Andromaque

Oui-puîs-que-j e-re-trouv*-un-am-i-si-fi-dè-le ( i ) Ma-f or-tu-ne-va-prendr*-un-e-f a-ce-nou-vel-le (2)

After the sixth of thèse syllables, e. g. trouv* and firendr* above, there is a pause, *' caesura," usually the chief rhetorical pause of the verse, which is thus divided into hemistichs of which the sixth and twelfth syllables will always be accented, while within each hemistich there will almost always be found one, sometimes two, rhetorical pauses that by their shifting positions give variety to the internai rhythm of the verse : Thus we may hâve four groups of three syllables each, as :

Ei déjà I son courroux | semble s'êtr* | adouci (3) or two, four, four, two, as :

Depuis I çu'eir a pris soin \ de nous rejoindr* \ ici (4) of one, five, three, three ;

Quoi I voir* anC à V amour \ en esclav* | asservi (29) or any other of the possible simiiar permutations. Rarely a hemistich will be found with no interior pause as, for instance, de ses em^ brassements (648), and even more rare are those with two interior pauses, as : // vient / Eh bien / Va donc (141). But such varia*

KX ANDROMAQUE

tions ofjfer no practical difficulty to the reader. Occasionaîly, too, the main pause is shifted to another part of the verse, as foi instance in 1543, but in Andromaque there is always a pause after the sixth foot, that is to say, this play contains no so-called <« romantic " Une.

Corresponding to the medial pause for the caesura is another at the end of each îine, a neglect of which îs called "enjambement." Thismaybefound between 1033-4, 1211-2 and 1531-2. where its purpose, like that of every other metrical license, is to break a monotonous succession of couplets, while from the variation of the internai divisions Racine is able to produce a whole gamut of effects of languor, repose, and rhythmic crescendo of émotion. This classical Alexandrine verse is most highly developed in Athalie, but it is most regular în Andromaque, and this play furnishes ample illustration of its power and of its sinuous charm.

In reading Alexandrine Unes aloud the student must seek to bring out as etfectively as possible by his division ofthe hemistichs the rhetorical accents and pauses, and he must so order thèse as to attain variety in harmony. To this end he may suppress such e-mutes as he will if only their place be taken by corresponding pauses. Scansion thus becomes often a subjective matter. Mechanical rules can be given only for mechanical reading. For effective delivery they may prove not only futile, but positively detrimental. A little example will be found more effective than much precept. When the pupil has heard a few rhetorical speeches [tirades) well read, the lilt of the measure will impress itself so on his ear that it will become difïicult to read erroneously. Without such aid it is hardly worth while to attempt French versification at ail.»

1 The best brief detailed study of the Alexandrine known to me to coutained in Professer £ggert*s Athalie. — (D. C. Heath and Co.)