Chapter IV: Instructions for Reading Verse. (39)

INFLECTIONS.

In reading verse, the inflections should be nearly the same as in reading prose; the chief difference is, that in poetry, the monotone and rising inflection are more frequently used than in prose. The greatest difficulty in reading this species of composition, consists in giving it that measured flow which distinguishes it from prose, without falling into a chanting pronunciation.

If, at any time, the reader is in doubt as to the proper inflection, let him reduce the passage to earnest conversation, and pronounce it in the most familiar and prosaic manner, and thus he will generally use the proper inflection.

EXERCISES IN INFLECTION. (40)

1. Meanwhile the south wind rose, and with black wings
Wide hovering', all the clouds together drove
From under heaven': the hills to their supply',
Vapor and exhalation dusk and moist
Sent up amain': and now, the thickened sky
Like a dark ceiling stood': down rushed the rain
Impetuous', and continued till the earth
No more was seen': the floating vessel swam
Uplifted', and, secure with beake'd prow',
Rode tilting o'er the waves'.

2. My friend', adown life's valley', hand in hand',
With grateful change of grave and merry speech
Or song', our hearts unlocking each to each',
We'll journey onward to the silent land';
And when stern death shall loose that loving band,
Taking in his cold hand, a hand of ours',
The one shall strew the other's grave with flowers',
Nor shall his heart a moment be unmanned'.
My friend and brother'! if thou goest first',
Wilt thou no more revisit me below'?
Yea, when my heart seems happy causelessly',
And swells', not dreaming why', my soul shall know
That thou', unseen', art bending over me'.

3. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth',
A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown';
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth',
And Melancholy marked him for her own'.

4. Large was his bounty', and his soul sincere',
Heaven did a recompense as largely send';
He gave to misery (all he had) a tear',
He gained from heaven' ('t was all he wished') a friend'.

5. No further seek his merits to disclose',
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode';
(There they alike' in trembling hope repose',)
The bosom of his Father, and his God'.

ACCENT AND EMPHASIS. (41)

In reading verse, every syllable must have the same accent, and every word the same emphasis as in prose; and whenever the melody or music of the verse would lead to an incorrect accent or emphasis, this must be disregarded.

If a poet has made his verse deficient in melody, this must not be remedied by the reader, at the expense of sense or the established rules of accent and quantity. Take the following:

EXAMPLE. (41)

O'er shields, and helms, and helme'd heads he rode,
Of thrones, and mighty Seraphim prostrate

According to the metrical accent, the last word must be pronounced "pros-trate'." But according to the authorized pronunciation it is "pros'trate. Which shall yield, the poet or established usage? Certainly not the latter.

Some writers advise a compromise of the matter, and that the word should he pronounced without accenting either syllable. Sometimes this may be done, but where it is not practiced, the prosaic reading should be preserved.

In the following examples, the words and syllables which are improperly accented or emphasized in the poetry, are marked in italics. According to the principle stated above, the reader should avoid giving them that pronunciation which the correct rending of the poetry would require, but should read them as prose, except where he can throw off all accent and thus compromise the conflict between the poetic reading and the correct reading. That is, he must read the poetry wrong, in order to read the language right.

EXAMPLES. (42)

1. Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made
Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade.

2. Their praise is still, "the style is excellent,"
The sense they humbly take upon content.

3. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,
Its fairy colors spreads on every place.

4. To do aught good, never will be our task,
But ever to do ill is our sole delight.

5. Of all the causes which combine to blind
Man's erring judgment, and mislead the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

6. Eye Nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies,
And catch the manners living as they rise.

7. To whom then, first incensed, Adam replied,
"Is this thy love, is this the recompense
Of mine to thee, ungrateful Eve?"

8. We may, with more successful hope, resolve
To wage, by force or guile, successful war,
Irreconcilable to our grand foe,
Who now triumphs, and in excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven.

9. Which, when Beelzebub perceived (than whom,
Satan except, none higher sat), with grave
Aspect, he rose, and in his rising seemed
A pillar of state.

10. Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks beneath,
That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget,
Those other two equaled with me in fate.

NOTE.--Although it would be necessary, in these examples, to violate the laws of accent or emphasis, to give perfect rhythm, yet a careful and well-trained reader will be able to observe these laws and still give the rhythm in such a manner that the defect will scarcely be noticed.

POETIC PAUSES. (43)

In order to make the measure of poetry perceptible to the ear, there should generally be a slight pause at the end of each line, even where the sense does not require it.

There is, also, in almost every line of poetry, a pause at or near its middle, which is called the caesura.

This should, however, never be so placed as to injure the sense of the passage. It is indeed reckoned a great beauty, where it naturally coincides with the pause required by the sense. The caesura, though generally placed near the middle, may be placed at other intervals.

There are sometimes, also, two additional pauses in each line, called demi-caesuras.

The caesura is marked (||), and the demi-caesura thus, (|), in the examples given.

There should be a marked accent upon the long syllable next preceding the caesura, and a slighter one upon that next before each of the demi-caesuras. When made too prominent, these pauses lead to a singsong style, which should be carefully avoided.

In the following examples, the caesura is marked in each line; the demi-caesura is not marked in every case.

EXAMPLES. (44)

1. Nature | to all things || fixed | the limits fit,
And wisely | curbed || proud man's | pretending wit.

2. Then from his closing eyes || thy form shall part,
And the last pang || shall tear thee from his heart.

3. Warms in the sun, || refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, || and blossoms in the trees.

4. There is a land || of every land the pride,
Beloved by Heaven || o'er all the world beside,
Where brighter suns || dispense serener light,
And milder moons || imparadise the night;
Oh, thou shalt find, || howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land--thy country, || and that spot--thy home.

5. In slumbers | of midnight || the sailor | boy lay;
His hammock | swung loose || at the sport | of the wind;
But, watch-worn | and weary, || his cares | flew away,
And visions | of happiness || danced | o'er his mind.

6. She said, | and struck; || deep entered | in her side
The piercing steel, || with reeking purple dyed:
Clogged | in the wound || the cruel | weapon stands,
The spouting blood || came streaming o'er her hands.
Her sad attendants || saw the deadly stroke,
And with loud cries || the sounding palace shook.

SIMILE. (44)

Simile is the likening of anything to another object of a different class; it is a poetical or imaginative comparison.

A simile, in poetry, should usually he read in a lower key and more rapidly than other parts of the passage--somewhat as a parenthesis is read.

EXAMPLES. (45)

1. Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal
With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form.
As when, to warn proud cities, war appears,
Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush
To battle in the clouds.
Others with vast Typhoean rage more fell,
Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air
In whirlwind. Hell scarce holds the wild uproar.
As when Alcides felt the envenomed robe, and tore,
Through pain, up by the roots, Thessialian pines,
And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw
Into the Euboic sea.

2. Each at the head,
Leveled his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend; and such a frown
Each cast at th' other, as when two black clouds,
With heaven's artillery fraught, came rolling on
Over the Caspian, there stand front to front,
Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow
To join the dark encounter, in mid-air:
So frowned the mighty combatants.

3. Then pleased and thankful from the porch they go
And, but the landlord, none had cause of woe:
His cup was vanished; for, in secret guise,
The younger guest purloined the glittering prize.
As one who spies a serpent in his way,
Glistening and basking in the summer ray,
Disordered, stops to shun the danger near,
Then walks with faintness on, and looks with fear,--
So seemed the sire, when, far upon the road,
The shining spoil his wily partner showed.