er, and so on throughout. The line itself consists of five measures. Measures, being the same as musical bars, received the name of Feet, because their time was regulated by the foot of the Corypheus or director of the Greek choirs. This action was called beating time.

§ 667. DISSYLLABIC MEASURES.-The number of these is limited to two, the Iambus and the Trochee.

Sweet Thir'za! wak'ing as' in sleep',

Thou art' but now' a love'ly dream';
A star' that trem'bled o'er' the deep',

Then turn'ed from earth' its ten'der beam':

But he' who through' life's drear'y way',

Must pass' when heaven' is veiled' in wrath',

Will long' lament' the van'ished ray'

That scat'tered glad'ness o'er' his path'.-BYRON.

In lines like the following, the measure is the reverse of the preceding one. The accented syllable comes first, the

unaccented one follows, the formula being a x:

Lay' thy bow' of pearl' apart',

And' thy silver shin'ing quiv'er;

Give' unto' the fly'ing hart'

Time' to breathe', how short' soever;

Thou' that mak'st' a day' of night',

God'dess! ex'quisite'ly bright'.-BEN JONSON.

§ 668. TRISYLLABIC MEASURES.-The number of these is limited to three, the Dactyl, the Amphibrach, the Anapest. 1. The First of these is exhibited in the word merrily

(a x x).

Mer'rily, mer'rily shall' I live now',

Un'der the blos'som that hangs' on the bough'.-SHAKSPEARE.

2. The Second is exhibited in the word disable (x a x)

But vain'ly thou war'rest:

For this is alone' in

Thy pow'er to declare',

That in' the dim for'est

Thou heard'st a low moan'ing,

And saw'st' a bright la'dy surpass'ingly fair'.-COLERIDGE.

3. The Third is exhibited in the word Cavalier (x x a).

There's a beau'ty forev'er unfad'ingly bright',

Like the long' sunny lapse' of a sum'mer day's light';

S s

Shining on', shining on', by no shad'ow made ten'der,
Till love falls asleep in the sameness of splendor.-MOORE.

A CESURA is a pause in a verse.

Warms in the sun, I refreshes in the breeze,

Glows in the stars, I and blossoms in the trees.-POPE.

RHYME.

§ 669. RHYME has been defined as the correspondence which exists between syllables containing sounds similarly modified.

It is not a mere ornament: it marks and defines the ac cent, and thereby strengthens and supports the rhythm. Its advantages have been felt so strongly, that no people have ever adopted an accented rhythm without also adopting rhyme. The moon is in her summer glow,

But hoarse and high the breezes blow;
And, racking o'er her face, the cloud

Varies the tincture of her shroud.-ScorT.

Here the last syllables of each line in the two couplets are said to Rhyme with each other.

Fair Queen! I will not blame thee now,

As once by Greta's fairy side;

Each little cloud that dimm'd thy brow

Did then an angel's beauty hide.-Rokeby.

Here the rhyming lines come alternately.

What is grandeur? what is power?
Heavier toil, superior pain;
What the bright reward we gain?

The grateful memory of the good.

Sweet is the breath of vernal shower;

The bee's collected treasure's sweet;

Sweet music's melting fall; but sweeter yet

The still, small voice of Gratitude.-GRAY.

Here the Rhymes occur at wider intervals.

ANALYSIS OF A PAIR OF RHYMING SYLLABLES.

§ 670. Let the syllables told and bold be taken to pieces, and let the separate parts of each be compared. Viewed in reference to meter, they consist of three parts or elements: 1. The vowel (o); the part preceding the vowel (1 and b respectively); the parts following the vowel (ld). Now the

vowel (o), and the parts following the vowel (ld), are alike in both words (old); but the part preceding the vowel is different in the different words (told, bold). This difference between the parts preceding the vowel is essential: since, if it were not for this, the two words would be identical, or, rather, there would be but one word altogether.

Again, compared with the words told and bold, the words teeth and breeze have two of the elements necessary to constitute a rhyme; the two vowels are alike (ee), while the parts preceding the vowels are different (br and t), and, as far as these two matters are concerned, the rhyme is a good one, tee and bree. Notwithstanding this, there is any thing rather than a rhyme, since the parts following, th and ze, instead of agreeing, differ. Breathe and beneath are in the same predicament, because the th is not sounded alike in the two words.

Again, the words feel and mill constitute only a false and imperfect rhyme. Sound for sound, the letters ƒ and m, the parts preceding the vowel, are different. This is as it should be. Also, sound for sound, I and II, the parts following the vowel, are identical, and this is as it should be also; but ee and i, the vowels, are different, and this difference spoils the rhyme. None and own are in the same predicament, since one o is sounded as o in note, and the other as u in but. For two or more words to rhyme with each other, it is, therefore, necessary,

1. That the vowel be the same in both.

2. That the parts following the vowel be the same.
3. That the parts preceding the vowel be different.
Beyond this, it is necessary that the syllables, to form a

full and perfect rhyme, should be accented syllables. Sky
and lie form good rhymes, but sky and merrily bad ones, and
merrily and silly worse.

IMPERFECT RHYMES.

§ 671. 1. None and own are better rhymes than none and man, because there are degrees in amount to which vowels differ from one another, and the sounds of the o in none and o in own are more alike than the sounds of o in none and the

a in man. In like manner, breathe and teeth are nearer to Rhymes than breathe and tease; and breathe and tease are more alike in sound than breathe and teal. All this is be cause the sound of th in teeth is more allied to that of thin breathe than that of s in tease; and the s in tease is more allied to the same sound (th) than the l in teal. This shows that in imperfect rhymes there are degrees, and that some approach the nature of true rhymes more than others.

2. In matters of Rhyme, the letter h counts as nothing. High and I, hair and air, are imperfect rhymes, because l (being no articulate sound) counts for nothing, and so the parts before the vowel i and a are not different (as they ought to be), but identical.

Whose generous children narrow'd not their hearts

With commerce, given alone to arms and arts.-BYRON.

3. Words where the letters coincide, but the sounds differ, are only rhymes to the eye: breathe and beneath are in this predicament; so also are cease and ease (eaze).

In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease,

Sprang the rank weed, and thrived with large increase.-POPE.

4. If the sounds coincide, the difference of the letters is unimportant.

"They talk of principles, but notions prize;
And all to one loved folly sacrifice."

DOUBLE AND TRIPLE RHYMES.

§ 672. An accented syllable standing by itself, and coming under the conditions given above, constitutes a SINGLE RHYME. An accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, coming under the conditions given above, constitutes a DOUBLE RHYME.

When LOVE came first to earth, the SPRING

Spread rose-beds to receive him;

And back, he vow'd, his flight he'd wing
To heaven, if she should leave him.

But Spring departing, saw his faith
Pledged to the next new-comer:
He revel'd in the warmer breath
And richer bowers of SUMMER,

The sportive AUTUMN claim'd by rights
An Archer for her lover;

And even in WINTER's dark, cold nights,
A charm he could discover.

Her routs, and balls, and fire-side joy,
For this time were his reasons:

In short, Young Love's a gallant boy

That likes all times and seasons.-CAMpbell.

An accented syllable followed by two unaccented ones, and coming under the conditions stated above, constitutes a TREBLE RHYME.

Oh ye immortal Gods! what is theogony?

Oh thou, too, immortal man! what is philanthropy?
Oh world that was and is! what is cosmogony?

Some people have accused me of misanthropy,

And yet I know no more than the mahogany

That forms this desk of what they mean: lycanthropy

I comprehend; for, without transformation,

Men become wolves on any slight occasion.-BYRON.

§ 673. MIDDLE RHYME is that which exists between the last accented syllables of the two sections of a line.

Happy, ye sons of busy life,

Who, equal to the bustling strife,
No other view regard,

Ev'n when the wish'd end's denied ;
Yet, when the busy means are plied,
They bring their own reward:

While I, a hope-abandon'd wight,
Unfitted with an aim,

Meet every sad returning night

And joyless morn the same!
You, bustling and jostling,

Forget each care and pain;

I, listless yet restless,

Find every prospect vain!-Burns.

And now there came both mist and snow,

And it grew wondrous cold;

And ice, mast-high, came floating by
As green as emerald.

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around:

It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd
Like noises in a swound.-COLERIDGE.