'Tis the / land of
the / East 'tis the / clime of the / sum Can he / smile on such /
deeds as his / children have / done Oh / wild as the / accents of /
lovers' fare / well Are the / hearts that they / bear and the /
tales that they / tell.
Here "crime" and "tell" are caesuras, each having the value of a
dactyl, four short syllables, while "fume Wax," "twine And," and "done
Oh," are spondees which, of course, being composed of two long
syllables are also equal to four short, and are the dactyl's natural
equivalent. The nicety of Byron's ear has led him into a succession of
feet which, with two trivial exceptions as regards melody, are
absolutely accurate, a very rare occurrence this in dactylic or
anapaestic rhythms. The exceptions are found in the spondee "twine
And," and the dactyl "smile on such." Both feet are false in point
of melody. In "twine And" to make out the rhyme we must force "And"
into a length which it will not naturally bear. We are called on to
sacrifice either the proper length of the syllable as demanded by
its position as a member of a spondee, or the customary accentuation
of the word in conversation. There is no hesitation, and should be
none. We at once give up the sound for the sense, and the rhythm is
imperfect. In this instance it is very slightly so, not one person
in ten thousand could by ear detect the inaccuracy.
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