32. [Page 180.] “Observation may apply to English verse.”
Our best poets, and Milton especially, afford many exemplifications of this practice.
O’er many a frozen, many a fiery alp,
Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens and shades of death
…
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things
Abominable, inutterable and worse.
Many of our syllables also are in effect double syllables, as in the words brave, grave, clave, &c., as singers often have to regret, causing them, on that account, to slur over them. But these rules are only a continuation of Quinctilian’s maxim, “Optime de illa judicant aures. Quædam arte tradi non possunt.”
33. [Page 181.] “The Roman friend,” &c.
See note 23 to the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold.