Mer'rily merʼrily shall' I live now' × X

Pleas'ure nev'er is' at home' x

The line stopping with an incomplete foot is called catalectic or short-stopped.

(ii) Variation by adding an unaccented syllable:— On juts of slippery crag that rang

× 1 x x / X /

[To suggest quickened motion.]

And the spring comes slow'ly up' this way'

And makes' as health'ful music; it is' not madness.

To be,' or not' to be': that' is the quest'ion.

This extra unaccented syllable at the end of the line, also sometimes after the cesura, became a mark of Shakespeare's later versification. The line having this extra syllable is sometimes called hypercatalectic.

The pupil must bear in mind that these variations are not errors, but a part of the means by which the beauty of musical rhythm is attained. However varied and irregular the metre is, the verse is named after its predominant foot, not after the variations.

Variations in Feet-Initial Foot.-In some cases variation has become a custom. Considering lines like these:

High on a throne of royal state that far

/ X X / X 1 x / X

When in the chronicle of wasted time

/ X X 1 x 1 X / X

This trochaic opening to a line otherwise iambic is one of the most frequent of metrical variations, especially for the opening line of a poem. This trochaic inversion is found, but more rarely, in the second foot:

My heart' aches' and a drow'sy numb'ness pains'

and frequently after a cesura:—

Leave not a rack' behind.' We are such stuff'

The Final Foot.-The necessity of a strong ending to the verse gives rise to many modifications of the pattern of the final foot. The verse usually ends with the accented syllable, even if the metrical foot is left incomplete:

Ev'er let' the Fan'cy roam' ×

Mer'rily, merʼrily, shall' I live now' × X

Metrical Hybrids.-Sometimes, indeed, these possible variations seem to assume a new pattern by the combination of metres. In Longfellow's Bridge there are many lines of this pattern:

I stood on the bridge at midnight

The dominant movement of the poem is amphibrachic; but the variations in the use of unaccented syllables conceal the pattern at times, and the variation itself is more or less regular, making a subordinate pattern.

III. Cesura. Examining every sentence of any length, we shall notice that in speaking it we divide it into parts; e.g.:—

The prudence of wise men serves for the scorn of fools.

That government of the people, by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from this earth.

It will be observed that each group of words is uttered with one general movement of the voice; each group in speaking is a stress-group, corresponding some

what to a phrase in music. It will be further noted that each stress-group is followed by a pause.

In metrical composition these stress-groups are more regular than in prose, and the pauses are therefore more regular.

Behold the child, I by nature's kindly law,

Pleased with a rattle, || tickled with a straw.

This pause within the line, cutting it into two or more parts, is termed a cesura (sez yew' rah) (Lat. cæsura, cutting). The usual place of the cesura is indicated by the symbol || in the lines quoted. But it is found elsewhere:

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes; | the slow moon climbs, || the deep
Moans round with many voices. || Come, my friends.

IV. End-stopped and Run-on Lines.-When the pause comes at the end of the line, the line is sometimes called an end-stopped line. A line that continues the stress-group into the following line or lines is called a run-on line:

Daffodils, (end-stopped)

That come before the swallow dares, and take (run-on)
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim, (end-stopped)
But sweeter

This varying length of the stress-group is another means of metrical variety and artistic effect.

EXERCISE.—(i) Mark with symbols (× /) the metrical nature of the following lines; (ii) give the name of the predominant foot in cach line; (iii) name the line as monometer, dimeter, etc.; (iv) comment on the variations from that predominant foot:

(1) Yes, it was the mountain Echo.

(2) Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour. (3) Under the greenwood tree.

(4) God be thanked-whatever comes after, I have lived and toiled with men.

(5) Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er.

(6) Hail to the chief who in triumph advances. (7) And the night shall be filled with music.

(8) When to the sessions of sweet, silent thought. (9) Like to the lark at break of day arising.

(10) Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.

V. Composition.-1. Compose lines, or find new examples, to correspond to the following symbols:

(I) × / X / X / X /
(2) / × x / x / x /
(3) / × / × /x/

(4) X x / x / x x 1 x 1

(5) / × x / x x / x x /

2. Compose lines, or find new examples, described as (1) Iambic trimeter. (2) Trochaic tetrameter.

(3)

Trochaic hexameter. (5) Am(6) Anapæstic trimeter.

CHAPTER III. METRICAL ORNAMENT -RIME; ALLITERATION; TONE; ΟΝΟΜΑΤΟΡΟΕΙΑ.

LESSON LXXV.

The chief means by which the musical charm of verse is increased are rime, alliteration, and tone-sequence.

I. Rime is a certain harmony of words and syllables involving identity and variety of sound. (i) The riming vowels must have the rhythm-beat and be identical in sound:

foe go.

feel'ing healing. atten'ded defen'ded.

(ii) The elements following the riming vowel must be identical in sound:

(iii) The first element of the rime-pair must be differ

ent:

slung hung. eve receive. measures pleasures. Syllables that agree absolutely in sound are called identical rimes:

see sea. night knight. They are not true rimes.

Assonance.-(i) Where the elements following the rhythm-beat agree but the accented vowels do not agree; or (ii) where the vowels correspond but the elements. that follow differ, the rimes are imperfect and are called

assonances:

speak break. notes thoughts. bane name.