emselves sufficient to
place him in the highest order of Noble Authors. "But supposing," he
continues, "our countrymen had not received this writing till of late,
shall we oppose ourselves to the most polished and civilized nations of
Europe? * * * All the Spanish and Italian tragedies I have yet seen are
writ in rhyme. * * * Shakspeare (who, with some errors not to be avoided
in that age, _had undoubtedly a larger soul of poesy than ever any of
our nation_,) was the first who, to shun the pains of continual rhyming,
invented that kind of writing which we call blank verse, but the French
more properly _prose mesuree_; into which the English tongue so
naturally glides, that in writing prose it is hardly to be avoided."
Here again, it is hardly indeed worth while to remark, is another
mistake; Marlow and several other dramatists having used blank verse
(but how inferior to the divine man's!) before Shakspeare. Coleridge
somewhere quotes a verse or two forming itself in prose composition as a
rarity and a fault; but, though it had better perhaps be avoided, and
though its frequent recurrence would be offensive, yet, when words in
their natural order do form a verse, it might be difficult to give a
good reason why they may not be permitted to do so, more especially if
they are not felt to be a verse insulated among the circumfluent prose.
From the very best prose we could pick out thousands of single verses,
which are to be found only when you seek for them; and not from rich
prose only like Coleridge's own or Jeremy Taylor's, but from the
poorest, like Dr Blair's or Gerald's of Aberdeen. Dryden says he cannot
"but admire how some men should perpetually stumble in a way so
easy"--that is, as blank verse--"into which the English tongue so
naturally glides," and should strive to attain it by inverting the order
of the words, to make the "blanks" sound more heroically--as, for
example, instead of "Sir, I ask your pardon," "Sir, I your pardon ask."
And adds--"I should judge him to have little command of English, when
the necessity of a rhyme should force often upon this rock; though
sometimes it cannot easily be avoided; _and, indeed, this is the only
inconvenience with which rhyme can be charged_." In this lively style
does he pursue his argument in favour of rhyme. For this it is which
makes its adversaries say _rhyme is not natural_! But the fault lies
with the poet who is not master of his art, and either makes a vicious
cho