and usually at the end of the line. Alliteration and rhythm are employed in prose, but not so freely as Rime is never considered suitable for use in verse. in prose. Verse is so generally employed in poetry that the Poetry. terms are often confused. They should be carefully distinguished; for much good verse, like Dr. Holmes' famous "One Hoss Shay," has scarcely any elements of poetry, and there is prose, like "Ik Marvel's" "Dream Life," which is essentially poetic. It is not easy to define poetry. It is the kind of writing. in which the imagination predominates. It employs metaphor, simile, personification, and other tropes more freely than does prose. Poetry does not argue. It reports the visions of the seer. It is essentially creative. The poet appeals to the emotions rather than to the understanding. These statements characterize rather than define, and some of them might be reasonably disputed, but they may serve to help us make the necessary distinction between prose and poetry. The principal forms of prose and verse had been developed in English Literature before American. Literature began to be. American writers imparted qualities of their own to these already established forms. But they have not except in a few instances attempted to change them or to depart from them. The forms of English verse are determined by the length and grouping of the lines, the kind of feet, that is, combinations of accented and unaccented The Foot. A foot consists of one accented syllable with one or more unaccented syllables. Names have been given to the different kinds of feet which are somewhat misleading, as they are borrowed from the Latin system of verse in which "quantity," or length of vowel sound, is the essential point, whereas in English verse, accent or stress is the regulating principle. But these names are generally employed, and there are no accepted substitutes for them. The foot is the combination of accented and unaccented syllables. There are five, or, according to some authorities, six such combinations. An accented followed by an unaccented syllable is a Trochee or Trochaic foot, as Beauty. An accented followed by two unaccented syllables is a Dactyl, as Joyfully. An unaccented followed by an accented syllable is an Iambus, as Before. Two unaccented syllables followed by one accented make an Anapest, as Serenade. An accented syllable with unaccented before and after is an Amphibrach, as Alarming. Some prosodists add the Spondee, consisting of two accented syllables, as Amen. This may be put in tabular form, as follows, using as the sign of the unaccented syllable and as the sign of the accented. Trochee /x Beauty Iambus Before The Line. Dactyl /xx Joyfully Amphibrach /× Alarming Anapest × ×/ Serenade The different lines, or verses, — for, technically, a verse is a line, are formed by the combination of these feet, and are called by names indicating the number of feet. Thus if a line has two accents it is called Dimeter; if three, Trimeter; if four, Tetrameter; if five, Pentameter; if six, Hexameter. The following examples of lines are all taken from Longfellow's poems. Solemnly, mournfully, The Curfew Bell Is beginning to toll. From the spirits on earth that adore, Like a ring of fire around him I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. Dimeter with Anapestic Trochaic Iambic Pentameter. Hexameter with Dactyls and Trochee These feet and lines are combined with freedom, or Spondee. and in almost endless variety, and by their artistic use all the beautiful forms of English verse are made. Extra accents and defective feet are sometimes used for emphasis and variety. An important matter in verse is the point where Cesura. the voice pauses for rest or emphasis. Usually there will be one principal pause within each line, and the point where this pause occurs is called the Cesura. If it occurs always at nearly the same part of the line, the effect is likely to be monotonous or singsong. A wise arrangement of the line so that the Stychic and Stychic. Unrimed Iambic Rimed Iambic Pentameter or Heroic Verse. Unrimed Trochaic Tetrameter. Rimed rhetorical pause shall assist the melody and variety of the rhythm is one of the sure indications of an artistic writer of verse. Another important distinction of form, in English verse, is that between Stanzaic, in which the lines are grouped into stanzas of various lengths and arrangement, and continuous, or, as it is sometimes called, "Stychic," in which the lines are written continuously with no stanza divisions. The Old English, or Anglo-Saxon verse is continuous, and so are most of the extended narrative, or descriptive, or epic poems, such as Whittier's "Snow-Bound," Bryant's translation of Homer, and others. Of this form some of the best-known examples are Bryant's "Thanatopsis," in unrimed iambic pentameter, or Blank Verse; Longfellow's "Hiawatha," in unrimed trochaic tetrameter; Holmes' "Poetry, a Metrical Essay," in rimed iambic pentameter; Emerson's "Problem," in rimed iambic tetrameter; and Longfellow's "Evangeline," in a hexameter line composed largely of dactyls and trochees. That these distinctions may be clear, examples of each are given. To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks There breathes no being but has some pretence Farewell! said he, Minnehaha ! This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and Bearded with moss and with garments green, indistinct in the twilight. Unrimed Dactylic The most important of these continuous forms is Blank Verse, that called Blank Verse. Sometimes this term is loosely applied to any unrimed verse; but it should be confined to that form which probably Bryant has written with greater perfection than has any other American poet, the unrimed iambic pentameter. Stanzaic verse is that in which the lines are ar- The Stanza. ranged in groups of varying numbers, called stanzas. There is the greatest conceivable variety of these groups. But the principal forms are named simply from the number of lines in each group. Thus, Whittier's famous poem "Maud Muller" is Couplet. written in couplets, or stanzas of two lines each. Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies Deeply buried from human eyes; And, in the hereafter, angels may Roll the stone from its grave away. Whittier is very fond of the Triplet, or stanza of Triplet. three lines. effect. He uses it frequently with beautiful Thus, in "Benedicite": God's love and peace be with thee, where Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair! Whether through city casements comes |