"Equally form'd to rule, in age and youth, The friend of virtue, and the guide to youth; To _her_ I bow, whose sacred power I feel; To _her_ decision, make my last appeal; Condemn'd by _her_, applauding worlds in vain Should tempt me to take up my pen again; By _her_ absolv'd, the course I'll still pursue; If _Reason_'s for me, _God_ is for me too." The first line of three of these couplets, has the pause after the second foot; in this consists their similarity. The last line in three of them, has the pause in the middle of the third foot; they are uniform as to themselves, but different from the foregoing lines. This passage, which on the whole is very beautiful, suffers much by the sixth line, which is not verse, but rather hobbling prose.[127] The foregoing remarks are sufficient to illustrate the use and advantages of the cesural pause. The final pause marks the close of a line or verse, whether there is a pause in the sense or not. Sentential pauses should be marked by a variation of tone; but the final pause, when the close of one line is intimately connected with the beginning of the next, should be merely a suspension of the voice without elevation or depression. Thus: "Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe," &c. When these lines are read without a pause after the words _fruit_ and _taste_, they degenerate into prose. Indeed in many instances, particularly in blank verse, the final pause is the only circumstance which distinguishes verse from prose. EXPRESSION. One article more in the construction of verse deserves our observation, which is _Expression_. Expression consists in such a choice and distribution of poetic feet as are best adapted to the subject, and best calculated to impress sentiments upon the mind. Those poetic feet, which end in an accented syllable, are the most forcible. Hence the Iambic measure is best adapted to solemn and sublime subjects. This is the measure of the Epic, of poems on grave moral subjects, of elegies, &c. The Spondee, a foot of two long syllables, when admitted into the Iambic measure, adds much to the solemnity of the movement. "While the clear sun, rejoicing still to rise, In pomp _rolls round_ immeasurable skies." Dwight. The Dactyl, _rolls round_, expresses beautifully the majesty of the sun in his course. It is a general rule, that the more important syllables there are in a passage, whether of prose or verse, the more heavy is the stile. For example: "A past, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd new piece." "Men, bearded, bald, cowl'd, uncowl'd, shod, unshod."