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§ 671.

§ 672.

For, lo! the sea that fleets about the land,
And like a girdle clips her solid waist,
Music and measure both doth understand
For his great crystal eye is always cast
Up to the moon, and on her fixeth fast;
And as she in her pallid sphere,

So danceth he about the centre here.-Sir JOHN DAVIS.

OTTAVA RIMA.

Morgante had a palace in his mode,

Composed of branches, logs of wood, and earth,

And stretch'd himself at ease in this abode,

And shut himself at night within his berth.
Orlando knock'd, and knock'd again, to goad

The giant from his sleep; and he came forth
The door to open like a crazy thing,

For a rough dream had shook him slumbering.-Byron.

TERZA RIMA.

Many are poets who have never penn'd

Their inspiration, and, perchance, the best:
They felt, and loved, and died, but would not lend
Their thoughts to meaner beings; they compress'd
The God within them, and rejoin'd the stars
Unlaurel'd upon earth, but far more bless'd

Than those who are degraded by the jars
Of passion, and their frailties linked to fame,

Conquerors of high renown, but full of scars.-BYRON.

ALEXANDRINES.

§ 673. Six measures, 2 a, with rhyme. The name is said to be taken from the fact that early romances upon the deeds of Alexander of Macedon, of great popularity, were written in this metre. See § 639.

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§ 674. This consists of four lines. The first is composed of four lambics, formula za × 4. The second is composed of three Iambics, formula x ax 3. The third and fourth are like the first and second.

a×3.

The Past and Present here unite
Beneath Time's flowing tide;

Like footprints hidden by a brook,

But seen on either side.-Longfellow.

§ 675.

RHOMBIC MEASURES.

Ah me!

Am I the swain

That, late from sorrow free,

Did all the cares on earth disdain?

And still untouch'd, as at some safer games,

Play'd with the burning coals of love and beauty's flames?
Was't I could drive and sound each passion's secret depth at will,
And from those huge o'erwhelmings rise by help of reason still?
And am I now, O heavens! for trying this in vain,
So sunk that I shall never rise again?

Then let despair set sorrow's string

For strains that doleful be,

And I will sing

Ah me!

COMMON METRE.

WITHER.

§ 676. The first line consists of four Iambics, formula x a × 4. The second line consists of three Iambics, formula x ax 3. The stanza consists of four lines, which rhyme alternately.

Happy the heart where graces reign,

Where love inspires the breast;

Love is the brightest of the train,

And strengthens all the rest.—Watts.

LONG METRE.

§ 677. The four lines which compose a stanza are of equal length, each consisting of four Iambics, the formula being x a × 4. The lines rhyme sometimes alternately and sometimes in couplets.

The billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wint'ry sky;

Out of the depths to Thee I call;

My fears are great, my strength is small.-CowPER.

SHORT METRE.

$ 678. The stanza consists of four lines. The first, second, and fourth consist of three Iambics; the formula is x ax 3. The third of four Iambics; the formula is x ax 4.

I love thy kingdom, Lord,

The house of thine abode;

The Church our bless'd Redeemer saved

With his own precious blood!—Dwight.

HALLELUJAH METRE.

§ 679. The stanza consists of eight lines. The first four consist of three Iambics; the last four of two Iambics.

Yes, the Redeemer rose !

The Savior left the dead;

And o'er our hellish foes

High raised his conquering head:
In wild dismay,

The guards around

Fall to the ground,

And sink away.-DODDRIDGE.

Besides these, there are Combinations of Iambic Measures, Trochaic Measures, and Anapestic Measures. Each kind can be easily ascertained from the descriptions already given.

EXERCISES UNDER PART VIII.

POETICAL ANALYSIS.

$ 680. POETICAL ANALYSIS is that process by which the Poetical Forms of a passage are distinguished and named according to their descriptions in Part VIII.

EXAMPLES.

Bird of the wilderness,

Blithesome and cumberless,

Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
Emblem of happiness,

Bless'd is thy dwelling-place,

O to abide in the desert with thee!

Wild is thy lay and loud,

Far in the downy cloud,

Love gives it energy, love gave it birth;

When on thy dewy wing,

Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.-HOGG.

The first and second lines are each composed of two dactyls. A dactyl consists of one accented and two unaccented syllables. See § 622. The third line is composed of three dactyls and an additional syllable. The fourth and fifth, the seventh and eighth, the tenth and the eleventh, are like the two first. The

sixth, ninth, twelfth, are like the third, the twelfth having an additional syllable at the commencement.

Analyze the following, and state what are the feet composing the several lines, and what are the definitions of the several fect which enter into the composition of the lines; what are the rhymes, if any, and what are the number of lines that compose

a stanza.

2.

3.

If I had thought thou couldst have died,

I might not weep for thee;
But I forgot, when by thy side,

That thou couldst mortal be.
It never through my mind had pass'd
The time would e'er be o'er,

And I on thee should look my last,

And thou shouldst smile no more.-WOLFE.

High on a throne of royal state, which far

Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind,

Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised

To that bad eminence.-MILTON.

Triumphal arch! that fill'st the sky
When storms prepare to part,

I ask not proud philosophy

To teach me what thou art.

Still seem, as to my childhood's sight,

A midway station given

For happy spirits to alight,

Between the earth and heaven.-CAMPBELL.

SYNTHESIS.

1. Compose a line or more of Iambics.
2. Compose a line or more of Trochees.
3. Compose a line or more of Anapests.
4. Compose a line or more of Amphibrachs.

5. Compose a line or more of Dactyls.

6. Compose or select a Spenserian stanza.

7. Compose or select a stanza of Gay's measure.

8. Compose or select a stanza of Elegiac Octosyllabics.

9. Compose or select a Ballad stanza.

10. Compose or select a stanza of Elegiac Heroics.

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