POETRY.

OF THE OBJECT AND EFFECT OF POETRY.

POETRY and Eloquence are universally acknowledged to hold the highest rank among the fine arts; they, of all others, possess the most attractive influence, and charm the soul with an inestimable sweetness and force.

The study of Poetry, while it produces the most elegant, instructive, and amusing entertainment, is calculated to elevate the mind and to rouse into action its most noble and amiable qualities. Persons of every rank in life feel its charms and acknowledge its sway. As it was the earliest kind of literature, so it is at once the most delightful and the most powerful. The opinions, the conduct, and the passions of mankind are, to a considerable degree, influenced by the poet, which influence, as has been well observed, may be greater and more permanent than that of Sages and Legislators.

Poetry was, most probably, originally invented for the purpose of adoration and praise to God. On occasions of miraculous deliverance by the interposition of the Almighty, the Hebrews gave expression to their feelings of gratitude by those sublime effusions which we find in the Scriptures.

The Song of Moses, the earliest regular ode with which we are acquainted, is a masterpiece of composition; and the human mind can scarcely conceive any language more grand, and at the same time more sweet and expressive, than the songs of the Hebrew Bards. In the book of Job, the Psalms, and the Prophets, poetry shines

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forth in the most resplendent manner. The beautiful imagery, the bold and dignified language, cannot but most forcibly affect the most indifferent reader. As Poetry was first employed by the Hebrews in praise and thanksgiving to the true God, so it was first employed by the Heathens in praise and adoration of their divinities; and, next to the Bible, the Greek Poets present the most beautiful and sublime language imaginable. The histories of most nations have been preserved in Poetry. monious and sonorous language, with highly metaphorical terms in measured lines, ending in similar sounds or alternating with each other in sense, were easily committed to memory and retained; and as these were accompanied by a tune on some instrument, it became an agreeable amusement thus to celebrate any interesting event. In this manner was handed down to posterity, from father to son, any thing of consequence, the memory of which it might be deemed desirable to preserve. Many an ancient tale has thus descended among the Irish, even to the present day, the recital of which forms a source of amusement during their long and tedious winter evenings.

A very particular object of Poetry was to give a tone to the morals of society. The Epic Poem instructed under the allegory of some heroic action. The aim of Tragedy was to inspire a horror for guilt and a love of virtue; and of Comedy to ridicule vice and folly. The Ode celebrated the exploits of eminent men, in order to inspire others to imitate them; while the Elegy was calculated to call up feelings of tenderness and regret at the loss of a friend or companion.

As each of the different kinds of Poetry is comprehensively explained in the "Rhetorical Speaker," it is not deemed necessary to give a more particular explanation here.

VERSIFICATION.

VERSIFICATION, which is the mechanical part of Poetry, is an harmonious arrangement of words, differing from common discourse. The chief properties of Versification are Metre and Rhyme. METRE signifies measure, and

refers to the number of syllables in each line. RHYME is the recurrence of sound in the final syllables.

It may be well to remark here that Rhyme, although pleasing to the ear, is not at all essential to English verse; the finest poems in the language being written in Blank Verse. Verse, altogether, is not absolutely necessary in Poetry. A poet may draw the most beautiful picture of nature without it. Verse, in regard to Poetry, has been compared to Colours in Painting; it gives an additional beauty to that which in itself is delightful. It is the business of Poetry to please the ear as well as to charm the imagination; and Versification is deemed necessary to the perfection of the poetic art.

In Poetry every syllable is considered long or short. This is called QUANTITY. Some syllables are naturally long, from the protracted sound of the vowels, as bīte, write; others are considered as artificially long, from the stress laid on them by the accent, as bānish, bītter; while simply considered in themselves they are short. A long syllable is supposed to be equal in length to two short ones; thus not may be uttered twice while nōte is uttered once.

There are never more than eight kinds of feet used in English poetry:

The SPONDEE, which is composed of two long syllables, as bright fame.

The IAMBUS, which is composed of a short syllable before a long one, or of an unaccented syllable before an accented one, as rělúme.

The TROCHEE, which is composed of a long syllable before a short one, or of an accented before an unaccented one, as treásére.

The PYRRHIC, which is composed of two short syllables, as in the highest heavens.

The DACTYL, which is composed of a long or accented syllable before two short ones, as loveliness.

The ANAPEST, which is composed of a long or accented syllable after two short ones, as immăture.

* From Tow to make, implying a made and studied arrangement of words.

The AMPHIBRACH is composed of a long syllable between two short ones, as delightful.

The TRIBRACH, which is composed of three short syllables, as numĕrăblě.

OF IAMBIC VERSE.

The shortest form of the Iambic verse consists of one Iambic and an additional short syllable. This is called the Iambic Monometer Catalectic; as,

Hearts beating

At meeting;

Tears starting

At parting.

The Iambic Monometer Acatalectic consists of one Iambic metre, or of two Iambic feet; as,

"With ravish'd ears

The monarch hears,
Assumes the god,
Affects to nod."

The Iambic Monometer Hypercatalectic consists of an Iambic metre with an additional syllable; as,

"In woods a ranger,
To joy a stranger."

The Iambic Dimeter Brachy-catalectic consists of three ambic feet; as,

The Iambic Dimeter Catalectic consists of three feet and a short syllable, as in the second, fourth, and each alternate verse, in the following stanza:

"As slow our ship her foaming track

Against the wind was cleaving,
Her trembling pennant still look'd'back
To that dear isle 'twas leaving.

So loath we part from all we love,
From all the links that bind us;
So turn our hearts where'er we rove,
To those we've left behind us."

Moore.

The above kinds of verse are used generally to give variety to Odes and Songs.

The Iambic Dimeter Acatalectic consists exactly of two metres, or four feet; as,

"How calm, how beautiful comes on
The stilly hour when storms are gone!
When warring winds have died away,
And clouds beneath the glancing ray
Melt off, and leave the land and sea
Sleeping in bright tranquillity."

Moore.

This metre is also called Hudibrastic, from Butler's Hudibras having been written in it, thus:

"For he that has but Impudence,
To all things has a fair Pretence;
And put among his wants but Shame,
To all the world he may lay claim."

The Iambic Trimeter Brachy-catalectic consists of five feet, being one foot less than the Iambic Trimeter; this is called the Heroic measure; it is the common measure of Epic Poetry and Tragedy, and is used either with or without rhyme. It is the only kind of verse that can sustain its dignity without rhyme, whereas most other kinds of verse are used with rhyme only; as,

"Unrivall'd Greece! thou ever honour'd name;
Thou nurse of heroes, dear to deathless fame!
Though now to worth, to honour all unknown,
Thy lustre faded and thy glories flown,

Yet still shall memory with reverted eye

Trace thy past worth, and view thee with a sigh." CANNING.

The Iambic Trimeter Acatalectic, or Alexandrine verse, consists of three metres, or six feet, and is rarely used, except to diversify the heroic measure, and then generally at the conclusion of a paragraph. Thus the following triplet is concluded with an Alexandrine: