MEASURE VII.—TROCHAIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
Example I.—Three Short Excerpts.
1.
"My flocks \ feed not,
My ewes \ breed not,
My rams \ speed not,
All is \ amiss:
Love's de\-nying,
Faith's de\-fying,
Heart's re\-nying,
Causer \ of this."
2.
"In black \ mourn I,
All fears \ scorn I,
Love hath \ lorn me,
Living \ in thrall:
Heart is \ bleeding,
All help \ needing.
(Cruel \ speeding,)
Fraughted \ with gall."
3.
"Clear wells \ spring not.
Sweet birds \ sing not,
Loud bells \ ring not
Cheerfully;
Herds stand \ weeping,
Flocks all \ sleeping,
Nymphs back \ creeping
Fearfully."
Shakspeare: The Passionate Pilgrim. See Sec. xv.
Example II.—Specimen with Single Rhyme.
"To Quinbus Flestrin, the Man-Mountain"
A LILLIPUTIAN ODE
I.
"In a\-maze,
Lost, I \ gaze.
Can our \ eyes
Reach thy \ size?
May my \ lays
Swell with \ praise,
Worthy \ thee,
Worthy \ me!
Muse, in\-spire
All thy \ fire!
Bards of \ old
Of him \ told,
When they \ said
Atlas' \ head
Propp'd the \ skies:
See! and \ believe \ your eyes!
II.
"See him \ stride
Valleys \ wide:
Over \ woods,
Over \ floods,
When he \ treads,
Mountains' \ heads
Groan and \ shake:
Armies \ quake,
Lest his \ spurn
Over\-turn
Man and \ steed:
Troops, take \ heed!
Left and \ right
Speed your \ flight!
Lest an \ host
Beneath \ his foot \ be lost.
III.
"Turn'd a\-side
From his \ hide,
Safe from \ wound,
Darts re\-bound.
From his \ nose,
Clouds he \ blows;
When he \ speaks,
Thunder \ breaks!
When he \ eats,
Famine \ threats!
When he \ drinks,
Neptune \ shrinks!
Nigh thy \ ear,
In mid \ air,
On thy \ hand,
Let me \ stand.
So shall \ I
(Lofty \ poet!) touch the sky."
JOHN GAY: Johnson's British Poets, Vol. vii, p. 376.
Example III.—Two Feet with Four.
"Oh, the \ pleasing, \ pleasing \ anguish,
When we \ love, and \ when we \ languish!
Wishes \ rising!
Thoughts sur\-prising!
Pleasure \ courting!
Charms trans\-porting!
Fancy \ viewing
Joys en\-suing!
Oh, the \ pleasing, \ pleasing \ anguish!"
ADDISON'S Rosamond, Act i, Scene 6.
Example IV.—Lines of Three Syllables with Longer Metres.
1. WITH TROCHAICS.
"Or we \ sometimes \ pass an \ hour
Under \ a green \ willow,
That de\-fends us \ from the \ shower,
Making \ earth our \ pillow;
Where we \ may
Think and \ pray,
Bē'fore \ death
Stops our \ breath:
Other \ joys,
Are but \ toys,
And to \ be la\-mented."[1]
2. WITH IAMBICS.
"What sounds \ were heard,
What scenes \ appear'd,
O'er all \ the drear\-y coasts!
Dreadful \ gleams,
Dismal \ screams,
Fires that \ glow,
Shrieks of \ wo,
Sullen \ moans,
Hollow \ groans,
And cries \ of tor\-tur'd ghosts!"
POPE: Johnson's Brit. Poets, Vol. vi, p. 315.
Example V.—"The Shower."—In Four Regular Stanzas.
1.
"In a \ valley \ that I \ know—
Happy \ scene!
There are \ meadows \ sloping \ low,
There the \ fairest \ flowers \ blow,
And the \ brightest \ waters \ flow.
All se\-rene;
But the \ sweetest \ thing to \ see,
If you \ ask the \ dripping \ tree,
Or the \ harvest\-hoping \ swain,
Is the \ Rain.
- ↑ [515] This passage, or some part of it, is given as a trochaic example, in many different systems of prosody. Everett ascribes it entire to "John Chalkhill;" and Nutting, more than twenty years before, had attached the name of "Chalkhill" to a part of it. But the six lines "of three syllables," Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar, credits to "Walton's Angler;" and Bicknell, too, ascribes the same to "Walton." The readings also have become various. Johnson, Bicknell, Burn, Churchill, and Nutting, have "Here" for "Where" in the fifth line above; and Bicknell and Burn have "Stop" in the eighth line, where the rest read "Stops." Nutting has, for the ninth line, "Others' joys," and not, "Other joys," as have the rest.—G. B.
