Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

VERSIFICATION.

Versification, or verse-making, has to do with the mechanical part of poetry.

The same thoughts expressed in verse, as has been intimated before, are more pleasing than when placed without regard to metrical arrangement. This is readily seen by arranging a stanza of poetry in prose form. Thus,-

"The maddened Hiawatha rushed forth into the mighty forest; a deadly sorrow was in his heart; a stony firmness was in his face, and the sweat of anguish started on his brow, but it froze and did not fall."

See how much more melodious when put in verse:

"Forth into the mighty forest

Rushed the maddened Hiawatha;
In his heart was deadly sorrow,
In his face a stony firmness,
On his brow the sweat of anguish

Started, but it froze, and fell not."

It will be noted at once that the sense and the words are the same, and yet the poetry is more pleasing than the prose because of the more pleasing arrangement.

In the arrangement of verse three things are to be considered: rhythm, meter, rhyme.

1. Rhythm.

Rhythm is the harmonious arrangement of syllables. Rhythm may occur in prose as well as in poetry, and it is equally pleasing in either. The same impulse placed on each syllable produces monotone, but the intervention of one or more unaccented syllables between those that are accented not only rests the vocal organs, but also produces a more pleasant effect upon the ear of the hearer. All harmonious prose gives more or less attention to

rhythm, but poetry cannot exist without it. In prose the rhythm need not be regular-that is, an accented syllable may be followed by one, two, or more unaccented ones-but in poetry the accented and the unaccented syllables follow each other in a regular order; and the nearer this order is approached by the arrangement of accents in prose, the more rhythmical and pleasing will be its effect. There can be no doubt that the more pleasing effect of poetry is due to the greater perfection of its rhythm.

A Verse in prosody is a single line of poetry.

A Stanza is one of the separate divisions of a poem. It consists of two or more verses.

A Couplet, or Distich, consists of two lines or verses taken together.

A Triplet consists of three verses rhyming together.
A Quatrain consists of four verses rhyming alternately.

2. Meter.

Meter, or measure, is the arrangement of a certain number of poetic feet in a line.

Foot.-A foot is a group of syllables having one accent. It is the smallest division of a line, and is the unit by which the line is measured.

Length of a Line. The length of a line is determined by the number of accents or feet which it contains. Thus,

Monometer, a verse of one foot.

Dimeter, a verse of two feet.
Trimeter, a verse of three feet.

Tetrameter, a verse of four feet.
Pentameter, a verse of five feet.
Hexameter, a verse of six feet.

Kinds of Feet.-In English we have feet of two syllables and feet of three syllables, and in each of these the accent may be placed on either the beginning or the end of the foot. This gives us four main varieties of feet, named as follows:

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Note that the macron [-], placed over a syllable, shows that it is accented, and the breve [~], that the syllable is not accented.

The Iambic foot consists of an unaccented and an accented syllable.

The Trochaic foot consists of an accented and an unaccented syllable.

The Anapestic foot consists of two unaccented syllables and one accented.

The Dactylic foot consists of an accented syllable and two unaccented.

To the foregoing may be added the spondee, which consists of two accented syllables; as, twilight, hearsay, etc.; but since we have no whole lines made up of spondees, we have no spondaic

verse.

The amphibrach consists of an unaccented, an accented, and an unaccented syllable; as, åre flashing, děpĕndĕnt. This foot is by some writers disallowed.

Some authors give the casura, a long accented syllable used as one foot; as,

Higher, higher, will we climb

Up the mount of glory.

When the meter in a line is complete, the verse is said to be acatalectic; as,—

The curfew tōlls | the knell | of part | Ing day | .

When the meter is deficient, it is called catalectic; as,— Green be the | grāves where hĕr | mār tŷrs åre | lỹ Ing. When there is a redundant syllable, the meter is called hypercatalectic or hypermeter; as,—

Ålōng | the hills | Ŏf heath | ĕr.

The following will illustrate the varieties of meter and verse:

IAMBIC VERSE.

Note.-Iambic monometer and iambic dimeter are very rare.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

"So blue | yon wind | Ing riv | ĕr flows,
İt seems | ăn out | lět from | thể sky,
Where, waiting till | the west | wind blows, |
The freight | ĕd clouds | ǎt anch | Ŏr lie." |

I. Pentameter:

"The breezy call | of in | cense-breath | Ing mōrn, |

The swallow twit | tering from | the straw- | built shēd, | The cock's shrill clar | Ion, ōr | the ech | oing hōrn, |

No mōre | shåll rōuse | them from | their lōw | lỹ bēd.” I. Hexameter:

"Philōs | Ŏphērs | măy teach | thỹ where | ǎbōuts | ănd nät | ŭre; But wise, ǎs all of us, | perfōrce, | must think | 'ěm,

[ocr errors]

The school boy best | has fixed | thỹ nō | měnclāt | ŭre, And pō | ets too | must call | thee Bōb- | Ŏ-link | ům." Note.-In order to save space, but a single line is given in most of the following examples:

TROCHAIC VERSE.

Trimeter: Bless mě, this is | pleasǎnt, |
Riding on ǎrāil.

Tetrameter: See the | rūddy | morning | smiling. |
Pentameter:

Mountǎin- | winds! oh! | whither | dō ye | call mě?
Hexameter:

Ōn ǎ | mōuntăin | stretched bě | nēath ǎ | hōarỹ | willow. |

ANAPESTIC VERSE.

Trimeter: I ăm môn | ǎrch of all | Ĭ sŭrvēy. |

Tetrameter:

When the flōw | ĕrs of friend | ship or lōve | håve děcâyed. | Pentameter:

On the warm | cheek of youth | the găy smile | ănd the rōse | ěvěr blend. |

Hexameter:

But the leaves | ǎre begin | ning to with | ĕr ånd droop, I ǎnd they die ❘ în ǎ day. |

DACTYLIC VERSE.

Note --Tell the number of feet in each of the following:

1.

2.

Bird of the wilderness,

Blithesome and cumberless,

Light be thy matin o'er moorland and lea.

Bōys will ǎnticipăte, lavish ănd dissipǎte,
All that your būsă păte hōarděd with care.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »