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or dejected, is naturally, in profe as well as in verfe, pronounced in a tone below the key-note.

We are now fufficiently prepared for entering upon particulars; and Latin or Greek Hexameter, which are the fame, coming first in order, I fhall exhauft what I have to fay upon this fpecies of verfe, under the four following heads; of number, arrangement, paufe, and accent; for as to quantity, fo far as concerns the prefent point, what is obferved above may fuffice.

Hexameter lines are, with refpect to time, all of the fame length. A line may confift of seventeen fyllables; and when regular and not fpondaic, it never has fewer than thirteen.. Hence it is plain, that where the fyllables are many, the plurality muft. be fhort; where few, the plurality must be long. And upon the whole, the number of fyllables in every line with refpect to the time taken in pronouncing, are equivalent to twelve long fyllables, or twenty-four fhort.

With regard to arrangement, this line is fufceptible of much variety. The fucceffion of long and fhort fyllables, may be greatly varied without injuring the melody. It is fubjected however to laws, that confine its variety within certain limits. For trying the arrangement, and for determining whether it be perfect or faulty, grammarians have invented a rule by Dactyles and Spondees, which they denominate feet. One at first view is led to think, that these feet are alfo intended to regulate the pronunciation. But this is far from being the cafe. It will appear by and by, that the rules of pronunciation are very different. And indeed were one to pronounce according to thefe feet, the melody of an Hexameter line would be deftroy'd, or at best be much inferior to what it is

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when

when properly pronounced. These feet then muft be confined to their fole province of regu

lating

*After fome attention given to this fubject, and weighing deliberately every circumftance, I have been forc'd to Jeft upon the foregoing conclufion, That the Dactyle and Spondee are no other than artificial measures invented for trying the accuracy of compofition. Repeated experiments convince me, that though the fenfe should be altogether neglected, an Hexameter line read by Dactyles and Spondees, will not be melodious. And the compofition of an Hexameter line demonftrates this to be true, without neceffity of an experiment. It will appear afterward, that in an Hexameter line, there must always be a capital paufe at the end of the fifth long fyllable, reckoning, as above, two fhort for one long. And when we measure this line by Dactyles and Spondees, the paufe now mentioned divides always a Dactyle or a Spondee: it never falls in at the end of either of thefe feet. Hence it is evident, that if a line be pronounced, as it is fcanned, by Dactyles and Spondees, the paufe must be utterly neglected; which confequently muft deftroy the melody, because a paufe is effential to the melody of an Hexameter verfe. If, on the other hand, the melody be preserved by making this paufe, the pronouncing by Dactyles and Spondees muft be abandoned.

What has led grammarians into the use of Dactyles and Spondees, feems not beyond the reach of conjecture To produce melody, the latter part of an Hexameter line confifting of a Dactyle and a Spondee, must be read according to these feet in this part of the line, the Dactyle and Spondee are diftinctly expreffed in the pronunciation. This discovery, joined with another, that the foregoing part of the verfe could be measured by the fame feet, has led grammarians to adopt these artificial meafures, and perhaps rafhly to conclude, that the pronunciation is directed by thefe feet as well as the compofition. The Dactyle and Spondee at the clofe, ferve indeed the double purpose of regulating the pronunciation as well as the composition: but in the foregoing part of the line, they regulatethe compofition only, not the pronunciation.

lating the arrangement, for they serve no other purpose. They are withal fo artificial and complex, that, neglecting them altogether, I am tempted to fubftitute in their room, other rules, more fimple and of more easy application; for example, the following. 1ft, The line must always commence with a long fyllable, and clofe with two long preceded by two fhort. 2d. More than two short can never be found in any part of the line, nor fewer than two if any. And, 3d, Two long fyllables. which have been preceded by two fhort, cannot alfo be followed by two fhort. These few rules fulfil all the conditions of an Hexameter line, with relation to order or arrangement. To thefe again a fingle rule may be fubftituted, for which I have a ftill greater relish, as it regulates more affirmatively the construction of every part. That I may put this rule into words with the greater facility. I

If we must have feet in verfe to regulate the pronunciation, and confequently the melody, thefe feet muft be determined by the paufes. The whole fyllables interjected betwixt two paufes ought to be deemed one mufical foot; because, to preferve the melody, they must all be pronounced together, without any ftop. And therefore, whatever number there are of pauses in an Hexameter line, the parts into which it is divided by these pauses, make juft fo many mufical feet.

Connection obliges me here to anticipate, by obferving, that the fame doctrine is applicable to English heroic verte. Confidering its compofition merely, it is of two kinds. One is composed of five lambi; and one of a Trochæus followed by four Iambi. But these feet afford no rule for pronouncing. The mufical feet are obviously thofe parts of the line that are interjected betwixt two paufes. To bring out the melody, thefe feet must be expreffed in the pronunciation; or, which comes to the fame, the pronunciation must be directed by the paufes, without regard to the Iambus or Trochæus.

take

take a hint from the twelve long fyllables that compofe an Hexameter line, to divide it into twelve equal parts or portions, being each of them one long fyllable or two fhort. This preliminary being established, the rule is fhortly what follows. The 1ft, 3d, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th portions, muft each of them be one long fyllable; the roth must always be two fhort fyllables; the 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th, may indifferently be one long or two fhort. Or to exprefs the thing ftill more curtly, The 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th portions may be one long fyllable or two fhort; the 10th must be two fhort fyllables; all the reft must confift of one long fyllable. This fulfils all the conditions of an Hexameter line, and comprehends all the combinations of Dactyles and Spondees that this line admits..

Next in order comes the paufe. At the end of every Hexameter line, no ear but must be sensible of a complete clofe or full paufe. This effect is produced by the following means. Every line invariably is finished with two long fyllables preceded by two fhort; a fine preparation for a full close. Syllables pronounced flow, refemble a flow and languid motion, tending to reft. The mind put in the fame tone by the pronunciation, is naturally difpofed, to a paufe. And to this difpofition the two preceding fhort fyllables contribute; for thefe, by contraft, make the flow pronunciation of the final fyllables. the more confpicuous. Befide this complete clofe or full pause at the end, others are alfo requifite for the fake of melody. I difcover two clearly, and perhaps there may be more. The longest and most remarkable, fucceeds the 5th portion, according to the foregoing measure. The other, which being more faint, may be called the Semipaufe

femipaufe, fucceeds the 8th portion. So ftriking is the paufe first mentioned, as to be diftinguished even by the rudeft ear. The monkish rhymes are evidently built upon it. In thefe, it is an invariable rule, to make the final word chime with that which immediately precedes the pause :

De planetu cudo || mitrum cum carmine nudo Mingere cum bumbis || res eft faluberrima lumbis.

The difference of time in the paufe and femipaufe, occafions another difference not lefs remarkable. The pause ought regularly to be at the end of a word; but it is lawful to divide a word by a femipause. The bad effect of dividing a word by the paufe, is fenfibly felt in the following examples.

Effufus labor, atque immitis rupta 'Tyranni
Again,

Obfervans nido im||plumes detraxit; at illa
Again,

Loricam quam Demoleo detraxerat ipfe

The dividing a word by a femipaufe has not the fame bad effect:

Jamque pedem referens || cafus elvaferat omnes.
Again,

Qualis populea, morens Philomela fub umbra.
Again,

Ludere quæ vellem calamo permifit agrefti.. Eines, however, where words are left entire to be pronounced as they ought to be, without being di

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