Bright Hesper twinkles from afar:—Away
My Kids!—for you have had a Feast to day.Staff.
Which Verses have nothing disagreeable in their Structure but the Pause; which in the first of them must be observ'd at the 8th Syllable, in the 2d at the 2d; and so unequal a Division can produce no true Harmony. And for this Reason too, the Pauses at the 3d and 7th Syllables, tho' not wholly to be condemn'd, ought to be but sparingly practis'd.
The foregoing Rules ought indispensibly to be follow'd in all our Verses of 10 Syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right Time in Musick, will produce Harmony; the neglect of them, Harshness and Discord; as appears by the following Verses.
None think Rewards render'd worthy their Worth.
And both Lovers, both thy Disciples were,Dav.
In which tho' the true Number of Syllables be observ'd, yet neither of them have so much as the Sound of a Verse: Now their Disagreeableness proceeds from the undue Seat of the Accent: For Example, the first of them is accented on the 5th and 7th Syllables; but if we change the Words, and remove the Accent to the 4th and 6th, the Verse will become smooth and easie; as,
None think Rewards are equal to their Worth.
The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on the 3d Syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one Word;
And Lovers both, both thy Disciples were.
In like manner the following Verses,
To be massacred, not in Battle slain.Blac.
But forc'd, harsh, and uneasie unto all.Cowl.
Against the Insults of the Wind and Tide.Blac.
A second Essay will the Pow'rs appease.Blac.
With Scythians expert in the Dart and Bow.Dryd.