class="c9">Welcom, thou worthy Partner of my Lawrels!
Thou Brother of my Choice! a Band more sacred
Than Nature's brittle Tye. By holy Friendship!
Glory and Fame stood still for thy Arrival,
My Soul seem'd wanting of its better Half,
And languish'd for thy Absence, like a Prophet,
Who waits the Inspiration of his God.Rowe.

And this Verse of Milton,

Void of all Succour and needful Comfort,

wants a Syllable; for, being accented on the last save one, it ought to have 11, as all the Verses, but two, of the preceeding Example have: But if we transpose the Words thus,

Of Succour and all needful Comfort void,

it then wants nothing of its due Measure, because it is accented on the last Syllable.

SECT. I.

Of the several Sorts of Verses; and first of those of ten Syllables. Of the due Observation of the Accent; and of the Pause.

Our Poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of Verses; that is to say, of Verses of 10, 8, or 7 Syllables: Those of 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 14, are generally imploy'd in Masks and Operas, and in the Stanzas of Lyrick and Pindarick Odes, and we have few intire Poems compos'd in any of those sorts of Verses. Those of 12, and of 14 Syllables, are frequently inserted in our Poems in Heroick Verse, and when rightly made use of, carry a peculiar Grace with them. See the next Section towards the end.

The Verses of 10 Syllables, which are our Heroick, are us'd in Heroick Poems, in Tragedies, Comedies, Pastorals, Elegies; and sometimes in Burlesque.

In these Verses two things are chiefly to be consider'd.

1. The Seat of the Accent.
2. The Pause.

For, 'tis not enough that Verses have their just Number of Syllables: the true Harmony of them depends on a due Observation of the Accent and Pause.

The Accent is an Elevation, or a Falling of the Voice, on a certain Syllable of a Word.

The Pause is a Rest or Stop that is made in pronouncing the Verse, and that divides it, as it were, into two parts; each of which is call'd an Hemistich, or Half-Verse.

But this Division is not always equal, that is to say, one of the Half-verses does not always contain the same Number of Syllables as the other: and this Inequality proceeds from the Seat of the Accent that is strongest, and prevails most in the first Half-verse. For, the Pause must be observ'd at the end of the Word where such Accent happens to be, or at the end of the following Word.

Now in a Verse of 10 Syllables, this Accent must be either on the 2d, 4th, or 6th; which produces 5 several Pauses, that is to say, at the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th Syllable of the Verse; For,

When it happens to be on the 2d, the Pause will be either at the 3d, or 4th.

At the 3d, in two manners:

1. When the Syllable accented happens to be the last save one of a Word; as,

As busy—as intentive Emmets are;
Or Cities—whom unlook'd-for Sieges scare.Dav.

2. Or, when the Accent is on the last of a Word, and the next a Monosyllable, whose Construction is govern'd by that on which the Accent is; as,

Despise it,—and more noble Thoughts pursue.Dryd.

When the Accent falls on the 2d Syllable of the Verse, and the last save two of a Word, the Pause will be at the 4th; as,

He meditates—his absent Enemy.Dryd.

When the Accent is on the 4th of a Verse, the Pause will be either at the same Syllable, or at the 5th, or 6th.

At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a Word; as,

Such huge Extreams—inhabit thy great Mind,
God-like, unmov'd,—and yet, like Woman, kind.Wall.

At the 5th in 2 manners:

1. When it happens to be the last save one of a Word; as,

Like bright Aurora—whose refulgent Ray
Foretells the Fervour—of ensuing Day;
And warns the Shepherd—with his Flocks, retreat
To leafy Shadows—from the threaten'd Heat.Wall.

2. Or the last of the Word, if the next be a Monosyllable govern'd by it; as,

So fresh the Wound is—and the Grief so vast.Wall.

At the 6th, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last save two of a Word; as,

Those Seeds of Luxury,—Debate, and Pride.Wall.

Lastly, When the Accent is on the 6th Syllable of the Verse, the Pause will be either at the same Syllable, or at the 7th.

At the same, when the Syllable of the Accent happens to be the last of a Word; as,

She meditates Revenge—resolv'd to die.Wall.

At the 7th in two manners:

1. When it happens to be the last save one of a Word; as,

Nor when the War is over,—is it Peace.Dryd.

Mirrors are taught to flatter,—but our Springs. Wall.

2. Or the last of a Word, if the following one be a Monosyllable whose Construction depends on the preceeding Word on which the Accent is; as,

And since he could not save her,—with her dy'd.Dryd.

From all this it appears, that the Pause is determin'd by the Seat of the Accent; but if the Accents happen to be equally strong, on the 2d, 4th, and 6th Syllable of a Verse, the Sense and Construction of the Words must then guide to the Observation of the Pause: For Example; In one of the Verses I cited as an Instance of it at the 7th Syllable,

Mirrors are taught to flatter, but our Springs.

The Accent is as strong on Taught, as on the first Syllable of Flatter, and if the Pause were observ'd at the 4th Syllable of the Verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its Sound: as,

Mirrors are taught—to flatter, but our Springs
Present th' impartial Images of things.

Which tho' it be no Violence to the Ear, yet it is to the Sense, and that ought always carefully to be avoided in reading or in repeating of Verses.

For this Reason it is, that the Construction or Sense should never end at a Syllable where the Pause ought not to be made; as at the 8th and 2d in the two following Verses:

Bright Hesper twinkles from afar:—Away
My Kids!—for you have had a Feast to day.Staff.

Which Verses have nothing disagreeable in their Structure but the Pause; which in the first of them must be observ'd at the 8th Syllable, in the 2d at the 2d; and so unequal a Division can produce no true Harmony. And for this Reason too, the Pauses at the 3d and 7th Syllables, tho' not wholly to be condemn'd, ought to be but sparingly practis'd.

The