the running of a line: though a clofe in the me lody during the movement of the thought, or a clofe in the thought during the movement of the melody, cannot be agreeable. The accent, to which we proceed, is not lefs effential than the other circumftances above handled. By a good ear it will be discerned, that in every line there is one fyllable diftinguishable from the reft by a capital accent: this fyllable making the 7th portion, is invariably long; and in point of time occupies a place nearly at an equal distance from the paufe, which fucceeds the 5th portion, and the femipaufe, which fucceeds the 8th: Nec bene promeritis || capitûr nec | tangitur ira Non fibi fed toto || genitûm fe | credere mundo Again: Qualis fpelunca fubitô com | mota columba In these examples, the accent is laid upon the last fyllable of a word. And that this circumftance is favourable to the melody, will appear from confidering, that as in reading there muft be fome paufe after every word, this paufe, however fhart, gives opportunity to prolong the ac cent. And for that reafon, a line thus accented, has a more spirited air, than where the accent is placed on any other fyllable. Compare the foregoing lines with the following. Alba neque Affyrio | fucâtur | lana veneno Again: Panditur interea || domus ômnipotentis Olympi Again: Olli fedato | refpondit | corde Latinus In lines where the paufe comes after the fhort fyllable fucceeding the 5th portion, the accent is displaced, and rendered less fenfible: it seems to be split into two, and to be laid partly on the 5th portion, and partly on the 7th, its ufual place; as in Nuda genu, nodôque | finûs collecta fluentes Again: Formofam refonâre || docês Amaryllida fylvas Befide this capital accent, flighter accents are laid upon other portions; particularly upon the 4th, unless where it confifts of two fhort fyllables; upon the 9th, which is always a long fyl ble; ble; and upon the 11th, where the line concludes with a monofyllable. Such conclufion, by the by, impairs the melody, and for that reafon is not to be indulged unless where it is expreffive of the fenfe. The following lines are marked with all the accents. Ludere que vêllem calamo permifit agrefti Again: Et duræ quêrcus fudâbunt rôfcida mella Again: Parturiunt montes, nafcetur ridiculus mus Inquiring into the melody of Hexameter verfe, we foon discover, that order or arrangement doth not constitute the whole of it; for when we compare different lines, equally regular as to the fucceffion of long and short fyllables, the melody is found in very different degrees of perfection; which is not occafioned by any particular combination of Dactyles and Spondees, or of long and fhort fyllables, because we find lines where Dactyles prevail and lines where Spondees prevail, equally melodious. Of the former take the following instance: Eneadum genitrix hominum divumque voluptas. Of the latter : Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arista, What can be more different as to melody than the two following lines, which, however, as to the fucceffion of long and fhort fyllables, are constructed precifely in the fame manner? Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond. Hor. Lucret. In the former, the pause falls in the middle of a word, which is a great blemish, and the accent is difturbed by a harsh elifion of the vowel a upon the particle et. In the latter the pauses and the accent are all of them diftinct and full: there is no elifion and the words are more liquid and founding. In thefe particulars confifts the beayty of an Hexameter line with respect to melody; and by neglecting thefe, many lines in the Satires and Epiftles of Horace are lefs agreeable than plain profe; for they are neither the one nor the other in perfection: to draw melody from these lines, they must be pronounced without relation to the fenfe it must not be regarded, that words are divided by paufes, nor that harsh elisions are multiplied. To add to the account, profaic lowfounding words are introduced; and which is ftill worse, accents are laid on them. Of fuch faulty lines take the following inftances. Candida rectaque fit, munda hactenus fit neque longa. Optimus eft modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omni Next in order comes English Heroic verfe, which fhall be examined under the whole five heads, of number, quantity, arrangement, paufe, and accent. This verfe is of two kinds; one named rhyme or metre, and one blank verfe. In the former, the lines are connected two and two by fimilarity of found in the final fyllables; and two lines fo connected are termed a couplet: fimilarity of found being avoided in the latter, couplets are banished. These two forts must be handled feparately, because there are many peculiarities in each. Beginning with rhyme or metre, the first article fhall be difcuffed in a few words. Every line confifts of ten fyllables, five fhort and five long; from which there are but two exceptions, both of them rare. The firft is, where each line of a couplet is made eleven fyllables, by an additional fhort fyllable at the end; There heroes' wits are kept in pond'rous vafes, H 4 The 4 |