But even when we let these modern hexameters go as Greek, and merely
hold them fast in their proper character of Longfellowine, or
Feltonian, or Frogpondian, we must still condemn them as having been
committed in a radical misconception of the philosophy of verse. The
spondee, as I observed, is the theme of the Greek line. Most of the
ancient hexameters begin with spondees, for the reason that the
spondee is the theme, and the ear is filled with it as with a
burden. Now the Feltonian dactylics have, in the same way, dactyl
for the theme, and most of them begin with dactyls- which is all
very proper if not very Greek- but unhappily, the one point at which
they are very Greek is that point, precisely, at which they should
be nothing but Feltonian. They always close with what is meant for a
spondee. To be consistently silly they should die off in a dactyl.
That a truly Greek hexameter cannot, however, be readily composed in
English, is a proposition which I am by no means inclined to admit.
I think I could manage the point myself. For example:
Do tell! / when may we / hope to make / men of sense / out of the
Pundits
Born and brought / up with their / snouts deep / down in the / mud
of the / Frog-pond?
Why ask? / who ever / yet saw / money made / out of a / fat old
Jew, or / downright / upright / nutmegs / out of a / pine-knot?
The proper spondee predominance is here preserved.
Pages:
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306