ize of beauty still hath joined been,
And that for reason's special privitie;
For either doth on other much rely.
For he meseems most fit the fair to serve
That can her best defend from villanie;
And she most fit his service doth deserve,
That fairest is, and from her faith will never swerve.--SPENSER.

Childe Harold and other important poems are composed in the Spenserian
stanza.

14. _Service metre._--Couplets of seven measures, x a. This is the common
metre of the Psalm versions. It is also called common measure, or long
measure. In this metre there is always a pause after the fourth measure,
and many grammarians consider that with that pause the line ends. According
to this view, the service metre does not consist of two long lines with
seven measures each; but of four short ones, with four and three measures
each alternately. The Psalm versions are printed so as to exhibit this
pause or break.

The Lord descended from above, | and bow'd the heavens most high,
And underneath his feet He cast | the darkness of the sky.
On Cherubs and on Seraphim | full royally He rode,
And on the wings of mighty winds | came flying all abroad.
STERNHOLD AND HOPKINS.

In this matter the following distinction is convenient. When the last
syllable of the fourth measure (i.e. the eighth syllable in the line) in
the one verse _rhymes_ with the corresponding syllable in the other, the
long verse should be looked upon as broken up into two short ones; in other
words, the couplets should be dealt with as a stanza. Where there is no
rhyme except at the seventh measure, the verse should remain undivided.
Thus:

Turn, gentle hermit of the glen, | and guide thy lonely way
To where yon taper cheers the vale | with hospitable ray--

constitute a single couplet of two lines, the number of rhymes being two.
But,

Turn, gentle hermit of the dale,
And guide thy lonely way
To where yon taper cheers the vale
With hospitable ray--(GOLDSMITH)

constitute a stanza of four lines, the number of rhymes being four.

15. _Ballad stanza._--Service metre broken up in the way just indicated.
Goldsmith's Edwin and Angelina, &c.

16. _Poulterer's measure._--Alexandrines and service metre alternately.
Found in the poetry of Henry the Eighth's time.

* * * * *

PART VII.

THE DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

s. 541. Certain