Note 443 — Terminal Essay. (continued 4)

Mr. Lyall, whose “Ancient Arabic Poetry” (Williams and Norgate, 1885) I reviewed in The Academy of Oct. 3, ’85, did the absolute reverse of what is required: he preserved the metre and sacrificed the rhyme even when it naturally suggested itself. For instance in the last four lines of No. xli. what would be easier than to write,

Ah sweet and soft wi’ thee her ways: bethink thee well! The day shall be

When some one favoured as thyself shall find her fair and fain and free;

And if she swear that parting ne’er shall break her word of constancy,

When did rose-tinted finger-tip with pacts and pledges e’er agree?