The Botanic Garden. Part 2, Containing the Loves of the Plants. A Poem.: With Philosophical Notes.Darwin, Erasmus
History
The Botanic Garden. Part 2, Containing the Loves of the Plants. A Poem.: With Philosophical Notes.
Darwin, Erasmus
Natural history; Plants -- Poetry
It must be observed, that the crotchets in triple time are in general
played by musicians slower than those of common time, and hence minuets
are generally pricked in triple time, and country dances generally in
common time. So the verses above related, which are analogous to _triple
time_, are generally read slower than those analogous to _common time_;
and are thence generally used for graver compositions. I suppose all the
different kinds of verses to be found in our odes, which have any measure
at all, might be arranged under one or other of these two musical times;
allowing a note or two sometimes to precede the commencement of the bar,
and occasional rests, as in musical compositions: if this was attended
to by those who set poetry to music, it is probable the sound and sense
would oftener coincide. Whether these musical times can be applied to the
lyric and heroic verses of the Greek and Latin poets, I do not pretend to
determine; certain it is, that the dactyle verse of our language, when
it is ended with a double rhime, much resembles the measure of Homer
and Virgil, except in the length of the lines. B. Then there is no
relationship between the other two of these sister-, Painting and Music?
_P_. There is at least a mathematical relationship, or perhaps I ought
rather to have said a metaphysical relationship between them. Sir Isaac
Newton has observed, that the breadths of the seven primary colours
in the Sun's image refracted by a prism are proportional to the seven
musical notes of the gamut, or to the intervals of the eight sounds
contained in an octave, that is, proportional to the following numbers:
Sol. La. Fa. Sol. La. Mi. Fa. Sol.
Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet,
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 16 10 9 16 16 9
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