Andersen. — Classification of Verse. 527 



" sts," and, " min " being of less time-value than " brea " the total time- 

 value of the two words would, practically be equal. Indeed., repeating the 

 two words " breasts " and " minsters," their difference, whilst appreciable, 

 is very inconsiderable ; and the insertion of the short " i," making " min- 

 sters " " ministers," lengthens the word very little indeed, whilst it makes 

 the articulation easier. The whole contention is this : that the extra syl- 

 lables of feminine and double feminine endings are often of very Uttle more 

 time-value than the consonantal endings of one-syllabled end words. Two 

 examples of double feminine endings follow : — 



(22.) a. he fishes, drinks and wastes 



The hxmp/ of night/ in re/vel : is not/ more man/(likc) 

 Than Cle/opa/ti'a, nor •' the queen/ of Ptb/(lemy) 

 More womanly than he. (Ant. & Cleo., I, iv, 6.) 



b. For s6/litude/ sometimes/ is best/ sod/ (ety,) 



And short retirement urges sweet retiun. (P-L., ix, 249.) 



Words with Kght endings, hke " society," &c., are usually given a fictitious 

 stress — that is, they occupy the position where a stress would fall were it 

 not suppressed : — 



(23.) a. They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel 

 Divi / nity ' within/ them bree/ding wings/, 



Wherewith to scorn the earth ; (P.L., ix, 1010.) 



b. Sin/ and her sha/dow Death/, and Mi/sery/' 



Death's harbinger. (P.L., ix, 12.) 



In the following, " misery " appears as a three-syllabled word accented in 

 the usual way on the first syllable : — 



(24.) , Yet well, if here would end 



The mi/sery ; 1/ deserv'd/ it, and ;' would bear/ 

 My own deservings ; (P.L., x, 726.) 



A comparison of " society " in two different positions is of interest : first 

 as quoted in (22) b, where it occupies the last unit and and forms a double 

 feminine ; then where it occupies two full units, no feminine resulting : — 



(25.) a. For s6/litude/ sometimes/ is best/ ,soc>/{ety.) 

 b. Among/ une/quals, what/ soci/ety / 



Can sort, what harmony or true delight ? (P.L., viii, 383.) 



It will be noted that the double feminines all contain very short vowels ; 

 this, too, obtains, as a rule, in the single feminines, examples like the follow- 

 ing being comparatively uncommon : — 



(26.) a. You may 



Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, 

 And yet/ seem cold/, the time/ you may/ so h7iod/{wiuk:) 



(Macb,, IV, iii, 72.) 

 b. Now mi/nutoly / revolts/ upbraid/ his faith- /{breach ;) 



12. The question now is, in what way do these feminine endings fall 

 within the metrical scheme ? It is commonly held that they occupy part 

 of the rhythmic pause that usually divides the verses of blank verse one 

 from another. It is admitted that metrical pauses are of almost universal 

 occurrence in heroic, or five-stressed rimed verse, but it is probable that 

 the rime augmented the pause, if it did not create it ; and hence it is that 

 much heroic verse — Pope's, for example — is a series of epigrammatic couplets. 

 It is, however, contended that the discarding of the rime in blank verse 

 was not only a rejection of the " jingUng sound of hke endings," or an eman- 

 cipation from restriction, since to no true poet is rime a restriction, but 

 also a step towards the rejection of rhythmic pause in favour of the 



