_Júst as you léft them | áll prísoners, sír._ Shak. Temp. V. i. 8.
_Mórning, évening, | nóon and night Práise Gód, | sang Théocríte._ R. Browning, ii. 158.
This licence is of frequent occurrence in even-beat measures.
§ =87.= Another metrical peculiarity caused by the influence of the rhythm is the =lengthening= of a word by the introduction of an unaccented extra syllable, commonly an _e_, to supply a thesis lacking between two accented syllables.
This occurs in Middle English and in Modern English poetry also. (i) In disyllabic words, commonly those with a first syllable ending with a mute, the second beginning with a liquid, e.g.:
_Of Éng(e)lónd | to Cáunterbúry they wénde._ Chauc. Prol. 16.
_If yóu will tárry, | hóly píl(e)grím_. Shakesp. All's Well, III. v. 43.
(ii) In Modern English poetry only in certain monosyllabic words ending in _r_ or _re_, preceded by a diphthong, as e.g. in _our_, _hour_, _fire_, &c., e.g.:
_So dóth he féel | his fíre mánifóld._ Wyatt, 205.
This peculiarity will be mentioned again in the next chapter.
§ =88.= Another deviation from the regular iambic line is the =inversion of the rhythm=; i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus at the beginning of a line or after the caesura. The rhythmical effect of this licence has some resemblance to that of the suppression of anacrusis. In both cases the rhythmic accent has to yield to the word-accent. But while in the latter case the whole verse becomes trochaic in consequence of the omission of the first syllable, in the former the trochaic cadence affects one foot only (generally the first), the rest of the verse being of a regular iambic rhythm. Hence the number of syllables in each line is the same as that in all the other regular lines (including those with level stress), whereas verses with suppressed anacrusis may easily be distinguished from the former by their smaller number of syllables. On the other hand, the number of syllables (being the same in both cases) affords no help in distinguishing between change of word-accent and inversion of rhythm. Which of these two kinds of licence is to be recognized in any particular case can be determined only by the position which the abnormal foot occupies in the line. Inversion of rhythm (i.e. the substitution of a trochee for an iambus) occurs, as a rule, only at the beginning of a line or hemistich, where the flow of the rhythm has not begun, so that the introduction of a trochee does not disturb it. If, therefore, the discord between normal word-stress and iambic rhythm occurs in any other position in the line, it must be regarded as a case of level stress.