AxDBHSEX. — The Vcrnfi-unit , 617 



— a construction tliat will at once ])e discarded as ridiculous in this instance. 

 In two verses only in the whole quotation does the poet himself offer a 

 chie to the reading : — 



I see Thou mind'st liim much, that do.st reward him so : 

 and 



The air to give him breath ; the water for his health ; 



In fact, every odd verse of tiie quotation is an Alexandrine, whose mid-pause 

 must be observed if the metre is to run smoothly : — 



(28c.) I see/ Thou mind'st/ him much/, / that dost/ I'eward/ him so/ : 



Be/ing but earth/, to rule/ the earth/, whereon/ himself/ doth go/. 



and so of the opening : — 



(28c^.) But yet/ among/ all these/ / 1 ask/, " What thing/ is man ? "/ 



Whose turn/ to serve/ in his/ jjoor need/ this work/ Thou first/ began/. 



15. This paused Alexandrine is called in French " Alexandrin classique," 

 and all French verse in this metre took the classical form until the time of 

 V. Hugo, when a " vers trimetre " was introduced, which was an Alexandrine 

 broken into three equal parts by two pauses." 



16. One stanza of Shelley's " Skylark " has been given, No. (27), and 

 it has been shown that the stanza consists of two Nibekmgen verses fol- 

 lowed by an Alexandrine ; but the construction of other stanzas in Shelley's 

 poem is different : — 



(29.) Hail to thee, blithe spirit ! 

 Bird thou nevei' wert. 

 That from heaven, or near it, 

 Pourest thy full heart 

 In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 



If this stanza be divided in the way No. (27) was divided — 



(29rt.) Hail/ to thee/, blithe spi/rit ! / bird/ thou ne/ver wert/, 



That/ from heaven/, or near/ it, / pour/est thy/ full heart/ 

 In pro/fuse strains/ of un/ /preme/dita/ted art/. 



— we again obtain two Nibelungen verses and one Alexandrine ; but in 

 the Alexandrine a word, "' unpremeditated," is divided by a pause ; and 

 whilst many readers would probably make some pause on the " un " — 

 not necessarily, be it again noted, equal to a full unit — others would make 

 no pause whatever, producing an unpaused Alexandrine. In every verse 

 of Shelley's poem, excepting the verse ending the first stanza above quoted, 

 the pause can be made naturally, though all readers will not necessarily 

 make it ; and it might be supposed that Shelley's verse is a solitary anomaly. 

 But turning from the " scorner of the ground " to the sometime " scorner 

 of metre," Browning, we read such verses as, — 



(30.) But, when you would dissect the structure, piece by piece. 

 You found, enwreathed amid the country product — fleece 

 And feather, thistle-fluffs and bearded wintUe- straws — 

 Some shred of foreign sUk, unravelling of gauze. 

 Bit, may be, of brocade, mid fur and blow-bell-down : 

 Filched jilainly from mankind, dear tribute paid by town. 

 Which proved how oft the bird had jiiucked up heart of grace. 

 Swooped down at waif and stray, made furtively our place 

 Pay tax and toll, then borne the booty to enrich 

 Her paradise i" the waste ; the how and why of which. 

 That is the secret, there the mystery that stings ! 



(" Fiflne at the Fair," section i.x, 1. 7 et seq.) 



