Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/872



Have ye \ chosen, \ O my \ people, \ on whose \ party \ ye shall \ stand, Ere the \ Doom from \ its worn \ sandals \ shakes the \ dust a\-gainst our \ land? Though the \ cause of \ evil \ prosper, \ yet the \ Truth a\-lone is \ strong, And, al \ beit she \ wander \ outcast \ now, I \ see a\-round her \ throng Troops of \ beauti\-ful tall \ angels \ to en\-shield her \ from all \ wrong."       JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: Liberator, September 4th, 1846. Example V.&mdash;The Season of Love.&mdash;A short Extract.   "In the \ Spring, a \ fuller \ crimson \ comes up\-on the \ robin's \ breast; In the \ Spring, the \ wanton \ lapwing \ gets him\-self an \ other \ crest; In the \ Spring, a \ livelier \ iris \ changes \ on the \ burnished \ dove; In the \ Spring, a \ young man's \ fancy \ lightly \ turns to \ thoughts of \ love.

Then her \ cheek was \ pale, and \ thinner \ than should \ be for \ one so \ young; And her \ eyes on \ all my \ motions, \ with a \ mute ob\-servance, \ hung. And I \ said, 'My \ cousin \ Amy, \ speak, and \ speak the \ truth to \ me; Trust me, \ cousin, \ all the \ current \ of my \ being \ sets to \ thee.'"      Poems by ALFRED TENNYSON, Vol. ii, p. 35. Trochaic of eight feet, as these sundry examples will suggest, is much oftener met with than iambic of the same number; and yet it is not a form very frequently adopted. The reader will observe that it requires a considerable pause after the fourth foot; at which place one might divide it, and so reduce each couplet to a stanza of four lines, similar to the following examples:

PART OF A SONG, IN DIALOGUE. SYLVIA.

"Corin, \ cease this \ idle \ teasing;     Love that's \ forc'd is \ harsh and \ sour;    If the \ lover \ be dis\-pleasing,      To per\-sist dis\-gusts the \ more."

CORIN.

"'Tis in \ vain, in \ vain to \ fly me,     Sylvia, \ I will \ still pur\-sue;    Twenty \ thousand \ times de\-ny me,      I will \ kneel and \ weep a\-new."

SYLVIA.

"Cupid \ ne'er shall \ make me \ languish,     I was \ born a\-verse to \ love;    Lovers' \ sighs, and \ tears, and \ anguish,      Mirth and \ pastime \ to me \ prove."

CORIN.

"Still I \ vow with \ patient \ duty     Thus to \ meet your \ proudest \ scorn;    You for \ unre\-lenting \ beauty      I for \ constant \ love was \ born."

Poems by ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD, p. 56. PART OF A CHARITY HYMN. 1.

"Lord of \ life, all \ praise ex\-celling,     thou, in \ glory \ uncon\-fin'd,    Deign'st to \ make thy \ humble \ dwelling      with the \ poor of \ humble \ mind.

2.

As thy \ love, through \ all cre\-ation, beams like \ thy dif\-fusive \ light; So the \ scorn'd and \ humble \ station shrinks be\-fore thine \ equal \ sight.

3.

Thus thy \ care, for \ all pro\-viding, warm'd thy \ faithful \ prophet's \ tongue; Who, the \ lot of \ all de\-ciding, to thy \ chosen \ Israel \ sung:

4.

'When thine \ harvest \ yields thee \ pleasure, thou the \ golden \ sheaf shalt \ bind; To the \ poor be\-longs the \ treasure of the \ scatter'd \ ears be\-hind.'"      Psalms and Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Hymn LV. A still more common form is that which reduces all these tetrameters to single rhymes, preserving their alternate succession. In such metre and stanza, is Montgomery's "Wanderer of Switzerland, a Poem, in Six Parts," and with an aggregate of eight hundred and forty-four lines. Example:    1.

"&lsquo;Wanderer, \ whither \ wouldst thou \ roam?     To what \ region \ far a\-way,    Bend thy \ steps to \ find a \ home,      In the \ twilight \ of thy \ day?&rsquo;

2.

'In the \ twilight \ of my \ day, I am \ hastening \ to the \ west; There my \ weary limbs \ to lay, Where the \ sun re\-tires to \ rest.

3.

Far be\-yond the At\-lantic \ floods, Stretched be\-neath the \ evening \ sky, Realms of \ mountains, \ dark with \ woods, In Co\-lumbia's \ bosom \ lie.

4.

There, in \ glens and \ caverns \ rude, Silent \ since the \ world be\-gan, Dwells the \ virgin \ Soli\-tude, Unbe\-trayed by \ faithless \ man:

5.

Where a \ tyrant \ never \ trod, Where a \ slave was \ never \ known, But where \ nature \ worships \ God In the \ wilder\-ness a\-lone.

6.

Thither, \ thither \ would I \ roam; There my \ children \ may be \ free; I for \ them will \ find a \ home; They shall \ find a \ grave for \ me.'"

First six stanzas of Part VI, pp. 71 and 72.