Accent and Emphasis. (41)
In reading verse, every syllable must have the same accent, and every word the same emphasis as in prose; and whenever the melody or music of the verse would lead to an incorrect accent or emphasis, this must be disregarded.
If a poet has made his verse deficient in melody, this must not be remedied by the reader, at the expense of sense or the established rules of accent and quantity. Take the following:
Example. (41)
O’er shields, and helms, and helme’d heads he rode,
Of thrones, and mighty Seraphim prostrate
According to the metrical accent, the last word must be pronounced “pros-trate’.” But according to the authorized pronunciation it is “pros’trate. Which shall yield, the poet or established usage? Certainly not the latter.
Some writers advise a compromise of the matter, and that the word should he pronounced without accenting either syllable. Sometimes this may be done, but where it is not practiced, the prosaic reading should be preserved.
In the following examples, the words and syllables which are improperly accented or emphasized in the poetry, are marked in italics. According to the principle stated above, the reader should avoid giving them that pronunciation which the correct rending of the poetry would require, but should read them as prose, except where he can throw off all accent and thus compromise the conflict between the poetic reading and the correct reading. That is, he must read the poetry wrong, in order to read the language right.
Examples. (42)
1. Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade.
2. Their praise is still, “the style is excellent,” The sense they humbly take upon content.
3. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass, Its fairy colors spreads on every place.
4. To do aught good, never will be our task, But ever to do ill is our sole delight.
5. Of all the causes which combine to blind Man’s erring judgment, and mislead the mind, What the weak head with strongest bias rules Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.
6. Eye Nature’s walks, shoot folly as it flies, And catch the manners living as they rise.
7. To whom then, first incensed, Adam replied,
“Is this thy love, is this the recompense
Of mine to thee, ungrateful Eve?”
8. We may, with more successful hope, resolve
To wage, by force or guile, successful war,
Irreconcilable to our grand foe,
Who now triumphs, and in excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven.
9. Which, when Beelzebub perceived (than whom,
Satan except, none higher sat), with grave
Aspect, he rose, and in his rising seemed
A pillar of state.
10. Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks beneath, That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow, Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget, Those other two equaled with me in fate.
NOTE.—Although it would be necessary, in these examples, to violate the laws of accent or emphasis, to give perfect rhythm, yet a careful and well-trained reader will be able to observe these laws and still give the rhythm in such a manner that the defect will scarcely be noticed.
Poetic Pauses. (43)
In order to make the measure of poetry perceptible to the ear, there should generally be a slight pause at the end of each line, even where the sense does not require it.
There is, also, in almost every line of poetry, a pause at or near its middle, which is called the caesura.
This should, however, never be so placed as to injure the sense of the passage. It is indeed reckoned a great beauty, where it naturally coincides with the pause required by the sense. The caesura, though generally placed near the middle, may be placed at other intervals.
There are sometimes, also, two additional pauses in each line, called demi-caesuras.
The caesura is marked (||), and the demi-caesura thus, (|), in the examples given.
There should be a marked accent upon the long syllable next preceding the caesura, and a slighter one upon that next before each of the demi-caesuras. When made too prominent, these pauses lead to a singsong style, which should be carefully avoided.
In the following examples, the caesura is marked in each line; the demi-caesura is not marked in every case.
Examples. (44)
1. Nature | to all things || fixed | the limits fit, And wisely | curbed || proud man’s | pretending wit.
2. Then from his closing eyes || thy form shall part, And the last pang || shall tear thee from his heart.
3. Warms in the sun, || refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, || and blossoms in the trees.
4. There is a land || of every land the pride, Beloved by Heaven || o’er all the world beside, Where brighter suns || dispense serener light, And milder moons || imparadise the night; Oh, thou shalt find, || howe’er thy footsteps roam, That land—thy country, || and that spot—thy home.
5. In slumbers | of midnight || the sailor | boy lay; His hammock | swung loose || at the sport | of the wind; But, watch-worn | and weary, || his cares | flew away, And visions | of happiness || danced | o’er his mind.
6. She said, | and struck; || deep entered | in her side The piercing steel, || with reeking purple dyed: Clogged | in the wound || the cruel | weapon stands, The spouting blood || came streaming o’er her hands. Her sad attendants || saw the deadly stroke, And with loud cries || the sounding palace shook.