No More Learning

The bent | of the mind,
From its plea-l-sures, we find.
As I cannot say much in praise of this metre, I
briefly dismiss it, in company with its fellow
Hypermeter, double-rhimed--
If sor-|-rows corrode || us,
And cares ( overload \\ us
as you write
In despite
of the Muse,
Anapmstic of one foot.
and refuse
To amend
What you've penn'd. . . . (Anon.
This trifling metre cannot be used to advantage in
continuation, but may sometimes be usefully em-
ployed in giving variety to the stanzas of irregular
odes, or other compositions.
Hypermeter, with double rhime--
It isplea-ysiire
Without mea-\-sure. (Anon.
Mixture of Feet in the Iambic Metre.
1 shall here exclusively confine my view to the
heroic line of ten syllables: but the same remarks,
which I make on it, will equally apply to the other
forms of Iambic metre--with only this difference,
that, according as they are longer or shorter, tbey
allow more or less scope for poetic licence.
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? 38 ' - Prosody.
As already observed in page 14, pure Iambic
verses properly contain no other foot than the Iam-
bus, as
Her beau-|-ty nought | impair'd | by leDgth J 6f
years, . :* v;n
txceed-\-ingfair* | her an-l-gel form | appears.
* Exceeding fair. --Some modern writers appear to have con-
ceived an irreconcilable antipathy to the word " Exceeding,"
thus used in conjunction with an adjective, and have, on every
occasion, substituted " Exceedingly" in its stead. Nevertheless,
if I rightly understand the import of the former, as used by very
respectable authors, (and, among others, our translators of the
Bible, who have furnished us with near sixty examples of" Ex-
ceeding" in conjunction with adjectives) it is not only a legiti-
mate, but a fine, significant, emphatic expression. When, for ex-
ample, it is said of a woman, that she is exceeding fair, passing
fair, or surpassing fair (which are all synonymous phrases), if we
but rightly parse the sentences, we shall readily come at the true
meaning, which is, that she is fair, not merely in the positive and
ordinary degree, but superlatively fair, ? exceeding," " passing,"
or" surpassing," what is usually deemed "fair;" the participle
being in the nominative case agreeing with" she," and "fair" in
the accusative [or objective] case, governed by the participle:--
or, both the adjective and the participle may be considered as
nominatives; i. e. "She is fair, surpassing all others in that re-
speet. "--Thus, when Goldsmith, in his" Deserted Village," de-
scribes the curate, . is
. . . . . passing rich with forty pounds a year--
the meaning is obviously this, that the good ma. :, according to
his own ideas, surpassed in riches all the rich--fancied himself as
rich as Croesus. --See the note on " Ever so" and " Never so,"
in page 64,
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? Prosody. 39
But, however sweet and pleasing this construction
may appear in a few verses--however superior it may
be (or be thought) to any other--certain it is, that,
if continued with unvarying uniformity, it would
soon cloy the taste by its unmixed, uncontested,
sweetness--would finally prove nauseous and dis-
gusting, and would grievously disappoint that love
of variety, which the Almighty has, for a wise and
beneficent purpose, made a characteristic of the
human race. --In the present, as in many other
cases, our taste happily accords with the condition
in which Nature has placed us : we dislike uniform
sameness; and lucky it is that we do, since uniform
sameness is here un-attainable: for no poet, however
great his talents and his patience, could possibly
produce a good poem of any considerable length,
entirely consisting of pure Iambics. To obtain an
accent on every second syllable, he must be obliged
entirely to exclude from his pages a very great num-
ber of fine expressive words--to lengthen, curtail,
new-mould, and transform many others*--to commit
frequent violations of syntax, with as frequent per-
versions of style and sense: and, after Having tired,
himself with this laborious trifling, he would tire his
reader with the monotonous drone ol his stiff uniform
* After the example of Homer and other ancients, who
blended various' dialects in their verse, and used poetic licences
of every kind, in a manner which never could be endured in our
language, though custom has reconciled us to it in the Greek.
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? 40 Prosody.
versification. But our poets were too wise to make
the attempt: they bowed obedient to Nature: they
prudently chose the smoother, easier path, which she
had pointed out; and, availing themselves of that
copious variety of words and of accent which our
language affords, they have pleasingly diversified
the forms of their metre, by occasionally obliging
the Iambus to resign its station to a foot of different
kind, as the Trochee( - ^ ), the Spondee (-. -), the
Pyrrhic (WO )--each a very useful auxiliary in
Iambic composition. (But, see the " Hint on Song-
writing," in page 60. )
. -' Of these the Pyrrhic has the foremost claim to
notice, as being the most necessary : for, though a
poet might perhaps dispense with the Spondee and
the Trochee, he could not possibly exclude the Pyr-
rhic from his lines, in a poem of any considerable
length. This foot, however, is rarely productive of
any beauty, other than the general beauty of va-
riety : but it is un-avoidably admissible, from the
nature of out language, in which A, And, In, Of,
For, To, Or, and many other light monosyllables,
must so frequently follow or precede an un-accented
syllable, that it would be utterly impossible to write
Iambic verse, if we were to exclude tlie Pyrrhic. --
In the second, third, and fourth, stations, it passes
un-objectionable, particularly- if the foot imme-
diately following be a strong emphatic spondee. In
the first station, it is rather detrimental to the beauty
and harmony of the line, though somewhat less in-
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? Prosody. 4\
jurious when followed by a spondee, than when suc-
ceeded by an Iambus; because, in the former case,
the third syllable of the verse has an accent; whereas,
in the latter, there are three un-accented syllables
together--a portion, too great to be wholly destitute
of accent at the beginning of the line ; although, in
the body of the verse, an equal portion may very
well dispense with accent. But, even there, two
successive Pyrrhics, or four un-accented syllables iti
continuation, seldom produce any other than an uti-
pleasing effect. --In the fifth station, the Pyrrhic ma-
terially weakens and unnerves the verse, notwith-
standing our utmost effort to crutch up the limping
line by the support of a strained and unnatural pro-
nunciation, giving an undue emphasis to the final
syllable, as when the verse terminates with such a
word as Vanity, Emily*, &c.
The Spondee claims admission into every station of
the metre; and, in every station, it is welcome, if
we except the fifth, where, by attracting to the pe-
nultimate syllable of the line too much of the accent
and emphasis which peculiarly belong to the final
syllable, it generally shocks the ear -t though, in some
special cases, it is productive of a striking beauty, as
where Dryden, having to bend the stubborn bow,
* What could be worse, thai* never more to see
His life, his soul, his charming Einily t (Dryden.
Furious he drove, and upward cast his eye,
. Where, next the queen, was plac'd his Emily. (Dryden*
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? 42 Prosody.
reserves his main effort for the close of the line, and
there, with more striking and impressive effect, exerts
his utmost strength in straining the " tough yew"--
At the full stretch of both his hands, he drew,
And almost join'd, the horns of the tough yew.
Too many spondees render the verse heavy and
prosaic. Although three may sometimes be tolerated,
two are, in general, as great a weight as the line can
well bear, if we wish it to move with easy step, and
with poetic grace. Two, in fact, are no incum-
brance, particularly if they be not placed together,
but separated by the intervention of one or two
Iambuses, or a single Pyrrhic. --In every case, indeed,
unless where some striking and impressive effect is
intended to be produced by the tardy weight of
continued spondees, it is always advisable to keep
them asunder.
The Trochee very frequently occupies the first sta-
tion, where it is almost always blameless, and often
highly laudable *. In the third, it may sometimes
* It is worthy of remark, however, that, when the initial trochee
divides a word, it is much less pleasing to the ear, than when the
foot and the word terminate together: e. gr.
tssU-\-i? ig forth, the knight bestrode his steed. (Thomson .
Reason is here no fjuide, but still a guard. (Pope.
Loose to | the winds their airy garments flew. (Pope.
But whut is the cause? --In Latin, as observed by Quintilian
mid other ancient writers, the interruption iu the continuity of
t&e roice, between the terminatioB of one word and the conv
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? Prosody. 43
pass uncensured: but, in the second or fourth, it ge-
nerally hus a tendency to enfeeble and unharmonise
the line; though, in some rare instances, it may be
made to produce a happy effect--as indeed almost
every species of poetic deformity may, by skilful ma-
nagement, be occasionally converted into a charm,
like the artificial spot on the check of Beauty, or the
rugged ruin amid the cultured landscape.
Without further remark, I proceed to quote a few
verses containing examples of the auxiliary feet*.
mencement of the next--however short, and almost imper-
ceptible, the pause may be--gives nevertheless an additional
length of time to the final syllable of the furmer : and we per-
fectly well know, that, in Greek and Latin poetry, that little
pause frequently produces a dactyl or a spondee from syllables
which, to an inexperienced prosod lan, would appear to make
only a tribrachvs in the former case, in the latter an Iambus, as I
have shown in my " Latin Prosody. "--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.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 12:10 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hxg8hz Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 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^--
. .