1 I have rather chosen to take notice of this Stanza, because that Poet and Chaucer have made use of it in many of their Poems, tho' they have not been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns; whose Stanzas of 7 Verses are generally compos'd as follows. Either the Four first Verses are a Quadran in Alternate Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that is, I do not ask your Love for this, But for Heaven's Sake believe me, or I dye. No Servant fure but did deserve Cowl.), Or the Four first are Two Couplets, and the Three last a Triplet; as, Indeed I must confess When Souls mix 'tis a Happiness, And closely as our Minds together joyn. But Half of Heav'n the Souls in 'Till by Love in Heav'n at last, Glory taste, Cowl. Or, on the contrary, the Three first may rhyme, and the Four last be in Rhymes that follow one another; as, 1 From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free, In vain this State a Freedom call, Since I have Love; and Love is all, Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag That I have no Disease besides the Plague. } Cowl. Or the ist may rhyme to the 2 last, the ad to the 5th, and In vain thou drowsie God I thee invoke, VVhose Flame's So pure, that it Sends up no Smoak. Cowl. Or lastly, the Four first and Two last may be in following Thots 1 Thou robb'st my Days of Business and Delights. Thou ev'n my Prayers dost from me steal Begin to God, and end them all in thee, Cowl. The Stanzas of 9 and of 11 Syllables are not so frequent as those of 5 and of 7. Spencer has compos'd his Fairy Qucen in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the ist rhymes to the 3d, the 2d to the 4th sth and 7th, and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky Choice of it reduc'd him often to the Necessity of making use of many exploded Words: Nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns, whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas that confift of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another, and the Three last a Triplet; as, τ Beauty, Love's Scene and Masquerade, Cowl. In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, but the Verses differ in Measure from the Former. Beneath this gloomy Shade, By Nature only for my Sorrows made, I'll spend this Voice in Cries; In Tears I'll waste these Eyes, By Love so vainly fed: So Lust of old the Deluge punished. Ah wretched Youth! Said I; Ah wretched Youth! twice did I fadly cry; Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply. Cowl. The Stanzas consisting of II Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd in them. Take an Example of one of them, where the 6 first are 3 Couplets, the three next a Triplet, the two last a Couplet; and where the 4th, the 7th, and the laft Verses are of to Syllables cach, the others of 8. T No, to what Purpose should I speak? And, to say Truth, 'twere Pity that she should. No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear, As filent as they will be there ; Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give, So handfomly the thing contrive, That shemay guiltless of it live: So perish, that her killing thee May a Chance-Medley, and no Murther be. SECT. VII. Cowl. Of Pindarick Odes, and Poems in Blank Verfe. HE Stanzas of Pindarick Odes are neither confin'd to a certain Number of Verses, nor the Verses to a certain Number of Syllables, nor the Rhyme to a certain Distance. Some Stanzas contain 50 Verses or more, others not above 10, and fometimes not fo many: Some Verses 14, nay, 16 Syllables, others not above 4: Sometimes the Rhymes follow one another for several Couplets together, sometimes they are remov'd 6 Verses from each other; and all this in the same Stanza. Cowley was the first who introduc'd' this fort of Poetry into our Language: Nor can the Nature of it be better defcrib'd than as he himself has done it, in one of the Stanzas of his Ode upon Liberty, which I will transcribe, not as an Example, for none can properly be given where no Rule can be prescrib'd, but to give an Idea of the Nature of this fort of Poetry. If Life should a well-order'd Poem be, In which he only hits the White, Who joins true Profit with the best Delight; The more Heroick Strain let others take, Mine the Pindarick way I'll make: The Matter shall be grave, the Numbers loose and free; It shall not keep one settled Pace of Time, In the same Tune it shall not always chime, Nor shall each Day just to his Neighbour rhyme. A thousand Liberties it shall dispence, And yet shall manage all without Offence, Or to the Sweetness of the Sound, or Greatness of the Sense. Nor Nor shall it never from one Subject start, Nor its set way o'er Stiles and Bridges make, So the Imperial Eagle does not stay Till the whole Carcass he devour, That's fall'n into his Pow'r, As if his gen'rous Hunger understood, That he can never want Plenty of Food; He only fucks the tastful Blood, And to fresh Game flies chearfully away, To Kites and meaner Birds he leaves the mangled Prey. This fort of Poetry is employ'd in all Manner of Subjects; in Pleasant, in Grave, in Amorous, in Heroick, in Philosophical, in Moral, and in Divine. Blank Verse is where the Measure is exacty kept without Rhyme; Shakespear, to avoid the troublesome Constraint of Rhyme, was the first who invented it; our Poets fince him have made use of it in many of their Tragedies and Comedies: But the most celebrated Poem in this kind of Verse is Milton's Paradise Loft; from the 5th Book of which I have taken the following Lines for an Example of Blank Verse. These are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good! His Praise, who out of Darkness call'd up Light. Thus I have given a short Account of all the forts of Poems, that are most us'd in our Language. The Acrosticks, Anagrams, &c. deserve not to be mention'd, and we may fay of them what an antient Poet faid long ago. Stultum eft difficiles habere Nugas, FINIS. |