When I dipp'd into the Future far as human eye could see, Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.-TENNYSON. ANAPESTIC MEASURES. ANAPESTIC MONOMETER. § 510. Each of the following lines consists of a single Anapest. "In a sweet' Resonance All their feet' In the dance' ANAPESTIC DIMETER. Formula x x a × 2. § 511. Each of the following lines is composed of two Anapests. In the following lines there are two Anapests and an additional syllable. He is gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain, When our need was the sorest.-SCOTT. ANAPESTIC TRIMETER. Formula x x a×3. * § 512. In the following accented lines there are three Anapests. Oh ye woods' spread your branch'les apace"; To your deepest recesses I fly; I would hide' with the beasts' of the chase'; I would vanish from every eye! Yet my reed shall resound through the grove How she smiled, and I could not but love: ANAPESTIC TETRAMETER. Formula x x a × 4. § 513. In the following lines there are four Anapests. Through the depths of Loch Kat'|rine the steed' | shall career': O'er the Peak' of Ben Lo'mond the galley shall steer': And the rocks of Craig Royston like icicles melt, Ere our wrongs be forgot, or our vengeance unfelt!-SCOTT. Formula x x ax4+. Here there is an additional syllable. Q If they rob' us of name' and pursue | us with beagles, AMPHIBRACH MEASURES. AMPHIBRACH MONOMETER. § 514. The accented lines are composed of a single Amphibrach. Whisperings heard by wakeful maids, To whom the night-stars guide us; At meet'ing; At part'ing; Oh sweet youth, how soon it fades! AMPHIBRACH DIMETER. Formula x a x × 2. § 515. The accented lines are composed of two Amphibrachs. The black' bands | came o ́ver We [have] beat'en all foe'men, We [have] captured a king; We [have] turn'd' back on no' men, And so let us sing: The Bourbon forev'er! Though penniless all, We'll [have] one' more endeav'or AMPHIBRACH TRIMETER. Formula x a x×3. § 516. The accented lines are composed of three Amphibrachs. A con'quest, how hard' and how glorious! Though fate had fast bound her With Styx nine times round her! Yet muʼsic and love' were vieto ́rious!-POPE. Formula x a x×3-. Here one syllable is wanting. Ye shepherds, | so cheerful | and gay', Allow me to muse and to sigh, Nor talk of the change that ye find; None once was so watchful as I: I have left my dear Phyllis behind.-SHENSTONE. § 517. AMPHIBRACH TETRAMETER. Formula x a x x 4. [Thanks], my lord', for your venʼison; | for fin'er | nor fat'ter The flesh was a picture for painters to study, The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy. [Though] my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting Formula x a x×4-. The accented lines are composed of four Amphibrachs, wanting one syllable. § 518. But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature, To lay down thy head' like the meek' mountain lamb'; And draws' his last sob by the side' of his dam'. And more stately thy couch by this desert lake lying, With one faithful friend to witness thy dying, In the arms of Helvellyn and Catchedicam.-SCOTT. § 519. In the follwing the lines 1, 3, 5, &c., consist of two Dactyls, and the lines 2, 4, 6, &c., consist of two Dactyls wanting the last syllable. § 520. Pi'broch of Don'uil Dhu, Wake' thy wild | voice' anew, Hark to the summons! Come in your war-array, Gentles and commons! Come from the deep glen, and From mountain so rocky; The war-pipe and pennon Are at Inverlochy. Come every hill-plaid, and True heart that wears one; Come every steel blade, and Strong hand that bears one!-SCOTT. DACTYLIC TRIMETER. Formula a x x×3 and a xxx3-. "Peace' to thee, isle' of the o'cean! Peace' to thy breez'es and bil'lows!" § 521. DACTYLIC TETRAMETER. Formula a x x x 4. Hail to the chief who in triumph advances! DACTYLIC HEXAMETER. § 522. The last line in each verse is a Spondee. The accented lines have five Dactyls. This is the for'est prime'val; but where' are the hearts' that beneath it Leap'd' like the roe', when it hears' in the wood'land the voice' of the huntsman ? Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers? Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands, Darken'd by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of Heaven?-LONGFELLOW. CHAPTER III. COMBINED MEASURES. THE SPENSERIAN STANZA. § 523. THIS Consists of nine Iambic lines, the eight first being Heroics, and the ninth an Alexandrine. The law of the rhyme may be seen in the following: I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : You can not rob me of free Nature's grace; You can not shut the windows of the sky, Through which Aurora shows her bright'ning face; You can not bar my constant feet to trace The woods and lawns by living stream at eve; Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace, And I their toys to the great children leave: Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave.-THOMSON. A STANZA is a combination of several lines constituting the regular division of a poem. GAY'S STANZA. § 524. The formula for the odd lines is x ax3+; for the even lines, xax3. The rhymes are alternate, and the odd rhymes double. "'Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined; Wide o'er the foaming billows She cast a wistful look; Her head was crown'd with willows, That trembled o'er the brook. ELEGIAC OCTOSYLLABICS. § 525. These are the same as the common octosyllabics (see § 498), except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses are arranged in stanzas. And on her lover's arm she leant, And round her waist she felt it fold; And far across the hills she went, In that new world which now is old: Beyond their utmost purple rim; The happy princess followed him.-TENNYSON. OCTOSYLLABIC COUPLETS. § 526. Four measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 498. OCTOSYLLABIC TRIPLETS. § 527. Four measures, x a, with three rhymes regularly in succession. A still, small voice spake unto me: "Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be ?" Then to the still, small voice I said: "Let me not cast in endless shade What is so wonderfully made !"-TENNYSON. HEROIC COUPLETS. § 528. Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 499. HEROIC TRIPLETS. § 529. Five measures, x a, with three rhymes in succession. By this the brides are waked, their grooms are dress'd; All Rhodes is summon'd to the nuptial feast: All but myself, the sole unbidden guest.-DRYDEN. ELEGIAC HEROICS. § 530. These are the same as the common heroics, except that the lines regularly alternate, and are arranged in stanzas. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea; And leaves the world to darkness and to me.-GBAY. RHYME ROYAL. § 531. Seven lines of heroics, with the last two rhymes in succession, and the five first recurring at intervals. It admits of varieties, according to the distribution of the five first rhymes. For, lo! the sea that fleets about the land, So danceth he about the centre here.-Sir JOHN DAVIS. |