Again : In terras oppressa gravi sub religione. Again: Et quorum pars magna || fui; quis talia fandom This contributes to diversify the melody; and where the words are smooth and liquid, is not ungraceful; as in the following examples: Formosam resonare || doces Amaryllida sylvas Again: Agricolas, quibus ipsa || procul discordibus armis If this pause, placed as aforesaid after the short syllable, happen also to divide a word, the melody by these circumstances is totally annihilated. Witness the following line of Ennius, which is plain prose: Roma moenia terru||it impiger | Hannibal armis. Hitherto the arrangement of the long and short syllables of an Hexameter line and its different pauses, have been considered with respect to melody; but to have a just notion of Hexameter verse, these particulars must also be considered with respect to sense. There is not perhaps in any other sort of verse, such latitude in the long and short syllables; a circumstance that contributes greatly to that richness of melody which is remarkable in Hexameter verse, and which made Aristotle pronounce, that an epic poem in any other verse would not succeed.* One defect, however, must not be dissembled, that the same means which contribute to the richness of the melody, render it less fit than several other sorts for a narrative poem There cannot be a more artful contrivance, as above observed, than to close an Hexameter line with two long syllables preceded by two short: but unhappily this construction proves a great embarrassment to the sense; which will thus be evident. As in general, there ought to be a strict concordance between a thought and the words in which it is dressed; so in particular, every close in the sense ought to be accompanied with a close in the sound. In prose, this law may be strictly observed; but in verse, the same strictness would occasion insuperable difficulties. Willing to sacrifice to the melody of verse some share of the concordance between thought and expression, we freely excuse the separation of the musical pause from that of the sense, during the course of a line: but the close of an Hexameter line is too conspicuous to admit this liberty; for which reason there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every Hexameter line, were it but such a pause as is marked with a comma; and for the same reason, there ought never to be a full close in the sense but at the end of a line, because there the melody is closed. An Hexameter line, to preserve its melody, cannot * Poet. cap. 25, 1 1 well admit any greater relaxation; and yet in a narrative poem, it is extremely difficult to adhere strictly to the rule even with these indulgences. Virgil, the chief of poets for versification, is forced often to end a line without any close in the sense, and as often to close the sense during the running of a line; though a close in the melody during the movement of the thought, or a close in the thought during the movement of the melody, cannot be agreeable. The accent, to which we proceed, is no less essential than the other circumstances above handled. By a good ear it will be discerned, that in every line there is one syllable distinguishable from the rest by a capital accent; that syllable, being the 7th portion, is invariably long. Nec bene promeritis || capitûr nec | tangitur ira. Again: Non sibi sed toto genitum se | credere mundo. Again: Qualis spelunca || subitô com mota columba. In these examples, the accent is laid upon the last syllable of a word; which is favourable to the melody in the following respect, that the pause, which for the sake of reading distinctly must follow every word, gives opportunity to prolong the accent. And for that reason, a line thus accented has a more spirited air, than when the accent is placed on any other syllable. Compare the foregoing lines with the following: Alba neque Assyrio || fucâtur | lana veneno. Again: Panditur interea | domus ômnipotentis Olympi. Again: Olli sedato | respondit | corde Latinus. In lines where the pause comes after the short syllable succeeding the fifth portion, the accent is displaced, and rendered less sensible: it seems to be split into two, and to be laid partly on the 5th portion, and partly on the 7th, its usual place; as in Nuda genu nodôque || sinûs collecta fluentes Again : Formosam resonâre || docês Amaryllida sylvas Beside this capital accent, slighter accents are laid upon other portions; particularly upon the 4th, unless where it consists of two short syllables; upon the 9th, which is always a long syllable; and upon the 11th, where the line concludes with a monosyllable. Such conclusion, by the by, impairs the melody, and for that reason is not to be indulged, unless where it is expressive of the sense. The following lines are marked with all the ac cents. 1 Ludere quæ vêllem calamô permîsit agresti. Again: Et duræ quêrcus sudâbunt rôscida mella, Again: Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Reflecting upon the melody of Hexameter verse, we find, that order or arrangement doth not constitute the whole of it; for when we compare different lines, equally regular as to the succession of long and short syllables, the melody is found in very different degrees of perfection; which is not occasioned by any particular combination of Dactyles and Spondees, or of long and short syllables, because we find lines where Dactyles prevail, and lines where Spondees prevail, equally melodious. Of the former take the following instance: Æneadum genitrix hominum divumque voluptas. Of the latter: Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista. What can be more different as to melody than the two following lines, which, however, as to the succession of long and short syllables, are constructed precisely in the same manner? Spond. Dact Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Hor. Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Lucr. |