Again, Non fibi fed toto | genitûm fe | credere mundo Again, Qualis fpelunca fubitô com mota columba In these examples, the accent is laid upon the last fyllable of a word. And that this is a favourable circumstance for the melody, will appear from the following confideration. In reading, there must be some pause after every word, to separate it from what follows; and this paufe, however short, fupports the accent. Hence it is, that a line thus accented, has a more fpirited air, than where the accent is placed on any other fyllable. Compare the foregoing lines with the following. Alba neque Affyrio || fucâtur | lana veneno Panditur interea || domus ômnipotentis Olympi Again, Olli fedato | refpondit | corde Latinus VOL. II. 3 B In In lines where the pause comes after the fhort fyllable fucceeding the 5th portion, the accent is displaced and rendered lefs fenfible. It seems to be split into two, and to be laid partly on the 5th portion, and partly on the 7th, its usual place; as in Nuda genu, nodôque || finûs collecta fuentes Formofam refonâre docês Amaryllida fylvas Befide this capital accent, flighter accents are laid upon other portions; particu larly upon the 4th, unless where it confifts of two short fyllables; upon the 9th, which is always a long fyllable; and upon the 11th, where the line concludes with a monofyllable. Such conclufion, by the by, leffens the melody, and for that reason is not to be indulged unless where it is expreffive of the fenfe. The following lines are marked with all the accents. Ludere quæ vêllem calamâ permîsit agresti Again, Et duræ quercus fudabunt roscida mella Again, Parturiunt montes, nafcetur ridiculus mus Inquiring into the melody of Hexameter verfe, we foon difcover, that order or ar rangement doth not conftitute the whole of it. Comparing different lines, equally regular as to the fucceffion of long and short fyllables, the melody is found in very different degrees of perfection. Nor does the difference arife from any particular combination of Dactyles and Spondees, or of long and short fyllables. On the contrary, we find lines where Dactyles prevail and lines where Spondees prevail, equally melodious. Of the former take the following inftance : s than the two following lines, which, how ever, as to the fucceffion of long and short fyllables, are conftructed precifely in the fame manner? Spond. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Hor Dact. Spond. Daft. Spond. Spond. Daft. Spond. Placatumque nitet diffufo lumine coelum. Lucret In the former, the paufe falls in the middle of a word, which is a great blemish, and the accent is disturbed by a harsh elifion of the vowel a upon the particle et. In the latter the pauses and the accent are all of them diftinct and full: there is no elifion : and the words are more liquid and founding. In these particulars confifts the beauty of an Hexameter line with respect to melody; and by neglecting these, many lines in the Satires and Epiftles of Horace are lefs agreeable than plain profe; for they are neither the one nor the other in perfection. To make these lines found, they must be pronounced without relation to the fenfe. It must not be regarded, that words are dis vided by pauses, nor that harsh elifions are multiplied. To add to the account, prosaic low founding words are introduced; and which is still worse, accents are laid on them. Of fuch faulty lines take the following inftances. Candida rectaque fit, munda hactenus fit neque longa. Jupiter exclamat fimul atque audirit; at in fe Optimus eft modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omni Next in order comes English heroic verfe, which shall be examined under the whole five heads, of number, quantity, arrange-> ment, pause, and accent. This verfe fome times employs rhymes and sometimes not, which diftinguishes it into two kinds; one named metre, and one blank verfe. In the former, the lines are connected two and two by fimilarity of found in the final syllables; and fuch connected lines are termed couplets. Similarity of found being avoided in the latter, banishes couplets. These two forts must be handled separately, because there are |