MEASURE II.--ANAPESTIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.
_Example I.--"Alexander Selkirk."--First Two Stanzas._
I.
"I am mon -arch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute; From the cen -tre all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Sol -itude! where are the charms That sa -ges have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this hor -rible place.
II.
I am out of human -ity's reach, I must fin -ish my jour -ney alone, Never hear the sweet mu -sic of speech, I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam o -ver the plain, My form with indif -ference see; They are so unacquaint -ed with man, Their tame -ness is shock -ing to me."
COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 199.
_Example II.--"Catharina."--Two Stanzas from Seven._
IV.
"Though the pleas -ures of Lon -don exceed In num -ber the days of the year, Cathari -na, did noth -ing impede, Would feel herself hap -pier here; For the close -woven arch -es of limes On the banks of our riv -er, I know, Are sweet -er to her many times Than aught that the cit -y can show.
V.
So it is, when the mind is endued With a well -judging taste from above; Then, wheth -er embel -lish'd or rude, 'Tis na -ture alone that we love.
The achieve -ments of art may amuse, May e -ven our won -der excite, But groves, hills, and val -leys, diffuse A last -ing, a sa -cred delight."
COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. ii, p. 232.
_Example III.--"A Pastoral Ballad."--Two Stanzas from Twenty-seven._
(8.)
"Not a pine in my grove is there seen, But with ten -drils of wood -bine is bound; Not a beech 's more beau -tiful green, But a sweet -briar twines it around, Not my fields in the prime of the year More charms than my cat -tle unfold; Not a brook that is lim -pid and clear, But it glit -ters with fish -es of gold.
(9)
One would think she might like to retire To the bow'r I have la -bour'd to rear; Not a shrub that I heard her admire, But I hast -ed and plant -ed it there.
O how sud -den the jes -samine strove With the li -lac to ren -der it gay!
Alread -y it calls for my love, To prune the wild branch -es away."
SHENSTONE: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 139.
Anapestic lines of four feet and of three are sometimes alternated in a stanza, as in the following instance:--
_Example IV.--"The Rose."_
"The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a show'r, Which Ma -ry to An -na convey'd; The plen -tiful moist -ure encum -ber'd the flow'r, And weigh'd down its beau -tiful head.
The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet, And it seem'd to a fan -ciful view, To weep for the buds it had left, with regret, On the flour -ishing bush where it grew.
I hast -ily seized it, unfit as it was For a nose -gay, so drip -ping and drown'd, And, swing -ing it rude -ly, too rude -ly, alas!
I snapp'd it,--it fell to the ground.
And such, I exclaim'd, is the pit -iless part Some act by the del -icate mind, Regard -less of wring -ing and break -ing a heart Alread -y to sor -row resign'd.
This el -egant rose, had I shak -en it less, Might have bloom'd with its own -er a while; And the tear that is wip'd with a lit -tle address, May be fol -low'd perhaps by a smile."
COWPER: _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 216; _English Reader_, p. 212.
MEASURE III.--ANAPESTIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.
_Example I.--Lines with Hypermeter and Double Rhyme._
"CORONACH," OR FUNERAL SONG.
1.
"He is gone on the mount -a~in He is lost to the for -~est Like a sum -mer-dried foun -ta~in When our need was the sor -~est.
The font, reappear -~ing, From the rain -drops shall bor -r~ow, But to us comes no cheer -~ing, Do Dun -can no mor -r~ow!
2.
The hand of the reap -~er Takes the ears that are hoar -~y, But the voice of the weep -~er Wails man -hood in glo -r~y; The au -tumn winds rush -~ing, Waft the leaves that are sear -~est, But our flow'r was in flush -~ing, When blight -ing was near -~est."
WALTER SCOTT: _Lady of the Lake_, Canto iii, St. 16.
_Example II.--Exact Lines of Two Anapests._
"Prithee, Cu -pid, no more Hurl thy darts at threescore; To thy girls and thy boys, Give thy pains and thy joys; Let Sir Trust -y and me From thy frol -ics be free."
ADDISON: _Rosamond_, Act ii, Scene 2; _Ev. Versif._, p. 100.
_Example III--An Ode, from the French of Malherbe_.
"This An -na so fair, So talk'd of by fame, Why dont she appear?
Indeed, she's to blame!
Lewis sighs for the sake Of her charms, as they say; What excuse can she make For not com -ing away?
If he does not possess, He dies with despair; Let's give him redress, And go find out the fair"
"Cette Anne si belle, Qu'on vante si fort, Pourquoi ne vient elle?
Vraiment, elle a tort!
Son Louis soupire, Apres ses appas; Que veut elle dire, Qu'elle ne vient pas?
S'il ne la possede, Il s'en va mourir; Donnons y remede, Allons la querir."
WILLIAM KING, LL. D.: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 590.
_Example IV.--'Tis the Last Rose of Summer_.
1.
"'Tis the last rose of sum -_m~er_, Left bloom -ing alone; All her love -ly compan -_i~ons_ Are fad -ed and gone; No flow'r of her kin -_dr~ed_, No rose -bud is nigh, To give back her blush -_~es_, Or give sigh for sigh.
2.