"Association with the wicked is the primary cause of every species of ill; but the company of the righteous will on the contrary result in prosperity."—Kaeminikondala. ව දුදනන් ගන්දු රුව දි ලෙම් වා කුළ විමජ මිතු රුව Away from the wicked, attached to the righteous, possessed of deep wisdom, and gentle virtues; may I flourish (like a lamp) in the household of my race."-Kusajatake. a "Full (unempty) of royal virtues, * replete with the rays of his worldly renown, and of great prowess, was the lion of men, Keertisshrèe Rajasinha." * The ten moral virtues of Kings are here meant; which are, 1, charity or alms-giving;2, observance of righteous precepts; 3, liberality in presents; 4, uprightness and justice; 5, tenderness; 6, the practising ofreligious austerities; 7, mildness of temper; 8, compassion and mercy; 9, patience; and 10, peace fulness. "Her two brows were like the rainbow; her narrow forehead like the moon in her crescent; and her two long pendent ears like the golden swing of Beauty's goddess, Lakshmi."-Kaviasekare. We have now gone through a variety of alliterations and some of the most distinguishing characteristics of Singhalese Poetry. We shall next proceed to give a brief account of the laws of Versification, and conclude with an outline of the process to which reference has already been made "the spreading of the rythm." The two first hemistichs of a verse are called Wisama, and the two last Sama. The word hemistich would only convey our meaning when the verse is written in two lines, thus;— පටවැර ලිහන්නෙව් : සරඟමල් පල න්නෙම් මනකානොගන්නෙම් : නටනම් දියන්නෙම් "Whose heart shall I not win, when I shall have assumed "Her narrow forehead like the crescent moon;" it would seem, savours much of Oriental imagery. English poets have always considered “an ample forehead" or "a spacious forehead" as beautiful: here the very reverse is the admiration of the Singhalese poet. But, it must be remarked, that however "ample" or "spacious" the forehead, it does not bear any resemblance to the full orb, but the moon in her wane. Hence, although the poet has evinced but little taste by his allusion to "her narrow forehead; " he is yet in our opinion, far more correct than many who have compared the forehead to the full moon. Mr. Wilson, in a note to the Megha' Duta at p. 106, says, "Comparing a beautiful face to the moon has been supposed peculiar to Oriental poets; instances, however, may be found in English verse. Perhaps that passage in Pope, where speaking of an amiable female and the moon, he says. 'Serene in virgin modesty she shines,' may not be exactly in point, although the general idea is similar. Spencer however is sufficiently precise 'Her spacious forehead like the clearest moon, Largely displayed in native silver shone, Giving wide room to Beauty's regiment.'” my habit, * shall have dressed in ambrosial flowers, and shall have both danced and played music?" The last syllable in ancient Singhalese poetry was common in quantity; but this is now no longer the case, since blank verse is altogether obsolete. Poetry is of three kinds; first blank verse, second rhymes, and third seheli, a mixture of the two first. The blank verse consists of different kinds. Distribution of Syllabic Instants in blank verse. † 1. Gee................... 9 : + 11, + 11: +11=42 2. Piyum Gee.....8 + 11, + 8 +14=41 3. Matwalagee......8 : + 8, + 11. Dakunutohalgee is the same as the last; the differ- 12. Vamtohalgee. The same as the 10th; but the last The habit here referred to is one of cloth made up of frills. In this table 7. stands for longus or ‘guru'; b for brevis or ‘lagu '; M. for Molossus; B. Bacchus; c. Cretic; a. Anapæst; H. Antibachic or Hyperbachic; a. Amphibrach or Scolius; D. Dactyl; T. Tibrach; and s. 1. for Syllabic instant. රජ පැමිනිබෝසත් සත් රජු නෙඩි මැඩ විසී කලකදසර ජදම්ගන්නෙම් "Once upon a time the Bhodisat became king, and having subdued the pride of seven kings, and having also associated himself with a female, lived clothed with the ten royal virtues."—Kawsilumina. 14. Nalu'gee...... A. S. 1. b. T. D. 26. A. S. 15. Sasapulute... (S. D. l.) × 4. Distribution of Syllabic Instants in Rhymes. 1. Sanda...... l. x 4. 2. Siri......... b. l. × 4. This genus contains two species, whereof that which is symbolically exemplified is called Bindu, and the other Miyul, 4 b. × 4. 3. Medum...... A. x 4, is called Talà. 6 s. i. x 4, is a species of this, and is called Atiuna 4. Pihiti........ (A. x 2) × 4= Hasagemi. (8 s. i.) x 4, is named Piyumakara. 5. Supihiti.....(S. T. l. b.) × 4, is named Saviyatsara. (T. x 2 S.) x 4, is called Nirisara. 10 s. i. x 4= Kanda. 6. Utu.......... (T. × 2 D. l.) × 4= Ari. (A. x 3) × 4=Bamarawana. 7. Bujangagati. A. T. S. × 4, with a pause after 5th s. i. 8. Wehelulegi.. 12 s. i. × 4. 9. Wasat....... same as last, but has a pause after 6ths. i. 10. Yon matwala Gee... 4 × (10s. i.) of which the last is a l. 11. Suramatwala...same as the 9th, but with less prolation at the end of the line. 12. Uvade...... same as the 10th, but with a pause after the 4th and 6th s. i. 13 Mingati...... the same as the last, but has a l. at the end. The spreading the rythm is a curious, but very clever device, founded upon fixed rules: the reader will perceive on reference to the plate, at p. cvii., that the construction of the diagram is upon the following process. The first column consists of a curve and a dash repeated alternately; in like manner the second column has 2 curves and 2 dashes; the third 4 curves and 4 dashes; the fourth 8 curves and 8 dashes; the fifth 16 curves and 16 dashes, and so on, increasing them in an arithmetical progression. We may at pleasure increase the number of columns marked in letters on the top with a view to test the quantity of any species of poetry, however long. The diagram, as constructed in the plate, would only enable us to ascertain the measure of a verse not exceeding 6 instants; and it will be perceived that a line of two instants is capable of being varied into 4 tunes; one of three instants into 8; one of four into 16; one of five into 32; and one of six into 64. So likewise, one of 7 instants, if the diagram be constructed upon the process already laid down, will have double the number of tunes which one of 6 instants has, or 128 tunes; and so on in a regular progression, until language itself fails to admit of a greater number of syllables. in one line. The diagrams in the possession of scholars extend to 32 columns. Of these we have seen one on the walls of the Pansella at Meeripenne in the Galle district; but cannot now charge our memory as to whether it embraced all the tunes known to the Sanscrit. As already noticed, the marks employed by the Singhalese to distinguish their symbolic instants, are directly the reverse of those used in English Prosody; the short and long letters in Singhalese being marked thus - ~; while represent the same sounds in English. It must be remembered, that in spreading the rythm, as it is called, the last measure at which we pause, according to the number of instants of the Poetry which we have in view, is always one in which all the instants are short, or |