Have ye \ chosen, \ O my \ people, \ on whose \ party \ ye shall \ stand,
Ere the \ Doom from \ its worn \ sandals \ shakes the \ dust a\-gainst our \ land?
Though the \ cause of \ evil \ prosper, \ yet the \ Truth a\-lone is \ strong,
And, al \ beit she \ wander \ outcast \ now, I \ see a\-round her \ throng
Troops of \ beauti\-ful tall \ angels \ to en\-shield her \ from all \ wrong."
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: Liberator, September 4th, 1846.
Example V.—The Season of Love.—A short Extract.
"In the \ Spring, a \ fuller \ crimson \ comes up\-on the \ robin's \ breast;
In the \ Spring, the \ wanton \ lapwing \ gets him\-self an \ other \ crest;
In the \ Spring, a \ livelier \ iris \ changes \ on the \ burnished \ dove;
In the \ Spring, a \ young man's \ fancy \ lightly \ turns to \ thoughts of \ love.
Then her \ cheek was \ pale, and \ thinner \ than should \ be for \ one so \ young;
And her \ eyes on \ all my \ motions, \ with a \ mute ob\-servance, \ hung.
And I \ said, 'My \ cousin \ Amy, \ speak, and \ speak the \ truth to \ me;
Trust me, \ cousin, \ all the \ current \ of my \ being \ sets to \ thee.'"
Poems by ALFRED TENNYSON, Vol. ii, p. 35.
Trochaic of eight feet, as these sundry examples will suggest, is much oftener met with than iambic of the same number; and yet it is not a form very frequently adopted. The reader will observe that it requires a considerable pause after the fourth foot; at which place one might divide it, and so reduce each couplet to a stanza of four lines, similar to the following examples:
PART OF A SONG, IN DIALOGUE.
SYLVIA.
"Corin, \ cease this \ idle \ teasing;
Love that's \ forc'd is \ harsh and \ sour;
If the \ lover \ be dis\-pleasing,
To per\-sist dis\-gusts the \ more."
CORIN.
"'Tis in \ vain, in \ vain to \ fly me,
Sylvia, \ I will \ still pur\-sue;
Twenty \ thousand \ times de\-ny me,
I will \ kneel and \ weep a\-new."
SYLVIA.
"Cupid \ ne'er shall \ make me \ languish,
I was \ born a\-verse to \ love;
Lovers' \ sighs, and \ tears, and \ anguish,
Mirth and \ pastime \ to me \ prove."
CORIN.
"Still I \ vow with \ patient \ duty
Thus to \ meet your \ proudest \ scorn;
You for \ unre\-lenting \ beauty
I for \ constant \ love was \ born."
Poems by ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD, p. 56.
PART OF A CHARITY HYMN.
1.
"Lord of \ life, all \ praise ex\-celling,
thou, in \ glory \ uncon\-fin'd,
Deign'st to \ make thy \ humble \ dwelling
with the \ poor of \ humble \ mind.
2.
As thy \ love, through \ all cre\-ation,
beams like \ thy dif\-fusive \ light;
So the \ scorn'd and \ humble \ station
shrinks be\-fore thine \ equal \ sight.
3.
Thus thy \ care, for \ all pro\-viding,
warm'd thy \ faithful \ prophet's \ tongue;
Who, the \ lot of \ all de\-ciding,
to thy \ chosen \ Israel \ sung:
4.
'When thine \ harvest \ yields thee \ pleasure,
thou the \ golden \ sheaf shalt \ bind;
To the \ poor be\-longs the \ treasure
of the \ scatter'd \ ears be\-hind.'"
Psalms and Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Hymn LV.
A still more common form is that which reduces all these tetrameters to single rhymes, preserving their alternate succession. In such metre and stanza, is Montgomery's "Wanderer of Switzerland, a Poem, in Six Parts," and with an aggregate of eight hundred and forty-four lines. Example:
1.
"‘Wanderer, \ whither \ wouldst thou \ roam?
To what \ region \ far a\-way,
Bend thy \ steps to \ find a \ home,
In the \ twilight \ of thy \ day?’
2.
'In the \ twilight \ of my \ day,
I am \ hastening \ to the \ west;
There my \ weary limbs \ to lay,
Where the \ sun re\-tires to \ rest.
3.
Far be\-yond the At\-lantic \ floods,
Stretched be\-neath the \ evening \ sky,
Realms of \ mountains, \ dark with \ woods,
In Co\-lumbia's \ bosom \ lie.
4.
There, in \ glens and \ caverns \ rude,
Silent \ since the \ world be\-gan,
Dwells the \ virgin \ Soli\-tude,
Unbe\-trayed by \ faithless \ man:
5.
Where a \ tyrant \ never \ trod,
Where a \ slave was \ never \ known,
But where \ nature \ worships \ God
In the \ wilder\-ness a\-lone.
6.
Thither, \ thither \ would I \ roam;
There my \ children \ may be \ free;
I for \ them will \ find a \ home;
They shall \ find a \ grave for \ me.'"
First six stanzas of Part VI, pp. 71 and 72.
