PART II

For a treatise upon the System of French versification, the student is referred to Part III. of this work. The subject can be studied to the best advantage in connection with the poetical sélections in this portion of the volume, and this practical application of the principles upon which French verses are constructed, will be found to be a study both interesting and profitable. To facilitate the labors of both teacher and pupil in this direction, full références to the rules of versification will be given in the notes. Care must, however, be taken, in reading the poetry, not to acquire the habit of measuring it off in a monotonous, scanning style. As a means of obviating this, careful attention should be given to the principles of the tonic accent and the cesura (10-12), and especially to the feeling and- sentiment which the verses are intended to inspire. This, indeed, is the true key to the proper reading of French poetry ; without attention to it, the most perfect knowledge of the principles of versification could produce onîy a monotonous and artificial style, destitute of either sensé or harmony. A knowledge of the rules and a due appréciation of the sentiment must go hand in hand.

The following Unes by François de Neufchateau upon the true mode of reading French poetry may properly be inserted here. The measure is the hexameter, or twelve-syllabled verse, upon which the student should consult Part III., §§ 3 ; 4 ; 8 ; 9, E. 1 ; 30, R. 2; and upon the rhyme, §§ 13-27; 32, 1.