R H Y 



R II Y 



the fentiments, nor great fublimity in the ftyle ; fuch as 

 paftorals, elegies, epiilles, fatires, &c. To thefe it com- 

 municates that degree of elevation, which is proper for them, 

 and, without any other alliftance, fufficiently diftinguilhes 

 the rtvle from profe. He who (hould write fuch poems 

 in blank verfe, would render his work harlh and unpleafing. 

 In order to fupport a poetical ftyle, he would be obliged to 

 affeft a pomp of language unfuitable to the fubjeft. Dr. 

 Blair farther obferves, that though he coincides in opinion 

 with thofe, who think that rhyme finds its proper place in 

 the middle, but not in the higher regions, of poetry, can 

 by no means join in the invectives which fome have poured 

 out againft it, as if it were a mere jingling of founds, fit 

 only for children, and owing to nothing but the corruption 

 of tafte in the monkifh ages. Rhyme might indeed be 

 barbarous in Latin or Greek verfe, becaufe thefe languages, 

 by the fonoroufnefs of their words, by their liberty of tranf- 

 pofition and inveriion, by their fixed quantities and mulical 

 pronunciation, could carry on the melody of verfe without 

 its aid. But it does not follow, that it mult, therefore, be 

 barbarous in the Englifh language, which is deftitute of 

 thefe advantages. Rhyme was barbarous in Latin ; and 

 an attempt to conftruft Englifh verfes, after the form of 

 hexameters and pentameters, and Sapphics, is as barbarous 

 among us. It is not true, that rhyme is merely a monkifh 

 invention. On the contrary, it has obtained under different 

 forms in the verfification of moll known nations. It is 

 found in the ancient poetry of the northern nations of 

 Europe ; and it is faid to be found among the Arabs, 

 the Perfians, the Indians, and the Americans. This fhews, 

 that there is fomething in the return of limilar founds, 

 which is grateful to the ears of the greateit part of mankind. 

 And if any one, after reading Mr. Pope's Rape of the 

 Lock, or Eloifa to Abelard, fhall not admit our rhyme, 

 with all its varieties of paufes, to carry both elegance and 

 fweetnefs of found, his ear rauft be pronounced to be of a 

 very peculiar kind. 



The prefent form of our Englifh heroic rhyme in 

 couplets is a modern fpecies of verfification. The meafure 

 generally ufed in the days of queen Elizabeth, king James, 

 and king Charles I., was the ftanza of eight lines, fuch as 

 Spencer employs, borrowed from the Italian ; a meafure 

 verv conftrained and artificial. Waller was the firft who 

 brought couplets into vogue ; and Dryden afterwards 

 eftablifhed the ufage. Waller firft fmoothed our verfe ; 

 Dryden perfected it. Mr. Pope's verfification has a pecu- 

 liar character. It is flowing and fmooth in the higheft de- 

 gree ; far more laboured and correct than that of any who 

 went before him. He introduced one confiderable change 

 into heroic verfe, by totally throwing afide the triplets, 

 or three lines rhyming together, in which Mr. Dryden 

 abounded. Dryden's verfification, however, has great 

 merit ; and, like all his productions, has much fpirit mixed 

 with careleflnels. If not fo fmooth and correct as Pope's, 

 it is however more varied and eafy. He fubjects himfelf 

 lefs to the rule of clofing the fenfe with the couplet, and 

 frequently takes the liberty of making his couplets run 

 into one another, with fomewhat of the freedom of blank 

 verfe. Blair's Left. vol. iii. See Verse. 



Rhymes are e\the\r Jingle, or double, or triple, though the 

 two laft are now much difufed. 



Rhymes, Single, are divided into perfect or whole rhymes, 

 and imperfect or half rhymes. A whole or perfeel rhyme is 

 where there is a fimilitude of found without anv difference ; 

 or where a thorough identity of found appears in the pro- 

 nunciation of the two fyllables, notwithstanding that there 

 may be fome difference in the orthography. A half or im- 



perfeS rhyme is where there is a fimilitude, with a differ- 

 ence cither in refpect of the pronunciation, or the ortho- 

 graph v, but chiefly the former. 



Rhyme, the feminine, \i that where the laft fyllab'.e of 

 the rhyme ends with an e mute, or quiefcent, as in d 

 be!!c. &c. 



Rhymes, Mafculine, are thofe of all other words. 



Menage obferves, that the mafculine rhymes clofe thi 

 periods better ; but the feminines, being the fofter and 

 more languifhing, end more agreeably, efpecially in mourn- 

 ful fubjects. 



Rhymes, Doubh-, by the French called rich rhymes, are 

 thofe where the two words terminate alike through the 

 whole two laft fyllables, as fquabble and rabble, Sec. 



Rhymes, Plain, are thofe where the two rhyming verfes 

 fucceed immediately to each other. 



Rhymes, Grofs, are thofe where the verfes are fo dif- 

 pofed, as that the firft rhymes with the third, and the 

 fecond with the fourth, &c. 



Rhymes, AJfonant. See Assonant. 



RHYMNICI Mo.VTEs, in Ancient Geography, moun- 

 tains of Scythia, on this fide of Imaus, in which the river 

 Rhymnus had its fource. The mouth of this river was in 

 the Cafpian fea, between that of the river Rha and that of 

 the river Dai's. 



RHYNBECK, or Rhinbeck, in Geography, a poft- 

 town of America, in Dutchefs county, New York, on the 

 E. fide of Hudfon's river, oppofite to Kingflon ; 103 miles 

 N. of New York. The townfhip is bounded S. by Clinton, 

 and N. by Beckman. A curious cavern has been dif- 

 covered, in 1792, at a place in this town, called by the 

 Indians Sepalcot. 



RHYNCHjE, in Ancient Geography, a country of 

 Greece, in the ifle of Euboea. Steph. Byz. 



RHYNCHOSPORA, in Botany, fo called from ; uyx ,;, 

 a beak, and cr~-.:-x, feed ; becaufe the permanent bafe of the 

 ftyle forms a beak to the feed. — Vahl. Enum. v. 2. 229. 

 Brown Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. 1. 229. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 v. 1. 127. — Clafs and order, Triandria Mcnogynia. Nat. 

 Ord. Calamariie, Linn. Cyperacete, Brown. 



EfT. Ch. Glumes chaffy ; the lower ones empty. Co- 

 rolla none. Seed one, crowned with the hardened perma- 

 nent ftyle, whofe bafe is as broad as the feed. 



Vahl, the founder of this genus, defcribes nineteen fpecies, 

 among which are Schoenus albus and fufcus of Linnxus, and 

 Sir.. Fl. Bnt. Mr. Brown adopts it, adding to the cha- 

 racter, that " the feed is accompanied at its bafe by toothed 

 bridles, fhorter than the glumes." He remarks, that it 

 differs from Dichromena, (fee that article,) in having 

 thefe briftles. This writer defines three New Holland 

 fpecies, one the R. aurea of Vahl, and other two non- 

 defcripts. The inflorefcence is faid to be very various, 

 fome fpecies having the flowers pamcled, whilft in others 

 they are either corymbofe, or capitate. We do not fee 

 the neceffity of eftablifhing this genus ; at leaf!, as it con- 

 cerns the Britifh Flora, we beg leave to fufpend our 

 opinion. See Schoexln. 



RHYNCOSIA, from (vyxps, " beak, becaufe the keel 

 terminates in a long fharp point. — Loureir. Cochin. 460. 

 Clafs and order, Diadelphia Decandria. Nat. Ord. Papi- 

 lienaces, Linn. Leguminofz, Juff. 



Efl. Ch. Corolla papilionaceous. Keel rhomboid, beaked. 

 Legume membranous, with two feeds. 



1. R. ■volubilis Found wild near Canton in China. 



Stem herbaceous, round, twining. Leaves ternate, roundifh, 

 downy. Flower-flails axillary, in pairs, many-flowered. 

 Calyx two-lipped. Corolla yellow. Seeds black and fhining. 



In 



