2.
Room for him \ into the
Ranks of hu\-manity;
Give him a \ place in your
Kingdom of \ vanity!
Welcome the \ stranger with
Kindly af\-fection;
Hopefully, \ trustfully,
Not with de\-jection.
3.
See, in his \ waywardness
How his fist \ doubles;
Thus pugi\-listical,
Daring life's \ troubles:
Strange that the \ neophyte
Enters ex\-istence
In such an \ attitude,
Feigning re\-sistance.
4.
Could he but \ have a glimpse
Into fu\-turity,
Well might he \ fight against
Farther ma\-turity;
Yet does it \ seem to me
As if his \ purity
Were against \ sinfulness
Ample se\-curity.
5.
Incompre\-hensible,
Budding im\-mortal,
Thrust all a\-mazedly
Under life's \ portal;
Born to a \ destiny
Clouded in \ mystery,
Wisdom it\-self cannot
Guess at its \ history.
6.
Something too \ much of this
Timon-like \ croaking;
See his face \ wrinkle now,
Laughter pro\-voking.
Now he cries \ lustily—
Bravo, my \ hearty one!
Lungs like an \ orator
Cheering his \ party on.
7.
Look how his \ merry eyes
Turn to me \ pleadingly!
Can we help \ loving him—
Loving ex\-ceedingly?
Partly with \ hopefulness,
Partly with \ fears,
Mine, as I \ look at him,
Moisten with \ tears.
8.
Now then to \ find a name;—
Where shall we \ search for it?
Turn to his \ ancestry,
Or to the \ church for it?
Shall we en\-dow him with
Title he\-roic,
After some \ warrior,
Poet, or \ stoic?
9.
One aunty \ says he will
Soon 'lisp in \ numbers,'
Turning his \ thoughts to rhyme,
E'en in his \ slumbers;
Watts rhymed in \ babyhood,
No blemish \ spots his fame—
Christen him \ even so:
Young Mr. \ Watts his name."
ANONYMOUS: Knickerbocker, and Newspapers, 1849.
MEASURE VIII.—DACTYLIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
"Fearfully,
Tearfully."
OBSERVATIONS.
- A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it. Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet, if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an amphimac, or amphimacer. Of this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the piece, may serve as a specimen:
"Far from the \ battle's shock,
Fate hath fast \ bound thee;
Chain'd to the \ rugged rock,
Waves warring \ round thee.[Now, for] the \ trumpet's sound,
Sea-birds are \ shrieking;
Hoarse on thy \ rampart's bound,
Billows are \ breaking." - This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and, perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line is varied to a different measure.
"ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK.""Bird of the \ wilderness,
Blithesome and \ cumberless,
Light be thy \ matin o'er \ moorland and \ lea;
Emblem of \ happiness,
Blest is thy \ dwelling-place;
O! to a\-bide in the \ desert with \ thee!
