the first and third order; the latter to those of the second and fourth. Examples of the first kind:

Smooth flow the wâves II the zephyrs gently play,
Belinda smîl'd || and all the world was gay.

He rais'd his azure wând | and thus began.

Examples of the other kind:

There lay three gârters || half a pair of gloves,
And all the trophies || of his former loves.
Our humble province || is to tend the fair,
Not a less pleasing || though less glorious care.
And hew triumphal ârches || to the ground.

These accents make different impressions on the mind, which will be the subject of a following speculation. In the mean time, it may be safely pronounced a capital defect in the composition of verse, to put a low word, incapable of an accent, in the place where this accent should be: this bars the accent altogether; than which I know no fault more subversive of the melody, if it be not the barring of a pause altogether. I may add affirmatively, that no single circumstance contributes more to the energy of verse, than to put an important word where the accent should be, a word that merits a peculiar emphasis. To shew the bad effect of excluding the capital accent, I refer the reader to some instances given above,* where particles are separated by a pause from the capital

* Page 121.

words that make them significant; and which particles ought, for the sake of melody, to be accented, were they capable of an accent. Add to these

the following instances from the Essay on Criticism.

Of leaving what || is natural and fit

line 448.

Nor yet purg'd off, || of spleen and sour disdain

No pardon vile || obscenity should find

1. 528.

1. 531.

When love was all || an easy monarch's care

7.537.

For 'tis but half || a judge's task to know

1. 562.

'Tis not enough, || taste, judgment, learning, join.

l. 563.

That only makes || superior sense belov❜d

1. 578.

Whose right it is, || uncensur'd, to be dull

Z. 590.

'Tis best sometimes your censure to restrain.

1. 597.

When this fault is at the end of a line that closes a couplet, it leaves not the slightest trace of me. lody:

But of this frame the bearings, and the ties,
The strong connexions, nice dependencies.

In a line expressive of what is humble or dejected, it improves the resemblance between the sound and sense to exclude the capital accent. This, to my taste, is a beauty in the following lines:

In thêse deep sôlitudes || and aŵful cells
The pôor inhabitant || behôlds in vain.

To conclude this article, the accents are not, like the syllables, confined to a certain number: some lines have no fewer than five, and there are lines that admit not above one. This variety, as we have seen, depends entirely on the different powers of the component words: particles, even where they are long by position, cannot be accented; and polysyllables, whatever space they occupy, admit but one accent. Polysyllables have another defect, that they generally exclude the full pause. It is shewn above, that few polysyllables can find place in the construction of English verse; and here are reasons for excluding them, could they find place.

I am now ready to fulfil a promise concerning the four sorts of lines that enter into English Heroic verse. That these have, each of them, a peculiar melody distinguishable by a good ear, I ventured to suggest, and promised to account for; and though the subject is extremely delicate, I am not without hopes of making good my engagement. But first, by way of precaution, I warn the candid reader not to expect this peculiarity of modulation in every instance. The reason why it is not always perceptible has been mentioned more than once, that the thought and expression have a great influence upon the melody; so great, as in many instances to make the poorest melody pass for rich

and spirited, This consideration makes me insist upon a concession or two that will not be thought unreasonable: first, That the experiment be tried upon lines equal with respect to the thought and expression; for otherwise one may easily be misled in judging of the melody: and next, That these lines be regularly accented before the pause; for upon a matter abundantly refined in itself, I would not willingly be embarrassed with faulty and irregular lines.

These preliminaries adjusted, I begin with some general observations, that will save repeating the same thing over and over upon every example. And first, an accent succeeded by a pause, as in lines of the first and third order, makes a much greater figure than where the voice goes on without a stop. The fact is so certain, that no person who has an ear can be at a loss to distinguish that accent from others. Nor have we far to seek for the efficient cause; the elevation of an accenting tone produceth in the mind a similar elevation, which continues during the pause; but where the pause is separated from the accent by a short syl

Hence the liveliness of the French language as to sound, above the English; the last syllable in the former being generally long and accented, the long syllable in the latter being generally as far back in the word as possible, and often with an accent. For this difference I find no cause so probable as temperament and disposition; the French being brisk and lively, the English sedate and reserved: and this, if it hold, is a preg nant instance of a resemblance between the character of a people and that of their language.

lable, as in lines of the second and fourth order, the impression made by the accent is more slight when there is no stop, and the elevation of the accent is gone in a moment by the falling of the voice in pronouncing the short syllable that follows. The pause also is sensibly affected by the position of the accent. In lines of the first and third order, the close conjunction of the accent and pause, occasions a sudden stop without preparation, which rouses the mind, and bestows on the melody a spirited air. When, on the other hand, the pause is separated from the accent by a short syllable, which always happens in lines of the second and fourth order, the pause is soft and gentle : for this short unaccented syllable, succeeding one that is accented, must of course be pronounced with a falling voice, which naturally prepares for a pause; and the mind falls gently from the accented syllable, and slides into rest as it were insensibly. Further, the lines themselves derive different powers from the position of the pause, which will thus appear. A pause after the fourth syllable divides the line into two unequal portions, of which the larger comes last: this circumstance resolving the line into an ascending series, makes an impression in pronouncing like that of ascending; and to this impression contribute the redoubled effort in pronouncing the larger portion, which is last in order. The mind has a different feeling when the pause succeeds the fifth syllable, which divides the line into two equal parts: these parts, pronounced with equal effort, are agreeable by their uniformity,