This license, however, is not so common in Cowper's lighter pieces. In Browning's "Good News from Ghent," the first foot is sometimes dissyllabic, but every other foot is trisyllabic throughout the poem. 149. Difficulty of distinguishing between Dissyllabic and Trisyllabic Metre. If the question were asked, Of what metre is the following passage, Speak, speak thou féarful guest, Whó, in rude ármor drést, LONGFELLOW. it would be impossible to reply with certainty, and we should probably incline to say "dissyllabic," but the next line,— Cómest to dáunt me, makes it almost certain that the metre is intended to be trisyllabic. Take as This will show how easily the early English alliterative trisyllabic verse could pass into dissyllabic verse. examples, (a) To | bínd and to unbínd, || as the bóoke télleth. Piers the Plowman. (b) How he it | left with love, || as our Lord hight. Ib. As soon as a system of counting syllables was introduced, such verses might be scanned dissyllabically: (a) To bind and tó unbínd, ás the booke telleth, 150. Classical Metres. Attempts have been made (beginning as early as the sixteenth century), with more or less of success, to introduce the hexameter, and other metres common in Greek and Latin, into English poetry. But these metres cannot be said as yet to be naturalized in English, and may best be studied in connection with the literature whence they originated. In many of these attempts it is difficult to recognize any vestige of the metre which is aimed at. The following Worn out with áng|uish, tóil, | and cold, | and húnger, would pass very well for a five-accent iambic line, whereas it is intended for something quite different. In Mr. Kingsley's "Andromeda," however, the hexameter is written both with correctness and spirit; and Mr. Clough's "Bothie of Tober-na-voilich" is also correct in the main, and written with real ease and freedom. CHAPTER I. HINTS ON SELECTION AND ARRANGEMENT. 151. Difference between Scientific and Non-Scientific Composition. Composition may be (1) scientific, or (2) non-scientific (literary). Scientific composition aims exclusively at clearness, preciseness, and completeness. Scientific composition is perfectly uniform in arrangement. Scientific description enumerates the characteristics of a phenomenon according to a fixed classification; scientific reasoning proceeds according to the order of logic; scientific narration according to chronological order. In non-scientific composition the arrangement is much less uniform, and affords room for judgment and skill. This chapter will state some of the principles which should govern it. First, non-scientific composition is seldom exhaustively complete. It omits much that might be stated. We therefore require a principle to determine what to admit and what to suppress; that is, a principle of Selection. Secondly, non-scientific composition does not aim merely at conveying truth. It is therefore not satisfied with clearness and preciseness. It aims sometimes at attracting the attention, sometimes at exciting the imagination, sometimes at stimulating the feelings. These objects introduce new principles of Arrangement. 152. Non-Scientific Composition may be subdivided into several different species. (1) Conversation. This, having no object but passing amusement, is often omitted in classifications of styles of composition. Nevertheless, conversation may be considered as an art governed by definite principles, and there have been persons who have attained special excellence in it. (2) Oratory. By this is here meant all forms of pleading intended to determine special persons or bodies of people to special resolutions; e.g., parliamentary or forensic speeches. Though for the most part it refers to speeches, and does not refer to books, yet there are some written treatises which are comprised under it,―e.g., pamphlets or books written to advocate particular measures; on the other hand, it excludes some speeches, - e.g., sermons, which are intended to influence men's general conduct, not their particular acts; and panegyrical or commemorative speeches, which are merely intended to give expression to feelings. (3) Didactic (Non-Scientific) Composition. This name; for want of a better, may be given to the third class. It includes all compositions which have a practical object, but not like class (2) a limited and definite one, and, on the other hand, have not the precision of science. Some of these compositions may approach to the character of speeches, — e.g., "Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution;" they may have the form of speeches,-e.g., Milton's " Areopagitica;" they may be delivered as speeches, —e.g., the sermons of Taylor or Tillotson. Others may approach the character of scientific treatises; e.g., some of the works of Coleridge, or Mill's "Essay on Liberty." Others, again, may be narrative in form, provided the narration be true and seriously meant. Thus history and biography are to be regarded as forms of didactic composition. The same may be said even of fictitious narrative, when it is used solely for the purpose of illustrating truth. The common characteristic of all compositions of this class is that they have an object which is not purely speculative, and yet is not limited to a special and immediate occasion. (4) Imaginative Literature, including Poetry. — By poetry is commonly understood metrical composition. But metrical compositions evidently belong for the most part to the larger class of compositions, the object of which is to gratify the imagination and creative power. Poems, then, and novels must here be classed together. This style, being largely imitative, includes imitation of conversation and oratory (styles 1 and 2). In novels there is generally much conversation, and often speeches are introduced. Dramatic poetry assumes the form of conversation throughout. Some of the most brilliant specimens of oratory in English may be quoted from the poets; e.g., the speech of Antony in "Julius Cæsar," the speech of Belial in "Paradise Lost," B. 2. In old times, when some of these styles had not been clearly distinguished, historians were in the habit of introducing speeches of their own composition, which they put in the mouths of statesmen, whose policy they were describing. Livy and Thucydides are examples. Such speeches, being |