Metrics

When everyone was exposed (harrumph) to at least a little verse, they were also taught that one of the sins of the prose writer is to lapse into metre. Here are two consecutive sentences from an entertaining review of a new book by Ferdinand Mount (via Arts and Letters Daily)

His frozen heart unfreezes and his readers cry thank God.

Nothing succeeds like failure if your blood is blue enough.

Whoops. Maybe we survivors from the period are the only readers who notice and care? Doubtful: I suspect people catch a slightly iffy scent but can’t track it down.