In vain thou drowsie God I thee invoke,
For thou who dost from Fumes arise,
Then who Man's Soul do'st overshade
With a Thick Cloud by Vapours made,
Canst have no Pow'r to shut his Eyes,
Or passage of his Spirits to choak,
Whose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no smoke.Cowl.
Or lastly, the four first and two last may be in following Rhyme, and the 5th a Blank Verse; as,
Thou robb'st my Days of Bus'ness and Delights,
Of Sleep thou robb'st my Nights:
Ah lovely Thief! what wilt thou do?
What, rob me of Heav'n too!
Thou ev'n my Prayers dost from me steal,
And I with wild Idolatry
Begin to God, and end them all to thee.Cowl.
The Stanzas of 9 and of 11 Syllables are not so frequent as those of 5 and of 7. Spencer has composed his Fairy Queen in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the 1st rhymes to the 3d, the 2d to the 4th 5th and 7th; and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucky choice of it reduc'd him often to the necessity of making use of many exploded Words; nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns; whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas that consist of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another, and the three last a Triplet; as,
Beauty, Love's Scene and Masquerade,
So well by well-plac'd Lights, and Distance made;
False Coin! with which th' Impostor cheats us still,
The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill:
Which light or base we find, when we
Weigh by Enjoyment, and examine thee.
For tho' thy Being be but Show,
'Tis chiefly Night which Men to thee allow,
And chuse t' enjoy thee, when thou least art thou.Cowl.
In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, but the Verses differ in Measure from the former.
Beneath this gloomy Shade,
By Nature only for my Sorrows made,
I'll spend this Voice in Cries;
In Tears I'll waste these Eyes,
By Love so vainly fed:
So Lust of old, the Deluge punished.
Ah wretched Youth! said I;
Ah wretched Youth! twice did I sadly cry;
Ah wretched Youth! the Fields and Floods reply.Cowl.
The Stanzas consisting of 11 Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd in them. Take an Example of one of them, where the 6 first are 3 Couplets, the three next a Triplet, the two last a Couplet; and where the 4th, the 7th, and the last Verses are of 10 Syllables each, the others of 8.
No, to what purpose should I speak?
No, wretched Heart, swell till you break;
She cannot love me if she would;
And, to say Truth, 'twere pity that she should.
No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear,
As silent as they will be there:
Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give,
So handsomely the thing contrive,
That she may guiltless of it live:
So perish, that her killing thee
May a Chance-medley, and no Murther be. Cowl.