The Grammar of English Grammars Part 202

Can our | eyes Reach thy | size?

May my | lays Swell with | praise, Worthy | thee, Worthy | me!

Muse, in | -spire All thy | fire!

Bards of | old Of him | told, When they | said Atlas' | head Propp'd the | skies: See! and | _believe_ | _your eyes!_

II.

"See him | stride Valleys | wide: Over | woods, Over | floods, When he | treads, Mountains' | heads Groan and | shake: Armies | quake, Lest his | spurn Over | -turn Man and | steed: Troops, take | heed!

Left and | right Speed your | flight!

Lest an | host _Beneath_ | _his foot_ | _be lost_.

III.

"Turn'd a | -side From his | hide, Safe from | wound, Darts re | -bound.

From his | nose, Clouds he | blows; When he | speaks, Thunder | breaks!

When he | eats, Famine | threats!

When he | drinks, Neptune | shrinks!

Nigh thy | ear, In mid | air, On thy | hand, Let me | stand.

So shall | I (Lofty | poet!) touch the sky."

JOHN GAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 376.

_Example III.--Two Feet with Four._

"Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish, When we | love, and | when we | languish!

Wishes | rising!

Thoughts sur | -prising!

Pleasure | courting!

Charms trans | -porting!

Fancy | viewing Joys en | -suing!

Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish!"

ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act i, Scene 6.

_Example IV.--Lines of Three Syllables with Longer Metres_.

1. WITH TROCHAICS.

"Or we | sometimes | pa.s.s an | hour Under | a green | willow, That de | -fends us | from the | shower, Making | earth our | pillow; Where we | may Think and | pray, B=e'fore | death Stops our | breath: Other | joys, Are but | toys, And to | be la | -mented." [515]

2. WITH IAMBICS.

"What sounds | were heard, What scenes | appear'd, O'er all | the drear | -y coasts!

Dreadful | gleams, Dismal | screams, Fires that | glow, Shrieks of | wo, Sullen | moans, Hollow | groans, And cries | of tor | -tur'd ghosts!"

POPE: _Johnson's Brit. Poets_, Vol. vi, p. 315.

_Example V.--"The Shower."--In Four Regular Stanzas_.

1.

"In a | valley | that I | know-- Happy | scene!

There are | meadows | sloping | low, There the | fairest | flowers | blow, And the | brightest | waters | flow.

All se | -rene; But the | sweetest | thing to | see, If you | ask the | dripping | tree, Or the | harvest | -hoping | swain, Is the | Rain.

2.

Ah, the | dwellers | of the | town, How they | sigh,-- How un | -grateful | -ly they | frown, When the | cloud-king | shakes his | crown, And the | pearls come | pouring | down From the | sky!

They de | -scry no | charm at | all Where the | sparkling | jewels | fall, And each | moment | of the | shower, Seems an | hour!

3.

Yet there's | something | very | sweet In the | sight, When the | crystal | currents | meet In the | dry and | dusty | street, And they | wrestle | with the | heat, In their | might!

While they | seem to | hold a | talk With the | stones a | -long the | walk, And re | -mind them | of the | rule, To 'keep | cool!'

4.

Ay, but | in that | quiet | dell, Ever | fair, Still the | Lord doth | all things | well, When his | clouds with | blessings | swell, And they | break a | br.i.m.m.i.n.g | sh.e.l.l On the | air; There the | shower | hath its | charms, Sweet and | welcome | to the | farms As they | listen | to its | voice, And re | -joice!"

Rev. RALPH HOYT'S _Poems: The Examiner_, Nov. 6, 1847.

_Example VI.--"A Good Name?"--Two Beautiful Little Stanzas_.

1.

"Children, | choose it, Don't re | -fuse it, 'Tis a | precious | dia | -dem; Highly | prize it, Don't de | -spise it, You will | need it | when you're | men.

2.

Love and | cherish, Keep and | nourish, 'Tis more | precious | far than | gold; Watch and | guard it, Don't dis | -card it, You will | need it | when you're | old."

_The Family Christian Almanac, for 1850_, p. 20.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Trochaics of two feet, like those of three, are, more frequently than otherwise, found in connexion with longer lines, as in some of the examples above cited. The trochaic line of three syllables, which our prosodists in general describe as consisting, not of two feet; but "of one Trochee and a long syllable," may, when it stands alone, be supposed to consist of one _amphimac_; but, since this species of foot is not admitted by all, and is reckoned a secondary one by those who do admit it, the better practice is, to divide even the three syllables into two feet, as above.

OBS. 2.--Murray, Hart, Weld, and many others, erroneously affirm, that, "The _shortest_ Trochaic verse in our language, consists of one Trochee and a long syllable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 256; _Hart's, First Edition_, p.

186; _Weld's, Second Edition_, p. 210. The error of this will be shown by examples below--examples of _true "Trochaic Monometer_," and not of Dimeter mistaken for it, like Weld's, Hart's, or Murray's.

OBS. 3.--These authors also aver, that, "This measure is _defective in dignity_, and can seldom be used on serious occasions."--_Same places_.

"Trochaic of _two feet_--is likewise so _brief_, that," in their opinion, "it is rarely used for any very serious purpose."--_Same places_. Whether the expression of love, or of its disappointment, is "any very serious purpose" or not, I leave to the decision of the reader. What lack of dignity or seriousness there is, in several of the foregoing examples, especially the last two, I think it not easy to discover.

MEASURE VIII.--TROCHAIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

_Examples with Longer Metres_.

1. WITH IAMBICS.

"Fr~om w=alk | t~o w=alk, | fr~om sh=ade | t~o sh=ade, From stream to purl | -ing stream | convey'd, Through all | the ma | -zes of | the grove, Through all | the ming | -ling tracks | I rove, Turning, Burning, Changing, Ranging, F=ull ~of | gri=ef ~and | f=ull ~of | l=ove."

ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act I, Sc. 4: _Everett's Versification_, p. 81.

2. WITH ANAPESTICS, &c.