active 1702-1712 Edward Bysshe

“ There are no feet in English poetry. Nevertheless, accent, which Bysshe apparently considered a variation in pitch rather than in duration or loudness, is recognized, and its role is clearly prescribed. It falls on the even syllables in verses whose total number is even and on the odd syllables in verses whose odd number is not due to double rhyme. ”

“ That the Consonants that precede the Vowel where the Rhyme begins, must not be the same in Sound, but different. In all which we vary from our Neighbours; for neither the French, Italians not Spaniards will allow that a Rhyme can be too perfect: And we meet with frequent Examples in their Poetry, where not only the Compounds rhyme to their Simples, and to themselves ”

“ Which Verses have nothing disagreeable in their Structure but the Pause; which in the first of them must be observ'd at the 8th Syllable, in the 2d at the 2d; and so unequal a Division can produce no true Harmony. And for this Reason too, the Pauses at the 3d and 7th Syllables, tho' not wholly to be condemn'd, ought to be but sparingly practis'd. ”

“ The Accent is as strong on Taught, as on the first Syllable of Flatter, and if the Pause were observ'd at the 4th Syllable of the Verse, it would have nothing disagreeable in its Sound: as,
Mirrors are taught—to flatter, but our Springs
Present th' impartial Images of things.
Which tho' it be no Violence to the Ear, yet it is to the Sense, and that ought always carefully to be avoided in reading or in repeating of Verses. ”

“ Our Poetry admits for the most part but of three sorts of Verses; that is to say, of Verses of 10, 8, or 7 Syllables: Those of 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 14, are generally imploy'd in Masks and Operas, and in the Stanzas of Lyrick and Pindarick Odes, and we have few intire Poems compos'd in any of those sorts of Verses. Those of 12, and of 14 Syllables, are frequently inserted in our Poems in Heroick Verse, and when rightly made use of, carry a peculiar Grace with them. ”

“ Its meter, the heroic couplet, was for Bysshe the only serious poetic instrument, all longer lines being used merely to vary and decorate it and the shorter ones being fit only for masks and operas and Pindaric odes. As for stanzas, the rhyme royal was not "follow'd" anymore, Spenser's choice was "unlucky," and in general, as Cowley had said, "no kind of Staff is proper for a Heroic Poem; as being all too lirical...." [4]
The "Rules For making English Verse," which is the most important part of Bysshe's work, is the first attempt to treat English prosody in a systematic and comprehensive way. ”

“ Rhyme. Thus in a Poem whose Verses consist of ten Syllables, those of the same Poem that are accented on the last save one, which we call Verses of double Rhyme, must have eleven; as may be seen by these Verses.
A Man so various that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome:
Stiff in Opinion, always in the Wrong,
Was ev'ry thing by starts, and nothing long:
But, in the Course of one revolving Moon,
Was Fidler, Chymist, Statesman, and Buffoon:
Then all for Women, Painting, Rhyming, Drinking ”

“ Our Verses consisting only of a certain Number of Syllables, nothing can be of more ease, or greater use to our Poets, than the retaining or cutting off a Syllable from a Verse, according as the measure of it requires ”

“ Shame and Woe to us, if w' our Wealth obey.Cowl.
But these and the like Contractions are very rare in our most correct Poets, and ought indeed wholly to be avoided: For 'tis a general Rule, that no Vowel can be cut off before another, when it cannot be sunk in the pronunciation of it: And therefore we ought to take care never to place a Word that begins by a Vowel, after a Word that ends in one (mute E only excepted) unless the final Vowel of the former can be lost in its Pronunciation: For, to leave two Vowels opening on each other, causes a very disagreeable Hiatus. ”

“ It may not be impossible indeed for Men, even of indifferent Parts, by making Examples to the Rules hereafter given, to compose Verses smooth, and well-sounding to the Ear; yet if such Verses want strong Sense, Propriety and Elevation of Thought, or Purity of Diction, they will be at best but what Horace calls them, Versus inopes rerum, nugæque canoræ, and the Writers of them not Poets, but versifying Scriblers. ”

“ So many are the Qualifications, as well natural as acquir'd, that are essentially requisite to the making of a good Poet, that 'tis in vain for any Man to aim at a great Reputation on account of his Poetical Performances, by barely following the Rules of others, and reducing their Speculations into Practice. ”

“ Love's of a strangely open, simple kind,
Can no Arts or Disguises find,
But thinks none sees it, 'cause it self is blind.Cowl.
In the Stanzas of 4 Verses, the Rhyme may be intermix'd in two different manners; for either the 1st and 3d Verse may rhyme to each other, and by consequence the 2d and 4th, and this is call'd Alternate Rhyme; or the 1st and 4th may rhyme, and by consequence the 2d and 3d.
But there are some Poems in Stanzas of four Verses, where the Rhymes follow one another, and the Verses differ in number of syllables only ”

“ CHAP. III. Of the several sorts of Poems, or Compositions in Verse.
All our Poems may be divided into two sorts; the first of those that are compos'd in Couplets; the second are those that are compos'd in Stanzas consisting of several Verses. ”

“ But let Men of better Minds be excited to a generous Emulation.
I have inserted not only Similes, Allusions, Characters, and Descriptions; but also the most Natural and Sublime Thoughts of our Modern Poets on all Subjects whatever. I say, of our Modern; for tho' some of the Antient, as Chaucer, Spencer, and others, have not been excell'd, perhaps not equall'd, by any that have succeeded them, either in Justness of Description, or in Propriety and Greatness of Thought ”

“ Now how far the Sound of the H aspirate, with which three Feet of that [Pg 11] Verse begin, expresses the Despair of the Swain, let the Judicious judge: I have taken notice of it only to say, that 'tis a great Beauty in Poetry, when the Words and Numbers are so dispos'd, as by their Order and Sound to represent the things describ'd.
The fourth is, to avoid ending a Verse by an Adjective whose Substantive begins the following; as,
Some lost their quiet Rivals, some their kind
Parents, &c.Dav. ”

“ To those from Troilus and Cressida I have sometimes put Shakespear, sometimes Dryden; because he having alter'd that Play, whatever I found not in the Edition of Shakespear, ought to be ascrib'd to him. And in like manner of several other Plays.
As no Thought can be justly said to be fine, unless it be true, I have all along had a great regard for Truth ”

“ That the Reader may judge of every Passage with due Deference for each Author, he will find their Names at the End of the last Line; and as the late Versions of the Greek and Roman Poets have not a little contributed to this Collection, Homer, Anacreon, Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, &c. are cited with their Translators: And after each Author's Name are quoted their Plays and other Poems, from whence the Passages are extracted. ”

“ The foregoing Rules ought indispensibly to be follow'd in all our Verses of 10 Syllables; and the observation of them, like that of right Time in Musick, will produce Harmony; the neglect of them, Harshness and Discord; as appears by the following Verses.
None think Rewards render'd worthy their Worth. ”

“ The Verses of 14 Syllables are less frequent than those of 12; they are likewise inserted in Heroick Poems, &c. and are agreeable enough when they conclude a Triplet and Sense, and follow a Verse of 12; as,
For thee the Land in fragrant Flowers is drest ”

“ The Verses of 12 Syllables are truly Heroick, both in their Measure and [Pg 8] Sound; tho' we have no intire Works compos'd in them; and they are so far from being a Blemish to the Poems they are in, that on the contrary, when rightly employed, they conduce not a little to the Ornament of them ”

“ In the following Example the two first Verses rhyme, and the three last.
'Tis well, 'tis well with them, said I,
Whose short-liv'd Passions with themselves can dye.
For none can be unhappy, who
'Midst all his Ills a Time does know,
The ne'er so long, when he shall not be so.Cowl.
In this Stanza, the 2 first and the last, and the 3d and 4th rhyme to one another. ”

“ For Example, the first of them is accented on the 5th and 7th Syllables; but if we change the Words, and remove the Accent to the 4th and 6th, the Verse will become smooth and easie; as,
None think Rewards are equal to their Worth.
The harshness of the last of them proceeds from its being accented on the 3d Syllable, which may be mended thus, by transposing only one Word;
And Lovers both, both thy Disciples were.
In like manner the following Verses,
To be massacred, not in Battle slain.Blac.
But forc'd, harsh, and uneasie unto all.Cowl. ”

“ Thomas Warton's A History of English Poetry.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California The Augustan Reprint Society
General Editors H. Richard Archer
Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
R. C. Boys
University of Michigan
Ralph Cohen
University of California, Los Angeles
Vinton A. Dearing
University of California, Los Angeles
Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The Society exists to make available inexpensive reprints (usually facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. ”

“ P. 36, "onr" amended to "our" in "most us'd in our Language".
In the Preface, the French phrase "consiste qu'en vn [typo for un?] certain nombre de syllabes, & non pas en pieds composez [composés] de syllabes" has been left unchanged.
Also in the Preface, in the quote from Boileau, missing accents have not been supplied in "Il doit regner par tout; & meme dans la Fable". ”

“ Let Princes know,
'Tis fatal to be good.Dryd.
SECT. III. Several Rules conducing to the Beauty of our Versification.
Our Poetry being very much polish'd and refin'd since the Days of Chaucer, Spencer and the other antient Poets, [Pg 10] some Rules which they neglected, and that conduce very much to the Ornament of it, have been practis'd by the best of the Moderns. ”

“ That every Man with him was God or Devil.Dryd.
Where the 4 Verses that are accented on the last save one, have 11 Syllables; the others, accented on the last, but 10.
In a Poem whose Verses consist of 8, the double Rhymes require 9, as,
When hard Words, Jealousies and Fears,
Set Folks together by the Ears ”