The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-02-09

Shakespeare Again,
Mn, EplToR-In your edition Of last Sat
urlay YOU publish asecond article from "a
Member Of the Club. protessodly ~ part
to cOni0te certain points contained IN my
la,t Dapcr on tho above subject, and in ut
tCln6tinr To do so he assumes premises not
warranted by correct reading Of my Artl'
Gle,
would respectfully submit to the "Mem'
berp that dissent Ia not rGfutatlOn, nor Is
nm unfair presentation Of ILLS OppOnents po'
,itiou worthy Of hiS abilities but am
rather inclined to conclude that he misuni
,iCrstOod me- HiERrtiOlc, however, ID cal.
culatc,l TO nislOad the reader md perhaps
himself. In consideration OF this ] wish 70
answer him, ,at .,5.4,N
As intend this article shall cOnelud6my
mart in any further discussion Of the sub
Irct, yOu will please indulge me In trCspas'
sing ON your space somewhat Mt length, hut
will BIZ Us brief rs the points involved will
admit VI, ,y.,
quoted by ~. G. A." and myself are other
than gentTdI We did not Glaim that they
were Invariably imperative, but "MembuR,s
appears to write ON this hypothesis, and
naturally produces confusion In the
IIe does not think that the ann.
pest or "trlplet" eOuld be applied
10 certain lines which he rGcites,
which / will presently reproduce. It was
claimed In my previous article that ths
Ntriplct and "COmpreSsiSn" were often use
full, md illustrations were given OF the
same. would say here, and hope to be
fully understood, that they are mol to DO
used when II line has only the proper
amount Of syllables In it, AS | said plainly
in my former paper, they are only required
sinvly or collectively where line has In II
a surplus words or SyllablCs.
will now give his illustrations OF In
stances where he says the "tripleP or
nnOpCst cannot be applied. do not
wonder NJ his nmaSGmGnt ut tho as
sumed contemplated attempt to apply
them to tho lines below, but am amazed
that he should nsk mo to attempt They
do not require II; the lines are OF Legitimate
rhythmic length, and oppose no !! ilheulty
whatever In tho reading ot them. by shitt'
ing the ncuGnt from one word or syllable 70,
another when required, as Is done through
the whole round OF verse; no matter what
author the point Is ut once edsily accom-
plhhp,l. will cite the lines, aud will nc
cont them as | think any good feiI'ler
would accent them. They are nll MI Ike, ana
ii course ARE 10 be accented oil ke, changing
the accent from the second to the first sylla'
bic. have, for perpicnlty, inserted the
hyphen, thus dividing the word, anu nave
ifanspOsed the acCeut from the Sec0nu 10
the first syllable, which Indicate by italics
These are the lines lie quotes;
"Illcu III. Act I. Scene ILL.,"
Edward thy On, that now Is Prince Of Wales,
oRii-ers and Dorset, you were standing by."-i6M,
sCBNE ~. Hiu|
"Eu.rIng the wars Of York Nnd Lancaster"
"Itiy.Cs Of gold, great anchors, heaps Of pearl"
This liberty Of accent, when difficulties
occur, Is recognized and accepted by oil
good readers and US above, makes the lines
as smooth as they are Glegant. -, d.,
will now give him ("Member') iur'
ther illustration OF the .triplct," as he ap'
penrs to have misunderstood inc. The
'trlplet" Is itAliciSed, and must be read IN
the time Of one foot or two SyllableSs
MACBETH. Act ". Scene Ill.
,tl speak not as 10 absolute fear Of thee"
Tho reader will sec ut a glance there Is n
surplus syllable In the line Just quoted MOI
re1uired by The iambic verse, but which is
jndispehsl6la for the vigbr and beauty Of
thc lfnc, Here tho "triplae' may be USED
With manifest advantage. There are count.
loss instances In Shakespeare and Others
where II may be happily introduced, but
there are cases where the peculia StEiCtu lure
Of the yerse will not admit oft, oVen when
thc lines do overflow In syllable or verbal
length, Other methods which are Of recog'
nized excellence must be rOsorted 10, which
would make this communication unduly
long to fully consider.
Further on "Membor" says; III car
easily understand, however, that 1t may be
held good taste to change the accent Of Ger
tain words, when the change has received
the sanction Of usage and been indorseI y,
the custom Of notable readers and actors
vet | Atn unwilling 10 hear the rule ialt
down that this Is the only correct way
II understand the concluding sentendI
rightly, II affirmg that there arc more "cor
rcrt 'ways than one 10 read II 80, how
mnny2 That there ore many ways 10 U!
anything IL admitted, but among them nj
there ia still one certain way more preferred
than any other way, and u Is OF colirS
solely the tiCorreCt" way. There cannot b.
ir0 dCOrtcCp ways Of recalling.
"Membern thinks the custom Of chang
Ing the pronunciation Of certain word
would be itmofe honored IN the breach TIM
the ohserVanre,D Aud further on he says
at has not been the habit OF readers
Milton 10 make changes Of accent IN word
Of we'll known pronunciation 10 help then
selves over certain rugged spots which u
has been pleased 10 leave in his immortd
poem" Nv. 49,.
have In my possession Hvefy curret
copy Of Milton tnhere such rAIngeS 20 occu
notwithstanding gMCmbOr's" positive a
sertion TO the contrary: and tho reader
not left at liberty to depart from IT. ns ~
0inaeclton" mark or accent Is printed
ne bo0kl Twill Just for the nouce give Oh
example which will fully answer the pu
pose ..-, ,t
''And cloudy in aspect thus answering sake"
tits readily conceded that shCh change
are rare in Milton, but when they do oCct
they must DO treated as they are treated !
other authors. Tie poem from which y
above IL taken has been pron9unced "
most correct verse IN tie English langtlAg
but Il must not he forgotten that Mllto
had the blazing light Of the great. oxatnpl,
Of the EliEabethean age to enablC him
bring his verse 10 4 still more artist Tic fms
than theirs. Maflowe, JoDsop, Shakespeai
and others prepared an admirable bAae Q
which to raise even q more artistic strnctui
a, 10 smootbness and elegance, which MI
ton has nObly done. m 49, ~
lie cites another line from Milton, au
asks II We are to change the pronnnCiatic
Of the last wotd3 TO which ! emphatical
say no, by no means AL II wants 10 u
proper scanning, as t6llows;Ff nv
PARADISE Losr''-BooE I.
"Bs4LStbab. To whom the arthenOuiyf 4
The word 'enemy" comes under the ri
Of the "triplet" three eyllAblea eOmpre Z
IN the time d two, d. there Is a ,sntblt
,.ylablc in the line, Milton himself maxi
IoaF 'yllablea Of the word BeelSebub ny Y
lection marks. lditf 2iWBllI III
think In all difference to Member
This Il the proper way 70 read the line. 4