This Day in History Entry #1
February 17th, 2009 by Wordsman
There once was a state called Missouri
Whose admission drove some men to fury
Compromise to maintain
The free states added Maine
But on slav’ry still out was the jury
Posted in This Day in History | 1 Comment »
February 17th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Nice. Using the apostrophe to reduce the number of syllables in “slavery” to fit the meter and increase the amount of content in the line is very Miltonian (e.g., “Above th’ Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples th’ upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know’st; thou from the first
Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast Abyss,
And mad’st it pregnant: what in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That, to the height of this great argument,
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.”