This circumstance proves that the number of
syllables
(exclusive
of their accent or quantity) is a much' more important considera-
E
?
of their accent or quantity) is a much' more important considera-
E
?
Carey - Practice English Prosody Exercises
"--Is the same doctrine
applicable to our English language? I leave that point to be de-
termined by others: but, in the mean time, whatever may be
the cause of the difference, certain it is that the initial trochee
which terminates a word, more completely fills and satisfies the
ear, than that really shorter trochee, which, embracing only part
of a word, admits no interruption in the continuity of the voice,
no pause whatever, that can at all aid in giving weight and em-
phasis to its second syllable: and the same effect is produced in
every other station of the verse where a trochee occurs, as may
easily be proved by altermg such trochee and the following syl-
lable to one solid trisyllabic word, corresponding in accent with
the three syllables displaced.
* I reserve to a future occasion to enter into a minute ana-
lytical examination of this our principal metre, foot by foot;
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? 44 Prosody.
The Pyrrhic--
and to | the dead | my will-[-ing shade [ shall go.
(West.
To qua-| tity | brlongs | the high-|-est place. (Young.
And all | the te-J->>5r of \ his soul | is lost. (Parnell.
His heart | dilates, | and glo-|-nes m \ his strength.
(Addison.
And speak, | though sure, | with seem-|-ing dir-|^/">>-
dence. (Pope.
and to | be ta-\-ken with \ a sud-|-den pain. (Young,
as on | a day, | reflect-l-iwg on | his age. . . (Lowth.
Solem-|-w^y's | aco-|-rer jor | a sot. (Youug.
The Spondee--.
o born | to thoughts, | to plea-|-sures, more | sublimef
(Langhorne.
Forbear, | great man | in arms | renown'd, | forbear.
(Addison.
The west-|-ern sun | now sMt \ a fee-l-ble ray.
(Addison.
That touchM I the ruff | that touch'dl Queen Uess-l-es*
chin. ? (Young.
and syllable by syllable, in all its different forms and modifica-
tions, on the extensive plan of the " Analysis'' of the Hexameter
Verse, in the last improved edition of my " Latin Prosody. "
* Queen Besses chin. --This -spelling, though different from
that of the printed copy now before me, is undoubtedly correct,
and sanctioned by fornitr usage, as may be seen by recurring to
early editions of books written before the commencement of the
last century: and it has reason on its side,as well as custom.
Our modern genitive S with the apostrophe (as John's, Peter's^
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? Prosody. 45
For who I can write | so fast | as men | run mad?
(Young.
Here dwells | kind ease, \ and un-repro-I-ving joy.
(Thomson.
&c. ) is evidently nothing else than a contraction of the antique
genitive termination ES, in which, for brevity's sake, we omit the
Eia pronunciation, as we do in the preterites of most of our re-
gular veros, Lov'd, Walk'd, Compos'd, &c. But there are cases,
in which w e eannot suppress the E, of either the preterite or the
genitive. To verbs ending in D or T, we cannot, in pronuncia-
tion, add the JD for the preterite without the aid of a vowel;
whence we are compelled to retain the sound of the E in speaking,
and also to express it in writing, as Sound-ed, Lament-ed, &c.
and, in verbs tndiug in. DE or TE, as Divide, itecitc, the mute
E becomes sonorous in the preterite, and furnishes an additional
syllable, Divided, Recited, &c. In nouns, a similar cause pro-
duces a similar effect, which has the universal sanction of oral
usage. As we cannot, without the assistance of a vowel, add S
to nouns ending in S, X, Z, VH, SH, w retain, in pronuncia-
tion, the full original sound of the ES in the genitive, as, a Foxes
brush, a Lasses beauty, a Witches art, a Thrushes nest; and in
nouns ending in CE, SE, GE, the mute E becomes sonorous, and
productive of an additional syllable, as, her Grat es concert, a
Horses inane, a Sages wisdom. Now this is all as it should be :
we speak properly, though we choose to write incorrectly, and
contrary to the practice of our fore-fathers. But I ask, is it
reasonable to retail), in writing, the E of the preterites Loved,
Walked, ike. which is not at all sounded in speech, and to reject
the E of the genitives Foxes? Thrushes, &c. which is universally
sounded ? For my part, in my edition of Dryden's Virgil, I
thought myself bound to adopt the pure old orthography which
I found in his own original edition, and, after his example, to
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? 46 Prosody.
Jfew scenes | arise: ] new /awf-|-scapes strike | the
eye. (Thomson.
Yon bless-\-ed sun, | and this | green earth \ so fair.
(Thomson.
Or where | old Cam ] softpa-\-cea o'er | the lea.
(Thomson.
Wipe off ] thefaint j cold dews | weak no-l-iuie sheds.
(Thomson.
one dark \ rough road \ of sighs, | groans, pains, | and
tears. (Cotton.
Rocks, caves, \ lakes, dens, \ bogs,fens, \ and shades |
of death. (Milton.
The Trochee-
Tyrant | and slave, | those names | of hate | and fear.
(Denham.
Was lent, | not to \ assure | our doubt-l-ful way.
(Dryden.
terminate such genitives in ES without an apostrophe. --If it be
objected, that this orthography would create ambiguity by leaving
no distinction between singular and plural, I reply, that the
context will, in most cases, prevent that ambiguity; and the
apostrophe, usually added to the plural genitive, will sufficiently
guard against it in the few remaining cases where alone any
doubt could possibly exist. --Or, as a medium between impro-
priety and inconvenience--and a small sacrifice to modern fa-
shion--the apostrophe (though neither necessary nor strictly
proper) might be retained, together with the E, in the singular
genitive, thus--Queen Bess'es chin, a Jbi'es brush, a Thrush'et
nest, &c. and this practice I have myself adopted in a work of
considerable magnitude, which has lately passed under my revi-
sion, as editor.
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? Prosody. 47
And spar-j-kling wine | smiles in | the tempt-|-ing
glass. (Roscommon.
echoes I at best, | all we | can say | is vain.
(Buckingham.
The auxiliary Feet promiscuously blended--
To the I thick woods | the \vool-|-ly flocks | retreat.
(Addison.
from the \ tain con-\-verse of | the world | retir'd.
(Young.
and a | rich knave's | a ]\-\-bel on | the laws. (Young.
Whin you \ the dull-|-esf of\ dull things | have said.
' (Young.
and to I a life | more hap-\-py and | refin'd. (Thomson.
of an [ all-wise, | dll-pow'r-\-iu\ Pro-\-vidence. (Gay.
of their \ exo-|-tic min-l-sfre/s and | shrill pipes.
(Somerville.
The gen-|-tle move-|-'me<<f and | slow mea-l-sur'd pace.
- ---- (Young.
Great souls | by \n-\-stinct to | each o-|-ther turn.
(Addison.
all in-\-struments, \ all arts | of ru-|-in met. (Denham.
Death, wrapp'd | in chains, | low at I the ba-|-sis lies.
(Young.
Makes all | Jove's thun-\-der on | her ver-;-ses wait.
(Roscommon.
High sfa-i-tions tn-\-mult, but \ not bliss, | create.
(Young.
Nature | was in | alarm: | some dan-|-ger nigh.
(Dryden.
Whether | by na-! -ture form'd [or by \ long use.
(Somerville.
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? 48 Prosody.
Sceptres | and thrones ( are de-\-stin'd to | obey.
(Addison.
Spiders \ ensnare; | snakes pot-|-son ; ti-|-gers prowl.
(Beattie.
Wmd the | shrill/torn, | or spread | the wa-|-vingnet.
(Pope.
Europe's \ loud cries, | that Pro-\-vidence | assail'd.
(Addison.
. . . . Tempt the \ lastfu-\-ry of \ extreme | despair.
(Den ham.
Virtue's | the paint | thdtcan \ make arin-l-kles shine.
(Young.
. . . . Brought death | Into | the world, | and all | our
woe. (Milton.
To launch | from earth | Into \ eter-|-n>>fy. (Gay.
Troops of \ bold youth | born on \ the di-|-stant Saone*.
(Addison.
What na-\-ture has | denied, | fools will | pursue.
(Young.
The balls | of his \ broad eyes | roll'd in \ his head.
(Dryden.
'Tis tri-]-umph all | and joy : | now, my | brave
youths. . . (Somerville.
Concerning the Trochee, the Spondee, and the
Pyrrhic, there can be no doubt. But, with respect
to the Dactyl, the Anapajst, and the Tiibrachys, the
? Saine-- pronounced like the English word Sown, with its
fullest sound; whence, in some editions of Addison, it is erro-
neously printed Soane.
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? Prosody. 49
case is different: and, how far they prevail in our
Iambic verse, is a question which never can be de-
termined by the opinion or authority of any gram-
marian ; because, in ten thousand instances where
we may fancy that we discover those trisyllabic feet,
there occurs not perhaps a single one, in which we
can to a certainty tell whether the writer did not
intend, by a synaeresis, a syncope, or some other
poetic licence, to make the foot in question aTroch. ee,
a Spondee, or a Pyrrhic*. The author alone can
* This uncertainty is an inconvenience inseparable from the
nature of our language, and un-avoidably resulting from our want
of a nicely-discriminated syllabic quantity to guide us, as in the
Greek and Latin; in which languages, it is, for the most part,
evident at the first glance, whether the poet meant a syncope, a
synaeresis, or any other licence, and what foot he intended ; the
reader finding an un-erring guide in the quantity, aided besides
by that well-known rule, that one long syllable is equal to two
short--a spondee to a dactyl, anapasst, or preceleusroatic (i. t.
a double Pyrrhic). If that rule were really applicable to our
language, we should have fewer doubts respecting the feet; but
it does not hold good in English ; since we see that a Pyrrhic,
of two light, un-accented syllables, equally makes a foot with us,
as a spondee of two heavy, accented syllables; and this, not
only in cases where a contiguous spondee might be supposed Co
compensate, by the additional length of its time, for the stinted
brevity of the Pyrrhic, but also in verses innumerable which
contain no spondee, though sometimes two Pyrrhics occur in the
same line, as may be seen among the examples quoted in page 44.
This circumstance proves that the number of syllables (exclusive
of their accent or quantity) is a much' more important considera-
E
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? 50
Prosody.
decide the question in each particular case : but, how
that decision is to be obtained, I know not. In the
mean time, it may be proper to observe, that
wherever, in our Iambic metre, we find the appear-
ance of a dactyl, an anapaest, or a tribrachys, such
appearance usually presents itself in some word, or
combination of syllables, that is susceptible of syncope
or synseresis,--very rarely, if at all, in any others.
Now this circumstance alone is sufficient to authorise
a doubt whether those feet were ever intended : for,
if intended, why do they not as frequently occur in
words or combinations which admit no licence, and
in which the trisyllabic foot would evidently and
unquestionably appear ? That they do not, is cer-
tain : and this consideration naturally suggests the
following easy and simple mode of ascertaining how
far the dactyl, the anapaest, or the tribrachys, is an
ornament or a disparagement to our Iambic metre
--and, consequently, how far we ought to court or
avoid the appearance of such feet in poetic compo-
sition or recitation.
If, from any verse of ordinary construction, we
tion in our English poetry than in the Latin, where, without the
smallest difference in the metre, the heroic verse of six feet may
vary from thirteen to seventeen syllables, and the common six-
foot Iambic from twelve to eighteen. At the same time it fur-
nishes an argument against the hasty and unnecessary introduc-
tion of trisyllabic feet into our Iambic metre, to alter the number
of the syllables, on which our versification appears so much to
depend.
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? Prosody. 51
remove any number of syllables, and substitute an
equal number of others, exactly corresponding with
them in accent--although the sense may be im-
paired, the metre at least will still be perfect: e. gr.
Pelides' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
of woes unnumber'd, heav'nly goddess, sing.
The Frenchman's arts, to Spain the direful spring
of feuds and carnage, heav'nly goddess, sing.
Hark! the numbers, soft and clear,
Gently steal upon the ear.
Hark! the thunders, loud and clear,
Rudely burst upon the ear.
With horns and with trumpets, with fiddles and
drums,
They'll strive to divert him, as soon as he comes.
With dancing and concerts, with fiddles and drums,
They'll greet and amuse him, as soon as he comes.
Here, in three different species of verse, three dif-
ferent kinds of feet are altered : and yet, so far as
mere sound and metre are concerned, the altered lines
are equally good as the original. --Let us now apply
the same test to some of those Iambic verses, in
which a hasty reader might fancy that he perceives
some of the trisyllabic feet: e. gr.
Which ma-\-ny a bard | had chant-|-ed rnaA'ny a day.
O'er ma-\-ny afro-\-zzn,ma-\-ny afle-\-ry Alp.
In these lines, we four times discover the appear-
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? 5fi Prosody.
ance of anapaests, as marked *. If they be real ana-
paests, and the chastened ear approve them as such,
it will equally admit other, less questionable, ana-
paests in their stead. Let us try--
Which Ho-|->>jer the bard | had chant-l-ed once |
m hh day-
O'er hor-I-rid and fro-\-zen smo-\-king and fle-\-ij
Alps.
* I have seen these verses so scanned in print, as to make
| zeh? chmany\-e'dmany\ffer many \ -tin many | a fi% | so many
examples ? f the amphibrachys. But the amphibrachys (as well
observed by Mr. Dawes in his Miscellanea Critica) is not admis-
sible on the same footing with the spondee, the dactyl, or the
anapaest; and it is repugnant to the nature of our English versi-
fication, which requires the acaentson the first or last syllables of
Such feet as have any accent: for I cannot considrr the three
concluding- syllnbles of a double-rhiming Iambic as a single foot,
much less an amphibrachys, because the first anM second of these
syllables may be, and often are, both accented. --Besides, in the
following lines--the first from Dryden, the others from Gray--
. . . . By guns, invented since, \jtill md-\-ny a day--
Full ma-\-ny a gem | of purest ray serene
Full ma-\-ny a fiow'r | is born to blush unseen. . . .
we cannot make an amphibrachys of Full many, the word Full
requiring too strong an accent. Full ma- will necessarily be a
spondee; and, as-ny a must here, in each case, be together
t^ken into the following foot, we may heilce learn how to dis-
pose of the same syllables in the verses above quoted. --With re*
spect to the Fie- in Fiery, it must be considered as a single
syllable, and ought, indeed, (agreeably to its obvious'etymology)
to be written without the E, as Miry, Spiry, Wiry, from Mire,
Spirt, Wire.
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? Prosody. 53
If any reader, of poetic earj will seriously pro-
nounce these altered lines to be good and admissible
jesses, 1 have not one word more to say on the sub-
ject. But, if every pt i son of taste joins with me--.
as, no doubt, he will--in declaring tlujm 10 be most
detestable verses, or rather indeed no verses at all--N
then it seems to follow that the anapaest mars our
Iambic metre: for it is not merely the badness of
my anapaests that has done the mischief; as the
reader will, upon trial, experience the same result
from the introduction of any others, that have all
their syllables distinctly pronounced. In reading,
therefore, unless certain that a real anapaest occur*,
let us beware Of conjuring up anapaestic phantoms,
to scare away the metre and harmony of the lines---
especially when it is so easy to avoid them, as here, for
example, where we have only to employ a synoeresis
in ny a, and make each of those four feet an Iambus,
by rapidly pronouncing the two vowels as a single
syllable, as the IA in Britannia, Hibernia, Spa/iiaid,
Italian, Valiant, &c.
By a similar synaeresis, -ry aspires may be sounded
nearly as two syllables, to make an Iambus, in the
following line of Milton^--
. . . . Of ignominy; yet to glo-|-ry aspires--
and, in many other cases, an un-accented final vowel
may, without elision,, be made to coalesce with tl? e
initial vowel immediately following. In such words,
too, as Echoing, Following, Bellowing, the two latter
syllables may be rapidly sounded together as one
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? 54 Prosody.
by synasresis: and, in the following lines of Milton--
Of Ate-l-rarehies, of orders, and degrees--
The great | hierar-\-cha\ standard was to move--
the syllables, hi-e, become one by synajresis, as Liar
is made by Pope to rhime with 'Squire, and Higher
by Somerville*.
Let us now examine the dactyl and tribrachys,
which may, in appearance, be both found in the
following lines of Milton--
. . . Murmuring; | and, with him, fled the shades of
night--
. . \an\x-\-merable | before th'Almighty's throne.
But let us try a real dactyl, and a real tribrachys--.
. . . Sorrbaj/w/;|and,withhim,fled the shades of night--.
. . . Distin-\-gutshable \ before th'Almighty's throne,
*Iere again the real feet most sadly limp and faulter,
,<nd the lines bear little resemblance to verse ; while,
in the original, the apparent dactyl and tribrachys
move along with steady graceful step, and the lines
' are perfectly metrical. But the fact is, that we really
do not, in the utterance of those lines, pronounce
Murmuring as three complete syllables, or Innume-
rable as five: in each case, we instinctively and
* Boastful and rough, your first son is a 'squire;
The next, a tradesman, meek, and much a liar.
A 'squire of Wales, whose blood ran higher
Than that of any other 'squire. . . .
If, however, any person prefer the use of syncope, to make
lli'rarchies, Ei'rarchul, Li'r, lligh'r} I am not disposed to con-
test the point.
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? Prosody. ' 55
imperceptibly make a syncope, which converts Mur-
muring into a trochee, and Innumerable into an Iam-
bus and a Pyrrhic, thus -
. . . Murmring; and, with him, fled the shades of
night--
. . annu-\-? n'rdble I before th' Almighty's throne.
I do not, however, deny, that, on some very rare
occasions, a real dactyl, tribrachys, or anapaest, may
be productive of beauty, in the w. iy of picturesque
or imitative harmony. But, where there is not some
particular and striking effect of that kind to be pro-
duced by the trisyllabic foot, its admission, instead
of being contributive to harmony or beauty, gene-
rally proves inimical to both In tlie latter of those
two verses, for instance, it would have been much
better to load the line with slow heavy spondees, for
the purpose of retarding the reader's progress, and
affording him time for a leisurely survey of the
countless throng, than to hurry him away on the
wings of a rapid tribrachys, before he has enjoyed
one moment's pause, to cast his eyes around.
In the following line of Milton--
::Alljudgement, whe-\-ther inheav'n | or earth or hell-
it is not at all necessary to make a trisyllabic foot:
we can reduce it to a proper Iambus by pronouncing
wheth'r in, for which a\-q have the authority of
Swift--
And thus fanatic saints, though neith'r in
Doctrine or discipline our brethren--
furnishing a hint to adopt a similar expedient in
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? S6 Protody.
many other cases, which, at first sight, are calcu-
lated to embarrass the inexperienced reader*; a3,
for example, in this line of ')rvden--
The care-l-tul De-\ vii is stili | at hnnd with means--
we can easily pronounce Dev'l is short, as we do
Dsvlish, and make the third foot an Iambus
On the whole. I recommend to my voung readers,
never, without irresistible necessitv, to make a trisyl-
labic foot in Iambic or Trochaic verse. And here I
drop the subject for the present --intending, how-
ever, to treat it more largely and minutely on a future
occasion--said observing in the mean time, that, al-
though I have, in compliance with the ideas of
others, occasionally marked in the ''KEY" a tri-
syllabic foot in Iambic metre, 1 by no means wish
them to consider it as really such, but, by shortening
it in the pronunciation, to reduce it to an Iambus, a
Trochee, or a Pyrrhic, as the case may require.
The Casura.
As already observed in page 3, the Casura
(which literally means a cutting or division) is a
* Although some instances of synaeresis and syncope, such as
I recommend, may, to the English reader, appear harsh and
portentous, I fei 1 confident that the classical scholar, accustomed
to the roucli bolder licences of Homer, will account these En-
glish licences perfectly moderate and warrantable : and, as Mil-
ton was well versed in Greek and Human literature, we need
not be surprised that he should, in these as in many other re-
spects, have copied the practice of the ancients
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? Prosody. 57
pause, which usually takes place somewhere near
the middle of the verse, affording a convenient rest
for the voice, and enabling the reader or speaker to
renew die effort necessary for the delivery of the
entire line; ten successive syllables, uttered toge-
ther in unbroken tenor, . being in general too many
to be pronounced with proper emphasis, and clue
poetic effect.
The most advantageous position for the caesura is
generally held to be after the fourth, fifth, or sixth
syllable, though it occasionally takes place, without
disadvantage, after the third or seventh. Its position
is, for the most part, easily ascertained by the gram-
matic construction and the punctuation, which na-
turally indicate the place where the sense either re-
quires or admits a pause: e gr.
The saviour comes, 4|| by ancient bards foretold.
(Pope.
From storms a shelter,5|| and from heat a shade.
(Pope.
Exalt thy tow'ry head,6 || and lift thy eyes. (Pope.
Exploring,5|| till they find their native cleep. (Boyse.
Within that mystic circle,71| safety seek. (Boyse.
When the grammatic construction does not re-
quire any pause, and there is no punctuation to mark
the place for the caesura, more accurate discrimina-
tion is requisite to ascertain it: but, even in these
cases, it is, in general, a matter of no difficulty, for
a reader of any judgement, to discover, at first sight,
the proper station for the pause: e. gr.
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? ? 8 Prosody.
Virtue alone 4 [) is happiness below. (Pope.
With all the incense 5|| of the breathing spring.
(Pope.
Nor ardent warriors meet6 || * with hateful eyes.
(Pope.
Deluded 5|| with the visionary light. (Boyse.
Yet be not blindly guided "> || by the throng.
(Roscommon.
Sometimes we see the caesura take place after the
second syllable, or the eighth, as
Happy 1|| without the privilege of will. (Boyse.
In diff'rent individuals8 || we find. . . (Boyse.
for no reader of taste would separate the adjective
from its substantive in the latter of these verses, or
the preposition from its regimen in the former.
applicable to our English language? I leave that point to be de-
termined by others: but, in the mean time, whatever may be
the cause of the difference, certain it is that the initial trochee
which terminates a word, more completely fills and satisfies the
ear, than that really shorter trochee, which, embracing only part
of a word, admits no interruption in the continuity of the voice,
no pause whatever, that can at all aid in giving weight and em-
phasis to its second syllable: and the same effect is produced in
every other station of the verse where a trochee occurs, as may
easily be proved by altermg such trochee and the following syl-
lable to one solid trisyllabic word, corresponding in accent with
the three syllables displaced.
* I reserve to a future occasion to enter into a minute ana-
lytical examination of this our principal metre, foot by foot;
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? 44 Prosody.
The Pyrrhic--
and to | the dead | my will-[-ing shade [ shall go.
(West.
To qua-| tity | brlongs | the high-|-est place. (Young.
And all | the te-J->>5r of \ his soul | is lost. (Parnell.
His heart | dilates, | and glo-|-nes m \ his strength.
(Addison.
And speak, | though sure, | with seem-|-ing dir-|^/">>-
dence. (Pope.
and to | be ta-\-ken with \ a sud-|-den pain. (Young,
as on | a day, | reflect-l-iwg on | his age. . . (Lowth.
Solem-|-w^y's | aco-|-rer jor | a sot. (Youug.
The Spondee--.
o born | to thoughts, | to plea-|-sures, more | sublimef
(Langhorne.
Forbear, | great man | in arms | renown'd, | forbear.
(Addison.
The west-|-ern sun | now sMt \ a fee-l-ble ray.
(Addison.
That touchM I the ruff | that touch'dl Queen Uess-l-es*
chin. ? (Young.
and syllable by syllable, in all its different forms and modifica-
tions, on the extensive plan of the " Analysis'' of the Hexameter
Verse, in the last improved edition of my " Latin Prosody. "
* Queen Besses chin. --This -spelling, though different from
that of the printed copy now before me, is undoubtedly correct,
and sanctioned by fornitr usage, as may be seen by recurring to
early editions of books written before the commencement of the
last century: and it has reason on its side,as well as custom.
Our modern genitive S with the apostrophe (as John's, Peter's^
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? Prosody. 45
For who I can write | so fast | as men | run mad?
(Young.
Here dwells | kind ease, \ and un-repro-I-ving joy.
(Thomson.
&c. ) is evidently nothing else than a contraction of the antique
genitive termination ES, in which, for brevity's sake, we omit the
Eia pronunciation, as we do in the preterites of most of our re-
gular veros, Lov'd, Walk'd, Compos'd, &c. But there are cases,
in which w e eannot suppress the E, of either the preterite or the
genitive. To verbs ending in D or T, we cannot, in pronuncia-
tion, add the JD for the preterite without the aid of a vowel;
whence we are compelled to retain the sound of the E in speaking,
and also to express it in writing, as Sound-ed, Lament-ed, &c.
and, in verbs tndiug in. DE or TE, as Divide, itecitc, the mute
E becomes sonorous in the preterite, and furnishes an additional
syllable, Divided, Recited, &c. In nouns, a similar cause pro-
duces a similar effect, which has the universal sanction of oral
usage. As we cannot, without the assistance of a vowel, add S
to nouns ending in S, X, Z, VH, SH, w retain, in pronuncia-
tion, the full original sound of the ES in the genitive, as, a Foxes
brush, a Lasses beauty, a Witches art, a Thrushes nest; and in
nouns ending in CE, SE, GE, the mute E becomes sonorous, and
productive of an additional syllable, as, her Grat es concert, a
Horses inane, a Sages wisdom. Now this is all as it should be :
we speak properly, though we choose to write incorrectly, and
contrary to the practice of our fore-fathers. But I ask, is it
reasonable to retail), in writing, the E of the preterites Loved,
Walked, ike. which is not at all sounded in speech, and to reject
the E of the genitives Foxes? Thrushes, &c. which is universally
sounded ? For my part, in my edition of Dryden's Virgil, I
thought myself bound to adopt the pure old orthography which
I found in his own original edition, and, after his example, to
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? 46 Prosody.
Jfew scenes | arise: ] new /awf-|-scapes strike | the
eye. (Thomson.
Yon bless-\-ed sun, | and this | green earth \ so fair.
(Thomson.
Or where | old Cam ] softpa-\-cea o'er | the lea.
(Thomson.
Wipe off ] thefaint j cold dews | weak no-l-iuie sheds.
(Thomson.
one dark \ rough road \ of sighs, | groans, pains, | and
tears. (Cotton.
Rocks, caves, \ lakes, dens, \ bogs,fens, \ and shades |
of death. (Milton.
The Trochee-
Tyrant | and slave, | those names | of hate | and fear.
(Denham.
Was lent, | not to \ assure | our doubt-l-ful way.
(Dryden.
terminate such genitives in ES without an apostrophe. --If it be
objected, that this orthography would create ambiguity by leaving
no distinction between singular and plural, I reply, that the
context will, in most cases, prevent that ambiguity; and the
apostrophe, usually added to the plural genitive, will sufficiently
guard against it in the few remaining cases where alone any
doubt could possibly exist. --Or, as a medium between impro-
priety and inconvenience--and a small sacrifice to modern fa-
shion--the apostrophe (though neither necessary nor strictly
proper) might be retained, together with the E, in the singular
genitive, thus--Queen Bess'es chin, a Jbi'es brush, a Thrush'et
nest, &c. and this practice I have myself adopted in a work of
considerable magnitude, which has lately passed under my revi-
sion, as editor.
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? Prosody. 47
And spar-j-kling wine | smiles in | the tempt-|-ing
glass. (Roscommon.
echoes I at best, | all we | can say | is vain.
(Buckingham.
The auxiliary Feet promiscuously blended--
To the I thick woods | the \vool-|-ly flocks | retreat.
(Addison.
from the \ tain con-\-verse of | the world | retir'd.
(Young.
and a | rich knave's | a ]\-\-bel on | the laws. (Young.
Whin you \ the dull-|-esf of\ dull things | have said.
' (Young.
and to I a life | more hap-\-py and | refin'd. (Thomson.
of an [ all-wise, | dll-pow'r-\-iu\ Pro-\-vidence. (Gay.
of their \ exo-|-tic min-l-sfre/s and | shrill pipes.
(Somerville.
The gen-|-tle move-|-'me<<f and | slow mea-l-sur'd pace.
- ---- (Young.
Great souls | by \n-\-stinct to | each o-|-ther turn.
(Addison.
all in-\-struments, \ all arts | of ru-|-in met. (Denham.
Death, wrapp'd | in chains, | low at I the ba-|-sis lies.
(Young.
Makes all | Jove's thun-\-der on | her ver-;-ses wait.
(Roscommon.
High sfa-i-tions tn-\-mult, but \ not bliss, | create.
(Young.
Nature | was in | alarm: | some dan-|-ger nigh.
(Dryden.
Whether | by na-! -ture form'd [or by \ long use.
(Somerville.
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? 48 Prosody.
Sceptres | and thrones ( are de-\-stin'd to | obey.
(Addison.
Spiders \ ensnare; | snakes pot-|-son ; ti-|-gers prowl.
(Beattie.
Wmd the | shrill/torn, | or spread | the wa-|-vingnet.
(Pope.
Europe's \ loud cries, | that Pro-\-vidence | assail'd.
(Addison.
. . . . Tempt the \ lastfu-\-ry of \ extreme | despair.
(Den ham.
Virtue's | the paint | thdtcan \ make arin-l-kles shine.
(Young.
. . . . Brought death | Into | the world, | and all | our
woe. (Milton.
To launch | from earth | Into \ eter-|-n>>fy. (Gay.
Troops of \ bold youth | born on \ the di-|-stant Saone*.
(Addison.
What na-\-ture has | denied, | fools will | pursue.
(Young.
The balls | of his \ broad eyes | roll'd in \ his head.
(Dryden.
'Tis tri-]-umph all | and joy : | now, my | brave
youths. . . (Somerville.
Concerning the Trochee, the Spondee, and the
Pyrrhic, there can be no doubt. But, with respect
to the Dactyl, the Anapajst, and the Tiibrachys, the
? Saine-- pronounced like the English word Sown, with its
fullest sound; whence, in some editions of Addison, it is erro-
neously printed Soane.
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? Prosody. 49
case is different: and, how far they prevail in our
Iambic verse, is a question which never can be de-
termined by the opinion or authority of any gram-
marian ; because, in ten thousand instances where
we may fancy that we discover those trisyllabic feet,
there occurs not perhaps a single one, in which we
can to a certainty tell whether the writer did not
intend, by a synaeresis, a syncope, or some other
poetic licence, to make the foot in question aTroch. ee,
a Spondee, or a Pyrrhic*. The author alone can
* This uncertainty is an inconvenience inseparable from the
nature of our language, and un-avoidably resulting from our want
of a nicely-discriminated syllabic quantity to guide us, as in the
Greek and Latin; in which languages, it is, for the most part,
evident at the first glance, whether the poet meant a syncope, a
synaeresis, or any other licence, and what foot he intended ; the
reader finding an un-erring guide in the quantity, aided besides
by that well-known rule, that one long syllable is equal to two
short--a spondee to a dactyl, anapasst, or preceleusroatic (i. t.
a double Pyrrhic). If that rule were really applicable to our
language, we should have fewer doubts respecting the feet; but
it does not hold good in English ; since we see that a Pyrrhic,
of two light, un-accented syllables, equally makes a foot with us,
as a spondee of two heavy, accented syllables; and this, not
only in cases where a contiguous spondee might be supposed Co
compensate, by the additional length of its time, for the stinted
brevity of the Pyrrhic, but also in verses innumerable which
contain no spondee, though sometimes two Pyrrhics occur in the
same line, as may be seen among the examples quoted in page 44.
This circumstance proves that the number of syllables (exclusive
of their accent or quantity) is a much' more important considera-
E
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? 50
Prosody.
decide the question in each particular case : but, how
that decision is to be obtained, I know not. In the
mean time, it may be proper to observe, that
wherever, in our Iambic metre, we find the appear-
ance of a dactyl, an anapaest, or a tribrachys, such
appearance usually presents itself in some word, or
combination of syllables, that is susceptible of syncope
or synseresis,--very rarely, if at all, in any others.
Now this circumstance alone is sufficient to authorise
a doubt whether those feet were ever intended : for,
if intended, why do they not as frequently occur in
words or combinations which admit no licence, and
in which the trisyllabic foot would evidently and
unquestionably appear ? That they do not, is cer-
tain : and this consideration naturally suggests the
following easy and simple mode of ascertaining how
far the dactyl, the anapaest, or the tribrachys, is an
ornament or a disparagement to our Iambic metre
--and, consequently, how far we ought to court or
avoid the appearance of such feet in poetic compo-
sition or recitation.
If, from any verse of ordinary construction, we
tion in our English poetry than in the Latin, where, without the
smallest difference in the metre, the heroic verse of six feet may
vary from thirteen to seventeen syllables, and the common six-
foot Iambic from twelve to eighteen. At the same time it fur-
nishes an argument against the hasty and unnecessary introduc-
tion of trisyllabic feet into our Iambic metre, to alter the number
of the syllables, on which our versification appears so much to
depend.
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? Prosody. 51
remove any number of syllables, and substitute an
equal number of others, exactly corresponding with
them in accent--although the sense may be im-
paired, the metre at least will still be perfect: e. gr.
Pelides' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
of woes unnumber'd, heav'nly goddess, sing.
The Frenchman's arts, to Spain the direful spring
of feuds and carnage, heav'nly goddess, sing.
Hark! the numbers, soft and clear,
Gently steal upon the ear.
Hark! the thunders, loud and clear,
Rudely burst upon the ear.
With horns and with trumpets, with fiddles and
drums,
They'll strive to divert him, as soon as he comes.
With dancing and concerts, with fiddles and drums,
They'll greet and amuse him, as soon as he comes.
Here, in three different species of verse, three dif-
ferent kinds of feet are altered : and yet, so far as
mere sound and metre are concerned, the altered lines
are equally good as the original. --Let us now apply
the same test to some of those Iambic verses, in
which a hasty reader might fancy that he perceives
some of the trisyllabic feet: e. gr.
Which ma-\-ny a bard | had chant-|-ed rnaA'ny a day.
O'er ma-\-ny afro-\-zzn,ma-\-ny afle-\-ry Alp.
In these lines, we four times discover the appear-
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? 5fi Prosody.
ance of anapaests, as marked *. If they be real ana-
paests, and the chastened ear approve them as such,
it will equally admit other, less questionable, ana-
paests in their stead. Let us try--
Which Ho-|->>jer the bard | had chant-l-ed once |
m hh day-
O'er hor-I-rid and fro-\-zen smo-\-king and fle-\-ij
Alps.
* I have seen these verses so scanned in print, as to make
| zeh? chmany\-e'dmany\ffer many \ -tin many | a fi% | so many
examples ? f the amphibrachys. But the amphibrachys (as well
observed by Mr. Dawes in his Miscellanea Critica) is not admis-
sible on the same footing with the spondee, the dactyl, or the
anapaest; and it is repugnant to the nature of our English versi-
fication, which requires the acaentson the first or last syllables of
Such feet as have any accent: for I cannot considrr the three
concluding- syllnbles of a double-rhiming Iambic as a single foot,
much less an amphibrachys, because the first anM second of these
syllables may be, and often are, both accented. --Besides, in the
following lines--the first from Dryden, the others from Gray--
. . . . By guns, invented since, \jtill md-\-ny a day--
Full ma-\-ny a gem | of purest ray serene
Full ma-\-ny a fiow'r | is born to blush unseen. . . .
we cannot make an amphibrachys of Full many, the word Full
requiring too strong an accent. Full ma- will necessarily be a
spondee; and, as-ny a must here, in each case, be together
t^ken into the following foot, we may heilce learn how to dis-
pose of the same syllables in the verses above quoted. --With re*
spect to the Fie- in Fiery, it must be considered as a single
syllable, and ought, indeed, (agreeably to its obvious'etymology)
to be written without the E, as Miry, Spiry, Wiry, from Mire,
Spirt, Wire.
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? Prosody. 53
If any reader, of poetic earj will seriously pro-
nounce these altered lines to be good and admissible
jesses, 1 have not one word more to say on the sub-
ject. But, if every pt i son of taste joins with me--.
as, no doubt, he will--in declaring tlujm 10 be most
detestable verses, or rather indeed no verses at all--N
then it seems to follow that the anapaest mars our
Iambic metre: for it is not merely the badness of
my anapaests that has done the mischief; as the
reader will, upon trial, experience the same result
from the introduction of any others, that have all
their syllables distinctly pronounced. In reading,
therefore, unless certain that a real anapaest occur*,
let us beware Of conjuring up anapaestic phantoms,
to scare away the metre and harmony of the lines---
especially when it is so easy to avoid them, as here, for
example, where we have only to employ a synoeresis
in ny a, and make each of those four feet an Iambus,
by rapidly pronouncing the two vowels as a single
syllable, as the IA in Britannia, Hibernia, Spa/iiaid,
Italian, Valiant, &c.
By a similar synaeresis, -ry aspires may be sounded
nearly as two syllables, to make an Iambus, in the
following line of Milton^--
. . . . Of ignominy; yet to glo-|-ry aspires--
and, in many other cases, an un-accented final vowel
may, without elision,, be made to coalesce with tl? e
initial vowel immediately following. In such words,
too, as Echoing, Following, Bellowing, the two latter
syllables may be rapidly sounded together as one
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? 54 Prosody.
by synasresis: and, in the following lines of Milton--
Of Ate-l-rarehies, of orders, and degrees--
The great | hierar-\-cha\ standard was to move--
the syllables, hi-e, become one by synajresis, as Liar
is made by Pope to rhime with 'Squire, and Higher
by Somerville*.
Let us now examine the dactyl and tribrachys,
which may, in appearance, be both found in the
following lines of Milton--
. . . Murmuring; | and, with him, fled the shades of
night--
. . \an\x-\-merable | before th'Almighty's throne.
But let us try a real dactyl, and a real tribrachys--.
. . . Sorrbaj/w/;|and,withhim,fled the shades of night--.
. . . Distin-\-gutshable \ before th'Almighty's throne,
*Iere again the real feet most sadly limp and faulter,
,<nd the lines bear little resemblance to verse ; while,
in the original, the apparent dactyl and tribrachys
move along with steady graceful step, and the lines
' are perfectly metrical. But the fact is, that we really
do not, in the utterance of those lines, pronounce
Murmuring as three complete syllables, or Innume-
rable as five: in each case, we instinctively and
* Boastful and rough, your first son is a 'squire;
The next, a tradesman, meek, and much a liar.
A 'squire of Wales, whose blood ran higher
Than that of any other 'squire. . . .
If, however, any person prefer the use of syncope, to make
lli'rarchies, Ei'rarchul, Li'r, lligh'r} I am not disposed to con-
test the point.
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? Prosody. ' 55
imperceptibly make a syncope, which converts Mur-
muring into a trochee, and Innumerable into an Iam-
bus and a Pyrrhic, thus -
. . . Murmring; and, with him, fled the shades of
night--
. . annu-\-? n'rdble I before th' Almighty's throne.
I do not, however, deny, that, on some very rare
occasions, a real dactyl, tribrachys, or anapaest, may
be productive of beauty, in the w. iy of picturesque
or imitative harmony. But, where there is not some
particular and striking effect of that kind to be pro-
duced by the trisyllabic foot, its admission, instead
of being contributive to harmony or beauty, gene-
rally proves inimical to both In tlie latter of those
two verses, for instance, it would have been much
better to load the line with slow heavy spondees, for
the purpose of retarding the reader's progress, and
affording him time for a leisurely survey of the
countless throng, than to hurry him away on the
wings of a rapid tribrachys, before he has enjoyed
one moment's pause, to cast his eyes around.
In the following line of Milton--
::Alljudgement, whe-\-ther inheav'n | or earth or hell-
it is not at all necessary to make a trisyllabic foot:
we can reduce it to a proper Iambus by pronouncing
wheth'r in, for which a\-q have the authority of
Swift--
And thus fanatic saints, though neith'r in
Doctrine or discipline our brethren--
furnishing a hint to adopt a similar expedient in
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? S6 Protody.
many other cases, which, at first sight, are calcu-
lated to embarrass the inexperienced reader*; a3,
for example, in this line of ')rvden--
The care-l-tul De-\ vii is stili | at hnnd with means--
we can easily pronounce Dev'l is short, as we do
Dsvlish, and make the third foot an Iambus
On the whole. I recommend to my voung readers,
never, without irresistible necessitv, to make a trisyl-
labic foot in Iambic or Trochaic verse. And here I
drop the subject for the present --intending, how-
ever, to treat it more largely and minutely on a future
occasion--said observing in the mean time, that, al-
though I have, in compliance with the ideas of
others, occasionally marked in the ''KEY" a tri-
syllabic foot in Iambic metre, 1 by no means wish
them to consider it as really such, but, by shortening
it in the pronunciation, to reduce it to an Iambus, a
Trochee, or a Pyrrhic, as the case may require.
The Casura.
As already observed in page 3, the Casura
(which literally means a cutting or division) is a
* Although some instances of synaeresis and syncope, such as
I recommend, may, to the English reader, appear harsh and
portentous, I fei 1 confident that the classical scholar, accustomed
to the roucli bolder licences of Homer, will account these En-
glish licences perfectly moderate and warrantable : and, as Mil-
ton was well versed in Greek and Human literature, we need
not be surprised that he should, in these as in many other re-
spects, have copied the practice of the ancients
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? Prosody. 57
pause, which usually takes place somewhere near
the middle of the verse, affording a convenient rest
for the voice, and enabling the reader or speaker to
renew die effort necessary for the delivery of the
entire line; ten successive syllables, uttered toge-
ther in unbroken tenor, . being in general too many
to be pronounced with proper emphasis, and clue
poetic effect.
The most advantageous position for the caesura is
generally held to be after the fourth, fifth, or sixth
syllable, though it occasionally takes place, without
disadvantage, after the third or seventh. Its position
is, for the most part, easily ascertained by the gram-
matic construction and the punctuation, which na-
turally indicate the place where the sense either re-
quires or admits a pause: e gr.
The saviour comes, 4|| by ancient bards foretold.
(Pope.
From storms a shelter,5|| and from heat a shade.
(Pope.
Exalt thy tow'ry head,6 || and lift thy eyes. (Pope.
Exploring,5|| till they find their native cleep. (Boyse.
Within that mystic circle,71| safety seek. (Boyse.
When the grammatic construction does not re-
quire any pause, and there is no punctuation to mark
the place for the caesura, more accurate discrimina-
tion is requisite to ascertain it: but, even in these
cases, it is, in general, a matter of no difficulty, for
a reader of any judgement, to discover, at first sight,
the proper station for the pause: e. gr.
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? ? 8 Prosody.
Virtue alone 4 [) is happiness below. (Pope.
With all the incense 5|| of the breathing spring.
(Pope.
Nor ardent warriors meet6 || * with hateful eyes.
(Pope.
Deluded 5|| with the visionary light. (Boyse.
Yet be not blindly guided "> || by the throng.
(Roscommon.
Sometimes we see the caesura take place after the
second syllable, or the eighth, as
Happy 1|| without the privilege of will. (Boyse.
In diff'rent individuals8 || we find. . . (Boyse.
for no reader of taste would separate the adjective
from its substantive in the latter of these verses, or
the preposition from its regimen in the former.
