Andersen. — The Verxe-unit. 609 



(11.) -My Peggy speaks sae sweetly-, 

 Whene'er we meet alane, 

 I wish nae mair to lay my care, 

 I wish nae mair of a' that's rare. 

 My Peggy speaks sae sweetly, 



To a' the lave I'm cauld : 

 But she gars a' my spirits glow 

 At wawking of the faukl. 



(A. Ramsay, song 1 of "The Gentle Slieplierd.") 



(12.) By whom was David taught 

 To aim the deadly blow. 

 When he Goliath fought, 



And laid the Gittite low ? 

 No sword nor spear the stripling took. 

 But chose a pebble from the brook. 



(W. Cowper, Olney Hymn, iv.) 



All are divided into groups of eight-stressed verses, dropped units being 

 represented by pauses : — 



(7a.) The ra/ging rocks/, and shi/vering shocks/, shall break/ the locks/ of pri/son- 



gates/ ; 

 (8«.) We join/ the throng/ of the dance/ and the song/, by the whirl/ wind of 



glad/ness borne/ along/ ; 



(9a.) By the fair/ and the brave/ who blu/shing unite/, like the sun/ and wave/ 

 when they meet/ at night/; 



(10«. ) Weep/, weep/, weep/, and weeji/, for pau/per, dolt/, and slave !/ /. 



Hark !/ from wa/sted moor/ and fen/, fe/verous al/ley, sti/fhng den/, 

 (11a.) Mj' Peg/gy sj^eaks/ sae sweet/ly, /whene'er/ we meet/ alane/, / 



I wish/ nae mair/ to lay/ my care/, I wish/ nae mair/ of a'/ that's rare/. 

 (12a.) By whom/ was Da/vid taught/ /to aim/ the dead/ly blow/, / 



When he/ Goli/ath fought/, /and laid/ the Git/tite low ?/ / 



No sword/ nor spear/ the striji/lhig took/, but chose/ a peb/ble of/ the brook/. 



This division shows the pauses that are felt instinctively in reading, and 

 shows that each verse has the full value of eight stress-units. The relation 

 of the variations, one to another, will be examined more at large in a sub- 

 sequent paragraph. 



7. Eemembering that when the full eight-stressed verse developed 

 poetry was commonly sung or recited, it will be evident that great regard 

 would naturally be had to facility of delivery. In speech, a sentence con- 

 sists of as much thought as may be conveyed readily in one breath : the 

 more broken a complete thought is in its utterance the less forcible it 

 becomes ; and it follows that the most incisive thought is that which, the 

 matter of thought being equal, can be distinctly uttered in one breath. 

 The most incisive thoughts are those which appeal most deeply to the 

 emotions, and a sentence will therefore be shorter or longer as it is more 

 or less emotional. The earliest poetry is almost purely emotion, bare of 

 all ornament of rime, alhteration, metre, or even rhythm. The first orna- 

 ment was metaphor ; then came rhythmic expression. As the people emerged 

 from barbarity, evolving music and dance with its poetry, a finer rhythmic 

 sense developed. In the Maori language poetry may be studied in many 

 stages, from unrhythmical laments and love-chants to perfectly rhythmical 

 war-songs, some of which were on the verge of becoming rimed and metrical, 

 when their development was rudely interrupted by civiUzation. It would 

 appear as if the dance of motion and gesture was the force controlling the 

 rhythm of poetry and music : once the rhythm was estabUshed, it developed 



20— Trans. 



