"Smooth out the folds of my letter, and place it on desk or on table; Place it on table or desk; and your right hands loosely half-closing, Gently sustain them in air, and extending the digit didactic, Rest it a moment on each of the forks of the five-forked left hand, Twice on the breadth of the thumb, and once on the tip of each finger, Read with a nod of the head in a humoring recitativo; And, as I live, you will see my hexameters hopping before you. This is a galloping measure, a hop, and a trot, and a gallop!" (Wordsworth's _Memoirs_, quoted in Coleridge's Poems, Aldine edition, vol. ii. p. 307.) Coleridge also translated from Schiller the well-known distich describing and exemplifying the elegiac verse of Ovid: "In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column; In the pentameter aye falling in melody back." This distich, it is interesting to find, was revised by Tennyson so as to represent the measure quantitatively rather than accentually: "Up springs hexameter, with might, as a fountain arising, Lightly the fountain falls, lightly the pentameter." Lift up your heads, ye gates; and ye everlasting portals, Be ye lift up! Behold, the Worthies are there to receive him,-- They who, in later days or in elder ages, ennobled Britain's dear name. Bede I beheld, who, humble and holy, Shone like a single star, serene in a night of darkness. Bacon also was there, the marvellous Friar; and he who Struck the spark from which the Bohemian kindled his taper; Thence the flame, long and hardly preserved, was to Luther transmitted,-- Mighty soul; and he lifted his torch, and enlightened the nations. (SOUTHEY: _A Vision of Judgment_, ix. 1821.) Southey followed the example of William Taylor in attempting to construct hexameters "which would be perfectly consistent with the character of our language, and capable of great richness, variety and strength," yet which should not profess to follow "rules which are inapplicable to our tongue." (Preface to _Vision of Judgment_, Southey's Works, ed. 1838, vol. x. p. 195.)[45] In the same Preface he briefly reviewed the history of earlier efforts to introduce the classical measures into English. It is to be feared that Southey's hexameters are to be counted among the worst of modern times. Meanwhile apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure, Sat the lovers and whispered together, beholding the moon rise Over the pallid sea and the silvery mist of the meadows. Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. Thus was the evening passed. Anon the bell from the belfry Rang out the hour of nine, the village curfew, and straightway Rose the guests and departed; and silence reigned in the household. (LONGFELLOW: _Evangeline_, Part. I. 1847.)