e of silken white,
That shadowy in the moonlight shone:
The neck that made that white robe wan,
Her stately neck and arms were bare:
Her blue-vein'd feet unsandall'd were;
And wildly glitter'd, here and there,
The gems entangled in her hair.
I guess 'twas _frightful_ there to see
_A lady so richly clad as she--
Beautiful exceedingly._

The principle of Variety in Uniformity is here worked out in a style
'beyond the reach of art'. Everything is diversified according to the
demand of the moment, of the sounds, the sights, the emotions; the
very uniformity of the outline is gently varied; and yet we feel that
_the whole is one and of the same character_, the single and sweet
unconsciousness of the heroine making all the rest seem more
conscious, and ghastly, and expectant. It is thus that _versification
itself becomes part of the sentiment of a poem_, and vindicates the
pains that have been taken to show its importance. I know of no very
fine versification unaccompanied with fine poetry; no poetry of a mean
order accompanied with verse of the highest.

As to Rhyme, which might be thought too insignificant to mention, it
is not at all so. The universal consent of modern Europe, and of the
East in all ages, has made it one of the musical beauties of verse for
all poetry but epic and dramatic, and even for the former with
Southern Europe,--a sustainment for the enthusiasm, and a demand to
enjoy. The mastery of it consists in never writing it for its own
sake, or at least never appearing to do so; in knowing how to vary
it, to give it novelty, to render it more or less strong, to divide
it (when not in couplets) at the proper intervals, to repeat it many
times where luxury or animal spirits demand it (see an instance in
Titania's speech to the Fairies), to impress an affecting or startling
remark with it, and to make it, in comic poetry, a new and surprising
addition to the jest.

Large was his bounty and his soul sincere,
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send;
He gave to misery all he had, _a tear_;
He gain'd from heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) _a friend_.

Gray's _Elegy_.

The fops are proud of scandal; for they cry
At every lewd, low character, 'That's _I_'.

Dryden's _Prologue to the Pilgrim_.

What makes all doctrines plain and clear?
_About two hundred pounds a-year._