"  Him  first  to  love,  great  right  and  reason  is,
Who  first  to  us  our  life  and  being  gave ;
And  after,  when  we  faced  had  amiss,

Us  wretches  from  the  second  death  did  save."

An  Alexandrine  verse  consists  of  six  iambuses,  as
follows :

"  A  needless  Alexandrine  ends  the  song,
Which,  like  a  wounded  snake,  drags  its  slow  length  along."

Trochaic,  anapestic,  and  dactylic  verse  respective-
ly, consist  of  the  feet  indicated  by  the  name.  We  give
specimens  of  the  three  kinds  successively :

"  Count  me  o'er  earth's  chosen  heroes ;  they  were  souls  that  stood  alone,
While  the  men  they  agonized  for  hurled  the  contumelious  stone,
Stood  serene,  and  down  the  future  saw  the  golden  beam  incline,
To  the  side  of  perfect  justice,  master'd  by  their  faith  divine,
By  one  man's  plain  truth  to  manhood  and  to  God's  supreme  design. "

"  What  a  mercy  is  this !     What  a  heavenly  bliss  !

How  unspeakably  happy  am  I !
Gathered  into  the  fold,  with  thy  people  enrolled,
With  thy  people  to  live  and  to  die."


HEXAMETER    VERSE.  297

"  Cling  to  the  crucified!
His  death  is  life  to  thee  !
Life  for  eternity :
His  pains  thy  pardon  seal,
His  stripes  thy  bruises  heal,
His  cross  proclaims  thy  peace,
Bids  every  sorrow  cease,
His  blood  is  all  to  thee :
Cling  to  the  crucified  !"

153.  Various  Metres. — The  mingling  of  these  vari-
ous measures,  and  the  employment  of  verses  of  vari-
ous lengths,  and  stanzas  varying  in  the  number  of
their  verses,  give  us  the  numberless  metres  or  kinds
of  versification  actual  and  possible.
Many  more  are  employed  in  modern  times  than
were  known  to  the  ancients,  and  some  that  were  much
used  in  former  times  are  now  almost  wholly  neg-
lected.
