Slĕep tŏ wāke
Thĕre ăs hēre,
a set of jumpy anapæsts which upsets the whole pathos and dignity of the composition when compared with "Pīty̆ | mē"; "Slēep tŏ | wāke"; and "Thēre ăs | hēre"; while it makes
Bēĭng|—whō?
into a mere burlesque, and flies in the face of Browning's specially indicated pause.
[159] ̆ ̆ ̄ ̄. Third pæon ( ̆ ̆ ̄ ̆ ) has also been suggested, but the same counter-arguments apply to it.
[160] It would become tolerable as a four-foot anapæst, and perhaps partly suggested such a line; also as an octosyllable with substitution.
[161] Note (Second Edition) on "Skeltonic," v. sup. p. [293].—Attempts have been made to trace it to the very short lines used by Martial d'Auvergne (c. 1420-1508) and, perhaps, other French poets. But, as in some similar cases, these attempts ignore radical differences, such as the presence of the anapæst in English and its absence from French, and others still.