The English Language Part 100

but

[U U - U U - U U - U U -]

-- 653. With this view there are a certain number of cla.s.sical _feet_, with their syllables affected in the way of _quant.i.ty_, to which they are equivalent English _measures_ with their syllables affected in the way of _accent_. Thus if the formula

A, [- U] be a cla.s.sical, the formula _a x_ is an English _trochee_.

B, [U -] " " _x a_ " _iambus_.

C, [- U U] " " _a x x_ " _dactyle_.

D, [U - U] " " _x a x_ " _amphibrachys_.

E, [U U -] " " _x x a_ " _anapaest_.

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And so on in respect to the larger groups of similarly affected syllables which const.i.tute whole lines and stanzas; verses like

A. Come to seek for fame and glory-- B. The way was long, the wind was cold-- C. Merrily, merrily shall I live now-- D. But vainly thou warrest-- E. At the close of the day when the hamlet is still--

are (A), trochaic; (B), iambic; (C), dactylic; (D), amphibrachych; and (E), anapaestic, respectively.

And so, with the exception of the word _amphibrachych_ (which I do not remember to have seen) the terms have been used. And so, with the same exception, systems of versification have been cla.s.sified.

-- 654. _Reasons against the cla.s.sical nomenclature as applied to English metres._--These lie in the two following facts:--

1. Certain English metres have often a very different character from their supposed cla.s.sical a.n.a.logues.

2. Certain cla.s.sical _feet_ have no English equivalents.

-- 655. _Certain English metres have often a very different metrical character, &c._--Compare such a so-called English anapaest as--

As they splash in the blood of the slippery street--

with

[Greek: Dekaton men etos tod' epei Priamou.]

For the latter line to have the same movement as the former, it must be read thus--

Dekaton men etos to d' epei Priamou.

Now we well know that, whatever may be any English scholar's notions of the Greek accents, this is not the way in which he reads Greek anapaests.

Again the _trochaic_ movement of the _iambic_ senarius is a point upon which the most exclusive Greek metrists have insisted; urging the necessity of reading (for example) the first line in the Hecuba--

H['ae]ko nekron keuthmona kai skotou plas.

{514} rather than--

Haeko nekron keuthmona kai skotou pylas.

-- 656. I have said that _certain English metres have often a very different metrical character_, &c. I can strengthen the reasons against the use of cla.s.sical terms in English prosody, by enlarging upon the word _often_. The frequency of the occurrence of a difference of character between cla.s.sical and English metres similarly named is not a matter of _accident_, but is, in many cases, a necessity arising out of the structure of the English language as compared with that of the Greek and Latin--especially the Greek.

With the exception of the so-called second futures, there is no word in Greek whereof the _last_ syllable is accented. Hence, no English line ending with an accented syllable can have a Greek equivalent. Accent for accent--

GREEK. LATIN. ENGLISH.

_Tpto_, _Voco_ = _Trant_, _Tptomen_, _Scribere_ = _Merrily_, _Keuthmona_, _Vidistis_ = _Disable_,

but no Greek word (with the exception of the so-called second futures like [Greek: nemo]=_nemo_) and (probably) no Latin word at all, is accented like _presume_ and _cavalier_.

From this it follows that although the first three measures of such so-called English anapaests as--

As they splash in the blood of the slippery street,

may be represented by Greek equivalents (_i. e._, equivalents in the way of accent)--

Ep' omoisi ferousi ta kleina--

a parallel to the last measure (_-ery street_) can only be got at by one of two methods; _i. e._, by making the verse end in a so-called second future, or else in a vowel preceded by an accented syllable, and cut off--

Ep' omoisi ferousi ta kleina nemo--

{515} or,

Ep' omoisi ferousi ta kleina prosop'.[70]

Now it is clear that when, over and above the fact of certain Greek metres having a different movement from their supposed English equivalents, there is the additional circ.u.mstance of such an incompatibility being less an accident than a necessary effect of difference of character in the two languages, the use of terms suggestive of a closer likeness than either does or ever can exist is to be condemned; and this is the case with the words, _dactylic_, _trochaic_, _iambic_, _anapaestic_, as applied to English versification.

-- 657. _Certain cla.s.sical feet have no English equivalents._--Whoever has considered the principles of English prosody, must have realized the important fact that, _ex vi termini, no English measure can have either more or less than _one_ accented syllable_.

On the other hand, the cla.s.sical metrists have several measures in both predicaments. Thus to go no farther than the trisyllabic feet, we have the pyrrhic ([U U]) and tribrach ([U U U]) without a long syllable at all, and the spondee ([- -]), amphimacer ([- U -]), and molossus ([- - -]) with more than one long syllable. It follows, then that (even _mutatis mutandis_, _i.e._, with the accent considered as the equivalent to the long syllable) English pyrrhics, English tribrachs, English amphimacers, English spondees, and English molossi are, each and all, prosodial impossibilities.

It is submitted to the reader that the latter reason (based wholly upon the limitations that arise out of the structure of language) strengthens the objections of the previous section.

-- 658. _The cla.s.sical metres metrical even to English readers._ The attention of the reader is directed to the difficulty involved in the following (apparently or partially) contradictory facts.

1. Accent and quant.i.ty differ; and the metrical systems founded upon them differ also.

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2. The cla.s.sical systems are founded upon quant.i.ty.

3. The English upon accent.

4. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the difference of the principle upon which they are constructed, the cla.s.sical metres, even as read by Englishmen, and read _accentually_, are metrical to English ears.

-- 659. Preliminary to the investigation of the problem in question it is necessary to remark--

1. That, the correctness or incorrectness of the English p.r.o.nunciation of the dead languages has nothing to do with the matter. Whether we read Homer exactly, as Homer would read his own immortal poems, or whether we read them in such a way as would be unintelligible to Homer reappearing upon earth, is perfectly indifferent.