(a) DACTYLIC MONOMETER
Mérrily,
Cheérily.

(b) DACTYLIC DIMETER

Toúch her not | scórnfully.

Think of her moúrnfully. - Hood.

(c) DACTYLIC TRIMETER HYPERMETER

Mérrily, mérrily, | shall I live | now

Under the blossom that | hángs on the | bough.

-Shakespeare.

(d) DACTYLIC HEXAMETER

This measure, which is borrowed from Greek and Latin poetry, is used by Longfellow in "Evangeline" and "Miles Standish." It consists of six feet. The last foot is either a spondee or a trochee; and the foot preceding the last is invariably a dactyl. The other four feet are generally dactyls, though a trochee is occasionally introduced; as,

Yé who believe in afféction that | hópes, and endúres and is | patient,

Yé who believe in the | béauty and | stréngth of | woman's devotion.

Another way of scanning dactylic lines is to read the first two syllables as a trochee, and to consider the remainder of the line amphibrachic.

AMPHIBRACHIC MEASURES

In amphibrachic measures the accent, as a rule, falls upon the second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh syllables.

AMPHIBRACHIC TETRAMETER

There came to the beách a | poor éxile | of Erin,
The déw on | his thín robe | was heávy | and chíll.

-Campbell. Another way of scanning this measure is to read. the first two syllables as an iambus, and to consider the remainder of the line anapestic.

MIXED METER

Poets frequently vary the structure of their verse by introducing a variety of feet, as in the following: Thére be none of | beauty's | daughters

With regard to some poems, such as Coleridge's "Christabel" and Byron's "Siege of Corinth," we can say only that there is a uniform number of accents in each line.

ALLITERATION

Alliteration consists in the repetition of a letter at the beginning of two or more words in close proximity. The effect, when skillfully managed, is pleasing to the ear; as,

MAX. SCH. GRAM. - 18

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught;

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Shakespeare burlesques its excessive use in the lines:
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast.

EXERCISE 91. Select a poem for examination and determine the following:

1. The number of lines in a stanza, if the poem is written in stanzas.

2. Where rimes occur and, consequently, what lines should be indented.

3. The number of accented syllables in each line and the number of unaccented syllables before or after each accented syllable.

4. From the data thus secured determine the name of the meter, and be prepared to point out the lines that are hypermeter or catalectic and any variations from the prevailing foot.

APPENDIX A

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE

Languages are arranged in families according to resemblances in words and in the grammatical forms used to combine words into sentences.

The English language belongs to the most important of these families, called the Indo-European because it comprises the most important languages that are or have been spoken from India to the western coast of Europe. It is also called the Aryan, from an ancient Asiatic race of that name.

The Indo-European family has two great divisions: (a) Asiatic; (b) European. Under each of these divisions are several distinct groups of languages.

(a) ASIATIC DIVISION

1. The Indian languages, including the Sanskrit (a language now no longer spoken), the modern Indian dialects of Hindostan, and the Gypsy dialect.

2. The Persian languages, including the Zend (the ancient language of Persia) and modern Persian.

(b) EUROPEAN DIVISION

1. The Hellenic languages, including the various dialects of ancient Greek and the various dialects of modern Greek.

2. The Latin languages, including ancient Latin and the several Romance languages to which the Latin has given rise: (a) Italian; (b) French; (c) Spanish; (d) Portuguese; (e) Romansch or Romanese, spoken in southern Switzerland; (ƒ) Wallachian, spoken in Wallachia and Moldavia.

3. The Teutonic languages, comprising: (a) the Low German dialects, spoken originally by the tribes living on the northern shores and lowlands of Germany-now represented by Frisian, Dutch, Flemish, and English; (b) High German, formerly the language of the southeast of Germany, Bavaria, and Austria, now the literary dialect of Germany; (c) Scandinavian, including Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish.

4. The Celtic languages, divided into: (a) the Cymric branch, including Welsh, Cornish, and Armorican of Brittany; (b) the Gaelic branch, comprising the Irish or Erse, the Scottish Gaelic, and the Manx of the Isle of Man..

5. Sclavonic, including Russian, Lettish, Lithuanian, Polish, etc.

The English language, then, is a member of the Indo-European family; it belongs to the Teutonic group, and it is a Low German dialect. It was brought to America from England. It was brought to England, where it developed into its present form, from northern Germany, about the middle of the fifth century after Christ. Up to that time, the country now called England had been known as Britannia or Britain.

The chief historical events that should be borne in mind in tracing the development of the English language are the following:

The island of Britain was originally peopled by a Celtic race who spoke a Celtic language.

Britain was invaded by a Roman army under Julius Cæsar in 55 B.C. It was afterward conquered by Rome in 43 a.d., and it was held as a Roman province until 426 a.d.