"O heard | ye yon pi | -broch sound sad | in the gale,
Where a band | cometh slow | -ly with weep | -ing and wail!
'Tis the chief | of Glena | -ra laments | for his dear;
And her sire, | and the peo | -ple, are called | to her bier.
Glena | -ra came first | with the mourn | -ers and shroud;
Her kins | -men, they fol | -lowed, but mourned | not aloud;
Their plaids | all their bo | -soms were fold | -ed around;
They marched | all in si | -lence—they looked | on the ground."
T. CAMPBELL'S Poetical Works, p. 105.
Example V.—"Lochiel's Warning."—Ten Lines from Eighty-six.
"'Tis the sun | -set of life | gives me mys | -tical lore,
And com | -ing events | cast their shad | -ows before.
I tell | thee, Cullo | -den's dread ech | -oes shall ring
With the blood | -hounds that bark | for thy fu | -gitive king.
Lo! anoint | -ed by Heav'n | with the vi | -als of wrath,
Behold, | where he flies | on his des | -olate path!
Now, in dark | -ness and bil | -lows he sweeps | from my sight;
Rise! rise! | ye wild tem | -pests, and cov | -er his flight!
'Tis fin | -ished. Their thun | -ders are hushed | on the moors;
Cullo | -den is lost, | and my coun | -try deplores."—Ib., p. 89.
Example VI.—"The Exile of Erin."—The First of Five Stanzas.
"There came | to the beach | a poor Ex | -ile of E | -r~in,
The dew | on his thin | robe was heav | -y and chill;
For his coun | -try he sighed, | when at twi | -light repair | -~ing
To wan | -der alone | by the wind | -beaten hill.
But the day | -star attract | -ed his eye's | sad devo | -t~ion,
For it rose | o'er his own | native isle | of the o | -c~ean,
Where once, | in the fire | of his youth | -ful emo | t~ion,
He sang | the bold an | -them of E | -rin go bragh."—Ib., p. 116.
Example VII.—"The Poplar Field."
"The pop | -lars are fell'd, | farewell | to the shade, And the whis | -pering sound | of the cool | colonnade; The winds | play no lon | -ger and sing | in the leaves, Nor Ouse | on his bo | -som their im | -age receives. Twelve years | have elaps'd, | since I last | took a view Of my fa | -vourite field, | and the bank | where they grew; And now | in the grass | behold | they are laid, And the tree | is my seat | that once lent | me a shade. The black | -bird has fled | to anoth | -er retreat, Where the ha | -zels afford | him a screen | from the heat, And the scene, | where his mel | -ody charm'd | me before, Resounds | with his sweet | -flowing dit | -ty no more. My fu | -gitive years | are all hast | -ing away, And I | must ere long | lie as low | -ly as they, With a turf | on my breast, | and a stone | at my head, Ere anoth | -er such grove | shall arise | in its stead. 'Tis a sight | to engage | me, if an | -y thing can, To muse | on the per | -ishing pleas | -ures of man; Though his life | be a dream, | his enjoy | -ments, I see, Have a be | -ing less dur | -able e | -ven than he." COWPER'S Poems, Vol. i, p. 257.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—Everett avers, that, "The purely Anapestic measure is more easily constructed than the Trochee, [Trochaic,] and of much more frequent occurrence."—English Versification, p. 97. Both parts of this assertion are at least very questionable; and so are this author's other suggestions, that, "The Anapest is [necessarily] the vehicle of gayety and joy;" that, "Whenever this measure is employed in the treating of sad subjects, the effect is destroyed;" that, "Whoever should attempt to write an elegy in this measure, would be sure to fail;" that, "The words might express grief, but the measure would express joy;" that, "The Anapest should never be employed throughout a long piece;" because "buoyancy of spirits can never be supposed to last,"—"sadness never leaves us, BUT joy remains but for a moment;" and, again, because, "the measure is exceedingly monotonous."—Ibid., pp. 97 and 98.