3. Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edoma and offerings divine?

Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine?

4. Vainly we offer each ample oblation;

Vainly with gold would his favor secure;
Richer by far, is the heart's adoration;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Hail to the brightness of Zion's glad morning!
Long by the prophets of Israel foretold;
Hail to the millions from bondage returning;

Gentiles and Jews the blest vision behold.

The following stanza, though not strictly tribach, may be so read as to give a good specimen of that measure, by closing the third line and the ninth with an additional long syllable, and pronouncing all other syllables in the same stanza with an equally short quantity

Come, thou Almighty King,

Hělp ús thy năme to sing,

Help us to praise;

Father all glorious,

O'ěr all victorious,

Come, and reign | Ŏvěr us,

Ancient of days.

Edom, the country of the Edomites, about eighty miles east of Jerusalem.

QUESTION. How may the above stanza be made to illustrate tribrach measure

EXERCISE VII.

A SUMMER-EVENING MEDITATION.

1. 'Tis past!

2.

3.

a

BARBAULC.

Iambic Measure.--Each line has five feet.
The sul | try ty | rant of the south

Has spent his short- | lived rage; | more grate | ful hours
Move silent on;· the skies no more repel

The dazzled sight, but with mild, maiden beams
Of tempered luster, court the cherished eye
To wander o'er their sphere, where, hung aloft,
Dian's b bright crescent, like a silver bow

New strung in heaven, lifts high its beamy horns,
Impatient for the night, and seems to push
Her brother down the sky.

Fair Venus shines

E'en in the eve of day, with sweetest beam
Propitious shines, and shakes a trembling flood
Of softened radiance from her dewy locks.
The shadows spread apace, while meek-eyed Eve,c
Her cheek yet warm with blushes, slow retires
Through the Hesperian d gardens of the west,
And shuts the gates of day.

'Tis now the hour,

When Contemplation, from her sunless haunts,

The cool, damp grotto, or the lonely depth

Barbauld, (Anna Letitia Aikin,) a pleasing English writer, born in 1742, and died at the age of 82. ▷ Dian, (Diana,) the moon, or the goddess, said to guide the chariot of the moon. • Eve, evening personified. d Hesperian garden, allusion is nere made to a celebrated garden in heathen mythology, situated at the west, and said to have abounded with golden apples, and other fruits of the most delicious kind QUESTIONS. What measure is exercise seventh? What kind of verse is it?

How many feet in each line

Of unpierced woods, where wrapt in solid shade
She mused away the gaudy hours of noon,
And fed on thoughts unripened by the sun,
Moves forward; and, with radiant finger, points

Το
yon blue concave, swelled by breath divine,
Where, one by one, the living eyes of heaven
Awake, quick kindling o'er the face of ether
One boundless blaze-ten thousand trembling fires,
And dancing lusters, where th' unsteady eye,
Restless and dazzled, wanders unconfined
O'er all this field of glories; spacious field,
And worthy of the Master! he, whose hand,
With hieroglyphics older than the Nile,
Inscribed the mystic tablet, hung on high
To public gaze, and said, " Adore, O man.
The finger of thy God!"

From what pure wells

Of milky light, what soft o'erflowing urn,

Are all these lamps so filled-these friendly lamps,
Forever streaming o'er the azure deep

To point our path, and light us to our home?
How soft they slide along their lucid spheres,
And, silent as the foot of time, fulfill,
Their destined courses! Nature's self is hushed,
And, but a scattered leaf which rustles through
The thick-wove foliage, not a sound is heard
To break the midnight air, though the raised ear,
Intensely list'ning, drinks in every breath.

5. How deep the silence, yet how loud the praise!
But are they silent all? or is there not

A tongue in every star, that talks with man

And wooes him to be wise? nor wooes in vain ;

This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,
And wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.
At this still hour, the self-collected soul
Turns inward, and beholds a stranger there
Of high descent, and more than mortal rank;
An embryo God; a spark of fire divine,
Which must burn on for ages, when the sun,-
Fair transitory creature of a day!—

Has closed his golden eye, and, wrapt in shades,
Forgets his wonted journey through the east.

SECTION VI.

LYRIC POETRY.

LYRIC POETRY, such as psalms, hymns, odes, &c., consists of lines, feet, and syllables, capable of being set to music.

All poetical compositions of this character, are usually written in iambic, trochaic, or anapestic measure; or a combination of two or all of them.

The most common measures, in which sacred or devotional psalms and hymns are written, are designated thus:

:

QUESTIONS. What is lyric poetry? In what measures are compositions of this character usually written? How are the most common measures, in which psalms and hymns are written, designated? What does S. M. denote? C. M., &c. }

There are various other measures designated by figures, which denote the number of syllables in the different lines.

1.

2.

S. M., Iambic, 6s and 8s three and four feet.

EXAMPLE.

The hill | Ŏf Zī | Ŏn yields

A thousand sacred sweets,

Before we reach | the heaven | ly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.

C. M., Iambic, 8s and 6s —four and three feet.

EXAMPLE.

Hě comes | thě brōk | én heārt | tŏ hēal,
The bleeding soul | to cure;
And with the treasures of his grace,
Tenrich the humble poor.

3. L. M., Iambic, 88-four feet.

EXAMPLE.

Hě guides | Ŏur feet, | he guārds | ŏur way;
His morning smiles bless all the day;
He spreads the evening veil, and keeps
The silent hours while Israel sleeps.

4. L. P. M., Iambic, 8s-four feet.

EXAMPLE.

I'll praise | my Ma | ker with | mỹ breath;
And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers;

My days of praise shall ne'er be past
While life, and thought, and being last,

Or imrnortality endures.

QUESTIONS. How are other measures designated? What do the figures denote ? In what measure is Short Meter written? How many syllables do the lines contain ? How many feet? In what measure is C. M. written? How many syllables do the lines contain? How Inany feet? In what measure is L. M. written? How many syllables in each line? How many feet? In what Leasure is L. P. M. written? How many syllables in each line? How many feet? Wherein does it differ from L. M.?