042 Trnfii^acfioiis. 



two difEereut types are brought together. The extreme rarity of this 

 blending is sufficient indication that the two are practically different species, 

 and the blending is therefore unnatural. The five-stressed lines are Heroic, 

 and the Heroic is foreign to the Ballad (see Section IV of this chapter). A 

 quite difierent result is brought about if a unit be dropped from^the five- 

 stressed lines of Rossetti's stanza :— 



(39fl.) This sunset spreads two golden wings 

 Cleaving the western sky ; 

 Winged too with wind and winnowings 

 Of birds ; as if the day in rings 

 Of strenuous flight must die. 



The metre is sensibly altered ; it has been metamorphosed to the singing 

 Ballad, or Lyric, from the declamatory Heroic. 



Section III. 



1. It is now desirable to show how the " verse-unit " may be taken as 

 a guide for the classification of British poetry. The " type " is a verse of 

 eight stress-units, or their temporal equivalents. The usual forms of the 

 verse-unit assumed by the type are four :— 



1. RoMANCK : A verse of eight stresses, duple, triple, or quadruple. 



2. Ballad : ,, seven ,, ,, ,, „ 



3. NiBELUNOEN : ,, six ,, ,, ,, ,, 



4. Alexandrine : ,, six ,, „ „ ,, 



Divided, the verse-units are as follow (ordinary duple — or iambic — only 



being set out) : — 



1. Romance : ../../../../../../../../ 



2. Ballad: ../../../../../../../ / 



3. NiBELUNGEN : ../../.././../../../ / 



4. Alexandrine : ../../../ /../../../ / 



In verse-units 2, 3, and 4 the final stress-unit is a blank as regards articu- 

 lation ; it is used for taking the breath. The temporal length of all four 

 verse-units is, therefore, comparatively equal, the inequality being caused 

 through the inability of an inaudible pause to assert itself. In the Romance 

 verse it was necessary to take the breath after the fourth stress-unit and 

 before the first of the following verse ; the result was a slight natural 

 pause, and this pause still makes its presence felt at all verse-endings. 



2. In each of the four verse-units certain regular, as well as certain 

 irregular, variations occur. The irregular variations consist of expansions 

 of duple stress-units to triple, or contractions of triple stress-units to duple, 

 and the arbitrary mingling of both. Examples have" been given from old 

 Danish ballads in Section II of this chapter, paragraphs 8 and 9. Two 

 stanzas of Shelley's " Sensitive Plant " may be given here : — 



(1.) A sen/sitive plant/ in a gar/den grew/, 



And the young/ winds fed/ it with sil/vev dew/, 

 And it o/pened its fan-/like leaves/ to the light/, 

 And closed/ them beneath/ the kis/ses of night/. 



And the Spring/ arose/ on the gar/den fair/, 

 Like the Spi/rit of Love/ felt c/verywhere/ ; 

 And each iio/wcr and herb/ on Earth's/ dark breast/ 

 Rose/ from the dreams/ of its win/try rest/. 



(Part i, stanzas 1 2.) 



