Journeys Through Bookland, Volume 7 | Page 6

at the ends of the lines.
Read the other stanzas carefully, throwing the accent prominently on
the first syllable of each foot.

When you read to bring out the meter of a poem you are said to be
scanning it. When you are in the habit of scanning poetry you will find
that you can do it very nicely and without spoiling the sound. At first
you will probably accent the syllables too strongly, and then people
will say that you are reading in a sing-song way, a thing to be avoided.
Of course you will understand that the only way to bring out the meter
of a poem is to read it aloud, but after you have become familiar with
the various meters and have read aloud a great deal, you will be
conscious of the rhythm when you read to yourself. It is this
consciousness of rhythm that gives much of the enjoyment to those
who love poetry, even when they do not read it aloud.

BOAT SONG
From LADY OF THE LAKE
By SIR WALTER SCOTT
Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! Honored and blest be the
evergreen pine! Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, Flourish,
the shelter and grace of our line! Heaven send it happy dew, Earth lend
it sap anew, Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow, While every
Highland glen Sends our shout back again, "Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu,
ho! ieroe!"
Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain, Blooming at Beltane,
in winter to fade; When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the
mountain The more shall Clan Alpine exult in her shade. Moored in the
rifted rock, Proof to the tempest's shock, Firmer he roots him the ruder
it blow: Menteith and Breadalbane, then Echo his praise again,
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!"
Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, And Bannochar's groans
to our slogan replied; Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in
ruin, And the best of Loch-Lomond lie dead on her side. Widow and
Saxon maid Long shall lament our raid, Think of Clan Alpine with fear

and with woe; Lennox and Leven-glen Shake when they hear again,
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!"
Row, vassals, row for the pride of the Highlands! Stretch to your oars
for the evergreen pine! O that the rosebud that graces yon islands Were
wreathed in a garland around him to twine! O that some seedling gem,
Worthy such noble stem, Honored and blessed in their shadow might
grow! Loud should Clan Alpine then Ring from her deepmost glen,
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!"
The last of the common feet which we shall have to consider in reading
English poetry is called dactyl. This foot consists of three syllables, the
first of which is accented. Scott's Boat Song is a very fine example of
dactylic tetrameter, in which the last foot consists either of a trochee
(see page 16) or of a single accented syllable. In every stanza there are
four short lines of dactylic dimeter. Study the four lines which we have
divided for you below:
Hail´ to the | chief´ who in | tri´umph ad|van´ces! Hon´ored and | blest´
be the | ev´er green | pine!´ Long´ may the | tree´, in his | ban´ner that |
glan´ces, Flou´rish, the | shel´ter and | grace´ of our | line.´
This is one of the finest meters in which poetry may be written, and one
which you will learn to recognize and like whenever you see it.
To assist you in remembering what we have said on this subject in the
four poems we have studied, we will give this brief outline:
Poetic feet
1. Consisting of two syllables: Iambic, when the second syllable is
accented. Example: I wan´|dered lone|ly as´| a cloud´. Trochaic, when
the first syllable is accented. Example: Scots´, who | have´ with |
Wal´lace | bled´.
2. Consisting of three syllables: Anapestic, when the third syllable is
accented. Example: How dear´ | to my heart´ | are the scenes´ | of my
child´|hood. Dactylic, when the first syllable is accented. Example:

Hail´ to the | chief´ who in | tri´umph ad|van´ces.
There are two other feet which are found occasionally in English poetry,
namely the spondee, which has two accented syllables, and the
amphilbrach, which consists of three syllables with the accent on the
middle one.
Of course it is not necessary for you to know the names of these
different feet in order to enjoy poetry, but it is interesting information.
What you must do is to notice whenever you read poetry the kind of
feet that compose the lines and how many there are in the line. After a
while this becomes second nature to you,