Practical Guide to English Versification / With a Compendious Dictionary of Rhymes, an Examination / of Classical Measures, and Comments Upon Burlesque and / Comic Verse, Vers de Société, and Song-writing

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENGLISH VERSIFICATION.
WITH A COMPENDIOUS DICTIONARY OF RHYMES,
AN EXAMINATION OF CLASSICAL MEASURES
AND COMMENTS UPON BURLESQUE AND COMIC VERSE,
VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ, AND SONG-WRITING.
By TOM HOOD.
A New and Enlarged Edition.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
BYSSHE'S RULES FOR MAKING ENGLISH VERSE, &c.
LONDON: JOHN HOGG, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1877.
I am anxious at the first outset that the object of this work should not be misunderstood. It does not assume to be a handbook for poets, or a guide to poetry. The attempt to compile such a book as is implied by either of those titles would be as absurd as pretentious.
A Poet, to paraphrase the Latin, is created, not manufactured. Cicero's nascimur poetæ, fimus oratores, is, with some modification, even more to the point. In a word, poetical genius is a gift, but education and perseverance will make almost any man a versifier.