1.
"One more new claimant for Human fra -ternity, Swelling the flood that sweeps On to e -ternity;
I who have filled the cup, Tremble to think of it; For, be it what it may, I must yet drink of it.
2.
Room for him into the Ranks of hu -manity; Give him a place in your Kingdom of vanity!
Welcome the stranger with Kindly af -fection; Hopefully, trustfully, Not with de -jection.
3.
See, in his waywardness How his fist doubles; Thus pugi -listical, Daring life's troubles: Strange that the neophyte Enters ex -istence In such an attitude, Feigning re -sistance.
4.
Could he but have a glimpse Into fu -turity, Well might he fight against Farther ma -turity; Yet does it seem to me As if his purity Were against sinfulness Ample se -curity.
5.
Incompre -hensible, Budding im -mortal, Thrust all a -mazedly Under life's portal; Born to a destiny Clouded in mystery, Wisdom it -self cannot Guess at its history.
6.
Something too much of this Timon-like croaking; See his face wrinkle now, Laughter pro -voking.
Now he cries lustily-- Bravo, my hearty one!
Lungs like an orator Cheering his party on.
7.
Look how his merry eyes Turn to me pleadingly!
Can we help loving him-- Loving ex -ceedingly?
Partly with hopefulness, Partly with fears, Mine, as I look at him, Moisten with tears.
8.
Now then to find a name;-- Where shall we search for it?
Turn to his ancestry, Or to the church for it?
Shall we en -dow him with Title he -roic, After some warrior, Poet, or stoic?
9.
One aunty says he will Soon 'lisp in numbers,'
Turning his thoughts to rhyme, E'en in his slumbers; Watts rhymed in babyhood, No blemish spots his fame-- Christen him even so: Young Mr. Watts his name."
ANONYMOUS: _Knickerbocker_, and _Newspapers_, 1849.
MEASURE VIII.--DACTYLIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.
"Fearfully, Tearfully."
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it.
Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet, if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an _amphimac_, or _amphimacer_. Of this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the piece, may serve as a specimen:--
"Far from the _battle's shock_, Fate hath fast bound thee; Chain'd to the _rugged rock_, Waves warring round thee.
[Now, for] the _trumpet's sound_, Sea-birds are shrieking; Hoarse on thy _rampart's bound_, Billows are breaking."
OBS. 2.--This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and, perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song, written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line is varied to a different measure.
"ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK."
"Bird of the wilderness, Blithesome and cumberless, Light be thy matin o'er moorland and lea; Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place; O! to a -bide in the desert with thee!
"Wild is thy lay, and loud, Far on the downy cloud; Love gives it energy, love gave it birth: Where, on thy dewy wing, Where art thou journeying?
Thy lay is in heav -en, thy love is on earth.
"O'er moor and mountain green, O'er fell and fountain sheen, O'er the red streamer that heralds the day; Over the cloudlet dim, Over the rainbow's rim, Musical cherub, hie, hie thee a -way.
"Then, when the gloamin comes, Low in the heather blooms.
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be.
Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place; O! to a -bide in the desert with thee!"
OBS. 3.--It is observed by Churchill, (_New Gram._, p. 387,) that, "Shakspeare has used the dactyl, as appropriate to mournful occasions." The chief example which he cites, is the following:--
"Midnight, as -sist our moan, Help us to sigh and groan Heavily, heavily.
Graves, yawn and yield your dead, Till death be uttered Heavily, heavily."--_Much Ado_, V, 3
OBS. 4.--These six lines of Dactylic (or Composite) Dimeter are subjoined by the poet to four of Trochaic Tetrameter. There does not appear to me to be any particular adaptation of either measure to mournful subjects, more than to others; but later instances of this metre may be cited, in which such is the character of the topic treated. The following long example consists of lines of two feet, most of them dactylic only; but, of the seventy-six, there are twelve which _may_ be otherwise divided, and as many more which _must_ be, because they commence with a short syllable.
"THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS."--BY THOMAS HOOD.
"One more un -fortunate, Weary of breath, Rashly im -portunate, Gone to her death!
Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care; Fashioned so slenderly, Young, and so fair!
Look at her garments Clinging like cerements, Whilst the wave constantly Drips from her clothing; Take her up instantly, Loving, not loathing.
Touch her not scornfully; Think of her mournfully, Gently, and humanly; Not of the stains of her: All that re -mains of her Now, is pure womanly.
Make no deep scrutiny Into her mutiny, Rash and un -dutifull; Past all dis -honour, Death has left on her Only the beautiful.
Still, for all slips of hers,-- One of Eve's family,-- Wipe those poor lips of hers, Oozing so clammily.
Loop up her tresses, Escaped from the comb,-- Her fair auburn tresses; Whilst wonderment guesses, Where was her home?
Who was her father?
Who was her mother?
Had she a sister?
Had she a brother?
Was there a dearer one Yet, than all other?
Alas, for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the sun!
O, it was pitiful!
Near a whole city full, Home she had none.