VERSIFICATION. 



Crefcimbeni dates the commencement of this art about 

 the year 1 189. But Quadrio fixes its origin about the year 

 1135. And this he proves by an infcription in verfe, which 

 he found in the cathedral church of Ferrara. 



It is not improbable, however, that when Frederic II. 

 arrived in Sicily, which happened nearly a century after this, 

 he was already well inftruited in this new fpecies of verfiti- 

 cation, which he had learned in Provence, his native coun- 

 try ; and alfo that he polTeiTed an art which he had derived 

 from the Arabs eftablitlied in Spain, whilft the Sicilians 

 boafted the poirelTion of the fame art, which they had ori- 

 ginally received from the Saracens. 



Thefe two points of hiftory being reduced to thefe paral- 

 lel terms, it will become eafy to refolve what would other- 

 wife appear to be contradictory and paradoxical in thofe 

 apparently oppofite opinions, of which the one attributes to 

 the Sicilians, the other to the Provencals, the honour of 

 having been the firft who communicated to Italy the know- 

 ledge of this modern fpecies of verfification. The faft 

 doubtlefs is, that both the one and the other, nearly at the 

 fame time, received from the Arabs that new acquifition for 

 which their own dialefts were found to pofTefs a certain in- 

 nate congeniality, and fubfequently became reciprocally in- 

 ftrumental in confirming and maturing that art, which foon 

 became celebrated throughout Europe, under either the 

 Italian epithet " lettere amene e leggiadre," or the Proven- 

 cal " guai faber," ;. e. the gay fcience. 



Having now, perhaps, executed the moll difficult part 

 of our taflc, in tracing from this remote and obfcure period, 

 the earliefl fource of this new fpecies of verfification, our 

 limits and our readers will exempt us from entering into a 

 long detail of the fubfequent progrefs of this art amongft 

 two neighbouring nations, efpecially as this part of the fub- 

 jeft is more acceffible through the medium of the pens of 

 the literati of France and Italy. 



Before we proceed to treat on the nature of verfe, it will 

 be neceffary to premife the following explanations of fuch 

 technical terms as will occur in the fequel. 



A Syllable. 

 By a reference to the article Quantity, the reader will 

 difcover that we have already had an opportunity of diftin- 

 guifhing between a (hort and a long fyllable, and of Hating 

 that the former is ufually denoted by a fmall curve, as " ; 

 and the latter by a da(h, as " 



Feet. 

 A foot, (fo called from the ancient cuftom of beating 

 time by the foot,) is a part of a verfe, and confifts of two 

 or more fyllables, as here exemplified. 



I. Twelve Simple Feet. 

 I. Four feet of two fyllables. 



1 7 A fpondee 



2 j A pyrric... 

 ^ 7 A. trochee, or choree. 

 4j 



\\ A trochee, 

 |.J An iambus. 



2. Eight feet of three fyllables. 



5") A moloffus 



6| A tribrac 



7 ) A daftyl 



8 i An anapxft 



9I A bacchic 



105 An antibacchic 



Ill Acretic, or amphimacer 



i2j An amphibrac '...,,, 



II. Eighteen Compound Feet. 



" Quidquid enim fupra tres fyllabas habet, id ex pluri- 

 bus eft pedibus." Quintil. 9. 4. 



I. Four of the fame foot doubled. 



13') A difpondee, or two fpondees _ 



14 j A proceleufmatic, or two pyrrics v. ^ ^ v, 



15 1 A dichoree, or two chorees, or trochees... - v, - » 

 16 J Adiiambus, or two iambufes ^ - ^ . 



2. Four of contrary feel. 



1 7I A great ionic, or a fpondee and a pyrric „ ^ 



18 j A fmall ionic, or a pyrric and a fpondee... ^ ^ . - 

 19I A choriambus, or a choree and iambus ^ v - 



20 j An antifpaft, or an iambus and a choree ... ^ . . >- 



3. Four feet in which long times exceed 



21 "^ Firft epitrit, or an iambus and fpondee - . • ^ 



22 j Second epitrit, or a choree and fpondee ... _ >, _ _ 

 23 1 Third epitrit. or a fpondee and iambus ... . . „ _ 



24 J Fourth epitrit, or a fpondee and choree ... . . . „ 



4. Four feet in tvhichjhorl times exceed 



25 1 Firft paeon, a choree and pyrric - >, „ « 



26 J Second pseon, an iambus and pyrric ^ y, ^ 



2"! Third pason, a pyrric and choree ». v- - w 



28 j Fourth pxon, a pyrric and iambus ^ ^ ^ . 



5. Compound feet of Jive fyllables. 



29! Dochmius, an iambus and cretic „.-^. 



30 J Mefomacer, a pyrric and a daftyl ^ ^ - >, v 



Metre. 

 A metre is compofed of two adjacent feet. In Greek 

 verfe of the dadylic fpecies, one foot conftitutes a metre, 

 according to Hephxftion ; 



'* Kara Moy&TTodtaif fjnT^urai ia AaxTu^ixa." 



In Greek verfe of double feet, a metre is alfo faid to 

 confift of only one foot ; but fince, in this cafe, each foot 

 comprifes tvi-o fimple feet, it forms no exception to the 

 general rule. Metre is divided into nine fpecies ; iambic, 

 trochaic, anap/ejlic, dactylic, choriambic, antifpajlic, ionic a ma- 

 jore, ionic a minore, paonic. 



Rhythm 



Is a feries of fimilar feet, continued until the ear per- 

 ceives the order of the feries, and is able to anticipate the 

 pecuhar nature of the verfe. To render this more plain, 

 we add, that rhythm in verfe is analogous to as many terms 

 of an infinite feries in mathematics, as are neceffary to 

 render the law of the rifing order apparent, and from which 

 we can eafily anticipate the fequel ; or, more exaftly, if we 



have the compound circulate -325 given to evolve the feries, 



we eafily write or repeat -325 | 325 | 325, Sec. to as many 

 periods as neceffary. 



Now, a metre is faid to be the commencement of this feries. 

 A rhythm is that portion of the feries, which brings the 

 whole under the recognizance of the ear. Metre refpefts 

 both the time and order of the fyllables. The rhythm of a 

 daftylic and anapxftic meafure is the fame ; the metre 

 different. 



Verse. 

 A verfe is an affemblage of a definite number of feet, 

 and contains one, two, or more metres ; and is accordingly 



termed 



