Surely \ I shall \ not turn \ aside, \ and scorn \ his kind\-ly care,
But keep \ the path \ he points \ me out, \ and dwell \ for ev\-er there."
W. Gilmore Simms: North American Reader, p. 376.
Example IV.—"The Far, Far Fast."—First six Lines.
"It was \ a dream \ of earl\-y years, \ the long\-est and \ the last,
And still \ it ling\-ers bright \ and lone \ amid \ the drear\-y past;
When I \ was sick \ and sad \ at heart \ and faint \ with grief \ and care,
It threw \ its ra\-diant smile \ athwart \ the shad\-ows of \ despair:
And still \ when falls \ the hour \ of gloom \ upon \ this way\-ward breast,
Unto \ the far, \ far east \ I turn \ for sol\-ace and \ for rest."
Edinburgh Journal; and The Examiner,
Example V.—"Lament of the Slave."—Eight Lines from thirty-four.
"Behold \ the sun \ which gilds \ yon heaven, how love\-ly it \ appears!
And must \ it shine \ to light \ a world \ of war\-fare and \ of tears?
Shall hu\-man pas\-sion ev\-er sway \ this glo\-rious world \ of God,
And beau\-ty, wis\-dom, hap\-piness, \ sleep with \ the tram\-pled sod?
Shall peace \ ne'er lift \ her ban\-ner up, \ shall truth \ and rea\-son cry,
And men \ oppress \ them down \ with worse \ than an\-cient tyr\-anny?
Shall all \ the les\-sons time \ has taught, \ be so \ long taught \ in vain;
And earth \ be steeped \ in hu\-man tears, \ and groan \ with hu\-man pain?"
Alonzo Lewis: Freedom's Amulet, Dec. 6, 1848.
Example VI.—"Greek Funeral Chant."—First four of sixty-four Lines.
"A wail \ was heard \ around \ the bed, \ the death\-bed of \ the young;
Amidst \ her tears, \ the Fu\-neral Chant \ a mourn\-ful moth\-er sung.
'I-an\-this dost \ thou sleep?— \ Thou sleepst!— \ but this \ is not \ the rest,
The breath\-ing, warm, \ and ros\-y calm, \ I've pil\-low'd on \ my breast!'"
Felicia Hemans: Poetical Works, Vol. ii, p. 37.
Everett observes, "The Iliad was translated into this measure by Chapman, and the Æneid by Phaer."—Eng. Versif., p. 68. Prior, who has a ballad of one hundred and eighty such lines, intimates in a note the great antiquity of the verse. Measures of this length, though not very uncommon, are much less frequently used than shorter ones. A practice has long prevailed of dividing this kind of verse into alternate lines of four and of three feet, thus:
"To such \ as fear \ thy ho\-ly name,
myself \ I close\-ly join;
To all \ who their \ obe\-dient wills
to thy \ commands \ resign."
Psalms with Com. Prayer: Psalm cxix, 63.
This, according to the critics, is the most soft and pleasing of our lyric measures. With the slight change of setting a capital at the head of each line, it becomes the regular ballad-metre of our language. Being also adapted to hymns, as well as to lighter songs, and, more particularly, to quaint details of no great length, this stanza, or a similar one more ornamented with rhymes, is found in many choice pieces of English poetry. The following are a few popular examples:
"When all \ thy mer\-cies, O \ my God!
My ris\-ing soul \ surveys,
Transport\-ed with \ the view \ I'm lost
In won\-der, love, \ and praise."
Addison's Hymn of Gratitude.
"John Gil\-pin was \ a cit\-izen
Of cred\-it and \ renown,
A train\-band cap\-tain eke \ was he
Of fam\-ous Lon\-don town."
Cowper's Poems, Vol. i, p. 275.
"God pros\-per long \ our no\-ble king,
Our lives \ and safe\-ties all;
A wo\-ful hunt\-ing once \ there did
In Chev\-y Chase \ befall,"
Later Reading of Chevy Chase.
"Turn, An\-geli\-na, ev\-er dear,
My charm\-er, turn \ to see
Thy own, \ thy long\-lost Ed\-win here,
Restored \ to love \ and thee."
Goldsmith's Poems, p. 67.
"'Come back! \ come back!' \ he cried \ in grief,
Across \ this storm\-y water:
'And I'll \ forgive \ your High\-land chief,
My daugh\-ter!—oh \ my daughter!
'Twas vain: \ the loud \ waves lashed \ the shore,
Return \ or aid \ preventing:—
The wa\-ters wild \ went o'er \ his child,—
And he \ was left \ lamenting."—Campbell's Poems, p. 110.
The rhyming of this last stanza is irregular and remarkable, yet not unpleasant. It is contrary to rule, to omit any rhyme which the current of the verse leads the reader to expect. Yet here the word "shore" ending the first line, has no correspondent sound, where twelve examples of such correspondence had just preceded; while the third line, without previous example, is so rhymed within itself that one scarcely perceives the omission. Double rhymes are said by some
