the metre requires; thus the word glittering makes three syllables in this line:

All glittering in arms he stood.

But in the following line it makes but two; as,

All glitt'ring in his arms he stood.

The metre also is favoured sometimes by placing the accent on different syllables in some few words that will admit of it; as the word avenue must have the accent on the first syllable in this line,

Wide avenues for cruel death.

But in the next line it must be accented on the second syllable; as,

A wide avénue to the grave.

To favour the rhyme, is to pronounce the last word of the line so as to make it analogous in sound with the line foregoing, where the word admits of two pronunciations: as,

Were I but once from bondage free,
I'd never sell my liberty.

Here the word liberty must be pronounced as though it were written with a double ee, lihertee, to rhyme with the word free.-But if the verse ran thus ;

My soul ascends above the sky,

And triumphs in her liberty:

The word liberty must be sounded as ending in i, that sky may have a juster rhyme to it.

But whether you pronounce liberty as though it were written with ee or i, you must still pronounce that last syllable but feebly, and not so strongly as to misplace the accent, and fix it on the last syllable. -So in this verse;

Unbind my feet, and break my chain,
For I shall ne'er rebel again.

Here you must give the diphthong ai its full sound, in the word again; but it must be pronounced agen in the following verse; as,

Put Daniel in the lions' den,

When he's releas'd, he'll pray again.

If the verse does not sound harmoniously to the ear when it is read like prose, the fault must be charged on the poet, and not on the reader; for those verses are not well composed, which cannot be read gracefully according to the common rules of pronunciation.

Make an experiment now in the following lines, and if you read them like prose, you will find the justness of the natural accent is maintained in every word, while the harmony or music of the verse is sufficiently secured.

Angels invisible to sense,

Spreading their pinions for a shield,
Are the brave soldier's best defence,
When cannons in long order shall dispense

Terrible slaughter round the field.

There are two other kinds of metre in English, besides the common sort, wherein the accent is supposed to fall on every second syllable.

One sort of uncommon verse, is when the line contains but seven syllables, and a pretty strong accent lies on the first syllable in the line, and on the third, fifth, and seventh; as,

Glitt'ring stones, and golden things,
Wealth and honours that have wings,
Ever flutt'ring to be gone,
I could never call my own:
Riches that the world bestows,
She can take, and I can lose ;
But the treasures that are mine,

Lie afar beyond her line.

The other sort of uncommon verse has a quick

and trifling sound, and must have the accent placed on every third syllable. Topics of mirth and pleasantry are treated in this sort of poetry; and it is used but seldom when the sense is very solemn and serious. Take this instance of it:

"Tis the voice of the slúggard: I heard him compláin, You have wák'd me too soon, I must slúmber again. As the door on its hinges, so hé on his béd

Turns his sídes, and his shoulders, and his heávy head.

In this last line the natural and proper accent lies not on the word his, where the verse seems to require it; but on the word heavy: and thereby you shew the heaviness of the sluggard more emphatically.

Thus the poesy should always answer for itself, and the reader should keep true to the natural accent. And, in general, it may still be maintained, that the common rules of reading prose, hold good in reading all these kinds of poetry: nor is the reader obliged to know beforehand what particular kind of verse he is going to read, for he should follow the common pronunciation of the English tongue. He may humour the sense a little, as he ought to do in prose, by reading swiftly or slowly, according as the subject is grave or merry; and if he has acquainted himself with the general nature of verse, and practised the reading of it, the lines will yield their proper harmony, whenever the poet has performed his part well.

Thus it appears to be much easier to read verse well than most people imagine, the chief rule being to pronounce it as they do common language, without affecting to add new music to the lines, by an unnatural turn and tone of the voice.

The analogy with music is also much closer in reading poetry than prose, and a skilful musician can scarcely fail to read poetry well.

Being drawn to the delightful theme of poetry, I

will pursue the subject in two or three other letters, and shall be deceived in my estimate of your good taste, if they do not prove as agreeable as any of the whole series of these anxious communications.

LETTER XXIV.

History and Progress of Poetry.

The LANGUAGE or dialect of poetry is essentially different from that of prose. The former admits of the use of words and expressions, which in the latter would be accounted obsolete. This principally arises from the permanent or stationary character of poetry. Milton, Shakspeare, and even Spencer may be still read with pleasure, while the prose writers of their time would scarcely be endured.

Almost every good author, has a peculiar style; and no man of any taste would compose a pastoral in the style of Paradise Lost, or an heroic poem in that of Horace's epistles, or Swift's verses to Stella. Critics, however, have agreed to distinguish the gradations of poetical language into the sublime, the middle, and the plain or simple styles. Milton and Gray may be cited as examples of the first. Pope's Rape of the Lock, and his satires, (for the Eloisa is of a sublimer character,) may be referred to the second. The plain or simple style is almost wholly confined to songs and pastorals; but we have in English, a low and familiar style, which is applicable to subjects of humour and burlesque, where cant phrases, proverbs, and expressions peculiar to certain trades are introduced; and such is the poem of Hudibras, many of Swift's satirical pieces, the burletta of Midas, and similar dramatic productions.

The ancient critics enumerated seven distinct

classes or kinds of poetry; the epigram, the elegy, the bucolic or pastoral, the lyric, the satiric, the dramatic, and the epic; but modern poetry may be classed as follows:-1st, The epigram; 2d. the epitaph; 3d. the sonnet; 4th. pastoral; 5th. didactic poetry; 6th. satire: 7th. descriptive; 8th. elegy; 9th. lyric poetry; 10th. the drama; and lastly, epic or heroic poetry.

The EPIGRAM means a short and witty poem, the point or humour of which is expressed in the latter lines.

I.

"I am her Highness' dog at Kew-
Pray tell me, Sir, whose dog are you?"

II.

"Accept a miracle, instead of wit;

See two dull lines with Stanhope's pencil writ."

III.

"I do not like thee Dr. Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But I don't like thee Dr. Fell.'

IV.

"The verses, friend, which thou hast read, are mine; But as thou read'st them, they may pass for thine."

The EPITAPH is literally an inscription on a tomb. The SONNET is entirely a modern invention; it is borrowed both in its nature and form from the Italian, and means a little song. The original form was fourteen lines, and this is still preserved in what are esteemed true sonnets; but many short poems in different forms are now called sonnets.

PASTORAL poetry is of very ancient date.-The pastoral may embrace any subject of rural life—A shepherd lamenting the loss of his mistress; a contest between rural swains; a moral lesson; and some writers have even elevated the eclogue to the sublimest sbjects, as Pope in his Messiah.