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IAMBIC MEASURES.

651

IAMBIC TRIMETER.

Formula x a×3.

§ 682. In this extract the accented lines are composed of

three Iambics.

We stand among the fallen leaves,

Young children at' our play',
And laugh to see the yellow things
Go rust'ling on' their way':
Right merrily we hunt them down,
The Au'tumn winds' and we';
Nor pause to gaze where snow-drifts lie,
Or sun'beams gild' the tree':
With dancing feet we leap along

Where with'er'd boughs' are strewn ;

Nor past nor future checks our song

The pres'ent is' our own'!-MRS. NORTON.

Formula x ax3+.

In this extract the accented lines are composed of three Iambies, with an additional syllable.

Then out' spake brave' Hora'tius,

The Captain of the Gate:
To ev'ry man upon this earth,
Death cometh soon or late!
And how' can man' die bet'ter
Than facing fearful odds

For the ash'es of' his fa'thers,

And the temple of his Gods?-MACAULAY.

IAMBIC TETRAMETER.

Formula x ax4.

§ 683. In the following the law of the measure is, that there should be four Iambics in each line. Instead of an Iambus, there is occasionally a Trochee, as in the first foot. This is the common octosyllabic verse.

Child of the Country! free as air
Art thou', and as' the sun'shine fair':
Born, like' the li'ly, where' the dew'
Lies odorous when the day is new;
Fed 'mid the May-flowers, like the bee;
Nursed to sweet music on the knee;

POETICAL FORMS.

Lull'd in the breast to that glad tune

Which winds make 'mong the woods of June:

I sing of thee! 'Tis sweet to sing
Of such a fair and gladsome thing.

Child of the Town! for thee I sigh;
A gilded roof's thy golden sky;
A carpet is thy daisied sod;

A narrow street thy boundless road;
Thy rushing deer's the clattering tramp
Of watchmen; thy best light's a lamp;'
Through smoke, and not through trellis'd vines
And blooming trees, thy sunbeam shines:

I sing of thee in sadness! Where

Else is wreck wrought in aught so fair?-ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

Formula x ax4+.

In this extract the accented lines are composed of four Iambics and an additional syllable.

Wee, sleek'it, cow'rin', tim"rous beas'tie!

O what a panic's in thy breastie !
Thou needna start awa' sae hasty,

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee

Wi' bickering brattle!

Wi' murdering pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's' domin'ion
Has broken Na'ture's so'cial un'ion,

An' jus'tifies' that ill' opin'ion,

Which makes thee startle

At me', thy poor' earth-born' compan'ion,

An' fellow-mortal !—Burns.

IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

Formula x ax5.

§ 684. In these extracts the law of the measure is, that

each line should consist of five Iambics.

Heroic measure.

This is called

Dim as' the bor'row'd beams' of moon' and stars

To lone'ly, wea'ry, wan'd'ring travelers'

Is Reason to the soul! and as on high

Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light, as here; so Reason's glimmering ray
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.-DRYDEN.
O unexpected stroke! worse than of Death!
Must I leave thee, Paradise? thus leave

IAMBIC MEASURES.

Thee, native soil? these happy walks and shades,
Fit haunt of Gods? where I had hoped to spend
Quiet, though sad, the respite of that day
That must be mortal to us both! O flowers!
That never will in any other climate grow,

My early visitation and my last

At even; which I bred up with tender hand
From the first opening bud, and gave ye names:
Who now shall rear ye to the sun? or rank
Your tribes, and water from the ambrosial fount?
Thee, lastly, nuptial bower! by me adorn'd
With what to sight or smell was sweet! from thee
How shall I part? and whither wander down

Into a lower world, to this obscure

And wild? How shall we breathe in other air

Less pure, accustom'd to immortal fruits ?-MILTON.

Formula x a×5+.

653

In the following extract the accented lines are composed of five Iambics and an additional syllable.

Day-stars', that ope' your eyes' with morn' to twink'le,

From rainbow gal'axies' of earth's' crea'tion,

And dew'-drops o'er' her love'ly al'tars sprink'le

As a libation.

Ye matin worshipers, who, bending lowly
Before the uprisen sun, God's lidless eye,
Throw from your chalices a sweet and holy

Incense on high!

'Neath cloister'd boughs each floral bell that swingeth,

And tolls its perfume on the passing air,

Makes Sabbath in the fields, and ringeth

A call to prayer!

Not to that dome where sculptured arch and column
Attest the feebleness of mortal hand;
But to that fane, most catholic and solemn,

Which God hath plann'd!

To that Cathedral, boundless as our wonder,

Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply;

Whose choirs the winds and waves; whose organ, thunder;

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§ 685. In this measure there are six Iambics.

It is usu

POETICAL FORMS.

ally called the Alexandrine. The last line of the Spenserian
stanza is of this character.

When Phoebus lifts' his head' out of' the win'ter's wave',
No sooner doth the earth her flow'ry bosom brave,
At such time as the year brings on the pleasant spring,
But hunts-up to the morn the feather'd sylvans sing;
And in the lower grove, as on the rising knoll,
Upon the highest spray of ev'ry mounting pole,
Those quiristers are perch'd with many a speckled breast:
Then from her burnish'd gate the goodly glittering East
Gilds every lofty top, which late the humorous Night
Bespangled had with pearl, to please the Morning's sight;
On which the mirthful quires, with their clear open throats,
Unto the joyful morn so strain their warbling notes
That hills and valleys ring, and even the echoing air
Seems all composed of sounds about them every where.

DRAYTON.

IAMBIC HEPTAMETER.

Formula x ax7.

§ 686. In the following extract the lines are composed of

seven Iambics.

She sits' beneath' the el'der shade' in that' long mor'tal swoon',
And piteously on her wan cheek looks down the gentle Moon;
And when her senses are restored, whom sees she at her side
But her, believed in childhood to have wander'd off and died!

In these small hands, so lily-white, is water from the spring,
And a grateful coolness drops as from an angel's wing;
And to her mother's pale lips her rosy lips are laid,
While these long, soft eye-lashes drop tears on her hoary head.
She stirs not in her child's embrace, but yields her old gray hairs
Unto the heavenly dew of tears, the heavenly breath of pray'r;
No voice hath she to bless her child till that strong fit go by,
But gazeth on the long-lost face, and then upon the sky.
The Sabbath-morn was beautiful, and the long Sabbath day ;
The Ev'ning star rose beautiful when daylight died away;
Morn, day, and twilight, this lone glen flow'd over with delight,
But the fullness of all mortal joy hath bless'd the Sabbath night!

Formula x ax7+.

WILSON.

In this extract there are seven lambics and an additional

syllable.

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Had Ellen lost' her mirth'? Oh no! but she' was sel'dom cheer'ful;
And Edward look'd as if he thought that Ellen's mirth was fearful :
So gentle Ellen now no more could make this sad house cheery;
And Mary's melancholy ways drove Edward wild and weary.

COLERIDGE.

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Formula a x.

§ 687. In the following extract the accented lines are com posed of a single Trochee.

From walk to walk, from shade to shade;

From stream to purling stream convey'd,
Through all the mazes of the grove,

Through all the mingling tracks I rove,

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Turn'ing,

Burn'ing;

Chang'ing,

Ranging;

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In this extract there is in the accented lines one Trochee, with an additional syllable.

What sounds were heard?

What scenes appear'd
O'er all the dreary coasts?

Dread'ful gleams,

Dis'mal screams;

Fires' that glow,

Shrieks' of woe;

Sul'len moans,

Hol'low groans;

And cries of tortured ghosts!-POPE.

TROCHAIC DIMETER.

Formula a xX2.

§ 688. In the following extract the accented lines consist

of two Trochees.

On a bank, beside a willow,

Heaven her covering, earth her pillow,

Sad Aminta sigh'd alone;

From the cheerless dawn of morning,
Till the dews of night returning,

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