Weeping he told them this, and they, at the villager's bidding, In it the children joined, until in a tremulous accent Closing the prayer he had asked for the Lord's benediction upon them. This passage from Longfellow is a typical specimen of what is called English hexameter. Here is another (not so good), from Frothingham's translation—in many respects an admirable one-of Goethe's Hermann and Dorothea: Thitherward up the new street as I hasted, a stout-timbered wagon Not until such lines have been reduced to a form more like the following, can we be prepared to debate whether or not the effects of the classic hexameter can be reproduced in English. Those, too, who choose to compare these lines with the original, will find this translation more literal than the last. Now my eyes, as I made my way along the new street there, In these last lines, there are more spondaic verses,verses, that is, in which the fifth foot contains two syllables-than were often used in the classic hexameters. But this fact does not change the general effect of the movement. Matthew Arnold says of the following, that, "it is the one version of any part of the Iliad which in some degree reproduces for me the original effect of Homer." It is a translation from the third book made by Dr. Hawtrey of Eton College: Clearly the rest I beheld of the dark-eyed sons of Achaia, Known to me well are the faces of all; their names I remember. Are they not here in the host, from the shores of loved Lacedæmon? All for fear of the shame, and the taunts my crime has awakened? Instead of two we sometimes find three consecutive unaccented syllables, combined with which there is occasionally a slight but secondary accent on the second of these. As the general effect of this kind of rhythm is to cause four syllables to be uttered in the time usually given to two, it increases the rapidity of the movement; e. g.: The king has come to marshal us in all his armor dressed, He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high; “And if my standard-bearer fall,- -as fall full well he may, -The Battle of Ivry: Macaulay. CHAPTER V. ELOCUTIONARY AND POETIC FORCE. Force, representing Instinctive Tendency of Utterance, or Physical Energy-Different Kinds of Force-the Degree of Force-Loud and Soft Force as used in Elocution-Their Poetic Analogues-Loudness and Softness, Strength and Weakness, Great and Slight Weight as represented by Long or Short Accented or Unaccented Syllables. THE next rhythmical element of expression to be considered, is force. This is to sounds what different degrees of light and shade are to objects of sight; and is essential to the effects of rhythm in the same way that shading is to those of proportion. In elocution, no one in feeble physical health can manifest an excess of force, while, at times, without it, his delivery may be characterized by the greatest amount of intelligence and soul, of thought and the emotion that is con nected with thought. For these reasons, it seems right to infer that force represents physique rather than intellect or spiritual feeling; in other words, energy that is instinctive and connected with the physical nature rather than any thing that is reflective and connected with the psychical. As used for emphasis, force differs mainly in three regards, which, according to the principle of classification pursued hitherto, may be stated thus: first, on its purely instinctive or physical side, it differs in degree-it may be loud or soft; second, on its reflective or intellectual side, it differs in gradation—it may be strongest at the beginning, middle, or end of the utterance of a syllable or word; and third, in emotive relations, affected more or less by both instinctive and reflective influences, it differs in regularity -it may be abrupt or smooth. Let us consider, first, the degrees of force. It is probably not necessary to illustrate the statement that, in elocution loud force indicates a great degree of energy, and soft force a slight degree of it. As loud and soft are relative terms, it is evident that in poetry their analogues are found in forms in which the relative force is decidedly greater on certain syllables than on others; therefore, in metres in which the accents are strongly marked. This condition is realized, as a rule, where the accented syllables are long, in quantity, and the unaccented short. Here are metres of this character: Louder, louder chant the lay; Time, stern huntsman ! who can balk? Stanch as hound and fleet as hawk ? Think of this and rise with day, Gentle lords and ladies gay! -Hunting Song: Scott. When, wide in soul and bold of tongue, -Two Voices: Tennyson. Strike, and when the fight is over, Look for him who was Dundee. -Burial March of Dundee: Aytoun. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, -Hymn: Kirkham. If both the accented and unaccented syllables are short in quantity, the movement is rapid, indicating, as has been said before, thought that is unimportant; and we have a rattling effect, analogous to loudness that does not convey an impression of strength-e. g.: Then we let off paper crackers, each of which contained a motto, "O maidens," said Pattison, touching his hat, "Don't blubber, my dears, for a fellow like that; A much better fellow than Angus McClan." -Ellen Mc Jones Aberdeen: Idem. If both the accented and unaccented syllables are long in quantity, the movement is slow, indicating thought that is important, and the accent is less decidedly marked. This gives us the poetical equivalent for force characterized by weight and strength, though not necessarily by loudnesse. g.: O good gray head which all men knew; O voice from which their omens all men drew; O iron nerve to true occasion true; O fall'n at length that tower of strength Which stood four square to all the winds that blew ! -Ode on the Duke of Wellington: Tennyson. The woods shall wear their robes of praise, The south winds softly sigh, |