This, in view of the examples above, of our longer trochaics, may serve as a comment on the author’s boast, that, “having deduced his rules from the usage of the great poets, he has the best reason for being confident of their correctness.”—­Ibid., Pref., p. 5.

Trochaic hexameter, too, may easily be written with single rhyme; perhaps more easily than a specimen suited to the purpose can be cited from any thing already written.  Let me try:—­

Example I.—­The Sorcerer.

    Lonely | in the | forest, | subtle | from his | birth,
    Lived a | necro | -mancer, | wondrous | son of | earth. 
    More of | him in | -quire not, | than I | choose to | say;
    Nymph or | dryad | bore him—­ | else ’twas | witch or | fay;
    Ask you | who his | father?—­ | haply | he might | be
    Wood-god, | satyr, | sylvan; | —­such his | pedi | -gree. 
    Reared mid | fauns and | fairies, | knew he | no com | -peers;
    Neither | cared he | for them, | saving | ghostly | seers. 
    Mistress | of the | black-art, | “wizard | gaunt and | grim,”
    Nightly | on the | hill-top, | “read the | stars to | him.” 
    These were | welcome | teachers; | drank he | in their | lore;
    Witchcraft | so en | -ticed him, | still to | thirst for | more. 
    Spectres | he would | play with, | phantoms | raise or | quell;
    Gnomes from | earth’s deep | centre | knew his | potent | spell. 
    Augur | or a | -ruspex | had not | half his | art;
    Master | deep of | magic, | spirits | played his | part;
    Demons, | imps in | -fernal, | conjured | from be | -low,
    Shaped his | grand en | -chantments | with im | -posing | show.

Example II.—­An Example of Hart’s, Corrected

   “Where the | wood is | waving, | shady, | green, and | high,
    Fauns and | dryads, | nightly, | watch the | starry | sky.” 
        See Hart’s E. Gram., p. 187; or the citation thence below.

A couplet of this sort might easily be reduced to a pleasant little stanza, by severing each line after the third foot, thus:—­

    Hearken! | hearken! | hear ye;
     Voices | meet my | ear. 
    Listen, | never | fear ye;
     Friends—­or | foes—­are | near.

    Friends!  “So | -ho!” they’re | shouting.—­
     “Ho! so | -ho, a | -hoy!”—­
    ’Tis no | Indian, | scouting. 
     Cry, so | -ho! with | joy.

But a similar succession of eleven syllables, six long and five short, divided after the seventh, leaving two iambs to form the second or shorter line,—­(since such a division produces different orders and metres both,—­) will, I think, retain but little resemblance in rhythm to the foregoing, though the actual sequence of quantities long and short is the same.  If this be so, the particular measure or correspondent length of lines is more essential to the character of a poetic strain than some have supposed.  The first four lines of the following extract are an example relevant to this point:—­