The e in lisped must be sounded here.

And thou art false, I tell thee utterly,

For par amour I loved hire first or thou.

The e in loved is not sounded in this verse.

Es at the end of a word, as in armes, Athenes, nedes, constitutes a separate syllable, or not, at the caprice of the poet.

And therefore at the kinges court, my brother,
Eche man for himself, ther is non other.

We strive, as did the houndes for the bone.

So feble were his spirites, and so low,
And changed so, that no man coude know
His speche ne his vois, though men it herd.

The e is sounded in kinges and in houndes, but not in spirites.

Chaucer frequently accents words of French origin on the final syllable. French dissyllables he accents, according to the measure, on the first or on the second syllable. But he often takes the same liberty with pure Saxon words.

O dere cosin Palamon, quod he,
Thin is the victorie in this aventúre.

Ther as he might his vértues exercise.

Of whiche vertue engendred is the flour.

Let us gon

With thise three teines (1) which that we han wrought,

(1) Narrow thin plates of metal.

To some goldsmith, and wete if they ben ought.
Unto the goldsmith with thise teines three

They went anon.

We have now to consider the four different kinds of English verse, iambic, trochaic, anapæstic, and dactylic.

English poets have written iambic verses of different lengths, from verses composed of a single foot, which are used especially in light and familiar poetry, to verses of seven, and even eight feet.

The following specimen of iambic verses of one foot is taken from Herrick.

UPON HIS DEPARTURE HENCE

Thus í

Pass bý,

And die,

As óne

Unknown

And gone :

I'm máde

A sháde,
And láid

I'th' gráve,
There have

My cáve :

Where téll
I dwéll,
Farewell.

ON THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH VERSE

29

Iambic verses of one foot and an additional unaccented syllable are sometimes mixed with longer verses, as in the following example.

THE SNAIL

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,

The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all

Together.

Within that house secure he hides,
When danger imminent betides
Of storm, or other harm besides

Of weather.

Give but his horns the slightest touch,
His self-collecting power is such,
He shrinks into his house with much

Displeasure.

Where'er he dwells, he dwells alone,

Except himself has chattels none,
Well satisfied to be his own

Whole treasure.

Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,
Nor partner of his banquet needs,

And if he meets one, only feeds

The fast er.

Who seeks him must be worse than blind
(He and his house are so combined),

If, finding it, he fails to find

Its mást er.

COWPER (translated from the Latin of Vincent BOURNE).

This iambus with an unaccented syllable added to it may be considered as a foot of three syllables; in that

case,

Together
Of weather
Displeasure
The faster

Ils máster

are so many amphibrachs; and the line whole treasure, composed of a spondee with an unaccented syllable added to it, is an antibacchius.

Here is an example of iambic verses of two feet:

Iambic verses of two feet with an additional unaccented syllable are sometimes used in short poems. In the former of the two examples which follow, two such verses are enclosed between two iambic verses of three feet; and, in the latter, three verses of the same measure are followed by an iambic verse of two feet.

Up, sailor boy, 'tis day
The west wind blów|ing,