Mỹ nevěr-failing friends are they
With whom I converse night and day.

With them I take dělight în weal
And seek relief in wōe;
And while I understand and feel
How much to them I ōwe,

Mỹ cheeks have often been bĕdēwed
With tears of thōughtful gratitude.

Robert Southey-"The Library."

EXAMPLE (6).

The Fays that tō mỹ christening came
(For cōme they did, mỹ nūrsĕs tāught mě,)
They did not bring mě wealth Ŏr fame,

'Tis very little that they brought mě.
But one, the crossěst of the crew,
The ugly ōld Ŏne, uninvited,

Săid, “I shall bẽ ăvēnged Ŏn yoù,

My child; you shall grow up short-sighted!' With magic juices did shě lāve

Mine eyes, and wrōught her wicked pleasure.

Well, of all gifts the Fairies gāve,

Hĕrs is the present thāt I treasure!

The bōre whom ōthers fear and fleē,
I do not fear, I do not flee him;
I pass him cālm ăs cālm căn bé;

I do not cut-I dō not see him!

And with my feeble eyes and dim,

Where you see patchỹ fields and fences, For me the mists of Turner swim

Mỹ “ āzüre distănce” soon cămmencěs ! Năy, as I blink about the streets

Of this befōgged ănd mirỹ city, Why, almost every girl one meets Seems prětěrnātǎrally pretty!

'Try spectaclēs," one's friends intōne ;

"You'll see the world correctly through them." But I have visions of mỹ ōwn,

And not for worlds would I undō them.

155

Andrew Lang-"The Fairy's Gift."

EXAMPLE (7).

Ås, by some tyrant's stērn command,
A wretch försäkes his native land,
In fōreign climes condemned to rōam
An endless exile from his hōme:
Pensive he treads the destined way,
And dreads to gō, nor dāres to stay ;
Till ōn some neighboring mõuntǎin's brōw
Hě stops, and turns his eyes bělōw;
There, melting at the well-known view,
Drōps å låst tear, and bīds ădieū;
So, I thus doomed from thee to pārt,
Gay queen of fancy and of art,

Reluctant move, with dōubtful mind,

Ŏft stōp, and often loōk běhind.

Sir William Blackstone—“A Lawyer's Farewell to His Muse."

Făir insect! that, with thread-like lēgs spread out,
And blood-extracting bill, and filmy wing,

Dost mūrmůr, as thoŭ slowly sail'st åbōut,
In pitiless ears full many ǎ plaintive thing ;
And tell'st how little ōur lărge veins should bleed,
Would we but yield them freely in thy need.

Bryant "To a Mosquito."

EXAMPLE (2).

Eternal Hōpe! when yōnder spheres sublime
Pealed their first nōtes to sōund the march of Time,
Thy joyous youth bĕgān—but nōt tŏ fāde.
When all the sister plānĕts have decayed,
When wrapt in fire the realms of ether glōw
And heaven's låst thunder shakes the world bělōw,
Thou, undismayed, shält o'er the ruins smile,
And light thy tōrch åt Nature's fūnerăl pile.

Thomas Campbell-" Pleasures of Hope."

EXAMPLE (3).

In all my wanderings round this world of care,
In all my griefs-ånd God has given my share-
I still had hōpes my latest hōurs to crōwn,
Amidst these humble bōwers to lay me down ;
To husbånd ōout life's tāpĕr at the clōse,

And, keep the flāme from wāsting by repōse :
I still had hopes, för pride ǎttends ŭs still,
Amidst the swāins to shōw my book-learned skill,
Around my fire ån evening group to draw,
And tell of all I felt, and all I saw ;

Ănd, ās å hāre, whòm hōunds ånd hōrns pèrsūe,
Pănts to his place from whence åt first she flew.
I still had hopes, mỹ lōng věxātions pāst,

Hĕre to return-ånd die åt hōme åt last.

Oliver Goldsmith-" Deserted Village."

EXAMPLE (4).

What is't to ūs, if tāxès rīse or fall?
Thanks to our fōrtune, wẽ pǎy nōne åt all.

Lět mūckworms, whō în dirty acres deal,
Lăment those hārdships which wě cannot feel.
His Grace, whŏ smārts, may bellow if hě please,
Būt mūst I bellŏw toō, whỏ sit åt ease ?

By custom safe, thě pōět's numbers flow
Free as the light and air some years ǎgō.
No statesman e'er will find it worth his pains
To tax Ŏur labors and excise Ŏur brains.

Būrthens like these, vile earthly buildings bear;
No tribute laid on castles in the air!

Charles Churchill "The Poverty of Poets."

Measure, Hexameter.

Rhythm, Iambic.

Formula, bA X 6.

Sign, X 6.

EXAMPLE (1).

Běside this massive gateway
Built up in years gone by,

Upōn whose top the clouds

In ĕternal shadow lie,

While streams the evening sunshine

On the quiet wood and lea,

I stand and calmly wait

Till the hinges tūrn för mē.

William Cullen Bryant—“Waiting by the Gate."

EXAMPLE (2).

Adōre no Gōd besides mě, tō provōke mine eyes;
Nor wōrship mē în shāpes ănd fōrms that men devise ;
With reverěnce use mỹ name, něr turn mỹ words to jest ;
Observe my Sabbath well, nor dāre profāne my rest;
Hōnor and due Ŏbēdiěnce to thy parents give;
Nor spill the guiltless bloōd, nŏr lēt thě guilty live;
Preserve thy bōdỹ chăste, ănd flee thě ŭnlãwfùl bēd ;
Nor steal thy neighbor's gōld, his gārment, ōr his brēad ;
Forbear to blast his năme with fālsehood ōr děcēit;

Nor let thy wishes loōse upōn his large estāte.

Dr. Isaac Watts-"The Ten Commandments Versified."

EXAMPLE (3).

What ails thee, yoũng Ŏne? what? Why pull so at thy cōrd?
Is it not well with thee? well bōth för bed and bõard?

Thy plot of grass is soft, and green as grāss căn bẽ ;
Rěst, little young Ŏne, rést; whăt is't that āilĕth thee?
Wordsworth-"The Pet Lamb.”

The iambic hexameter is seldom employed by our poets, except in combination with other measures. It is used to form the last line of the Spenserian stanza.

Measure, Heptameter.

Rhythm, Iambic.

Formula, bA × 7.

Sign,X7.

This is our regular ballad meter.

For greater conven

ience, owing to its length, it is generally written in alternate lines of four and three feet.

It is a favorite measure, and perhaps more examples may be found in it than almost any other kind.

Dr. Holmes, always a felicitous writer, has few better poems than the one from which we quote the first stanza. It is in ballad meter:

EXAMPLE (1).

Ŏ för Ŏne hōur of youthful jōy!
Give back my twentieth spring!
I'd rather laugh å bright-hăired bōy
Thăn reign ǎ grāy-beard king!

The Old Man Dreams."