presented to the LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA • SAN DIF.GO by FRIENDS OF IHE LIliHARY MR. JOHN C . ROSE Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from • IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcli ive.org/details/elementsscienceoOOjoneiala ELEMENTS'AND SCIENCE OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION. : ELEMENTS AND SCIENCE OF ENGLISH VERSIFICATION BY WILLIAM C. jJONES BUFFALO THE PETER PAUL BOOK COMPANY. 1897. Copyright, 1897, by The Pkter Paul Book Company. PRINTED AND BOUND BV THK PKTER PAUL BOOK COMPANY, BUFFALO, N. Y. INSCRIBED TO IReu. William (&. "dOJtllrams, I^L,. g. wright professor of (;reek language and literature, ohio wesleyan university, delaware, ohio. PREFACE. ^ T IS the desire of the author to create a greater love for "> ) poetry. I do not think it is possible to make great 7( poets any more than it is possible to create great * musicians, sculptors, artists, or orators. All must be born with the spark of genius inherent within the soul. I believe, however, that even those possessed of great genius may profit by the research of others, and frequently are induced to follow their art by suggestions and rules pointed out to them. To such who possess real genius from a poetic standpoint this work may be of benefit. Another class to be benefited are readers who love poetry and make a study of it, and yet fail to receive the benefits or see the beauties of true poetry simply because they fail to under- stand the technique. It is a pleasure to be able to scan critically that which we read. If, however, we are unable to criticise for ourselves the merits of a poem from every standpoint, we necessarily lose much of the real pleasure of the reading. To be able to tell the measure, the rhythm, and the number of feet a verse contains is in every sense a satisfaction to the reader of a poem yet, not one-third of those who read poetry ; know anything whatever about measure, feet, or rhythm. They realize there is a certain jingle to the stanza that pleases them, and that is all they know about it. Few readers ever stop to consider whether the poem is composed vi PREFACE. of couplets, triplets, or quatrains. The mode of construct- ing- the five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten line stanzas is a matter that has given them no trouble and about which they have never had a thought. The combinations of verses is something that has escaped their attention entirely. Vers de SociH^ — polite and polished by masters of the art, can hardly be distinguished by some who feign a real love of poetry from blank verse. Poetical licenses and peculiarities are little known and less understood. The same is true of figures of etymology, syntax, and rhetoric ; and yet much of the pleasure of reading poetry is derived from being able to^riticise it properly from every technical standpoint. A beautiful metaphor or simile is instantly detected by the highly educated reader and is a delight to his soul. Poetry is not only a question of matter, but one of manner. Our best poets understand versification thor- oughly and are ever painstaking. The true poet is careful in every detail. A diamond in the rough may be of value, but not until it is polished does it become a sparkling gem. The day is not distant when versification will be taught with the same care that is now given to rhetoric. Why not? Do not all derive pleasure from reading the works of the masters of poetry ? Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence TurnbuU, of Baltimore, Maryland, became benefactors to the world when they established a lectureship of poetry at the Johns Hopkins University in memory of their son, Percy Graeme TurnbuU, and with an avowed intention of teaching poetry and thereby creating a knowledge of and a love for it. May their noble gift and benefaction become more generally known and others follow their example. PREFACE. vii The aim of the true poet is always high. He should not only rely upon those resources with which nature has equipped him, but he, too, should study appropriate models, until he becomes a sufficient master of the art to be able in turn to leave models for others who may follow after. W. C. J. Robinson, Illinois. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART FIRST. PAGE POETRY AS AN ART, . I ACCKNT AND QUANTITY, OF VERSE, . lO Hemistich, . lO Distich, . lO Tristich, II Tetrastich, . II Forms of the Oiatrain, 12 1 OF METER, . The Trochee, 23 The Iambus, . 23 The Dactyl, 24 The Anapest. 24 OF RHYTHM, . 30 OF SCANSION, . 33 Poetic Pauses, 36 OF RHYME, 40 Alliteration, 42 Assonantal, 44 Consonantal, 45 Masculine and Feminine, 45 Triple 46 TABLE OF COXTEN'TS. Middle, . Sectional, Inverse, . Task, or Odd, Cento Verses, Acrostic, SELECTION OP^ WORDS, Foreign Words and Expressions, . THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STANZA. Rhythmic Combinations, The Five Line Stanza, The Six Line Stanza, The Seven Line Stanza, The Eight Line Stanza, The Nine Line Stanza, The Ten Line Stanza, The Sonnet, The Ballade, The Chant Royal, The Rondeau, The Rondel, The Roundel. The Sestina, The Triolet, The Virelav, The Pantoum, Blank Verse, MEASURES EXEMPLIFIED, Trochaic, Monometer, Dimeter, . Trimeter, . Tetrameter. TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI PAGE Pentamettr, 142 Hexameter, Heptameter, 144 Octometer, 146 Iambic, . 147 Monometer, 148 Dimeter. Trimeter, . Tetrameter, Pentameter, Hexameter, >57 Heptameter, 158 Octometer, 159 Dactylic, 160 Dimeter, . 160 Tetrameter, 163 Hexameter, 164 Anapestic, 165 Monometer, 165 Dimeter, . 166 Trimeter, . 167 Tetrameter, 168 Hexameter, 170 IMITATION OF CLASSICAL MEASURES, 171 POETICAL LICENSES, .... 177 PAR T SECOND. FIGURES OF SPEECH COMMON TO POETRY, 187 Figures of Etymology, 187 Aplieresis, 187 Apocope, . 188 TABLE at CONTENTS. Epenthesis, Paragoge, . Prosthesis,. Syncope, . Synaeresis, Tmesis, Figures of Syntax, Ellipsis, Enallage, . Hyperbaton, Pleonasm,. Syllepsis . Figures of Rhetoric, Allegory. Apostrophe, Anaphora, Antithesis, Epanaiepsis, Epigram, . Epizeuxis, Erotesis. Ecphonesis, Euphemism, Hearing, . Hyperbole, Irony, Litotes, Metonymy, Echo, Onomatopceia, Paraleipsis, Personification, Refrain, Simile, Synecdoche, Trope, Vision, TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART- THIRD. OF THE VARIOUS KINDS OF POFTRY, The Empire ok Poetry, Classification of Poetry, Objective and Subjective Poet The Lyric, . Secular Songs, . Sacred Songs, Other Meters, The Ode, The Sacred Ode, The Moral Ode, The Amatory Ode, The Heroic Ode, The Ballad, . The Elegy, . The Epitaph, The Pastoral, The Didactic, Philosophical, Meditative, The Epic, The Mock Epic, Metrical Romance, Metrical History, The Drama, . The Tragedy, . The Comedy, . The Divisions of the Drama The Farce, The Travesty, . The Melodrama The Burletta, . The Prologue, . xiv TABLE OF COXTEiVVS. PAGK The Epilogue, 298 The Envoy, 298 The Subjective Drama 299 The Opera 299 The Satire . 299 The Dialectic, 303 German Dialect, 304 Irish Dialect 306 Western Dialect, 3' 8 Chinese Dialect 311 Southern Dialect, 311 Yankee Dialect 315 Scotch Dialect, 318 Child Dialect, 319 Nonsense, 320 The Versicle, 323 CONCLUSION 327 INDEX OF AUTHORS 329 INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 337 THE ART OF POETRY. PART FIRST. CHAPTER I. POETRY AS AN ART. POETRY is an art. Like music, painting and sculpture, it is a aivine art. The poetic principle burns within those who are gifted by nature with the true and the ideal. It is a part of their existence, a part of their being. There are those who love music, and spend their best days in its study and composition. It is their joy and their sorrow. The world drinks in that which their souls pour out. Music, to the master mind, is his heart's gratification. He lives and breathes in its atmosphere. To him it is a greater solace than the pleasures of fashion, pomp or power. He who is master of the art of painting enjoys satisfaction in consummating that art. He gives his life daily to the task of bringing it into perfection. His art is his love, and throughout life he admires her charms. The sculptor spends days and years in modeling and chiseling the rough marble into the perfect image. He, too, finds true enjoyment in giving his days in bringing his art to the highest degree of excellence. The true poet finds dehght in the rhythmical creation of beauty. His word-pictures are paintings, his ideals are modeled with the care of a sculptor. He sees beauty in the tinting of the flowers, the waving of the grain, the cluster 2 THE ART OF POETRY. of the trees, the babbling of the brooks, the ripple of the rivers, the rifting of the clouds, the twinkling of the stars. The birds sing for him, and the winds sigh unto him. The calm, still ocean furnishes a picture of desolation, while its deep surf and mighty waves thunder back its power and destruction as they swell and surge the sands upon the shore. The moss upon the rock, the violet and the rose, the hum of the bee, the heather and the hyacinth, all have for him some charm. He can picture the beauty of woman as well as he who paints her upon the canvas. He can sing to her in song as well as he who trills before the harp. He finds the gems and true graces of womanhood. He idolizes the luster ol her eye, the soft melody of her voice—the sigh, the laugh- ter, the tear. He worships at the shrine of her faith, in the strength of her purity, in the sweetness of her love. All that is true and beautiful he sees with the eye of the sculptor, feels with the touch of the painter, and hears with the ear of the musician. The mysteries of nature are unfolded unto him, and he finds a pleasure in singing, in painting and in picturing her charms and her grandeurs.