O'er shields, and helms, and helme'd heads he rode,
Of thrones, and mighty Seraphim prostrate
According to the metrical accent, the last word must be pronounced "pros-trate'." But according to the authorized pronunciation it is "pros'trate. Which shall yield, the poet or established usage? Certainly not the latter.
Some writers advise a compromise of the matter, and that the word should he pronounced without accenting either syllable. Sometimes this may be done, but where it is not practiced, the prosaic reading should be preserved.
In the following examples, the words and syllables which are improperly accented or emphasized in the poetry, are marked in italics. According to the principle stated above, the reader should avoid giving them that pronunciation which the correct rending of the poetry would require, but should read them as prose, except where he can throw off all accent and thus compromise the conflict between the poetic reading and the correct reading. That is, he must read the poetry wrong, in order to read the language right.
EXAMPLES. (42)
1. Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made
Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade.
2. Their praise is still, "the style is excellent,"
The sense they humbly take upon content.
3. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,
Its fairy colors spreads on every place.
4. To do aught good, never will be our task,
But ever to do ill is our sole delight.
5. Of all the causes which combine to blind
Man's erring judgment, and mislead the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.