In the foot "flowers ever" we shall find a further exemplification
of the principle of the bastard iambus, bastard trochee, and quick
trochee, as I have been at some pains in describing these feet
above. All the Prosodies on English verse would insist upon making
elision in "flowers," thus (flow'rs), but this is nonsense. In the
quick trochee (many Are the) occurring in Mr. Cranch's trochaic
line, we had to equalize the time of the three syllables (ny, are,
the) to that of the one short syllable whose position they usurp.
Accordingly each of these syllables is equal to the third of a short
syllable, that is to say, the sixth of a long. But in Byron's dactylic
rhythm, we have to equalize the time of the three syllables (ers,
ev, er) to that of the one long syllable whose position they usurp, or
(which is the same thing) of the two short. Therefore the value of
each of the syllables (ers, ev, and er) is the third of a long. We
enunciate them with only half the rapidity we employ in enunciating
the three final syllables of the quick trochee- which latter is a rare
foot. The "flowers ever," on the contrary, is as common in the
dactylic rhythm as is the bastard trochee in the trochaic, or the
bastard iambus in the iambic. We may as well accent it with the
curve of the crescent to the right and call it a bastard dactyl.
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