Mỹ nevěr-failing friends are they With them I take dělight în weal Mỹ cheeks have often been bĕdēwed Robert Southey-"The Library." EXAMPLE (6). The Fays that tō mỹ christening came 'Tis very little that they brought mě. 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 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, 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, Dost mūrmůr, as thoŭ slowly sail'st åbōut, Bryant "To a Mosquito." EXAMPLE (2). Eternal Hōpe! when yōnder spheres sublime Thomas Campbell-" Pleasures of Hope." EXAMPLE (3). In all my wanderings round this world of care, And, keep the flāme from wāsting by repōse : Ănd, ās å hāre, whòm hōunds ånd hōrns pèrsūe, 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? Lět mūckworms, whō în dirty acres deal, By custom safe, thě pōět's numbers flow Būrthens like these, vile earthly buildings bear; Charles Churchill "The Poverty of Poets." Measure, Hexameter. Rhythm, Iambic. Formula, bA X 6. Sign, X 6. EXAMPLE (1). Běside this massive gateway 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 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? Thy plot of grass is soft, and green as grāss căn bẽ ; 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! The Old Man Dreams." |