The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Art of English Poetry, by Edward Bysshe.

Los Angeles
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
University of California
1953

H. Richard Archer, Clark Memorial Library
Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan
Ralph Cohen, University of California, Los Angeles
Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles

Emmett L. Avery, State College of Washington
Benjamin Boyce, Duke University
Louis Bredvold, University of Michigan
John Butt, King's College, University of Durham
James L. Clifford, Columbia University
Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago
Edward Niles Hooker, University of California, Los Angeles
Louis A. Landa, Princeton University
Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota
Earnest Mossner, University of Texas
James Sutherland, University College, London
H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles

INTRODUCTION

The Art of English Poetry (1702) may be roughly described as an English version of the Gradus ad Parnassum. At least that is the tradition to which it belongs. Its immediate predecessor was the pleasant English Parnassus: Or, a Helpe to English Poesie (1657) compiled by a Middlesex schoolmaster named Joshua Poole, and this work was avowedly modeled on Ravisius Textor's Epitheta and the Thesaurus Poeticus of Joannes Buchler. But whereas the English Parnassus was designed for the schoolroom, the Art of English Poetry was designed for the world of polite letters, and so may be called the first example in English of the handbook for the serious poet.

In its original form the work was an octavo of nearly four hundred pages divided into three parts: "Rules For making English Verse," a rhyming dictionary, and a poetical commonplace book containing all the "Most Natural, Agreeable, and Noble Thoughts" of the English poets digested alphabetically by their subject. Only the first part is reproduced here, but it seems desirable to say something about the book as a whole.[1]

It is one of those works which is scorned by all, and used by all who scorn it. In the sixty years after its publication it went through nine editions, and though Charles Gildon thought it "a book too scandalously mean to name," he was constrained to admit that it had "spread, by many editions, thro' all England" and had "carried off so many Impressions, as have made it with the ignorant, the Standard of Writing."[2] Not only with the ignorant. Pope knew and used the work, and likewise Richardson, Fielding, Isaac Watts, Johnson, Goldsmith, Walpole, Blake, Sir Walter Scott, Bulwer-Lytton, and many others. Indeed, it would be safe to say that there was hardly a literary man in the eighteenth century who was not familiar with it. If he used a rhyming dictionary,[Pg ii] he used that in Bysshe, at least until 1775, when it was superseded by John Walker's Dictionary of the English Language. And if he used a poetical commonplace book, he used either Bysshe or one of the five other works which were produced in imitation of Bysshe. "Quoi qu'ils en disent," said the Abbé du Bos of a similar work in French, "ils ont tous ce livre dans leur arrière cabinet."

The Art of English Poetry is dominated in every part by the concept of the heroic poem. The rhyming dictionary, which was enlarged and improved from that in Poole, contains only those words which "both for their Sense and Sound are judg'd most proper for the Rhymes of Heroick Poetry;"[3] and the quotations in the commonplace book are drawn chiefly from the heroic poem and the heroic drama. In the last revised edition (1718) the most frequently quoted authors were Lee (104 passages), Rowe (116), Milton (117), Shakespeare (118), Blackmore (125), Otway (127), Butler (140), Cowley (143), Pope (155), and Dryden (1,201). Dryden, therefore, was the great exemplar of the heroic poet, and his Aeneid, which was cited 493 times, was the great exemplar of the heroic poem. Its meter, the heroic couplet, was for Bysshe the only serious poetic instrument, all longer lines being used merely to vary and decorate it and the shorter ones being fit only for masks and operas and Pindaric odes. As for stanzas, the rhyme royal was not "follow'd" anymore, Spenser's choice was "unlucky," and in general, as Cowley had said, "no kind of Staff is proper for a Heroic Poem; as being all too lirical...."[4]

The "Rules For making English Verse," which is the most important part of Bysshe's work, is the first attempt to treat English prosody in a systematic and comprehensive way. As the title indicates, it is prescriptive in tone, and it is strictly syllabic in what it prescribes. The English verse line, according to Bysshe, consists of a[Pg iii] specified number of syllables, usually ten, but permissably from four to twelve with double rhyme adding an uncounted syllable. A verse with an extra or a missing syllable (as compared with the pattern established by the rest of the poem) is either a faulty verse or, more properly, just a verse of a different kind. There are no feet in English poetry. Nevertheless, accent, which Bysshe apparently considered a variation in pitch rather than in duration or loudness, is recognized, and its role is clearly prescribed. It falls on the even syllables in verses whose total number is even and on the odd syllables in verses whose odd number is not due to double rhyme. This, of course, means duple time only, and Bysshe recognizes no other. When he quotes Congreve's verse, "Apart let me view then each Heavenly fair," he feels that the measure is somehow disagreeable, but he does not notice that the accents fall other than he had prescribed, and he apparently thinks that the line is distinguished from heroic verse only in having eleven syllables instead of ten. This is highly important because it shows that although the nomina basis of his prosody is both accentual and syllabic, the latter element is really its defining principle.

In a syllabic prosody it is clearly necessary to determine the number of syllables in a word whenever that is doubtful and also, if convenient, to provide ways of regulating that number by syncope and elision. A large part of Bysshe's treatise, therefore, is concerned with this task, and in order to understand this part it is necessary to realize that the shortened forms which he recommends (am'rous, ta'en, and the like) were not originally "poetic" in character. By his day some very few had become slightly archaic and hence were usually restricted to poetry; others existed side by side, in both prose and[Pg iv] poetic speech, with the longer forms which at last superseded them; but the great majority represent the regular colloquial idiom of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Bysshe wanted them used in poetry because he wanted the language of poetry to conform to that of cultivated conversation and prose and because he did not want the heroic line weakened by allowing for syllables that were not there, or were there only to the eye.

Bysshe says that he extracted his rules from the practice of the best poets, but this is not true. He extracted them almost entirely from the Quatre Traitez de Poësies, Latine, Françoise, Italienne, et Espagnole (1663) by Claude Lancelot, one of the Port Royal educators. From the Italian, Spanish, and possibly the Latin sections of this work Bysshe took his rules on the position of the caesura and a few other hints; but from the French section, the "Breve Instruction sur les Regles de la Poësie Françoise," he took almost his entire prosodical system. Indeed, his "Rules" are simply a translation and adaptation of the "Breve Instruction" with English examples replacing the French. The opening sentence, for example, which contains the very heart of his doctrine, reads: "The Structure of our Verses, whether Blank, or in Rhyme, consists in a certain Number of Syllables; not in Feet compos'd of long and short Syllables, as the Verses of the Greeks and Romans." And the source: "La structure ne consiste qu'en vn certain nombre de syllabes, & non pas en pieds composez de syllabes longues & breves, comme les vers des Grecs & des Romains."[5]

Needless to say, this description is accurate when applied to French verse, but it is not accurate when applied to English. The rhythm of English verse consists in the regular recurrence of a unit[Pg v] whose exact nature is variously conceived but which is easily identified by the accent which signalizes it. In French, however, stress in connected speech is too weak and uncertain to be made the basis of a satisfactory rhythm and is replaced in this function by the verse unit itself. These units are made equal by their having an equal number of syllables, and their recurrence is signalized by the final pause, by rhyme, and by the accentuation of the rhymed syllable. In each language there are, of course, other subsidiary rhythms, but the basic rhythm is founded upon the verse unit in French and upon a unit within the verse in English. Clearly, a prosody which applied to one system could not apply to the other, and to suppose that it did was Bysshe's sole but disastrous mistake. He was not the first to make it. What prosody there had been before him had hesitated uncertainly among three systems, the quantitative, the accentual, and the syllabic, but Bysshe, by formulating for the first time a complete and explicit prosodia, confirmed it in the one it was already favoring, the syllabic system of the French. Through him the mistake became irreparable for over a hundred years, and thus his "Rules" have an importance which is far beyond their merit. Critically, they are nothing; but historically, they dominated the popular prosodic thought of the eighteenth century.

Their supremacy was finally ended in 1816 by the preface to Christabel. There Coleridge wrote that the meter of the poem was not, properly speaking, irregular, though it might seem so from its being founded on "a new principle: namely, that of counting in each line the accents, not the syllables."[6] Scholars have wondered what was "new" about this, and the answer is that it was not new in English poetry, but in English prosodical criticism it was new, for it was a departure from Bysshe.

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

The nine editions of the Art of English Poetry were as follows: 1702, 1705, 1708, 1710, 1714, 1718, 1724, 1737, and 1762. Four of these—1705, 1708, 1710, and 1718—represent a revision of the preceding edition, that of 1718 only in the matter of adding new passages to the commonplace book. The last revised text of the "Rules," therefore, is that of the fourth edition (1710), but since this differs from the third only by the omission of one passage, which is of some interest, it seemed best to reproduce the text of the third edition (1708). The omitted passage is the last five lines, beginning "and therefore ...," of the second paragraph on page 22.

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

The PREFACE.

So many are the Qualifications, as well natural as acquir'd, that are essentially requisite to the making of a good Poet, that 'tis in vain for any Man to aim at a great Reputation on account of his Poetical Performances, by barely following the Rules of others, and reducing their Speculations into Practice. It may not be impossible indeed for Men, even of indifferent Parts, by making Examples to the Rules hereafter given, to compose Verses smooth, and well-sounding to the Ear; yet if such Verses want strong Sense, Propriety and Elevation of Thought, or Purity of Diction, they will be at best but what Horace calls them, Versus inopes rerum, nugæque canoræ, and the Writers of them not Poets, but versifying Scriblers. I pretend not therefore by the following Sheets to teach a Man to be a Poet in spight of Fate and Nature, but only to be of Help to the few who are born to be so, and whom audit vocatus Apollo.

To this End I give in the first Place Rules for making English Verse: And these Rules I have, according to the best of my Judgment, endeavour'd to extract from the Practice, and to frame after the Examples of the Poets that are most celebrated for a fluent and numerous Turn of Verse.

Another Part of this Treatise, is a Dictionary of Rhymes: To which having prefix'd a large Preface shewing the Method and Usefulness of it, I shall trouble the Reader in this place no farther than to acquaint him, that if it be as useful and acceptable to the Publick, as the composing it was tedious and painful to me, I shall never repent me of the Labour.

What I shall chiefly speak of here, is the largest Part of this Treatise, which I call a Collection of the most natural and sublime Thoughts that are in the best English Poets. And to be ingenuous in the Discovery, this was the Part of it that principally induc'd me to undertake the Whole: The Task was indeed laborious, but pleasing; and the sole Praise I expected from it, was, that I made a judicious Choice and proper Disposition of the Passages I extracted. A Mixture of so many different Subjects, and such a Variety of Thoughts upon them, may possibly not satisfy the Reader so well, as a Composition perfect in its Kind on one intire Subject; but certainly it will divert and amuse him better; for here is no Thread of Story, nor Connexion of one Part with another, to keep his Mind intent, and constrain him to any Length of Reading. I detain him therefore only to acquaint him, why it is made a Part of this Book, and how Serviceable it may be to the main Design of it.

Having drawn up Rules for making Verses, and a Dictionary of Rhymes, which are the Mechanick Tools of a Poet; I came in the next Place to consider, what other human Aid could be offer'd him; a Genius and Judgment not being mine to give. Now I imagin'd that a Man might have both these, and yet sometimes, for the sake of a Syllable or two more or less, to give a Verse its true Measure, be at a stand for Epithets and Synonymes, with which I have seen Books of this Nature in several Languages plentifully furnish'd.

Now, tho' I have differ'd from them in Method, yet I am of Opinion this Collection may serve to the same End, with equal Profit and greater Pleasure to the Reader. For, what are Epithets, but Adjectives that denote and express the Qualities of the Substantives to which they are join'd? as Purple, Rosie, Smiling, Dewy, Morning: Dim, Gloomy, Silent, Night. What Synonymes, but Words of a like Signification? as Fear, Dread, Terrour, Consternation, Affright, Dismay, &c. Are they not then naturally to be sought for in the Descriptions of Persons and Things? And can we not better judge by a Piece of Painting, how Beautifully Colours may be dispos'd; than by seeing the same several Colours scatter'd without Design on a Table? When you are at a Loss therefore for proper Epithets or Synonymes, look in this Alphabetical Collection for any Word under which the Subject of your Thought may most probably be rang'd; and you will find what have been imploy'd by our best Writers, and in what Manner.

It would have been as easie a Task for me as it has been to others before me, to have threaded tedious Bead-rolls of Synonymes and Epithets together, and put them by themselves: But when they stand alone, they appear bald, insipid, uncouth, and offensive both to the Eye and Ear. In that Disposition they may indeed help the Memory, but cannot direct the Judgment in the Choice.

But besides, to confess a Secret, I am very unwilling it should be laid to my Charge, that I have furnish'd Tools, and given a Temptation of Versifying, to such as in spight of Art and Nature undertake to be Poets; and who mistake their Fondness to Rhyme, or Necessity of Writing, for a true Genius of Poetry, and lawful Call from Apollo. Such Debasers of Rhyme and Dablers in Poetry would do well to consider, that a Man would justly deserve a higher Esteem in the World by being a good Mason or Shoo-maker, or by excelling in any other Art that his Talent inclines him to, and that is useful to Mankind, than by being an indifferent or second-Rate Poet. Such have no Claim to that Divine Appellation:

Neque enim concludere Versum
Dixeris esse satis: Neque, si quis scribat, uti nos,
Sermoni propiora, putes hunc esse Poetam.
Ingenium cui sit, cui Mens divinior, atque Os
Magna sonaturum, des Nominis hujus Honorem.Horat.

I resolv'd therefore to place these, the principal Materials, under the awful Guard of the immortal Shakespear, Milton, Dryden, &c.

I have inserted not only Similes, Allusions, Characters, and Descriptions; but also the most Natural and Sublime Thoughts of our Modern Poets on all Subjects whatever. I say, of our Modern; for tho' some of the Antient, as Chaucer, Spencer, and others, have not been excell'd, perhaps not equall'd, by any that have succeeded them, either in Justness of Description, or in Propriety and Greatness of Thought; yet their Language is now become so antiquated and obsolete, that most Readers of our Age have no Ear for them: And this is the Reason that the good Shakespear himself is not so frequently cited in this Collection, as he would otherwise deserve to be.

I have endeavour'd to give the Passages as naked and stript of Superfluities and foreign Matter, as possibly I could: but often found my self oblig'd for the sake of the Connexion of the Sense, which else would have been interrupted, and consequently obscure, to insert some of them under Heads, to which every Part or Line of them may be thought not properly to belong: Nay, I sometimes even found it difficult to chuse under what Head to place several of the best Thoughts; but the Reader may be assur'd, that if he find them not where he expects, he will not wholly lose his Labour; for

The Search it self rewards his Pains;
And if like Chymists his great End he miss,
Yet things well worth his Toil he gains;
And does his Charge and Labour pay
With good unsought Experiments by the way.Cowley.

That the Reader may judge of every Passage with due Deference for each Author, he will find their Names at the End of the last Line; and as the late Versions of the Greek and Roman Poets have not a little contributed to this Collection, Homer, Anacreon, Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, &c. are cited with their Translators: And after each Author's Name are quoted their Plays and other Poems, from whence the Passages are extracted.

The Reader will likewise observe, that I have sometimes ascrib'd to several Authors the Quotations taken from one and the same Play. Thus to those from the first and third Act of Oedipus, I have put Dryden; to those from the three other, Lee: Because the first and third Act of that Play were written by Dryden, the three other by Lee. To those from Troilus and Cressida I have sometimes put Shakespear, sometimes Dryden; because he having alter'd that Play, whatever I found not in the Edition of Shakespear, ought to be ascrib'd to him. And in like manner of several other Plays.

As no Thought can be justly said to be fine, unless it be true, I have all along had a great regard for Truth; except only in Passages that are purely Satirical, where some Allowance must be given: For Satire may be fine and true Satire, tho' it be not directly and according to the Letter, true: 'tis enough that it carry with it a Probability or Semblance of Truth. Let it not here be objected, that I have from the Translators of the Greek and Roman Poets, taken some Descriptions meerly fabulous: for the well-invented Fables of the Antients were design'd only to inculcate the Truth with more Delight, and to make it shine with greater Splendour.

Rien n'est beau que le Vrai. Le Vrai seul est Aimable:
Il doit regner par tout; & meme dans la Fable:
De toute Fiction l'adroite Fausseté
Ne tend qu' à faire aux yeux briller la Verité.Boileau.

I have upon every Subject given both Pro and Con whenever I met with them, or that I judg'd them worth giving: and if both are not always found, let none imagine that I wilfully suppress'd either; or that what is here uncontradicted must be unanswerable.

If any take Offence at the Loosness of some of the Thoughts, as particularly upon Love, where I have given the different Sentiments which Mankind, according to their several Temperaments, ever had, and ever will have of it; such may observe, that I have strictly avoided all manner of Obscenity throughout the whole Collection: And tho' here and there a Thought may perhaps have a Cast of Wantonness, yet the cleanly Metaphors palliate the Broadness of the Meaning, and the Chastness of the Words qualifies the Lasciviousness of the Images they represent. And let them farther know, that I have not always chosen what I most approv'd, but what carries with it the best Stroaks for Imitation: For, upon the whole matter, it was not my Business to judge any farther, than of the Vigour and Force of Thought, of the Purity of Language, of the Aptness and Propriety of Expression; and above all, of the Beauty of Colouring, in which the Poet's Art chiefly consists. Nor, in short, would I take upon me to determine what things should have been said; but have shewn only what are said, and in what manner.

RULES

ENGLISH VERSE.

But because in the Verses there are also two Things to be observ'd; The Structure of the Verse; and the Rhyme; this Treatise shall be divided into three Chapters.

I. Of the Structure of English Verses.
II. Of Rhyme.
III. Of the several Sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.

CHAP. I.

The Structure of our Verses, whether Blank, or in Rhyme, consists in a certain Number of Syllables; not in Feet compos'd of long and short Syllables, as the Verses of the Greeks and Romans. And though some ingenious Persons formerly puzzled themselves in prescribing Rules for the Quantity of English Syllables, and, in Imitation of the Latins, compos'd Verses by the measure of Spondees, Dactyls, &c., yet the Success of their Undertaking has fully evinc'd the Vainness of their Attempt, and given ground to suspect they had not throughly weigh'd what the Genius of our Language would bear; nor reflected that each Tongue has its peculiar Beauties, and that what is agreeable and natural to one, is very often disagreeable, nay, inconsistent with another. But that Design being now wholly exploded, it is sufficient to have mention'd it.

Our Verses then consist in a certain Number of Syllables; but the Verses of double Rhyme require a Syllable more than those of single [Pg 2]Rhyme. Thus in a Poem whose Verses consist of ten Syllables, those of the same Poem that are accented on the last save one, which we call Verses of double Rhyme, must have eleven; as may be seen by these Verses.

A Man so various that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome:
Stiff in Opinion, always in the Wrong,
Was ev'ry thing by starts, and nothing long:
But, in the Course of one revolving Moon,
Was Fidler, Chymist, Statesman, and Buffoon:
Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking;
Besides ten thousand Freaks that dy'd in Thinking.
Praising and Railing were his usual Themes;
And both, to shew his Judgment, in Extreams.
So over-violent, or over-civil,
That every Man with him was God or Devil.Dryd.

Where the 4 Verses that are accented on the last save one, have 11 Syllables; the others, accented on the last, but 10.

When hard Words, Jealousies and Fears,
Set Folks together by the Ears;
And made 'em fight, like mad, or drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for Punk;
Whose Honesty they all durst swear for,
Tho' not a Man of 'em know wherefore:
Then did Sir Knight abandon Dwelling,
And out he rode a Collonelling.Hud.

All thy Verse is softer far
Than the downy Feathers are
Of my Wings, or of my Arrows;
Of my Mother's Doves or Sparrows.Cowl.

Welcom, thou worthy Partner of my Lawrels!
Thou Brother of my Choice! a Band more sacred
Than Nature's brittle Tye. By holy Friendship!
Glory and Fame stood still for thy Arrival,
My Soul seem'd wanting of its better Half,
And languish'd for thy Absence, like a Prophet,
Who waits the Inspiration of his God.Rowe.

wants a Syllable; for, being accented on the last save one, it ought to have 11, as all the Verses, but two, of the preceeding Example have: But if we transpose the Words thus,

it then wants nothing of its due Measure, because it is accented on the last Syllable.

SECT. I.

Of the several Sorts of Verses; and first of those of ten Syllables. Of the due Observation of the Accent; and of the Pause.

Our Poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of Verses; that is to say, of Verses of 10, 8, or 7 Syllables: Those of 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 14, are generally imploy'd in Masks and Operas, and in the Stanzas of Lyrick and Pindarick Odes, and we have few intire Poems compos'd in any of those sorts of Verses. Those of 12, and of 14 Syllables, are frequently inserted in our Poems in Heroick Verse, and when rightly made use of, carry a peculiar Grace with them. See the next Section towards the end.

The Verses of 10 Syllables, which are our Heroick, are us'd in Heroick Poems, in Tragedies, Comedies, Pastorals, Elegies; and sometimes in Burlesque.

For, 'tis not enough that Verses have their just Number of Syllables: the true Harmony of them depends on a due Observation of the Accent and Pause.

The Accent is an Elevation, or a Falling of the Voice, on a certain Syllable of a Word.

The Pause is a Rest or Stop that is made in pronouncing the Verse, and that divides it, as it were, into two parts; each of which is call'd an Hemistich, or Half-Verse.

But this Division is not always equal, that is to say, one of the Half-verses does not always contain the same Number of Syllables as the other: and this Inequality proceeds from the Seat of the Accent that is strongest, and prevails most in the first Half-verse. For, the Pause must be observ'd at the end of[Pg 4] the Word where such Accent happens to be, or at the end of the following Word.

Now in a Verse of 10 Syllables, this Accent must be either on the 2d, 4th, or 6th; which produces 5 several Pauses, that is to say, at the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th Syllable of the Verse; For,

As busy—as intentive Emmets are;
Or Cities—whom unlook'd-for Sieges scare.Dav.

2. Or, when the Accent is on the last of a Word, and the next a Monosyllable, whose Construction is govern'd by that on which the Accent is; as,

When the Accent falls on the 2d Syllable of the Verse, and the last save two of a Word, the Pause will be at the 4th; as,

When the Accent is on the 4th of a Verse, the Pause will be either at the same Syllable, or at the 5th, or 6th.

At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a Word; as,

Such huge Extreams—inhabit thy great Mind,
God-like, unmov'd,—and yet, like Woman, kind.Wall.

Like bright Aurora—whose refulgent Ray
Foretells the Fervour—of ensuing Day;
And warns the Shepherd—with his Flocks, retreat
To leafy Shadows—from the threaten'd Heat.Wall.

At the 6th, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last save two of a Word; as,

Lastly, When the Accent is on the 6th Syllable of the Verse, the Pause will be either at the same Syllable, or at the 7th.

At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a Word; as,

Nor when the War is over,—is it Peace.Dryd.

Mirrors are taught to flatter,—but our Springs. Wall.

2. Or the last of a Word, if the following one be a Monosyllable whose Construction depends on the preceeding Word on which the Accent is; as,

From all this it appears, that the Pause is determin'd by the Seat of the Accent; but if the Accents happen to be equally strong, on the 2d, 4th, and 6th Syllable of a Verse, the Sense and Construction of the Words must then guide to the Observation of the Pause: For Example; In one of the Verses I cited as an Instance of it at the 7th Syllable,

The Accent is as strong on Taught, as on the first Syllable of Flatter, and if the Pause were observ'd at the 4th Syllable of the Verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its Sound: as,

Mirrors are taught—to flatter, but our Springs
Present th' impartial Images of things.

Which tho' it be no Violence to the Ear, yet it is to the Sense, and that ought always carefully to be avoided in reading or in repeating of Verses.

For this Reason it is, that the Construction or Sense should never end at a Syllable where the Pause ought not to be made; as at the 8th and 2d in the two following Verses:

Bright Hesper twinkles from afar:—Away
My Kids!—for you have had a Feast to day.Staff.

Which Verses have nothing disagreeable in their Structure but the Pause; which in the first of them must be observ'd at the 8th Syllable, in the 2d at the 2d; and so unequal a Division can produce no true Harmony. And for this Reason too, the Pauses at the 3d and 7th Syllables, tho' not wholly to be condemn'd, ought to be but sparingly practis'd.

The foregoing Rules ought indispensibly to be follow'd in all our Verses of 10 Syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right Time in Musick, will produce Harmony; the neglect of them, Harshness and Discord; as appears by the following Verses.

None think Rewards render'd worthy their Worth.
And both Lovers, both thy Disciples were,Dav.

In which tho' the true Number of Syllables be observ'd, yet neither of them have so much as the Sound of a Verse: Now[Pg 6] their Disagreeableness proceeds from the undue Seat of the Accent: For Example, the first of them is accented on the 5th and 7th Syllables; but if we change the Words, and remove the Accent to the 4th and 6th, the Verse will become smooth and easie; as,

The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on the 3d Syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one Word;

To be massacred, not in Battle slain.Blac.

But forc'd, harsh, and uneasie unto all.Cowl.

Against the Insults of the Wind and Tide.Blac.

A second Essay will the Pow'rs appease.Blac.

With Scythians expert in the Dart and Bow.Dryd.

are rough, because the foregoing Rules are not observ'd in their Structure: For Example, the first, where the Pause is at the 5th Syllable, and the Accent on the 3d, is contrary to the Rule which says, that the Accent that determines the Pause must be on the 2d, 4th, or 6th Syllable of the Verse; and to mend that Verse we need only place the Accent on the 4th, and then the Pause at the 5th will have nothing disagreeable, as,

The second Verse is Accented on the 3d Syllable, and the Pause is there too; which makes it indeed the thing it expresses, forc'd, harsh, and uneasie; it may be mended thus,

The 3d, 4th, and 5th of those Verses, have like faults; for the Pauses are at the 5th, and the Accent there too, which is likewise contrary to the foregoing Rules: Now they will be made smooth and flowing, by taking the Accent from the 5th, and removing the Seat of the Pause; as,

Against th' Insults both of the Wind and Tide.
A second Trial will the Pow'rs appease.
With Scythians skilfull in the Dart and Bow.

From whence we conclude, that in all Verses of 10 Syllables, the most prevailing Accents ought to be on the 2d, 4th, or 6th Syllables; for if they are on the 3d, 5th, or 7th, the Verses will be rough and disagreeable, as has been prov'd by the preceeding Instances.

In short, the wrong placing of the Accent is as great a fault in our Versification, as false Quantity was in that of the Antients; and therefore we ought to take equal care to avoid it, and endeavour so to dispose the Words, that they may create a[Pg 7] certain Melody in the Ear, without Labour to the Tongue, or Violence to the Sense.

SECT. II.

After the Verses of 10 Syllables, those of 8 are most frequent, and we have many intire Poems compos'd in them.

In the Structure of these Verses, as well as of those of 10 Syllables, we must take care that the most prevailing Accents be neither on the 3d nor 5th Syllables of them.

They also require a Pause to be observ'd in pronouncing them, which is generally at the 4th, or 5th Syllable; as,

I'll sing of Heroes,—and of Kings,
In mighty Numbers—mighty things;
Begin, my Muse,—but lo the Strings,
To my great Song—rebellious prove,
The Strings will sound—of nought but Love. Cowl.

The Verses of 7 Syllables, which are call'd Anacreontick, are most beautiful when the strongest Accent is on the 3d, and the Pause either there, or at the 4th, as,

Fill the Bowl—with rosy Wine,
Round our Temples—Roses twine;
Crown'd with Roses—we contemn
Gyges wealthy—Diadem.Cowl.

The Verses of 9, and of 11 Syllables, are of two sorts, one is those that are accented upon the last save one, which are only the Verses of double Rhyme that belong to those of 8 and 10 Syllables, of which Examples have already been given. The other is those that are accented on the last Syllable, which are employ'd only in Compositions for Musick, and in the lowest sort of Burlesque Poetry; the disagreeableness of their Measure having wholly excluded them from grave and serious Subjects. They who desire to see Examples of them, may find some scatter'd here and there in our Masks, and Operas, and in our Burlesque Writers. I will give but two.

Hilas, O Hilas, why sit we mute?
Now that each Bird saluteth the Spring.Wall.

Apart let me view then each Heavenly Fair,
For three at a time there's no Mortal can bear.Congr.

The Verses of 12 Syllables are truly Heroick, both in their Measure and[Pg 8] Sound; tho' we have no intire Works compos'd in them; and they are so far from being a Blemish to the Poems they are in, that on the contrary, when rightly employed, they conduce not a little to the Ornament of them; particularly in the following Rencounters.

1. When they conclude an Episode in an Heroick Poem: Thus Stafford ends his Translation of that of Camilla from the 11th Æneid, with a Verse of 12 Syllables.

The ling'ring Soul th' unwelcom Doom receives,
And, murm'ring with Disdain, the beauteous Body leaves.

Millions of op'ning Mouths to Fame belong;
And every Mouth is furnish'd with a Tongue;
And round with list'ning Ears the flying Plague is hung.Dryd.

And here we may observe by the way, that whenever a Triplet is made use of in an Heroick Poem, it is a fault not to close the Sense at the end of the Triplet, but to continue it into the next Line; as Dryden has done in his Translation of the 11th Æneid in those Lines.

With Olives crown'd, the Presents they shall bear,
A Purple Robe, a Royal Iv'ry Chair,
And all the Marks of Sway that Latian Monarchs wear,
And Sums of Gold, &c.

Then they, whose Mothers, frantick with their Fear,
In Woods and Wilds the Flags of Bacchus bear,
And lead his Dances with dishevel'd Hair,
Increase the Clamour, &c.

But the Sense is not confin'd to the Couplet, for the Close of it may fall into the middle of the next Verse, that is the Third, and sometimes farther off: Provided the last Verse of the Couplet exceed not the Number of ten Syllables; for then the Sense ought always to conclude with it. Examples of this are so frequent, that 'tis needless to give any.

3. When they conclude the Stanzas of Lyrick or Pindarick Odes; Examples of which are often seen in Dryden, and others.

In these Verses the Pause ought to be at the 6th Syllable, as may be seen in the foregoing Examples.

And Midwife Time—the ripen'd Plot to Murther brought.Dryd.[Pg 9]

The Prince pursu'd—and march'd along with equal Pace.Dryd.

In the last of which it is very apparent, that if the Sense and Construction would allow us to make the Pause at the 6th Syllable,

The Verses of 14 Syllables are less frequent than those of 12; they are likewise inserted in Heroick Poems, &c. and are agreeable enough when they conclude a Triplet and Sense, and follow a Verse of 12; as,

For thee the Land in fragrant Flowers is drest;
For thee the Ocean smiles, and smooths her wavy Breast,
And Heav'n it self with more serene and purer Light is blest.Dryd.

But if they follow one of 10 Syllables, the Inequality of the Measure renders them less agreeable; as,

While all thy Province, Nature, I survey,
And sing to Memmius an Immortal Lay
Of Heav'n and Earth; and every where thy wondrous Pow'r display(Dryd.

With Court-Informers haunts, and Royal Spies,
Things done relates, not done she feigns, and mingles Truth with Lies.(Dryd.

But this is only in Heroicks; for in Pindaricks and Lyricks, Verses of 12 or 14 Syllables are frequently and gracefully plac'd, not only after those of 12 or 10, but of any other number of Syllables whatsoever.

The Verses of 4 and 6 Syllables have nothing worth observing, and therefore I shall content my self with having made mention of them. They are, as I said before, us'd only in Operas, and Masks, and in Lyrick and Pindarick Odes. Take one Example of them.

To rule by Love,
To shed no Blood,
May be extoll'd above;
But here below,
Let Princes know,
'Tis fatal to be good.Dryd.

SECT. III.

Our Poetry being very much polish'd and refin'd since the Days of Chaucer, Spencer and the other antient Poets,[Pg 10] some Rules which they neglected, and that conduce very much to the Ornament of it, have been practis'd by the best of the Moderns.

The first is, to avoid as much as possible the Concourse of Vowels, which occasions a certain ill-sounding Gaping, call'd by the Latins Hiatus; and which they thought so disagreeable to the Ear, that, to avoid it, whenever a Word ended in a Vowel, and the next began with one, they never, even in Prose, sounded the Vowel of the first Word, but lost it in the Pronunciation; and it is a fault in our Poets not to do the like, whenever our Language will admit of it.

For this Reason, the e of the Particle The ought always to be cut off before the Words that begin by a Vowel; as,

And it is a fault to make The and the first Syllable of the following word two distinct Syllables, as in this,

A second sort of Hiatus, and that ought no less to be avoided is, when a Word that ends in a Vowel that cannot be cut off, is plac'd before one that begins by the same Vowel, or one that has the like Sound; as,

The second Rule is, to contract the two last Syllables of the Preterperfect Tenses of all the Verbs that will admit of it; which are all the Regular Verbs whatsoever, except only those ending in D or T, and DE or TE. And it is a fault to make Amazed of three Syllables, and Loved of two; instead of Amaz'd of two, and Lov'd of one.

And the second Person of the Present and Preterperfect Tenses of all Verbs ought to be contracted in like manner; as thou lov'st, for thou lovest, &c.

The third Rule is, not to make use of several Words in a Verse that begin by the same Letter; as,

The Court he knew to steer in Storms of State.
He in these Miracles Design discern'd. Dav.

Yet we find an Instance of such a Verse in Dryden's Translation of the first Pastoral of Virgil;

Which I am perswaded he left not thus through Negligence or Inadvertency, but with design to paint in the Number and Sound of the Words the thing he describ'd, a Shepherd in whom

Now how far the Sound of the H aspirate, with which three Feet of that[Pg 11] Verse begin, expresses the Despair of the Swain, let the Judicious judge: I have taken notice of it only to say, that 'tis a great Beauty in Poetry, when the Words and Numbers are so dispos'd, as by their Order and Sound to represent the things describ'd.

The fourth is, to avoid ending a Verse by an Adjective whose Substantive begins the following; as,

Or, by a Preposition when the Case it governs begins the Verse that follows; as,

The daily less'ning of our Life, shews by
A little dying, how outright to dye.Wall.

The fifth is, to avoid the frequent Use of Words of many Syllables, which are proper enough in Prose, but come not into Verse without a certain Violence altogether disagreeable; particularly those whose Accent is on the fourth Syllable from the last; as Undutifulness.

SECT. IV.

There is no Language whatsoever, that so often joyns several Vowels together to make Diphthongs of them, as ours; this appears in our having several compos'd of three different Vowels: as EAU, and EOU in Beauteous: IOU in Glorious, UAI in Acquaint, &c.

Now from hence may arise some Difficulties concerning the true Pronunciation of those Vowels: Whether they ought to be sounded separately in two Syllables, or joyntly in one.

The antient Poets made them sometimes of two Syllables, sometimes but of one, as the Measure of their Verse requir'd; but they are now become to be but of one, and it is a fault to make them of two: From whence we may draw this general Rule;

That whenever one Syllable of a Word ends in a Vowel, and the next[Pg 12] begins by one, provided the first of those Syllables be not that on which the Word is accented, those two Syllables ought in Verse to be contracted and made but one.

Thus Beauteous is but two Syllables, Victorious but three, and it is a fault in Dryden, to make it four, as he has done in this Verse:

To prove that this Verse wants a Syllable of its due Measure, we need but add one to it; as,

Where tho' the Syllable now be added to the Verse, it has no more than its due number of Syllables, which plainly proves it wanted it.

But if the Accent be upon the first of these Syllables, they cannot be contracted to make a Diphthong, but must be computed as two distinct Syllables: Thus Poet, Lion, Quiet, and the like, must always be us'd as two Syllables: Poetry and the like, as three.

And it is a fault to make Riot, for Example, one Syllable, as Milton has done in this Verse.

The same Poet has in another place made use of a like Word twice in one Verse, and made it two Syllables each time.

And any Ear may discover that this last Verse has its true Measure, the other not.

But there are some Words that may be excepted; as Diamond, Violet, Violent, Diadem, Hyacinth, and perhaps some others, which, though they are accented upon the first Vowel, are sometimes us'd but as two Syllables; as in the following Verses,

From Diamond Quarries hewn, and Rocks of Gold.Milt.

With Poppies, Daffadils, and Violets joyn'd.Tate.

With vain, but violent Force their Darts they flung.Cowl.

His Ephod, Mitre, well-cut Diadem on.Cowl.

My blushing Hyacinths, and my Bays I keep.Dryd.

A Mount of rocky Diamond did rise.Blac.

Hence the blue Violet and blushing Rose.Blac.

And set soft Hyacinths of Iron Blue.Dryd.

When they are us'd but as two Syllables they suffer an Elision of one of their Vowels, and are generally written thus, Di'mond, Vi'let, &c.

This Contraction is not always made of Syllables of the same Word only;[Pg 13] for the Particle A being plac'd after a Word that ends in a Vowel, will sometimes admit of the like Contraction: For Example, after the Word many; as,

Tho' many a Victim from my Folds was bought,
And many a Cheese to Country-Markets brought.Dryd.

They many a Trophy gain'd with many a Wound.Dav.

There are also other Words whose Syllables are sometimes contracted, sometimes not: as, Bower, Heaven, Prayer, Nigher, Towards, and many more of the like Nature: But they generally ought to be us'd but as one Syllable; and then they suffer an Elision of the Vowel that precedes their final Consonant, and ought to be written thus: Pow'r, Heav'n, Pray'r, Nigh'r, tow'rds.

Where griesly Schism and raging Strife appear.Cowl.

And Rhumatisms I send to rack the Joynts.Dryd.

And, indeed, considering that it has but one Vowel, it may seem absurd to assert that it ought to be reckon'd two Syllables; yet in my Opinion, those Verses seem to have a Syllable more than their due Measure, and would run better if we took one from them; as,

Where griesly Schism, raging Strife appear.
I Rhumatisms send to rack the Joynts.

Yet this Opinion being contrary to the constant practice of our Poets, I shall not presume to advance it as a Rule for others to follow; but leave it to be decided by such as are better Judges of Poetical Numbers.

SECT. V.[Pg 14]

Our Verses consisting only of a certain Number of Syllables, nothing can be of more ease, or greater use to our Poets, than the retaining or cutting off a Syllable from a Verse, according as the measure of it requires; and therefore it is requisite to treat of the Elisions that are allowable in our Poetry, some of which have been already taken notice of in the preceding Section.

By Elision, I mean the cutting off one or more Letters from a Word, whereby two Syllables come to be contracted into one; or the taking away an intire Syllable. Now when in a Word of more than two Syllables, which is accented on the last save two, the Liquid R, happens to be between two Vowels, that which precedes the Liquid admits of an Elision, Of this nature are many Words in ANCE, ENCE, ENT, ER, OUS, and RY; as Temperance, Preference, Different, Flatterer, Amorous, Victory: Which are Words of three Syllables, and often us'd as such in Verse; but they may also be contracted into two, by cutting off the Vowel that precedes the Liquid; as Temp'rance, Pref'rence, Diff'rent, Flatt'rer, Am'rous, Vict'ry. The like Elision is sometimes us'd, when any of the other Liquids L, M, or N, happen to be between two Vowels, in Words accented like the former, as Fabulous, Enemy, Mariner, which may be contracted Fab'lous, En'my, Mar'ner. But this is not so frequent.

Observe, that I said accented on the last save two; for if the Word be accented on the last save one, that is to say, on the Vowel that precedes the Liquid, that Vowel may not be cut off. And therefore it is a fault to make, for Example, Sonorous of two Syllables, as in this Verse;

In like manner; whenever the Letter S happens to be between two Vowels in Words of three Syllables, accented on the first, one of the Vowels may be cut off; as Pris'ner, Bus'ness, &c.

Or the Letter C when 'tis sounded like S; that is to say,[Pg 15] whenever it preceds the Vowels E or I; as Med'cine, for Medicine.

To these may be added the Gerunds of all Verbs whose Infinitives end in any of the Liquids, preceded by a Vowel or Diphthong, and that are accented on the last save one: for the Gerunds being form'd by adding the Syllable ING to the Infinitive, the Liquid that was their final Letter, comes thereby to be between two Vowels; and the Accent that was on the last save one of the Infinitive, comes to be on the last save two of the Gerund: And therefore the Vowel or Diphthong, that precedes the Liquid, may be cut off; by means whereof the Gerund of three Syllables comes to be but of two, as from Travel, Travelling, or Trav'ling; from Endeavour, Endeavouring, or Endeav'ring, &c.

But if the Accent be on the last Syllable of such a Verb, its Gerund will not suffer such an Elision: Thus the Gerund of Devour must always be three Syllables, Devouring, not Dev'ring; because all Derivatives still retain the Accent of their Primitives, that is, on the same Syllable: and the Accent always obliges the Syllable on which it is, to remain entire.

The Gerunds of the Verbs in OW, accented on the last save two, suffer an Elision of the O that precedes the W; as Foll'wing, Wall'wing.

The Particle It admits of an Elision of its Vowel before Is, Was, Were, Will, Would; as 'Tis, 'Twas, 'Twere, 'Twill, 'Twould, for It is, It was, &c.

It likewise sometimes suffers the like Elision, when plac'd after a Word that ends in a Vowel; as By't for By it, Do't for Do it: Or that ends in a Consonant after which the Letter T can be pronounc'd; as Was't for Was it, In't for In it, and the like: But this is not so frequent in Heroick Verse.

The Particle Is may lose its I after any Word that ends in a Vowel, or in any of the Consonants after which the Letter S may be sounded; as she's for she is: The Air's for the Air is, &c.

To (sign of the Infinitive Mood) may lose its O before any Verb that begins by a Vowel; as T' amaze, t' undo, &c.

To (Sign of the Dative Case) may likewise lose its O before any Noun that begins with a Vowel; as t' Air, t' every, &c. But this Elision is not so allowable as the former.

Are may lose its A after the Pronouns Personal, We, You, They;[Pg 16] as We're, You're, They're: And thus it is that this Elision ought to be made, and not as some do, by cutting off the final Vowels of the Pronouns Personal; W'are, Y'are, Th'are.

Will and Would may lose all their first Letters, and retain only their final one, after any of the Pronouns Personal; as I'll for I will; He'd for He would; or after Who, as who'll for who will; who'd for who would.

Have, may lose its two first Letters after I, You, We, They; as I've, You've, We've, They've.

Heaven, Seven; Even, Eleven, and the Participles Driven, Given, Thriven, and their Compounds, may lose their last Vowel, as Heav'n, Forgiv'n, &c. See the foregoing Section, p. 13.

To these may be added Bow'r, Pow'r, Flow'r, Tow'r, Show'r, for Bower, Power, &c.

Never, Ever, Over, may lose their V; and are contracted thus, Ne'er, E'er, O'er.

Some Words admit of an Elision of their first Syllable; as 'Tween, 'Twixt, 'Mong, 'Mongst, 'Gainst, 'Bove, 'Cause, 'Fore, for Between, Betwixt, Among, Amongst, Against, Above, Because, Before. And some others that may be observ'd in reading our Poets.

I have already, in the 3d Section of this Chapter, spoken of the Elision of the e of the Particle The before Vowels: But it is requisite likewise to take notice, that it sometimes loses its Vowel before a Word that begins by a Consonant, and then its two remaining Letters are joyn'd to the preceding Word; as To th' Wall, for To the Wall; By th' Wall, for By the Wall, &c. But this is scarce allowable in Heroick Poetry.

The Particles In, Of, and On, sometimes lose their Consonants, and are joyn'd to the Particle The in like manner; as i'th', o'th', for in the, of the.

In some of our Poets we find the Pronoun His lose its two first[Pg 17] Letters after any Word that ends in a Vowel; as to's, by's, &c. for to his, by his, &c. Or after many Words that end in a Consonant, after which the Letter S can be pronounc'd; as In's, for's, for In his, for his, &c. This is frequent in Cowley, who often takes too great a Liberty in his Contractions; as t' your for to your, t' which for to which, and many others; in which we must be cautious of following his Example: But the contracting of the Pronoun His in the manner I mention'd, is not wholly to be condemn'd.

We sometimes find the Word Who, contracted before Words that begin by a Vowel; as,

B' unequal Fate, and Providence's Crime.Dryd.

Well did he know how Palms b' Oppression speed.Cowl.

Timely h' obeys her wife Advice, and strait
To unjust Force sh' opposes just Deceit.Cowl.

Themselves at first against themselves th' excite.Cowl.

Shame and Woe to us, if w' our Wealth obey.Cowl.

But these and the like Contractions are very rare in our most correct Poets, and ought indeed wholly to be avoided: For 'tis a general Rule, that no Vowel can be cut off before another, when it cannot be sunk in the pronunciation of it: And therefore we ought to take care never to place a Word that begins by a Vowel, after a Word that ends in one (mute E only excepted) unless the final Vowel of the former can be lost in its Pronunciation: For, to leave two Vowels opening on each other, causes a very disagreeable Hiatus. Whenever therefore a Vowel ends a Word, the next ought to begin with a Consonant, or what is Equivalent to it; as our W, and H aspirate, plainly are.

For which reason 'tis a Fault in some of our Poets to cut off the e of the Particle The, for Example, before a Word that begins by an H aspirate; as

But if the H aspirate be follow'd by another E, that of the Particle The may be cut off; As,

Th' Heroick Prince's Courage or his Love.Wall.

Th' Hesperian Fruit, and made the Dragon sleep.Wall.

CHAP. II.

SECT. I.

Rhyme is a Likeness or Uniformity of Sound in the terminations of two Words, I say, of Sound, not of Letters; for the Office of Rhyme being to content and please the Ear, and not the Eye, the Sound only is to be regarded, not the Writing: Thus Maid and Perswade, Laugh and Quaff, tho' they differ in Writing, rhyme very well: But Plough and Cough, tho' written alike, rhyme not at all.

In our Versification we may observe 3 several sorts of Rhyme; Single, Double, and Treble.

The single Rhyme is of two sorts: One of the Words that are accented on the last Syllable: Another, of those that have their Accent on the last save two.

The Words accented on the last Syllable, if they end in a Consonant, or mute E, oblige the Rhyme to begin at the vowel that precedes their last Consonant, and to continue to the end of the Word: In a Consonant; as,

Here might be seen that Beauty, Wealth, and Wit,
And Prowess, to the Pow'r of Love submit.Dryd.

A Spark of Virtue by the deepest Shade
Of sad Adversity, is fairer made.Wall.

But if a Diphthong precede the last Consonant, the Rhyme must begin at that Vowel of it whose Sound most prevails; as,

Next to the Pow'r of waking Tempests cease,
Was in that Storm to have so calm a Peace. Wall.

If the Words accented on the last Syllable end in any of the Vowels except mute E, or in a Diphthong, the Rhyme is[Pg 19] made only to that Vowel or Diphthong. To the Vowel; as

So wing'd with Praise we penetrate the Sky,
Teach Clouds and Stars to praise him as we fly.Wall.

So hungry Wolves, tho' greedy of their Prey,
Stop when they find a Lion in the way.Wall.

The other sort of single Rhyme is of the Words that have their Accent on the last Syllable save two. And these rhyme to the other in the same manner as the former; that is to say, if they end in any of the Vowels, except mute E, the Rhyme is made only to that Vowel; as,

So seems to speak the youthful Deity;
Voice, Colour, Hair, and all like Mercury.Wall.

But if they end in a Consonant or mute E, the Rhyme must begin at the Vowel that precedes that Consonant, and continue to the end of the Word. As has been shewn by the former Examples.

But we must take notice, that all the Words that are accented on the last save two, will rhyme, not only to one another, but also to all the Words whose Terminations have the same Sound, tho' they are accented on the last Syllable. Thus Tenderness rhymes not only to Poetess, Wretchedness, and the like, that are accented on the last save two, but also to Confess, Excess, &c. that are accented on the last; as,

Thou art my Father now, these Words confess,
That Same, and that indulgent Tenderness.Dryd.

SECT. II.

All Words that are accented on the last save one, require the Rhyme to begin at the Vowel of that Syllable, and to continue to the end of the Word; and this is what we call Double Rhyme; as,

Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking,
Besides ten Thousand Freaks that dy'd in Thinking.Dryd.

But it is convenient to take notice, that the ancient Poets did not always observe this Rule, and took care only that the last Syllables of the Words should be alike in Sound, without any regard to the Seat of the Accent. Thus Nation and Affection, Tenderness and Hapless, Villany and Gentry, Follow and[Pg 20] Willow, and the like, were allow'd as Rhymes to each other in the Days of Chaucer, Spencer, and the rest of the Antients; but this is now become a fault in our Versification; and these two Verses of Cowley rhyme not at all.

A clear and lively brown was Merab's Dye;
Such as the proudest Colours might envy.

Thus Air was void of Light, and Earth unstable,
And Waters dark Abyss unnavigable.

Because we may not place an Accent on the last Syllable of Envy, nor on the last save one of unnavigable; which nevertheless we must be oblig'd to do, if we make the first of them rhyme to Dye, the last to Unstable.

But we may that observe in Burlesque Poetry, it is permitted to place an Accent upon a Syllable that naturally has none; as,

Where unless we pronounce the Particle A with a strong Accent upon it, and make it sound like the Vowel a in the last Syllable but one of Ecclesiastick, the Verse will lose all its Beauty and Rhyme. But this is allowable in Burlesque Poetry only.

Observe that these double Rhymes may be compos'd of two several Words; provided the Accent be on the last Syllable of the first of them; as in these Verses of Cowley, speaking of Gold;

Or some of the Verses may end in an entire word, and the Rhyme to it be compos'd of several; as,

Tho' stor'd with Deletery Med'cines,
Which whosoever took is dead since.Hud.

The Treble Rhyme is, when in words accented on the last save two we begin the Rhyme at the Vowel of that Syllable, and continue it to the end of the word: Thus Charity and Parity, Tenderness and Slenderness, &c., are treble Rhymes. And these too, as well as the double, may be compos'd of several words; as,

There was an ancient sage Philosopher,
That had read Alexander Ross over.Hud.

The Treble Rhyme is very seldom us'd, and ought wholly to be excluded from serious Subjects; for it has a certain flatness,[Pg 21] unworthy the Gravity requir'd in Heroick Verse. In which Dryden was of Opinion that even the double Rhymes ought very cautiously to find place; and in all his Translation of Virgil, he has made use of none except only in such words as admit of a Contraction, and therefore cannot properly be said to be double Rhymes; as Giv'n, Driv'n, Tow'r, Pow'r, and the like. And indeed, considering their Measure is different from that of an Heroick Verse, which consists but of 10 Syllables, they ought not to be too frequently us'd in Heroick Poems; but they are very graceful in the Lyrick, to which, as well as to the Burlesque, those Rhymes more properly belong.

SECT. III.

The Consonants, that precede the Vowels where the Rhyme begins, must be different in Sound, and not the same; for then the Rhyme will be too perfect; as Light, Delight; Vice, Advice, and the like; for tho' such Rhymes were allowable in the Days of Spencer and the other old Poets, they are not so now; nor can there be any Musick in one single Note. Cowley himself owns, that they ought not to be employed except in Pindarick Odes, which is a sort of free Poetry, and there too very sparingly, and not without a third Rhyme to answer to both; as,

In barren Age wild and inglorious lye,
And boast of past Fertility,
The poor Relief of present Poverty.Cowl.

Where the words Fertility and Poverty rhyme very well to the last word of the first Verse, Lye; but cannot rhyme to each other, because the Consonants that precede the last Vowels are the same, both in Writing and Sound.

But this is yet less allowable if the Accent be on the Syllable of the Rhyme; as,

Her Language melts Omnipotence, arrests
His Hand, and thence the vengeful Lightning wrests.Blac.

From hence it follows that a word cannot rhyme to it self, tho' the signification be different; as He Leaves to the Leaves, &c.

Nor the words that differ both in Writing and Sense, if they have the same Sound, as Maid and Made, Prey and Pray, to Bow and a Bough: as,

How gawdy Fate may be in Presents sent,[Pg 22]
And creep insensibly by Touch or Scent.Oldh.

Nor a Compound to its Simple; as Move to Remove, Taught to Untaught, &c.

Nor the Compounds of the same Words to one another, as Disprove to Approve, and the like. All which proceeds from what I said before, viz. That the Consonants that precede the Vowel where the Rhyme begins, must not be the same in Sound, but different. In all which we vary from our Neighbours; for neither the French, Italians not Spaniards will allow that a Rhyme can be too perfect: And we meet with frequent Examples in their Poetry, where not only the Compounds rhyme to their Simples, and to themselves; but even where words written and pronounc'd exactly alike, provided they have a different Signification, are made use of as Rhymes to one another: But this is not permitted in our Poetry; and therefore, tho' in the two former Editions of this Book I said that Rhyme is only a Sameness of Sound at the End of Words, I have in this given it a Definition which I take to be more agreeable to our Practice, and call'd it a Likeness or Uniformity of Sound in the Terminations of two Words.

We must take care not to place a Word at the middle of a Verse that rhymes to the last Word of it; as,

But this fault is still more inexcusable, if the second Verse rhyme to the middle and end of the first; as,

Knowledge he only sought, and so soon caught,
As if for him Knowledge had rather sought.Cowl.

Here Passion sways; but there the Muse shall raise
Eternal Monuments of louder Praise.Wall.

Farewell, she cry'd, my Sister, thou dear Part,
Thou sweetest part of my divided Heart.Dryd.

CHAP. III.

All our Poems may be divided into two sorts; the first of those that are compos'd in Couplets; the second are those that are compos'd in Stanzas consisting of several Verses.

SECT. I.

In the Poems compos'd in Couplets, the Rhymes follow one another, and end at each Couplet; that is to say, the 2d Verse rhymes to the 1st, the 4th to the 3d, the 6th to the 5th, and in like manner to the end of the Poem.

The Verses employ'd in this sort of Poems, are either Verses of 10 Syllables; as,

Oh! could I flow like thee, and make thy Stream
My great Example, as it is my Theme;
The deep, yet clear tho' gentle, yet net dull;
Strong, without Rage; without o'erflowing, full.Denh.

O fairest Piece of well-form'd Earth,
Why urge you thus your haughty Birth;
The Pow'r, which you have o'er us, lies
Not in your Race, but in your Eyes.
Smile but on me, and you shall scorn
Henceforth to be of Princes born;
I can describe the shady Grove,
Where your lov'd Mother slept with Jove;
And yet excuse the faultless Dame,
Caught with her Spouse's Shape and Name;
Thy matchless Form will Credit bring,
To all the Wonders I shall sing.Wall.

Phillis, why should we delay
Pleasures shorter than the Day?
Could we, which we never can,
Stretch our lives beyond their Span.
Beauty like a Shadow flies,
and our Youth before us dies,
and our Youth before us dies,
[Pg 24] Or would Youth and Beauty stay,
Love has Wings, and will away.
Love has swifter Wings than Time. Wall.

But the second Verse of the Couplet does not always contain a like number of Syllables with the first; as,

What shall I do to be for ever known,
And make the Age to come my own?
I shall like Beasts and common People dye,
Unless you write my Elegy.Cowl.

SECT. II.

Of the Poems compos'd in Stanzas: And first, of the Stanzas consisting of three, and of four Verses.

In the Poems composed in Stanzas, each Stanza contains a certain number of Verses consisting for the most part of a different number of Syllables: And a Poem that consists of several Stanzas, we generally call an Ode; and this is Lyrick Poetry.

But we must not forget to observe that our Antient Poets frequently made use of intermixed Rhyme in their Heroick Poems, which they dispos'd into Stanzas and Cantos. Thus the Troilus and Cressida of Chaucer is compos'd in Stanzas consisting of 7 Verses; the Fairy Queen of Spencer in Stanzas of 9, &c. And this they took from Italians, whose Heroick Poems generally consist in Stanzas of 8. But this is now wholly laid aside, and Davenant, who compos'd his Gondibert in Stanzas of Verses in alternate Rhyme, was the last that followed their Example of intermingling Rhymes in Heroick Poems.

The Stanzas employ'd in our Poetry, cannot consist of less than three, and are seldom of more than 12 Verses, except in Pindarick Odes, where the Stanzas are different from one another in number of Verses, as shall be shewn.

But to treat of all the different Stanzas that are employ'd or may be admitted in our Poetry, would be a labour no less tedious than useless; it being easie to demonstrate, that they may be vary'd almost to an Infinity, that would be different from one another, either in the Number of the Verses of each Stanza, or in the Number of the Syllables of each Verse; or lastly, in the various intermingling of the Rhyme. I shall therefore confine my self to mention only such as are most frequently us'd by the best of our modern Poets. And first of the Stanzas consisting of three Verses.

In the Stanzas of three Verses, or Triplets, the Verses of each Stanza[Pg 25] rhyme to one another; and are either Heroick; as,

Nothing, thou Elder Brother e'en to shade!
Thou hadst a Being e'er the World was made.
And, (well-fix'd) art alone of ending not afraid.Roch.

Or else they consist of 8 Syllables; as these of Waller, Of a fair Lady playing with a Snake.

Strange that such Horrour and such Grace
Should dwell together in one Place,
A Fury's Arm, an Angel's Face,

Nor do the Verses of these Stanzas always contain a like number of Syllables; for the first and third may have ten, the second but eight; as,

Men without Love have oft so cunning grown
That something like it they have shewn,
But none who had it, ev'r seem'd to have none.

Love's of a strangely open, simple kind,
Can no Arts or Disguises find,
But thinks none sees it, 'cause it self is blind.Cowl.

In the Stanzas of 4 Verses, the Rhyme may be intermix'd in two different manners; for either the 1st and 3d Verse may rhyme to each other, and by consequence the 2d and 4th, and this is call'd Alternate Rhyme; or the 1st and 4th may rhyme, and by consequence the 2d and 3d.

But there are some Poems in Stanzas of four Verses, where the Rhymes follow one another, and the Verses differ in number of syllables only; as in Cowley's Hymn to the Light, which begins thus,

First born of Chaos! who so fair didst come
From the old Negro's darksom Womb:
Which, when it saw the lovely Child,
The melancholy Mass put on kind Looks and smil'd.

But these Stanzas are generally in Alternate Rhyme, and the Verses consist either of 10 Syllables; as,

She ne'er saw Courts, but Courts could have undone
With untaught Looks and an unpractis'd Heart:
Her Nets the most prepar'd could never shun;
For Nature spread them in the scorn of Art.Dav.

Had Echo with so sweet a Grace,
Narcissus loud Complaints return'd:
Not for Reflexion of his Face,
But of his Voice the Boy had burn'd.Wall.

[Pg 26]Or of 10 and 8. that is to say, the 1st and 3d of 10; the 2d and 4th of 8; as,

Love from Time's Wings has stol'n the Feathers sure,
He has, and put them to his own;
For Hours of late as long as Days endure.
And very Minutes Hours are grown.Cowl.

Then ask not Bodies doom'd to dye,
To what Abode they go;
Since Knowledge is but Sorrow's Spy,
'Tis better not to know.Dav.

Not the silver Doves that fly,
Yoak'd in Cytherea's Car;
Nor the Wings that lift so high,
And convey her Son so far;

Are so lovely sweet and fair,
Or do more ennoble Love;
Are so choicely match'd a Pair,
Or with more consent do move.Wall.

Note, That it is absolutely necessary that both the Construction and Sense should end with the Stanza, and not fall into the beginning of the following one, as it does in the last Example, which is a fault wholly to be avoided.

SECT. III.

The Stanzas of 6 Verses, are generally only one of the before-mention'd Quadrans or Stanzas of 4 Verses, with two Verses at the end that rhyme to one another; as,

A Rural Judge dispos'd of Beautie's Prize,
A simple Shepherd was prefer'd to Jove;
Down to the Mountains from the partial Skies
Came Juno, Pallas, and the Queen of Love,
To plead for that which was so justly giv'n
To the bright Carlisle of the Courts of Heav'n.Wall.

Where the 4 first Verses are only a Quadran, and consist of 10 Syllables each in Alternate Rhyme.

The following Stanza in like manner is compos'd of a Quadran, whose[Pg 27] Verses consist of 8 Syllables; and to which 2 Verses that rhyme to one another are added at the end; as,

Hope waits upon the flowry Prime,
And Summer, tho' it be less gay,
Yet is not look'd on as a time
Of Declination and Decay,
For with a full Hand that does bring
All that was promised by the Spring.Wall.

Sometimes the Quadran ends the Stanza; and the two Lines of the same Rhyme begin it; as,

Here's to thee, Dick, this whining Love despise:
Pledge me, my Friend, and drink till thou be'st wise.
It sparkles brighter far than she;
'Tis pure and right without Deceit;
And such no Woman e'er can be;
No, they are all Sophisticate.Cowl.

Or as in these, where the first and last Verses of the Stanza consist of 10 Syllables;

When Chance or cruel Bus'ness parts us two,
What do our Souls, I wonder, do?
While Sleep does our dull Bodies tie,
Methinks at home they should not stay
Content with Dreams, but boldly fly
Abroad, and meet each other half the way.Cowl.

Or as in the following Stanza, where the 4th and 5th Verses rhyme to each other, and the 3d and 6th;

While what I write I do not see,
I dare thus ev'n to you write Poetry,
Ah foolish Muse! that dost so high aspire,
And know'st her Judgment well,
How much it does thy Pow'r excell;
Yet dar'st be read by thy just Doom the Fire.Cowl.
(Written in Juice of Lemon.

Take heed, take heed, thou lovely Maid,
Nor be by glitt'ring Ills betray'd:
Thy self for Money! Oh! let no Man know
The Price of Beauty fall'n so low:
What dangers oughtst thou not to dread
When Love that's blind, is by blind Fortune led?Cowl.

The Lightning, which tall Oaks oppose in vain,
To strike sometimes does net disdain
The humble Furzes of the Plain.
She being so high, and I so low,
Her Pow'r by this does greater show,
Who at such Distance gives so sure a Blow.Cowl.

SECT. IV.

I have already said, that the Italians compose their Heroick Poems in Stanzas of 8 Verses, where the Rhyme is dispos'd as follows; the 1st, 2d, and 5th Verses rhyme to one another, and the 2d, 4th, and 6th, the two last always rhyme to each other. Now our Translators of their Heroick Poems have observ'd the same Stanza and Disposition of Rhyme; of which take the following Example from Fairfax's Translation of Tasso's Goffredo, Cant. 1. Stan. 3d.

Thither thou know'st the World is best inclin'd,
Where luring Parnass most his Beams imparts;
And Truth convey'd in Verse of gentlest kind,
To read sometimes, will move the dullest Hearts;
So we, if Children young diseas'd we find,
Anoint with Sweets the Vessel's foremost parts,
To make them taste the Potions sharp we give;
They drink deceiv'd, and so deceiv'd they live.

But our Poets seldom imploy this Stanza in Compositions of their own; where the following Stanzas of 8 Verses are most frequent.

Some others may with safety tell
The mod'rate Flames which in them dwell;
And either find some Med'cine there,
Or cure themselves ev'n by Despair:
My Love's so great, that it might prove
Dang'rous to tell her that I love.
So tender is my Wound, it cannot bear
Any Salute, tho' of the kindest Air.Cowl.

Where the Rhymes follow one another, and the six first Verses consist of 8 Syllables each, the two last of 10.

We have another sort of Stanza of 8 Verses, where the 4th rhymes to the[Pg 29] 1st, the 3d to the ad, and the four last are two Couplets; and where the 1st, 4th, 6th and 8th, are of 10 Syllables each, the 4 others but of 8; as,

I've often wish'd to love: What shall I do?
Me still the cruel Boy does spare;
And I a double Task must bear,
First to wooe him, and then a Mistress too.
Come at last, and strike for shame,
If thou art any thing besides a Name;
I'll think thee else no God to be,
But Poets, rather, Gods, who first created thee.Cowl.

Another, when the 2 first and 2 last Verses consist of 10 Syllables each, and rhyme to one another, the 4 other but of 8 in alternate Rhyme.

Tho' you be absent hence, I needs must say,
The Trees as beauteous are, and Flowers as gay,
As ever they were wont so be:
Nay the Birds rural Musick too
Is as melodious and free,
As if they sung to pleasure you.
I saw a Rose-bud ope this Morn; I'll swear
The blushing Morning open'd not more fair.Cowl.

Another where the 4 first Verses are two Couplets, the 4 last in alternate Rhyme; as in Cowley's Ode, Of a Lady that made Posies for Rings.

I little thought the time would ever be,
That I should Wit in dwarfish Posies see.
As all Words in few Letters live,
Thou to few Words all Sense dost give.
'Twas Nature taught you this rare Art,
In such a Little Much to shew;
Who all the Good she did impart
To Womankind, epitomis'd in you.

SECT. V.

The Stanzas of 10 and 12 Verses are seldom employed in our Poetry, it being very difficult to confine our selves to a certain Disposition of Rhyme, and measure of Verse, for[Pg 30] so many Lines together; for which Reason those of 4, 6, and 8 Verses are the most frequent. However we sometimes find some of 10 and 12; as in Cowley's Ode which he calls Verses left upon a Wager, where the Rhymes follow one another, but the Verses differ in Number of Syllables.

As seen hereafter will I Wagers lay
'Gainst what an Oracle shall say:
Fool that I was to venture to deny
A Tongue so us'd to Victory.
A Tongue so blest by Nature and by Art,
That never yet it spoke, but gain'd a Heart.
Tho' what you said had not been true,
If spoke by any else but you;
Your Speech will govern Destiny,
And Fate will change, rather than you shall lye.Cowl.

The same Poet furnishes us with an Example of a Stanza of 12 Verses in the Ode he calls the The Prophet, where the Rhymes are observ'd in the same manner as in the former Example.

Teach me to Love! Go teach thy self more Wit:
I chief Professor am of it.
Teach Craft to Scots, and Thrift to Jews,
Teach Boldness to the Stews.
In tyrants Courts teach supple Flattery,
Teach Jesuits that have travell'd far, to lye.
Tenth Fire to burn, and Winds to blow,
Teach restless Fountains how to flow,
Teach the dull Earth fixt to abide,
Teach Womankind Inconstancy and Pride.
See if your Diligence there will useful prove;
But, prithee teach not me to Love.

SECT. VI.

We have also Stanzas that consist of odd numbers of Verses, as of 5, 7, 9, and 11; in all which it of necessity follows, that three Verses of the Stanza rhyme to one another, or that one of them be a blank Verse.

In the Stanzas of 5 Verses, the 1st and 3d may rhyme, and the 2d and two last; as,

Sees not my Love how Time resumes[Pg 31]
The Beauty which he lent these Flow'rs:
Tho' none should taste of their Perfumes,
Yet they must live but some few Hours:
Time what we forbear, devours.Wall.

Which is only a Stanza of 4 Verses in alternate Rhyme, to which a 5th Verse is added that rhymes to the 2d and 4th.

See also an Instance of a Stanza of 5 Verses where the Rhymes are intermix'd in the same manner as the former, but the 1st and 3d Verses are composed but of 4 Syllables each.

Go lovely Rose,
Tell her that wastes her Time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.Wall.

'Tis well, 'tis well with them, said I,
Whose short-liv'd Passions with themselves can dye.
For none can be unhappy, who
'Midst all his Ills a Time does know,
The ne'er so long, when he shall not be so.Cowl.

In this Stanza, the 2 first and the last, and the 3d and 4th rhyme to one another.

It is enough, enough of time and pain
Hast thou consum'd in vain:
Leave, wretched Cowley, leave,
Thy self with Shadows to deceive.
Think that already lost which than must never gain.Cowl.

The Stanzas of 7 Verses are frequent enough in our Poetry, especially among the Ancients, who compos'd many of their Poems in this sort of Stanza: See an Example of one of them taken from Spencer in The Ruines of Time, where the 1st and 3d Verses rhyme to one another, the 2d, 4th and 5th, and the two last.

But Fame with Golden Wings aloft doth fly
Above the reach of ruinous Decay,
And with brave Plumes does beat the Azure Sky,
Admir'd of base-born Men from far away:
Then whoso will with virtuous Deeds essay
To mount to Heaven, on Pegasus must ride,
And in sweet Poets Verse be glorify'd.

I have rather chosen to take notice of this Stanza, because that Poet[Pg 32] and Chaucer have made use of it in many of their Poems, tho' they have not been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns: whose Stanza's of 7 Verses are generally compos'd as follows.

Either the four first Verses are a Quadran in Alternate Rhyme, and the three last rhyme to one another; as,

Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that is,
None loves you half so well as I;
I do not ask your Love for this,
But for Heaven's sake believe me, or I dye.
No Servant sure but did deserve
His Master should believe that he did serve;
And I'll ask no more Wages tho' I starve.Cowl.

Indeed I must confess
When Souls mix 'tis a Happiness,
But not compleat till Bodies too combine,
And closely as our Minds together joyn.
But Half of Heav'n the Souls in Glory taste,
'Till by Love in Heav'n at last,
Their Bodies too are plac'd.Cowl.

Or, on the contrary, the three first may rhyme, and the four last be in Rhymes that follow one another; as,

From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free,
And all the Passions else that be,
In vain I boast of Liberty:
In vain this State a Freedom call,
Since I have Love; and Love is all.
Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag
That I have no Disease besides the Plague.Cowl.

Or the 1st may rhyme to the two last, the 2d to the 5th, and the 3d and 4th to one another; as,

In vain thou drowsie God I thee invoke,
For thou who dost from Fumes arise,
Then who Man's Soul do'st overshade
With a Thick Cloud by Vapours made,
Canst have no Pow'r to shut his Eyes,
Or passage of his Spirits to choak,
Whose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no smoke.Cowl.

Or lastly, the four first and two last may be in following Rhyme, and the 5th a Blank Verse; as,

Thou robb'st my Days of Bus'ness and Delights,[Pg 33]
Of Sleep thou robb'st my Nights:
Ah lovely Thief! what wilt thou do?
What, rob me of Heav'n too!
Thou ev'n my Prayers dost from me steal,
And I with wild Idolatry
Begin to God, and end them all to thee.Cowl.

The Stanzas of 9 and of 11 Syllables are not so frequent as those of 5 and of 7. Spencer has composed his Fairy Queen in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the 1st rhymes to the 3d, the 2d to the 4th 5th and 7th; and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky choice of it reduc'd him often to the necessity of making use of many exploded Words; nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns; whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas that consist of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another, and the three last a Triplet; as,

Beauty, Love's Scene and Masquerade,
So well by well-plac'd Lights, and Distance made;
False Coin! with which th' Impostor cheats us still,
The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill:
Which light or base we find, when we
Weigh by Enjoyment, and examine thee.
For tho' thy Being be but Show,
'Tis chiefly Night which Men to thee allow,
And chuse t' enjoy thee, when thou least art thou.Cowl.

In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, but the Verses differ in Measure from the former.

Beneath this gloomy Shade,
By Nature only for my Sorrows made,
I'll spend this Voice in Cries;
In Tears I'll waste these Eyes,
By Love so vainly fed:
So Lust of old, the Deluge punished.
Ah wretched Youth! said I;
Ah wretched Youth! twice did I sadly cry;
Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply.Cowl.

The Stanzas consisting of 11 Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd in them. Take an Example of one of them, where the 6 first are 3 Couplets, the three next a Triplet, the two last a Couplet; and where the 4th, the 7th, and the last Verses are of 10 Syllables each, the others of 8.

[Pg 34] No, to what purpose should I speak?
No, wretched Heart, swell till you break;
She cannot love me if she would;
And, to say Truth, 'twere pity that she should.
No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear,
As silent as they will be there:
Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give,
So handsomely the thing contrive,
That she may guiltless of it live:
So perish, that her killing thee
May a Chance-medley, and no Murther be. Cowl.

SECT. VII.

The Stanzas of Pindarick Odes are neither confin'd to a certain number of Verses, nor the Verses to a certain number of Syllables, nor the Rhyme to a certain Distance. Some Stanzas contain 50 Verses or more, others not above 10, and sometimes not so many: Some Verses 14, nay, 16 Syllables, others not above 4: Sometimes the Rhymes follow one another for several Couplets together, sometimes they are remov'd 6 Verses from each other; and all this in the same Stanza. Cowley was the first who introduc'd this sort of Poetry into our Language: Nor can the nature of it be better describ'd than as he himself has done it, in one of the Stanzas of his Ode upon Liberty, which I will transcribe, not as an Example, for none can properly be given where no Rule can be prescrib'd, but to give an Idea of the Nature of this sort of Poetry.

If Life should a well-order'd Poem be,
In which he only hits the White,
Who joyns true Profit with the best Delight;
The more Heroick Strain let others take,
Mine the Pindarick way I'll make:
The Matter shall be grave, the Numbers loose and free,
It shall not keep one settled pace of Time,
In the same Tune it shall not always Chime,
Nor shall each day just to his Neighbour rhyme.
A thousand Liberties it shall dispence,
And yet shall manage all without offence,
Or to the sweetness of the Sound, or Greatness of the Sense.
[Pg 35] Nor shall it never from one Subject start,
Nor seek Transitions to depart;
Nor its set way o'er Stiles and Bridges make,
Nor thro' Lanes a Compass take,
As if it fear'd some Trespass to commit,
When the wide Air's a Road for it.
So the Imperial Eagle does not stay
Till the whole Carcass he devour,
That's fall'n into his Pow'r,
As if his gen'rous Hunger understood,
That he can never want plenty of Food;
He only sucks the tastful Blood,
And to fresh Game flies chearfully away,
To Kites and meaner Birds he leaves the mangled Prey.

This sort of Poetry is employed in all manner of Subjects; in Pleasant, in Grave, in Amorous, in Heroick, in Philosophical, in Moral, and in Divine.

Blank Verse is where the Measure is exactly kept without Rhyme; Shakespear, to avoid the troublesome Constraint of Rhyme, was the first who invented it; our Poets since him have made use of it in many of their Tragedies and Comedies: but the most celebrated Poem in this kind of Verse is Milton's Paradise Lost; from the 5th Book of which I have taken the following Lines for an Example of Blank Verse.

These are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good!
Almighty! thine this universal Frame,
Thus wondrous fair! thy self how wondrous then!
Speak you, who best can tell, ye Sons of Light,
Angels! for you behold him, and with Songs,
And Choral Symphonies, Day without Night
Circle his Throne rejoycing, you in Heaven.
On Earth! joyn all ye Creatures, to extol
Him first, him last, him midst, and without end.
Fairest of Stars! last in the Train of Night,
Is better thou belong not to the Dawn,
Sure Pledge of Day, that crown'st the smiling Morn,
With thy bright Circlet, praise him in thy Sphere,
While Day arises, that sweet Hour of Prime!
Thou Sun! of this great World, both Eye and Soul,
Acknowledge him thy Greater, sound his Praise
In thy Eternal Course, both when thou climb'st
And when high Noon hast gain'd, and when thou fall'st.
Moon! that now meet'st the Orient Sun, now fly'st
With the fix'd Stars, fix'd in their Orb that flies,
And ye five other wandring Fires! that move
In Mystick Dance, not without Song, resound
[Pg 36] His Praise, who out of Darkness call'd up Light.
Air! and ye Elements! the eldest Birth
Of Nature's Womb, that in Quaternion run
Perpetual Circle multiform, and mix
And nourish all things; let your ceaseless Change
Vary to our great Maker still new Praise.
To Mists and Exhalations! that now rise
From Hill or steaming Lake, dusky or grey,
Till the sun paint your fleecy Skirts with Gold,
In Honour to the World's great Author rise;
Whether to deck with Clouds th' uncolour'd Sky,
Or wet the thirsty Earth with falling Showr's,
Rising or falling, still advance his Praise.
His Praise, ye Winds! that from four Quarters blow,
Breathe soft or loud; and wave your Tops, ye Pines!
With ev'ry Plant, in sign of Worship, wave.
Fountains! and ye that warble as you flow
Melodious Murmurs, warbling tune his Praise.
Join Voices all ye living Souls, ye Birds!
That singing, up to Heav'n's high Gate ascend,
Bear on your Wings, and in your Notes his Praise.
Ye that in Waters glide! and ye that walk
The Earth! and stately tread, or lowly creep;
Witness if I be silent, Ev'n or Morn,
To Hill or Valley, Fountain or fresh Shade,
Made vocal by my Song, and taught his Praise.

Thus I have given a short Account of all the sorts of Poems, that are most us'd in our Language. The Acrosticks, Anagrams, &c. deserve not to be mention'd, and we may say of them what an Ancient Poet said long ago.

F I N I S.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

7. John Gay's The Present State of Wit (1711); and a section on Wit from The English Theophrastus (1702).

10. Corbyn Morris' Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc. (1744).

15. John Oldmixon's Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley (1712); and Arthur Mainwaring's The British Academy (1712).

17. Nicholas Rowe's Some Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespeare (1709).

18. "Of Genius," in The Occasional Paper, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719); and Aaron Hill's Preface to The Creation (1720).

22. Samuel Johnson's The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) and Two Rambler papers (1750).

24. Pierre Nicole's An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams, translated by J. V. Cunningham.

27. Frances Reynolds' An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc. (1785).

28. John Evelyn's An Apologie for the Royal Party (1659); and A Panegyric to Charles the Second (1661).

30. Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper's Letters Concerning Taste, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong's Miscellanies (1770).

31. Thomas Gray's An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard (1751); and The Eton College Manuscript.

32. Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudéry's Preface to Ibrahim (1674), etc.

35. James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster. Critical Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch (1763).

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California

The Augustan Reprint Society

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Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The Society exists to make available inexpensive reprints (usually facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. The editorial policy of the Society remains unchanged. As in the past, the editors welcome suggestions concerning publications. All income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of publication and mailing.

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Selections from the Tatler, the Spectator, the Guardian. Introduction by Donald F. Bond.

M. C. Sarbiewski: The Odes of Casimire (1646). Introduction by Maren-Sofie Roestvig.

An Essay on the New Species of Writing Founded by Mr. Fielding (1751). Introduction by James A. Work.

[Thomas Morrison]: A Pindarick Ode on Painting (1767). Introduction by Frederick W. Hilles.

Prefaces to Fiction. Second series. Selected with an introduction by Charles Davies.

Thomas Warton: A History of English Poetry: An Unpublished Continuation. Introduction by Rodney M. Baine.

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Transcriber's Notes

The main text dates from the 18th Century, when English spelling had not yet been normalised. Only the following obvious typos have been amended:

Also on P. 5, "Dry'd" amended to "Dryd.", and a missing period added after "Staff".

P. 6, After "In like manner the following Verses" the period has been amended to a comma.

In the Preface, the French phrase "consiste qu'en vn [typo for un?] certain nombre de syllabes, & non pas en pieds composez [composés] de syllabes" has been left unchanged.

Also in the Preface, in the quote from Boileau, missing accents have not been supplied in "Il doit regner par tout; & meme dans la Fable".

On P. 13, "Bower" should match "Pow'r" a few lines further on. Not amended as it is not clear whether "Bower" and "Bow'r" or "Power" and "Pow'r" was intended.

The one example of [oe], "Maren-Sofie Roestvig" on the final page, has been changed to oe.

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Art of English Poetry (1708)

The Augustan Reprint Society

The Art of English Poetry

INTRODUCTION

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

The PREFACE.

RULES

ENGLISH VERSE.

CHAP. I.

SECT. I.

SECT. II.

SECT. III.

SECT. IV.

SECT. V.[Pg 14]

CHAP. II.

SECT. I.

SECT. II.

SECT. III.

CHAP. III.

SECT. I.

SECT. II.

SECT. III.

SECT. IV.

SECT. V.

SECT. VI.

SECT. VII.

F I N I S.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California

The Augustan Reprint Society

General Editors

Transcriber's Notes

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE