The measure of twelve syllables has been employed by one eminent and true poet in the composition of a work of importance. The "Polyolbian" of Drayton is here alluded to. As in the case of other verses of an even number of syllables, the regular alternation of short and long seems most suitable to lines of twelve. Drayton thought so, as the following brief extract descriptive of Robin Hood will show:—
"Then, taking them to rest, his merry men and he Slept many a summer's night beneath the greenwood tree. From wealthy abbots' chests, and churls' abundant store, What oftentimes he took he shared among the poor; No lordly bishop came in lusty Robin's way, To him before he went, but for his pass must pay; The widow in distress he graciously relieved, And remedied the wrongs of many a virgin grieved."
It is superfluous to dwell on accentuation or pauses here, the line being commonly divided into two even parts, or, in truth, two six-syllabled lines. The rhythm, however, is often arranged differently in lyrics, as the first lines of some of those of Moore will evince:—
"As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow." "We may roam through this world like a child at a feast." "Like the bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane."
In these instances, two short syllables and a long one occur in alternation throughout the twelve. Moore has given other varieties of this measure, as—
"Through grief and through danger, thy smile hath cheer'd my way;"
but these are merely capriccios to suit certain music, and need not occupy our time here. The same poet has even a line of thirteen syllables.[27]
"At the mid-hour of night, when stars are weeping I fly."
This measure is a most awkward one, certainly. The line of fourteen syllables is more natural, and was used in at least one long piece called "Albion's England," by Thomas Warner, a rhymer of the sixteenth century. A maid is advised whom to love in these terms:—
"The ploughman's labour hath no end, and he a churl will prove; The craftsman hath more work on hand than fitteth one to love; The merchant trafficking abroad, suspects his wife at home; A youth will play the wanton, and an old will play the mome: Then choose a shepherd."
This is but the lumbering dodecasyllabic verse rendered more lumbering still by two fresh feet, it will be generally allowed. In fact, these lines of twelve and fourteen feet have only been used effectually as "Alexandrines," or single lines introduced to wind up, or heighten the force of passages, in the heroic or the octosyllabic measure. Pope ridicules this practice, though it was a favourite one with Dryden:—