OF THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH VERSES.

The structure of our verses, whether blank or in rhyme, consists in a certain number of syllables; not in feet composed 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, composed verses by the measure of spondees, dactyls, &c., yet the success of their undertaking has fully evinced the vainness of their attempt, and given ground to suspect they had not thoroughly weighed 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 mentioned 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 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:—

Where the four verses that are accented on the last save one have eleven syllables, the others, accented on the last, but ten.

In a poem whose verses consist of eight, the double rhymes require nine; as,

In a poem whose verses consist of seven, the double rhymes require eight; as,

This must also be observed in blank verse; as,

And this verse of Milton,

wants a syllable; for, being accented on the last save one, it ought to have eleven, as all the verses but two of the preceding 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.

Section I.—Of the several sorts of verses; and, first, of those of ten syllables: of the due observation of the accents, and of the pause.

Our poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of verses; that is to say, of verses of ten, eight, or seven syllables. Those of four, six, nine, eleven, twelve, and fourteen, are generally employed in masks and operas, and in the stanzas of lyric and Pindaric odes, and we have few entire poems composed in any of those sort of verses. Those of twelve and fourteen syllables are frequently inserted in our poems in heroic verse, and when rightly made use of, carry a peculiar grace with them. See the next section towards the end.

The verses of ten syllables, which are our heroic, are used in heroic poems, in tragedies, comedies, pastorals, elegies, and sometimes in burlesque.

In these verses two things are chiefly to be considered:

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 called 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 observed at the end of the word where such accents happen to be, or at the end of the following word.

Now, in a verse of ten syllables this accent must be either on the second, fourth, or sixth; which produces five several pauses, that is to say, at the third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh syllable of the verse:

For,

When it happens to be on the second, the pause will be either at the third or fourth.

At the third in two manners:

1. When the syllable accented happens to be the last save one of a word; as,

2. Or when the accent is on the last of a word, and the next a monosyllable, whose construction is governed by that on which the accent is; as,

When the accent falls on the second syllable of the verse, and the last save two of a word, the pause will be at the fourth; as,

When the accent is on the fourth of a verse, the pause will be either at the same syllable, or at the fifth or sixth.

At the same, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last of a word; as,

At the fifth in two manners:

1. When it happens to be the last save one of a word; as,

2. Or the last of the word, if the next be a monosyllable governed by it; as,

At the sixth, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last save two of a word; as,

Lastly, when the accent is on the sixth syllable of the verse, the pause will be either at the same syllable or at the seventh.

At the same, when the syllable of the accent happens to be the last of a word; as,

At the seventh in two manners:

1. When it happens to be the last save one of a word; as,

2. Or the last of a word, if the following one be a monosyllable whose construction depends on the preceding word on which the accent is; as,

From all this it appears, that the pause is determined by the seat of the accent; but if the accents happen to be equally strong on the second, fourth, and sixth 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 have cited as an instance of it at the seventh syllable,

The accent is as strong on taught, as on the first syllable of flatter; and if the pause were observed at the fourth syllable of the verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its sound; as,

Which though 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 eighth and second in the two following verses:—

Which verses have nothing disagreeable in their structure but the pause, which in the first of them must be observed at the eighth syllable, in the second at the second; and so unequal a division can produce no true harmony. And for this reason too, the pauses at the third and seventh syllables, though not wholly to be condemned, ought to be but sparingly practised.

The foregoing rules ought indispensably to be followed in all our verses of ten syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right time in music, will produce harmony; the neglect of them harshness and discord; as appears by the following verses:—

In which, though the true number of syllables be observed, yet neither of them have so much as the sound of a verse. Now their disagreeableness proceeds from the undue seat of the accent. For example, the first of them accented on the fifth and seventh syllables; but if we change the words, and remove the accent to the fourth and sixth, the verse will become smooth and easy; as,

The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on the third syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one word:

In like manner the following verses,

are rough, because the foregoing rules are not observed in their structure; for example, the first where the pause is at the fifth syllable, and the accent on the third, is contrary to the rule, which says, that the accent that determines the pause must be on the second, fourth, or sixth syllable of the verse; and to mend that verse we need only place the accent on the fourth, and then the pause at the fifth will have nothing disagreeable; as,

The second verse is accented on the third syllable, and the pause is there too; which makes it indeed the thing it expresses, forced, harsh, and uneasy; it may be mended thus:

The third, fourth, and fifth of those verses have like faults; for the pauses are at the fifth, 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 fifth, and removing the seat of the pause; as,

From whence we conclude, that in all verses of ten syllables, the most prevailing accents ought to be on the second, fourth, or sixth syllables; for if they are on the third, fifth, or seventh, the verses will be rough and disagreeable, as has been proved by the preceding 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 ancients; and therefore we ought to take equal care to avoid it, and endeavour so to dispose the words that they may create a certain melody in the ear, without labour to the tongue, or violence to the sense.

Section II.—Of the other sorts of verses that are used in our poetry.

After the verses of ten syllables those of eight are most frequent, and we have many entire poems composed in them.

In the structure of these verses, as well as of those of ten syllables, we must take care that the most prevailing accents be neither on the third nor fifth syllables of them.

They also require a pause to be observed in pronouncing them, which is generally at the fourth or fifth syllable; as,

The verses of seven syllables, which are called anacreontic, are most beautiful when the strongest accent is on the third, and the pause either there or at the fourth; as,

The verses of nine and of eleven 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 eight and ten syllables, of which examples have already been given. The other of those that are accented on the last syllable, which are employed only in compositions for music, 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 scattered here and there in our masks and operas, and in the burlesque writers. I will give but two:

The verses of twelve syllables are truly heroic both in their measure and sound, though we have no entire works composed 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 rencontres:—

1. When they conclude an episode in an heroic poem. Thus Stafford ends his translation of that of Camilla from the eleventh Æneid with a verse of twelve syllables:

2. When they conclude a triplet and full sense together; as,

And here we may observe by the way, that whenever a triplet is made use of in an heroic 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 eleventh Æneid, in these lines:

And in the seventh Æneid he has committed the like fault:

But the sense is not confined 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 it is needless to give any.

3. When they conclude the stanzas of lyric or Pindaric odes; examples of which are often seen in Dryden, and others.

In these verses the pause ought to be at the sixth syllable, as may be seen in the foregoing examples.

We sometimes find it, though very rarely, at the seventh; as,

When it is at the fourth, the verse will be rough and hobbling; as,

In the last of which it is very apparent, that if the sense and construction would allow us to make the pause at the sixth syllable,

the verse would be much more flowing and easy.

The verses of fourteen syllables are less frequent than those of twelve; they are likewise inserted in heroic poems, &c., and are agreeable enough when they conclude a triplet and sense, and follow a verse of twelve; as,

But if they follow one of ten syllables, the inequality of the measure renders them less agreeable; as,

Especially if it be the last of a couplet only; as,

But this is only in heroics; for in their Pindarics and lyrics, verses of twelve or fourteen syllables are frequently and gracefully placed, not only after those of twelve or ten, but of any other number of syllables whatsoever.

The verses of four and six syllables have nothing worth observing, and therefore I shall content myself with having made mention of them. They are, as I said before, used only in operas and masks, and in lyric and Pindaric odes. Take one example of them:—

Section III.—Several rules conducing to the beauty of our versification.

Our poetry being very much polished and refined since the days of Chaucer, Spenser, and the other ancient poets, some rules which they neglected, and that conduce very much to the ornaments of it, have been practised 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, called 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 with 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 placed before one that begins with 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 amazed of two, and loved 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 with the same letter; as,

Yet we find an instance of such a verse in Dryden's translation of the first pastoral of Virgil:

Which I am persuaded he left not thus through negligence or inadvertency, but with design to paint in the number and sound of the words the thing he described—a shepherd in whom

Now how far the sound of the h aspirate, with which three feet of that verse begin, expresses the despair of the swain, let the judicious judge. I have taken notice of it only to say, that it is a great beauty in poetry, when the words and numbers are so disposed, as by their order and sound to represent the things described.

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 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.

Section IV.—Doubts concerning the number of syllables of certain words.

There is no language whatsoever that so often joins several vowels together to make diphthongs of them, as ours; this appears in our having several composed 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 founded separately in two syllables, or jointly in one.

The ancient poets made them sometimes of two syllables, sometimes but of one, as the measure of their verse required; 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 begins with 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, though 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 used 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 used but as two syllables; as in the following verses:—

Sometimes as three; as,

When they are used 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; for the particle a being placed after a word that ends in a vowel, will sometimes admit of the like contraction; for example, after the word many; as,

After to; as,

After they; as,

After by; as,

And perhaps after some others.

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 used but as one syllable; and then they suffer an elision of the vowel that precedes their final consonant, and ought to be written thus, bow'r, heav'n, pray'r, nigh'r, tow'rds.

The termination ism is always used but as one syllable; as,

And, indeed, considering that it has but one vowel, it may seem absurd to assert that it ought to be reckoned 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,

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.

The like may be said of the terminations asm and osm.

Section V.—Of the elisions that are allowed in our versification.

In verses consisting only of a certain number of syllables, nothing can be of more ease, or greater use to 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 entire 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 used as such in verse; but they may be also 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 used 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 two syllables, as in this verse;

Which always ought to be three, as in this,

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 it is sounded like s; that is to say, whenever it precedes the vowel e or i; as med'cine for medicine. Or v consonant, as cov'nant for covenant.

To these may be added the gerunds of all verbs whose infinities end in any of the liquids, preceded by a vowel or a diphthong, and that are accented on the last save one; for the gerunds being formed 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 gerunds: 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 it was, were, will, would; as 'tis, 'twas, 'twere, 'twill, 'twould, for it is, it was, &c.

It likewise sometimes suffers the like elision when placed 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 pronounced; as was't for was it, in't for in it, and the like. But this is not so frequent in heroic 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 with a vowel; as t'maze, 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; 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, 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.

Not, its two first letters after can; as can't for cannot.

Am, its a after i; I'm for I am.

Us, its u after let; let's for let us.

Taken, its k, ta'en; for so it ought to be written, not ta'ne.

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.

To these may be added, bow'r, pow'r, flow'r, tow'r, show'r, for bower, tower, &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 observed in reading our poets.

I have already, in the third 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 with a consonant, and then its two remaining letters are joined to the preceding word; as to th' wall for to the wall, by th' wall for by the wall, &c., but this is scarcely allowable in heroic poetry.

The particles in, of, and on, sometimes lose their consonants, and are joined 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 loses its two first 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 pronounced; as in's, for's, for in his, for his, &c. This is frequent in Cowley, who often takes too great liberty in his contractions; as t'your for to your, t'which for to which, and many others; in which we must be cautious in following his example, but the contracting of the pronoun his in the manner I mentioned is not wholly to be condemned.

We sometimes find the word who contracted before words that begin with a vowel; as,

And the preposition in like manner; as,

And the pronouns personal, he, she, they, we; as,

But these and the like contractions are very rare in our most correct poets, and indeed ought 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 with 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 it is 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 followed by another e, that of the particle the may be cut off; as,