486 TransacUons. 



therefore be printed as full verses, still divided in feet of three syllables- 

 starting from the beginning of each verse, — 



(If/.) Know ye the/ land where the/ cyjiress and/ myrtle are/ emblems of/ deeds 

 that are/ done in their/ clhne, 

 Where the lage/ of the vul/ture, the love/ of the tur/tle, now melt/ into 

 sor/row now mad/ den to crime ?/ 



Bv this division .the two verses read quite smoothly, and there is only one 

 faulty foot in the two — viz., the last foot of the first verse, which 

 contains but one syllable stressed. Note, however, that were the two 

 verses considered as one metrical entity, and the division continued as 

 from the beginning, the whole would be composed of dactylic feet, 

 instead of, as at present, half being dactylic and half anapestic. The 

 second vert:e, however, would end with a defecti\e foot, a single stressed 

 syllable. The entity, then, containing two complete verses, or four lines, 

 reads with perfect rhythmic swing throughout, and opens and closes with 

 stressed syllables. Cannot an inference he drawn from an analogous ex- 

 ample in duple metre ? — 



(2.) There let/ Hymen/ 6ft a/ppear, in/ saffron/ robe, with/ taper/ clear. 



And pomp/, and fetist/, and re/velry/, with mask/, and an/tiqiie pa/geantrx/ ; 



Here also are two verses, or four line 5, in perfect rhythm, opening and 



closing with stressed syllables ; in two metres as divided, but only in one 



in reality — iambic. Example (2) should, then, be divided, — 



{•la.) There/ let H\'/men 6ft/ appear/, in saf/fron robe/, with ta/per clear/. 



And pomp/, and feast/, and re/velry/, with mask/, and an/tique pa/geantry/ ; 



Now, it has been shown that though a verse may open with a stressed syllable 



in duple metre, that metre is still iambic, the first unit being composed of 



a stressed syllable preceded by a pause. Example {la) is no more than 



the triple ec|uivalent of {2a), which impUes, also, that the dactylic foot 



is simplv the reverse of the anapestic foot, the shadowy amphibrachic 



foot being nothing more than the intermediary. This may be put in the 



language of signs thus : — 



Auapest. Amphibrach. Dactyl. 



The contention, then, as regards Byron's lines is that their division should 

 be in units stressed on the third syllable, thus : — 



(3.) Know/ ye the land/ where the cy/press and myr/tle are em/blems of deeds/ 

 that are done/ in their clime/, 

 WTiere the rage/ of the vul/ture, the love/ of the tur/tlc. now melt/ into sur/- 

 row now mad/den to crime ?/ 



4. Examples, almost pure, of the three supposed triple metres may, of 

 course, be found, and one of each is quoted : — 



(4.) Dactyl ic. 



Bird of the wilderness. 

 Blithesome and cumberless. 

 Light be thy matin o'er woodland and lea ! 

 Emblem of happine.ss ! 

 Blest is thy dwelling-place ! 

 Oh, to abide in the desert with thee ! 



{Hugg, " The Skylark.") 

 (5.) Amphibrachic. 



The gay birds are singing. 

 The gay flowi-ets springing. 

 O'er meadow and mountain and do\ra in the vale ; 

 The green leaves are bursting ; 

 My spirit is thirsting 

 To bask in the sunbeams, and drink the fresli gale. 



(Barton. " Spring.") 



