| ^ | ^ | ^ | ^ | |||||||
| Did | you | ev | er | see | such | a | sight | in | your | life |
| eighth note | quarter note | eighth rest | quarter note | eighth rest | quarter note |
| As | three | blind | mice!” |
Like this is the scansion of Tennyson’s “Break, Break, Break.”
eighth rest quarter note eighth rest quarter note eighth rest quarter note “Break, break, break! On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.”
| eighth rest | quarter note | eighth rest | quarter note | eighth rest | quarter note |
| “Break, | break, | break! |
In scanning, then, it is necessary—
[284] First. To determine by reading a number of verses the kind of foot that predominates, and to make this the basis of the metrical scheme.
Second. To remember that one kind of foot may be substituted for another, at the will of the poet, introducing into the poem a delicate variety of rhythm.
Third. To keep in mind that the first foot of a verse and the last foot may have more or fewer syllables than the regular foot of the poem.
Fourth. That silences, like rests in music, may be introduced into a verse and give to it a perfect smoothness of rhythm.