The Grammar of English Grammars Part 207

1.

"One more new | claimant for Human fra | -ternity, Swelling the | flood that sweeps On to e | -ternity;

I who have | filled the cup, Tremble to | think of it; For, be it | what it may, I must yet | drink of it.

2.

Room for him | into the Ranks of hu |-manity; Give him a | place in your Kingdom of | vanity!

Welcome the | stranger with Kindly af |-fection; Hopefully, | trustfully, Not with de |-jection.

3.

See, in his | waywardness How his fist | doubles; Thus pugi |-listical, Daring life's | troubles: Strange that the | neophyte Enters ex |-istence In such an | att.i.tude, Feigning re |-sistance.

4.

Could he but | have a glimpse Into fu |-turity, Well might he | fight against Farther ma |-turity; Yet does it | seem to me As if his | purity Were against | sinfulness Ample se |-curity.

5.

Incompre |-hensible, Budding im |-mortal, Thrust all a |-mazedly Under life's | portal; Born to a | destiny Clouded in | mystery, Wisdom it |-self cannot Guess at its | history.

6.

Something too | much of this Timon-like | croaking; See his face | wrinkle now, Laughter pro |-voking.

Now he cries | l.u.s.tily-- Bravo, my | hearty one!

Lungs like an | orator Cheering his | party on.

7.

Look how his | merry eyes Turn to me | pleadingly!

Can we help | loving him-- Loving ex |-ceedingly?

Partly with | hopefulness, Partly with | fears, Mine, as I | look at him, Moisten with | tears.

8.

Now then to | find a name;-- Where shall we | search for it?

Turn to his | ancestry, Or to the | church for it?

Shall we en |-dow him with t.i.tle he |-roic, After some | warrior, Poet, or | stoic?

9.

One aunty | says he will Soon 'lisp in | numbers,'

Turning his | thoughts to rhyme, E'en in his | slumbers; Watts rhymed in | babyhood, No blemish | spots his fame-- Christen him | even so: Young Mr. | Watts his name."

ANONYMOUS: _Knickerbocker_, and _Newspapers_, 1849.

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

"Fearfully, Tearfully."

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it.

Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet, if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an _amphimac_, or _amphimacer_. Of this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the piece, may serve as a specimen:--

"Far from the | _battle's shock_, Fate hath fast | bound thee; Chain'd to the | _rugged rock_, Waves warring | round thee.

[Now, for] the | _trumpet's sound_, Sea-birds are | shrieking; Hoa.r.s.e on thy | _rampart's bound_, Billows are | breaking."

OBS. 2.--This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and, perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line is varied to a different measure.

"ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK."

"Bird of the | wilderness, Blithesome and | c.u.mberless, Light be thy | matin o'er | moorland and | lea; Emblem of | happiness, Blest is thy | dwelling-place; O! to a |-bide in the | desert with | thee!

"Wild is thy | lay, and loud, Far on the | downy cloud; Love gives it | energy, | love gave it | birth: Where, on thy | dewy wing, Where art thou | journeying?

Thy lay | is in heav |-en, thy love | is on earth.

"O'er moor and | mountain green, O'er fell and | fountain sheen, O'er the red | streamer that | heralds the | day; Over the | cloudlet dim, Over the | rainbow's rim, Musical | cherub, hie, | hie thee a |-way.

"Then, when the | gloamin comes, Low in the | heather blooms.

Sweet will thy | welcome and | bed of love | be.

Emblem of | happiness, Blest is thy | dwelling-place; O! to a |-bide in the | desert with | thee!"

OBS. 3.--It is observed by Churchill, (_New Gram._, p. 387,) that, "Shakspeare has used the dactyl, as appropriate to mournful occasions." The chief example which he cites, is the following:--

"Midnight, as |-sist our moan, Help us to | sigh and groan Heavily, | heavily.

Graves, yawn and | yield your dead, Till death be | uttered Heavily, | heavily."--_Much Ado_, V, 3

OBS. 4.--These six lines of Dactylic (or Composite) Dimeter are subjoined by the poet to four of Trochaic Tetrameter. There does not appear to me to be any particular adaptation of either measure to mournful subjects, more than to others; but later instances of this metre may be cited, in which such is the character of the topic treated. The following long example consists of lines of two feet, most of them dactylic only; but, of the seventy-six, there are twelve which _may_ be otherwise divided, and as many more which _must_ be, because they commence with a short syllable.

"THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS."--BY THOMAS HOOD.

"One more un |-fortunate, Weary of | breath, Rashly im |-portunate, Gone to her | death!

Take her up | tenderly, Lift her with | care; Fashioned so | slenderly, Young, and so | fair!

Look at her | garments Clinging like | cerements, Whilst the wave | constantly Drips from her | clothing; Take her up | instantly, Loving, not | loathing.

Touch her not | scornfully; Think of her | mournfully, Gently, and | humanly; Not of the | stains of her: All that re |-mains of her Now, is pure | womanly.

Make no deep | scrutiny Into her | mutiny, Rash and un |-dutifull; Past all dis |-honour, Death has left | on her Only the | beautiful.

Still, for all | slips of hers,-- One of Eve's | family,-- Wipe those poor | lips of hers, Oozing so | clammily.

Loop up her | tresses, Escaped from the comb,-- Her fair auburn tresses; Whilst wonderment guesses, Where was her | home?

Who was her | father?

Who was her | mother?

Had she a | sister?

Had she a | brother?

Was there a | dearer one Yet, than all | other?

Alas, for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the | sun!

O, it was | pitiful!

Near a whole | city full, Home she had | none.