Chapter V: Rules of the Foot System

§ A. Feet.--Feet composed of long and short syllables--Not all
combinations actual--Differences from "classical" feet--The
three usual kinds: iamb, trochee, anapæst--The spondee--The
dactyl--The pyrrhic--The tribrach--Others. § B. Constitution of
Feet.--Quality or "quantity" in feet--Not necessarily "time"--nor
vowel "quantity"--Accumulated consonants--or rhetorical stress--or
place in verse will quantify--Commonness of monosyllables. §
C. Equivalence and Substitution.--Substitution of equivalent
feet--Its two laws--Confusion of base must be avoided--(Of which
the ear must judge)--Certain substitutions are not eligible. § D.
Pause.--Variation of pause --Practically at discretion--Blank verse
specially dependent on pause. § E. Line-Combination.--Simple or
complex--Rhymes necessary to couplet--Few instances of successful
unrhymed stanza--Unevenness of line in length--Stanzas to be
judged by the ear--Origin of commonest line-combinations. § F.
Rhyme.--Rhyme natural in English--It must be "full" --and not
identical--General rule as to it--Alliteration--Single, etc.,
rhyme--Fullness of sound--Internal rhyme permissible--but sometimes
dangerous. § G. Miscellaneous--Vowel-music--"Fingering"--Confusion
of rhythms intolerable 30