The Art of English Poetry (1708) Part 11

See also an Instance of a Stanza of 5 Verses where the Rhymes are intermix'd in the same manner as the former, but the 1st and 3d Verses are composed but of 4 Syllables each.

_Go lovely Rose, Tell her that wastes her Time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be._ Wall.

In the following Example the two first Verses rhyme, and the three last.

_'Tis well, 'tis well with them, said I, Whose short-liv'd Pa.s.sions with themselves can dye.

For none can be unhappy, who 'Midst all his Ills a Time does know, The ne'er so long, when he shall not be so._ Cowl.

In this Stanza, the 2 first and the last, and the 3d and 4th rhyme to one another.

_It is enough, enough of time and pain Hast thou consum'd in vain: Leave, wretched Cowley, leave, Thy self with Shadows to deceive.

Think that already lost which than must never gain._ Cowl.

The Stanzas of 7 Verses are frequent enough in our Poetry, especially among the Ancients, who compos'd many of their Poems in this sort of Stanza: See an Example of one of them taken from _Spencer_ in _The Ruines of Time_, where the 1st and 3d Verses rhyme to one another, the 2d, 4th and 5th, and the two last.

_But Fame with Golden Wings aloft doth fly Above the reach of ruinous Decay, And with brave Plumes does beat the Azure Sky, Admir'd of base-born Men from far away: Then whoso will with virtuous Deeds essay To mount to Heaven, on_ Pegasus _must ride, And in sweet Poets Verse be glorify'd._

I have rather chosen to take notice of this Stanza, because that Poet and _Chaucer_ have made use of it in many of their Poems, tho' they have not been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns: whose Stanza's of 7 Verses are generally compos'd as follows.

Either the four first Verses are a Quadran in Alternate Rhyme, and the three last rhyme to one another; as,

_Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that is, None loves you half so well as I; I do not ask your Love for this, But for Heaven's sake believe me, or I dye.

No Servant sure but did deserve His Master should believe that he did serve; And I'll ask no more Wages tho' I starve._ Cowl.

Or the four first are two Couplets, and the three last a Triplet; as,

_Indeed I must confess When Souls mix 'tis a Happiness, But not compleat till Bodies too combine, And closely as our Minds together joyn.

But Half of Heav'n the Souls in Glory taste, 'Till by Love in Heav'n at last, Their Bodies too are plac'd._ Cowl.

Or, on the contrary, the three first may rhyme, and the four last be in Rhymes that follow one another; as,

_From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free, And all the Pa.s.sions else that be, In vain I boast of Liberty: In vain this State a Freedom call, Since I have Love; and Love is all.

Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag That I have no Disease besides the Plague._ Cowl.

Or the 1st may rhyme to the two last, the 2d to the 5th, and the 3d and 4th to one another; as,

_In vain thou drowsie G.o.d I thee invoke, For thou who dost from Fumes arise, Then who Man's Soul do'st overshade With a Thick Cloud by Vapours made, Canst have no Pow'r to shut his Eyes, Or pa.s.sage of his Spirits to choak, Whose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no smoke._ Cowl.

Or lastly, the four first and two last may be in following Rhyme, and the 5th a Blank Verse; as,

_Thou robb'st my Days of Bus'ness and Delights, Of Sleep thou robb'st my Nights: Ah lovely Thief! what wilt thou do?

What, rob me of Heav'n too!

Thou ev'n my Prayers dost from me steal, And I with wild Idolatry Begin to G.o.d, and end them all to thee._ Cowl.

The Stanzas of 9 and of 11 Syllables are not so frequent as those of 5 and of 7. _Spencer_ has composed his _Fairy Queen_ in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the 1st rhymes to the 3d, the 2d to the 4th 5th and 7th; and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky choice of it reduc'd him often to the necessity of making use of many exploded Words; nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns; whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas that consist of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another, and the three last a Triplet; as,

_Beauty, Love's Scene and Masquerade, So well by well-plac'd Lights, and Distance made; False Coin! with which th' Impostor cheats us still, The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill: Which light or base we find, when we Weigh by Enjoyment, and examine thee.

For tho' thy Being be but Show, 'Tis chiefly Night which Men to thee allow, And chuse t' enjoy thee, when thou least art thou._ Cowl.

In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, but the Verses differ in Measure from the former.

_Beneath this gloomy Shade, By Nature only for my Sorrows made, I'll spend this Voice in Cries; In Tears I'll waste these Eyes, By Love so vainly fed: So l.u.s.t of old, the Deluge punished.

Ah wretched Youth! said I; Ah wretched Youth! twice did I sadly cry; Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply._ Cowl.

The Stanzas consisting of 11 Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd in them. Take an Example of one of them, where the 6 first are 3 Couplets, the three next a Triplet, the two last a Couplet; and where the 4th, the 7th, and the last Verses are of 10 Syllables each, the others of 8.

_No, to what purpose should I speak?

No, wretched Heart, swell till you break; She cannot love me if she would; And, to say Truth, 'twere pity that she should.

No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear, As silent as they will be there: Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give, So handsomely the thing contrive, That she may guiltless of it live: So perish, that her killing thee May a Chance-medley, and no Murther be._ Cowl.

SECT. VII.

_Of Pindarick Odes, and Poems in Blank Verse._

The Stanzas of Pindarick Odes are neither confin'd to a certain number of Verses, nor the Verses to a certain number of Syllables, nor the Rhyme to a certain Distance. Some Stanzas contain 50 Verses or more, others not above 10, and sometimes not so many: Some Verses 14, nay, 16 Syllables, others not above 4: Sometimes the Rhymes follow one another for several Couplets together, sometimes they are remov'd 6 Verses from each other; and all this in the same Stanza. _Cowley_ was the first who introduc'd this sort of Poetry into our Language: Nor can the nature of it be better describ'd than as he himself has done it, in one of the Stanzas of his Ode upon _Liberty_, which I will transcribe, not as an Example, for none can properly be given where no Rule can be prescrib'd, but to give an Idea of the Nature of this sort of Poetry.

_If Life should a well-order'd Poem be, In which he only hits the White, Who joyns true Profit with the best Delight; The more Heroick Strain let others take, Mine the Pindarick way I'll make: The Matter shall be grave, the Numbers loose and free, It shall not keep one settled pace of Time, In the same Tune it shall not always Chime, Nor shall each day just to his Neighbour rhyme.

A thousand Liberties it shall dispence, And yet shall manage all without offence, Or to the sweetness of the Sound, or Greatness of the Sense._ _Nor shall it never from one Subject start, Nor seek Transitions to depart; Nor its set way o'er Stiles and Bridges make, Nor thro' Lanes a Compa.s.s take, As if it fear'd some Trespa.s.s to commit, When the wide Air's a Road for it.

So the Imperial Eagle does not stay Till the whole Carca.s.s he devour, That's fall'n into his Pow'r, As if his gen'rous Hunger understood, That he can never want plenty of Food; He only sucks the tastful Blood, And to fresh Game flies chearfully away, To Kites and meaner Birds he leaves the mangled Prey._

This sort of Poetry is employed in all manner of Subjects; in Pleasant, in Grave, in Amorous, in Heroick, in Philosophical, in Moral, and in Divine.

Blank Verse is where the Measure is exactly kept without Rhyme; _Shakespear_, to avoid the troublesome Constraint of Rhyme, was the first who invented it; our Poets since him have made use of it in many of their Tragedies and Comedies: but the most celebrated Poem in this kind of Verse is _Milton's Paradise Lost_; from the 5th Book of which I have taken the following Lines for an Example of Blank Verse.

_These are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good!

Almighty! thine this universal Frame, Thus wondrous fair! thy self how wondrous then!

Speak you, who best can tell, ye Sons of Light, Angels! for you behold him, and with Songs, And Choral Symphonies, Day without Night Circle his Throne rejoycing, you in Heaven.

On Earth! joyn all ye Creatures, to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end.

Fairest of Stars! last in the Train of Night, Is better thou belong not to the Dawn, Sure Pledge of Day, that crown'st the smiling Morn, With thy bright Circlet, praise him in thy Sphere, While Day arises, that sweet Hour of Prime!

Thou Sun! of this great World, both Eye and Soul, Acknowledge him thy Greater, sound his Praise In thy Eternal Course, both when thou climb'st And when high Noon hast gain'd, and when thou fall'st.