those which are called Lyric poems, as the Odes of Horace and the Pfalms of Buchanan, that various kinds of verse are com bined. A Poem which has only one kind of verfe, is called by a Greek name, MONOCOLON, fc. poema v. carmen; or MONOCOLOS, fc. ode that which has two kinds, DicōLON; and that which has three kinds of verse, TRICO LON. If the fame fort of verse return after the fecond line, it is called DICOLON DISTRŎPHON; as when a single Pentameter is alternately placed after an Hexameter, which is named Elegiac verfe (carmen Elegiacum,) because it was first applied to mournful fubjects; thus, Flebilis indignos, Elegëia, folve capillos; Ah! nimis ex vero nunc tibi nomen erit. Ovid. This kind of verfe is used by Ovid in all his other works except the Metamorphofes; and alfo for the most part by Tibullus, Propertius, &c. When a poem confists of two kinds of verse, and after three lines returns to the first, it is called Dicolon Triftrophon; when after four lines, Dicolon Tetraftrophon; as, When a poem confists of three kinds of verfe, and after three lines always returns to the first, it is called Tri |