as a pleasure, that I am persuaded, Eugenio's opinion, were it made public, would not have many followers. Eug. You do well, Aspasia, to distinguish between things pleasing in themselves, and such as are so merely from 5 the force of habit. Were there any thing truly delightful in the nature of Rhymes, it is not probable, [3] that the ancients should have over-looked this advantage; nor would it have been reserved for a set of trifling Monks, to sing them into reputation. But these are general re10 flections: in order to decide the matter in debate, it would be necessary to make a particular inquiry into the Beauties of Versification; and to determine from them the merits of its several modes. Asp. I WISH, Eugenio, you would undertake this task. 15 One condition, however, I must insist on, that in Love matters you shew us some indulgence. What will you leave us, if you steal our Rhyme? Hor. JINGLING is so pretty a substitute of sentiment, it is so wedded to gallantry, that it were a cruelty to divorce 20 them. I will secure you, Aspasia, against any such at-[4] tempt, by the authority of Shakespear; who, in the commerce of Love, places Rhymes in so respectable a light, that he sets them on a level even with bracelets, rings, and sweetmeats-The passage is decisive. 25 30 This man hath witch'd the bosom of my child: 1) M. N. D. I, 1, 26—35. M. N. D.1). This, Eugenio, is an authority wich you must not dispute; and, as Aspasia has made [5] conditions for her love songs, I must beg a neutrality for epigrams, riddles, and the modern ode. Let me add to these, that species of poetry, which we call the Mock-Heroic: for, here, I think, 5 the rhyme seems to forward the playfulness in the ideas. Eug. As I mean to confine my observations to truth and nature, the exemptions you have insisted on, will take place of course. THE sole aim of versification is harmony. To under- 10 stand this properly, we must divide it into two kinds. The first consists in a general flow of verse, most pleasing to the ear, but independent on the sense: the second, in bringing the sound or measure of the verse to correspond with, and accompany the idea. The former may 15 be called a verbal harmony: the latter a sentimental. [6] If we consider the flow of verse merely as music, it will then be allowed, [a] that variety is no less necessary than sweetness; and that a continued repetition of the same movements, must be as tiresome in poetry, as it would 20 be in music. On examining Mr. Pope's verses, we shall find, that in eighteen out of twenty, the pauses rest on the fourth and last, or the fifth and last syllables: and that, almost without exception, the period is divided into two equal lines, and, as it were, link'd by the rhyme into 25 a couplet. [7] For example-- All are but parts of one stupendous whole, [α] Και εςι λεξις κρατιςη πασων, η τις αν εχοι πλείςας αναπαυλας τε και μεταβολας αρμονίας ρυθμοι τε αλλοτε αλλοι, και τασεις φωνης αι καλεμεναι προσῳδιαι διαφοροι, κλεπτεσαι τη ποικιλια τον κορον. Dion. Hal. de Struct. Ora 5 That chang'd thro' all, || and yet in all the same, Essay on Man1). EVERY ear must feel the ill effect of the [6] monotony in these lines; the cause of it is obvious; this verse conIO sists of ten [8] syllables, or five feet: when the pause falls on the fourth syllable, we shall find, that we pronounce the six last in the same time that we do the four first; so that the couplet is not only divided into two equal lines, but each line, with respect to time, is divided into 15 two equal parts— As, Warms in the sun, | refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, || and blossoms in the trees2). Or else, the pause falls on the fifth syllable, and then 20 the line is divided with a mechanic exactness. 25 As, Spreads undivided, || operates unspent3). Hor. MR. Pope, in a letter to Mr. Walsh, speaking of the English verse, says, there is naturally a pause at 'the fourth, fifth, [9] or sixth syllable. It is upon these 'the ear rests, and upon the judicious change and manage [3] Διαναπαύειν τε και ταυτοτητα φημι δειν, μεταβολας ευκαιρους εισφέροντα. Και γαρ η μεταβολη παντος έργου χρημα ηδυ. Dion. Hal. De Struct. Orat. Sect. 12. 1) Epistle I, Z. 267–274. 2) Ebda. 271-272. 3) Ebda. 274. 'ment of which depends the variety of versification.' Of this he gives the following examples: At the fifth. Where e'er thy navy || spreads her canvass wings, At the fourth. Homage to thee, || and peace to all she brings. At the sixth. Like tracks of leverets, || in morning snow1). 5 Eug. In this place, Mr. Pope takes no notice of the second pause, which always rests on the last word of 10 each line, and is strongly marked by the rhyme. But, it is on the balance between the two pauses, that the monotony of the verse depends. Now, [10] this balance is governed by the equal division of the line in point of time. Thus, if you repeat the two first examples given, 15 you will find no difference, as to the time, whether the pause falls on the fourth or fifth syllable; and this, I think, will extend even to the last example: or, if there should be any difference, it is so trifling, that it will generally escape the ear. But this is not so in blank verse; 20 for, the lines being made often to run one into the other, the second pause is sunk; the balance, from the equal division of each line, is removed; and by changing the pauses at pleasure, an open is given into an unlimited variety. OBSERVE the effects in the first lines of Paradise Lost. Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, || whose mortal taste [11] Brought death into the world, || and all our woe, With loss of Eden, || till one greater Man 1) Vom 22. 10. 1706. Works edd. Elwin u. Courthope VI, 56 ff. Die ersten beiden Zitate aus E. Wallers To the King, On his Navy Z. I u. 2. Statt tracks bei Webb irrtümlich: tracts. 25 30 5 15 20 Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, IN these, and the lines which immediately follow, the pauses are shifted thro' all the ten syllables. Hor. BUT this variety is not inseparable from the nature of blank verse. In Addison's Cato, there is, I think, the very same monotony which you have condemned in Mr. Pope: Thus, The dawn is overcast, the morning low'rs, Big with the fate || of Cato and of Rome2). Who knows not this? || but what can Cato do Against a world, || a base degenerate world, A poor epitome || of Roman greatness3). Asp. THIS is the very echo of the couplet measure. Eug. NOTHING could be more to my purpose; it confirms all that I have advanced; and proves further, that the monotony of the couplet does not proceed, as has been imagined, from the repetition of the rhymes, but from a sameness in the movement of the verse. No doubt, 25 the use of rhymes was the first cause of confining poetic harmony to [13] such narrow limits [c]. Mr. Addison, accustomed to the secure Monotony of the couplet, had [ε] Αλλα καιπερ ηδεως και μεγαλοπρεπως πολλα συνθέντες οι άνδρες ουτοι, περι τας μεταβολας και την ποικιλιαν ου πάνυ ευτυχουσιν. Dion. Hal. De Struct. Orat. 1) Par. L. I, 1—6. 2) I, 1, 1—4. Die erste Hälfte von Z. 12 ist noch zu Z. 11 zu ziehen. 3) Ebda. 36-40. |