§ 654. The accented lines are composed of two Amphibrachs. The black' bands | came o'ver The Alps and their snow; The Bourbon forev'er! Though penniless all, We'll [have] one' more endeav'or AMPHIBRACH TRIMETER. $655. The accented lines are composed of three Amphibrachs. A con'quest, how hard' and | how glorious! Though fate had fast bound her With Styx nine times round her! Yet mu'sic and love' were victo'rious!-POPE. Formula x ax×3-. Here one syllable is wanting. $656. Ye shepherds, so cheer'ful and gay', Oh call the poor wanderers home. ye Nor talk of the change that find; None once was so watchful as I; I have left my dear Phyllis behind.-SHENSTONE. AMPHIBRACH TETRAMETER. Formula xa x × 4. [Thanks], my lord', for | your ven ́ison; | for fin'er | nor fat'ter Ne'er ranged' in the for'est nor smoked' on the plat ter: The flesh was a picture for painters to study, The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy. [Though] my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.-GOLDSMITH. Formula xa xx 4-. The accented lines are composed of four Amphibrachs, want ing one syllable. But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature, To lay down thy head' like | the meek' mountain lamb′; And draws his last sob' by the side' of | his dam'. § 657. In the arms of Helvellyn and Catchedicam.-Scotг. DACTYLIC DIMETER. Formula a x x × 2 and a x x × 2−. § 658. In the following the lines 1, 3, 5, &c., consist of two Dactyls, and the lines 2, 4, 6, &c., consist of two Dactyls wanting the last syllable. Pi'broch of Don'ail Dhu, Pibroch of Donuil, Wake' thy wild voice' anew, Summon Clan-Conuil. Hark to the summons! Come in your war-array, Come from the deep glen, and From mountain so rocky; The war-pipe and pennon Are at Inverlochy. True heart that wears one; Leave untended the herd, The flock without shelter; The corpse uninterr'd, The bride at the altar; $ 659. § 660. Leave the deer, leave the steer, Come as the winds come, when Come as the waves come, when Faster come, faster come, Chief, vassal, page, and groom, Tenant and master. Fast they come, fast they come: Cast your plaids, draw your blades; Forward each man set! Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, Knell for the onset!-SCOTT. DACTYLIC TRIMETER. Formula a xxx 3 and a xxx3-. "Peace' to thee, isle' of the o'cean! Peace' to thy breez ́es and bil'lows!" DACTYLIC TETRAMETER. Formula a x x × 4. Hail to the chief who in triumph advances! Hon'or'd and bless'd be the | ev ́er-green | pine! Long' may the tree' in his ban'ner that glanc'es Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! Heaven send it happy dew, Earth lend it sap anew, Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow; While every Highland glen Sends our shout back agen, "Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! ieroe!"-Scott. DACTYLIC HEXAMETER. § 661. The last line in each verse is a Spondee. The accented lines have five Dactyis. This is the for'est prime'val; but | where' are the | hearts' that beneath it Leap'd' like the roe', when it hears' in the woodland the voice' of the huntsWhere is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers? [man? Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands, CHAPTER III. COMBINED MEASURES. THE SPENSERIAN STANZA. § 662. THIS Consists of nine Iambic lines, the eight first being Heroics, and the ninth an Alexandrine. The law of the rhyme may be seen in the following: I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : You can not rob me of free Nature's grace; You can not shut the windows of the sky, Through which Aurora shows her bright'ning face; You can not bar my constant feet to trace The woods and lawns by living stream at eve; Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace, And I their toys to the great children leave: Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave.-THOMSON. A STANZA is a combination of several lines constituting the regular division of a poem. GAY'S STANZA. § 663. The formula for the odd lines is x ax 3+; for the even lines, x ax 3. The rhymes are alternate, and the odd rhymes double. ""Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined; Wide o'er the foaming billows She cast a wistful look; Her head was crown'd with willows, That trembled o'er the brook." ELEGIAC OCTOSYLLABIC S. § 664. These are the same as the common octosyllabics (see § 637), except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses are arranged in stanzas. § 665. Four measures, 2 a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 637. OCTOSYLLABIC TRIPLETS. § 666. Four measures, x a, with three rhymes regularly in succession. A still, small voice spake unto me: "Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be ?" Then to the still, small voice I said: "Let me not cast in endless shade What is so wonderfully made!”—TENNYSON. HEROIC COUPLETS. § 667. Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. See § 638. HEROIC TRIPLETS. § 668. Five measures, x a, with three rhymes in succession. By this the brides are waked, their grooms are dress'd; All Rhodes is summon'd to the nuptial feast: All but myself, the sole unbidden guest.-DRYDEN. ELEGIAC HEROICS. § 669. These are the same as the common heroics, except that the lines regularly alternate, and are arranged in stanzas. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea; The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.-GRAY. RHYME ROYAL. § 670. Seven lines of heroics, with the last two rhymes in succession, and the five first recurring at intervals. It admits of varieties, according to the distribution of the five first rhymes. A A A |