Emperor. Í have nóne:
Go bíd our móving Pláins of Sánd | lie stíll,
And stír not, | whén the stórmy Sóuth blows hígh:
From tóp to bóttom | thóu hast tóss’d my Sóul,
And nów ’tis ín the mádness | of the Whírl.
Requír’st a súdden stóp? | unsáy thy lýe,
That máy in týme do sómewhat. |
Benducar. Í have dóne.
For, sínce it pléases yóu | it shóu’d be fórg’d
’Tis fít it shóu’d: | Fár be it fróm your Sláve,
To ráise distúrbance | ín your Sácred Bréast.
Emperor. Sebástian ís my Sláve | as wéll as thóu;
Nor dúrst offénd my Lóve, | but thát Presúmption ...
Benducar. Most súre he óught not. |
Emperor. Thén all méans were wánting;
No Príest, no Céremónies | óf their Séct:
Or, gránt we thése defécts | cou’d bé supplý’d,
Hów cou’d our Próphet dó | an áct so báse,
Só to resúme his Gífts, | and cúrse my Cónquests,
By máking mé unháppy! | Nó, the Sláve
That tóld thee só absúrd a stóry, | lý’d.
Dryden, Sebastian, III.
The blank verse of Lee, Otway, N. Rowe, and Addison[169] is of similar structure.
§ 179. Blank verse was treated even more strictly by Thomson in The Seasons. Thomson followed Dryden with regard to his treatment of the caesura and the inversion of accent, but made no use at all of feminine endings. Cf. the following passage from Summer:
From bríghtening fíelds of éther | fáir disclós’d,
Chíld of the sún, | refúlgent Súmmer cómes,