But the perfection
of verse as regards melody, consists in its never demanding any such
sacrifice as is here demanded. The rhythmical must agree thoroughly
with the reading flow. This perfection has in no instance been
attained, but is unquestionably attainable. "Smile on such," a dactyl,
is incorrect, because "such," from the character of the two consonants
ch cannot easily be enunciated in the ordinary time of a short
syllable, which its position declares that it is. Almost every
reader will be able to appreciate the slight difficulty here, and
yet the error is by no means so important as that of the "And" in
the spondee. By dexterity we may pronounce "such" in the true time,
but the attempt to remedy the rhythmical deficiency of the And by
drawing it out, merely aggrevates the offence against natural
enunciation by directing attention to the offence.
My main object, however, in quoting these lines is to show that in
spite of the Prosodies, the length of a line is entirely an
arbitrary matter. We might divide the commencement of Byron's poem
thus:-
Know ye the / land where the /
or thus:
Know ye the / land where the / cypress and /
or thus:
Know ye the / land where the / cypress and / myrtle are /
or thus:
Know ye the / land where the / cypress and / myrtle are / emblems of
In short, we may give it any division we please, and the lines will be
good, provided we have at least two feet in a line.
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