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[Thanks], my Lord', for your ven'ison; for fin'er nor fat'ter
Ne'er ranged' in the for'est nor smoked' on the plat'ter:
The flesh was a picture for painters to study,

The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy.

[Though] my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting
To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.-GOLDSMITH.

Formula xa xx4-.

The accented lines are composed of four Amphibrachs, wanting one syllable.

But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature,

To lay down thy head' like the meek' mountain lamb';
When wilder'd he drops from some cliff huge in stature,
And draws' his last sob' by the side' of his dam'.
And more stately thy couch by this desert lake lying,

Thy obsequies sung by the gray plover flying,

With one faithful friend to witness thy dying,

§ 702.

In the arms of Helvellyn and Catchedicam.-SCOTT.

DACTYLIC MEASURE S.

DACTYLIC MONOMETER.

Formula a x x.

"Fear'fully.

Tear'fully,

She hasten'd on her way."

POETICAL FORMS.

DACTYLIC DIMETER.

Formula a x x x 2 and a x x x 2-.

§ 703. In the following the lines 1, 3, 5, &c., consist of two Dactyls, and the lines 2, 4, 6, &c., consist of two Dac tyls, wanting the last syllable.

Pi'broch of Don'uil Dhu,

Pibroch of Donuil,
Wake' thy wild voice' anew,
Summon Clan-Conuil.
Come away, come away!

Hark to the summons!
Come in your war-array,
Gentles and commons!
Come from the deep glen, and

From mountain so rocky;
The war-pipe and pennon
Are at Inverlochy.
Come every hill-plaid, and

True heart that wears one;
Come every steel blade, and
Strong hand that bears one!

Leave untended the herd,

The flock without shelter;

The corpse uninterr'd,

The bride at the altar;
Leave the deer, leave the steer,
Leave nets and barges;
Come with your fighting gear,
Broadswords and targes!

Come as the winds come, when

Forests are rended;

Come as the waves come, when

Navies are stranded:

Faster come, faster come,

Faster and faster!

Chief, vassal, page, and groom,

Tenant and master.

Fast they come, fast they come :

See how they gather!
Wide waves the eagle plume,

Blended with heather.

Cast your plaids, draw your blades;

Forward each man set!

Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,

Knell for the onset!-SCOTT.

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DACTYLIC TRIMETER.

§ 704. Formula a x x x 3 and a x x x 3-.

§ 705.

"Peace' to the Isle' of the o'cean!

Peace' to thy breez'es and bil'lows!"

DACTYLIC TETRAMETER.

Formula a x x x 4.

Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!
Honor'd' and bless'd be' the ever-green Pine!
Long' may the tree' in his ban'ner that glanc'es
Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line!
Heaven send it happy dew,

Earth lend it sap anew,

Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow;

While every Highland glen

Sends our shout back agen,

"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!"-SCOTT.

DACTYLIC HEXAMETER.

§ 706. The last line in each verse is a Spondee. The accented lines have five Dactyls.

This' is the fo'rest prime'val; but where' are the hearts' that beneath it
Leap'd' like the roe', when it hears' in the woodland the voice' of the huntsman?
Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers?
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,
Darken'd by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of Heaven?

CHAPTER III.

COMBINED MEASURES.

LONGFELLOW.

THE SPENSERIAN STANZA.

§ 707. THIS consists of nine Iambic lines, the eight first being Heroics, and the ninth an Alexandrine. The law of the Rhyme may be seen in the following:

I care not, Fortune, what you me deny :
You can not rob me of free Nature's grace;
You can not shut the windows of the sky,

Through which Aurora shows her bright'ning face;
You can not bar my constant feet to trace
The woods and lawns by living stream at eve;

Let health my nerves and finer fibers brace,

And I their toys to the great children leave:

Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave.-THOMSON.

A STANZA is a combination of several lines constituting the regular division of a poem.

GAY'S STANZA.

§ 708. The formula for the odd lines is x ax 3+; for the even lines, x a × 3. The rhymes are alternate, and the odd

rhymes double.

""Twas when the seas were roaring

With hollow blasts of wind,

A damsel lay deploring,

All on a rock reclined;
Wide o'er the foaming billows

She cast a wistful look;

Her head was crown'd with willows,
That trembled o'er the brook."

ELEGIAC OCTOSYLLABICS.

§ 709. These are the same as the common octosyllabics (see § 683), except that the rhymes are regularly alternate, and the verses are arranged in stanzas.

And on her lover's arm she leant,

And round her waist she felt it fold;

And far across the hills she went,

In that new world which now is old:

Across the hills and far away,

Beyond their utmost purple rim;

And deep into the dying day

The happy princess followed him.-TENNYSON.

OCTOSYLLABIC COUPLETS.

§ 710. Four measures, 2 a, with pairs of rhymes. See

§ 683.

OCTOSYLLABIC TRIPLETS.

§ 711. Four measures, x a, with three rhymes regularly in succession.

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§ 712. Five measures, x a, with pairs of rhymes. See §

684.

HEROIC TRIPLETS.

§ 713. Five measures, xa, with three rhymes in suc

cession.

By this the brides are waked, their grooms are dress'd;
All Rhodes is summon'd to the nuptial feast:

All but myself, the sole unbidden Guest.-Dryden.

ELEGIAC HEROICS.

§ 714. These are the same as the common heroics, except that the lines regularly alternate, and are arranged in stanzas.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea;

The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.-GRAY.

RHYME ROYAL.

§ 715. Seven lines of heroics, with the two last rhymes in succession, and the five first recurring at intervals. It admits of varieties, according to the distribution of the five first rhymes.

§ 716.

For, lo! the sea that fleets about the land,
And like a girdle clips her solid waist,
Music and measure both doth understand
For his great crystal eye is always cast
Up to the moon, and on her fixeth fast;
And as she in her pallid sphere,
So danceth he about the center here.
SIR JOHN DAVIS.

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.

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