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sists in the omission of the eighth semifoot, leaving

a single syllable instead of the fourth foot, as Then down she sunk, despair-1-ing,

drifted snow,

upon the

And, wrung with kill-l-ing an-l-guish, ̧ || lamented

loud her woe

so that, if the line be divided into two verses, the first contains only three feet and a half, or seven syllables, while the latter has its due measure of three

feet: e. gr.

'Twas when the seas | were roar-\-ing

With hollow blasts of wind,
A dam-l-sel lay | deplo-l-ring,

All on a rock reclin'd. (Gay.
Hypermeter, with double rhime--

When he was dead, and laid in grave, her heart was struck with sōr--row.

"O mother! mother! make my bed; for I shall die to mor--row." (Ballad of "Barbara Allen."

2. Iambic of six feet, or twelve syllables. Thy realm for e--věr lāsts: || thy ōwn | Messi-l -ǎh reigns. (Pope.

by persons either regard less or ignorant of the laws of versification. To constitute verse, it is not sufficient that a number of jarring syllables be ranged in uncouth lines with rhime at the end: order, regularity, symmetry, harmony, are requisite; otherwise we might apply the name of verse to Swift's "Petition of Mrs. Harris," because the terminations of the sentences are made to rhime!

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This metre is called the Alexandrine; and the verse, when properly constructed, ought always to have the cæsura between the sixth and seventh syllables. It is, comparatively, little used in English composition, though adopted, as their common heroic measure, by our French neighbours, who have in it entire poems, tragedies, comedies, &c. &c. which, from the dull unvaried uniformity of the cæsura perpetually recurring after the third foot, cannot, to an English ear, be otherwise than disgustingly monotonous*. To my ear, at least, they are so, though accustomed to them from early youth.-In our English poetry, the Alexandrine appears to much greater advantage; not being uniformly continued in succession, but employed as the closing line in the

*Why is not our English ballad-measure equally tiresome and disgusting, since it is' as regularly divided at a particular stage of the verse, as the French Alexandrine?—The difference is obvious and striking. Our line of fourteen syllables is not divided into exact halves, but into members of unequal lengths, viz. eight syllables and six; the eight-syllable portion admitting, moreover, within its own compass, an additional and varied cæsura: and these two circumstances sufficiently guard against that monotonous sing-song uniformity which is so irksome in the French heroics, where we find nought but six and six and six and six-the same numbers, the same cadences, from the beginning of a volume to the end, without the smallest variety, to relieve the ennui of a wearied and impatient ear.

I here speak of our general practice only; for there are some particular exceptions of English poems entirely written in the Alexan drine metre.

old heroic stanza of Spencer and his imitators, or sparingly introduced (in single lines) among our tensyllable heroics, and in bold, irregular odes; in both which situations, it often produces a very fine effect, by giving a strongly impressive weight, emphasis, and dignity to a concluding sentiment or image. Hypermeter, with double rhime

....That never thought one thing, but doubly still was gui--děd. (Spencer.

3. Iambic of five feet, or ten syllables.

This is our heroic metre-the principal metre in our language-and is perhaps* the only species of English verse which can nobly sustain its dignity without the artificial jingle of rhime-that meretricious ornament of barbarous origin, wholly unknown to the immortal bards of ancient Greece and Rome. The five-foot Iambic is happily adapted to themes of every color and every degree, from the most exalted to the most humble and familiar, and is used with or without rhime, as

The swain with tears | his frūs--trăte lā-l-bor yiēlds, ǎnd fa--mish'd dies | ămid his rī-l-pěn'd fields.

(Pope.

in sable pōmp, with all her stārrỹ train, The Night resum'd her thrōne. Recall'd from wãr, Her long-protracted labors Greece forgēts. (Glover.

# I say "perhaps," because Mr. Southey's Thalaba might be quoted to prove that others also of our metres may sometimes dispense with rhime.

Further on, I shall make a few remarks on the structure and variations of this species of verse. Hypermeter, with double rhime

In moderation placing all my glō-\-ry,

While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tō-|-ry.

Iambic of four feet, or eight syllables.

of Plea-j-sure's gīld--ed bāits | beware, Nor tempt the Sī--ren's fa-j-tăl snare,

(Pope.

(Cotton.

This metre is chiefly used in songs, fables, and other light compositions, and is frequently alternated in stanzas with the Iambic of six syllables-the two together constituting, as before observed, the old ballad-measure of fourteen: e. gr. Alas! by some degree of woe,

We ev'ry bliss must gain.

The heart can ne'er a transport know,

That never feels a pain.

(Lyttelton.

The four-foot Iambic is sometimes called Hudibrastic, from Butler's poem of Hudibras, written in such measure. But that appellation is not applied to verses which have any claim to poetic terseness or harmony: it is only when the lines are carelessly scribbled in a coarse, uncouth, slovenly, prosaïc manner, that they are termed Hudibrastic. Hypermeter, with double rhime

Exulting, trembling, raging, faint-\-ing,
Possess'd beyond the Muses* paint--ing. (Collins.

See the note on this orthography in page 44*.

Iambic of three feet, or six syllables.

Thou lov'st | to lie, and hear

The roar of wa-l-ters near. (Southey.

This metre is hardly used, except in stanzas, alternately with the Iambic of eight syllables, and in irregular odes. Sometimes, however, it is used unmixed, and with alternate rhime, as

Our English then in fight

· Did foreign foes subdue, And forc'd them all to flight, When this old cap was new.

(Song of "Time's Alteration."

Hypermeter, with double rhime

'Twas when the seas were roar--ing.......

A damsel lay deplōr-\-ing.

(Gay.

This latter is the measure to which Anacreon tuned

his lyre, in those sweet little songs,,

which, after the lapse of above two thousand years, are still universally admired by all readers of taste. He, however, made an occasional variation, which would not be quite so agreeable in our language as it is in the Greek, and which shall be noticed under the head of Trochaics:

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Iambic of two feet, or four syllables.

With ra--vish'd ears

The mō--nărch hears,

assumes the gōd,

affects to nōd......(Dryden.

This metre is occasionally blended with verses of

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