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3. Happy, too, because he envies no man who has been raised to rank by accident or by vicious means; because he never understood the sneer that stabs while it seems to praise; because he cares nothing for rules of expediency or of policy, but thinks only of what is good and right.

4. Who has freed himself from obedience to humours and to whims, whose conscience is his sure stronghold; whose rank is not exalted enough to draw flatterers, or to tempt accusers to build their own greatness upon his fall.

5. Who, night and morning, asks God for grace, and not for gifts; and fills his day with the study of a good book or conversation with a thoughtful friend.

6. This man is freed from the slavery of hope and fear-the hope of rising, the fear of falling-lord, not of lands, but of himself; and though without wealth or possessions, yet having all that the heart of man need desire.

THE GRAMMAR OF VERSE, OR PROSODY.

1. Verse is the form of poetry; and Prosody is the part of Grammar which deals with the laws and nature of verse.

(i) Verse comes from the Latin versa, turned. Oratio versa was "turned speech "—that is, when the line came to an end, the reader or writer or printer had to begin a new line. It is opposed to oratio prorsa, which means straight-on speech "--whence our word prose. A line in prose may be of any length; a line in verse must be of the length which the poet gives to it.

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(ii) It is of importance for us to become acquainted with the laws of First, because it enables us to enjoy poetry more. Secondly, it enables us to read poetry better-and to avoid putting an emphasis on a syllable, merely because it is accented. Thirdly, it shows us how to write verse; and the writing of verse is very good practice in composition -as it compels us to choose the right phrase, and makes us draw upon our store of words to substitute and to improve here or there.

2. Verse differs from prose in two things: (i) in the regular recurrence of accents; and (ii) in the proportion of unaccented to accented syllables.

(i) Thus, in the line

In an'swer nought' could An'gus speak',

the accent occurs regularly in every second syllable.

(ii) But, in the line

Merrily, merrily, shall' we live now',

the accent not only comes first, but there are two unaccented syllables for every one that is accented (except in the last foot).

3. Every English word of more than one syllable has an accent on one of its syllables.

(i) Begin', commend', attack' have the accent on the last syllable.

(ii) Hap'py, la'dy, wel'come have the accent on the first syllable.

4. English verse is made up of lines; each line of verse contains a fixed number of accents; each accent has a fixed number of unaccented syllables attached to it.

(i) Let us take these lines from 'Marmion' (canto v.) :

Who loves' not more' | the night' | of June'

Than dull' Decem' | ber's gloom' | of noon' ?

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Each line here contains four accents; the accented syllable comes last; each accented syllable has one unaccented attached to it.

(ii) Now let us compare these lines from T. Hood's "Bridge of Sighs": Touch' her not | scorn'fully,

Think' of her | mourn'fully.

Each line here contains two accents; the accented syllable comes first; and each accented syllable has two unaccented syllables attached to it.

5. One accented syllable + one or two unaccented, taken together, is called a foot. A foot is the unit of metre.

Let x stand for an unaccented, and a for an accented syllable.

6. One accented preceded by one unaccented syllable is called an Iambus. Its formula is xa.-One accented syllable followed by one unaccented is called a Trochee. Its formula is ax.

(i) The following are iambuses: Perhaps'; condemn'; compel'; without'; career'.

(ii) The following are trochees: Gen'tle; riv'er; la'dy; ra'ven; tum'ble.

(iii) The following verse is made up of four iambuses—that is, it is iambic verse :

"Twere long', and need' | less, here' | to tell'

How to my hand these papers fell.

(iv) The following verse is made up of four trochees-that is, it is trochaic :

In' his cham'ber, | weak' and | dy'ing
Was the Norman baron lying.

(v) Iam' | bics march' | from short' | to long'.

(vi) Tro'chee | trips' from | long' to | short'

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7. One accented syllable preceded by two unaccented is called an Anapest. Its formula is xxa.-One accented syllable followed by two unaccented is called a Dactyl. Its formula is axx.

(i) The following are anapasts: Serenade'; disappear'; comprehend' ; intercede'.

(ii) The following are dactyls: Happily; mer'rily; sim'ilar; bil'lowy. (iii) The following lines are in anapæstic verse :—

I am mon' | arch of all' | I survey',

My right there is none to dispute.

(iv) With a leap' | and a bound' | the swift an' ! apæsts throng' | . (v) The following are in dactylic verse :

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(a) The word dactyl comes from the Greek daktulos, a finger. For a finger has one long and two short joints.

(b) The word anapast comes from two Greek words: paio, I strike, and ana, back; because it is the reverse of a dactyl.

8. The Anapæst belongs to the same kind or system of verse as the Iambus; because the accented syllable in each comes last. -The Dactyl belongs to the same kind or system of verse as the Trochee; because the accented syllable in each comes first.

(i) Hence anapæsts and iambuses may be mixed (as in "My right' | there is none' to dispute' | "); and so may dactyls and trochees (as in "Hark' to the sum'mons | ").

(ii) But we very seldom see a trochee introduced into an iambic line; or an iambus into a trochaic.

9. An accented syllable with one unaccented syllable on each side of it is called an Amphibrach. Its formula is xax.

The word amphibrach comes from two Greek words: amphi, on both sides; and brachus, short. (Compare amphibious.)

(i) The following are amphibrachs: Despair'ing; almight'y; tremend' ous; deceitful.

(ii) The following is an amphibrachic line :

There came to the beach' a | poor ex'ile | of E'rin |.

10. A verse made up of iambuses is called Iambic Verse ; of trochees, Trochaic; of anapasts, Anapastic; and of dactyls, Dactylic.

11. A verse of three feet is called Trimĕter; of four feet, Tetrameter; of five feet, Pentameter; and of six feet, Hexameter.

(i) We find the prefixes of these words in Triangle; Tetrarch (a ruler over a fourth part); Pentateuch (the five books of Moses); and Hexagon (a figure with six corners or angles).

12. By much the most usual kind of verse in English is

Iambic Verse.

(i) Iambic Tetrameter (4xa) is the metre of most of Scott's poems; of Coventry Patmore's "Angel in the House"; of Gay's Fables, and many other poems of the eighteenth century.

(ii) Iambic Pentameter (5xa) is the most common line in English verse. There are probably more than a thousand iambic pentameter lines for one that there exists of any other kind. Iambic Pentameter is the verse of Chaucer, of Shakespeare, of Milton, of Dryden, of Pope, and of almost all our greater English poets.

13. Rhymed Iambic Pentameter is called Heroic Verse; unrhymed, it is called Blank Verse.

(i) Any unrhymed verse may be called blank-such as the verse employed by Longfellow in his "Hiawatha "--but the term is usually restricted to the unrhymed iambic pentameter.

(ii) Blank verse is the noblest of all verse. It seems the easiest to write; it is the most difficult. It is the verse of Shakespeare and Milton, and of most of our great dramatists.

14. Iambic Trimeter consists of three iambuses; and its formula is 3xa.

The king' was on' | his throne'; |

His sa' traps thronged' | the hall'; |
A thou' sand bright' | lamps shone' |
On that' | high fes' | tival'. |

There is very little of this kind of verse in English.

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15. Iambic Tetrameter consists of four iambuses; and its formula is 4xa.

The fire,' with well' | dried logs' | supplied,' |
Went roaring up' | the chim' | ney wide'; |
The huge' hall-ta' | ble's oak' | en face' |

Scrubbed till' it shone,' | the day' | to grace.' |

There is a good deal of this verse in English; and most of it is by Scott.

16. Iambic Tetrameter with Iambic Trimeter in alternate lines the second and fourth rhyming is called Ballad Metre. When used, as it often is, in hymns, it is called Service Metre. They set him high upon a cart;=4xa

The hangman rode below;=3xa

They drew his hands behind his back,= 4 xa
And bared his noble brow. =3xa

This is the metre of Macaulay's 'Lays of Ancient Rome,' of Scott's 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' and many other poems. Scott mixes frequently, but at quite irregular intervals, the iambic trimeter with the iambic tetrameter; and this he called the "light-horse gallop of verse."

Front, flank, and rear, the squadrons sweep=4xa

To break the Scottish circle deep, = 4 xa

That fought' | around' | their king.'=3xa

17. Iambic Pentameter consists of five iambuses; and its formula is 5xa

(i) The following is rhymed iambic pentameter :—

True wit' | is na' | ture to' | advan' | tage dressed,' |=5xa

What oft' was thought,' | but ne'er' | so well' | expressed.' |=5xa

(ii) The following is unrhymed iambic pentameter :

You all' do know' | this man' | tle; I' | remem' | ber=5x a
The first time ev' | er Cæs' | ar put' | it on'.]=5xa.

The first extract is from Pope's "Essay on Criticism"; the second from Shakespeare's "Julius Cæsar."

18. Iambic Hexameter consists of six iambuses; and its formula is 6xa.

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