 | CHAP. III.
Of the several sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.
The Art of English Poetry |  |
SECT. VI.
Of the Stanzas that consist of an odd Number of Verses.
We have also Stanzas that consist of an odd number of Verses, as of 5, 7, 9, and 11, in all which it of necessity follows that three Verses of the Stanza must rhyme to one another, or that one of them must be a blank Verse.
In the Stanzas of 5 Verses, the 1st and 3d may rhyme, and the 2d and two last; as,
The Glory which he lent these Flow'rs:
Yet they must live but some few Hours:
Time, what we forbear, devours.
Which is only a Stanza of 4 Verses in Alternate Rhyme, to which a 5th Verse is added that rhymes to the 2d and 4th.
See also an Instance of a Stanza of 5 Verses where the Rhymes are intermix'd in the same manner as the former, but the 1st and 3d Verses are compos'd but of 4 Syllables each
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
In the following Example the two first Verses rhyme, and the three last.
Whose short-liv'd passions with themselves can dy.
For none can be unhappy, who
`Midst all his ills a Time does know,
Tho' ne'er so long, when he shall not be so.
In this Stanza, the 2 first and the last, and the 3d and 4th, Rhyme to one another.
Hast thou consum'd in vain:
Leave, wretched Cowley, leave,
Thy self with shadows to deceive.
Think that already lost which thou must never gain.
The Stanzas of 7 Verses are frequent enough in our Poetry, especially among the Ancients, who compos'd many of their Poems in this sort of Stanza: See an Example of one of them taken from Spencer in the Ruins of time, where the 1st and 3d Verse rhyme to One another, the 2d, 4th, and 5th, and the two last.
Above the reach of ruinous decay,
And with brave Plumes does beat the Azure Sky;
Admir'd of baseborn Men from far away;
Then whoso will with virtuous Deeds essay
To mount to Heav'n, on Pegasus must ride,
And in sweet Poets Verse be glorify'd.
I have the rather chosen to take notice of this Stanza, because that Poet and Chaucer have made use of it in many bf their Poems, but have not been follow'd by any of the Moderns; whose Stanzas of 7 Verses are commonly compos'd as follows.
Either the four first Verses are a Quadran in Alternate Rhymes, and the three last rhyme to one another, as
None loves you half so well as I,
I do not ask your love for this,
But for Heaven's sake believe me or I dye.
No Servant e'er but did deserve
His Master should believe that he did serve;
And I'll ask no more Wages tho' I starve.
Or the four first are two Couplets, and the three last a Triplet; as
When Souls mix `tis a Happiness,
But not compleat till Bodies too combine,
And closely as our Minds together joyn.
But half of Heav'n the Souls in Glory taste;
Till by Love in Heav'n at last,
Their Bodies too are plac'd.
Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that is,
None loves you half so well as I,
I do not ask your love for this,
But for Heaven's sake believe me or I dye.
Or, on the contrary, the three first may rhyme, and the four last be in Rhymes that follow one another; as
And all the Passions else that be,
In vain I boast of Liberty:
In vain this State a Freedom call,
Since I have Love, and Love is all.
Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag
That I have no Disease besides the Plague.
Or the 1st may rhyme to the two last, the 2d to the 5th, and the 3d and 4th to one another; as
For thou who dost from Fumes arise,
Thou who Man's Soul dost overshade
With a thick Cloud, by Vapours made,
Canst have no pow'r to shut his Eyes,
Or passage of his Spirits to choak,
Whose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no smoke.
Or lastly, the four first and two last may be in following Rhyme, and the 5th a blank Verse; as
Of Sleep thou rob'st my Nights:
Ah lovely Thief! what wilt thou do?
What, rob me of Heav'n too!
Thou ev'n my Pray'rs dost from me steal,
And I with wild Idolatry
Begin to God, and end them all in thee.
The Stanzas of 9 and of 11 Syllables are not so frequent as those of 5 and of 7, Spencer has compos'd his Fairy Queen in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the 1st rhymes to the 3d, the 2d to the 4th, 5th, and 7th; and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky choice of it reduc'd him often to the necessity of making use of many exploded Words; nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns; whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas that consist of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another, and the three last a Triplet; as
Who dost in ev'ry Country change thy Shape:
Here Black, there Brown, here Tawny, and there White,
Thou Flatt'rer which comply'st with ev'ry sight.
Thou Babel which confound'st the Eye
With unintelligible Variety:
Who hast no certain What nor Where,
But vary'st still, and dost thy self declare
Inconstant, as thy She-Professors are.
In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, but the Verses differ in Measure from the former.
By Nature only for my Sorrows made,
I'll spend this Voice in Cries;
In Tears I'll waste these Eyes,
By Love so vainly fed,
So Lust of old the Deluge punished.
Ah wretched youth! said I;
Ah wretched Youth! twice did I sadly cry;
Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply.
The Stanzas consisting of 11 Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd
No wretched Heart, swell till you break:
She cannot love me if she would;
And, to say Truth, `twere pity that she should.
No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear,
As silent as they will be there:
Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give,
So handsomly the thing contrive,
That she may guitless of it live:
So perish, that her killing thee
May a chance-medley, and no Murther be.
| CHAP. III.
Of the several sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.
The Art of English Poetry | |