774
We cheerfully hope to find in our cottage
The solace of mind, and the transport of life.
We cheerfully hope to find in our cottage
The solace of mind, and the transport of life.
Carey - Practice English Prosody Exercises
?
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 12:11 GMT / http://hdl.
handle.
net/2027/hvd.
hxg8hz Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? Versification*
229
The second and fourth lines rhiming; the first and
third, without rhinie.
740
First trace her glossy lodes:
Paint them soft, and as black as jet:
And, if thy imitative power be such,
Paint them breathing ev'ry sweetness.
Prom the cheek, luxuriant, full,
Partially appearing through her dark-colored hair,
Lei the forehead rise,
Fair, smooth, and glittering bright.
The first and third lines hypermeter, without rhime; the
second and fourth, regular, and rhiming.
741. -- To Sleep. . -
My eyes have a long time sought thee to no purpose.
Come, and hring the relief which I wish for.
Come, and assuage my tormented | breast,
Sick with care and sorrow \ at the same time.
Stealing over my eye-lids,
Steep my sense in rest,
Shedding from thy wings
Kind forgetful'ness over my sorrows.
Under thy friendly shade, Hope
Shall spread her fairy colors,
And with acceptable, | cheerful illusions,
Dance round my head again.
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? 230
Versification.
Regular, with alternate rhime.
742
Behold! what storms | are gathering round,
Gloomy, and pregnant with England's destiny I
England ! rouse thyself at the sound !
Behold! the Frenchman is at thy door!
Before the arrow of war be sped,
Meet it, and anticipate the stroke.
European powers! lend your assistance,
To exterminate the common enemy.
Anapastic Verses to be scanned. -- -See " Anapastic"
in the Prosody, page 32.
743
The spirit of chivalry reign'd o'er the laws,
When the glances of beauty decided the cause.
744
No arbour, no shade, and no verdure is seen;
For the trees and the turf are all colors but green.
745
My temples with clusters of grapes I'll entwine;
And I'll barter all joys for a goblet of wine.
In search of a Venus, no longer I'll run ;
But I'll stop, and forget her, at Bacchus'es tuu.
740 (See Nos. 755, and 756. )
All bold and erect ev'ry ruffian we meet; [street.
And the coachmen, in tremors, scarce trot through the
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? Versification. ' 231
With a flourishing whip they once gallop'd along,
And crush'd out the souls of the beggarly throng.
To fracture a leg was but reckon'd a joke,
While the chariot was whirling through foam and
through smoke.
747
Let them talk of the beauties, the graces, that dwell
In her shape, in her face, in her air.
I, too, of those beauties, those graces, could tell:
But, ah ! what avails that she's fair?
I could . say, that, in nature, each emblem is faint*
To express all the charms of her face.
Her form--oh ! 'tis all that young Fancy can paint. ;
And her air, the perfection of grace.
But the frost of unkindnesa those blossoms can blight--
Each charm, each perfection, can stain--
Make the sweet-smiling Loves and the Graces
take flight,
And ease the fond fool of his pain.
Come, Mirth, and thy train! Of thy joys letme share--
Those joys that enliven the soul.
With these, I'll forget that my Phyllis is fair. --
Love and care shall be drown'd in the bowl.
748
Ye pow'rs, who make Beauty and Virtue your care;
Let no sorrow my Phyllis molest !
Let no blast of misfortune intrude on the fair,
To ruffle the calm of her breast!
749
I have march'd, trumpets sounding, drums beating,
flags flying,
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? 232 Versification.
Where the music of War drown'd the shrieks of the
dying.
x 750. -- Warranted Rasors.
" You warrant those rasors which now I have
bought
" Yes, truly, I warrant them not worth a groat. "
751. -- Robitison Crusoe*.
I am monarch of all I survey :
My right there is none to dispute.
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
0 solitude ! what are the charms .
That sages have seen in thy face ?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.
1 am out of humanity's reach;
X must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech--
* It may be proper to inform some of my young renders that
the fictitious tale of Robinson Crusoe was built on tbe real
story of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who had lived several
years in total solitude on the island of Juan Fernandez. Upon
his return to England, he intrusted his papers to Daniel Dfe Foe,
to prepare them for the press, with the reasonable hope of de-
riving benefit from the publication of his extraordinary adven-
tures. But De Foe, shamefully betraying his trust, stole from
those papers the ground-work of his tale, which he published,
for his own benefit, as an original piece--leaving poor Selkirk to
Jament the confidence which he had unluckily placed in a tnan
who could thus basely and cruelly rob him of all the advantages
which he was entitled to reap from his past sufferings.
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? Versification. 233
I start at the sound of my own
Society, friendship, and love,
Divinely bestow'd upon men !
Oh ! had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again!
Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
Anapccstics to be versified.
Anapaslia of four feet. -- Each line to make a
verse, and each couplet to rhime. -- N. B. It is of no
consequence whether the first foot of each verse consist
of two syllables or of three, provided that the last syl-
lable of that foot be accented. -- See page 32.
752
Adieu to the woodlands, where, gay and sportive,
The cattle play so froffcsorne, light bounding.
753
Adieu to the woodlands, where I have rov'd oft,
And, with the friend that I lov'd, convers'd sweetly.
754
Content and joy are now fled from our dwellings;
And, instead, disease and want sir. . our inuiates.
735. -- The French Revolution.
Now chivalry is dead, and Ciallia ru. n'd ;
And the glory of Europe is fled for ever.
V3
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? 2S4 Versification.
7. 56
No distinctions remain : lost is all order :
Grosses, ribbons, and titles, obtain no rev'rence.
757
All ranks, all ages, all natrons, shall combine
In this divine and just war of benevolence.
758
Though, from dunghills, meteors arise with lustre,
Is the filth, left behind, like the flame in the skies?
759
A singular custom prevails at Pavia,
To protect, from jails and bailiffs, the poor debtor.
760 [pale;
In my eye there's no grief, though my cheek may be
And 'tis seldom I give a sigh to sad mem'ry.
761
*t
You'll soon fly afar from country and from friends,
To havoc and to camps, to war and to rage.
. ' ? 6?
His case I remember'd, though scant was my wallet,
Nor, to his pitiful face, refus'd my last crnst.
763
Blind, forsaken, and poor, where shall I now go ?
Can I find one so kind and faithful, to guide me ?
764 [burden;
Her limbs could then no more support their faint
And she sank on the floor breathless and exhausted.
765
The hotter the fight, we still grow the fiercer.
So we conquer the foe, the loss we heed not.
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? Versification. 235
766
Queen of the fairies, so,gay and? rosy ! come !
As the daughter of May, with fl'ow'rs we must crown
you.
767. -- The impressed Sailor.
Because I've ventur'd my life for my country,
From my wife and my home I'm dragg'd, like a thief.
768. -- The Soldier.
After mafching all day, sore and hungry and faint,
Or! the swamps of the moor, at night I have kin down,
Unshelter'd, and by fatigue fure'd to remain,
By the wind all chill'd, and by the rain benumb'd.
769. --On a Vintner.
While Balderdash vends the vilest of compounds,
And, for all his good friends, brews his dear poison,
No wonder they can never get him to dine :--
He's afraid they'll oblige him to drink his own wine.
770
From my brother the post hasjust brought a letter;
And, to write him another, I am seated here.
Wo'n't it be very clever, if I can do't in rhime ?
And I could for ever scribble, I'm so fond of rhime.
771
She pass'd still fearless o'er weed-cover'd fragments,
And at last arriv'd at the innermost ruin,. . . .
When, on her ear, the sound of a voice seem'd to
All eager to hear, she listen'd, and she paus'd. [rise.
772
Prostrate is laid the elm, beneath whose broad shade
I have play'd and gatnbol'd iu childhood's blithe day.
The gay thrushes shall no more sing on its boughs,
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? 236 Versification.
Nor goldfinches hail the commencement of spring.
The musical choir, depriv'd of their shelter,
Retire to the shade of the thickets, with regret.
773. -- Woman.
'Tis woman, whose charms impart ev'ry rapture,
And to the pulse of the heart add a soft spring.
Her sway is so supreme--the miser himself
Resigns her his key, aud to love grows a convert.
Sorrow lifts up his head, at the sound of her voice,
And, from his shed, Poverty, well pleas'd, listens. '
Even Age, hobbling along, in an ecstasy,
Beats time to the tune of her song, with his crutch.
774
We cheerfully hope to find in our cottage
The solace of mind, and the transport of life.
Nature may shine there with unborrow'd beauty,
And read some divine lecture through all seasons ;
Excite the ambition pursu'd by wisdom,
And point to the giver of good, from his gifts.
Friends, ever welcome, shall pay glad visits there,
And books shall display the science of ages.
775. -- To a Daughter, with a Chaplet of Flozcers,
A more beauteous garland may adorn thy breast,
Than courts the soft dew-drops of May's lucid morn,
Tf, kind and obliging, good-bum on r'd and mild,
The fruits of the heart aid the blossoms of mind.
If love and duty join with ease and spirit,
The dear chaplet they form, that will ever please.
In thy bosom, my sweet little Jane, wear these ;
And unfaded will remain the flow'rs that we prize.
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? Versification. 237
776
Oh ! burn the tall heath which waves in the gale now :
Let nought prevail but the war-songs of Erin*.
The prows of the strangers swell the green wave now:
Unsheath then the sword of the brave, ye heroes.
Far from the shore, far, chase the deer of black Mor-
Till the banquet of Odin and of Death is o'er, [vern,
Of our fathers of old sing the deeds, ye bards,
And rouse the bold and the brave to new glory. . . .
From the heath-cover'd dell shall start the heroes,
Determin'd to fall as fell their forefathers.
Ye bold hunters of Colna's dark plain ! bend the bow:
Rejoice again In the Strength of your arrows.
Now the spears of tbe strangers darken the sky :
Dread Odin is nigh, and the eagle has shriek'd thrice.
Anapastics of four feet and three alternately -- with
alternate rhime.
777
The beauties, so rare, that adorn my Phyllis,
To those of her mind are inferior.
The forlorn orphan, and aged, she succours,
And is kind to all the afflicted.
778
A slave to passion, of Fancy a vot'ry,
With a heart that of guile's unconscious,
Of each plodding mean knave e'er shall I be the dupe,
And of each villain's dark wile the prey.
? Erin, the Gaelic name of Ireland.
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? 238 Versification.
779
A maiden cried, Ah me! aii! where can I fly,
For aid, from so wild a tempest ?
Can you now, my rigid stern sire, mock the sigh
Of your wandering, houseless, poor child ?
780
Ev'ry care and sorrow I sooth tenderly :
I toil, unwearied, to ease thee.
I ensnare, by ray wiles, the fish of the stream,
Despoil of their flowers the meads
781-
When our forefathers stray'd wide o'er the woodlands,
As rude as the rocks of cur isle,
Along the deep glade wanton'd fair Liberty,
And with a smile deck'd ev'ry face.
7se
The wide world is a desolate waste to me,
Where to roam Fortune has doom'd me,
Expos'd to the blast, a care-haunted pilgrim,
And denied a home or companion.
783
* Fond visions of joy ! vain illusions ! hence! hence!
In my breast no more shall you reign.
The frown of my Phyllis can annoy no more:
Her smile can make me blest no more"
Resolv'd to shake off the soft chain, young Strephon,
Among the gay shepherds, sang thus.
But his triumph is short: for, o'er the plain, see!
Lightly trips along his Phyllis.
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? Versification. 239
Anapmstics of four feel, with alternate rfdme.
784
From the blush of young Morn the trees borrow tints,
As to the gale they expand their beautiful bloom,
Where they adoru the cottage, and shadow the path,
Of Emma, the pride of the vale, sweet Emma.
785
Stern winter has stripp'd the trees of their honors,
And strew'd blighted beauties around in ruin:
Now by the breeze the pride of the woodlands is toss'd,
And the still streamlet is bound in strong icy chains.
786
I have, as I pass'd, seen how the rose, gay blushing,
Display'd her bosom to the gale of the morning:
I return'd : but away had her beauties faded;
And, ere the ev'ning, was the pride of the morn dead.
787
The look was gone, that spoke gladness and welcome:
The blaze was no more, that in the hall shone bright.
A stranger, with a bosom of stone, was there;
And, as I euter'd his door, his look was cold.
788
A strange contest arose between nose and eyes:
Unhappily the spectacles set tbein wrong.
As ev'ry one knows, the point in dispute was,
To which ought to belong the said spectacles
So his lordship decreed, with a solemn, grave tone,
Clear and decisive, without one but or if,
That, whenever the nose put on his spectacles,
By candle-light or day-light, eyes should be shut.
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? 240 Versification.
The first and third lines with double rhime.
789
How sweet is the thought of to-morrow to the heart,
When Hope's fairy pictures display bright colors'.
How sweet, when we can borrow from futurity
A balm for the griefs that to-day afflict us!
790
The last torrent was streaming from his bosom that
heav'd;
And his visage, deep mark'd with a scar, was pale:
And dim was that eye, once beaming expressively,
That kindled in war, and thai melted in love.
Jlnapaslics of three feet: -- rhime alternate.
791
I was cast upon the wide world,
A little boy, fatherless, poor:
But, at last, Fortune, kind Fortune,
Has turn'd to joy all my sorrow.
Anapastics of four feet: -- each couplet to rhime.
792. --Diana.
While she follows the. chase, Taygetus* sounds
With the cry of the hounds, and the notes of the horn.
* Taygetus. --In ancient . Greek names, the Y nt<<ver unites
with a preceding vowel 10 form a diphthong, but always makrs
a separate syllable, as in Ce-yx, Ca-ystcr, he. though (strange
as it may appear to the English reader) THYIis hut one syllable
in llitltyia and Orithyia, which, in Greek and Latin poeiry, con-
tain only four syllables each, as I have shown in my Latin
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? Versification. 241
793
Let order preside throughout your whole household. ;
I/or order is ever allied with prudence.
794
For departed moments, ah ! ne'er to return--
For scenes of past bliss,- we mourn, un-availing;
"When, blooming with health, our little ones and our-
selves
To indolent Wealth were objects of envy;
Prosody;" the YI being, in the original, a diphthong (Ul),
sounded, probably, by the ancient Greeks, as it is by the modern
French in Lui, Nuit, Puis, though difficult of pronunciation to
an English tongue, as observed in my note on the word Puis-
sance," under the head of " Diaresis," in page 10. --With respect
to THygetus, agreeably to the practice of Virgil, Homer, and other
ancient writers, it contains four syllables--the third, short; and
the accent falls on the second--Ta-y-getus. In my edition of
Jiryden's Virgil (Geo. 3, 74), I chose rather to presume that
our English bard had intended a synsope, however harsh, in the
third syllable, than that he could have been so grossly ignorant
of the classical quantity and pronunciation, as to make Tay a
single syllable, and to lengthen the ge. Accordingly, I thus
printed the line--
Thy hounds, T'dyg'tus, open, and pursue their prey.
Such of my readers, however, as prefer dactyls and anapaests to
the use of the syncope, may avoid the harsh elison, by making
the third foot an anapaest, thus--
Thy hounds, | Tdy- j -getus, o- | -pen, and pursue their prey--
though neither that nor any other management in the reading
can ever render it a pleasing line, destitute, as it is, of the middle
ceswa, which is indispensable in the Alexandrine metre.
X
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? 242 Versification.
When, at the close of each day, innocent sports
Could banish away our sorrows and our cares.
Ah ! when will sweet pastime the plain revisit,
And content and joy smile again around us?
Alternate rhime.
795 [man,
When, in the vale, had ceas'd the stroke of the wood-
And night's lonely warbler* her sweet song com-
menc'd,
Her tale a heart-broken maiden repeated,
And to the stream, as along it murmur'd, sigh'd.
Blank Verse.
Ten-syllable Iambics, in which some of the Italic
words are to have epithets added--some are to be al-
tered as directed in page ]<)6 -- and some are both to be
altered and to have epithets.
796
Oh ! if I had but the envied power of choosing
My residence, no sound of city bell should come to
My ear -- not even the cannon's roar.
797
Agreeable to see the laborer hasten homeward,
Light-hearted, as he supposes his steps [family.
Will soon be welcomed by the smile of his young
798
Ah! who can describe the mother's joy,
When first her infant leaps, quivering,
With extended arms, to meet her embrace f
The nightingale.
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? Versification. 243
799
Now the sun, from the burning heaven, [ness
Has driven away each cloud: with universal bright-
lilazing, the earth repels the eye.
800
Amid the nocturnal prowlers of thy wild commons,
Britannia, man walks safe; in all their tribes, [aim
None calculated to bid him shake with fear, none to
Claw or fang against their master.
801
Thus, when his army over the Alps, to no purpose
opposed,
Hannibal led, the last ascent, [now trod,
Laboriously proceeding over ice-built rocks, as they
Gasping for breath, the myriads | halted.
802
Far from being'the same, wisdom and knowledge
Frequentfif have no connexion. Knowledge resides
In heads stored with other men's thoughts,
Wisdom in minds that attend to their own.
803
One spring evening, as, rapt in solitary thought,
Be traced his confines, from the bordering common
An old man came forth : his steps
A young woman watch'd, with looks of filial affection.
804
Hypocrisy, hate her as we may,
May still lay claim to this merit, that she acknowledges
The value of what she imitates with such care,
And thus gives virtue praise \ indirectiyt
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? 244 Versification.
805
But, ray friend, before we separate, kt us ascend
Yon mountain, and trace back our journey.
Easy the ascent, and many an agreeable herb
Has Nature lavishly J strewed round.
806 [feet
There are, whom more humble walks please: their
Can visit the close cottage, ] in which Poverty
Patiently sits, and in which Industry, retired
From daily labor, | breathes the poisoned air;
807 {soundly,
Charming | baby! oh! mayest thou ever sleep as
Smile as softly, while over thy little bed
Thy mother sits, with enraptured gaze
Catching each feature's sweet expression.
808
How rapid the falcon's wing in pursuing!
Less rapid the linnet's flight. Alas! unfortunate bird!
Weak and weary is now thy wing,
While the foe draws close and closer.
809. -- Spring.
Whep the waking flowers and imprisoned leaves now
Burst from their tombs, the birds, that lurked, without
being seen, N
In the midst of the hybernal shade, in busy tribes
Pour their forgotten crowds, and derive,
From the smile of Spring, new rapture, new life.
810 [scene,
Thou mayest then peacefully | endure the passing
Sure of more noble life beyond the tomb,
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? Versification. 245
Where vice, pain, and error, shall no longer | exist,
But untainted happiness, and consummate wisdom,
Fill the capacious soul, and crown the everlasting
811 [scene.
The pure stream now, from the shoxeers of April
Refined, shows each pebble, that ornaments
Its bottom, and each scaly inhabitant
Glancing quick in the shallow parts, or, in pursuit
Of prey, sailing slowly in the deep.
812
How soft the harmony of the bells of the tillage
Falling upon the ear at intervals
In pleasing cadence, now all dying away,
Now again loudly pealing, and still more loudly,
Clear and sounding, as the gale approaches!
813
The moon rides high in the clouds,
That glisten, as they are wafted athwart her disk.
Charming is the glimpse, that, for a little while, plays
Among these mouldering pinnacles. But, listen!
That dismal sound! it is the owl.
814. -- Young Birds stolen from the Nest.
In the mean time, the younger victims, one after
another,
Drop off, destroyed by attention, and improper food.
One perhaps, more hardy than the others, survives,
And, 'tween the bars with weeds
Entwined, suspended at some high window, hops
From one stick to another, his unvaried little round,
x3
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?
? Versification*
229
The second and fourth lines rhiming; the first and
third, without rhinie.
740
First trace her glossy lodes:
Paint them soft, and as black as jet:
And, if thy imitative power be such,
Paint them breathing ev'ry sweetness.
Prom the cheek, luxuriant, full,
Partially appearing through her dark-colored hair,
Lei the forehead rise,
Fair, smooth, and glittering bright.
The first and third lines hypermeter, without rhime; the
second and fourth, regular, and rhiming.
741. -- To Sleep. . -
My eyes have a long time sought thee to no purpose.
Come, and hring the relief which I wish for.
Come, and assuage my tormented | breast,
Sick with care and sorrow \ at the same time.
Stealing over my eye-lids,
Steep my sense in rest,
Shedding from thy wings
Kind forgetful'ness over my sorrows.
Under thy friendly shade, Hope
Shall spread her fairy colors,
And with acceptable, | cheerful illusions,
Dance round my head again.
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? 230
Versification.
Regular, with alternate rhime.
742
Behold! what storms | are gathering round,
Gloomy, and pregnant with England's destiny I
England ! rouse thyself at the sound !
Behold! the Frenchman is at thy door!
Before the arrow of war be sped,
Meet it, and anticipate the stroke.
European powers! lend your assistance,
To exterminate the common enemy.
Anapastic Verses to be scanned. -- -See " Anapastic"
in the Prosody, page 32.
743
The spirit of chivalry reign'd o'er the laws,
When the glances of beauty decided the cause.
744
No arbour, no shade, and no verdure is seen;
For the trees and the turf are all colors but green.
745
My temples with clusters of grapes I'll entwine;
And I'll barter all joys for a goblet of wine.
In search of a Venus, no longer I'll run ;
But I'll stop, and forget her, at Bacchus'es tuu.
740 (See Nos. 755, and 756. )
All bold and erect ev'ry ruffian we meet; [street.
And the coachmen, in tremors, scarce trot through the
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? Versification. ' 231
With a flourishing whip they once gallop'd along,
And crush'd out the souls of the beggarly throng.
To fracture a leg was but reckon'd a joke,
While the chariot was whirling through foam and
through smoke.
747
Let them talk of the beauties, the graces, that dwell
In her shape, in her face, in her air.
I, too, of those beauties, those graces, could tell:
But, ah ! what avails that she's fair?
I could . say, that, in nature, each emblem is faint*
To express all the charms of her face.
Her form--oh ! 'tis all that young Fancy can paint. ;
And her air, the perfection of grace.
But the frost of unkindnesa those blossoms can blight--
Each charm, each perfection, can stain--
Make the sweet-smiling Loves and the Graces
take flight,
And ease the fond fool of his pain.
Come, Mirth, and thy train! Of thy joys letme share--
Those joys that enliven the soul.
With these, I'll forget that my Phyllis is fair. --
Love and care shall be drown'd in the bowl.
748
Ye pow'rs, who make Beauty and Virtue your care;
Let no sorrow my Phyllis molest !
Let no blast of misfortune intrude on the fair,
To ruffle the calm of her breast!
749
I have march'd, trumpets sounding, drums beating,
flags flying,
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? 232 Versification.
Where the music of War drown'd the shrieks of the
dying.
x 750. -- Warranted Rasors.
" You warrant those rasors which now I have
bought
" Yes, truly, I warrant them not worth a groat. "
751. -- Robitison Crusoe*.
I am monarch of all I survey :
My right there is none to dispute.
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
0 solitude ! what are the charms .
That sages have seen in thy face ?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.
1 am out of humanity's reach;
X must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech--
* It may be proper to inform some of my young renders that
the fictitious tale of Robinson Crusoe was built on tbe real
story of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who had lived several
years in total solitude on the island of Juan Fernandez. Upon
his return to England, he intrusted his papers to Daniel Dfe Foe,
to prepare them for the press, with the reasonable hope of de-
riving benefit from the publication of his extraordinary adven-
tures. But De Foe, shamefully betraying his trust, stole from
those papers the ground-work of his tale, which he published,
for his own benefit, as an original piece--leaving poor Selkirk to
Jament the confidence which he had unluckily placed in a tnan
who could thus basely and cruelly rob him of all the advantages
which he was entitled to reap from his past sufferings.
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? Versification. 233
I start at the sound of my own
Society, friendship, and love,
Divinely bestow'd upon men !
Oh ! had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again!
Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
Anapccstics to be versified.
Anapaslia of four feet. -- Each line to make a
verse, and each couplet to rhime. -- N. B. It is of no
consequence whether the first foot of each verse consist
of two syllables or of three, provided that the last syl-
lable of that foot be accented. -- See page 32.
752
Adieu to the woodlands, where, gay and sportive,
The cattle play so froffcsorne, light bounding.
753
Adieu to the woodlands, where I have rov'd oft,
And, with the friend that I lov'd, convers'd sweetly.
754
Content and joy are now fled from our dwellings;
And, instead, disease and want sir. . our inuiates.
735. -- The French Revolution.
Now chivalry is dead, and Ciallia ru. n'd ;
And the glory of Europe is fled for ever.
V3
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? 2S4 Versification.
7. 56
No distinctions remain : lost is all order :
Grosses, ribbons, and titles, obtain no rev'rence.
757
All ranks, all ages, all natrons, shall combine
In this divine and just war of benevolence.
758
Though, from dunghills, meteors arise with lustre,
Is the filth, left behind, like the flame in the skies?
759
A singular custom prevails at Pavia,
To protect, from jails and bailiffs, the poor debtor.
760 [pale;
In my eye there's no grief, though my cheek may be
And 'tis seldom I give a sigh to sad mem'ry.
761
*t
You'll soon fly afar from country and from friends,
To havoc and to camps, to war and to rage.
. ' ? 6?
His case I remember'd, though scant was my wallet,
Nor, to his pitiful face, refus'd my last crnst.
763
Blind, forsaken, and poor, where shall I now go ?
Can I find one so kind and faithful, to guide me ?
764 [burden;
Her limbs could then no more support their faint
And she sank on the floor breathless and exhausted.
765
The hotter the fight, we still grow the fiercer.
So we conquer the foe, the loss we heed not.
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? Versification. 235
766
Queen of the fairies, so,gay and? rosy ! come !
As the daughter of May, with fl'ow'rs we must crown
you.
767. -- The impressed Sailor.
Because I've ventur'd my life for my country,
From my wife and my home I'm dragg'd, like a thief.
768. -- The Soldier.
After mafching all day, sore and hungry and faint,
Or! the swamps of the moor, at night I have kin down,
Unshelter'd, and by fatigue fure'd to remain,
By the wind all chill'd, and by the rain benumb'd.
769. --On a Vintner.
While Balderdash vends the vilest of compounds,
And, for all his good friends, brews his dear poison,
No wonder they can never get him to dine :--
He's afraid they'll oblige him to drink his own wine.
770
From my brother the post hasjust brought a letter;
And, to write him another, I am seated here.
Wo'n't it be very clever, if I can do't in rhime ?
And I could for ever scribble, I'm so fond of rhime.
771
She pass'd still fearless o'er weed-cover'd fragments,
And at last arriv'd at the innermost ruin,. . . .
When, on her ear, the sound of a voice seem'd to
All eager to hear, she listen'd, and she paus'd. [rise.
772
Prostrate is laid the elm, beneath whose broad shade
I have play'd and gatnbol'd iu childhood's blithe day.
The gay thrushes shall no more sing on its boughs,
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? 236 Versification.
Nor goldfinches hail the commencement of spring.
The musical choir, depriv'd of their shelter,
Retire to the shade of the thickets, with regret.
773. -- Woman.
'Tis woman, whose charms impart ev'ry rapture,
And to the pulse of the heart add a soft spring.
Her sway is so supreme--the miser himself
Resigns her his key, aud to love grows a convert.
Sorrow lifts up his head, at the sound of her voice,
And, from his shed, Poverty, well pleas'd, listens. '
Even Age, hobbling along, in an ecstasy,
Beats time to the tune of her song, with his crutch.
774
We cheerfully hope to find in our cottage
The solace of mind, and the transport of life.
Nature may shine there with unborrow'd beauty,
And read some divine lecture through all seasons ;
Excite the ambition pursu'd by wisdom,
And point to the giver of good, from his gifts.
Friends, ever welcome, shall pay glad visits there,
And books shall display the science of ages.
775. -- To a Daughter, with a Chaplet of Flozcers,
A more beauteous garland may adorn thy breast,
Than courts the soft dew-drops of May's lucid morn,
Tf, kind and obliging, good-bum on r'd and mild,
The fruits of the heart aid the blossoms of mind.
If love and duty join with ease and spirit,
The dear chaplet they form, that will ever please.
In thy bosom, my sweet little Jane, wear these ;
And unfaded will remain the flow'rs that we prize.
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? Versification. 237
776
Oh ! burn the tall heath which waves in the gale now :
Let nought prevail but the war-songs of Erin*.
The prows of the strangers swell the green wave now:
Unsheath then the sword of the brave, ye heroes.
Far from the shore, far, chase the deer of black Mor-
Till the banquet of Odin and of Death is o'er, [vern,
Of our fathers of old sing the deeds, ye bards,
And rouse the bold and the brave to new glory. . . .
From the heath-cover'd dell shall start the heroes,
Determin'd to fall as fell their forefathers.
Ye bold hunters of Colna's dark plain ! bend the bow:
Rejoice again In the Strength of your arrows.
Now the spears of tbe strangers darken the sky :
Dread Odin is nigh, and the eagle has shriek'd thrice.
Anapastics of four feet and three alternately -- with
alternate rhime.
777
The beauties, so rare, that adorn my Phyllis,
To those of her mind are inferior.
The forlorn orphan, and aged, she succours,
And is kind to all the afflicted.
778
A slave to passion, of Fancy a vot'ry,
With a heart that of guile's unconscious,
Of each plodding mean knave e'er shall I be the dupe,
And of each villain's dark wile the prey.
? Erin, the Gaelic name of Ireland.
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? 238 Versification.
779
A maiden cried, Ah me! aii! where can I fly,
For aid, from so wild a tempest ?
Can you now, my rigid stern sire, mock the sigh
Of your wandering, houseless, poor child ?
780
Ev'ry care and sorrow I sooth tenderly :
I toil, unwearied, to ease thee.
I ensnare, by ray wiles, the fish of the stream,
Despoil of their flowers the meads
781-
When our forefathers stray'd wide o'er the woodlands,
As rude as the rocks of cur isle,
Along the deep glade wanton'd fair Liberty,
And with a smile deck'd ev'ry face.
7se
The wide world is a desolate waste to me,
Where to roam Fortune has doom'd me,
Expos'd to the blast, a care-haunted pilgrim,
And denied a home or companion.
783
* Fond visions of joy ! vain illusions ! hence! hence!
In my breast no more shall you reign.
The frown of my Phyllis can annoy no more:
Her smile can make me blest no more"
Resolv'd to shake off the soft chain, young Strephon,
Among the gay shepherds, sang thus.
But his triumph is short: for, o'er the plain, see!
Lightly trips along his Phyllis.
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? Versification. 239
Anapmstics of four feel, with alternate rfdme.
784
From the blush of young Morn the trees borrow tints,
As to the gale they expand their beautiful bloom,
Where they adoru the cottage, and shadow the path,
Of Emma, the pride of the vale, sweet Emma.
785
Stern winter has stripp'd the trees of their honors,
And strew'd blighted beauties around in ruin:
Now by the breeze the pride of the woodlands is toss'd,
And the still streamlet is bound in strong icy chains.
786
I have, as I pass'd, seen how the rose, gay blushing,
Display'd her bosom to the gale of the morning:
I return'd : but away had her beauties faded;
And, ere the ev'ning, was the pride of the morn dead.
787
The look was gone, that spoke gladness and welcome:
The blaze was no more, that in the hall shone bright.
A stranger, with a bosom of stone, was there;
And, as I euter'd his door, his look was cold.
788
A strange contest arose between nose and eyes:
Unhappily the spectacles set tbein wrong.
As ev'ry one knows, the point in dispute was,
To which ought to belong the said spectacles
So his lordship decreed, with a solemn, grave tone,
Clear and decisive, without one but or if,
That, whenever the nose put on his spectacles,
By candle-light or day-light, eyes should be shut.
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? 240 Versification.
The first and third lines with double rhime.
789
How sweet is the thought of to-morrow to the heart,
When Hope's fairy pictures display bright colors'.
How sweet, when we can borrow from futurity
A balm for the griefs that to-day afflict us!
790
The last torrent was streaming from his bosom that
heav'd;
And his visage, deep mark'd with a scar, was pale:
And dim was that eye, once beaming expressively,
That kindled in war, and thai melted in love.
Jlnapaslics of three feet: -- rhime alternate.
791
I was cast upon the wide world,
A little boy, fatherless, poor:
But, at last, Fortune, kind Fortune,
Has turn'd to joy all my sorrow.
Anapastics of four feet: -- each couplet to rhime.
792. --Diana.
While she follows the. chase, Taygetus* sounds
With the cry of the hounds, and the notes of the horn.
* Taygetus. --In ancient . Greek names, the Y nt<<ver unites
with a preceding vowel 10 form a diphthong, but always makrs
a separate syllable, as in Ce-yx, Ca-ystcr, he. though (strange
as it may appear to the English reader) THYIis hut one syllable
in llitltyia and Orithyia, which, in Greek and Latin poeiry, con-
tain only four syllables each, as I have shown in my Latin
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? Versification. 241
793
Let order preside throughout your whole household. ;
I/or order is ever allied with prudence.
794
For departed moments, ah ! ne'er to return--
For scenes of past bliss,- we mourn, un-availing;
"When, blooming with health, our little ones and our-
selves
To indolent Wealth were objects of envy;
Prosody;" the YI being, in the original, a diphthong (Ul),
sounded, probably, by the ancient Greeks, as it is by the modern
French in Lui, Nuit, Puis, though difficult of pronunciation to
an English tongue, as observed in my note on the word Puis-
sance," under the head of " Diaresis," in page 10. --With respect
to THygetus, agreeably to the practice of Virgil, Homer, and other
ancient writers, it contains four syllables--the third, short; and
the accent falls on the second--Ta-y-getus. In my edition of
Jiryden's Virgil (Geo. 3, 74), I chose rather to presume that
our English bard had intended a synsope, however harsh, in the
third syllable, than that he could have been so grossly ignorant
of the classical quantity and pronunciation, as to make Tay a
single syllable, and to lengthen the ge. Accordingly, I thus
printed the line--
Thy hounds, T'dyg'tus, open, and pursue their prey.
Such of my readers, however, as prefer dactyls and anapaests to
the use of the syncope, may avoid the harsh elison, by making
the third foot an anapaest, thus--
Thy hounds, | Tdy- j -getus, o- | -pen, and pursue their prey--
though neither that nor any other management in the reading
can ever render it a pleasing line, destitute, as it is, of the middle
ceswa, which is indispensable in the Alexandrine metre.
X
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? 242 Versification.
When, at the close of each day, innocent sports
Could banish away our sorrows and our cares.
Ah ! when will sweet pastime the plain revisit,
And content and joy smile again around us?
Alternate rhime.
795 [man,
When, in the vale, had ceas'd the stroke of the wood-
And night's lonely warbler* her sweet song com-
menc'd,
Her tale a heart-broken maiden repeated,
And to the stream, as along it murmur'd, sigh'd.
Blank Verse.
Ten-syllable Iambics, in which some of the Italic
words are to have epithets added--some are to be al-
tered as directed in page ]<)6 -- and some are both to be
altered and to have epithets.
796
Oh ! if I had but the envied power of choosing
My residence, no sound of city bell should come to
My ear -- not even the cannon's roar.
797
Agreeable to see the laborer hasten homeward,
Light-hearted, as he supposes his steps [family.
Will soon be welcomed by the smile of his young
798
Ah! who can describe the mother's joy,
When first her infant leaps, quivering,
With extended arms, to meet her embrace f
The nightingale.
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? Versification. 243
799
Now the sun, from the burning heaven, [ness
Has driven away each cloud: with universal bright-
lilazing, the earth repels the eye.
800
Amid the nocturnal prowlers of thy wild commons,
Britannia, man walks safe; in all their tribes, [aim
None calculated to bid him shake with fear, none to
Claw or fang against their master.
801
Thus, when his army over the Alps, to no purpose
opposed,
Hannibal led, the last ascent, [now trod,
Laboriously proceeding over ice-built rocks, as they
Gasping for breath, the myriads | halted.
802
Far from being'the same, wisdom and knowledge
Frequentfif have no connexion. Knowledge resides
In heads stored with other men's thoughts,
Wisdom in minds that attend to their own.
803
One spring evening, as, rapt in solitary thought,
Be traced his confines, from the bordering common
An old man came forth : his steps
A young woman watch'd, with looks of filial affection.
804
Hypocrisy, hate her as we may,
May still lay claim to this merit, that she acknowledges
The value of what she imitates with such care,
And thus gives virtue praise \ indirectiyt
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? 244 Versification.
805
But, ray friend, before we separate, kt us ascend
Yon mountain, and trace back our journey.
Easy the ascent, and many an agreeable herb
Has Nature lavishly J strewed round.
806 [feet
There are, whom more humble walks please: their
Can visit the close cottage, ] in which Poverty
Patiently sits, and in which Industry, retired
From daily labor, | breathes the poisoned air;
807 {soundly,
Charming | baby! oh! mayest thou ever sleep as
Smile as softly, while over thy little bed
Thy mother sits, with enraptured gaze
Catching each feature's sweet expression.
808
How rapid the falcon's wing in pursuing!
Less rapid the linnet's flight. Alas! unfortunate bird!
Weak and weary is now thy wing,
While the foe draws close and closer.
809. -- Spring.
Whep the waking flowers and imprisoned leaves now
Burst from their tombs, the birds, that lurked, without
being seen, N
In the midst of the hybernal shade, in busy tribes
Pour their forgotten crowds, and derive,
From the smile of Spring, new rapture, new life.
810 [scene,
Thou mayest then peacefully | endure the passing
Sure of more noble life beyond the tomb,
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? Versification. 245
Where vice, pain, and error, shall no longer | exist,
But untainted happiness, and consummate wisdom,
Fill the capacious soul, and crown the everlasting
811 [scene.
The pure stream now, from the shoxeers of April
Refined, shows each pebble, that ornaments
Its bottom, and each scaly inhabitant
Glancing quick in the shallow parts, or, in pursuit
Of prey, sailing slowly in the deep.
812
How soft the harmony of the bells of the tillage
Falling upon the ear at intervals
In pleasing cadence, now all dying away,
Now again loudly pealing, and still more loudly,
Clear and sounding, as the gale approaches!
813
The moon rides high in the clouds,
That glisten, as they are wafted athwart her disk.
Charming is the glimpse, that, for a little while, plays
Among these mouldering pinnacles. But, listen!
That dismal sound! it is the owl.
814. -- Young Birds stolen from the Nest.
In the mean time, the younger victims, one after
another,
Drop off, destroyed by attention, and improper food.
One perhaps, more hardy than the others, survives,
And, 'tween the bars with weeds
Entwined, suspended at some high window, hops
From one stick to another, his unvaried little round,
x3
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