By its extrication from the entanglement of quantity and syllabic
accent, under which it has been almost buried, an effort has been made
to simplify the study of Rhythm: by tracing its origin and
characteristics, and by the citation of poems in which its power and
beauty are conspicuous, we have endeavored to render the subject one of
vivid interest.


CHAPTER FIRST.

RHYTHM.

What is Rhythm? The best definition of this perplexing word has been
given by the grand old Bohemian composer Tomaschek:

'The _order_ perceptible in a succession of sounds recurring in
_determinate_ portions of Time, which portions of Time are more
distinctly marked for the ear through the _accentuation_ of certain
determinate parts, constitutes Rhythm.

Rhythm has been surrounded with so much mystery, has been the subject of
so much learned debate and research, has called forth so many quartos
and folios, that few know what a familiar thing it is, how closely it
everywhere surrounds us, how constantly it beats within us. For the
pulsations of the heart are rhythmical, and the measured throbs of life
register in music every moment of our passing existence on the bosom of
Time. And when life manifests itself to the senses through the medium of
time, time being to the ear what space is to the eye, the Order of its
pulsations is Rhythm. Strange relation between our own marvellous being