VERSIFICATION. 



leftic, acataleftic, or hypercataleftic, according as it is 

 tronco, piano, or fdrucciolo ; as, 



Tronco - Contra morte non val frefca eta. 



3 _ fl _ 9 I w 



Piano - Vafto incendio fe boUe riftretto. 



? . ^ . 9 10 



Sdrucciolo I bon vini fon quelli che acquietano. 



There is another variety of the decafyllabic verfe, of 

 which Chiabrera has given us an example. It has the accent 

 on the firft, the third, the fifth, the feventh, and on the 

 ninth fyllables. 



The rhythm of this verfe is eflentially different from 

 either of the preceding ; it confifts of five trochaic feet. 



XIV. The Hendecafyllabk Verfe. 

 The hendecafyllabic verfe is alfo called heroic ; for it is 

 that rhythm* whicii, from its harmony, its grave and majeftic 

 movement, and the variety of which it is fufceptible, offers 

 to the poet peculiar advantages for the expreffion of fublime 

 and elevated fubjefts. It is, in common with every other, 

 capable of three kinds ; as, 



Tronco - Monte -pulciano d'ogni vino e ib re'". 

 Piano - T'Alzo natura in verfo al ciel la fronte". 

 Sdrucciolo Celebri I'acqua, e fe la bea pur Pindaro". 



Redi. 



1 



Tronco - Le printems fuit, hatons-nous d'etre heureux. 



10 11 



Piano - Qui n'en ferait en efFet idolatre. — Petr. 



This verfe is generally accented on the fecond, the fourth, 

 the fixth, the eighth, and on the tenth fyllable, which laft 

 is the accent common, or invariable. 



And the verfe thus accentuated is the moft harmonious : 

 but as an unvaried recurrence of the fame luxuriant rhythm 

 would become eventually monotonous, it admits of the fol- 

 lowing varieties. 



I. It is fufficient, if, befides the common accent, the 

 fixth fyllable fliould be accented. 



t. The fecond variety has, independently of the com- 

 mon accent, the fourth and eighth fyllables only accented. 



3. The third variety, befides the common accent, has 

 only the fourth and the feventh fyllables accented. 



With regard to the apparent difference in the number of 

 lyllables between the Italian and French hendecafyllable, 

 the reader is referred to what has been already obferved at 



Concerning the Intermixture of different Verfe. — Whatever 

 harmony may arife from the fucceffion of verfes of the fame 

 kind, they often acquire a new excellency when the feries is 

 compofed of an appropriate admixture of verfe of a different 

 rhyma. 



It may now be reafonably inquired, why is the intermix- 

 ture of different verfe produftive, at one time, of an agree- 

 able effeft, and at another of the contrary ? In anfwer to 

 this inquiry it is here only neceffary to remark, that we have 

 already faid that the hendecafyllabic verfe and the feptena- 

 rius, together with the two members of which the hendeca- 

 fyllable is compofed, the feptenarius and the quinarius, are 

 of the iambic rhythm. Hence we clearly perceive, that the 

 tranfition from the hendecafyllable to the feptenarius, and 



* RJtythm and rhyme are iwo dillin^l ililrgs : the former is defined in 

 the pi-eceding pages of this article, it is derived from '^vSftoi ; the latter is 

 only the corrcfponderee ef tlie laft found of one verfe, to the laft found of 

 the next. And on account of this material diftiiicTtion, not generally un- 

 deritood, even ly Engli/h tacicographfrs, the recent writers on this fubjetSt 

 ihuf orlhographically diftiiigulfli the forrtier, — rhythm. 



vice verfd, from the latter to the former, preferves the fame 

 rhythmical order and movement. And the fame principle 

 will fanftion the intermixture of an oftonarius and a quadri- 

 fyllabic verfe, fince the rhythm of each is trochaic. It often 

 happens however, that notwithftanding the exaft identity 

 of the rhythm in the alternation of different verfes, the effeft 

 is not agreeable. But this only happens when we conneft 

 verfes, for example, of four feet, with others of five or 

 three feet. And here it is evident, that altliough a verfe of 

 five feet and another of four are of the fame rhythm, yet 

 they prefent an effential difference. The verfe of five feet 

 is indivifible, but that of four feet, which is an even num- 

 ber, may be divided into two equal parts, which are in 

 rhythmical quantity perfeftly equivalent and reciprocal to 

 each other. The impreflion, therefore, refulting from this 

 verfe, is different from that of the verfe which can only pre- 

 fent to the ear the rhythm of two unequal parts. And here 

 we may add, once for all, that all which we have faid con- 

 cerning the combination of verfe of the fame or of different 

 kinds in the Italian language, is perfeftly applicable to that 

 of the French alfo. 



I. Of the Sonnet. 



The regular fonnet contains fourteen hendecafyllabic 

 verfes, divided by the rhythm into four ftanzas, or ftrophes, 

 of which two are tetraftrophons, and two triftrophons. 



The fonnet, which the Italians call ' calla coda, ' caudato,' 

 receives this appellation from the circumftance of its having, 

 after the fourteenth verfe, a train of one or more ftanzas of 

 three verfes each, or triflrophons. The fifteenth verfe muft 

 in this cafe be a feptenarius, and rhyme with the fourteenth. 



Sonnets may be alfo compofed of the verfe oClonarius, 

 feptenarius, or quinarius. 



The two rhymes of the tetraftrophon ftanza are fufcepti- 

 ble of four different combinations, according to the follow- 

 ing table. Any of which, but legitimately no other, the 

 poet may adopt freely at his choice. 



ift. Tetraftrophon: rhyme clofed (y^rw). 



1 - - ano ^ . - ano 1 



2 - - ore 6 - - ore ( moft in 



3 - - ore 7 . . ore | ufe. 



4 - - ano 8 - - ano ) 



2d. Tetraftrophon : rhyme alternate. 



1 - - afto J . . afto 



2 - - era 6 - - era 



3 - - afto 7 " - 3fto 



4 - - era 8 - - era 



3d. Tetraftrophon : rhyme reciprocally alternate. 



1 - - idi 5 - . ezzo 



2 - - ezzo 6 - - idi 



3 - - idi 7 - - ezzo 



4 - - ezzo 8 - - idi 



4th. Tetraftrophon : rhyme alternate and clofed. 



The rhyme of the triftrophon may have, at the option of 

 the poet, the following varieties. 



I ft. Triftrophon: rhyme conoe&ed {enchainee). 



/ moft ii 

 f life. 



2d. Tril. 



