The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (read books for money TXT) 📖

| where they | sat as |-sembled,
    Low vo |-l~upt~uo~us | music, | winding, | trembled."
       ALFRED TENNYSON: Frazee's Improved Gram., p. 184; Fowler's, 657.

This measure, whether with the final short syllable or without it, is said, by Murray, Everett, and others, to be "very uncommon." Dr. Johnson, and the other old prosodists named with him above, knew nothing of it. Two couplets, exemplifying it, now to be found in sundry grammars, and erroneously reckoned to differ as to the number of their feet, were either selected or composed by Murray, for his Grammar, at its origin—or, if not then, at its first reprint, in 1796. They are these:—

(1.)

   "All that | walk on | foot or | ride in | chariots,
    All that | dwell in | pala |-ces or | garrets."

L. Murray's Gram., 12mo, 175; 8vo, 257; Chandler's, 196; Churchill's, 187; Hiley's, 126; et al.

(2.)

   "Idle | after | dinner, | in his | chair,
    Sat a | farmer, | ruddy, | fat, and | fair."

Murray, same places; N. Butler's Gr., p. 193; Hallock's, 244; Hart's, 187; Weld's, 211; et al.

Richard Hiley most absurdly scans this last couplet, and all verse like it, into "the Heroic measure," or a form of our iambic pentameter; saying, "Sometimes a syllable is cut off from the first foot; as,

    =I |-dl~e =af |-t~er d=inn |-n~er =in | h~is ch=air [,]
    S=at | ~a f=ar |-m~er [,] r=ud |-dý, f=at, | =and f=air."
        Hiley's English Grammar, Third Edition, p. 125.

J. S. Hart, who, like many others, has mistaken the metre of this last example for "Trochaic Tetrameter," with a surplus "syllable," after repeating the current though rather questionable assertion, that, "this measure is very uncommon," proceeds with our "Trochaic Pentameter," thus: "This species is likewise uncommon. It is composed of five trochees; as,

    =In th~e | d=ark ~and | gr=een ~and | gl=oom~y | v=all~ey,
    S=at~yrs | b=y th~e | br=ookl~et | l=ove t~o | d=all~y."

And again: [[Fist]] "The SAME with an ADDITIONAL accented syllable; as,

    Wh=ere th~e | w=ood ~is | w=av~ing |gr=een ~and |h=igh,
    F=auns ~and | Dr=y~ads | w=atch th~e | st=arr~y | sky."
       Hart's English Grammar, First Edition, p. 187.

These examples appear to have been made for the occasion; and the latter, together with its introduction, made unskillfully. The lines are of five feet, and so are those about the ruddy farmer; but there is nothing "additional" in either case; for, as pentameter, they are all catalectic, the final short syllable being dispensed with, and a cæsura preferred, for the sake of single rhyme, otherwise not attainable. "Five trochees" and a rhyming "syllable" will make trochaic hexameter, a measure perhaps more pleasant than this. See examples above.

MEASURE V.—TROCHAIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

Example I.—A Mournful Song.

1.

    "Raving | winds a | -round her | blowing,
    Yellow | leaves the | woodlands | strewing,
    By a | river | hoarsely | roaring,
    Isa | -bella | strayed de | -ploring.
    'Farewell | hours that | late did | measure
    Sunshine | days of | joy and | pleasure;
    Hail, thou | gloomy | night of | sorrow,
    Cheerless | night that | knows no | morrow.

2.

    O'er the | past too | fondly | wandering,
    On the | hopeless | future | pondering,
    Chilly | grief my | life-blood | freezes,
    Fell de | -spair my | fancy | seizes.
    Life, thou | soul of | every | blessing,
    Load to | misery | most dis | -tressing,
    O how | gladly | I'd re | -sign thee,
    And to | dark ob | -livion | join thee.'"
        ROBERT BURNS: Select Works, Vol. ii, p. 131

Example II.—A Song Petitionary.

   "Powers ce | -lestial, | whose pro | -tection
     Ever | guards the | virtuous | fair,
    While in | distant | climes I | wander,
     Let my | Mary | be your | care:
    Let her | form so | fair and | faultless,
     Fair and | faultless | as your | own;
    Let my | Mary's | kindred | spirit
     Draw your | choicest | influence | down.

    Make the | gales you | waft a | -round her
     Soft and | peaceful | as her | breast;
    Breathing | in the | breeze that | fans her,
     Soothe her | bosom | into | rest:
    Guardian | angels, | O pro | -tect her,
     When in | distant | lands I | roam;
    To realms | unknown | while fate | exiles me,
     Make her | bosom | still my | home."
       BURNS'S SONGS, Same Volume, p. 165.

Example III.—Song of Juno and Ceres.

    Ju. "Honour, | riches, marriage | -blessing,
     Long con | -tinuance, | and in | -creasing,
     Hourly | joys be | still up | -on you!
    Juno | sings her | blessings | on you."
    Cer. "Earth's in | -crease, and | foison | plenty;
     Barns and | garners | never | empty;
     Vines with | clust'ring | bunches | growing;
     Plants with | goodly | burden | bowing;
     Spring come | to you, | at the | farthest,
     In the | very | end of | harvest!
     Scarci | -ty and | want shall | shun you;
     Ceres' | blessing | so is | on you."
       SHAKSPEARE: Tempest, Act iv, Sc. 1.

Example IV.—On the Vowels.

   "We are | little | airy | creatures,
    All of | diff'rent | voice and | features;
    One of | us in | glass is | set,
    One of | us you'll | find in | jet;

    T'other | you may | see in | tin,
    And the | fourth a | box with | -in;
    If the | fifth you | should pur | -sue,
    It can | never | fly from | you."
        SWIFT: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. v, p. 343.

Example V.—Use Time for Good.

   "Life is | short, and | time is | swift;
    Roses | fade, and | shadows | shift;
    But the ocean | and the | river
    Rise and | fall and | flow for | ever;

    Bard! not | vainly | heaves the | ocean;
    Bard! not | vainly | flows the | river;
    Be thy | song, then, | like their | motion,
    Blessing | now, and | blessing | ever."
        EBENEZER ELLIOT: From a Newspaper.

Example IV.[sic for VI—KTH]—"The Turkish Lady"—First Four Stanzas.

    1.
    "'Twas the | hour when | rites un | -holy
      Called each | Paynim | voice to | pray'r,
    And the | star that | faded | slowly,
      Left to | dews the | freshened | air.

    2.
    Day her | sultry | fires had | wasted,
      Calm and | sweet the | moonlight | rose;
    E'en a | captive's | spirit | tasted
      Half ob | -livion | of his | woes.

    3.
    Then 'twas | from an | Emir's | palace
      Came an | eastern | lady | bright;
    She, in | spite of | tyrants | jealous,
      Saw and | loved an | English | knight.

    4.
    'Tell me, | captive, | why in | anguish
      Foes have | dragged thee | here to | dwell
    Where poor | Christians, | as they | languish.
      Hear no | sound of | sabbath | bell?'"
        THOMAS CAMPBELL: Poetical Works, p. 115.

Example VII.—The Palmer's Morning Hymn.

   "Lauded | be thy | name for | ever,
    Thou, of | life the | guard and | giver!
    Thou canst | guard thy | creatures | sleeping,
    Heal the | heart long | broke with | weeping,
    Rule the | =ouphes ~and | =elves ~at | w=ill
    Th~at v=ex | th~e =air | ~or h=aunt | th~e h=ill,
    ~And =all | th~e f=u | -r~y s=ub | -j~ect k=eep
    ~Of b=oil | -~ing cl=oud | ~and ch=af | -~ed d=eep!

    I h~ave | s=een, ~and | w=ell I | kn=ow ~it!
    Thou hast | done, and | Thou wilt | do it!
    God of | stillness | and of | motion!
    Of the | rainbow | and the | ocean!
    Of the | mountain, | rock, and | river!
    Blessed | be Thy | name for | ever!
    I have | seen thy | wondrous | might
    Through the | shadows | of this | night!

    Thou, who | slumber'st | not, nor | sleepest!
    Blest are | they thou | kindly | keepest!
    Spirits, | from the | ocean | under,
    Liquid | flame, and | levell'd | thunder,
    Need not | waken | nor a |-larm them—
    All com |-bined, they | cannot | harm them.

    God of | evening's | yellow | ray,
    God of | yonder | dawning | day,
    Thine the | flaming | sphere of | light!
    Thine the | darkness | of the | night!
    Thine are | all the | gems of | even,
    God of | angels! | God of | heaven!"
        JAMES HOGG: Mador of the Moor, Poems, p. 206.

Example VIII—A Short Song, of Two Stanzas.

   "Stay, my | charmer, | can you | leave me?
    Cruel, | cruel, | to de |-ceive me!
    Well you | know how | much you | grieve me:
    Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?
    Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?

    By my | love, so | ill re |-quited;
    By the | faith you | fondly plighted;
    By the | pangs of | lovers slighted;
    Do not, | do not | leave me | so!
    Do not, | do not | leave me | so!"
        ROBERT BURNS: Select Works, Vol. ii, p. 129.

Example IX.—Lingering Courtship.

    1.
    "Never | wedding, | ever | wooing,
    Still | lovelorn | heart pur |-suing,
    Read you | not the | wrong you're | doing,
    In my | cheek's pale | hue?
    All my | life with | sorrow | strewing,
    Wed, or | cease to | woo.

    2.
    Rivals | banish'd, | bosoms | plighted,
    Still our | days are | disu |-nited;
    Now the | lamp of | hope is | lighted,
    Now half | quench'd ap | -pears,
    Damp'd, and | wavering, and be | -nighted,
    Midst my | sighs and | tears.

    3.
    Charms you | call your | dearest | blessing,
    Lips that | thrill at | your ca | -ressing,
    Eyes a | mutual soul con | -fessing,
    Soon you'll | make them | grow
    Dim, and | worthless | your pos | -sessing,
    Not with | age, but | woe!"
        CAMPBELL: Everett's System of Versification, p. 91.

Example X.—"Boadicea"—Four Stanzas from Eleven.

    1.
    "When the | British | warrior | queen,
    Bleeding | from the | Roman | rods,
    Sought, with | an in | -dignant | mien,
    Counsel | of her | country's | gods,

    2.
    Sage be | -neath the | spreading | oak,
    Sat the | Druid, | hoary | chief;
    Every burning | word he | spoke
    Full of | rage, and | full of | grief.

    3.
    Princess! | if our | aged | eyes
    Weep up | -on thy | matchless | wrongs,
    'Tis be | -cause re | -sentment | ties
    All the | terrors | of our | tongues.

    4.
    ROME SHALL | PERISH— | write that | word
    In the | blood that | she hath | spilt;
    Perish, | hopeless | and ab | -horr'd,
    Deep in | ruin | as in | guilt."
        WILLIAM COWPER: Poems, Vol. ii, p. 244.

Example XI—"The Thunder Storm"—Two Stanzas from Ten.

   "Now in | deep and | dreadful | gloom,
    Clouds on | clouds por | -tentous | spread,
    Black as | if the | day of | doom
    Hung o'er | Nature's | shrinking | head:
    Lo! the | lightning | breaks from | high,
    God is | coming! |—God is | nigh!

    Hear ye | not his | chariot | wheels,
    As the | mighty | thunder | rolls?
    Nature, | startled | Nature | reels,
    From the | centre | to the | poles:
    Tremble! | —Ocean, | Earth, and | Sky!
    Tremble! | —God is | passing | by!"
        J. MONTGOMERY: Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems, p. 130.

Example XII.—"The Triumphs of Owen," King of North Wales.[513]

   "Owen's | praise de | -mands my song,
    Owen | swift and | Owen | strong;
    Fairest | flow'r of | Roderick's | stem,
    Gwyneth's | shield, and | Britain's | gem.
    He nor | heaps his | brooded | stores,
    Nor the | whole pro | -fusely | pours;
    Lord of | every | regal | art,
    Liberal | hand and | open | heart.
      Big with | hosts of | mighty | name,
    Squadrons | three a | -gainst him came;
    This the | force of | Eirin | hiding,
    Side by | side as | proudly | riding,
    On her | shadow | long and | gay,
    Lochlin | ploughs the | watery | way:
    There the Norman | sails a | -far
    Catch the | winds, and | join the | war;
    Black