so many Lines together; for which Reason those of 4, 6, and 8 Verses are the most frequent. However we sometimes find some of 10 and 12; as in Cowley's Ode, which he calls Verses loft upon a Wager, where the Rhymes follow one another, but the Verses differin number of Syllables.

As soon bereafter will I Wagers lay

'Gainst what an Oracle shall say:
Fool that I was to venture to deny

A Tongue lo us'd to Victory;
A Tongue so bleft by Nature and by Art,
That never yet Spoke but gain'd a Heart,

Tho' what you Jaid had not been true,
If Spoke by any else but you ;

Tour Speech will govern Deftiny,

And Fate will change rather than you shall ije. Cowl. The same Poet furnishes us with an Example of a Stanza of 12 Verses in the Ode he calls The Prophet ; where the Rhymes are observ'd in the same Manner as in the formes Example

Teach me to love ! Go teach thy self more Wit :

I chief Professor am of it.
Teach Craft to Scots, and Thrift to Jews,

Teach Boldness to the Stews.
In Tyrants Courts teach Supple Flattery,
Teach Jesuits that have travellid far to lye;

Teach Fire to burn, and Windsto blon,
Teach restless Fountains how to flow,

Teach the dull Earth fixt to abide,
Teach Womankind Inconstancy and Pride.
See if your Diligence there will useful proves

But prithee teach not me to love :

1 1

SECT. VI.

Of the Stanžas that consist of an odd Number of Verses.
W

E have also Stanzas that consist of odd Numbers of

Verses, as of 5, 7, 9, and 11; in all which it of neceffity follows, that three Verses of the Stanza rhyme to one another, or that one of them be a blank Verse.

In the Stanzas of s Verfes the ift and 3d may rhyme, and the ad and two laft; as,

Sees

Sees not my Love how Time resumes
The Beauty which he lent these Flow'rs :
Thonone should taste of their Perfumes,
Yet they must live but some few Hours :
Time what we forbear, devours.

Wall: Which is only a Stanza of 4 Verses in Alternate Rhyme, to which a sth Verse is added that rhymes to the ad and 4th.

See also an Instance of a Stanza of s Verses, where the Rhymes are intermix'd in the fame Manner as the former, but the ift and 3d Verses are compos'd but of 4 Syllables each.

Go lovely Rose,
Tell ber that wasts laer Time and me,

That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How Sweet and fair she feens to be.

Wall.

In the following Example the two first Verses rhyme, and the three laft.

'Tis well, 'tis well with them, said I,
Whose short-liv'd Paffions with themselves can dye.

For none can be unhappy, who

'Midst all his ills a Time does know, Tho' ne'er so long, when he shall not be fo.

Cowl.)

In this Stanza, the two first and the last, and the 3d and 4th rhyme to one another.

It is enough, enough of Time and Pain

aft thou consum'd in vain : Leave, wretched Cowley, learve, Thy self with Shadows to deceive. Think that already left which thou must never Guir. Cowl: The Stanzas of 7 Verses are frequent enough in our Poetry, especially among the Ancients, who compos'd many of their Poems in this sort of Stanza : See the Example of one of them taken from Spencer in The; Ruines of Time, where the inst and 3d Verses rhyme to one another, the ad, 4th and sth, and the 2 last.

But Fame with golden Wings aloft does fly

Above the Reach of ruinous Decay,
'And with brave Plumes does beat the Azure Sky,
Admir'd of base-born Men from far away :

Then whoso will with virtuous Deeds effay,
To mount to Heaven, on Pegasus must ride,
And in Sweet Posts Perse be glorify'd, T.

I have rather chosen to take notice of this Stanza, because that Poet and Chaucer have made use of it in many of their Poems, tho' they have not been follow'd in it by any of che Moderns; whose Stanzas of 7 Verses are generally compos'a as follows.

Either the Four first Verses are a Quadran in Alternate Rhyme, and the Three laft rhyme to one another; as,

Now by my Love, the greatest Oath that ug

None loves you half so well as I ;

I do not ask your Love for thes,
But for Heaven's Sake believe me, or I dye.

No Servant sure but did. deserve
His Mafter should believe that be did ferue;

And I'll ask no more Wages sho' I ftarve. Cowl. Or the Four first are Two Couplets, and the Three last a Trip let; as,

Indeed I must confess
When Souls mix'tis a Happiness,
But not compleat till Bodies too combine,
And closely as our Minds together jojn.
But Half of Heav'n the Souls in Glory tafte,

'Till by Love In Heav'n at last,
Their Bodies too are plac'd.

Cowl. Or, on the contrary, the Three first may rhyme, and the Four Jaft be in Rhymes that follow one another ; as,

From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free,
And all the Passions else that be,
In vain I boast of Liberty :
In vain this State a Freedom call,

Since I have Love; and Love us all,
Sot that I am! who think it fit to brag
That I have no Disease besides the Plague.

Cowl Or the ist may rhyme to the 2 last, the ad to the sth, and the 3d and 4th to one another ; as,

In vain thou drowsie God I thee invoke,

For thou who dost from Fumes arise,
Thou who Man's Seul do'st overshade
VVith a thick Cloud by Vapours made,
Canft have no Pow'r to shut his Eyes,

Or Pasage of his Spirits to choak,

VVhose Flame's so pure, that it sends up no Smoak, Cowl. Or lastly, the Four first and Two last may be in following Rhyme, and the sth a Blank Verse; as,

Thon

}

Thou robb'st my Days of Bus'ness and Delights

of sleep thou'robb'st my Nights.
Ab lovely Thief! whạt wilt thou do?

What, rob pre of Heav'n too!
Thou ev’n my Prayers dost from me steal,

And I with wild Idolatry
Begin to God, and end them all in thee,

Cowi. The Stanzas of , and of ni Syllables are not so frequent as those of s and of 7. Spencer has compos’d bis Fairy Ducen in Stanzas of 9 Verses, where the ift rhymes to the 3d, the ad to the 4th sth and 7th, and the 6th to the two last. But this Stanza is very difficult to maintain, and the unlucký Choice of it reduc'd him often to the Necessity of making use of many exploded Words: Nor has he, I think, been follow'd in it by any of the Moderns, whose 6 first Verses of the Stanzas thác consist of 9, are generally in Rhymes that follow one another; and the Three last a Triplet ; as,

Beauty, Love's Scense and Masquerade,
So well by well-plac'd Lights, and Distance made ;
False Coin! with which th’Impostor cheats us still,
The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill:

Which light or base we find, when we
Weigh by Enjoyment, and examine thee.

For tho' thy Being be but show,
'Tis chiefly Night which Men to theé allow,

"And chuse t’enjoy thee, when thon least art thost. Cowi. In the following Example the like Rhyme is observ'd, bui the Verses differ in Measure from che Former.

Beneath this gloomy Shade,
By Nature only for my Sorrows made,

I'll spend thus Voice in Cries;
In Tears I'll waste thefe Eyes;

By Love fo vainly fed:
Se Lust of old the Deluge punished.

Ab wretched Youth ! said I ;.
An wretched Youth ! the Fields and Floods reply.

Cowi. The Stanzas consisting of in Verses are yet less frequent than those of 9, and have nothing particular to be observ'd in them. Take an Example of one of them, where the 6 first are 3 Couplecs, the three next a Triplet, the two last a Couplet ; and where the 4th, the 7th, and the laft Verses ate of 10 Syllables cach, the others of 8.

1

3

de .

!

No, to what Purpose should I speak?
No, wretched Heart, swell till you break :

She cannot love me if he would,
And, to say Truth, 'twere Pity that she should.

No, to the Grave thy Sorrows bear,

As silent as they will be there ;
Since i hat lov’d Hand thus mortal Wound does give,

So handsomly the thing contrive,
That she may guiltless of it live :

So perish, that her killing thee
May a Chance-Medley, and 140 Murther be.

Cowl.

SE C T. VII.

Of Pindarick Odes, and Poems in Blank Verse.
THE

HE Stanzas of Pindarick Odes are neither confin'd to a

certain Number of Verses, nor the Verses to a certain Number of Syllables, nor the Rhyme to a certain Distance. Some Stanzas contain 5o Verses or more, others not above 10, and sometimes not so many: Some Verses 14, nay, 16 Syllables, others not above 4: Sometimes the Rhymes follow one another for several Couplets together, sometimes they are remov'd 6 Verses from each other; and all this in the same Stanza. Cowley was the first who introduc'd this sort of Poe. try into our Language : Nor can the Nature of it be better de. fcrib'd than as he bimself has done it, in one of the Stanzas of his Ode upon Liberty, which I will transcribe, not as an Example, for none can properly be given where no Rule can he prescrib’d, but to give an Idea of the Nature of this sort of Poetry.

If Life should a well-order'd Poem be,

In which he only hits the White,
Who joins true Profit with the best Delight;
The more Heroick Strain let others take,

Mine the Pindarick way I'll make:
The Matter shall be grave, the Numbers loose and free;
It shall not keep one settled Pace of Time,
In the same Tune it shall not always chime ,
Nor shall each Day just to his Neighbour rhyme.
A thoujand Liberties it shall dispence,
And yet Mall manage all without Offence,
Or to i be Sweetness of the Sound, oi Greatness of the Sense.