An Italian of good extraction; Who came into England, Not to bite us, like most of his Countrymen, But to gain an honest Livelyhood. He hunted not after Fame, Yet acquir'd it; Regardless of the Praise of his Friends, but most sensible of their Love. Tho' he liv'd amongst the Great, He neither learnt nor flatter'd any Vice. He was no Bigot, Tho' he doubted of none of the 39 Articles. And, if to follow Nature, and to respect the Laws of Society, he was a perfect Philosopher, a faithful Friend, an agreeable Companion, a loving Husband, distinguished by a numerous offspring, all which he liv'd to see take good Courses. In his old Age he retired to the house of a clergyman in the country, where he finished his earthly Race, and died an Honour and an Example to the whole Species.
Reader, This Stone is guiltless of Flattery; for he to whom it is inferrib'd was not a Man, but a GRE-HOUND.
PART III. ON VERSIFICATION.
On this subject it is meant to confine our inquiry to Latin or Greek hexameters, and to French and English heroic verse; as the observations we shall have occasion to make, may, with proper variations, be easily transferred to the composition of other sorts of verse.
Before entering upon particulars, it must be pre- mised in general, that to verse of every kind, five things are of importance. 1st, The number of syllables that compose a line. 2d, The different lengths of syllables, i.e. the difference of time taken in pro- nouncing. 3d, The arrangement of these syllables combined in words. 4th, The pauses or stops in pronouncing. 5th, Pronouncing syllables in a high or a low tone. The three first mentioned are ob- viously essential to verse: if any of them be wanting, there cannot be that higher degree of melody which distinguishes verse from prose. To give a just notion of the fourth, it must be observed, that pauses are necessary for three different purposes: one, to sepa- rate periods, and members of the same period, accord- ing to the sense; another, to improve the melody of verse; and the last, to afford opportunity for drawing breath in reading. A pause of the first kind is vari- able, being long or short, frequent or less frequent, as the sense requires. A pause of the second kind, being determined by the melody, is in no degree arbi- trary. The last sort is in a measure arbitrary, de- pending on the reader's command of breath. But as one cannot read with grace, unless, for drawing breath, opportunity be taken of a pause in the sense or in the melody, this pause ought never to be distinguished from the others; and for that reason shall be laid aside. With respect then to the pauses of sense and of melody, it may be affirmed without hesitation, that their coin- cidence in verse is a capital beauty; but as it cannot be expected, in a long work especially, that every line should be so perfect; we shall afterward have occasion to see, that the pause necessary for the sense must often, in some degree, be sacrificed to the verse-pause, and the latter sometimes to the former.
The pronouncing syllables in a high or low tone, contributes also to melody. In reading, whether verse or prose, a certain tone is assumed, which may be called the key-note; and in that tone the bulk of the words are founded. Sometimes to humour the sense, and sometimes the melody, a particular syllable is founded in a higher tone; and this is termed accenting a syllable, or gracing it with an accent. Opposed to the accent, is the cadence, which, however, being entirely regulated by the sense, hath no peculiar relation to verse. The cadence is a falling of the voice below the key-note at the close of every period; and so little is it essential to verse, that in correct reading the final syllable of every line is accented, that syllable only excepted which closes the period where the sense requires a cadence.
Though the five requisites above mentioned enter the composition of every species of verse, they are however governed by different rules, peculiar to each species. Upon quantity only, one general observation may be premised, because it is applicable to every species of verse. That syllables, with respect to the time taken in pronouncing, are long or short; two short syllables, with respect to time, being precisely equal to a long one. These two lengths are essential to verse of all kinds; and to no verse, it is believed, is a greater variety of time necessary in pronouncing syllables. The voice indeed is frequently made to rest longer than usual upon a word that bears an important signification; but this is done to humour the sense, and is not necessary for melody. A thing not more necessary for melody occurs with respect to accenting, similar to that now mentioned: A word figuring any thing humble, low, or dejected, is naturally, in prose as well as in verse, pronounced in a tone below the key-note.
We are now sufficiently prepared for particulars; beginning with Latin or Greek hexameter, which are the same. The observations upon this species of verse, will come under the four following heads; number, arrangement, pause, and accent; for as to quantity, what is observed above may suffice.
I. Hexameter lines, as to time, are all of the same length; being equivalent to the time taken in pronouncing twelve long syllables or twenty-four short. An hexameter line may consist of seventeen syllables: and when regular and not Spondaic, it never has fewer than thirteen; whence it follows, that where the syllables are many, the plurality must be short; where few, the plurality must be long.
This line is susceptible of much variety as to the succession of long and short syllables. It is however subjected to laws that confine its variety within certain limits: and for ascertaining these limits, grammarians have invented a rule by dactyls and spondees, which they denominate feet. One at first view is led to think, that these feet are also intended to regulate the pronunciation: which is far from being the case; for were one to pronounce according to these feet, the melody of a hexameter line would be destroyed, or at best be much inferior to which it is when properly pronounced. These feet must be confined to regulate the arrangement, for they serve no other purpose. They are withal extremely artificial and complex; for which reason we are obliged to lord Kames for substituting in their stead the following rules more simple and of more easy application. 1st, The line must always commence with a long syllable, and close with two long preceded by two short. 2d, More than two short can never be found together, nor fewer than two. And, 3d, Two long syllables which have been preceded by two short, cannot also be followed by two short. These few rules fulfil all the conditions of a hexameter line with relation to order or arrangement. To these again a single rule may be substituted, which has also the advantage of regulating more affirmatively the construction of every part. To put this rule into words with perspicuity, a hint is taken from the twelve long ch. xviii. syllables that compose an hexameter line, to divide it feet, into twelve equal parts or portions, being each of them one long syllable or two short. The rule then is:
"The 1st, 3d, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th portions, must each of them be one long syllable; the 10th must always be two short syllables; the 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th, may either be one long or two short." Or to express the thing still more curtly, "The 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th portions may be one long syllable or two short; the 10th must be two short syllables; all the rest must consist each of one long syllable." This fulfils all the conditions of an hexameter line, and comprehends all the combinations of dactyls and spondees that this line admits.
Next in order comes the pause. At the end of every hexameter line, every one must be sensible of a complete close or full pause; the cause of which follows. The two long syllables preceded by two short, which always close an hexameter line, are a fine preparation for a pause: for long syllables, or syllables pronounced slow, resembling a slow and languid motion tending to rest, naturally incline the mind to rest, or, which is the same, to pause; and to this inclination the two preceding short syllables contribute, which, by contrast, make the slow pronunciation of the final syllables the more conspicuous. Beside this complete close or full pause at the end, others are also requisite for the sake of melody; of which, two are clearly discoverable; and perhaps there may be more. The longest and most remarkable, succeeds the 5th portion: the other, which, being shorter and more faint, may be called the semipause, succeeds the 8th portion. So striking is the pause first mentioned, as to be distinguished even by the rudest ear: the monkish rhymes are evidently built upon it; in which, by an invariable rule, the final word always chimes with that which immediately precedes the pause:
De planctu cudo || metrum cum carmine nudo Mingere cum bumbis || res est saluberrima lumbis.
The difference of time in the pause and semipause, occasions another difference not less remarkable; that it is lawful to divide a word by a semipause, but never by a pause, the bad effect of which is sensibly felt following examples:
Effusus labor, at||que inmitis rupta Tyranni Again: Observans nido im||plumes detraxit; at illa
Again: Again, Loricam quam De[moleo] detraxerat ipse
The dividing a word by a semipausing has not the same bad effect:
Jamque pedem referens || casus e | vaerat omnes.
Again: Qualis populea || moerens Philo|mela sub umbra.
Again: Ludere que vellem || calamo per | misit agresti.
Lines, however, where words are left entire, without being divided even by a semipausing, run by that means much the more sweetly.
Nec gemere aërea || cessabit | turtur ab ulmo.
Again: Quadrupedante putrem||fonitu quatiit | ungula campum.
Again: Eurydicen toto || referabant | flumine ripæ.
The reason of these observations will be evident upon the slightest reflection. Between things so intimately connected in reading aloud, as are sense and sound, every degree of discord is unpleasant; and for that reason, it is a matter of importance, to make the musical pauses coincide as much as possible with those of sense; which is requisite, more especially, with respect to the pause, a deviation from the rule being less remarkable in a semipausing. Considering the matter as to melody solely, it is indifferent whether the pauses be at the end of words or in the middle; but when we carry the sense along, it is disagreeable to find a word split into two by a pause, as if there were really two words; and though the disagreeableness here be connected with the sense only, it is by an easy transition of perceptions transferred to the sound; by which means we conceive a line to be harsh and grating to the ear, when in reality it is only so to the understanding.
To the rule that fixes the pause after the 5th portion, there is one exception, and no more. If the syllable succeeding the 5th portion be short, the pause is sometimes postponed to it:
Pupilis quos dura || premit custodia matrum
Again: In terras oppræpta || gravi sub religione
Again: Et quorum pars magna || fui; quis talia fando
This contributes to diversify the melody; and, where the words are smooth and liquid, is not ungraceful; as in the following examples:
Formosam resonare || doces Amaryllida sylvas
Again: Agricolas, quibus ipsa || procul discordibus armis
If this pause, placed as aforesaid after the short syllable, happen also to divide a word, the melody by these circumstances is totally annihilated. Witness the following line of Ennius, which is plain prose:
Roma menia terruit impiger | Hannibal armis.
Hitherto the arrangement of the long and short syllables of an hexameter line and its different pauses, have been considered with respect to melody; but to have a just notion of hexameter verse, these particulars must also be considered with respect to sense. There is not, perhaps, in any other sort of verse, such latitude in the long and short syllables; a circumstance that contributes greatly to that richness of melody which is remarkable in hexameter verse, and which made Aristotle pronounce, that an epic poem in any other verse would not succeed *. One defect, however, * Poet. must not be dissembled, that the same means which cap. 25, contribute to the richness of the melody, render it less fit than several other sorts for a narrative poem. There cannot be a more artful contrivance, as above observed, than to close an hexameter line with two long syllables preceded by two short; but unhappily this construction proves a great embarrassment to the sense; which will thus be evident. As, in general, there ought to be a strict concordance between the thought and the words in which it is dressed; so, in particular, every close in the sense ought to be accompanied with a close in the sound. In prose, this law may be strictly observed; but in verse, the same strictness would occasion insuperable difficulties. Willing to sacrifice to the melody of verse, some share of the concordance between thought and expression, we freely excuse the separation of the musical pause from that of the sense, during the course of a line; but the close of an hexameter line is too conspicuous to admit this liberty; for which reason there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every hexameter line, were it but such a pause as is marked by a comma; and for the same reason, there ought never to be a full close in the sense but at the end of a line, because there the melody is closed. An hexameter line, to preserve its melody, cannot well admit any greater relaxation; and yet, in a narrative poem, it is extremely difficult to adhere strictly to the rule even with these indulgences. Virgil, the chief of poets for versification, is forced often to end a line without any close in the sense, and as often to close the sense during the running of a line; though a close in the melody during the movement of the thought, or a close in the thought during the movement of the melody, cannot be agreeable.
The accent, to which we proceed, is not less essential than the other circumstances above handled. By a good ear it will be discerned, that in every line there is one syllable distinguishable from the rest by a capital accent: that syllable, being the seventh portion, is invariably long.
Nec bene promeritis || capitur nec | tangitur ira
Again: Non sibi sed toto || genitum se | credere mundo
Again: Qualis spelunca || subito com | mota columba
In these examples, the accent is laid upon the last syllable of a word; which is favourable to the melody in the following respect, that the pause, which for the sake of reading distinctly must follow every word, gives opportunity to prolong the accent. And for that reason, a line thus accented, has a more spirited air, than when the accent is placed on any other syllable. Compare the foregoing lines with the following:
Alba neque Affyrio || fucatur | lana veneno
Again: Panditur interea || domus omnipotentis Olympi
Again: Again:
Olli sedato || respôndit | corde Latinus.
In lines where the pause comes after the short syllable succeeding the fifth portion, the accent is displaced, and rendered less sensible: it seems to be split into two, and to be laid partly on the fifth portion, and partly on the seventh its usual place; as in
Nuda genu, nodôque || finûs ool | lecta fluentes.
Again:
Formosam refonâre || docês Amar | yllida sylvas.
Beside this capital accent, slighter accents are laid upon other portions; particularly upon the fourth, unless where it consists of two short syllables; upon the ninth, which is always a long syllable; and upon the eleventh, where the line concludes with a monosyllable. Such conclusion, by the by, impairs the melody, and for that reason is not to be indulged unless where it is expressive of the sense. The following lines are marked with all the accents.
Ludere que vellem calamo permîsit agresti
Again:
Et duræ quercus sudâbunt rôlcida mella
Again:
Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.
Reflecting upon the melody of hexameter verse, we find, that order or arrangement doth not constitute the whole of it: for when we compare different lines, equally-regular as to the succession of long and short syllables, the melody is found in very different degrees of perfection; which is not occasioned by any particular combination of dactyls and spondees, or of long and short syllables, because we find lines where dactyls prevail, and lines where spondees prevail, equally melodious. Of the former take the following instance:
Aeneadum genitrix hominum divumque voluptas.
Of the latter:
Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista.
What can be more different as to melody than the two following lines, which, however, as to the succession of long and short syllables, are constructed precisely in the same manner.
Spord. Dact. Spord. Spord. Dact. Spord. Ad talos stola dimissa et circumdatis palla. Hor. Spord. Dact. Spord. Spord. Dact. Spord. Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine celum. Lucret.
In the former, the pause falls in the middle of a word, which is a great blemish, and the accent is disturbed by a harsh elision of the vowel a upon the particle et. In the latter, the pauses and the accent are all of them distinct and full: there is no elision: and the words are more liquid and sounding. In these particulars consists the beauty of an hexameter line with respect to melody; and by neglecting these, many lines in the satires and epistles of Horace are less agreeable than plain prose; for they are neither the one nor the other in perfection. To draw melody from these lines, they must be pronounced without relation to the sense: it must not be regarded, that words are divided by pauses, nor that harsh elisions are multiplied. To add to the account, profane low sounding words are introduced; and, which is still worse, accents are laid on them. Of such faulty lines take the following instances.
Candida reæaque sit, munda hastenus sit neque longa. Jupiter exclamat simul atque audirit; at in se Custodes, leæica, cinisones, parasite Optimus eft modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omni Nunc illud tantum queram, meritone tibi sit.
II. Next in order comes English heroic verse; which shall be examined under the whole five heads, of number, quantity, arrangement, pause, and accent. This verse is of two kinds; one named rhyme or metre, and one blank verse. In the former, the lines are connected two and two by similarity of sound in the final syllables; and two lines so connected are termed a couplet: similarity of sound being avoided in the latter, couplets are banished. These two sorts must be handled separately, because there are many peculiarities in each.
(1.) Beginning with rhyme or metre, the first article shall be discussed in a few words. Every line consists of ten syllables, five short and five long; from which there are but two exceptions, both of them rare. The first is, where each line of a couplet is made eleven syllables, by an additional short syllable at the end:
There heros' wits are kept in pond'rous vases, And beaus' in snuff boxes and tweezer-cases. The piece, you think, is incorrect? Why, take it, I'm all submission; what you'd have it, make it.
This licence is sufferable in a single couplet; but if frequent, would give disgust.
The other exception concerns the second line of a couplet, which is sometimes stretched out to 12 syllables, termed an Alexandrine line:
A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length It doth extremely well when employed to close a period with a certain pomp and solemnity, where the subject makes that tone proper.
With regard to quantity, it is unnecessary to mention a second time, that the quantities employed in verse are but two, the one double of the other; that every syllable is reducible to one or other of these standards; and that a syllable of the larger quantity is termed long, and of the lesser quantity short. It belongs more to the present article, to examine what peculiarities there may be in the English language as to long and short syllables. Every language has syllables that may be pronounced long or short at pleasure; but the English above all abounds in syllables of that kind. In words of three or more syllables, the quantity for the most part is invariable: the exceptions are more frequent in disyllables: but as to monosyllables, they may, without many exceptions, be pronounced either long or short; nor is the ear hurt by a liberty that is rendered familiar by custom. This shows, that the melody of English verse must depend less upon quantity than upon other circumstances: in which it differs widely from Latin verse, where every syllable, having but one sound, strikes the ear uniformly with its accustomed impression; and a reader must be delighted to find a number of such syllables, disposed so artfully as to be highly melodious. Syllables variable in quantity cannot possess this power: for though custom may render familiar both a long and a short pronunciation of the same word; yet the mind, wavering between the two sounds, cannot be so much affected as where every syllable has one fixed sound.
[103], 116. And with respect to arrangement, which may be brought within a narrow compass, the English heroic line is commonly iambic, the first syllable short, the second long, and so on alternately thro' the whole line. One exception there is, pretty frequent, of lines commencing with a trochaean, i.e. a long and a short syllable: but this affects not the order of the following syllables, which go on alternately as usual, one short and one long. The following couplet affords an example of each kind.
Some in the fields of purest glee play, And bask and whiten in the blaze of day.
117. It is a great imperfection in English verse, that it excludes the bulk of polyyllables, which are the most founding words in our language; for very few of them have such alternation of long and short syllables as to correspond to either of the arrangements mentioned. English verse accordingly is almost totally reduced to disyllables and monosyllables: magnanimity is a founding word totally excluded: impetuosity is still a finer word, by the resemblance of the sound and sense; and yet a negative is put upon it, as well as upon numberless words of the same kind. Polysyllables composed of syllables long and short alternately, make a good figure in verse; for example, observance, opponent, offensive, pindaric, productive, prolific, and such others of three syllables. Imitation, imperfection, misdemeanor, mitigation, moderation, obfuscatory, ornamental, regulator, and others similar of four syllables, beginning with two short syllables, the third long, and the fourth short, may find a place in a line commencing with a trochaean.
One would not imagine, without trial, how uncouth false quantity appears in verse; not less than a provincial tone or idiom. The article the is one of the few monosyllables that is invariably short: observe how harsh it makes a line where it must be pronounced long:
This nymph, to the destruction of mankind. Again, Th' advent'rous baron the bright locks admired.
Let it be pronounced short, and it reduces the melody almost to nothing: better so, however, than false quantity. In the following examples we perceive the same defect.
And old impertinence expel by new With varying vanities from ev'ry part Love in these labyrinths his slaves retains New stratagems the radiant lock to gain
Her eyes half languishing || half drown'd in tears Roar'd for the handkerchief || that caus'd his pain Passions like elements || though born to fight.
118. The great variety of melody conspicuous in English verse, arises chiefly from the pauses and accents; which are of greater importance than is commonly thought. The pause, which paves the way to the accent, offers itself first to our examination; and from a very short trial, the following facts will be verified. 1st, A line admits but one capital pause. 2d, In different lines, we find this pause after the fourth syllable, after the fifth, after the sixth, and after the seventh. These four places of the pause lay a solid foundation for dividing English heroic lines into four kinds; and unless the reader attend to this distinction, he cannot have any just notion of the richness and variety of English versification. Each kind or order hath a melody peculiar to itself, readily distinguishable by a good ear; the cause of which will be afterwards made evident. It must be observed, at the same time, that the pause cannot be made indifferently at any of the places mentioned: it is the sense that regulates the pause, as will be seen afterward; and consequently, it is the sense that determines of what order every line must be: there can be but one capital musical pause in a line; and that pause ought to coincide, if possible, with a pause in the sense, in order that the sound may accord with the sense.
What is said shall be illustrated by examples of each sort or order. And first of the pause after the fourth syllable:
Back thro' the paths || of pleasing sense I ran Again, Profuse of bliss || and pregnant with delight
After the fifth: So when an angel || by divine command, With rising tempests || shakes a guilty land.
After the sixth: Speed the soft intercourse || from soul to soul Again, Then from his closing eyes || thy form shall part
After the seventh: And taught the doubtful battle || where to rage Again, And in the smooth description || murmur still
119. Beside the capital pause now mentioned, inferior pauses will be discovered by a nice ear. Of these there are commonly two in each line: one before the capital pause, and one after it. The former comes invariably after the first long syllable, whether the line begin with a long syllable or a short. The other in its variety imitates the capital pause: in some lines it comes after the fifth syllable, in some after the seventh, and in some after the eighth. Of these semifauses take the following examples.
1st and 8th: Led through a sad || variety || of wo. If Delia smile, the || flow'r's begin to spring.
But ought to be pronounced in the following manner,
If Delia smile, || the flow'r's begin to spring.
If then it be not a matter of indifference where to make the pause, there ought to be rules for determining what words may be separated by a pause, and what are incapable of such separation. We shall endeavour to ascertain these rules; not chiefly for their utility, but in order to unfold some latent principles, that tend to regulate our taste even where we are scarce sensible of them: and to that end, the method that appears the most promising, is to run over the verbal relations, beginning with the most intimate. The first that presents itself, is that of adjective and substantive, being the relation of subject and quality, the most intimate of all: and with respect to such intimate companions, the question is, Whether they can bear to be separated by a pause. What occurs is, that a quality cannot exist independent of a subject; nor are they separable even in imagination, because they make parts of the same idea: and for that reason, with respect to melody as well as sense, it must be disagreeable to beflow upon the adjective a sort of independent existence, by interjecting a pause between it and its substantive; as in the following examples.
Of thousand bright || inhabitants of air The sprites of fiery || termagants inflame The rest, his many-colour'd || robe conceal'd The same, his ancient || personage to deck Ev'n here, where frozen || Chastity retires I sit, with sad || civility, I read Back to my native || moderation slide Or shall we ev'ry || decency confound Time was, a sober || Englishman would knock And place, on good || security, his gold Taste, that eternal || wanderer, which flies But ere the tenth || revolving day was run First let the just || equivalent be paid Go, threat thy earth-born || myrmidons; but here Haste to the fierce || Achilles' tent (he cries) All but the ever-watchful || eyes of Jove Your own restless || eloquence employ
122. Considering this matter superficially, one might be apt to imagine, that it must be the same, whether the adjective go first, which is the natural order, or the substantive, which is indulged by the laws of inversion. But we soon discover this to be a mistake: colour, for example, cannot be conceived independent of the surface coloured; but a tree may be conceived, as growing in a certain spot, as of a certain kind, and as spreading its extended branches all around, without ever thinking of its colour. In a word, a subject may be considered with some of its qualities independent of others; though we cannot form an image of any single quality independent of the subject. Thus then, tho' an adjective named first be inseparable from the substantive, stantive, the proposition does not reciprocate; an image can be formed of the substantive independent of the adjective; and for that reason, they may be separated by a pause, when the substantive takes the lead.
For thee the fates || severely kind ordain And curs'd with hearts || unknowing how to yield
123. The verb and adverb are precisely in the same condition with the substantive and adjective. An adverb, which modifies the action expressed by the verb, is not separable from the verb even in imagination; and therefore the following lines seem faulty.
And which it much || becomes you to forget 'Tis one thing madly || to disperse my store
But an action may be conceived with some of its modifications, leaving out others, precisely as a subject may be conceived with some of its qualities, leaving out others; and therefore, when by inversion the verb is first introduced, it has no bad effect to interject a pause between it and the adverb that follows: this may be done at the close of a line, where the pause is at least as full as that which divides the line:
While yet he spoke, the Prince advancing drew Nigh to the lodge, &c.
124. The agent and its action come next, expressed in grammar by the active substantive and its verb. Between these, placed in their natural order, there is no difficulty of interjecting a pause: an active being is not always in motion, and therefore it is easily separable in idea from its action: when in a sentence the substantive takes the lead, we know not that action is to follow; and as rest must precede the commencement of motion, this interval is a proper opportunity for a pause.
Nor when by inversion the verb is placed first, is it lawful to separate it by a pause from the active substantive; because an action is not in idea separable from the agent, more than a quality from the subject to which it belongs.
125. The point of the greatest delicacy regards the active verb and the passive substantive placed in their natural order. On the one hand, it will be observed, that these words signify things which are not separable in idea: killing cannot be conceived without a being that is put to death, nor painting without a surface upon which the colours are spread. On the other hand, an action and the thing on which it is exerted are not, like subject and quality, united in one individual object: the active substantive is perfectly distinct from that which is passive; and they are connected by one circumstance only, that the action exerted by the former is exerted upon the latter. This makes it possible to take the action to pieces, and to consider it first with relation to the agent, and next with relation to the patient. But after all, so intimately connected are the parts of the thought, that it requires an effort to make a separation even for a moment: the sublating to such a degree is not agreeable, especially in works of imagination. The best poets, however, taking advantage of this subtlety, scruple not to separate by a pause an active verb from the thing upon which it is exerted. Such pauses in a long work may be indulged; but taken singly, they certainly are not agreeable:
The peer now spreads || the glitt'ring forfex wide As ever fully'd || the fair face of light Repair'd to search || the gloomy cave of Spleen Nothing, to make || philosophy thy friend Shou'd chance to make || the well-dres'd rabble stare Or cross, to plunder || provinces, the main These madmen ever hurt || the church or state How shall we fill || a library with wit What better teach || a foreigner the tongue Sure, if I spare || the minister, no rules Of honour bind me, not to maul his tools.
On the other hand, when the passive substantive is by inversion first named, there is no difficulty of interjecting a pause between it and the verb, more than when the active substantive is first named. The same reason holds in both, that though a verb cannot be separated in idea from the substantive which governs it, and scarcely from the substantive it governs; yet a substantive may always be conceived independent of the verb: when the passive substantive is introduced before the verb, we know not that an action is to be exerted upon it; therefore we may rest till the action commences. For the sake of illustration, take the following examples:
Shrines! where their vigils || pale-ey'd virgins keep Soon as || thy letters || trembling I unclothe No happier task || these faded eyes pursue
What is said about the pause, leads to a general observation, That the natural order of placing the active substantive and its verb, is more friendly to a pause than the inverted order; but that in all the other connections, inversion affords a far better opportunity for a pause. And hence one great advantage of blank verse over rhyme; its privilege of inversion giving it a much greater choice of pauses than can be had in the natural order of arrangement.
126. We now proceed to the slighter connections, which shall be discussed in one general article. Words connected by conjunctions and prepositions admit freely a pause between them, which will be clear from the following instances:
Assume what sexes || and what shape they please The light militia || of the lower sky
Connecting particles were invented to unite in a period two substantives signifying things occasionally united in the thought, but which have no natural union: and between two things not only separable in idea, but really distinct, the mind, for the sake of melody, cheerfully admits by a pause a momentary disjunction of their occasional union.
127. One capital branch of the subject is fill upon land. It concerns those parts of speech which singly repre- sent no idea, and which become not significant till they be joined to other words: these are, conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and such like accessories, passing under the name of particles. Upon these the question occurs, Whether they can be separated by a pause from the words that make them significant? whether, for example, in the following lines, the separation of the accessory proposition from the principal substantive, be according to rule?
The goddesses with || a discontented air And heightened by || the diamond's circling rays When victims at || yon altar's foot we lay So take it in || the very words of Creesh An ensign of || the delegates of Jove Two ages o'er || his native realm he reign'd While angels, with || their silver wings o'ershade
Or the separation of the conjunction from the word that is connected by it with the antecedent word:
Talthybius and || Eurybates the good
It will be obvious at the first glance, that the foregoing reasoning upon objects naturally connected, is not applicable to words which of themselves are mere ciphers: we must therefore have recourse to some other principle for solving the present question. These particles out of their place are totally insignificant; to give them a meaning, they must be joined to certain words; and the necessity of this junction, together with custom, forms an artificial connection that has a strong influence upon the mind: it cannot bear even a momentary separation, which destroys the sense, and is at the same time contradictory to practice. Another circumstance tends still more to make this separation disagreeable in lines of the first and third order, that it bars the accent; which will be explained afterward in treating of the accent.
128. Hitherto we have discoursed upon that pause only which divides the line. We proceed to the pause that concludes the line; and the question is, Whether the same rules be applicable to both? This must be answered by making a distinction. In the first line of a couplet, the concluding pause differs little, if at all, from the pause which divides the line; and for that reason, the rules are applicable to both equally. The concluding pause of the couplet is in a different condition: it resembles greatly the concluding pause in an hexameter line: both of them indeed are so remarkable, that they never can be graceful, unless where they accompany a pause in the sense. Hence it follows, that a couplet ought always to be finished with some close in the sense; if not a point, at least a comma. The truth is, that this rule is seldom transgressed: in Pope's works we find very few deviations from the rule: take the following instances:
Nothing is foreign: parts relate to whole: One all-extending, all-preserving soul. Connects each being ——
Another:
To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs; To steal from rainbows, ere they drop in show'rs, A brighter wash ——
It may be added, with respect to pauses in general, that supposing the connection to be so slender as to admit a pause, it follows not that a pause may in every such case be admitted. There is one rule to which every other ought to bend, That the sense must never be wounded or obscured by the music; and upon that account the following lines seem exceptionable:
Ulysses, first || in public cares, she found, And, Who rising, high || th' imperial sceptre rais'd.
With respect to inversion, it appears, both from reason and experiments, that many words which cannot bear a separation in their natural order, admit a pause when inverted. And it may be added, that when two words, or two members of a sentence, in their natural order, can be separated by a pause, such separation can never be amiss in an inverted order. An inverted period, which deviates from the natural train of ideas, requires to be marked in some measure even by pauses in the sense, that the parts may be distinctly known. Take the following examples.
As with cold lips || I kiss'd the sacred veil With other beauties || charm my partial eyes Full in my view || set all the bright abode With words like these || the troops Ulysses rul'd Back to th' assembly roll || the thronging train Not for their grief || the Grecian host I blame
The same where the separation is made at the close of the first line of the couplet:
For spirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease, Assume what sexes and what shapes they please.
The pause is tolerable even at the close of the couplet, for the reason just now suggested, that inverted members require some slight pause in the sense:
'Twas where the plane-tree spreads its shades around: The altars heav'd; and from the crumbling ground A mighty dragon shot.
129. Thus a train of reasoning hath insensibly led us to conclusions with regard to the musical pauses, very different from those in the article Beauty of Language (sect. II.) concerning the separating by a circumstance words intimately connected. One would conjecture, that where-ever words are separable by interjecting a circumstance, they should be equally separable by interjecting a pause: but, upon a more narrow inspection, the appearance of analogy vanishes. This will be evident from considering, that a pause in the sense distinguishes the different members of a period from each other; whereas when two words of the same member are separated by a circumstance, all the three make still but one member; and therefore that words may be separated by an interjected circumstance, though these words are not separated by a pause in the sense. This sets the matter in a clear light; for, as observed above, a musical pause is intimately connected with a pause in the sense, and ought, as far as possible, to be governed by it: particularly a musical pause ought never to be placed where a pause is excluded by the sense, as, for example, between the adjective and following substantive, which make parts of the same idea; and still less between a particle and the word that makes it significant.
Abstracting at present from the peculiarity of melody arising from the different pauses, it cannot fail to be observed in general, that they introduce into our verse no slight degree of variety. A number of uniform lines having all the same pause, are extremely fatiguing, which is remarkable in the French versification. This imperfection will be discerned by a fine ear even in the shortest succession, and becomes intolerable in a long poem. Pope excels in the variety of his melody, which, if different kinds can be compared, is indeed not less perfect than that of Virgil.
130. From what is last said, there ought to be one exception: Uniformity in the members of a thought, demands equal uniformity in the verbal members which express that thought. When therefore resembling objects or things are expressed in a plurality of verse-lines, these lines in their structure ought to be as uniform as possible, and the pauses in particular ought all of them to have the same place. Take the following examples.
By foreign hands || thy dying eyes were clos'd, By foreign hands || thy decent limbs compos'd, By foreign hands || thy humble grave adorn'd.
Again:
Bright as the sun || her eyes the gazers strike; And, like the sun, || they shine on all alike.
Speaking of Nature, or the God of Nature:
Warms in the sun || refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars || and blossoms in the trees, Lives through all life || extends through all extent, Spreads undivided || operates unspent.
131. Pauses will detain us longer than was expected; for the subject is not yet exhausted. It is laid down above, that English heroic verse admits no more but four capital pauses; and that the capital pause of every line is determined by the sense to be after the 4th, the 5th, the 6th, or 7th syllable. That this doctrine holds true so far as melody alone is concerned, will be testified by every good ear. At the same time it is to be admitted, that this rule may be varied where the sense or expression requires a variation, and that so far the melody may justly be sacrificed. Examples accordingly are not unfrequent, in Milton especially, of the capital pause being after the 1st, the 2d, or the 3d syllable. And that this licence may be taken, even gracefully, when it adds vigour to the expression, will be clear from the following example. Pope, in his translation of Homer, describes a rock broken off from a mountain, and hurling to the plain, in the following words:
From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds; At every shock the crackling wood resounds; Still gath'ring force, it smokes; and urg'd amain, Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous, to the plain;
There stops || So Hector. Their whole force he prov'd, Resilient when he rag'd; and when he stopt, unmov'd.
In the penult line the proper place of the musical pause is at the end of the 5th syllable; but it enlivens the expression by its coincidence with that of the sense at the end of the 2d syllable: the stopping short before the usual pause in the melody, aids the impression that is made by the description of the stone's stopping short; and what is lost to the melody by this artifice, is more than compensated by the force that is added to the description. Milton makes a happy use of this licence: witness the following examples from his Paradise Lost.
Thus with the year Seasons return, but not to me returns Day || or the sweet approach of even or morn. Celestial voices to the midnight-air Sole || or responsive each to others note. And over them triumphant Death his dart Shook || but delay'd to strike.
And wild uproar Stood rul'd || stood vast infinitude confin'd. And hard'ning in his strength Glories || for never since created man Met such embodied force.
From his slack hand the garland wreath'd for Eve Down drop'd || and all the faded roses shed. Of unessential night, receives him next, Wide gaping || and with utter loss of being, Threatens him, &c.
For now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain Torments him || round he throws his baleful eyes, &c.
If we consider the foregoing passages with respect to melody singly, the pauses are undoubtedly out of their proper place; but being united with those of the sense, they enforce the expression, and enliven it greatly; for, as has been more than once observed, the beauty of expression is communicated to the sound, which, by a natural deception, makes even the melody appear more perfect than if the musical pauses were regular.
132. To explain the rules of accenting, two general observations must be premised. The first is, That accents have a double effect: they contribute to the melody, by giving it air and spirit: they contribute no less to the sense, by distinguishing important words from others. These two effects can never be separated, without impairing the concord that ought to subsist between the thought and the melody: an accent, for example, placed on a low word, has the effect to burlesque it, by giving it an unnatural elevation; and the injury thus done to the sense does not rest there, for it seems also to injure the melody. Let us only reflect what a ridiculous figure a particle must make with an accent or emphasis put upon it, a particle that of itself has no meaning, and that serves only, like cement, to unite words significant. The other general observation is, That a word of whatever number of syllables, is not accented upon more than one of them, them. The reason is, that the object is set in its best light by a single accent, so as to make more than one unnecessary for the sense; and if another be added, it must be for the sound merely; which would be a transgression of the foregoing rule, by separating a musical accent from that which is requisite for the sense.
133. Keeping in view the foregoing observations, the doctrine of accenting English heroic verse is extremely simple. In the first place, accenting is confined to the long syllables; for a short syllable is not capable of an accent. In the next place, as the melody is enriched in proportion to the number of accents, every word that has a long syllable may be accented; unless the sense interpose, which rejects the accenting a word that makes no figure by its signification. According to this rule, a line may admit five accents; a case by no means rare.
134. But supposing every long syllable to be accented, there is, in every line, one accent that makes a greater figure than the rest, being that which precedes the capital pause. It is distinguished into two kinds; one that is immediately before the pause, and one that is divided from the pause by a short syllable. The former belongs to lines of the first and third order; the latter to those of the second and fourth. Examples of the first kind:
Smooth flow the waves || the zephyrs gently play, Belinda smil'd || and all the world was gay. He rais'd his azure wand || and thus began.
Examples of the other kind:
There lays three garters || half a pair of gloves, And all the trophies || of his former loves. Our humble province || is to tend the fair, Not a less pleasing || though less glorious care. And new triumphal arches || to the ground.
135. It is a capital defect in the composition of verse, to put a low word, incapable of an accent, in the place where this accent should be: this bars the accent altogether; than which there seems no fault more subversive of the melody, if it be not the barring a pause altogether. Neither does any single circumstance contribute more to the energy of verse, than to put an important word where the accent should be, a word that merits a peculiar emphasis. To show the bad effect of excluding the capital accent, the reader is referred to some instances given above, where particles are separated by a pause from the capital words that make them significant; and which particles ought, for the sake of melody, to be accented, were they capable of an accent. Add to these the following instances from the Essay on Criticism.
Of leaving what || is natural and fit
Not yet purg'd off, || of spleen and sour disdain
No pardon vile || obscenity should find
When love was all || an easy monarch's care
For 'tis but half || a judge's task, to know
'Tis not enough, || taste, judgment, learning, join
That only makes || superior sense belov'd
Whose right it is, || unencour'd, to be dull
'Tis best sometimes || your censure to restrain
When this fault is at the end of a line that closes a couplet, it leaves not the least trace of melody: But of this frame the bearings, and the ties, The strong connections, nice dependencies.
In a line expressive of what is humble or dejected, it improves the resemblance between the sound and sense to exclude the capital accent. This, to our taste, is a beauty in the following lines.
In these deep solitudes || and awful cells The poor inhabitant || beholds in vain
136. To conclude this article, the accents are not, like the syllables, confined to a certain number: some lines have no fewer than five, and there are lines that admit not above one. This variety, as we have seen, depends entirely on the different powers of the component words: particles, even where they are long by position, cannot be accented; and polysyllables, whatever space they occupy, admit but one accent. Polysyllables have another defect, that they generally exclude the full pause. It is shown above, that few polysyllables can find place in the construction of English verse; and here are reasons for excluding them, could they find place.
137. It was mentioned above, that the four sorts of lines which enter into English heroic verse, have, each of them, a peculiar melody distinguishable by a good ear. This it is now proposed to account for. But first, it is proper to warn the candid reader not to expect this peculiarity of modulation in every instance: for the thought and expression have so great an influence, as often to make the poorest melody pass for rich and spirited. It is necessary therefore, first, That the experiment be tried upon lines equal with respect to the thought and expression; for otherwise one may easily be misled in judging of the melody: and next, That these lines be regularly accented before the pause; for upon a matter abundantly refined in itself, it is wished not to be embarrassed with faulty and irregular lines.
These preliminaries adjusted, we begin with some general observations, that will save repeating the same thing over and over upon each particular case. And, first, an accent succeeded by a pause, as in lines of the first and third order, makes a much greater figure than where the voice goes on without a stop. The fact is so certain, that no person who has an ear can be at a loss to distinguish that accent from others. Nor have we far to seek for the efficient cause: the elevation of an accenting tone produceth in the mind a similar elevation, vation, which continues during the pause (A): but where the pause is separated from the accent by a short syllable, as in lines of the second and fourth order, the impression made by the accent is more slight when there is no stop, and the elevation of the accent is gone in a moment by the falling of the voice in pronouncing the short syllable that follows. The pause also is sensibly affected by the position of the accent: in lines of the first and third order, the close conjunction of the accent and pause occasions a sudden stop without preparation, which routs the mind, and befores on the melody a spirited air: when, on the other hand, the pause is separated from the accent by a short syllable, which always happens in lines of the second and fourth order, the pause is soft and gentle: for this short unaccented syllable succeeding one that is accented, must of course be pronounced with a falling voice, which naturally prepares for a pause; and the mind falls gently from the accented syllable, and slides into rest as it were insensibly. Further, the lines themselves derive different powers from the position of the pause, which will thus appear. A pause after the fourth syllable divides the line into two unequal portions, of which the larger comes last: this circumstance resolving the line into an ascending series, makes an impression in pronouncing like that of ascending; and to this impression contributes the redoubled effort in pronouncing the larger portion, which is last in order. The mind has a different feeling when the pause succeeds the fifth syllable, which divides the line into two equal parts: these parts, pronounced with equal effort, are agreeable by their uniformity. A line divided by a pause after the sixth syllable, makes an impression opposite to that first mentioned: being divided into two unequal portions, of which the shorter is last in order, it appears like a slow descending series; and the second portion being pronounced with less effort than the first, the diminished effort prepares the mind for rest. And this preparation for rest is still more sensibly felt where the pause is after the seventh syllable, as in lines of the fourth order.
133. To apply these observations is an easy task. A line of the first order is of all the most spirited and lively: the accent, being followed instantly by a pause, makes an illustrious figure: the elevated tone of the accent elevates the mind: the mind is supported in its elevation by the sudden unprepared pause which routs and animates: and the line itself, representing by its unequal division an ascending series, carries the mind still higher, making an impression similar to that of going upward. The second order has a modulation sensibly sweet, soft, and flowing: the accent is not so sprightly as in the former, because a short syllable intervenes between it and the pause; its elevation, by the same means, vanishes instantaneously; the mind, by a falling voice, is gently prepared for a stop: and the pleasure of uniformity from the division of the line into two equal parts, is calm and sweet. The third order has a modulation not so easily expressed in words: it in part resembles the first order, by the liveliness of an accent succeeded instantly by a full pause: but then the elevation occasioned by this circumstance, is balanced in some degree by the remitted effort in pronouncing the second portion, which remitted effort has a tendency to rest. Another circumstance distinguishes it remarkably: its capital accent comes late, being placed on the fifth syllable, and this circumstance bestows on it an air of gravity and solemnity. The last order resembles the second in the mildness of its accent, and softness of its pause; it is still more solemn than the third, by the lateness of its capital accent: it also possesses in a higher degree than the third, the tendency to rest; and by that circumstance is of all the best qualified for closing a period in the completest manner.
139. But these are not all the distinguishing characters of the different orders. Each order also is distinguished by its final accent and pause: the unequal division in the first order, makes an impression of ascending; and the mind at the close is in the highest elevation, which naturally prompts it to put a strong emphasis upon the concluding syllable, whether by raising the voice to a sharper tone, or by extending the word in a fuller tone. This order accordingly is of all the least proper for concluding a period, where a cadence is proper, and not an accent. The second order, being destitute of the impression of ascent, cannot rival the first order in the elevation of its concluding accent, nor consequently in the dignity of its concluding pause; for these have a mutual influence. This order, however, with respect to its close, maintains a superiority over the third and fourth orders: in these the close is more humble, being brought down by the impression of descent, and by the remitted effort in pronouncing; considerably in the third order, and still more considerably in the last. According to this description, the concluding accents and pauses of the four orders being reduced to a scale, will form a descending series probably in an arithmetical progression.
140. After what is said, it will scarce be thought refining too much to suggest, that the different orders are qualified for different purposes, and that a poet of genius will be naturally led to make a choice accordingly. The first order seems proper for a sentiment that is bold, lively, or impetuous; the third order, for what is grave, solemn, or lofty; the second, for what is tender, delicate, or melancholy, and in general for all the sympathetic emotions; and the last for subjects of the same kind, when tempered with any degree of solemnity. It is not contended that any one order is fitted for no other task than that assigned it; for at that rate, no sort of melody would be left for accompanying thoughts that have nothing peculiar in them. It is meant to suggest, that each of the orders is peculiarly adapted to certain subjects, and better qualified than the others for expressing them. The best way to judge is.
(a) Hence the liveliness of the French language as to found, above the English; the last syllable in the former being generally long and accented, the long syllable in the latter being generally as far back in the word as possible, and often without an accent. For this difference there appears no cause so probable as temperament and disposition; the French being brisk and lively, the English sedate and reserved: and this, if it hold, is a pregnant instance of a resemblance between the character of a people and that of their language. is by experiment; and to avoid the imputation of a partial search, the instances shall be confined to a single poem, beginning with the first order.
On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore, Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose, Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as those: Favours to none, to all she smiles extends; Oft she rejects, but never once offends. Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike; And, like the sun, they shine on all alike. Yet graceful ease, and sweetest void of pride, Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide; If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face, and you'll forget 'em all.
Rape of the Lock.
In accounting for the remarkable liveliness of this passage, it will be acknowledged by every one who has an ear, that the melody must come in for a share. The lines, all of them, are of the first order; a very unusual circumstance in the author of this poem, so eminent for variety in his versification. Who can doubt, that he has been led by delicacy of taste to employ the first order preferably to the others?
Second order. Our humble province is to tend the fair, Not a less pleasing, though less glorious care; To save the powder from too rude a gale, Nor let th' imprison'd essences exhale; To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs; To steal from rainbows, ere they drop their show'rs, &c.
Again: Oh, thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate, Too soon dejected, and too soon elate. Sudden, these honours shall be snatch'd away, And curse'd for ever this victorious day.
Third order. To fifty chosen sylphs, of special note, We trust th' important charge, the petticoat. Again: Oh say what stranger cause, yet unexplor'd, Could make a gentle belle reject a lord?
A plurality of lines of the fourth order, would not have a good effect in succession; because, by a remarkable tendency to rest, their proper office is to close a period. The reader, therefore, must be satisfied with instances where this order is mixed with others.
Not louder shrieks to pitying heav'n are cast, When husbands, or when lapdogs, breathe their last. Again: Steel could the works of mortal pride confound, And hew triumphal arches to the ground. Again: She sees, and trembles at th' approaching ill, Just in the jaws of ruin, and codille. Again: With earnest eyes, and round unthinking face, He first the snuff-box open'd, then the case.
And this suggests another experiment, which is, to set the different orders more directly in opposition, by giving examples where they are mixed in the same passage.
First and second orders. Sol through white curtains shot a tim'rous ray, And op'd those eyes that must eclipse the day.
Again: Not youthful kings in battle seiz'd alive, Not scornful virgins who their charms survive, Not ardent lovers rob'd of all their bliss, Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kiss, Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her mantua's pin'd awry, E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair, As thou, sad virgin! for thy ravish'd hair.
First and third. Think what an equipage thou hast in air, And view with scorn two pages and a chair.
Again: What guards the purity of melting maids, In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous friend, the daring spark, The glance by day, the whisper in the dark?
Again: With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre, And breathes three am'rous lights to raise the fire; Then prostrate falls, and begs, with ardent eyes, Soon to obtain, and long possess the prize.
Again: Jove's thunder roars, heav'n trembles all around, Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps resound, Earth shakes her nodding tow'rs, the ground gives way, And the pale ghosts start at the flash of day!
Second and third. Suok in Thalestris' arms, the nymph he found, Her eyes dejected, and her hair unbound.
Again: On her heav'd bosom hung her drooping head, Which with a sigh she rais'd; and thus she said.
141. Upon the whole, from what has been observed, we may with assurance pronounce, that great is the merit of English heroic verse: for though uniformity prevails in the arrangement, in the equality of the lines, and in the resemblance of the final sounds; variety is still more conspicuous in the pauses and in the accents, which are diversified in a surprising manner. Of the beauty that results from a due mixture of uniformity and variety *, many instances have already occurred, but none more illustrious than English versification: however rude it may be in the simplicity of its arrangement, it is highly melodious by its pauses and accents, so as already to rival the most perfect species known in Greece or Rome; and it is no disagreeable prospect to find it susceptible of still greater refinement.
142. (2.) We proceed to blank verse, which hath so many circumstances in common with rhyme, that its peculiarities may be brought within a narrow compass. With respect to form, it differs from rhyme in rejecting the jingle of similar sounds, which purifies it from a childish pleasure. But this improvement is a trifl trifle compared with what follows. Our verse is extremely cramped by rhyme; and the great advantage of blank verse is, that it is at liberty to attend the imagination in its boldest flights. Rhyme necessarily divides verse into couplets: each couplet makes a complete musical period, the parts of which are divided by pauses, and the whole summed up by a full close at the end: the melody begins anew with the next couplet: and in this manner a composition in rhyme proceeds couplet after couplet. We have frequently had occasion to mention the correspondence and concord that ought to subsist between sound and sense; from which it is a plain inference, that if a couplet be a complete period with regard to melody, it ought regularly to be the same with regard to sense. As it is extremely difficult to support such strictness of composition, licences are indulged, as explained above; which, however, must be used with discretion, so as to preserve some degree of concord between the sense and the music: There ought never to be a full close in the sense but at the end of a couplet; and there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every couplet: the same period as to sense may be extended through several couplets; but each couplet ought to contain a distinct member, distinguished by a pause in the sense as well as in the sound; and the whole ought to be closed with a complete cadence. Rules such as these must confine rhyme within very narrow bounds; a thought of any extent cannot be reduced within its compass; the sense must be curtailed and broken into parts, to make it square with the curtness of the melody; and beside, short periods afford no latitude for inversion.
143. We have examined this point with the greater accuracy, in order to give a just notion of blank verse; and to show, that a slight difference in form may produce a very great difference in substance. Blank verse has the same pauses and accents with rhyme, and a pause at the end of every line, like what concludes the first line of a couplet. In a word, the rules of melody in blank verse, are the same that obtain with respect to the first line of a couplet; but being disengaged from rhyme, or from couplets, there is access to make every line run into another, precisely as to make the first line of a couplet run into the second. There must be a musical pause at the end of every line; but this pause is so slight as not to require a pause in the sense; and accordingly the sense may be carried on with or without pauses, till a period of the utmost extent be completed by a full close both in the sense and the sound; there is no restraint, other than that this full close be at the end of a line; and this restraint is necessary, in order to preserve a coincidence between sense and sound, which ought to be aimed at in general, and is indispensable in the case of a full close, because it has a striking effect. Hence the fitness of blank verse for inversion: and consequently the lustre of its pauses and accents; for which, as observed in the article lately referred to, there is greater scope in inversion, than when words run in their natural order.
144. Nothing contributes more than inversion to the force and elevation of language: the couplets of rhyme confine inversion within narrow limits; nor would the elevation of inversion, were there access for it in rhyme, readily accord with the humbler tone of that fort of verse. It is universally agreed, that the loftiness of Milton's style supports admirably the sublimity of his subject; and it is not less certain, that the loftiness of his style arises chiefly from inversion. Shakespeare deals little in inversion; but his blank verse being a sort of measured prose, is perfectly well adapted to the stage, where laboured inversion is highly improper, because in dialogue it never can be natural.
145. Hitherto we have considered that superior power of expression which verse acquires by laying aside rhyme. But this is not the only ground for preferring blank verse: it has another preferable quality not less signal; and that is, a more extensive and more complete melody. Its music is not, like that of rhyme, confined to a single couplet, but takes in a great compass, so as in some measure to rival music properly so called. The interval between its cadences may be long or short at pleasure; and by that means its melody, with respect both to richness and variety, is superior far to that of rhyme, and superior even to that of the Greek and Latin hexameter. Of this observation no person can doubt who is acquainted with the Paradise Lost: in which work there are indeed many careless lines; but at every turn the richest melody as well as the sublimest sentiments are conspicuous. Take the following specimen.
Now Morn, her rosy steps in th' eastern clime Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl; When Adam wak'd, so custom'd, for his sleep Was airy light from pure digestion bred, And temperate vapours bland, which th' only found Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan, Lightly dispers'd, and the thrill matin song Of birds on ev'ry bough; so much the more His wonder was to find unawaken'd Eve With tresses discompos'd, and glowing cheek, As through unquiet rest: he on his side Leaning half-rais'd, with looks of cordial love Hung over her enamour'd, and beheld Beauty, which, whether waking or asleep, Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice Mild, as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes, Her hand soft touching, whisper'd thus. Awake, My fairest, my espous'd, my latest found, Heav'n's last best gift, my ever-new delight, Awake; the morning shines, and the fresh field Calls us; we lose the prime, to mark how spring Our tended plants, how blows the citron grove, What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed, How nature paints her colours, how the bee Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet.
Book 5. l. 1.
146. Comparing Latin Hexameter with English heroic rhyme, the former has obviously the advantage in the following particulars. It is greatly preferable as to arrangement, by the latitude it admits in placing the long and short syllables. Secondly, the length of an hexameter line hath a majestic air: ours, by its shortness, is indeed more brisk and lively, but much less fitted for the sublime. And, thirdly, the long high- founding words that hexameter admits, add greatly to its majesty. To compensate these advantages, English rhyme possesses a greater number and greater variety both of pauses and of accents. These two sorts of verse stand indeed, pretty much in opposition: in hexameter, great variety of arrangement, none in the pauses nor accents; in English rhyme, great variety in the pauses and accents, very little in the arrangement.
147. In blank verse are united, in a good measure, the several properties of Latin hexameter and English rhyme; and it possesses beside many signal properties of its own. It is not confined, like hexameter, by a full close at the end of every line; nor, like rhyme, by a full close at the end of every couplet. Its construction, which admits the lines to run into each other, gives it a still greater majesty than arises from the length of a hexameter line. By the same means, it admits inversion even beyond the Latin or Greek hexameter; for these suffer some confinement by the regular closes at the end of every line. In its music it is illustrious above all: the melody of hexameter verse, is circumscribed to a line; and of English rhyme, to a couplet: the melody of blank verse is under no confinement, but enjoys the utmost privilege of which melody of verse is susceptible; which is, to run hand in hand with the sense. In a word, blank verse is superior to hexameter in many articles; and inferior to it in none, save in the freedom of arrangement, and in the use of long words.
148. In French heroic verse, there are found, on the contrary, all the defects of Latin hexameter and English rhyme, without the beauties of either: subjected to the bondage of rhyme, and to the full close at the end of every couplet, it is also extremely fatiguing by uniformity in its pauses and accents: the line invariably is divided by the pause into two equal parts, and the accent is invariably placed before the pause:
Jeune et vaillant héros, dont la haute sagesse N'est point la fruit tardif d'une lente vieillesse.
Here every circumstance contributes to a tiresome uniformity: a constant return of the same pause and of the same accent, as well as an equal division of every line; which fatigue the ear without intermission or change. This matter cannot be set in a better light, than by presenting to the reader a French translation of the following passage of Milton:
Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall, Godlike erect, with native honour clad, In naked majesty, seem'd lords of all: And worthy seem'd; for in their looks divine The image of their glorious Maker shone, Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure; Severe, but in true filial freedom plac'd; Whence true authority in men: though both Not equal, as their sex not equal seem'd; For contemplation he and valour form'd, For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him.
Were the pauses of the sense and found in this passage but a little better assorted, nothing in verse could be more melodious. In general, the great defect of Milton's versification, in other respects admirable, is the want of coincidence between the pauses of the sense and found.
The translation is in the following words:
Ce lieu délicieux, ce paradis charmant, Reçoit deux objets non plus bel ornement; Leur port majestueux, et leur démarche altière, Semblent leur mériter sur la nature entière, Ce droit de commander que Dieu leur a donné, Sur leur auguste front de gloire couronné. Du Souverain du ciel drille la ressemblance: Dans leur simples regards éclatent l'innocence, L'adorable candeur, l'aimable vérité, La raison, la sagesse, et la sévérité, Qu'adoctit la prudence, et cet air de droiture Du visage des rois respectable parure. Ces deux objets divins n'ont pas les mêmes traits, Ils paraissent formées, quoique tous deux parfaits; L'un pour la majesté, la force, et la noblesse; L'autre pour la douceur, la grâce, et la tendresse; Celui-ci pour Dieu seul, l'autre pour l'homme encor.
Here the sense is fairly translated, the words are of equal power, and yet how inferior the melody!
149. The present article shall be concluded with
A List of the different Feet, and of their Names.
1. Pyrrhichius, consists of two short syllables. Examples: Deus, given, cannot, killock, running.
2. Spondeus, consists of two long syllables: omnes, possest, forewarn, mankind, sometime.
3. Iambus, composed of a short and a long: pios, intent, degree, appear, consent, repent, demand, report, suspect, affront, event.
4. Trochaeus, or Chorus, a long and a short: servat, whereby, after, legal, measure, burden, holy, lofty.
5. Tribrachys, three short: melius, property.
6. Molossus, three long: delectant.
7. Anapastus, two short and a long: animos, defend, apprehend, overheard, acquiesce, immature, overcharge, serenade, opportune.
8. Dactylus, a long and two short: carmina, evident, excellence, estimate, wonderful, altitude, burdened, minister, tenement.
9. Bacchius, a short and two long: dolorer.
10. Hypobacchius, or Antibacchius, two long and a short: pellantur.
11. Creticus, or Amphimacer, a short syllable between two long: infito, afternoon.
12. Amphibrachys, a long syllable between two short: honore, consider, imprudent, procedure, attended, propedeut, respondent, concurrence, apprentice, respective, revenue.
13. Proceleusmaticus, four short syllables: boni-ribus, necessary.
14. Dis- 14. **Dispondeus**, four long syllables: *infinitus*.
15. **Dimambus**, composed of two iambi: *severitas*.
16. **Ditrocheus**, of two trochaei: *permanere*, *procurator*.
17. **Ionicus**, two short syllables and two long: *propereant*.
18. Another foot passes under the same name, composed of two long syllables and two short: *calcarius*, *poffery*.
19. **Choriambus**, two short syllables between two long: *nobilis*.
20. **Antispastus**, two long syllables between two short: *Alexander*.
21. **Paeon** 1st, one long syllable and three short: *temporibus*, *ordinary*, *inventory*, *temperament*.
22. **Paeon** 2d, the second syllable long, and the other three short: *rapidity*, *solemnity*, *minority*, *considered*, *imprudently*, *extravagant*, *respectfully*, *accordingly*.
23. **Paeon** 3d, the third syllable long and the other three short: *animatus*, *independent*, *condescendence*, *sacerdotal*, *reimbursement*, *manufacture*.
24. **Paeon** 4th, the last syllable long and the other three short: *celeritas*.
25. **Epitritus** 1st, the first syllable short and the other three long: *voluptates*.
26. **Epitritus** 2d, the second syllable short and the other three long: *panitentes*.
27. **Epitritus** 3d, the third syllable short and the other three long: *discordias*.
28. **Epitritus** 4th, the last syllable short and the other three long: *fortunatus*.
29. A word of five syllables composed of a pyrrhichius and dactylus: *ministerial*.
30. A word of five syllables composed of a trochaeus and dactylus: *singularity*.
31. A word of five syllables composed of a dactylus and trochaeus: *precipitation*, *examination*.
32. A word of five syllables, the second only long: *significancy*.
33. A word of six syllables composed of two dactyluses: *impetuosity*.
34. A word of six syllables composed of a trilachys and dactyle: *puifilanimit*.
**END OF THE EIGHTH VOLUME.** Directions for placing the Plates in this Volume.
| Number of Plates | To face | Page | |------------------|---------|------| | 230, or Plate CCXIII. | - | 5563 | | 231 | CCXIV. | 5567† | | 232 | CCXV. | 5571‡ | | 233 | CCXVI. | - | | 234 | CCXVII. | 5584 | | 235 | CCXVIII. | - | | 236 | CCXIX. | 5586 | | 237 | CCXX. | 5598 | | 238 | CCXXI. | 5590 | | 239 | CCXXII. | 5592 | | 240 | CCXXIII. | 5598 | | 241 | CCXXIV. | 5601 | | 242 | CCXXV. | 5603 | | 243 | CCXXVI. | 5607 | | 244 | CCXXVII. | 5608 | | 245 | CCXXVIII. | 5618 |
| Number of Plates | To face | Page | |------------------|---------|------| | 246, or Plate CCXXXIX. | - | 5632 | | 247 | CCXXX. | 5747 | | 248 | CCXXXI. | 5755 | | 249 | CCXXXII. | 5746 | | 250 | CCXXXIII. | 5856 | | 251 | CCXXXIV. | 5932 | | 252 | CCXXXV. | 6136 | | 253 | CCXXXVI. | 5974 | | 254 | CCXXXVII. | 5978 | | 255 | CCXXXVIII. | 5979 | | 256 | CCXXXIX. | 6204 | | 257 | CCXL. | - | | 258 | CCXLI. | 6206 | | 259 | CCXLII. | - | | 260 | CCXLIII. | 6256 |
† Or the 1st page of Sig. M. ‡ Or the 5th page of Sig. M.
The binder will attend to this direction, as pages 5567 to 5574 have by mistake been twice numbered in the printing.
N. B. Errata, Omissions, &c. noticed and supplied in the Appendix at the end of the Work.