The páth of mý exístence.—Byron.
[§ 523]. Measures.—For every accented syllable in the following line, write the letter a, and for every unaccented one, the letter x, so that a may stand for an accent, x for the absence of one—
The wáy was lóng, the wínd was cóld.—Scott.
or expressed symbolically
x a x a x a x a,
where x coincides with the, a with way, &c.
[§ 524]. Determine the length of the line in question.—It is plain that this may be done in two ways. We may either measure by the syllables, and say that the line consists of eight syllables; or by the accents, and say that it consists of four accents. In this latter case we take the accented syllable with its corresponding
unaccented one, and, grouping the two together, deal with the pair at once. Now, a group of syllables thus taken together is called a measure. In the line in question the way (x a) is one measure, was long (x a) another, and so on throughout; the line itself consisting of four measures.
[§ 525]. Trisyllabic measures.—The number of measures consisting of two syllables, or dissyllabic measures, is necessarily limited to two, expressed a x and x a respectively. But beyond these there are in the English language measures of three syllables, or trisyllabic measures. The number of these is necessarily limited to three.
The first of these is exhibited in the word mérrily (a x x).