Andersen. — ClassificaUoti of Verse. 499 



The pauses of tliis stanza are filled with syllables in the follo\A?ing almost 

 parallel stanza : — 



(3(5.) The young May-iuoou is beaming, love, 

 The glow-worm's lamp is gleaming, love : 

 How sweet to rove 

 Through ^Ionia's grove, 

 While the drowsy world is dreaming, love. 



Burns employs similar pauses in — 



(37.) John Anderson my jo, John, 

 These pauses are obvious ; and it will hardly be denied that the time-value 

 of the units is the same whether they contain one or three syllables. (See 

 paragraphs 2 and 3 of Section VI.) 



16. The pause is neither so simple nor so obvious when it does not take 

 the place of svllables ; yet it was probably this pause which led Herrick to 

 break the Alexandrine verse, 



(38.) Thus I passe by, and die : as One unknown, and gon : 



into the LilUputian stanza, 



(39.) Thus I 



Passe by. 

 And die : 

 As One 

 Unknown, 

 And gon : 



The pauses after "' die " and " gon " are considerably longer than those 

 after the other stressed syllables, for they represent a dropped full unit. 



17. Nor does the pause alw^ays fall evenly on or after the stressed 

 syllables. In the line from " L' Allegro," 



(40.) But come, thou goddess fair and free, (1. 11.) 



the second pause does not fall between the second and third units, but 

 divides the third, appearing to make the second consist of the words " thou 



goddess," as — 



(40«.) But come, thou goddess fair and free. 



It was this irregular fall of the pause which led Bridges to formulate his 

 system of stress-units. It has also led to certain syllables in a verse being 

 called " extra-metrical " or " supernumerary." These syllables appear 

 more frequently in blank verse. The following are from Book II of 

 ■" Paradise Lost " : — 



(41.) a. Retire, or taste thy fol/y. and learn by jiroof. 



Hell-born, not to contend with spinas of Heaven. 



(lines 686, 687.) 



h. Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before. (1. 703.) 



It may be said that the syllables in itaUcs are " supernumerary " owing to 

 the presence of the pause ; but they were so considered when no accomit 

 of pause was taken in the composition of units, for in older editions we 

 find the verses printed, — 



(41r/.) «. Retire, or taste thy folly' ; and learn by proof, 



b. Strange horror seize thee', and pangs unfelt before. 



The apostrophe was an indication that the ,two vowels between which it 

 appeared were to be coalesced, or the first of the two elided. Neither act 

 could take place were they separated by a pause, and the only interpreta- 

 tion that can be given to this manner of printing is that the actual barbarity 

 of elision was intended — that the unit was to contain only two syllables. 



