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— William Blake

Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?

Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:

Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?

Or Love in a golden bowl?

…

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noun

One who, or that which, accelerates.

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And-th['e]r-in st['i]ked | a-l['i]ly fl['o]ur.

12 lines
Geoffrey Chaucer·1343–1400
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he poet's chief business, in such a case, is to see to it, that thesyllable thus inserted shall be a light one, in order to prevent the linefrom becoming clogged. Chaucer is very particular about this; and we shallfind that he almost invariably employs, in such a position, such lightsyllables as these; viz. _-e_ before a consonant, and _-ed_, _-el_, _-en_,_-er_, _-es_, often before a vowel. This is a matter which requires a goodear and skilful care; which he certainly possessed. Even at the caesura, itwill be found that he usually inserts only light syllables of thischaracter, and the effect is extremely good. A beautiful example occurs inA 2144:-- As-['a]ny r['a]v'nes f['e]ther | it-sh['o]on for-bl['a]k.|¯| ¯| ¯' . |¯ |¯
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