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of words, so that those of the middle one read with either of the other two :

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dis- and p

-ain.

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-sed -iend -rought -eath -ease bles- fr

b

A cursed fiend wrought death, disease, and pain;
A blessed friend brought breath and ease again.

SECTION DCXXXII.-BLANK VERSE.

Rhyme is not essential to English verse. It is an ornament, and something more. Final rhyme has been called a "time-beater:" it separates each verse from the others by a distinct boundary, and thus contributes to the measure. Still, it is not essential. Measures, where there are no rhymes, are called BLANK VERSE. It is a general rule that every verse shall end with an important word.

"All night the dreadless angel, unpursued,

Through heaven's wide champaign held his way; till Morn,
Waked by the circling Hours, with rosy hand

Unbarr'd the gates of light."-MILTON.

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SECTION DCXXXIII.-POETICAL LICENCE.

The Rules of Syntax are sometimes traversed by the practice of the poets.

as,

1. The verb precedes the nominative; as,

"Sunk was the sun, and up the eastern heaven,
Like maiden on a lonely pilgrimage,
Moved the meek star of eve."-MILMAN.

2. The verb follows the accusative; as,

"His prayer he saith, this holy man."—KEATS.

3. The noun precedes the adjective; as,

Twas in youth, that hour of dreaming,

Round me visions fair were beaming."-Mrs. NORTON.

4. The infinitive mode precedes the governing word; as,

"When first thy sire, to send on earth

Virtue, his darling child, designed."—GRAY.

5. An intransitive verb is placed at the beginning of a sentence;

"Air blacken'd roll'd the thunder, groan'd the ground."-DRYDEN.

6. Adverbs precede the words which they qualify; as,

"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way."--GRAY.

7. The preposition follows its governing word; as, "Where echo walks steep hills among."

8. The article is often omitted; as,

"What dreadful pleasure! there to stand, sublime,
Like shipwreck'd mariner on desert coast."

9. Compound epithets are frequently used; as,
"O music! sphere-descended maid!”—COLLINS.

10. A positive is joined with a comparative; as,
"Near, and more near, the intrepid beauty press'd."

11. After a pronoun its representative noun is repeated; as,
"It ceased the melancholy sound.”

12. The relative is omitted; as,

"Tis Fancy, in her fiery car,

Transports me to the thickest war!"

13. The antecedent is omitted; as,

"Who never fasts, no banquet e'er enjoys."

14. Intransitive verbs are made to govern the objective; as, "Still in harmonious intercourse they lived

The rural day, and talk'd the flowing heart."

15. The uncompounded form of the first and third persons imperative is used; as,

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16. In the compound tenses the auxiliary only is used; as, "What for ourselves we can is always ours."

17. The idioms of other languages are used; as,

"For not to have been dipp'd in Lethe's lake
Could save the son of Thetis from to die."

"He came; and, standing in the midst, explain'd
The peace rejected, but the truce detain'd."

18. Antiquated words and modes of expression are used; as,
"Shall I receive by gift what of my own,

When where likes me best I can command ?"

"In sooth, he was a strange and wayward wight."

Some of these forms are not peculiar to poetry.

SECTION DCXXXIV.-ELISION.

ELISION, Latin elido, to strike off, is a general term for certain Euphonic Figures, in which there is an omission of a letter or letters. See Section CLX.

"'Twas theirs alone to dive into the plan

That truth and mercy had reveal'd to man.". -CowPER.

"Hence British poets, too, the priesthood shared,
And ev'ry hallowed Druid was a bard."-COWPER.

"Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms?"-MILTON.
"Because the Father, whom in heaven supreme."-MILTON.

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IN the following extract the two accented lines are each composed of a single Iambus.

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In the following stanzas the three accented lines consist of an Iambus and an additional syllable.

"The day had sunk in dim showers,

But midnight now, with lustre meek,
Illumined all the pale flowers,

Like hope that lights a mourner's cheek:
I said', while

The moon's' smile

Played o'er a stream in dimpling bliss,
"The moon' looks
On many brooks

The brook can see no moon but this."

And thus, I thought, our fortunes run;
For many a lover looks to thee:

While, oh! I feel there is but one,

One Mary in the world for me!"-MOORE.

SECTION DCXXXVI. IAMBIC DIMETER.

Formula xa x 2.

In the following extract the accented lines are composed of two Iambics

"Wheel the wild dance

While lightnings glance,

And thunders rattle loud!

And call' the brave'

To blood'y grave',

To sleep without a shroud!

Our airy feet',

So light' and fleet',

They do not bend the rye

That sinks its head when whirlwinds rave,

And swells again in eddying wave,

49 ENG. LANG. 31.]

As each wild gust goes by;

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In this extract the accented lines are composed of two Iambics and

an additional syllable.

"Could love forev'er
Run like' a riv'er,
And Time's' endeavour

Be tried in vain,

No oth'er pleas'ure

With this could measure,

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"But since our sigh'ing
Ends not' in dy'ing,
And, form'd' for fly'ing,
Love plumes his wing;
Then, for this rea'son,
Let's love' a sea'son,

But let that season

Be only spring."-BYRON.

SECTION DCXXXVII.-IAMBIC TRIMETER.

Formula x ax 3.

In this extract the accented lines are composed of three Iambics.

"We stand among the fallen leaves,
Young children at' our play',
And laugh to see the yellow things
Go rust'ling on' their way'.

Right merrily we hunt them down,
The au'tumn winds' and we';
Nor pause to gaze where snow-drifts lie,
Or sun'beams gild' the tree'.

With dancing feet we leap along

Where with'er'd boughs' are strewn';

Nor past nor future checks our song

The present is' our own'!"-Mrs. NORTON.

Formula x ax 3 +.

In this extract the accented lines are composed of three Iambics, with an additional syllable.

"Then out' spake brave' Hora'tius,

The captain of the gate:

To ev'ry man upon this earth

Death cometh soon or late!

And how' can man' die bet'ter

Than facing fearful odds

For the ash'es of' his fa'thers,

And the temple of his gods ?"-MACAULAY.

SECTION DCXXXVIII.-IAMBIC TETRAMETER.

Formula x ax 4.

In the following the law of measure is, that there should be four Iambics in each line. Instead of an Iambus, there is occasionally a Trochee, as in the first foot. This is the common octosyllabic

verse.

"Child of the country! free as air

Art thou', and as' the sun'shine fair':
Born, like' the li'ly, where' the dew'
Lies odorous when the day is new;
Fed 'mid the May-flowers, like the bee;
Nursed to sweet music on the knee;
Lull'd in the breast to that glad tune
Which winds make 'mong the woods of June:
I sing of thee! 'Tis sweet to sing.
Of such a fair and gladsome thing.

"Child of the town! for thee I sigh:
A gilded roof's thy golden sky;
A carpet is thy daisied sod;

A narrow street thy boundless road;

Thy rushing deer's the clattering tramp

Of watchmen; thy best light's a lamp;

Through smoke, and not through trellis'd vines

And blooming trees, thy sunbeam shines:

I sing of thee in sadness! Where

Else is wreck wrought in aught so fair ?"—ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

Formula x a × 4+.

In this extract the accented lines are composed of four Iambics and an additional syllable.

"Wee, sleek'/it, cow'/rin', tim'/'rous beas'/tie!

O what a panic's in thy breastie!

Thou needna start awa' sae hasty,

Wi' bickering brattle!

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee

Wi' murdering pattle!

"I'm truly sor'ry man's' domin'ion
Has bro'ken Na'ture's so'cial un'ion,
An' justifies' that ill' opin'ion,

Which makes thee startle

At me', thy poor' earth-born' compan'ion,

An' fellow-mortal!"-BURNS.

SECTION DCXXXIX.-IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

In these extracts the

consist of five Iambics.

Formula xa x 5.

law of the measure is, that each line should
This is called Heroic measure.

"Dim as'/ the bor'/row'd beams' / of moon' / and stars
To lone'ly, wea'ry, wan'd'ring travellers'

Is Reason to the soul! and as on high

Those rolling fires discover but the sky,

Not light, as here; so Reason's glimmering ray
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day."-DRYDEN.

"O unexpected stroke! worse than of Death!
Must I then leave thee, Paradise? thus leave
Thee, native soil, these happy walks and shades,
Fit haunt of gods? where I had hoped to spend,
Quiet though sad, the respite of that day
That must be mortal to us both. O flowers,
That never will in any other climate grow,

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