e,
While I \ nodded, \ nearly \ napping, \ sudden\-ly there \ came a \ tapping,
As of \ some one \ gently \ rapping, \ rapping \ at my \ chamber \ door.
''Tis some \ visit\-or,' I \ muttered, \ 'tapping \ at my \ chamber \ door—
Only \ this, and \nothing \ more."
2.
Ah! dis\-tinctly \ I re\-member \ it was \ in the \ bleak De\-cember,
And each \ sēpărăte \ dying \ ember \ wrought its \ ghost up\-on the \ floor;
Eager\-ly I \ wished the \ morrow; \ vainly \ had I \ tried to \ borrow
From my \ books sur\-cease of \ sorrow—\ sorrow \ for the \ lost Le\-nore—
For the \ rare and \ rādĭănt \ maiden, \ whom the \ angels \ name Le\-nore—
Nameless \ here for \ ever\-more."
EDGAR A. POE: American Review for February, 1845.
Double rhymes being less common than single ones, in the same proportion, is this long verse less frequently terminated with a full trochee, than with a single long syllable counted as a foot. The species of measure is, however, to be reckoned the same, though catalectic. By Lindley Murray, and a number who implicitly re-utter what he teaches, the verse of six trochees, in which are twelve syllables only, is said "to be the longest Trochaic line that our language admits."—Murray's Octavo Gram., p. 257; Weld's E. Gram., p. 211. The examples produced here will sufficiently show the inaccuracy of their assertion.
Example II.—"The Shadow of the Obelisk."—Last two Stanzas.
"Herds are \ feeding \in the \ Forum, \ as in \ old E\-vander's \ time:
Tumbled \ from the \ steep Tar \-peian \ every \ pile that \ sprang sub\-lime.
Strange! that \ what seemed \ most in\-constant \ should the \ most a\-biding \ prove;
Strange! that \what is \ hourly \ moving \ no mu\-tation \ can re\-move:
Ruined \ lies the \ cirque! the \ chariots, \ long a\-go, have \ ceased to \ roll—
E'en the \ Obe\-lisk is \ broken \—but the \ shadow \ still is \ whole.
9.
Out a \—las! if \ mightiest \ empires \ leave so \ little \ mark be\-hind,
How much \ less must \ heroes \ hope for, \ in the \ wreck of \ human \ kind!
Less than \ e'en this \ darksome \ picture, \ which I \ tread be\-neath my \ feet,
Copied \ by a \ lifeless \ moonbeam \ on the \ pebbles \ of the \ street;
Since if \ Cæsar's \ best am\-bition, \ living, \ was, to \ be re\-nowned,
What shall \ Cassar \ leave be\-hind him, \ save the \ shadow \ of a \ sound?"
T. W. PARSONS: Lowell and Carter's "Pioneer," Vol. i, p. 120.
Example III.—"The Slaves of Martinique."—Nine Couplets out of Thirty-six.
"Beams of \ noon, like \ burning \ lances, \ through the \ tree-tops \ flash and \ glisten,
As she \ stands be\-fore her \ lover, \ with raised \ face to \ look and \ listen.
Dark, but \ comely, \ like the \ maiden \ in the \ ancient \ Jewish \ song,
Scarcely \ has the \ toil of \ task-fields \ done her graceful \ beauty \ wrong.
He, the \ strong one, \ and the \ manly, \ with the \ vassal's \ garb and \ hue,
Holding \ still his \ spirit's \ birthright, \ to his \ higher \ nature \ true;
Hiding \ deep the \ strengthening \ purpose \ of a \ freeman \ in his \ heart,
As the \ Greegree \ holds his \ Fetish \ from the \ white man's \ gaze a\-part.
Ever \ foremost \ of the \ toilers, \ when the \ driver's \ morning \ horn
Calls a\-way to \ stifling \ millhouse, \ or to \ fields of \ cane and \ corn;
Fall the \ keen and \ burning \ lashes \ never \ on his \ back or \ limb;
Scarce with \ look or \ word of \ censure, \ turns the \ driver \ unto \ him.
Yet his \ brow is \ always \ thoughtful, \ and his \ eye is \ hard and \ stern;
Slavery's \ last and \ humblest \ lesson \ he has \ never \ deigned to \ learn."
"And, at evening \ when his \ comrades \ dance be\-fore their \ master's \ door,
Folding arms and \ knitting \ forehead, \ stands he \ silent \ ever\-more.
God be \ praised for \ every instinct \ which re\-bels a\-gainst a \ lot
Where the \ brute sur\-vives the \ human, \ and man's \ upright \ form is \ not!"
—J. G. WHITTIER: National Era, and other Newspapers, Jan. 1848.
Example IV.—"The Present Crisis"—Two Stanzas out of sixteen.
"Once to \ every \ man and \ nation \ comes the \ moment \ to de\-cide,
In the \ strife of \ Truth with \ Falsehood, \ for the \ good or \ evil \ side;
Some great \ cause, God's \ new Mes\-siah, \ offering \ each the \ bloom or \ blight,
Parts the \ goats up\-on the \ left hand, \ and the \ sheep up\-on the \ right,
And the \ choice goes \ by for\-ever \'twixt that \ darkness \ and that \ light.
