The Grammar of English Grammars Part 197

"Beams of | noon, like | burning | lances, | through the | tree-tops | flash and | glisten, As she | stands be | -fore her | lover, | with raised | face to | look and | listen.

Dark, but | comely, | like the | maiden | in the | ancient | Jewish | song, Scarcely | has the | toil of | task-fields | done her graceful | beauty | wrong.

He, the | strong one, | and the | manly, | with the | va.s.sal's | garb and | hue, Holding | still his | spirit's | birthright, | to his | higher | nature | true;

Hiding | deep the | _strengthening_ | purpose | of a | freeman | in his | heart, As the | Greegree | holds his | Fetish | from the | white man's | gaze a | -part.

Ever | foremost | of the | toilers, | when the | driver's | morning | horn Calls a | -way to | stifling | millhouse, | or to | fields of | cane and | corn;

Fall the | keen and | burning | lashes | never | on his | back or | limb; Scarce with | look or | word of | censure, | turns the | driver | unto | him.

Yet his | brow is | always | thoughtful, | and his | eye is | hard and | stern; _Slavery's_ | last and | humblest | lesson | he has | never | deigned to | learn."

"And, at evening | when his | comrades | dance be | -fore their | master's | door, Folding arms and | knitting | forehead, | stands he | silent | ever |-more.

G.o.d be | praised for | every instinct | which re | -bels a | -gainst a | lot Where the | brute sur |-vives the | human, | and man's | upright | form is | not!"

--J. G. WHITTIER: _National Era, and other Newspapers_, Jan. 1848.

_Example IV.--"The Present Crisis"--Two Stanzas out of sixteen._

"Once to | _every_ | man and | nation | comes the | moment | to de |-cide, In the | strife of | Truth with | Falsehood, | for the | good or | evil | side; Some great | cause, G.o.d's | new Mes |-siah, | _offering_ | each the | bloom or | blight, Parts the | goats up | -on the | left hand, | and the | sheep up | -on the | right, And the | choice goes | by for | -ever |'twixt that | darkness | and that | light.

Have ye | chosen, | O my | people, | on whose | party | ye shall | stand, Ere the | Doom from | _its_ worn | sandals | shakes the | dust a | -gainst our | land?

Though the | cause of | evil | prosper, | yet the | Truth a | -lone is | strong, And, al | _beit she_ | wander | outcast | now, I | see a | -round her | throng Troops of | beauti | -ful tall | angels | to en | -shield her | from all | wrong."

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: _Liberator_, September 4th, 1846.

_Example V.--The Season of Love.--A short Extract_.

"In the | Spring, a | fuller | crimson | comes up | -on the | robin's | breast; In the | Spring, the | wanton | lapwing | gets him | -self an | other | crest; In the | Spring, a | _livelier_ | iris | changes | on the | burnished | dove; In the | Spring, a | young man's | fancy | lightly | turns to | thoughts of | love.

Then her | cheek was | pale, and | thinner | than should | be for | one so | young; And her | eyes on | all my | motions, | with a | mute ob | -servance, | hung.

And I | said, 'My | cousin | Amy, | speak, and | speak the | truth to | me; Trust me, | cousin, | all the | current | of my | being | sets to | thee.'"

_Poems by_ ALFRED TENNYSON, Vol. ii, p. 35.

Trochaic of eight feet, as these sundry examples will suggest, is much oftener met with than iambic of the same number; and yet it is not a form very frequently adopted. The reader will observe that it requires a considerable pause after the fourth foot; at which place one might divide it, and so reduce each couplet to a stanza of four lines, similar to the following examples:--

PART OF A SONG, IN DIALOGUE.

SYLVIA.

"Corin, | cease this | idle | teasing; Love that's | forc'd is | harsh and | sour; If the | lover | be dis | -pleasing, To per | -sist dis | -gusts the | more."

CORIN.

"'Tis in | vain, in | vain to | fly me, _Sylvia_, | I will | still pur | -sue; Twenty | thousand | times de | -ny me, I will | kneel and | weep a | -new."

SYLVIA.

"Cupid | ne'er shall | make me | languish, I was | born a | -verse to | love; Lovers' | sighs, and | tears, and | anguish, Mirth and | pastime | to me | prove."

CORIN.

"Still I | vow with | patient | duty Thus to | meet your | proudest | scorn; You for | unre | -lenting | beauty I for | constant | love was | born."

_Poems by_ ANNA Laet.i.tIA BARBAULD, p. 56.

PART OF A CHARITY HYMN.

1.

"Lord of | life, all | praise ex | -celling, thou, in | glory | uncon | -fin'd, Deign'st to | make thy | humble | dwelling with the | poor of | humble | mind.

2.

As thy | love, through | all cre | -ation, beams like | thy dif | -fusive | light; So the | scorn'd and | humble | station shrinks be | -fore thine | equal | sight.

3.

Thus thy | care, for | all pro | -viding, warm'd thy | faithful | prophet's | tongue; Who, the | lot of | all de | -ciding, to thy | chosen | _Israel_ | sung:

4.

'When thine | harvest | yields thee | pleasure, thou the | golden | sheaf shalt | bind; To the | poor be | -longs the | treasure of the | scatter'd | ears be | -hind.'"

_Psalms and Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church_, Hymn LV.

A still more common form is that which reduces all these tetrameters to single rhymes, preserving their alternate succession. In such metre and stanza, is Montgomery's "Wanderer of Switzerland, a Poem, in Six Parts,"

and with an aggregate of eight hundred and forty-four lines. Example:--

1.

"'_Wanderer_, | whither | wouldst thou | roam?

To what | region | far a | -way, Bend thy | steps to | find a | home, In the | twilight | of thy | day?'

2.

'In the | twilight | of my | day, I am | hastening | to the | west; There my | weary limbs | to lay, Where the | sun re | -tires to | rest.

3.

Far be | -yond the At | -lantic | floods, Stretched be | -neath the | evening | sky, Realms of | mountains, | dark with | woods, In Co | -lumbia's | bosom | lie.

4.

There, in | glens and | caverns | rude, Silent | since the | world be | -gan, Dwells the | virgin | Soli | -tude, Unbe | -trayed by | faithless | man:

5.

Where a | tyrant | never | trod, Where a | slave was | never | known, But where | nature | worships | G.o.d In the | wilder | -ness a | -lone.