PAUSES.
Having explained the several kinds of feet, and shown in what places of a verse they may be used, I proceed to another important article, the pauses. Of these there are two kinds, the cesural pause, which divides the line into two equal or unequal parts; and the final pause which closes the verse. These pauses are called musical, because their sole end is the melody of verse.
The pauses which mark the sense, and for this reason are denominated sentential, are the same in verse as in prose. They are marked by the usual stops, a comma, a semicolon, a colon, or a period, as the sense requires, and need no particular explanation.
The cesural pause is not essential to verse, for the shorter kinds of measure are without it; but it improves both the melody and the harmony.
Melody in music is derived from a succession of sounds; harmony from different sounds in concord. A single voice can produce melody; a union of voices is necessary to form harmony. In this sense harmony cannot be applied to verse, because poetry is recited by a single voice. But harmony may be used in a figurative sense, to express the effect produced by observing the proportion which the members of verse bear to each other.[125]
The cesural pause may be placed in any part of the verse; but has the finest effect upon the melody, when placed after the second or third foot, or in the middle of the third. After the second:
"In what retreat, inglorious and unknown,
Did genius sleep, when dulness seized the throne."
After the third:
"O say what stranger cause, yet unexplored,
Could make a gentle belle reject a lord?"
In the middle of the third:
"Great are his perils, in this stormy time,
Who rashly ventures, on a sea of rhime."
In these examples we find a great degree of melody, but not in all the same degree. In comparing the divisions of verse, we experience the most pleasure in viewing those which are equal; hence those verses which have the pause in the middle of the third foot, which is the middle of the verse, are the most melodious. Such is the third example above.
In lines where the pause is placed after the second foot, we perceive a smaller degree of melody, for the divisions are not equal; one containing four syllables, the other six, as in the first example.
But the melody in this example, is much superior to that of the verses which have the cesural pause after the third foot; for this obvious reason: When the pause bounds the second foot, the latter part of the verse is the greatest, and leaves the most forcible impression upon the mind; but when the pause is at the end of the third foot, the order is reversed. We are fond of proceeding from small to great, and a climax in sound, pleases the ear in the same manner as a climax in sense delights the mind. Such is the first example.
It must be observed further, that when the cesural pause falls after the second and third feet, both the final and cesural pauses are on accented syllables; whereas when the cesural pause falls in the middle of the third foot, this is on a weak syllable, and the final pause, on an accented syllable. This variety in the latter, is another cause of the superior pleasure we derive from verses divided into equal portions.
The pause may fall in the middle of the fourth foot; as,
"Let favor speak for others, worth for me;"
but the melody, in this case, is almost lost. At the close of the first foot, the pause has a more agreeable effect.
"That's vile, should we a parent's fault adore,
And err, because our fathers err'd before?"
In the middle of the second foot, the pause may be used, but produces little melody.
"And who but wishes to invert the laws
Of order, sins against the eternal cause."
Harmony is produced by a proportion between the members of the same verse, or between the members of different verses. Example.
"Thy forests, Windsor, and thy green retreats,
At once the monarch's, and the muse's seats,
Invite my lays. Be present sylvan maids,
Unlock your springs, and open all your shades."
Here we observe, the pause in the first couplet, is in the middle of the third foot; both verses are in this respect similar. In the last couplet, the pause falls after the second foot. In each couplet separately considered, there is a uniformity; but when one is compared with the other, there is a diversity. This variety produces a pleasing effect.[126] The variety is further encreased, when the first lines of several succeeding couplets are uniform as to themselves, and different from the last lines, which are also uniform as to themselves. Churchill, speaking of reason, lord chief justice in the court of man, has the following lines.
"Equally form'd to rule, in age and youth,
The friend of virtue, and the guide to youth;
To her I bow, whose sacred power I feel;
To her decision, make my last appeal;
Condemn'd by her, applauding worlds in vain
Should tempt me to take up my pen again;
By her absolv'd, the course I'll still pursue;
If Reason's for me, God is for me too."
The first line of three of these couplets, has the pause after the second foot; in this consists their similarity. The last line in three of them, has the pause in the middle of the third foot; they are uniform as to themselves, but different from the foregoing lines. This passage, which on the whole is very beautiful, suffers much by the sixth line, which is not verse, but rather hobbling prose.[127]
The foregoing remarks are sufficient to illustrate the use and advantages of the cesural pause.
The final pause marks the close of a line or verse, whether there is a pause in the sense or not. Sentential pauses should be marked by a variation of tone; but the final pause, when the close of one line is intimately connected with the beginning of the next, should be merely a suspension of the voice without elevation or depression. Thus:
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe," &c.
When these lines are read without a pause after the words fruit and taste, they degenerate into prose. Indeed in many instances, particularly in blank verse, the final pause is the only circumstance which distinguishes verse from prose.