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The Anapest consists of two short syllables and one long one; as, contrăvēne.

There are four forms of this kind of verse; the first consisting of one Anapest, or foot, and the last of four.

EXAMPLE.

Măy Î gov | ěrn mỹ pās | sions with ab | sÖlüte sway;
And grow wi | ser and bet | ter as life | wears away.

Resolving poetry, in this manner, into the feet of which it is composed, is called scanning.

RULE 1. Poetry should be read with a fuller swell of the open vowels, and in a manner more melodious and flowing than prose.

EXAMPLES.

Fifth Form of Iambic Verse.

Thy forests, Wind | sor, and | thy green | retreats,
At once the monarch's and the muses' seats,
Invite my lays. Be present, Sylvan maids;
Unlock your springs, and open all your shades:

Fourth and Third Form of Trochaic Verse.

Fly abroad, thou | mighty | gospel,
Win and conquer, | never | cease;

May thy lasting, wide dominions,

Multiply and still increase.

Third Form of Anapestic Verse.

O ye woods, spread your branch | es apace,
To your deepest recesses I fly;

I would hide with the beasts of the chase,

I would vanish from every eye.

QUESTIONS. Of what does an Anapest consist? Which syllable is accented} Which syllables are unaccented? How many forms has Anapestic verse? What is scanning? What is Rule First?

Harmonic Pauses.

HARMONIC PAUSES are commonly divided into two kinds the Casural pause (II), and the Final pause (..), each denoted by the character following its name.

The cæsural pause occurs in the middle of the line, generally after the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllable, and rarely after the second or eighth.

EXAMPLE.

Warms in the sun, || refreshes in the breeze,

Glows in the stars, || and blossoms in the trees.

The final pause occurs at the end of the line, and marks the measure, both in rhyme and blank verse.

EXAMPLES.

O Muse, the causes and the crimes relate;

What goddess was provoked, and whence her hate
For what offence the queen of heaven began..
To persecute so brave, so just a man.

Thus with the year ..

Seasons return, but not to me returns..

Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn.

RULE 2. Harmonic pauses increase the beauty of verse, and should be regarded when they do not injure

the sense.

In the following verse, harmony requires the cæsural pause after the word sad, but the sense requires a pause after sit, where it must be made, even at the sacrifice of harmony.

EXAMPLE.

I sit, with sad || civility I read.

QUESTIONS. How are Harmonic Pauses divided? After what syllables does the Cesural pause occur? Where does the final pause occur? What is Rule Second? Do the Grammatical and Cæsural pauses always coincide? Which takes the preference?

Metrical Accent.

METRICAL ACCENT is a stress laid upon certain syllables in verse, recurring at regular intervals, and generally corresponding with the common accent, but not always.

In Iambic measure, it falls on the last syllable of each foot; as, How lōved, how väl | ŭed ōnce,| ăvāils | thee not.

RULE 3. The metrical accent should generally be observed when it will not impair the sense, or so much derange the customary accent as to be harsh and unpleasant to the ear.

It would too much impair the sense, to read the following example as marked, in accordance with the metrical accent.

EXAMPLE.

False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,

Its gaudy colors spreads in every place.

NOTE. In the following examples, and in others of a similar character, in which there is an unpleasant harshness produced by the conflict of the common and metrical accents, a compromise may be made, and both syllables may be accented nearly alike.

EXAMPLES.

Our supréme foe in time may much relent.

Encamp their legions, or with ōbscure wing.

Metrical Changes.

METRICAL CHANGES are used to signify those variations that are sometimes made in words, by poetic license, to accommodate them to the measure which the verse requires.

These changes are frequently indicated by an apostrophe, which

QUESTIONS. What is Metrical Accent? Where does it fall in Iambic verse? What & Rule Third? How is the sense impaired in the examples under this rule? When the metrical and common accents conflict, what should be done? What is meant by Metrical Changes? How are they frequently indicated?

denotes that the word is abbreviated; but at the present time, custom seems inclined, in most instances, to omit this notation, and leave the reader to determine when such changes are necessary.

A syllable may sometimes be added to the end of a word, in pronouncing it, which would not commonly be sounded.

RULE 4. When abbreviations are made in words, or additions are made to them by poetic license, they must generally be so far regarded in reading, as not to increase or diminish the number of syllables beyond what the measure requires.

NOTE.

Whenever a line in verse contains redundant letters or syllables, or more than the measure requires, they should either be entirely suppressed, or so slightly and rapidly uttered, as to coalesce with the one following.

EXAMPLES.

Abbreviations.

On every side | with shad | owy squid | rons deep,
And hosts infu | rĭăte shuke | the shud | děring ground.
'Tis mine | to teach | th' inactive hand | to reap
Kind nature's boun | ties, o'er | the globe | diffused.
Bend 'gainst the steepy hill | thy breast.
Who durst | defy | th' Omnipotent | to arms!

Additions.

Let each

His adamantine coat gird well, and each

Fit well his helm, | gripe fast | his orb | ed* shield.

And now beneath them lay the wished for spot,

The sacred bower | of that renowned bard.

In the examples given above, the feet upon which metrical changes are made are printed in italics.

*This is not properly the etymological figure of paragoge, but it has the same effect when ed is pronounced as a distinct syllable.

QUESTIONS.

What additions do poets sometimes make to words? What is Rule Fourth? How shall redundant letters or syllables in verse be treated?

EXERCISES ON POETRY.

Exercise 1.-To Illustrate Rule 1, page 69.

1. The Assyrian came down | like the wolf | on the fold. And his cohorts were gleam | ing in pur | ple and gold; And the sheen of their spears | was like stars | on the sea, When the blue | wave rolls night | ly on deep | Galilee.

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2. Like the leaves of the forests when summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forests when autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

3. For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.

4. And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride. And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

5. And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

6 And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

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