Mr. Dyer on Englif Verification. 
Reluctant comes the timid fpring, 
Scarce a bee with airy wing, &c. 
3 The Firft of April. 
Inthis and the other two odes, there 
is a conttant varying from a line of eight 
fyllables to feven; from an Iambic toa 
Trochee. 
Some of Anacreon’s defcriptive odes, 
alio, are diftinguifhed by fome trregula- 
rity of meafure, particularly his 4th and 
37th. 
There is a fmaller fpecies of verfe, of 
very artificial conftruétion, which, merely 
for the fake of concifenefs, I take the 
hiberty of ranking among odes, though 
the generality of critics will think im- 
properly, I mean the fonnet. 
‘The mealure is of Italian origin, and 
was firft |introduced into England by 
Milton; whofe fonnets, however, with 
two or three exceptions, are but indiffer- 
ent. 
In the fonnets of Petrarch and Metaf- 
tafio, coniifting of fourteen lines, ‘the 
fenfe regularly clofes twice in the courfe of 
the eight firft lines; fo that they might 
compole two regular itanzas of four lines. 
This is true of every fonnet of thefe 
writers that I have examined. I mention 
this circumftance the rather, becaufe 
many modern writers of fonnets have de- 
parted fromthe Italian practice. It may 
be faid, and, I think, with reafon, that 
the flow of many of thefe verfes, much 
refembling that of blank verfe, is adapted 
to the queruloufnefs of language, the melt- 
ings and varyings of thofe fenfibilities, 
which the fonnet wifhes frequently to ex- 
prefs ; and that the ftriétnefs of the laws 
tor the fonnet, in other refpects, juftifies 
the poet’s liberty in this particular in- 
ftance. 
The following hints, though more im- 
mediately applicable to odes, will, many 
of them, apply to all other {pecies of ver- 
fification. 
The foftnefs and melody of verfe are 
confiderably affifted by the uf of liquids: 
for example, | 
The laughing flow’rs, that round them. blow, 
Drink life and fragrance as they flow. Gray. 

Tu Tityre lentus in umbra, 
Formofam refonare doces Amaryllida fylvas. 
, Virgil. 
.. Alliteration, or-an artful repetition of 
the fame letter, was agreeable to the ge- 
neral practice of the Saxon poets, and was 
afterwards adopted by the Englifh and 
Scotifh*., It afterwards, gave place to 

* See « Pinkerton’ s Differtaticns prefixed to 
~ gis Scottiff Ballads.’ Vol. 1. 
Monta, Mac, No. xxx, 
“7 
Aut quem, &c. 
263 
rhyme, and is now, generally, underftood 
to favour of conceit: , 
Of all the keene conquerors to carp it were 
kind, 
Of fell fighting folka ferly we find *. 
Poets, however, occafionally fall into 
them, and inftances occur, when they 
have a pleafing effect: 
Et folain ficca fecum fpatiaturarena. Virgil. 
The ftately tread, and folitarinefs of 
the raven feem well expreffed here. 
Double rhymes are rarely admitted by 
correct verfifiers. Inthe following chafte 
ftanza, however, it has no.unpleafing effect : 
Oh! that the chemift’s magic art 
Would cryftallize this facred treafure ; 
Long fhould it glitter near my heart, 
A fecret fource of penfive pleafure. 
Mr. Rogers's Verfes on a Tear. 
Generally fpeaking, it may be faid, that 
the verfe requires moft ftrength at the end. 
The rule with Greek and Latin writers, 
is, to clofe with a Spondee, two long fyl- 
lables: the Jaft fyllable at leait is confidered 
long, as being the clofing line of the verfe, 
though by zature it fhould happen to be 
fhort :—a verfe ending with a fupernume - 
rary fyllable, with a vowel, is no excep, 
tion to this rule; the fupernumerary fylla- 
ble going on to the next verfe, which 
always begins, in that cafe, with a 
vowel. 
Quem non incufavi ameng hominumque deo- 
Tum@ue 
Virgil. 
Verfes that evd with a daftyl carry the 
appearance of negligence, are very rarely 
admitted by very correét verfifiers, and, 
when admitted, generally damage the 
verle: ex. 
“© As oft the learn’d by being fingtilar.”* 
Pope. 
As verfe is confiderably affifted by va- 
riety in its paufes, it will be damaged by 
the ufe of low, feeble words, more parti- 
cularly when the accent is made to fall on 
them: 
While expletives their feeble aid d join, 
And ten low words oft creep in one dull Tine. 
Pope. 
Inftances, however, occur, where mo- 
nofyllabic lines are beautiful, particularly 
in blank verfe. ce 
I fay nothing concerning the Hudibra- 
ftic or Traveftie; they fet all the laws of 

* See © Tournament of Toitenbayt, in Percy?s 
ColleGiion of Englih Ballads ; and Pierce Plow 
man’s Vifions.” 
Mm melody 
