The sounds of the vowels and diphthongs are produced by the uninterrupted passage of the breath through the open mouth, and the predominance of these sounds renders speech easy and musical. The consonant sounds are the result of the more or less complete stoppage of the breath in utterance by the partial or entire closing of the air passage by one or other of the organs of speech, and it is the degree of effort to produce these imperfect sounds that causes that harshness and roughness which renders speech difficult and unmusical. We will next present an arrangement of the consonants which exhibits them in what may be regarded as the order of their discordance.

The liquids, l, m, n, r, easily combine with other

sounds.

The sibillants, s, i, j, x, vp, sh, zh, have varying degrees of a disagreeable hiss.

The mutes are the most difficult of all in utterance, as they completely close the air passage. They are classed according to the organ of speech by which they are produced into

Labials (lip sounds) p, b, ƒ, 3.

Dentals (tooth sounds) t, d, th, dh.
Gutturals (throat sounds) k, g.

It may here be pointed out that the rules of English prosody and rhyme are not applicable to the language as it appears in writing, but as it is heard in pronunciation. Our language so considered is not inferior to others; its elementary sounds, both

in variety and number, are adequate to all our

occasions.

All the elements enumerated above have their distinguishing qualities of smooth, rough, soft, strong, close, open, clear, obscure, and others, by which they give a corresponding character to the sound of a verse, and furnish opportunities of assimilating sound to sense of which our poets have freely availed themselves.* The comparison between the English tongue and others, as to metrical elements, given in the following passage, will, perhaps, entertain the reader. It is taken from Steele's "Prosodia Rationalis," page 168. "In English the proportion of monosyllables to polysyllables is more than as five to two; in French, something less than as three to two; but in Italian, which, having more vowels, has less occasion for monosyllables, their proportion to polysyllables is not quite three to four, or one and a half to two. The superior melody of one language over another will be nearly in proportion as one exceeds the other in the number of vowel sounds. The number of vowel and consonantal sounds in Italian is nearly equal; in Latin, five consonants to four vowels; in French, supposing the orthography not as written, but as sounded in pronunciation, the consonantal to the vocal sounds are as four to three; and in English, in the like manner, the proportion is three to two. Therefore, in this view, the French has an advantage over the English in the proportion of nine to eight; but this is overbalanced by the English

* See "Imitative Harmony," p. 269.

advantage in its monosyllables, which it has more than the French in the proportion of five to three."

No single element in a man's native tongue is of difficult pronunciation to him whose organs of speech are naturally perfect; in a foreign language there may be such, as the Welsh and German gutturals, and the French u, to an Englishman. But there are various combinations, either difficult to utter, or unpleasant to hear, and others again of an opposite character, with all of which it is useful for every writer to be acquainted. The maker of verse, who has command of his language, will not feel himself much cramped by these combinations; some few there may be which are unmanageable: such is that made by the second person singular of the past tense, in verbs ending with a double consonant: as touch, touchedst.*

Let it not be thought degrading to any composer of English verse to attend to the power and effect of these elementary sounds, since Bacon has recommended an inquiry into the nature of language for purposes of the same kind, nor accounted it beneath him to record in his works that we cannot prononnce the letter t after m, without inserting, as a circumstance worthy of notice. Ex. empty, Hampton.

2.-SYLLABLES.

A syllable is a word, or a part of a word, uttered by one effort of some of the organs of speech. It may be one elementary sound, or a combination

* See "Poetic Licenses," p. 108.

of several. Like its elements, it is rough, smooth, harsh, easy, or difficult in utterance. But there are other qualities of syllables which claim our special attention and demand clear elucidation, inasmuch as they constitute the very essence of verse; these are accent and quantity.

(a). ACCENT

is a certain stress of the voice upon a syllable in pronouncing it. Every word of more than one syllable has an accent invariably attached to one of its syllables which is called the tonic accent, and no word, however long, has more than one accent, e.g. deplóre, térrible, eleméntary. Monosyllables are accented or not according to their grammatical importance; thus all nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are accented, while the articles, prepositions, pronouns (when not emphatic), and particles are unaccented. We shall see as we proceed that the exigencies of metre require that metrical accents be attached to syllables in verse in addition to the tonic accent, and that the stress occasionally varies in degree, e.g.:

Swéét are the úses of advérsity.

The precise nature of accent has given rise to diversity of opinion; some maintaining that it is an alteration in the pitch of the voice, others an increase in loudness of tone; we will content ourselves, however, with regarding it as stress merely, as is now generally accepted.

(b). QUANTITY

is the time occupied in pronouncing a syllable, one long syllable being considered equivalent to two short ones. This division into two classes has been deemed sufficient for all the purposes of prosody; though it is certain that in neither class are the syllables all equal among themselves, as will appear when we have stated what is allowed to constitute a short and a long syllable.

(i) A short vowel when alone, or when no consonant follows it, is taken for a short syllable, as the articles a, the.

(ii) A short vowel, when followed by a single consonant, is a short syllable, as, man, pen; or by the same consonant doubled, as, manner, penny.

(iii) A short vowel, in some cases, when followed by two consonants, makes a short syllable, as, decline, reprove, at last. For this we have the example of the ancients both in Greek and Latin, who permitted a short vowel to stand for a short syllable, though followed by two consonants, if the first was a mute and the second a liquid. The cause is founded in nature; and therefore holds with us; it is, that such a combination of consonants is more readily pronounced than others are. A syllable is long

(i) When it contains a long vowel, or a diphthong, as, see, go, loud, joy.

(ii) When it consists of a short vowel followed by two different consonants, if they be not a mute and a liquid; as, into, number. Such a syllable is called long by position.