A Ballad is a rhyming record of some adventure or transaction which is amusing or interesting to the populace, and written in easy and uniform verse, so that it may easily be sung by those who have little acquaintance with music.

A Sonnet is a species of poetical composition, consisting of fourteen lines or verses of equal length. It properly consists of fourteen iambic verses, of eleven syllables, and is divided into two chief parts; the first consists of two divisions, each of four lines, called quatrains; the second of two divisions of three lines each, called terzines. The rhymes in these parts respectively were managed according to regular rules. But these rules have been seldom regarded in modern compositions. The sonnet generally contains one principal idea, pursued through the various antitheses of the different strophes, and adorned with the charm of rhyme.

Example of the Sonnet.

SONNET TO ONE BELOVED.

Deep in my heart thy cherished secret lies
Deep as a pearl on ocean's soundless floor,
Where the bold diver never can explore
The realms o'er which the mighty billows rise.
It rests far hidden from all mortal eyes,

Not e'en discovered when the piercing light
Of morn illumines the uncurtained skies,

And fills with sunshine the dark vaults of night.
Repose in me thy heart's most sacred trust,
And nothing shall betray it; I will bend

This human fabric to its native dust,

But nothing from me shall that secret rend,
Which to my soul is brighter, dearer far,
Than any lustre of sun, moon, or star.

A Cantata is a composition or song intermixed with recitatives and airs, chiefly intended for a single voice. A Canzonet is a short song in one, two, or three parts.*

Example.

BLACK EYES AND BLUE.

Black eyes most dazzle in a hall;
Blue eyes most please at evening fall;
The black a conquest soonest gain;
The blue a conquest most retain;

*In musical compositions, a song consisting of two parts is called a Duet, if in three parts, a Trio, if in four, a Quartette, &c.

The black bespeaks a lively heart,
Whose soft emotions soon depart;
The blue a steadier flame betray,
That burns and lives beyond a day;
The black may features best disclose;
In blue may feelings all repose.
Then let each reign without control,

The black all MIND, -the blue all SOUL!

A Logogriph is a kind of riddle.

Charades (which are frequently in verse) are compositions, in which the subject must be a word of two syllables, each forming a distinct word, and these syllables are to be concealed in an enigmatical description, first separately and then together.

Madrigals are short lyric poems adapted to express ingenious and pleasing thoughts, commonly on amatory subjects, and containing not less than four, nor more than sixteen verses, of eleven syllables, with shorter verses interspersed, or of verses of eight syllables irregularly rhymed. The madrigal is not confined to the regularity of the sonnet, but contains some tender and delicate, though simple thought, suitably expressed.

Example of the Madrigal.

TO A LADY OF THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER, WITH A WHITE ROSE.

If this fair rose offend thy sight,

It in thy bosom wear;

'T will blush to find itself less white,
And turn Lancastrian there.

The Rondeau or rondo, roundo, roundel or roundelay, all mean precisely the same thing. It commonly consists of thirteen lines or verses, of which eight have one rhyme, and five another. It is divided into three couplets, and at the end of the second and third, the beginning of the rondeau is repeated, if possible, in an equivocal or punning sense.

The Epigram is a short poem, treating only of one thing, and ending with some lively, ingenious, and natural thought, rendered interesting by being unexpected. Conciseness is one of the principal characteristics of the epigram. Its point often rests on a witticism or verbal pun; but the higher species of the epigram should be marked by fineness and delicacy, rather than by smartness or repartee.

Example.

WRITTEN ON A GLASS WITH A DIAMOND PENCIL BELONGING TO LORD STANHOPE. Accept a miracle in place of wit;

See two dull lines by Stanhope's pencil writ.

An Impromptu is an extemporaneous composition, that is, one made at the moment, or without previous study.

An Acrostic is a composition in verse, in which the initial letters of each line, taken in order from the top to the bottom, make up a word or phrase, generally a person's name, or a

motto.

Example of the Acrostic.

Friendship, thou 'rt false! I hate thy flattering smile!
Return to me those years I spent in vain.
In early youth the victim of thy guile,
Each joy took wing ne'er to return again,-
N e'er to return; for, chilled by hopes deceived,
Dully the slow paced hours now move along;
So changed the time, when, thoughtless, I believed
Her honeyed words, and heard her syren song.
If e'er, as me, she lure some youth to stray,
Perhaps, before too late, he'll listen to my lay.

An Epithalamium is a nuptial song or poem, in praise of the bride and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity.*

LXXVIII.

PASTORAL AND ELEGIAC POETRY.

Pastorals or bucolics are the narratives, songs, and dramas, which are supposed to have been recited, sung, or acted by shepherds.

The ancient pastorals were either dialogues or monologues. A monologue is a poetical piece, where there is only a single speaker.

* The forty-fifth Psalm is an epithalamium to Christ and the Church,

An Idyl, Idillion or Idyllium is a short pastoral of the narrative or descriptive kind.

An Eclogue is the conversation of shepherds. The word literally means a select piece, and the art of the poet lies in selecting the beauties without the grossness of rural life. The eclogue differs from the idyl, in being appropriated to pieces in which shepherds themselves are introduced.

ELEGY AND EPITAPH.

An Elegy is a poem or a song expressive of sorrow and lamentation

An Epitaph is, literally, an inscription on a tomb. When written in verse, and expressive of the sorrow of the survivors, epitaphs are short elegies.*

The following remarks on the subject of epitaphs, were originally presented by a young friend, as a college exercise. They appear to be so much to the purpose, that they are presented entire :

"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.'

"One common fault in epitaphs is their too great length. Not being easily read upon stone, few trouble themselves to peruse them, if they are long; and in a churchyard so many solicit our attention, that we prefer to examine those which are concise, rather than spend our time on a few long ones. Every one, too, soon discovers, that those which cover the stones on which they are inscribed, are, for the most part, feebly expressed, and hardly recompense one for the trouble of deciphering them; while a concise inscription immediately attracts notice, and is generally found to be pointed. We can frequently perceive the description of character to be untrue, because it is coldly worded, and expressed in very general terms; in short, a character which would apply to one man as well as another, and such as is frequently given to a person whom we care nothing about. Such epitaphs I consider faulty. After the death of an acquaintance, all our feelings of dislike, caused by his presence, are dispelled; all the animosity, growing out of the clashing of our interests with his, vanishes with the man; and, perhaps, being in some degree reproved by our consciences for our uncharitable feelings during his life, we endeavor to make amends by inscribing to his memory a eulogy, which, if he still lived, we should pronounce undeserved flattery, if spoken by others, and which would never have proceeded from our own lips, except in irony. In such a case, an epitaph usually begins by gravely telling the reader that we are all mortal, and ends by commending the soul of the defunct to heaven!

But, though epitaphs give us, generally, exaggerated characters, yet I would not have it otherwise. Our churchyards should be schools of morality and religion. Every thing we see there, of course, reminds us of death; and it would appear to us sacrilege, if we should behold any record of vice. Since everywhere we find virtue ascribed to the tenants of the place, their death, and death in general, will not be to us so terrible and gloomy a subject of reflection; yet will produce such a serious turn of mind, as will lead to religious meditation, which always has the effect of calming the passions,

Example.

ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day;

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea;
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds;
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.

Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower,
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.

and facilitates, in a great degree, our conquest over them, and the infrequency of which is the cause of most of our transgressions.

"Eulogizing epitaphs give us a more exalted idea of the power of religion, to which they chiefly have reference; and therefore have, in some measure, the force of examples. When a person has not been known to the world as a philosopher and a scholar, or in any other way a distinguished man, it is sufficient that his epitaph should be calculated to excite tender and serious feelings. In such a case, elegiac poetry should be congenial to those feelings. This, Stewart says, may be effected by the smoothness of the verse, and the apparently easy recurrence of the rhymes. Blank verse would be peculiarly inappropriate to this species of poetical composition. When, on the other hand, a person has been conspicuous, as a philosopher, for instance, his epitaph should convey a different lesson; by a description of his discoveries, it should remind us of what is due from us to science and our fellowcreatures, besides suggesting the reflection that the greatest men must perish. "Considering this quality desirable in an epitaph on a philosopher, we should praise an epitaph on Newton, which represented him as the greatest philosopher the world has ever seen, and is expressive also of the gratitude which is due to him, for the improvement he has made in the condition of the human race by his discoveries. I think that the above epitaph, by Pope, conveys all this; for the observation, that Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night,' implies that information on the subject of those laws would be beneficial to mankind, inasmuch as an idea of disadvantage is associated with the word 'night' and the second line expresses that Newton alone made the whole subject clear to our minds; an exaggerated expression, but one that certainly describes an exalted genius. I do not think, that the epitaph redounds much to the honor of Pope, except for the felicity of the expression; for the idea would occur to many minds. We should not, in judging of this couplet, consider it alone, for, united with the rest of the epitaph, of which it is but a part, the whole together deserves much greater praise than is due to either part taken separately. A complete eulogy on Newton should not be expected in the inscription on his tomb, and therefore we should not consider its merits in that character. I think that the conciseness of the epitaph, which is a great recommendation, will compensate and account for whatever defect it may have in giving us a just and exact

idea of Newton."