ON SIAMESE LITERATURE. 



355 



— the birthright of all rude people, and the elegant refiner of the mind in 

 polished life — and that they have improved what nature has bestowed by 

 confining it within established rules. 



Their musical instruments are well enough adapted to their style of 

 composition. A list of them will be found at the end of this paper. 



History of Narinthom Phomi and his queen Kappha. 

 JBot-Nansrsit So-at or Yani. 



In this we find verses of four lines each, the latter having alternately 

 five and six words or syllables. Metre is not essential to this species of 

 verse at the close of each line, but the last word in the first line rhymes 

 with that which immediately precedes the caesure in the second — while 

 the last words of the second and third line rhyme together. It may 

 appear affectation to make use in a disquisition on the poetry of a 

 rude nation, of the prosodial terms applied to Greek and Latin poetry, 

 but without their adoption it would be impossible to afford the means 

 of comparing the Siamese system of prosody with that of other Asi- 

 atic nations. 



The order of the feet in the four first lines is thus — 



1st line, Trocheus — Amphimacer. yj 



2d ditto, Bacchius — Dactyl. »y u _ II _ 



3d ditto, Spondee — Amphibrach. _ _ II _ 



4th ditto, Amphimacer — Dactyl. _ _ II _ w 



f A chapter — a stanza — 

 ' \ also poetry — story. 



Kham, Word — sentence. 



jt^^j^ f Line — or member of a 



' \ sentence. 



Khan, Rhyme. 



Kldn mat phat\ Verse — depending on 

 kan, j quantity. 



Kham khlong, ... An acrostic. 



i Measured composition 

 ^opha, ^ used for religious books. 



^„ ^ , f March of the feet of a 



Khun bot, < y^^^^ 



Long bot, Close of a verse. 



Plat wak, Last word of a line. 



Khrung bot, ..... Hemistic. 



Sang wak, Distich. 



Kham yau, Length of syllables. 



— — San, Quantity. 



Mutu, Power of vowel sounds. 



Tihai nak, Tones— in the key. 



Hai bau, Tone and cadence. 



