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62 ORTHOMETRY. |
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if, in this instance, the trochaic and iambic should change places.
Combinations may be esteemed good or bad, according as they preserve or break the measure and flow of the verse. The following is good :
The listening Muses all around her Think 'tis Phcebus' strains they hear.
Here is an iambic line, with a redundant syllable followed by a trochaic. This satisfies the ear ; for the verses flow smoothly on to the end of the period, because the iambic measure is continued unbroken. The combination below is not good.
A mind that's truly brave
Stands despising
Storms arising, And can't be made a slave.
The last line, being an iambic, which follows a trochaic, not curtailed, but full, produces an un-pleasing effect; for it seems to have a syllable too much. It offends the ear, because the measure is broken: strike out that syllable, and the offence will be removed ; the trochaic measure will be preserved to the end. In fact, the objectionable line is owing to a mistake of Bysshe. In his Art of Poetry, he quoted the passage from Dryden incorrectly ; in that author, the last line runs thus:
And can ne'er be made a slave,
which is a trochaic verse, and gives the measure desired. |
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