The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1916-10-12
VERSE STUDIES No. 2
Constructive Lessons In Verse
The Foot-Continued.
By Beau Esprita


THE TROCHEE, or TROCHAIC FOOT
In the spring fuller crimson comes up on the
ro bins breast
In the spring the wanton lap wing gets him
self an other crest
Tennyson, Locksly Hall.
This selection from Tennyson, like the exam
Piles of Iambic measure that we examined last week.
falls into regular succession of accented and unac-
cented syables divided into groups or feet of two
syllabes each but it will be noticed on careful read
ing that, unlike the previous quotation in this selec-
ton it is the syllable that is accented the sec
Ond syllable being unaccented. Thus it is Just the
of the Iambus. The definition of a Trochee
Trocha:c foot, then is just the Of the def
milton Of the 1ambus or Iambic foot
Deinitior:-A foot of two sylIabes, the
first of which is accented, the second unac
cented, is Trochee, Trochac Foot.
The frequent Use of the Trochee like that of
the Iambus is to the peculiar structure of the
English language which permits moot words and
phrases to be divided into alternate accented and
unaccented syilables. A large number of English
words accented on more than one syllable as
kindergarten, lattudinarian legislature, furthermore
ETC.; and many take sufixes that may or may
be accented. according to their use and position
in the sentence.
The reader will have noticed that in the quota
ton from TennysOn included above, the eighth and
last foot in each line is one syllable short This
practice of dropping one more syllables from the
final foot of line is often resorted to by poets to
lend variety to the verse, or, in this instance to
give emphasis and dignity. The foot Tennyson here
uses ends with unaccented syllable which gives
sofness to the we'll suited to the love theme
upon which the poem is based. But Tennyson also
wanted the reader to get of fullness of COM
peteness Of dignity with the turning of each COUP
let. TO have retained the soft unaccented sylla-
BILE at the end of the final foot would have made the
final foot exactly equal to those preceding it in the
line, in softness and smoothness of reading There
fore the poet dropped the final unaccented syllable
making the line end accented syllable which
the reader nstinctivey proongs, thus rounding out
the full measure of the verse with strength and Dig
nifty
Detniton:-A line which drops the final
syllable or syllables is Catalectic line.
Following are a few examples of the Trochee
Trochaic Foot
Give me of your-boughs, O Cedar
Of your strong and plant branches
-LoDgfellow, Song OF Hiawatha.
Two fair maid ems in a swing
rlTst Ue lore my vision pass
-Longfellow, The Rope Walk.
Notice that the above lines are Catalectic
All, dis tnct ly 1 re mem Der, it was
in the bleak De cember
Poe, The Raven.
Men of thought! be up. and stirring,
Charles Mackay, Clear The Way
In using the Trochac Foot there is one fault
against which the beginner cannot be too much on
his gaurd; in fact it is fault too often met with in
Trochaic by poets who should know better
DO NOT USE A WORD AT THE BEGINNING
ON WHICH THE SENSE SENTENCE DOES NOT
CLEARLY REQUIRE AN ACCENT.
This caution may perhaps be emphasized by the
of Horrible example,
Longfeow, who. according to Poe. revealed
the true limitations of his poetic ability in his will
ngness to publish poems that fairly bristled with
faults of construction uses Trochees in his Psalm
OF Life" and the very first stanza is faulty
Tell me not, in mourn full numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!'-
For the soul is dead that slumbers
And things are not what they seem,-
Try to read this aloud and see how awkward the
final line sounds, with the accent on 'And'
Here Longfellow has truly poetic idea, an
idea in majestic simplicity verging the sublime
In the hands of master it would have been immor-
tazed. Even Longfellow. at his best. could have
made great poem of it. But he content to
publish it, faults and ALL because of the few really
good lines it contained vainly believing that, be-
cause the idea great, and of the stanzas
good, he could twist the English language out Of all
izah 10 form md no A.,