Chapter 11

Æneadum genetrix hominum divumque voluptas.

Of the latter:

Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista.

What can be more different as to melodythan 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.Ad talos stola dimissa et circumdata palla.Hor.Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond.Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine cœlum.Lucret.

Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond.Ad talos stola dimissa et circumdata palla.Hor.

Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond.Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine cœlum.Lucret.

In the former, the pause falls in the middle of a word, which is a great blemish, and the accent is disturbed by a harsh elision of the vowelaupon the particleet. In the latter the pauses and the accent are all of them distinct and full: there is no elision: and the words are more liquid and sounding. In these particulars consists the beauty of an Hexameter line with respect to melody; and by neglecting these, many lines in the Satires and Epistles of Horace are less agreeable than plain prose; for they are neither the one nor the other in perfection. To make these lines sound, they must be pronounced without relation to the sense. It must not be regarded, that words are divided by pauses, nor that harsh elisions are multiplied. To add to the account, prosaic low sounding words are introduced; and which is still worse, accents are laid on them. Of such faulty lines take the following instances.

Candida rectaque sit, munda hactenus sit neque longa.Jupiter exclamat simul atque audirit; at in seCustodes, lectica, ciniflones, parasitæOptimus est modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omniNunc illud tantum quæram, meritone tibi sit.

Next in order comes English heroic verse, which shall be examined under the whole five heads, of number, quantity, arrangement, pause, and accent. This verse sometimes employs rhymes and sometimes not, which distinguishes it into two kinds; one namedmetre, and oneblank verse. In the former, the lines are connected two and two by similarity of sound in the final syllables; and such connected lines are termedcouplets. Similarity of sound being avoided in the latter, banishes couplets. These two sorts must be handled separately, because thereare many peculiarities in each. The first article with respect to rhyme or metre, shall be discussed in a few words. Every line consists of ten syllables, five short and five long. There are but two exceptions, both of them rare. A couplet can bear to be drawn out, by adding a short syllable at the end of each of the two lines:

There hero’s wits are kept in pond’rous vases,And beau’s in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases.The piece, you think, is incorrect? Why, take it;I’m all submission; what you’d have it, make it.

There hero’s wits are kept in pond’rous vases,And beau’s in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases.

The piece, you think, is incorrect? Why, take it;I’m all submission; what you’d have it, make it.

This licence is sufferable in a single couplet; but if frequent would soon become disgustful.

The other exception concerns the second line of a couplet, which is sometimes stretched out to twelve syllables, termed anAlexandrine line.

A needless Alexandrine ends the song,That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.

It doth extremely well when employ’d to close a period with a certain pomp and solemnity suitable to the subject.

With regard to the second article, it is unnecessary to mention a second time, that the quantities employ’d in verse are but two, the one double of the other; that every syllable is reducible to one or other of these standards; and that a syllable of the larger quantity is termedlong, and of the lesser quantityshort. It belongs more to the present article, to examine what peculiarities there may be in the English language as to long and short syllables. In every language, there are syllables that may be pronounced long or short at pleasure; but the English above all abounds in syllables of that kind. In words of three or more syllables, the quantity for the most part is invariable. The exceptions are more frequent in dissyllables; but as to monosyllables, they may without many exceptions be pronounced either long or short. Nor is the ear hurt by this liberty; being accustomed to the variation of quantity in the same word. This shows that the melody of English verse must depend less upon quantity, than upon other circumstances. In that particular it differs widely from Latin verse. There, every syllable having but one sound, strikes the ear constantly with its accustomed impression; and a reader must be delighted to find a number of such syllables, disposed so artfully as to raise a lively sense of melody. Syllables variable in quantity cannot possess this power. Custom may render familiar, both a long and short pronunciation of the same word; but the mind constantly wavering betwixt the two sounds, cannot be so much affected with a syllable of this kind as with one which bears always the same sound. What I have further to say upon quantity, will come in more properly under the following head, of arrangement.

And with respect to arrangement, which may be brought within a narrow compass, the English heroic line is commonly Iambic, the first syllable short, the second long, and so on alternately through the whole line. One exception there is, pretty frequent. Many lines commence with aTrochæus,viz.a long and a short syllable. But this affects not the order of the following syllables. These go on alternately as usual, one short and one long. The following couplet affords an example of each kind:

Sōme ĭn thĕ fīelds ŏf pūrĕst ǣthĕr plāy,Ănd bāsk ănd whītĕn īn thĕ blāze ŏf dāy.

It is unhappy in the construction of English verse, that it excludes the bulk of polysyllables, though the most sounding words in our language; for upon examination it will be found, that very few of them are composed of such alternation of long and short syllables as to correspond to either of the arrangements mentioned. English verse accordingly is almost totally reduced to dissyllables and monosyllables.Magnanimityis a sounding word totally excluded.Impetuosityis still a finer word by the resemblance of the sound and sense; and yet a negative is put upon it, as well as upon numberless words of the same kind. Polysyllables composed of syllables long and short alternately, make a good figure inverse; for example,observance,opponent,ostensive,pindaric,productive,prolific, and such others of three syllables.Imitation,imperfection,misdemeanour,mitigation,moderation,observator,ornamental,regulator, and others similar of four syllables, beginning with two short syllables, the third long, and the fourth short, may find a place in a line commencing with a Trochæus. I know not if there be any of five syllables. One I know of six,viz.misinterpretation. But words so composed are not frequent in our language.

One would not imagine without trial, how uncouth false quantity appears in verse; not less than a provincial tone or idiom. The articletheis one of the few monosyllables that is invariably short. See how harsh it makes a line where it must be pronounced long:

Thĭs nȳmph, tŏ thē dĕstrūctiŏn ōf mănkīnd,

Again:

Th’ ădvēnt’rŏus bārŏn thē brĭght lōcks ădmīr’d.

Let the article be pronounced short, and it reduces the melody almost to nothing. Better so however than a false quantity. In the following examples we perceive the same defect.

And old impertinence || expel by new.With varying vanities || from ev’ry part.Love in these labyrinths || his slaves detains.New stratagems || the radiant lock to gain.Her eyes half-languishing || half-drown’d in tears.Roar’d for the handkerchief || that caus’d his pain.Passions like elements || though born to fight.

And old impertinence || expel by new.

With varying vanities || from ev’ry part.

Love in these labyrinths || his slaves detains.

New stratagems || the radiant lock to gain.

Her eyes half-languishing || half-drown’d in tears.

Roar’d for the handkerchief || that caus’d his pain.

Passions like elements || though born to fight.

The great variety of modulation conspicuous in English verse, will be found upon trial to arise chiefly from the pauses and accents; and therefore these circumstances are of greater importance than is commonly thought. There is a degree of intricacy in this branch of our subject, and it will require some pains to give a distinct view of it. But we must not be discouraged by difficulties. The pause, which paves the way to the accent, offers itself first to our examination. From a very short trial, the following facts will be verified. 1st, A line admits but one capital pause. 2d, In different lines, we find this pause after the fourth syllable, after the fifth, after the sixth, and after the seventh. These particulars lay a solid foundation for dividing English heroic lines into four sorts, distinguished by the different places of the pause. Nor is this an idle distinction. On the contrary, unless it be kept in view, we cannot have any just notion of the richness and variety of English versification. Each sort or order hath a melody peculiar to itself, readily distinguishable by a good ear; and, in the sequel, I am not without hopes to make the cause of this peculiarity sufficiently evident. It must be observed, at the same time, that the pause cannot be made indifferently at any of the places mentioned. It is the sense that regulates the pause, as will be seen more fully afterward; and consequently, it is the sense that determines of what order every line must be. There can be but one capital musical pause in a line; and this pause ought to coincide, if possible,with a pause in the sense; in order that the sound may accord with the sense.

What is said must be illustrated by examples of each sort or order. And first of the pause after the fourth syllable:

Back through the paths || of pleasing sense I ran

Again,

Profuse of bliss || and pregnant with delight

After the 5th:

So when an angel || by divine command,With rising tempests || shakes a guilty land,

After the 6th:

Speed the soft intercourse || from soul to soul

Again,

Then from his closing eyes || thy form shall part

After the 7th:

And taught the doubtful battle || where to rage

Again,

And in the smooth description || murmur still

Beside the capital pause now mentioned, other inferior or semipauses will be discovered by a nice ear. Of these there are commonly two in each line; one before the capital pause, and one after it. The former is invariably placed after the first long syllable, whether the line begin with a long syllable or a short. The other in its variety imitates the capital pause. In some lines it follows the 6th syllable, in some the 7th, and in some the 8th. Of these semipauses take the following examples.

1st and 8th:Led | through a sad || variety | of wo.1st and 7th:Still | on that breast || enamour’d | let me lie2d and 8th:From storms | a shelter || and from heat | a shade2d and 6th:Let wealth | let honour || wait | the wedded dame2d and 7th:Above | all pain || all passion | and all pride

Even from these few examples, it appears, that the place of the last semipause, like that of the full pause, is directed in a good measure by the sense. Its proper place with respect to the melody is after the eighth syllable, so as to finish the line with an Iambus distinctly pronounced, which, by a long syllable after a short, is a preparation for rest. If this hold, the placing this semipause after the 6th or after the 7th syllable, must be directed by the sense, in order to avoid a pause in the middle of a word, or betwixt two words intimately connected; and so far melody is justly sacrificed to sense.

In discoursing of the full pause in a Hexameter line, it is laid down as a rule, That it ought never to divide a word. Such licence deviates too far from the connectionthat ought to be betwixt the pauses of sense and of melody. And in an English line, it is for the same reason equally wrong to divide a word by a full pause. Let us justify this reason by experiments.

A noble super||fluity it cravesAbhor, a perpe||tuity should stand

Are these lines distinguishable from prose? Scarcely, I think.

The same rule is not applicable to a semipause, which being short and faint, is not sensibly disagreeable when it divides a word.

Relent|less walls || whose darksome round | containsFor her | white virgins || hyme|neals singIn these | deep solitudes || and aw|ful cells

It must however be acknowledged, that the melody here suffers in some degree. A word ought to be pronounced without any rest betwixt its component syllables. Thesemipause must bend to this rule, and thereby vanisheth almost altogether.

With regard to the capital pause, it is so essential to the melody, that a poet cannot be too nice in the choice of its place, in order to have it full, clear, and distinct. It cannot be placed more happily than with a pause in the sense; and if the sense require but a comma after the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh syllable, there can be no difficulty about this musical pause. But to make such coincidence essential, would cramp versification too much; and we have experience for our authority, that there may be a pause in the melody where the sense requires none. We must not however imagine, that a musical pause may be placed at the end of any word indifferently. Some words, like syllables of the same word, are so intimately connected as not to bear a separation even by a pause. No good poet ever attempted to separate a substantive from its article: the dividing such intimate companions, would be harsh and unpleasant. The following line, for example,cannot be pronounced with a pause as marked.

If Delia smile, the || flow’rs begin to spring

But ought to be pronounced in the following manner.

If Delia smile, || the flow’rs begin to spring.

If then it be not a matter of indifferency where to make the pause, there ought to be rules for determining what words may be separated by a pause and what are incapable of such separation. I shall endeavour to unfold these rules; not chiefly for their utility, but in order to exemplify some latent principles that tend to regulate our taste even where we are scarce sensible of them. And to that end, it seems the eligible method to run over the verbal relations, beginning with the most intimate. The first that presents itself, is that of adjective and substantive, being the relation of substance and quality, the most intimate of all. A quality cannot exist independent of a substance, nor is it separable from it even in imagination, because theymake parts of the same idea; and for that reason, it must, with regard to melody, be disagreeable, to bestow upon the adjective a sort of independent existence, by interjecting a pause betwixt it and its substantive. I cannot therefore approve the following lines, nor any of the sort; for to my taste they are harsh and unpleasant.

Of thousand bright || inhabitants of airThe sprites of fiery || termagants inflameThe rest, his many-colour’d || robe conceal’dThe same, his ancient || personage to deckEv’n here, where frozen || Chastity retiresI sit, with sad || civility, I readBack to my native || moderation slideOr shall we ev’ry || decency confoundTime was, a sober || Englishman wou’d knockAnd place, on good || security, his goldTaste, that eternal || wanderer, which fliesBut ere the tenth || revolving day was runFirst let the just || equivalent be paidGo, threat thy earth-born || Myrmidons; but hereHaste to the fierce || Achilles’ tent (he cries)All but the ever-wakeful || eyes of JoveYour own resistless || eloquence employ

Of thousand bright || inhabitants of air

The sprites of fiery || termagants inflame

The rest, his many-colour’d || robe conceal’d

The same, his ancient || personage to deck

Ev’n here, where frozen || Chastity retires

I sit, with sad || civility, I read

Back to my native || moderation slide

Or shall we ev’ry || decency confound

Time was, a sober || Englishman wou’d knock

And place, on good || security, his gold

Taste, that eternal || wanderer, which flies

But ere the tenth || revolving day was run

First let the just || equivalent be paid

Go, threat thy earth-born || Myrmidons; but here

Haste to the fierce || Achilles’ tent (he cries)

All but the ever-wakeful || eyes of Jove

Your own resistless || eloquence employ

I have upon this article multiplied examples, that in a case where I have the misfortune to dislike what passes current in practice, every man upon the spot may judge by his own taste. The foregoing reasoning, it is true, appears to me just: it is however too subtile, to afford conviction in opposition to taste.

Considering this matter in a superficial view, one might be apt to imagine, that it must be the same, whether the adjective go first, which is the natural order, or the substantive, which is indulged by the laws of inversion. But we soon discover this to be a mistake. Colour cannot be conceived independent of the surface coloured; but a tree may be conceived, as growing in a certain spot, as of a certain kind, and as spreading its extended branches all around, without ever thinking of the colour. In a word, qualities, though related all to one subject, may be considered separately, and the subject may be considered with some of its qualities independent of others; though we cannot form an image of any single quality independent of the subject. Thus then, though an adjective named first be inseparable from the substantive, the proposition does not reciprocate. An image can be formed of the substantive independent of the adjective; and for this reason, they may be separated by a pause, when the former is introduced before the latter:

For thee, the fates || severely kind ordainAnd curs’d with hearts || unknowing how to yield.

The verb and adverb are precisely in the same condition with the substantive and adjective. An adverb, which expresses a certain modification of the action expressed by the verb, is not separable from it even in imagination. And therefore I must also give up the following lines.

And which it much || becomes you to forget’Tis one thing madly || to disperse my store

But an action may be conceived leaving out a particular modification, precisely as a subject may be conceived leaving out a particular quality; and therefore when by inversion the verb is first introduced, it has no bad effect to interject a pause betwixt it and the adverb which follows. This may be done at the close of a line, where the pause is at least as full as that is which divides the line:

While yet he spoke, the Prince advancing drewNigh to the lodge,&c.

The agent and its action come next, expressed in grammar by the active substantive and its verb. Betwixt these, placed in their natural order, there is no difficulty of interjecting a pause. An active being is not always in motion, and therefore it is easily separable in idea from its action. When in a sentence the substantive takes the lead, we know not that action is to follow; andas rest must precede the commencement of motion, this interval is a proper opportunity for a pause.

On the other hand, when by inversion the verb is placed first, is it lawful to separate it by a pause from the active substantive? I answer not, because an action is not in idea separable from the agent, more than a quality from the substance to which it belongs. Two lines of the first rate for beauty have always appeared to me exceptionable, upon account of the pause thus interjected betwixt the verb and the consequent substantive; and I have now discovered a reason to support my taste:

In these deep solitudes and awful cells,Where heav’nly-pensive || Contemplation dwells,And ever-musing || Melancholy reigns.

The point of the greatest delicacy regards the active verb and the passive substantive placed in their natural order. On the one side it will be observed, that these words signify things which are not separable in idea. Killing cannot be conceived without some being that is put to death, nor painting without a surface upon which the colours are spread. On the other side, an action and the thing on which it is exerted, are not, like substance and quality, united in one individual subject. The active subject is perfectly distinct from that which is passive; and they are connected by one circumstance only, that the action exerted by the former, is exerted upon the latter. This makes it possible to take the action to pieces, and to consider it first with relation to the agent, and next with relation to the patient. But after all, so intimately connected are the parts of the thought, that it requires an effort to make a separation even for a moment. The subtilising to such a degree is not agreeable, especially in works of imagination. The best poets however, taking advantage of this subtilty, scruple not to separate by a pause an active verb from its passive subject. Such pauses in a long work may be indulged; but taken singly, they certainly are not agreeable. I appeal to the following examples.

The peer now spreads || the glitt’ring forfex wideAs ever sully’d || the fair face of lightRepair’d to search || the gloomy cave of SpleenNothing, to make || philosophy thy friendShou’d chance to make || the well-dress’d rabble stareOr cross, to plunder || provinces, the mainThese madmen never hurt || the church or stateHow shall we fill || a library with witWhat better teach || a foreigner the tongue?Sure, if I spare || the minister, no rulesOf honour bind me, not to maul his tools.

The peer now spreads || the glitt’ring forfex wide

As ever sully’d || the fair face of light

Repair’d to search || the gloomy cave of Spleen

Nothing, to make || philosophy thy friend

Shou’d chance to make || the well-dress’d rabble stare

Or cross, to plunder || provinces, the main

These madmen never hurt || the church or state

How shall we fill || a library with wit

What better teach || a foreigner the tongue?

Sure, if I spare || the minister, no rulesOf honour bind me, not to maul his tools.

On the other hand, when the passive subject by inversion is first named, there is no difficulty of interjecting a pause betwixt it and the verb, more than when the active subject is first named. The same reason holds in both, that though a verb cannot be separated in idea from the substantive which governs it, and scarcely from the substantive it governs; yet a substantivemay always be conceived independent of the verb. When the passive subject is introduced before the verb, we know not that an action is to be exerted upon it; therefore we may rest till the action commences. For the sake of illustration take the following examples.

Shrines! where their vigils || pale-ey’d virgins keepSoon as thy letters || trembling I uncloseNo happier task || these faded eyes pursue

Shrines! where their vigils || pale-ey’d virgins keep

Soon as thy letters || trembling I unclose

No happier task || these faded eyes pursue

What is said about placing the pause, leads to a general observation, which I shall have occasion for afterwards. The natural order of placing the active substantive and its verb, is more friendly to a pause than the inverted order. But in all the other connections, inversion affords by far a better opportunity for a pause. Upon this depends one of the great advantages that blank verse hath over rhyme. The privilege of inversion, in which it far excels rhyme, gives it a much greater choice of pauses, than can be had in the natural order of arrangement.

We now proceed to the slighter connections, which shall be discussed in one general article. Words connected by conjunctions and prepositions freely admit a pause betwixt them, which will be clear from the following instances.

Assume what sexes || and what shape they pleaseThe light militia || of the lower sky

Assume what sexes || and what shape they please

The light militia || of the lower sky

Connecting particles were invented to unite in a period two substantives signifying things occasionally united in the thought, but which have no natural union. And betwixt two things not only separable in idea, but really distinct, the mind, for the sake of melody, chearfully admits by a pause a momentary disjunction of their occasional union.

One capital branch of the subject is still upon hand, to which I am directed by what is just now said. It concerns those parts of speech which singly represent no idea, and which become not significant till they be joined to other words. I mean conjunctions,prepositions, articles, and such like accessories, passing under the name ofparticles. Upon these the question occurs, Whether they can be separated by a pause from the words that make them significant? Whether, for example, in the following lines, the separation of the accessory preposition from the principal substantive, be according to rule?

The goddess with || a discontented airAnd heighten’d by || the diamond’s circling raysWhen victims at || yon altar’s foot we laySo take it in || the very words of CreechAn ensign of || the delegates of JoveTwo ages o’er || his native realm he reign’dWhile angels, with || their silver wings o’ershade

The goddess with || a discontented air

And heighten’d by || the diamond’s circling rays

When victims at || yon altar’s foot we lay

So take it in || the very words of Creech

An ensign of || the delegates of Jove

Two ages o’er || his native realm he reign’d

While angels, with || their silver wings o’ershade

Or separating the conjunction from the word it connects with what goes before:

Talthybius and || Eurybates the good

It will be obvious at the first glance, that the foregoing reasoning upon objects naturally connected, are not applicable to words which of themselves are mere ciphers. We must therefore have recourse to some other principle for solving the present question. These particles out of their place are totally insignificant. To give them a meaning, they must be joined to certain words. The necessity of this junction, together with custom, forms an artificial connection, which has a strong influence upon the mind. It cannot bear even a momentary separation, which destroys the sense, and is at the same time contradictory to practice. Another circumstance tends still more to make this separation disagreeable. The long syllable immediately preceding the full pause, must be accented; for this is required by the melody, as will afterward appear. But it is ridiculous to accent or put an emphasis upon a low word that raises no idea, and is confined to the humble province of connecting words that raise ideas. And for that reason, a line must be disagreeable where a particle immediately precedes the full pause; for such constructionof a line makes the melody discord with the sense.

Hitherto we have discoursed upon that pause only which divides the line. Are the same rules applicable to the concluding pause? This must be answered by making a distinction. In the first line of a couplet, the concluding pause differs little, if at all, from the pause which divides the line; and for that reason, the rules are applicable to both equally. The concluding pause of the couplet, is in a different condition: it resembles greatly the concluding pause in a Hexameter line. Both of them indeed are so remarkable, that they never can be graceful, unless when they accompany a pause in the sense. Hence it follows, that a couplet ought always to be finished with some close in the sense; if not a point, at least a comma. The truth is, that this rule is seldom transgressed. In Pope’s works, upon a cursory search indeed, I found but the following deviations from the rule.

Nothing is foreign: parts relate to whole;One all extending, all-preserving soulConnects each being——

Another:

To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow’rs,To steal from rainbows ere they drop in show’rsA brighter wash——

But now, supposing the connection to be so slender as to admit a pause, it follows not that a pause may always be put. There is one rule to which every other ought to bend, That the sense must never be wounded or obscured by the music; and upon that account, I condemn the following lines:

Ulysses, first || in public cares, she found.

And,

Who rising, high || th’ imperial sceptre rais’d.

With respect to inversion, it appears both from reason and experiments, that many words which cannot bear a separation in their natural order, admit a pause when inverted. And it may be added, that whentwo words, or two members of a sentence, in their natural order, can be separated by a pause, such separation can never be amiss in an inverted order. An inverted period, which runs cross to the natural train of ideas, requires to be marked in some measure even by pauses in the sense, that the parts may be distinctly known. Take the following examples.

As with cold lips || I kiss’d the sacred veil.With other beauties || charm my partial eyes.Full in my view || set all the bright abode.With words like these || the troops Ulysses rul’d.Back to th’ assembly roll || the thronging train.Not for their grief || the Grecian host I blame.

The same where the separation is made at the close of the first line of the couplet:

For spirits, freed from mortal laws, with easeAssume what sexes and what shapes they please.

The pause is tolerable even at the close of the couplet, for the reason just now suggested, that inverted members require some slight pause in the sense:

’Twas where the plane-tree spread its shades around:The altars heav’d; and from the crumbling groundA mighty dragon shot.

Thus a train of reasoning hath insensibly led us to conclusions with regard to the musical pause, very different from those in the first section, concerning the separating by an interjected circumstance words intimately connected. One would conjecture, that where-ever words are separable by interjecting a circumstance, they should be equally separable by interjecting a pause. But, upon a more narrow inspection, the appearance of analogy vanisheth. To make this evident, I need only premise, that a pause in the sense distinguishes the different members of a period from each other; that two words of the same member may be separated by a circumstance, all the three making still but one member; and therefore that a pause in the sense has no connection with the separation of words by interjectedcircumstances. This sets the matter in a clear light. It is observed above, that the musical pause is intimately connected with the pause in the sense; so intimately indeed, that regularly they ought to coincide. As this would be too great a restraint, a licence is indulged, to place pauses for the sake of the music where they are not necessary for the sense. But this licence must be kept within bounds. And a musical pause ought never to be placed where a pause is excluded by the sense; as, for example, betwixt the adjective and following substantive which make parts of the same idea, and still less betwixt a particle and the word which makes it significant.

Abstracting at present from the peculiarity of modulation arising from the different pauses, it cannot fail to be observed in general, that they introduce into our verse no slight degree of variety. Nothing more fatigues the ear, than a number of uniform lines having all the same pause, which is extremely remarkable in the French versification. This imperfection will be discerned by a fine ear even in the shortest succession, and becomes intolerable in a long poem. Pope excels all the world in the variety of his modulation, which indeed is not less perfect of its kind than that of Virgil.

From what is now said, there ought to be one exception. Uniformity in the members of a thought, demands equal uniformity in the members of the period which expresses that thought. When therefore resembling objects or things are expressed in a plurality of verse-lines, these lines in their structure ought to be as uniform as possible, and the pauses in particular ought all of them to have the same place. Take the following examples.

By foreign hands || thy dying eyes were clos’d,By foreign hands || thy decent limbs compos’d,By foreign hands || thy humble grave adorn’d.

Again,

Bright as the sun, || her eyes the gazers strike,And, like the sun, || they shine on all alike.

Speaking of Nature, or the God of Nature:

Warms in the sun || refreshes in the breeze,Glows in the stars || and blossoms in the trees,Lives through all life || extends through all extent,Spreads undivided || operates unspent.

Pauses are like to dwell longer upon hand than I imagined; for the subject is not yet exhausted. It is laid down above, that English heroic verse, considering melody only, admits no more than four capital pauses; and that the capital pause of every line is determined by the sense to be after the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, or seventh syllable. And that this doctrine holds true so far as melody alone is concerned, every good ear will bear testimony. At the same time, examples are not unfrequent, in Milton especially, of the capital pause being after the first, the second, or the third syllable. And that this licence may be taken, even gracefully, when it adds vigour to the expression, I readily admit. So far the sound may be justly sacrificed to the sense or expression. That this licence may be successfully taken,will be clear from the following example. Pope, in his translation of Homer, describes a rock broke off from a mountain, and hurling to the plain, in the following words.

From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds;At every shock the crackling wood resounds;Still gath’ring force, it smokes; and urg’d amain,Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to the plain:There stops || So Hector. Their whole force he prov’d,Resistless when he rag’d; and when he stopt, unmov’d.

In the penult line the proper place of the musical pause is at the end of the fifth syllable; but it enlivens the expression by its coincidence with that of the sense at the end of the second syllable. The stopping short before the usual pause in the melody, aids the impression that is made by the description of the stone’s stopping short. And what is lost to the melody by this artifice, is more than compensated by the force that is added to the description.Milton makes a happy use of this licence; witness the following examples from hisParadise Lost.

—————— Thus with the yearSeasons return, but not to me returnsDay || or the sweet approach of even or morn.Celestial voices to the midnight-airSole || or responsive each to others note.And over them triumphant Death his dartShook || but delay’d to strike.—— And wild uproarStood rul’d || stood vast infinitude confin’d.———— And hard’ning in his strengthGlories || for never since created manMet such embodied force.From his slack hand the garland wreath’d for EveDown drop’d || and all the faded roses shed.Of unessential night, receives him next,Wide gaping || and with utter loss of beingThreatens him,&c.——————For now the thoughtBoth of lost happiness and lasting painTorments him || round he throws his baleful eyes,&c.

—————— Thus with the yearSeasons return, but not to me returnsDay || or the sweet approach of even or morn.

Celestial voices to the midnight-airSole || or responsive each to others note.

And over them triumphant Death his dartShook || but delay’d to strike.

—— And wild uproarStood rul’d || stood vast infinitude confin’d.

———— And hard’ning in his strengthGlories || for never since created manMet such embodied force.

From his slack hand the garland wreath’d for EveDown drop’d || and all the faded roses shed.

Of unessential night, receives him next,Wide gaping || and with utter loss of beingThreatens him,&c.

——————For now the thoughtBoth of lost happiness and lasting painTorments him || round he throws his baleful eyes,&c.

If we consider the foregoing passages with respect to melody singly, the pauses are undoubtedly out of their proper place. But being united with those of the sense, they inforce the expression and enliven it greatly. And the beauty of expression is communicated to the sound, which, by a natural deception, makes even the melody appear more perfect than if the musical pauses were regular.

To explain the rules of accenting, two general observations must be premised. The first is, That accents have a double effect. They contribute to the melody, by giving it air and spirit: they contribute not less to the sense, by distinguishing important words from others. These two effects ought never to be separated. If a musical accent be put where the sense rejects it, we feel a discordance betwixt the thought andthe melody. An accent, for example, placed on a word that makes no figure, has the effect to burlesk it, by giving it an unnatural elevation. The injury thus done to the sense, is communicated to the melody by the intimacy of connection, and both seem to be wounded. This rule is applicable in a peculiar manner to particles. It is indeed ridiculous to put an emphasis on a word which of itself has no meaning, and like cement serves only to unite words significant. The other general observation is, That a word of whatever number of syllables, is not accented upon more than one of them. Nor is this an arbitrary practice. The object represented by the word, is set in its best light by a single accent: reiterated accents on different syllables in succession, make not the emphasis stronger; but have an air, as if the sound only of the accented syllables were regarded, and not the sense of the word.

Keeping in view the foregoing observations, the doctrine of accenting English heroic verse, is extremely simple. In the first place, accenting is confined to the longsyllables; for the melody admits not an accent upon any short syllable. In the next place, as the melody is inriched in proportion to the number of accents, every word that has a long syllable ought to be accented, unless where the accent is rejected by the sense: a word, as observed, that makes no figure by its signification, cannot bear an accent. According to this rule, a line may admit five accents; a case by no means rare.

But supposing every long syllable to be accented, there is constantly, in every line, one accent which makes a greater figure than the rest. This capital accent is that which precedes the capital pause. Hence it is distinguishable into two kinds; one that is immediately succeeded by the pause, and one that is divided from the pause by a short syllable. The former belongs to lines of the first and third order: the latter to those of the second and fourth. Examples of the first kind.

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