Examples of all these variations may best be found in the specimens of verse included in the preceding pages. A few specimens of detail are added here, for the sake of greater clearness.
Deficiency in accent (substituted pyrrhic).
To further this, Achitophel unites
The malcontents of all the Israelites,
Whose differing parties he could wisely join
For several ends to serve the same design;
The best (and of the princes some were such)
Who thought the power of monarchy too much;
Mistaken men and patriots in their hearts,
Not wicked, but seduced by impious arts;
By these the springs of property were bent,
And wound so high they crack'd the government.
(Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel, I.)
Excess of accent (substituted spondee).
And ten low words oft creep in one dull line.
(Pope: Essay on Criticism.)
Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death.
(Milton: Paradise Lost, II. 621.)