nds still, that _one is no number_;
and that, "to talk of the _singular number_ is absurd--a contradiction in
terms;"--because, "in common discourse," a "_number_" is "always a
_plurality_, except"--when it is "_number one_!"--See _Grammatical
Structure of the E. Language_, Sec.33. Some prosodists have taught the
absurdity, that two feet are necessary to constitute _a metre_, and have
accordingly applied the terms, _monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter,
pentameter_, and _hexameter_,--or so many of them as they _could so
misapply_,--in a sense very different from the usual acceptation. The
proper principle is, that, "One foot constitutes a metre."--_Dr. P.
Wilson's Greek Prosody_, p. 53. And verses are to be denominated
_Monometer, Dimeter, Trimeter_, &c., according to "THE NUMBER OF
FEET."--See _ib._ p. 6. But Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary
has the following not very consistent explanations: "MONOMETER, _n._ One
metre. _Beck_. DIMETER, _n._ A poetic measure of _four feet_; a _series of
two_ meters. _Beck_. TRIMETER, _a_. Consisting of three poetical
_measures_, forming an _iambic_ of _six feet_. _Tyrwhitt_. TETRAMETER, _n._
A Latin or Greek verse consisting of _four feet_; a series of four metres.
TETRAMETER, _a_. Having _four_ metrical _feet_. _Tyrwhitt_. PENTAMETER,
_n._ A Greek or Latin verse of _five feet_; a series of five metres.
PENTAMETER, _a_. Having _five_ metrical _feet_. _Warton_. HEXAMETER, _n._ A
verse or line of poetry, having _six feet_, either dactyls or spondees; the
heroic, and most important, verse among the Greeks and Romans;--a
rhythmical series of six metres. HEXAMETER, _a_. Having _six_ metrical
_feet_. _Dr. Warton_." According to these definitions, Dimeter has as many
feet as Tetrameter; and Trimeter has as many as Hexameter!

[487] It is common, at any rate, for prosodists to speak of "the _movement_
of the voice," as do Sheridan, Murray, Humphrey, and Everett; but Kames, in
treating of the Beauty of Language from Resemblance, says "There is _no
resemblance_ of sound to motion, nor of sound to sentiment."--_Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 63. This usage, however, is admitted by the critic,
had cited to show how, "causes that have no resemblance may produce
resembling effects."--_Ib._ 64. "By a number of syllables in succession, an
emotion is sometimes raised extremely similar to that raised by successive
motion: which may be evident even to those who are defective in taste,