eading, _so far as the rhythm is concerned_--that is to say, if we pay no
attention to the _sense_ of the passage. But these facts indicate _a
radical difference_ in the genius of the two languages, as regards their
capacity for modulation. In truth, * * * the Latin is a far more _stately_
tongue than our own. It is essentially spondaic; the English is as
essentially dactylic."--_Pioneer_, p. 110. (See the marginal note in Sec.3d.
at Obs. 22d, above.) Notwithstanding this difference, discrepance, or
difficulty, whatever it may be, some of our poets have, in a few instances,
attempted imitations of certain Latin metres; which imitations it may be
proper briefly to notice under the present head. The Greek or Latin
Hexameter line has, of course, six feet, or pulsations. According to the
Prosodies, the first four of these may be either dactyls or spondees; the
fifth is always, or nearly always, a dactyl; and the sixth, or last, is
always a spondee: as,

"L=ud~er~e | qu=ae v=el | -l=em c~al~a | -m=o p=er | -m=is~it ~a
| -gr=est=i."--_Virg._

"Inf=an- | d=um, R=e | -g=in~a, j~u | -b=es r~en~o | -v=ar~e d~o
| -l=or=em."--_Id._

Of this sort of verse, in English, somebody has framed the following very
fair example:--

"M=an ~is ~a | c=ompl=ex, | c=omp=ound | c=omp=ost, | y=et ~is h~e
| G=od-b=orn."

OBS. 7.--Of this species of versification, which may be called Mixed or
Composite Hexameter, the most considerable specimen that I have seen in
English, is Longfellow's Evangeline, a poem of one thousand three hundred
and eighty-two of these long lines, or verses. This work has found
admirers, and not a few; for, of these, nothing written by so distinguished
a scholar could fail: but, surely, not many of the verses in question
exhibit truly the feet of the ancient Hexameters; or, if they do, the
ancients contented themselves with very imperfect rhythms, even in their
noblest heroics. In short, I incline to the opinion of Poe, that, "Nothing
less than the deservedly high reputation of Professor Longfellow, could
have sufficed to give currency to his lines as to Greek Hexameters. In
general, they are neither one thing nor another. Some few of them are
dactylic verses--English dactylics. But do away with the division into
lines, and the most astute critic would nev