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5. Besides the pauses made at the points, there are two kinds that belong to verse: one is the pause at the end of the line, and the other in or near the middle: the latter is called the "casural pause," being introduced into a line of ten or more syllables, to aid the pronunciation, and render the verse more pleasing.

6. At the end of every line, where there is no point, make a pause about half as long as at a comma, so as to give notice that the line is ended; for example:

How are deluded humàn kind

By empty shows betray'd!

In all their hopes and schemes they find

A nothing or a shade.

7. There is another mode of dividing some verses by introducing" demi-cæsuras," which pause is momentary, as exemplified in the following verses :

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'Tis the voice' of the sluggard", I hear him' complain,

You have wak'd me' too soon", I must slumb'er again.
As the door' on its hinges", so he' on his bed,

Turns his sides' and his shoulders", and his' heavy head.

8. Here you will observe, that the pauses of the demi-cæsura fall after VOICE, HIM, &c. being those marked with the single accent; the double accent points out the cæsural pause.

9. Therefore the different pauses to be observed in reading poetry are-those to be made at the points, the cæsural pause, and the demi-cæsural.

10. There are two sorts of verse: one wherein the end of each line rhymes or has a like sound, and

the other, that in which there is no corresponding rhyme, which is therefore called blank verse.

11. But observe: the lines in blank verse are generally disposed in metre, that is, each line has the same number of feet, so that the accent may fall on the even syllables, viz. the second, fourth, sixth, eighth syllable, &c. as in the following lines:

Delightful task'! to rear' the ten'der thought,
To teach' the young idea how to shoot,
To pour' the fresh instruction o'er the mind',
To breathe' th' enliv"ning spirit, and to fix"
The gen'rous purpose in the glow'ing breast.

THOMSON.

12. Farther observe, that there are several licenses allowed in poetry, which are not in prose; such as the omission of letters or syllables, in order to make each line contain the same number of feet as, gen'ral for general in the following lines:

Remember, man, the universal Cause

Acts not by partial, but by genʼral laws;
And makes what happiness we justly call,
Subsist not in the good of one, but all.

13. Again, by pronouncing words sometimes different from what they would or ought to be pronounced in prose, that it may rhyme or sound like the foregoing verse.

14. And sometimes by omitting part of a word when the next syllable begins with a vowel, as in the following lines of Thomson :

"To breathe th' enliv'ning spirit, and to fix

The gen'rous purpose in the glowing breast."

CHAP. II.

To a little Girl.

1. Eve, s. the name of the first woman.

Em-bow-er-ed, pret. covered with bowers or sheltered with trees. Types, s. pl. emblems, allusive pictures.

Em'u-late, v. to imitate: (to rival).

2. Da"-mask, a. red. (Damask, s. fine linen).

3. Em'-blem, s. an allusive picture or a representation.

4. Sense, s. the faculty of perceiving, meaning.

1. FAIREST flower, all flowers excelling,
Which in Milton's page we see ;
Flowers of Eve's embowered dwelling
Are, my fair one, types of thee.

2. Mark, my Polly, how the roses
Emulate thy damask cheek:
How the bud its sweets discloses-
Buds thy opening bloom bespeak.

3. Lilies are by plain direction

Emblems of a double kind

;

Emblems of thy fair complexion,

Emblems of thy fairer mind.

4. But, dear girl, both flowers and beauty
Blossom, fade, and die away;
Then pursue good sense and duty;
Evergreens!* which ne'ert decay.

COTTON.

This is a figurative expression, a simile or comparison.

sense and duty are compared to evergreens.

Good

When a word is contracted by taking one or more letters out of the middle, it is written in Elision, by the figure Syncope. (Sinko-pe.) Thus, ne'er for never.

CHAP. III.

The Rose.

4. De"-li-cate, a. soft, effeminate, or unable to bear hardships. Wringing, v. harassing. (Twisting with violence).

5. Ad-dress', s. behaviour or genteel carriage.

letter.

Smile, s. a look of pleasure or kindness.

The direction of a

1. THE rose had been wash'd, just washed in a show'r, Which Mary to Anna convey'd,

The plentiful moisture incumber'd the flow'r,
And weigh'd down its beautiful head.

2. The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, And it seem'd, to a fanciful view,

To weep for the buds it had left with regret
On the flourishing bush where it grew.

3. I hastily seiz'd it, unfit as it was,

For a nosegay so dripping and drown'd,
And swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas!
I snapp'd it-it fell to the ground.

4. And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part
Some act by the delicate mind,

Regardless of wringing and breaking the heart,
Already to sorrow resign'd.

5. This elegant rose, had I shaken it less,

Might have bloom'd with its owner a while; And the tear that is wip'd with a little address, May be follow'd, perhaps, by a smile.

COWPER.

CHAP. IV.

The Beggar Man.

1. Jokes, s. pl. mirthful jests.
3. Blast, s. a gust of wind.
Moor, s. black watery ground.
Sleet, s. small snow or hail.
Drea'-ry, a. dismal, gloomy.
4. De-scry', v. to perceive, to spy out.
In-cle"-ment, a. very cold, rough.

5. Pal'-si-ed, a, wanting feeling; having the palsy.
Tomb, s. a place for the dead.

6. Hos'-pi-ta-ble, a. kind to strangers. Shield, v. to protect.

8. Chaf-ed, v. warmed.

NINNI.

1. AROUND the fire, one wintry night, The farmer's rosy children sat ; The faggot lent its blazing light,

And jokes went round and careless chat.

2. When, hark! a gentle hand they hear
Low tapping at the bolted door,
And thus, to gain their willing ear,

A feeble voice was heard t' implore;

3. "Cold blows the blast across the moor,
The sleet drives hissing in the wind;
Yon toilsome mountain lies before,
A dreary, treeless waste behind;

4. "My eyes are weak and dim with age,
No road, no path, can I descry,

And these poor rags ill stand the rage
Of such a keen inclement sky.

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