(2) If I | had swelled | the sol|dier, or | intended
An act | in per|son lean|ing to | dishonour,
As you | would fain | have forced | me, wit|ness Heaven,
Where clear|est und|erstand|ing of | all truth is
(For men | are spite|ful men, | and know | no pi[e]ty).
When O|lin came, | grim O|lin, when | his marches, etc., etc., etc.
(The Loyal Subject.)
(Which, with its repetition of stumbling amphibrachic ends, is rather hideous.)
(g) Spread of the infection, and complete decay of blank verse from various causes.
(1) Shirley:
I dare,
With conscience or my pure intent, try what
Rudeness you find upon my lip, 'tis chaste
As the desires that breathe upon my language.
I began, Felisarda, to affect thee
By seeing thee at prayers; thy virtue winged
Love's arrows first, and 'twere a sacrilege
To choose thee now for sin, that hast a power
To make | this place | a tem|ple by | thy in|nocence.
I know thy poverty, and came not to
Bribe it against thy chastity; if thou
Vouchsafe thy fair and honest love, it shall
Adorn my fortunes which shall stoop to serve it
In spite of friends or destiny.
(The Brothers.)
(Actual scansion quite correct, and therefore not marked throughout. Redundance not excessive ("innocence" may be taken as such, and not as making an Alexandrine, if liked); hardly any, and no misused, trisyllabic feet. But enjambment at "what," "to," "thou," and "shall" badly managed.)
(2) Suckling:
Softly, | as death | itself | comes on
When it | doth steal | away | the sick | man's breath,
And standers-by perceive it not,
Have I trod the way unto their lodgings.
How wisely do those powers
That give | us hap|piness or|der it!