symphony in A major, in which the external sign of the poetical idea
which underlies the whole work is also rhythmic--so markedly so that
Wagner characterized it most happily and truthfully when he said that
it was "the apotheosis of the dance." Here it is the dactyl, [dactyl
symbol], which in one variation, or another, clings to us almost as
persistently as in Hood's "Bridge of Sighs:"

"One more unfortunate
Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,
Gone to her death."

[Sidenote: _Use of a dactylic figure._]

We hear it lightly tripping in the first movement:

[Music illustration] and [Music illustration];

gentle, sedate, tender, measured, through its combination with a
spondee in the second:

[Music illustration];

cheerily, merrily, jocosely happy in the Scherzo:

[Music illustration];

hymn-like in the Trio:

[Music illustration]