Part 199 (1/2)
_Exaht, I | heard a | hollow | sound, _G=ath~er~ing_ | up fro_ | in to | where they | sat as |-se, | trembled”
ALFRED TENNYSON: _Frazee's Improved Gram_, p 184; _Fowler's_, 657
This measure, whether with the final short syllable or without it, is said, by Murray, Everett, and others, to be ”_very uncommon_” Dr Johnson, and the other old prosodists na of it Two couplets, exerammars, and erroneously reckoned to _differ as to the number of their feet_, were either selected or coin--or, if not then, at its first reprint, in 1796 They are these:--
(1)
”All that | walk on | foot or | ride in | _chariots_, All that | dwell in | pala |-ces or | garrets”
_L Murray's Gram_, 12mo, 175; 8vo, 257; _Chandler's_, 196; _Churchill's_, 187; _Hiley's_, 126; _et al_
(2)
”Idle | after | dinner, | in his | chair, Sat a | farmer, | ruddy, | fat, and | fair”
_Murray, same places; N Butler's Gr_, p 193; _Hallock's_, 244; _Hart's_, 187; _Weld's_, 211; _et al_
Richard Hiley most absurdly scans this last couplet, and all verse like it, into ”_the Heroic , ”Sometimes a syllable is cut off from the _first_ foot; as,
=I |-dl~e =af |-t~er d=inn |-n~er =in | h~is ch=air [,]
S=at | ~a f=ar |-lish Grammar_, Third Edition, p 125
J S Hart, who, like many others, has mistaken the metre of this last example for ”_Trochaic Tetra the current though rather questionable assertion, that, ”this measure is very uncommon,” proceeds with our ”_Trochaic Pentameter_,” thus: ”This species is likewise uncommon It is cor=een ~and | gl=oom~y | v=all~ey, S=at~yrs | b=y th~e | br=ookl~et | l=ove t~o | d=all~y”
And again: [[Fist]] ”_The SAME with an ADDITIONAL accented syllable_; as,
Wh=ere th~e | w=ood ~is | w=av~ing |gr=een ~and |_h=igh_, F=auns ~and | Dr=y~ads | w=atch th~e | st=arr~y | _sky_”
_Hart's English Grammar_, First Edition, p 187
These examples appear to have been ether with its introduction, made unskillfully The lines are of five feet, and so are those about the ruddy far ”_additional_” in either case; for, as pentameter, they are all _catalectic_, the final short syllable being dispensed with, and a caesura preferred, for the sake of single rhy ”syllable” will make trochaic _hexameter_, a measure perhaps more pleasant than this See examples above
MEASURE V--TROCHAIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER
_Exa | winds a | -round her | blowing, Yellow | leaves the | woodlands | strewing, By a | river | hoarsely | roaring, Isa | -bella | strayed de | -ploring
'Farewell | hours that | late did | measure Sunshi+ne | days of | joy and | pleasure; Hail, thou | glooht that | knows no | morrow
2
O'er the | past too | fondly | _wandering_, On the | hopeless | future | _pondering_, Chilly | grief my | life-blood | freezes, Fell de | -spair my | fancy | seizes
Life, thou | soul of | _every_ | blessing, Load to | _n thee, And to | dark ob | _-livion_ | join thee'”
ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol ii, p 131
_Exa Petitionary_
”_Powers ce_ | -lestial, | whose pro | -tection Ever | guards the | _virtuous_ | fair, While in | distant | climes I | wander, Let my | Mary | be your | care: Let her | form so | fair and | faultless, Fair and | faultless | as your | own; Let my | Mary's | kindred | spirit Draw your | choicest | _influence_ | down
Make the | gales you | waft a | -round her Soft and | peaceful | as her | breast; Breathing | in the | breeze that | fans her, Soothe her | bosoels, | O pro | -tect her, When in | distant | lands I | roam; _To realms_ | _unknown_ | _while fate_ | _exiles me_, Make her | bosom | still my | home”