In the reign of Edward VI, Dr. Christopher Tye turned the Acts of the Apostles into rhyme. They begin thus,
In the former epistle to thee
Dear friend Theophilus
I have written the veritie
Of the Lord Christ Jesus.
Empedocles professed the system of four elements, and added thereto two principles which he called ‘principium amicitiæ and principium contentionis.’ What are these but attraction and repulsion?
The Count Bielfeld's definition of poetry is ‘L'art d'exprimer les pensées par la fiction.’ The German terms Dichtkunst, the art of fiction, and Dichten to feign, which are used for Poetry, and to make verses, are in full accordance with his definition.
The Germans have epic poems composed in metre of sixteen and seventeen syllables.
The following Vaudeville is one of the drollest of its kind: