It is necessary only to refer, for sight, to the stanza on
"the moving Moon" at the bottom of page 267; for hearing, to the
supernatural stanzas on page 271; and, for touch, to the line -
"And still my body drank."
ROSE AYLMER
Never was a human name more exquisitely sung than in these perfect
stanzas.
THE ISLES OF GREECE
One really fine and poetic stanza--of course, the third; three
stanzas that are good eloquence--the fourth, fifth, and seventh;
and one that is a fair bit of argument--the tenth--may together
perhaps carry the rest.
HELLAS
The profounder spirit of Shelley's poem yet leaves it a careless
piece of work in comparison with Byron's. The two false rhymes at
the outset may not be of great importance, but there is something
annoying in the dissyllabic rhymes of the second stanza.
Dissyllabic rhymes are beautiful and enriching when they fall in
the right place; that is, where there is a pause for the second
little syllable to stand. For example, they could not be better
placed than they would have been at the end of the shorter lines of
this same stanza, where they would have dropped into a part of the
pause. Another sin of sheer heedlessness--the lapse of grammar in
The Skylark, at the top of page 296 (With thy clear keen joyance)--
will remind the reader of the special habitual error of Drummond of
Hawthornden.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58