It appears, therefore, that there have been no less than four systems employed at different periods, to mark the quantity of our English vowels. In the first, the long time was marked by the acute accent; in the second, by a doubling of the vowel; in the fourth, by the mute e; while the third system indicated the short time by a doubling of the consonant, and conversely, the long time by a single In modern practice, the three last systems are, to a certain degree, combined. It would be matter of rather curious inquiry, to trace the several classes of syllables which are subject to their respective laws; and the gradual steps by which the later systems have intruded on the older ones. consonant. These observations may show, how inapplicable to our tongue are the laws, which regulate the quantity of the Greek and Latin. Our earlier critics-a Sydney or a Spenser-talked as familiarly of vowels long by position, as though they were still scanning their hexameters and pentameters; and would have upheld the first syllable of hilly as long, despite the evidence of their own senses. The same principles have been acquiesced in, though not openly avowed, by later writers; and Mitford has even given us directions to distinguish a long syllable from a short one. His system is a mere application of Latin rules to English pronounciation, without regard to the spelling. So far it is an improvement upon that of his predecessors; but it is forgotten that the laws of Greek and Latin quantity were for the most part conventional, and derived their authority from usage. Custom with us has laid down no rules upon the subject, and without her sanction all rules are valueless. We have hitherto denominated certain vowels long and short, as though we considered the only difference between them to be their time; as though, for instance, the vowel in meet differed from that in met only in its being longer. The truth is, they are of widely different quality. The spelling of many words has remained unchanged, for a period, during which we have the strongest evidence of a great change in our pronunciation. When the ortho graphy of the words meet and met was settled, the vowels in all probability differed only in respect of time; but they have now been changing for some centuries, till they have nothing in common between them, but a similarity in their spelling. In the present state of our language, we have five vowel sounds, each of which furnishes us with two vowels. Though the vowels, thus related to each other, differ only in respect of time, the spelling but rarely shows us any connexion between them. The vowels o and u, as they occur in note and nut stand alone, as do also the different dipthongs. QUANTITY AS AN INDEX OF ENGLISH RHYTHM. It has been said that our English rhythms are governed by accent; I, moreover, believe this to be the sole principle that regulates them. Most of our modern writers on Versification are of a different opinion. I have seen the title of a book* which professed to give examples of verse measured solely by the quantity, but have been unable to procure it. Mitford, too, after dwelling on the great importance of accent, seems half to mistrust the conclusions he has come to; for he adds, strangely enough, and not very intelligibly, "variety is allowed for the quan * Verse measured with a regard solely to the length of time required in the pronunciation of syllables, the accent and emphasis being entirely unnoticed. Richard Edwards. 1813. 12mo. tities of syllables, too freely to be exactly limited by rule. A certain balance of quantities, however, throughout the the verse, is required, so that deficiency be no where striking. Long syllables, therefore, must predominate." I do not feel the force of this inference, and much less do I acknowledge it, as one of the essentials of our "heroic verse." Verses may be found in every poet that has written our language, which have neither a balance of quantities, nor a predominance of long syllables; and it asks but little stretch of imagination to suppose a case, in which the predominance of short quantities, so far from being a defect, might be a beauty. One of our leading reviews has stated, that, “independent of accent, quantity neither is nor ought to be neglected in our versification." In this, if I understand it rightly, I agree. The time is, occasionally, of great importance to the beauty of a verse, but never an index of its rhythm. I suspect, however, that the reviewer looked upon quantity in a more important light. He gives us the following stave, in which the "long syllables" are arranged as they would be in a Latin sapphic, with an accentual rhythm, such as is often met with in our dramatic poets. The object is to show, that such "coincidence of temporal metre" gives a peculiar character to the verse, notwithstanding the familiar arrangement of the accents. O liquid streamlēts to the main returning, Hōpe to be tranquil. The following stave is then given with the same accentuation, and the same pauses, to show how " a difference of quantities will destroy the resemblance to Latin sapphic." The headlōng tōrrent from its nātīve caverns Roars through the valley, wasting with its deluge I cannot help thinking, that the reviewer has deceived himself. I do not believe one man in a hundred would be sensible of the artful collocation of the long syllables in the first stave. True it is, that in both these staves, the verse has a peculiar character; but one, I think, quite independent of the quantity. The sameness of the rhythm would alone be sufficient for this purpose. There is no doubt also a great difference in the flow of the two stanzas, but this too, I think, is in a very slight degree owing to the difference in their quantities. The first stave is made up of easy and flowing syllables, while the latter is clogged throughout with knots of the most rugged and unyielding consonants. The mere difficulty of pronunciation might account for that difference of flow, which the reviewer attributes solely to the difference of the quantities. It is not, however, denied, that the effect may be partly owing to the change in the quantity. There is no doubt that such a change will sometimes force itself upon our notice in a very striking manner. In the staves that follow, the same rhythm has been employed as above, but any jostling of consonants has been studiously avoided; The busy rivulet in humble valley The lonely tarn that sleeps upon the mountain, The striking difference in the flow of these two stanzas is almost entirely owing to the difference of their quantities. Before we close this section, I would make an observation on a passage in the review last quoted, which, though it relate to a foreign language, has an indirect bearing on the question now before us. The law of French verse, as regards quantity, is stated to be-the thirteenth syllable short, the sixth long. Now a French verse can never take a thirteenth syllable, unless it consist of the short vowel sound, which is usually indicated by the e final; and as this is the shortest syllable in the French language, the critic risked little, in laying down the first part of his canon. The latter part, I think, is not correct. A strong accent indeed falls on the sixth syllable, but every page of French poetry contains syllables so situated, which cannot, with any show of reason, be classed among the long syllables of the language. This notice may be useful as showing that, as regards the French, no less than our own tongue, the rhythms that depend on accent are independent of quantity. I believe the same remark might be extended to every living language from India westward. Embellish,nent. QUANTITY AS AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RHYTHM. Our great poets certainly have not paid the same attention to the quantity of their syllables, as to the quality of their letter-sounds. Shakespeare, however, seems to have affected the short vowels, and particularly the short i, when he had to describe any quickness of motion. Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love, R. & J. 2. 5. The nimble gunner With linstock now the dev'lish cannon touches H 5. 3, Chorus. Milton also sometimes aided his rhythm by a like atten tion to his quantities, And soon In order, quit of all impediment, Instant, without disturb they took alarm, P. L. 6. In the following verses long syllables predominate. A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man. Lear, 3.2. R. & Jul. |