On the use of Rhyme.

hesitation adopt the opinion of a celebrated cotemporary writer, that the Provencal troubadours were indebted for this great improvement of modern versification to their acquaintance with Arabic literature; I would instantly acquiesce in compliment to his deep research, if he had not proposed for our consideration a source from whence it has more probably been derived. I shall, therefore, only remark, that, though it has been adopted by no pure Roman author, we can find some of its earliest specimens in the Latin poems of the monks in the middle ages. The language. which they used is peculiarly unfitted for such an innovation, as it generally throws the accent upon the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable; but their towering and transcendant abilities overcame every difficulty. They disregarded every thing of easy acquirement; simplicity had no charms for them; like the gardener, whose skill is superior to his taste, they pruned the wild and beautiful luxuriance of nature, until, instead of a flourishing shrubbery, the eye beheld lions and panthers of living holly; they passed with contempt the sublime cataract to gaze with rapture on an artificial cascade; and, like the knight whose praises they condescended to sing, they placed their pride rather in the difficulty than the utility of their labors.

From the seventh century, the use of Latin Rhyme became gradually more frequent, until Leoninus, a monk who flourished at Marseilles in the twelfth century, gave his name to it, nor was it entirely discontinued until long after. shew the beauty of this species of composition, I give a few examples.

To

Walter de Mapes, tutor to Henry II. of England, among other poetical legacies has left us some advice, the profaneness of which can scarcely be excused by its humor.

Vinum sit appositum morientis ori;

Ut dicant, quum venerint, angelorum chori,
"Deus sit propitius huic potatori."

TRANSLATION.

Give wine to the man who is going to die;

That the chorus of angels, who see him, may cry,
"O God, be propitious to this drain-'em-dry."

Edward II. when he collected troops to chastise Robert

We believe our Correspondent alludes to Mr. Mills, in whose History of Muhammedanism we recollect having met the same observation. ED.

On the use of Rhyme.

Bruce for daring to free his country, was so determined to be victorious, that he brought in his train, to celebrate his triumph, a carmelite monk, named Baston, who was famous for rhyming; but alas! poor Edward! the rhymer was taken prisoner at Bannockburn-and the pen, designed to eternise the glory of England's monarch, was employed in the service of his successful antagonist. In the following extracts from the poem which he composed for the occasion, he describes the horrors and tumult of the conflict.

Est dolor imınensus, augente dolore dolorem ;
Est furor accensus, stimulante furore furorem ;
Est clamor crescens, feriente priore priorem ;
Est valor arescens, frustrante valore valorem ;
Est calor ardescens, urente calore calorem;
Est gens demescens, reprobante minore minorem ;
Est stupor auditus, geminante stupore stuporem ;
Est populus tritus, perdente tenore tenorem ;
Surgit rugitus, fundente cruore cruorem ;
Nunc timor est scitus, metuente timore timorem.

*

*

*

Plebs plangit, clangit; sed quam congressio tangit
Nunc plangit, frangit vires, quas ictibus angit.

*

*

Insultus stultus prætenditur ordine cultus ;
Singultus multus erumpit ab aggere vultus;
Descendens, frendens, pedibus gens Scotica tendens,
Defendens, vendens sua, prodit dira rependens.

Hic rapit; hic capit; hic terit; hic ferit; ecce dolores!
Vox tonat; æs sonat; hic ruit; hic luit; arcta modò res;
Hic secat; hic necat; hic docet; hic nocet; iste fugatur;
Hic latet; hic patet; hic premit; hic gemit; hic superatur;
Hic fremit; hic tremit; hic pavet; hic cavet; iste ligatur;
Hic legit; hic tegit; hic metit; hic petit; hic spoliatur;
Crescit inedia; corpora, præedia diripiuntur;

Heu! mulieres, miles et hæres inficiuntur. &c.

No translation can do justice to these rhymes; but even the mere English reader will perceive the richness of their alliteration.

There are some personages so fastidious as to dislike the use of Rhyme; they tell us that it fetters the man of genius, who must confine his imagination and sacrifice his noblest thoughts to mere empty sound; and that Milton, Young and Thomson, who confessedly hold the first rank among our British poets, have disdained such an unnecessary restraint; they bring many other objections which they assert to be

On the use of Rbyme.

equally incontrovertible; but all these are easily overturned by an enquiry into facts. Instead of curbing an author's fancy, we find that it usually suggests to him his ideas, the best of which, in half the poems we read, would never be introduced but to fill the interval between the rhymes ;and that many, of slow parts and light heads, whom Pegasus would quickly unhorse, are enabled by its assistance to excite the envy of their cotemporaries, and often to attain honors and dignities of which Milton, Young, or Thomson never dreamed. To prove the influence of rhyme and its poetmaking power, we need only examine the first page of modern poetry which comes into our hands; or (begging your permission, Mr. Editor,) turn to the poetical pages of your magazine; or, thirdly, consider my own translation of Walter de Mapes' advice, in which the very poetical expression drain-'em-dry, would never have occurred to me, if I had not wanted a word to rhyme with die and cry; or, fourthly and lastly, read the following poem, written expressly to illustrate these remarks:

When we assume the pen to write a poem,
Though all our wit should lie in sequestration,
And genius not suffice to write the proem,
Yet there are aids whose due administration,
For all defects make ample reparation.
Seldom the muses leave their loved Parnassus
To favor poets with their inspiration;

And as for rhymers, with contempt they pass us,
Deeming us merely stupid and mechanic asses.

Therefore I ask not their assistance now-
I never on their aid placed much reliance-
The goddesses have never told me how,

Or by what practice, or through what compliance,
I might cement with them la belle alliance.

So that it cannot be an act of treason,

If to their power I bid a stout defiance,

And with a true humility my face on,

Seek the kind aid of rhyme to fill the place of reason.

Rhyme, thou'rt more potent than the far-famed muses,
Thou'st made more poets than the great Apollo ;
If any to acknowledge thee refuses,
Or dares thy rival goddesses to follow,
I deem his cranium to be very hollow,
And full of vanity-he's too conceited
To own his obligations ;-but he'll fall low,
Nor will his poems with respect be treated,
While rhymer's songs will be eternally repeated.

Popular Traditions,-Vampirism.

O Rhyme! to thee I look for future fame,
Thou canst reward thy votaries' devotion;
For thou hast oft exalted many a name
Which else had sunk beneath oblivion's ocean.
And their success inspires me with the notion,
That, if by thee my efforts are befriended,
My name may be repeated with emotion,
And with

* * 's's—and * *'s blended
May last until at length this nether world is ended.

My pen shall ever be employed, O Rhyme!
Thy magic power and efficacy praising;
And during my allotted course of time
I'll sing of thee and thy effects amazing.

Though on these lines I'd ne'er be wearied gazing,
Yet in my love for them I may be single,
And if I farther go, may see them blazing,
Consigned to feed the quick-consuming ingle,
Since their sole merit is their inharmonious jingle.

A LOVER OF RHYME.

P. S. I might have styled myself Rhythmophilus; but the name, Rhyme, is not strictly applicable to this return of sound to which custom has given it. By using the privilege of which Ausonius availed himself, I might call myself, if you like the name better, Jinglo-.

WHEN any doubtful circumstance is proposed for our consideration, we must withhold our assent except we can obtain some satisfactory proofs of its occurrence, some reasonable grounds on which we can found our belief; and the degree of credence with which we should entertain it must be regulated by some other criterion than the mere suggestions of our will. Our chief attention should be directed to the nature

Popular Traditions.-Vampirism.

of the fact, and if it should appear contradictory to reason, it becomes our first duty to dismiss the further enquiry; but if it should imply nothing impossible, we must proceed to examine it on its pretensions to probability, and we are bound by the dictates of our reason to admit it, if it is attested by men who are uninterested in the promulgation of falsehood, and who even incur the ridicule of their friends by their assertion.

The prevailing spirit of mankind changes with the changing times; and the silent lapse of ages has imperceptibly wrought a great revolution in our sentiments. The astonishing cre

dulity of our forefathers is followed by an equally preposterous pride in their descendants. Many philosophers of the present day at once deny the existence of any questionable thing which does not come under the immediate cognizance of their senses, thus absolutely contradicting many circumstances which are not impossible in their nature, and are often attested by numerous and competent witnesses. In acting thus they imagine they are exalting the power of reason, while they are really abandoning its most excellent prerogative-that of determining the force and evidence of presumptive proofs. The truth of several facts may be uncertain, and they are now therefore entirely discredited, and regarded with mingled pity and derision, though their unqualified denial converts the philosopher into a dogmatist.

On the other hand many circumstances, in their nature utterly impossible, have at different times been implicitly believed; and if they are handed down to us on the concurrent testimonies of men of undoubted reputation, we must attribute such conviction to the ignorance that received, or the deception that contrived them.

We may therefore reduce under two classes the several doubtful traditions which have been delivered to us from more remote and credulous ages. They are either such as we must immediately reject from their intrinsic absurdity; or such as, though incapable of demonstrative proof, are yet reducible within the limits of probability; and of these latter we must receive many with different degrees of belief. do not, however, propose giving a formal refutation of some and a defence of others- we have only given these prefatory observations to enable us, by adopting the above classification, to express our opinion of the credibility of such stories as we may bring forward under the head of " Popular Traditions."

We