stanza is the least group of lines involving all the peculiarities of metre and arrangement of rhymes characteristic of the piece containing it.

KINDS OF VERSE.

142. The elements for constructing the various kinds of verse common in English poetry, have now been mentioned. They are the five measures repeated in lines of varying length; not seldom compounded with one another; occasionally made harmonious by alliteration; and in most kinds of poetry fitted with a rhyming close.

The Rhyme, by its very nature, demanding at least two lines or verses, practically determines what special forms the versification shall assume; in the absence of rhyme, the versification is complete within the single ine.

This last case, of simple unrhymed metrical combination, is best disposed of by itself, before the more intricate rhymed forms are noticed. It is the Blank Verse, called also Heroic, and belongs to English literature. The name Heroic arises from its constant employment in the High Epic, where it takes the place of the classical hexameter. It is composed of five Iambic measures, as seen in the appended extract from

Milton :

High' on a throne' of roy' |al state', | which far'
Out shone' the wealth' | of Or' muz and' | of Ind',
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.

Young, Thomson, Wordsworth, and Tennyson, also make ase of Blank Verse, although the lines of each have a distinct. ring or rhythm, dependent for the most part upon their management of the natural pauses.

In the Drama, a somewhat looser form of Blank Verse is in common use, varied occasionally by rhyming couplets, Frequently the verse is hypermetrical by one, or even two syllables. Thus :

Most potent, grave, and rev'rend Signiors;
My very noble and | approv'd | good masters.

143. The combinations that are formed to meet the necessities, or gain the advantage, of Rhyme, are so exceedingly numerous, that it will be impossible to allude to more than a few of the common forms, associated with well-marked kinds of composition. In these the Iambic measure is found largely to preponderate.

Iambic Octosyllabics, of four measures, or eight syllables, in couplets rhyming at the close. As,

Lord Mar' mion turn'd', | well' was | his need',
And dash'd' | the row' els in' | his steed'.

This form is employed in Byron's Tales, in Hudibras, &c. Scott varies it often by lines of six syllables, or runs it into triplets. Other poets write triplets in stanzas. Quatrains in stanzas, rhyming by couplets or alternately, are exceedingly

common.

Heroic Couplets, five iambic measures rhymed.

Know well thyself, I presume | not God | to scan;
The proper study of mankind | is man.

Chaucer, Dryden, Pope, Cowper, &c., use this metre. Like the last, it is occasionally run into triplets, which may form stanzas. Several more complex combinations are formed out of rhyming heroics.

A stanza of four lines, rhyming alternately, is the Elegiac Metre, found in Gray's Elegy, Dryden's Annus Mirabilis, &c. Let not | Ambition mock | their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny | obscure; Nor gran deur hear | with a disdain ful smile, The short and simple annals of the poor.

Seven heroic lines, the first five rhyming at intervals and the last two in succession, give the Rhyme Royal of Chaucer and the Elizabethan writers.

But, oh the doleful sight that then we see!
We turned our look, and on the other side

A grisly shape of Famine mought we see:

With greedy looks, and gaping mouth, that cried

And roared for meat, as she should there have died:

Her body thin and bare as any bone,

Whereto was left nought but the case alone.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.

293

Eight heroics, the first six rhyming alternately and the last two in succession, compose the Italian Ottava Rima. This combination is found in translations, and in Don Juan.

The other father had a weak|lier | child,
Of a soft cheek, and aspect delicate;
But the boy bore up long, and with a mild
And patient spirit held aloof his fate!
Little he said, and now and then he smiled
As if to win a part from off the weight
He saw increasing on his father's heart,

With the deep deadly thought that they must part.

The Sonnet consists of fourteen lines of ten syllables with a peculiar arrangement of the rhymes, not, however, always strictly observed.

The Spenserian stanza of Spenser, Beattie, and Byron, is an English combination of eight heroics rhyming at intervals, and followed by a rhyming Alexandrine of twelve syllables.

The lion would not leave | her desolate,
But with her went along, as a strong guard

Of her chaste person, and a faithful mate

Of her sad troubles and misfortunes hard:

Still when she slept, he kept both watch and ward;
And when she waked, he waited diligent

With humble service to her will prepared;

From her fair eyes | he took | commandément,
And ever by her looks | conceived her | intent.

The Alexandrine, of six iambic measures, and rhyming in couplets, is employed by itself in Drayton's Polyolbion.

Seven iambic measures, rhyming in couplets, form the common metre of psalms and hymns, and also the Ballad metre.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place || in generations all,
Before thou ever had'st | brought forth || the mountains great | or small.

As the pause falls regularly after the fourth measure, it is customary to write the couplet as a stanza of four lines; in the following example, the first and third lines are made to rhyme :

"Soft as the dew from heaven descends,

His gentle accents fell;

The modest stranger lowly bends,

And follows to the cell."

A single example of Trochaic combination may be quoted.

"Onward, onward may we press

Through the path of duty;
Virtue is true happiness,

Excellence, true beauty.
Minds are of celestial birth;

Make we then a heaven of earth."

Great as is the number of existing models, English poets

have still large scope for new and original combinations.

APPENDIX.

EXTRACTS ANALYZED.

EXTRACT I.-The following (from Forbes's Travels through the Alps) is a striking example of the Allegory, or protracted comparison (p. 37). I shall employ it farther in illustrating other points connected with style, and, in so doing, will suggest certain improvements in the expression. There is unavoidably a frequent repetition of 'it' and 'its'; but, in several instances, a slight alteration of structure will allow them to be omitted.

1. "Poets and philosophers have delighted to compare the แ course of human life to that of a river; perhaps a still apter sim"ile might be found in the history of a glacier." This sentence is well constructed for bringing out with emphasis the main subjectthe glacier; the first half is preparatory, and properly ends with the balancing subject—a river. A few minute alterations might be suggested:-'Poets and philosophers' are somewhat too prominently placed, considering their subordinate position; and the clumsy addition that of' may be dispensed with. "It has been the delight [custom, habit, practice] of poets and philosophers to compare the course of human life to a river, &c."

2. "Heaven-descended in its origin, it yet takes its mould and "conformation from the hidden womb of the mountains which "brought it forth." Or:-"In origin heaven-descended, it yet takes mould and conformation from the hidden womb of the mountains that brought it forth.”

3. At first soft and ductile, it acquires a character and firmness of its own, as an inevitable destiny urges it in its onward eareer. "At first soft and ductile, the mass acquires a special