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§ 532.

§ 533.

OTTAVA RIMA.

Morgante had a palace in his mode,
Composed of branches, logs of wood, and earth,
And stretch'd himself at ease in this abode,

And shut himself at night within his berth.
Orlando knock'd, and knock'd again, to goad

The giant from his sleep; and he came forth
The door to open like a crazy thing,

For a rough dream had shook him slumbering.-BYRON.

TERZA RIMA.

Many are poets who have never penn'd

Their inspiration, and, perchance, the best:
They felt, and loved, and died, but would not lend
Their thoughts to meaner beings; they compress'd
The God within them, and rejoin'd the stars
Unlaurel'd upon earth, but far more bless'd

Than those who are degraded by the jars

Of passion, and their frailties linked to fame,

Conquerors of high renown, but full of scars.-BYRON.

ALEXANDRINES.

§ 534. Six measures, x a, with rhyme. The name is said to be taken from the fact that early romances upon the deeds of Alexander of Macedon, of great popularity, were written in this metre. See § 500.

BALLAD STANZA.

§ 535. This consists of four lines.

The first is composed of four Iambics, formula x ax4. The second is composed of three Iambics, forThe third and fourth are like the first and second.

mula x ax3.

§ 536.

The Past and Present here unite
Beneath Time's flowing tide;

Like footprints hidden by a brook,

But seen on either side.-LONGFELLOW.

RHOMBIC MEASURES.

Ah me!

Am I the swain

That, late from sorrow free,

Did all the cares on earth disdain ?

And still untouch'd, as at some safer games,

Play'd with the burning coals of love and beauty's flames?
Was't I could drive and sound each passion's secret depth at will,
And from those huge o'erwhelmings rise by help of reason still?
And am I now, O heavens! for trying this in vain,

So sunk that I shall never rise again?
Then let despair set sorrow's string

For strains that doleful be,

And I will sing

Ah me!

COMMON METRE.

WITHER.

§ 537. The first line consists of four Iambics, formula x a × 4. The second line consists of three Iambics, formula x ax3. The stanza consists of four lines, which rhyme alternately.

Happy the heart where graces reign,
Where love inspires the breast;
Love is the brightest of the train,

And strengthens all the rest.—WATTS.

LONG METRE.

§ 538. The four lines which compose a stanza are of equal length, each consisting of four Iambics, the formula being x a×4. The lines rhyme sometimes alternately and sometimes in couplets.

The billows swell, the winds are high,

Clouds overcast my wint'ry sky;

Out of the depths to Thee I call;

My fears are great, my strength is small.-COWPER.

SHORT METRE.

§ 539. The stanza consists of four lines. The first, second, and fourth consist of three Iambics; the formula is x a×3. The third of four Iambics; the formula is x ax 4.

I love thy kingdom, Lord,

The house of thine abode;

The Church our bless'd Redeemer saved

With his own precious blood !-DWIGHT.

HALLELUJAH METRE.

§ 540. The stanza consists of eight lines. The first four consist of three Iambics; the last four of two Iambics.

Yes, the Redeemer rose !

The Savior left the dead;

And o'er our hellish foes

High raised his conquering head:

In wild, dismay,

The guards around

Fall to the ground,

And sink away.-DODDRIDGE.

Besides these, there are Combinations of Iambic Measures, Trochaic Measures, and Anapestic Measures. Each kind can be easily ascertained from the descriptions already given.

EXERCISES UNDER PART VIII.

POETICAL ANALYSIS.

§ 541. POETICAL ANALYSIS is that process by which the Poetical Forms of a passage are distinguished and named according to their descriptions in Part VIII.

1.

EXAMPLES.

Bird of the wilderness,
Blithesome and cumberless,

Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!

Emblem of happiness,

Bless'd is thy dwelling place,

O to abide in the desert with thee!

Wild is thy lay and loud,
Far in the downy cloud,

Love gives it energy, love gave it birth;
When on thy dewy wing,

Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.-HOGG.

The first and second lines are each composed of two dactyls. A dactyl consists of one accented and two unaccented syllables. See § 483. The third line is composed of three dactyls and an additional syllable. The fourth and fifth, the seventh and eighth, the tenth and the eleventh, are like the two first. The sixth, ninth, twelfth, are like the third, the twelfth having an additional syllable at the commencement.

Analyze the following, and state what are the feet composing the several lines, and what are the definitions of the several feet which enter into the composition of the lines; what are the rhymes, if any, and what are the number of lines that compose a stanza.

2.

3.

4.

If I had thought thou couldst have died,
I might not weep for thee;

But I forgot, when by thy side,

That thou couldst mortal be.

It never through my mind had pass'd
The time would e'er be o'er,

And I on thee should look my last,

And thou shouldst smile no more.-WOLFE.

High on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind,

Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised

To that bad eminence.-MILTON.

Triumphal arch that fill'st the sky
When storms prepare to part,

I ask not proud philosophy

To teach me what thou art.

t time

Still seem, as to my childhood's sight,

A midway station given

For happy spirits to alight,

Between the earth and heaven.-CAMPBELL.

SYNTHESIS.

1. Compose a line or more of Iambics.
2. Compose a line or more of Trochees.
3. Compose a line or more of Anapests.
4. Compose a line or more of Amphibrachs.
5. Compose a line or more of Dactyls.

6. Compose or select a Spenserian stanza.

7. Compose or select a stanza of Gay's measure.

8. Compose or select a stanza of Elegiac Octosyllabics.

9. Compose or select a Ballad stanza.

10. Compose or select a stanza of Elegiac Heroics.

PUNCTUATION.

DEFINITION.

§ 542. PUNCTUATION, from the Latin punctum, á point, is the art of dividing written composition by points or stops, for the purpose of marking the different pauses which the sense and the pronunciation require.

What is the true principle of punctuation? One opinion on this point is, that it is the business of punctuation to divide written language into such portions as a correct speaker would divide it into. This opinion is supported by historical reasons found in the practice of old manuscripts, and by the increased facilities which this mode of punctuation affords to the public reader. This view of punctuation is the Rhetorical view.

The other opinion on this point is, that punctuation should attend only to the Grammatical structure of a sentence, and should never separate the subject from the predicate, or the case governed from the verb that governs it. Such was the opinion of the critic caricatured by Sterne. "And how did Garrick speak the solilo"Oh! against all rule," says the critic; "most ungrammatically. Between the nominative case, which your lordship knows should govern the verb, he suspended his voice a dozen times, three seconds and three fifths, by a stop-watch, my lord, each time."

quy?”

The current practice is generally more in accordance with the grammatical than the rhetorical view. The following are the common rules, though there is considerable diversity among authors and printers in their application.

THE COMMA (,).

§ 543. The comma (,) denotes the smallest division in the construction of sentences on the printed page, and the shortest pause in reading.

RULE I.

A comma should not come in between the subject or nominative and the verb or predicate; as, "America claimed nothing but her independence."

Exception 1. When the subject of a simple sentence is accompanied by several adjuncts, a comma should be introduced immediately before the verb; as, "The injustice and barbarity of this censure on all former editors of the New Testament, will appear," &c.

Exception 2. When the connection between a subject and the verb is interrupted by one or more important words, a comma should be inserted both before and after them: "To do good, if we have the opportunity, is our duty, and should be our happiness.

EXAMPLES.

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1. The book is the author's pledge to immortality. 2. The friend of order has made half his way to virtue. Exception 1. The weakest reasoners among my acquaintance, especially on the subject of religion, are generally the most positive.

Exception 2. His style, in point of grammatical construction, is open to endless objection.

RULE II.

Two or more words in the same construction are separated by a comma; as, "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim;" "We are fearfully, wonderfully framed."

Exception. When the two words, however, are closely connected by a conjunction, no comma is admitted between them; as, "The study of natural history expands and elevates the mind." But if the parts connected are not short, the comma may be inserted; as, “Intemper ance destroys the strength of our bodies, and the vigor of our minds."

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