No, to what Purpofe fhould I fpeak? And, to fay Truth, 'twere Pity that she should. As filent as they will be there; Since that lov'd Hand this mortal Wound does give, May a Chance-Medley, and no Murther be. SECT. VII. Cowl. Of Pindarick Odes, and Poems in Blank Verse. TH HE Stanzas of Pindarick Odes are neither confin'd to a certain Number of Verses, nor the Verses to a certain Number of Syllables, nor the Rhyme to a certain Distance. Some Stanzas contain 50 Verfes or more, others not above 10, and fometimes not fo many: Some Verfes 14, nay, 16 Syllables, others not above 4: Sometimes the Rhymes follow one another for feveral Couplets together, fometimes they are remov'd 6 Verfes from each other; and all this in the fame Stanza. Cowley was the firft who introduc'd this fort of Poetry into our Language: Nor can the Nature of it be better defcrib'd than as he himfelf has done it, in one of the Stanzas of his Ode upon Liberty, which I will transcribe, not as an Example, for none can properly be given where no Rule can be prefcrib'd, but to give an Idea of the Nature of this fort of Poetry. If Life fhould a well-order'd Poem be, In which he only hits the White, Who joins true Profit with the best Delight; The more Heroick Strain let others take, Mine the Pindarick way I'll make: The Matter fhall be grave, the Numbers loofe and free; It shall not keep one fettled Pace of Time, In the fame Tune it shall not always chime, Nor shall each Day just to his Neighbour rhyme. A thousand Liberties it fhall difpence, And yet fhall manage all without Offence, Or to the Sweetness of the Sound, or Greatness of the Senfe. Nor Nor fhall it never from one Subject start, Nor its fet way o'er Stiles and Bridges make, And to fresh Game flies chearfully away, To Kites and meaner Birds he leaves the mangled Prey. This fort of Poetry is employ'd in all Manner of Subjects in Pleasant, in Grave, in Amorous, in Heroick, in Philofophical, in Moral, and in Divine. Blank Verfe is where the Meafure is exa&ty kept without Rhyme; Shakespear, to avoid the troublefome Conftraint of Rhyme, was the firft who invented it; our Poets fince him have made ufe of it in many of their Tragedies and Comedies: But the moft celebrated Poem in this kind of Verfe is Milton's Paradife Loft; from the 5th Book of which I have taken the following Lines for an Example of Blank Verse. Thefe are thy glorious Works, Parent of Good! Almighty! thine this univerfal Frame, Thus wondrous fair! thy felf how wondrous then! Sure Pledge of Day, that crown'ft the Smiling Morn His Praife, who out of Darkness call'd up Light. And nourish all things; let your ceaseless Change His Praife, ye Winds! that from four Quarters blow, Thus I have given a fhort Account of all the forts of Poems, that are moft us'd in our Language. The Acrofticks, Anagrams, &c. deferve not to be mention'd, and we may fay of them what an antient Poet faid long ago. Stultum eft difficiles habere Nugas, FIN 1 S. |