Tib. _It ís the dúchess' bírthday, | ónce a yéar Solémnized wíth all pómp | and céremóny; In whích the dúke is nót his ówn, | but hérs: Nay, évery dáy, indéed, | he ís her créature, For néver mán so dóated;-- | bút to téll The ténth part óf his fóndness | to a stránger, Would árgue mé of fíction._ | Steph. _Shé's, indéed, A lády óf most éxquisite fórm._ | Tib. _She knóws it, And hów to príze it._ | Steph. _I néver héard her tainted In ány póint of hónour._ | Tib. _Ón my lífe, She's cónstant tó his béd, | and wéll desérves His lárgest fávours. | Bút, when béauty is Stámp'd on great wómen, | gréat in bírth and fórtune, And blówn by flátterers | gréater thán it ís, 'Tis séldom únaccómpaníed | with príde; Nor ís she thát way frée: | presúming ón The dúke's afféction, | ánd her ówn desért, She béars hersélf | with súch a májestý, Lóoking with scórn on áll | as thíngs benéath her, That Sfórza's móther, | thát would lóse no párt Of whát was ónce her ówn, | nor hís fair síster, A lády tóo | acquáinted wíth her wórth, Will bróok it wéll; | and hówsoé'er their háte Is smóther'd fór a tíme, | 'tis móre than féar'd It wíll at léngth break óut._ | Steph. _Hé in whose pówer it ís, Turn áll to the bést._ | Tib. _Come, lét us tó the cóurt; We thére shall sée all bráverý and cóst, That árt can bóast of._ | Steph. _I'll béar you cómpaný._ Massinger, Duke of Milan, I. i. end. The versification of the other dramatists of this time cannot be discussed in this place. It must suffice to say that the more defined and artistic blank verse, introduced by Marlowe and Shakespeare, was cultivated by Beaumont, Massinger, Chapman, Dekker, Ford, &c.; a less artistic verse, on the other hand, so irregular as sometimes to approximate to prose, is found in Ben Jonson and Fletcher, and to a less degree in Middleton, Marston, and Shirley. (Cf. _Metrik_, ii. §§ 171-8.) § =177. The blank verse of Milton=, who was the first since Surrey to use it for epic poetry, is of greater importance than that of the minor dramatists, and is itself of particular interest. Milton's verse, it is true, cannot be said to be always very melodious. On the contrary, it sometimes can be brought into conformity with the regular scheme of the five-foot verse only by level stress and by assigning full value to syllables that in ordinary pronunciation are slurred or elided (see § 83). Generally, however, Milton's blank verse has a stately rhythmical structure all its own, due to his masterly employment of the whole range of metrical artifices. In the first place, he frequently employs inversion of accent, both at the beginning of a line and after a caesura; sometimes together with double thesis in the interior of the line, as e.g.: