The Grammar of English Grammars Part 203

"T~o l=ove ~and t~o l=angu~ish, T~o s=igh | ~and c~ompl=ain, H~ow cr=u~el's th~e =angu~ish!

H~ow t~orm=ent | -~ing th~e p=ain!

Suing, Pursuing, Flying, Denying, O the curse | of disdain!

How torment | -ing's the pain!"

GEO. GRANVILLE: _Br. Poets_, Vol. v, p. 31.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The metres acknowledged in our ordinary schemes of prosody, scarcely amount, with all their "boundless variety," to more than one half, or three quarters, of what may be found in _actual use_ somewhere. Among the foregoing examples, are some which are longer, and some which are shorter, than what are commonly known to our grammarians; and some, also, which seem easily practicable, though perhaps not so easily quotable. This last trochaic metre, so far as I know, has not been used alone,--that is, without longer lines,--except where grammarians so set examples of it in their prosodies.

OBS. 2.--"Trochaic of One foot," as well as "Iambic of One foot," was, I believe, first recognized, prosodically, in Brown's Inst.i.tutes of English Grammar, a work first published in 1823. Since that time, both have obtained acknowledgement in sundry schemes of versification, contained in the new grammars; as in Farnum's, and Hallock's, of 1842; in Pardon Davis's, of 1845; in S. W. Clark's, and S. S. Greene's, of 1848; in Professor Fowler's, of 1850. Wells, in his School Grammar, of 1846, and D.

C. Allen, in an other, of 1847, give to the _length of lines_ a laxity positively absurd: "_Rhymed_ verses," say they, "may consist of _any number_ of syllables."--_Wells_, 1st Ed., p. 187; late Ed., 204; _Allen_, p. 88. Everett has recognized "_The line of a single Trochee_," though he repudiates some long measures that are much more extensively authorized.

ORDER III.--ANAPESTIC VERSE.

In full Anapestic verse, the stress is laid on every third syllable, the first two syllables of each foot being short. The first foot of an anapestic line, may be an iambus. This is the most frequent diversification of the order. But, as a diversification, it is, of course, not _regular_ or _uniform_. The stated or uniform adoption of the iambus for a part of each line, and of the anapest for the residue of it, produces verse of the _Composite Order_. As the anapest ends with a long syllable, its rhymes are naturally single; and a short syllable after this, producing double rhyme, is, of course, supernumerary: so are the two, when the rhyme is triple.

Some prosodists suppose, a surplus at the end of a line may compensate for a deficiency at the beginning of the next line; but this I judge to be an error, or at least the indulgence of a questionable license. The following pa.s.sage has two examples of what may have been _meant_ for such compensation, the author having used a dash where I have inserted what seems to be a necessary word:--

"Apol | -lo smil'd shrewd | -ly, and bade | him sit down, With 'Well, | Mr. Scott, | you have man | -aged the town; Now pray, | copy less-- | have a lit | -tle temer | -_~it~y_-- [And] Try | if you can't | also man | -age poster | -_ity_.

[For] All | you add now | only les | -sens your cred | -_it_; And how | could you think, | too, of tak | -ing to ed | -_ite?_'"

LEIGH HUNT'S _Feast of the Poets_, page 20.

The anapestic measures are few; because their feet are long, and no poet has chosen to set a great many in a line. Possibly lines of five anapests, or of four and an initial iambus, might be written; for these would scarcely equal in length some of the iambics and trochaics already exhibited. But I do not find any examples of such metre. The longest anapestics that have gained my notice, are of fourteen syllables, being tetrameters with triple rhyme, or lines of four anapests and two short surplus syllables. This order consists therefore of measures reducible to the following heads:--

MEASURE I.--ANAPESTIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

_Example I.--A "Postscript."--An Example with Hypermeter._

"Lean Tom, | when I saw | him, last week, | on his _horse_ | _awry_, Threaten'd loud | -ly to turn | me to stone | with his _sor_ | -_cery_.

But, I think, | little Dan, | that, in spite | of what _our_ | _foe says_, He will find | I read Ov | -id and his | Meta_mor_ | -_phoses_.

For, omit | -ting the first, | (where I make | a com_par_ | -_ison_, With a sort | of allu | -sion to Put | -land or _Har_ | -_rison_,) Yet, by | my descrip | -tion, you'll find | he in _short_ | _is_ A pack | and a gar | -ran, a top | and a _tor_ | -_toise_.

So I hope | from hencefor | -ward you ne'er | will ask, _can_ | _I maul_ This teas | -ing, conceit | -ed, rude, in | -solent _an_ | -_imal?_ And, if | this rebuke | might be turn'd | to his _ben_ | -_efit_, (For I pit | -y the man,) | I should | be glad _then_ | _of it_"

SWIFT'S POEMS: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 324.

_Example II.--"The Feast of the Poets."--First Twelve Lines._

"T' other day, | as Apol | -lo sat pitch | -ing his darts Through the clouds | of Novem | -ber, by fits | and by starts, He began | to consid | -er how long | it had been Since the bards | of Old Eng | -land had all | been rung in.

'I think,' | said the G.o.d, | recollect | -ing, (and then He fell twid | -dling a sun | -beam as I | may my pen,) 'I think-- | let me see-- | yes, it is, | I declare, As long | ago now | as that Buck | -ingham there; And yet | I can't see | why I've been | so remiss, Unless | it may be-- | and it cer | -tainly is, That since Dry | -den's fine ver | -ses and Mil | -ton's sublime, I have fair | -ly been sick | of their sing | -song and rhyme.'"

LEIGH HUNT: _Poems_, New-York Edition, of 1814.

_Example III.--The Crowning of Four Favourites._

"Then, 'Come,' | cried the G.o.d | in his el | -egant mirth, 'Let us make | us a heav'n | of our own | upon earth, And wake, | with the lips | that we dip | in our bowls, That divin | -est of mu | -sic--conge | -nial souls.'

So say | -ing, he led | through the din | -ing-room door, And, seat | -ing the po | -ets, cried, 'Lau | -rels for four!'

No soon | -er demand | -ed, than, lo! | they were there, And each | of the bards | had a wreath | in his hair.

Tom Camp | -bell's with wil | -low and pop | -lar was twin'd, And South | -ey's, with moun | -tain-ash, pluck'd | in the wind; And Scott's, | with a heath | from his old | garden stores, And, with vine | -leaves and jump | -up-and-kiss | -me, Tom Moore's."

LEIGH HUNT: from line 330 to line 342.

_Example IV.--"Glenara."--First Two of Eight Stanzas._

"O heard | ye yon pi | -broch sound sad | in the gale, Where a band | cometh slow | -ly with weep | -ing and wail!

'Tis the chief | of Glena | -ra laments | for his dear; And her sire, | and the peo | -ple, are called | to her bier.

Glena | -ra came first | with the mourn | -ers and shroud; Her kins | -men, they fol | -lowed, but mourned | not aloud; Their plaids | all their bo | -soms were fold | -ed around; They marched | all in si | -lence--they looked | on the ground."

T. CAMPBELL'S _Poetical Works_, p. 105.

_Example V.--"Lochiel's Warning."--Ten Lines from Eighty-six._

"'Tis the sun | -set of life | gives me mys | -tical lore, And com | -ing events | cast their shad | -ows before.

I tell | thee, Cullo | -den's dread ech | -oes shall ring With the blood | -hounds that bark | for thy fu | -gitive king.

Lo! anoint | -ed by Heav'n | with the vi | -als of wrath, Behold, | where he flies | on his des | -olate path!

Now, in dark | -ness and bil | -lows he sweeps | from my sight; Rise! rise! | ye wild tem | -pests, and cov | -er his flight!

'Tis fin | -ished. Their thun | -ders are hushed | on the moors; Cullo | -den is lost, | and my coun | -try deplores."--_Ib._, p. 89.

_Example VI.--"The Exile of Erin."--The First of Five Stanzas._

"There came | to the beach | a poor Ex | -ile of E | -_r~in_, The dew | on his thin | robe was heav | -y and chill; For his coun | -try he sighed, | when at twi | -light repair | -_~ing_ To wan | -der alone | by the wind | -beaten hill.

But the day | -star attract | -ed his eye's | sad devo | -_t~ion_, For it rose | o'er his own | native isle | of the o | -_c~ean_, Where once, | in the fire | of his youth | -ful emo | _t~ion_, He sang | the bold an | -them of E | -rin go bragh."--_Ib._, p. 116.

_Example VII.--"The Poplar Field."_

"_The pop_ | -lars are fell'd, | _farewell_ | to the shade, And the whis | -pering sound | of the cool | colonnade; _The winds_ | play no lon | -ger and sing | in the leaves, _Nor Ouse_ | on his bo | -som their im | -age receives.

_Twelve years_ | have elaps'd, | since I last | took a view Of my fa | -vourite field, | and the bank | where they grew; _And now_ | in the gra.s.s | _behold_ | they are laid, And the tree | is my seat | that once lent | me a shade.

_The black_ | -bird has fled | to anoth | -er retreat, Where the ha | -zels afford | him a screen | from the heat, And the scene, | where his mel | -ody charm'd | me before, _Resounds_ | with his sweet | -flowing dit | -ty no more.

_My fu_ | -gitive years | are all hast | -ing away, _And I_ | must ere long | lie as low | -ly as they, With a turf | on my breast, | and a stone | at my head, Ere anoth | -er such grove | shall arise | in its stead.

'Tis a sight | to engage | me, if an | -y thing can, _To muse_ | on the per | -ishing pleas | -ures of man; Though his life | be a dream, | his enjoy | -ments, I see, Have a be | -ing less dur | -able e | -ven than he."

COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 257.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Everett avers, that, "The purely Anapestic measure is more easily constructed than the Trochee, [Trochaic,] and of much more frequent occurrence."--_English Versification_, p. 97. Both parts of this a.s.sertion are at least very questionable; and so are this author's other suggestions, that, "The Anapest is [necessarily] the vehicle of _gayety and joy_;" that, "Whenever this measure is employed in the treating of _sad_ subjects, _the effect is destroyed_;" that, "Whoever should attempt to write an elegy in this measure, would be _sure to fail_;" that, "The words might express grief, but the measure _would express joy_;" that, "The Anapest should never be employed throughout a _long piece_;" because "buoyancy of spirits can never be supposed to last,"--"sadness _never leaves us_, BUT joy remains but for a moment;" and, again, because, "the measure is _exceedingly monotonous_."--_Ibid._, pp. 97 and 98.

OBS. 2.--Most anapestic poetry, so far as I know, is in pieces of no great length; but Leigh Hunt's "Feast of the Poets," which is thrice cited above, though not a long _poem_, may certainly be regarded as "_a long piece_,"

since it extends through fifteen pages, and contains four hundred and thirty-one lines, all, or nearly all, of anapestic tetrameter. And, surely, no poet had ever more need of a metre well suited to his purpose, than he, who, intending a critical as well as a descriptive poem, has found so much fault with the versification of others. Pope, as a versifier, was regarded by this author, "not only as no master of his art, but as a very indifferent practiser."--_Notes on the Feast of the Poets_, p. 35. His "_monotonous and cloying_" use of numbers, with that of Darwin, Goldsmith, Johnson, Haley, and others of the same "school," is alleged to have wrought a general corruption of taste in respect to versification--a fashion that has prevailed, not temporarily,

"_But ever since Pope spoil'd the ears of the town With his cuckoo-song verses, half up and half down_"--_Ib._

OBS. 3.--Excessive monotony is thus charged by one critic upon all verse of "the purely Anapestic measure;" and, by an other, the same fault is alleged in general terms against all the poetry "of the school of Pope," well-nigh the whole of which is iambic. The defect is probably in either case, at least half imaginary; and, as for the inherent joyousness of anapestics, that is perhaps not less ideal. Father Humphrey says, "Anapaestic and amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous compositions; and _sometimes to elegiac compositions_, and subjects important and solemn."--_Humphrey's English Prosody_, p. 17.

OBS. 4.--The anapest, the dactyl, and the amphibrach, have this in common,--that each, with one long syllable, takes two short ones. Hence there is a degree of similarity in their rhythms, or in their several effects upon the ear; and consequently lines of each order, (or of any two, if the amphibrachic be accounted a separate order,) are sometimes commingled. But the propriety of acknowledging an order of "_Amphibrachic verse_," as does Humphrey, is more than doubtful; because, by so doing, we not only recognize the amphibrach as one of the princ.i.p.al feet, but make a vast number of lines ambiguous in their scansion. For our Amphibrachic order will be _made up_ of lines that are commonly scanned as anapestics--such anapestics as are diversified by an iambus at the beginning, and sometimes also by a surplus short syllable at the end; as in the following verses, better divided as in the sixth example above:--

"Th~ere c=ame t~o | th~e b=each ~a | p~oor Ex~ile | ~of Er~in The dew on | his thin robe | was heavy | and chill: F~or h~is co=un | -tr~y h~e s=ighed, | wh=en ~at tw=i | -l~ight r~ep=air | _-~ing_ To wander | alone by | the wind-beat | -en hill."