by its unequal division an ascending series, carries the mind still higher, making an impression similar to that of going upward; and the mind, roused and elevated, mounts up to the highest scale, the effect of all of which is to bestow on the melody a greater air of animation.

The second order is for example, where the pause falls after the fifth syllable, dividing the line into two equal parts; these being pronounced with equal effort, are agreeable by their uniformity. In this example the pause is separated from the accent by a short syllable, and the effect is soft and gentle. The short unaccented syllable succeeds one that is accented, which being pronounced with a falling voice, naturally prepares us for a pause. This produces a modulation sensibly sweet, soft, and flowing; the effect is not so sprightly as in the former case, because a syllable intervenes between it and the pause; its elevation by the same means vanishes instantaneously; the mind by a falling voice is prepared for a stop; and the influence from the division of the line into two equal parts, is calm and sweet.

So when an angel || by divine command.

РОРЕ.

And as an angel || heavenly (lich) she sung.

CHAUCER.

Again:

Of her that roameth || in the yonder place.

ib.

Again :

To love my lady || whom I love and serve.

ib.

This order is proper for a sentiment which is tender, delicate, or melancholy, and is adapted to all the sympathetic emotions.

The third kind, where the pause falls after the sixth syllable, dividing the line into two unequal parts, of which the latter is the shorter, contrasts also in its effect with the first order; it appears like a descending series; and the second portion being executed with less stress than the first, the diminished effort produces a tendency to mental rest. Its capital accent coming late, also gives to it an air of gravity and solemnity.

Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul.

But it were all too long for to devise.

Again:

And him she carried soft unto the tent.

Pore.

CHAUCER.

The fourth order throws the pause after the seventh syllable, and is still more dignified and lofty than the third, which it resembles in the mildness of its accent, and the softness of its pause.

And taught the doubtful battle where to rage.

The fairness of a lady || that I see,
Yond in the garden roaming to and fro,

POPE.

Is cause of all my crying || and my wo.

CHAUCER.

Besides these various kinds of verse, where everything is effected by the capital pause, the variety is

still farther extended by the nice and various arrangement of the inferior pauses; and it is these various harmonies which makes the richest music in Chaucer's verse. He is seldom monotonous; and this is the cause of the objections that have been made to his verse. From the variety of modulation exhibited in his lines, it has been doubted whether he was governed at all by the exact rules of versification. But so far as rules which depend upon taste and poetic capability can be applied, he has shown himself a perfect master of them.

The fundamental laws of Heroic verse, that each line must contain ten syllables, of which one must be short, and the other long, in the order of succession, with the exception that a line may commence with a long one, are so simple and easy, that no skill is required in their application above what is employed in the mere computation of number and quantity. These laws a schoolboy can learn in a single lesson. But poetry commences where these laws end, and Chaucer is in his native element when discoursing its sweetest music. The four sorts of lines distinguished by the different positions of the capital pause constitute, as it were, the four chords to his divine instrument, and by the accents and inferior pauses, he attunes it to all the sensibilities of the soul; and to all the varied passions of the human heart; rousing, inflaming, or soothing them at his will. The music of his verse varies from the deep organ tones of the solemn stately measure, to those delicate and buoyant strains which vary, enliven, and refine by their delicate accents,

and minor pauses; thus what is more solemn and melancholy than the heavy flow of these lines?

Goes in his chamber roaming || to and fro,

And to himself complaining of his wo.

Again:

Well | ought I starve | in vain hope || and distress.
Farewell my life, my lust, and all my gladness.

For briskness and buoyancy take the following:

Was risen and roamed in a chamber | on high. Again:

And blind he was || as it is often seen,

A bow he bare || and | arrows bright and keen.

Again:

Give | me my love || thou blissful lady | dear. Again:

For joy of this || so loud, and high | withal.

The varied melody of Chaucer 's verse, rising as it often does, by its consonancies, to the most delicate and sweetest harmony, does no greater honor to his genius, than the skillful adaption he makes of it to the sentiment which each particular kind is best calculated to express.

THE CANTERBURY TALES.

Although this work is founded upon the Italian. drama, and its various parts written in imitation of the Decameron, it evinces the poet's capacity to design and execute a poem upon a grand scale. The plot-composing the incidents which are unfolded in progress of

the poem-is exceedingly complicated. As many persons with as various characters are brought together as could well be made to unite in one company, and the identity with the peculiarities of each are preserved throughout the whole performance. In addition to the difficulty of sustaining it, arising from the great number of characters to be supported and displayed, their journey, and its incidents are to be described. 'The design, therefore, affords an ample range for universal genius; there is an opportunity for the exercise of all his master powers. To give the distinctive features and various shades of character and imbue them with reason and sentiment, attests the greatest skill; to connect these with a natural combination of incidents which harmonize in the design and accelerate the action, is the triumph of his inventive power.

THE PROLOGUE.

If the opening is not as brilliant as some, it, nevertheless promises a rich entertainment. By not making the time of commencement on a particular morning, Chaucer has avoided, either by chance or the just decision of his taste, what necessity in modern times has enforced. In this he has dispensed with a difficult performance, to say the least, without the sacrifice of novelty, for most grown up people have seen the sun rise and set most charmingly; it is quite a difficult matter to paint the gorgeous scenery after the portals of the east have been opened, and the world flooded with golden light, and it requires the nicest skill to dispose of the stars, so that they shall

"Shine most lovely at the last."