'On a \ mountain, \ stretched be\-neath a \ hoary \ willow,
Lay a \ shepherd \ swain, and \ view'd the \ rolling \ billow.'"[1]
Again: "We have the following from Bishop Heber:
'Hōlў, \ hōlў \ hōlў! \ āll thĕ \ sāints ă\-dōre thĕe,
Cāstĭng \ dōwn thĕir \ gōldĕn \ crōwns ă\-rōund thĕ \ glāssў \ sēa;
Chērŭ\-bīm ănd \ sēră\-phīm [ are,] \ fāllĭng \ dōwn bĕ\-fōre thĕe,
Whĭch wērt, \ ănd ārt, \ ănd ēv\-ĕrmōre \ shălt bē!
Holy, \ holy, \ holy! \ though the \ darkness \ hide thee,
Though the \ eye of \ sinful \ man thy \ glory \ may not \ see,
Only \ thou, [O \ God,] art \ holy; \ there is \ none be\-side thee,
Pērfĕct \ ĭn pōw'r, \ ĭn lōve, \ ănd pū\-rĭtȳ.'
Only the first and the third lines of these stanzas are to our purpose," remarks the prosodist. That is, only these he conceived to be "lines of six Trochees." But it is plain, that the third line of the first stanza, having seven long syllables, must have seven feet, and cannot be a trochaic hexameter; and, since the third below should be like it in metre, one can hardly forbear to think the words which I have inserted in brackets, were accidentally omitted.
Further: "It is worthy of remark," says he, "that the second line of each of these stanzas is composed of six Trochees and an additional long syllable. As its corresponding line is an Iambic, and as the piece has some licenses in its construction, it is far safer to conclude that this line is an anomaly than that it forms a distinct species of verse. We must therefore conclude that the tenth [the metre of six trochees] is the longest species of Trochaic line known to English verse."—Everett's Versification, pp. 95 and 96.
This, in view of the examples above, of our longer trochaics, may serve as a comment on the author's boast, that, "having deduced his rules from the usage of the great poets, he has the best reason for being confident of their correctness."—Ibid., Pref., p. 5.
Trochaic hexameter, too, may easily be written with single rhyme; perhaps more easily than a specimen suited to the purpose can be cited from any thing already written. Let me try:
Example I.—The Sorcerer.
Lonely \ in the \ forest, \ subtle \ from his \ birth,
Lived a \ necro\-mancer, \ wondrous \ son of \ earth.
More of \ him in\-quire not, \ than I \ choose to \ say;
Nymph or \ dryad \ bore him— \ else 'twas \ witch or \ fay;
Ask you \ who his \ father?— \ haply \ he might \ be
Wood-god, \ satyr, \ sylvan; \ —such his \ pedi\-gree.
Reared mid \ fauns and \ fairies, \ knew he \ no com\-peers;
Neither \ cared he \ for them, \ saving \ ghostly \ seers.
Mistress \ of the \ black-art, \ "wizard \ gaunt and \ grim,"
Nightly \ on the \ hill-top, \ "read the \ stars to \ him."
These were \ welcome \ teachers; \ drank he \ in their \ lore;
Witchcraft \ so en\-ticed him, \ still to \ thirst for \ more.
Spectres \ he would \ play with, \ phantoms \ raise or \ quell;
Gnomes from \ earth's deep \ centre \ knew his \ potent \ spell.
Augur \ or a\-ruspex \ had not \ half his \ art;
Master \ deep of \ magic, \ spirits \ played his \ part;
Demons, \ imps in\-fernal, \ conjured \ from be\-low,
Shaped his \ grand en\-chantments \ with im\-posing \ show.
Example II.—An Example of Hart's, Corrected
"Where the \ wood is \ waving, \ shady, \ green, and \ high,
Fauns and \ dryads, \ nightly, \ watch the \ starry \ sky."
See Hart's E. Gram., p. 187; or the citation thence below.
A couplet of this sort might easily be reduced to a pleasant little stanza, by severing each line after the third foot, thus:
Hearken! \ hearken! \ hear ye;
Voices \ meet my \ ear.
Listen, \ never \ fear ye;
Friends—or \ foes—are \ near.
Friends! "So\-ho!" they're \ shouting.—
"Ho! so\-ho, a\-hoy!"—
'Tis no \ Indian, \ scouting.
Cry, so\-ho! with \ joy.
But a similar succession of eleven syllables, six long and five short, divided after the seventh, leaving two iambs to form the second or shorter line,—(since such a division produces different
- ↑ [512] In Sanborn's Analytical Grammar, on page 279th, this couplet is ascribed to "Pope;" but I have sought in vain for this quotation, or any example of similar verse, in the works of that poet. The lines, one or both of them, appear, without reference, in L. Murray's Grammar, Second Edition, 1796, p. 176, and in subsequent editions; in W. Allen's, p. 225; Bullions's, 178; N. Butler's, 192; Chandler's New, 196; Clark's, 201; Churchill's, 187; Cooper's Practical, 185; Davis's, 137; Farnum's, 106; Felton's, 142; Frazee's, 184; Frost's, 164; S. S. Greene's, 250; Hallock's, 244; Hart's, 187; Hiley's, 127; Humphrey's Prosody, 17; Parker and Fox's Gram., Part iii, p. 60; Weld's, 211; Ditto Abridged, 138; Wells's, 200; Fowler's, 658; and doubtless in many other such books.
