mixed with the others; and, doubtless, it is in general easy to make them such, by an utterance that avoids, rather than favours, the coalescence. The following are examples:
"No rest: \ through man\-y a dark \ and drear\-y vale
They pass'd, \ and man\-y a re\-gion dol\-orous,
O'er man\-y a fro\-zen, man\-y a fi\-ery Alp."
—Milton: P. L., B. ii, l. 618.
"Rejoice \ ye na\-tions, vin\-dicate \ the sway
Ordain'd \ for com\-mon hap\-piness. \ Wide, o'er
The globe \ terra\-queous, let \ Britan\-nia pour
The fruits \ of plen\-ty from \ her co\-pious horn."
—Dyer: Fleece, B. iv, l. 658.
"Myriads \ of souls \ that knew \ one pa\-rent mold,
See sad\-ly sev \ er'd by \ the laws \ of chance!
Myriads, \ in time's \ peren\-nial list \ enroll'd,
Forbid \ by fate \ to change \ one tran\-sient glance!"
Shenstone: British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 109.
(3.) In plays, and light or humorous descriptions, the last foot of an iambic line is often varied or followed by an additional short syllable; and, sometimes, in verses of triple rhyme, there is an addition of two short syllables, after the principal rhyming syllable. Some prosodists call the variant foot, in die former instance, an amphibrach, and would probably, in the latter, suppose either an additional pyrrhic, or an amphibrach with still a surplus syllable; but others scan, in these cases, by the iambus only, calling what remains after the last long syllable hypermeter; and this is, I think, the better way. The following examples show these and some other variations from pure iambic measure:
Example I.—Grief.
"Each sub \ stănce ŏf \ a grief \ hath twen\-ty shadŏws,
Which show \ like grief \ itself, \ but are \ not so:
For sor\-row's eye, \ glāzĕd \ with blind\-ing tears,
Divides one thing \ entire \ to man \—y objĕcts;
Like per\-spectives, \ which, right\-ly gaz'd \ upon,
Show noth\-ing but \ confu\-sion; ey'd \ awry,
Distin\-guish form: \ so your \ sweet maj\-esty,
Loōkĭng \ awry \ upon \ your lord's \ departŭre,
Finds shapes \ of grief, \ more than \ himself, \ to wail;
Which, look'd \ on as \ it is, \ is nought \ but shadŏws."
Shakspeare: Richard II, Act ii, Sc. 2.
Example II.—A Wish to Please.
"O, that \ I had \ the art \ of eas\-y writing
What should \ be eas\-y read\-ing \ could \ I scale
Parnas\-sus, where \ the Mus\-es sit \ inditing
Those pret\-ty po\-ems nev\-er known \ to fail,
How quick\-ly would \ I print \ (the world \ delighting)
A Gre\-cian, Syr\-ian, or \ Assy\-ian tale;
And sell \ you, mix'd \ with west\-ern sen\-timentalism,
Some sam\-ples of \ the fin\-est O\-rientalism."
LORD BYRON: Beppo, Stanza XLVIII.
MEASURE V.—IAMBIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.
Example I.—Presidents of the United States of America.
"First stands \ the loft\-y Wash\-ington,
That no\-ble, great, \ immor\-tal one;
The eld\-er Ad\-ams next \ we see;
And Jef\-ferson \ comes num\-ber three;
Then Mad\-ison \ is fourth, \ you know;
The fifth \ one on \ the list, \ Monroe;
The sixth \ an Ad\-ams comes \ again;
And Jack\-son, sev\-enth in \ the train;
Van Bu\-ren, eighth \ upon \ the line;
And Har\-rison \ counts num\-ber nine;
The tenth \ is Ty\-ler, in \ his turn;
And Polk, \ elev\-enth, as \ we learn;
The twelfth \ is Tay\-lor, peo\-ple say;
The next \ we learn \ some fu\-ture day."
ANONYMOUS: From Newspaper, 1849.
Example II.—The Shepherd Bard.
"The bard \ on Ett\-rick's moun \ tain green
In Na\-ture's bo\-som nursed \ had been,
And oft \ had marked \ in for\-est lone
Her beau\-ties on \ her moun\-tain throne;
Had seen \ her deck \ the wild\-wood tree,
And star \ with snow\-y gems \ the lea;
In love\-liĕst cōl\-ours paint \ the plain,
And sow \ the moor \ with pur\-ple grain;
By gold\-en mead \ and moun\-tain sheer,
Had viewed \ the Ett\-rick wav\-ing clear,
Where shad\-ōwȳ flōcks \ of pur\-est snow
Seemed graz\-ing in \ a world \ below."
JAMES HOGG: The Queen's Wake, p. 76.
