Example VI.—"A Good Name?"—Two Beautiful Little Stanzas.
1.
"Children, | choose it,
Don't re | -fuse it,
'Tis a | precious | dia | -dem;
Highly | prize it,
Don't de | -spise it,
You will | need it | when you're | men.
2.
Love and | cherish,
Keep and | nourish,
'Tis more | precious | far than | gold;
Watch and | guard it,
Don't dis | -card it,
You will | need it | when you're | old."
The Family Christian Almanac, for 1850, p. 20.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—Trochaics of two feet, like those of three, are, more frequently than otherwise, found in connexion with longer lines, as in some of the examples above cited. The trochaic line of three syllables, which our prosodists in general describe as consisting, not of two feet; but "of one Trochee and a long syllable," may, when it stands alone, be supposed to consist of one amphimac; but, since this species of foot is not admitted by all, and is reckoned a secondary one by those who do admit it, the better practice is, to divide even the three syllables into two feet, as above.
OBS. 2.—Murray, Hart, Weld, and many others, erroneously affirm, that, "The shortest Trochaic verse in our language, consists of one Trochee and a long syllable."—Murray's Gram., p. 256; Hart's, First Edition, p. 186; Weld's, Second Edition, p. 210. The error of this will be shown by examples below—examples of true "Trochaic Monometer," and not of Dimeter mistaken for it, like Weld's, Hart's, or Murray's.
OBS. 3.—These authors also aver, that, "This measure is defective in dignity, and can seldom be used on serious occasions."—Same places. "Trochaic of two feet—is likewise so brief, that," in their opinion, "it is rarely used for any very serious purpose."—Same places. Whether the expression of love, or of its disappointment, is "any very serious purpose" or not, I leave to the decision of the reader. What lack of dignity or seriousness there is, in several of the foregoing examples, especially the last two, I think it not easy to discover.