Chapter CVII: Section V: Examples for Parsing

PRAXIS XIV.--PROSODICAL.

_In the Fourteenth Praxis, are exemplified the several Figures of Orthography, of Etymology, of Syntax, and of Rhetoric, which the parser may name and define_; _and by it the pupil may also be exercised in relation to the principles of Punctuation, Utterance, Analysis, or whatever else of Grammar, the examples contain_.

LESSON I.--FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

MIMESIS AND ARCHAISM.

"I _ax'd_ you what you had to sell. I am fitting out a _wessel_ for _Wenice_, loading her with _warious keinds_ of _prowisions_, and _wittualling_ her for a long _woyage_; and I want several _undred_ weight of _weal, wenison_, &c., with plenty of _inyons_ and _winegar_, for the _preserwation_ of _ealth_."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 292.

"God bless you, and lie still quiet (_says_ I) a bit longer, for my _shister's_ afraid of ghosts, and would die on the spot with the fright, _was_ she to see you come to life all on a sudden this way without the least preparation."--_Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent_, p. 143.

"None [else are] so desperately _evill_, as they that may _bee_ good and will not: or have _beene_ good and are not."--_Rev. John Rogers_, 1620. "A Carpenter finds his work as _hee_ left it, but a Minister shall find his _sett_ back. You need preach continually."--_Id._

"Here _whilom ligg'd_ th' Esopus of his age,
But call'd by Fame, in soul _ypricked_ deep."--_Thomson_.

"It was a fountain of Nepenthe rare,
Whence, as Dan Homer sings, huge _pleasaunce_ grew."--_Id._

LESSON II.--FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.

APHÆRESIS, PROSTHESIS, SYNCOPE, APOCOPE, PARAGOGE, DIÆRESIS, SYNÆRESIS, AND TMESIS.

"Bend _'gainst_ the steepy hill thy breast,
Burst down like torrent from its crest."--_Scott_.

"_'Tis_ mine to teach _th'_ inactive hand to reap
Kind nature's bounties, _o'er_ the globe _diffus'd_."--_Dyer_.

"Alas! alas! how impotently true
_Th' aërial_ pencil forms the scene anew."--_Cawthorne_.

"Here a deformed monster _joy'd_ to won,
Which on fell rancour ever was _ybent_."--_Lloyd_.

"_Withouten_ trump was proclamation made."--_Thomson_.

"The gentle knight, who saw their rueful case,
Let fall _adown_ his silver beard some tears.
'Certes,' quoth he, 'it is not _e'en_ in grace,
_T'_ undo the past and eke your broken years."--_Id._

"Vain _tamp'ring_ has but _foster'd_ his disease;
_'Tis desp'rate_, and he sleeps the sleep of death."--_Cowper_.

"'I have a pain upon my forehead here'--
'Why _that's_ with watching; _'twill_ away again.'"--_Shakspeare_.

"I'll to the woods, among the happier brutes;
Come, _let's_ away; hark! the shrill horn resounds."--_Smith_.

"_What_ prayer and supplication _soever_ be made."--_Bible_. "By the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly _to_ you _ward_."--_Ib._

LESSON III.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE I.--ELLIPSIS.

"And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,
And [--] villager [--] abroad at early toil."--_Beattie_.

"The cottage curs at [--] early pilgrim bark."--_Id._

"'Tis granted, and no plainer truth appears,
Our most important [--] are our earliest years."--_Cowper_.

"To earn her aid, with fix'd and anxious eye,
He looks on nature's [--] and on fortune's course."--_Akenside_.

"For longer in that paradise to dwell,
The law [--] I gave to nature him forbids."--_Milton_.

"So little mercy shows [--] who needs so much."--_Cowper_.

"Bliss is the same [--] in subject, as [--] in king;
In [--] who obtain defence, and [--] who defend."--_Pope_.

"Man made for kings! those optics are but dim
That tell you so--say rather, they [--] for him."--_Cowper_.

"Man may dismiss compassion from his heart,
But God will never [-------]."--_Id._

"Vigour [--] from toil, from trouble patience grows."--_Beattie_.

"Where now the rill melodious, [--] pure, and cool,
And meads, with life, and mirth, and beauty crown'd?"--_Id._

"How dead the vegetable kingdom lies!
How dumb the tuneful [------------]!"--_Thomson_.

"Self-love and Reason to one end aspire,
Pain [--] their aversion, pleasure [--] their desire;
But greedy that its object would devour,
This [--] taste the honey, and not wound the flower."--_Pope_.

LESSON IV.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE II.--PLEONASM.

"_According_ to their deeds, _accordingly_ he will _repay_, fury to his adversaries, _recompense_ to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense."--_Isaiah_, lix, 18. "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, _and my locks with the drops of the night_."--_Song of Sol._, v, 2. "Thou hast chastised me, _and I was chastised_, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, _and I shall be turned_; for thou art the Lord my God."--_Jer._, xxxi, 18. "Consider the _lilies_ of the field how _they grow_."--_Matt._, vi, 28. "_He_ that glorieth, let _him_ glory in the Lord."--_2 Cor._, x, 17.

"_He_ too is witness, noblest of the train
That wait on man, the flight-performing horse."--_Cowper_.

FIGURE III.--SYLLEPSIS.

"'Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called _Cephas:' which_ is, by interpretation a stone."--_John_, i, 42. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I will break the bow of _Elam_, the chief of _their_ might.'"--_Jer._, xlix, 35. "Behold, I lay in Sion a _stumbling-stone_ and _rock_ of offence: and whosoever believeth on _him_ shall not be ashamed."--_Rom._, ix, 33.

"Thus _Conscience_ pleads _her_ cause within the breast,
Though long rebell'd against, not yet suppressed."--_Cowper_.

"_Knowledge_ is proud that _he_ has learn'd so much;
_Wisdom_ is humble that _he_ knows no more."--_Id._

"For those the _race_ of Israel oft forsook
_Their_ living _strength_, and unfrequented left
_His_ righteous altar, bowing lowly down
To bestial gods."--_Milton, Paradise Lost_, B. i, l. 432.

LESSON V.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE IV.--ENALLAGE.

"Let me tell _you_, Cassius, _you_ yourself
_Are_ much condemned to have an itching palm,
To sell and mart _your_ offices for gold."--_Shakspeare_.

"Come, Philomelus; let us _instant_ go,
O'erturn his bow'rs, and lay his castle low."--_Thomson_.

"Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son
Shall finish what the short-liv'd sire _begun_"--_Pope_.

"Such was that temple built by Solomon,
Than _whom_ none richer reign'd o'er Israel."--_Author_.

"He spoke: with fatal eagerness we _burn_,
And _quit_ the shores, undestin'd to return."--_Day_.

"Still as he pass'd, the nations he _sublimes_."--_Thomson_.

"Sometimes, with early morn, he mounted _gay_."--_Id._

"'I've lost a day'--the prince who nobly cried,
_Had been_ an emperor without his crown."--_Young_.

FIGURE V.--HYPERBATON.

"Such resting found _the sole_ of unblest feet."--_Milton_.

"Yet, though successless, _will the toil_ delight."--_Thomson_.

"Where, 'midst the changeful scen'ry ever new,
Fancy a thousand wondrous _forms_ descries."--_Beattie_.

"Yet so much bounty is in God, such grace,
That who advance his glory, not their own,
_Them_ he himself to glory will advance."--_Milton_.

"No quick _reply_ to dubious questions make;
Suspense and caution still prevent mistake."--_Denham_.

LESSON VI.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE I.--SIMILE.

"Human greatness is short and transitory, _as the odour of incense in the fire_."--_Dr. Johnson_. "Terrestrial happiness is of short continuance: _the brightness of the flame is wasting its fuel, the fragrant flower is passing away in its own odours_."--_Id._ "Thy nod is _as the earthquake that shakes the mountains_; and thy smile, _as the dawn of the vernal day_."--_Id._

"_Plants rais'd with tenderness are seldom strong_;
Man's coltish disposition asks the thong;
And, without discipline, the fav'rite child,
_Like a neglected forester_, runs wild."--_Cowper_.

"As turns a flock of geese, and, on the green,
Poke out their foolish necks in awkward spleen,
(Ridiculous in rage!) to _hiss_, not _bite,
So war their quills_, when sons of _dullness_ write."--_Young_.

"Who can unpitying see the flowery race,
Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign,
Before th' unbating beam? _So fade the fair_,
When fevers revel through their azure veins."--_Thomson_.

FIGURE II.--METAPHOR.

"Cathmon, thy name is a pleasant _gale_."--_Ossian_. "Rolled into himself he flew, wide on the _bosom of winds_. The old _oak felt_ his departure, and _shook_ its whistling _head_."--_Id._ "Carazan gradually lost the inclination to do good, as he acquired the power; as the _hand of time_ scattered _snow_ upon his head, the _freeziny influence_ [sic--KTH] extended to his bosom."--_Hawkesworth_. "The sun _grew weary_ of gilding the palaces of Morad; _the clouds of sorrow_ gathered round his head; and _the tempest of hatred_ roared about his dwelling."--_Dr. Johnson_.

LESSON VII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE III.--ALLEGORY.

"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not;' but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir;' and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, 'The first.'"--_Matt._, xxi, 28-31.

FIGURE IV.--METONYMY.

"Swifter than a whirlwind, flies the leaden _death_."--_Hervey_. "'Be all the dead forgot,' said Foldath's bursting _wrath_. 'Did not I fail in the field?'"--_Ossian_.

"Their _furrow_ oft the stubborn glebe has broke."--_Gray_.

"Firm in his love, resistless in his hate,
His arm is _conquest_, and his frown is _fate_."--_Day_.

"At length the _world_, renew'd by calm repose,
Was strong for toil; the dappled morn arose."--_Parnell_.

"What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme,
The mole's dim curtain and the lynx's _beam_!
Of hearing, from the _life_ that fills the flood,
To _that_ which warbles through the vernal wood!"--_Pope_.

FIGURE V.--SYNECDOCHE.

"'Twas then his _threshold_ first receiv'd a guest."--_Parnell_.

"For yet by swains alone the world he knew,
Whose _feet_ came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew."--_Id._

"Flush'd by the spirit of the genial _year_,
Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom
Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round."--_Thomson_.

LESSON VIII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE VI.--HYPERBOLE.

"I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his shield the rising moon; he sat on the shore, like a cloud of mist on the hill."--_Ossian_.

"At which the universal host up sent
A shout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."--_Milton_.

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red!"--_Shakspeare_.

FIGURE VII.--VISION.

"How mighty is their defence who reverently trust in the arm of God! How powerfully do they contend who fight with lawful weapons! Hark! 'Tis the voice of eloquence, pouring forth the living energies of the soul; pleading, with generous indignation and holy emotion, the cause of injured humanity against lawless might, and reading the awful destiny that awaits the oppressor!--I see the stern countenance of despotism overawed! I see the eye fallen, that kindled the elements of war! I see the brow relaxed, that scowled defiance at hostile thousands! I see the knees tremble, that trod with firmness the embattled field! Fear has entered that heart which ambition had betrayed into violence! The tyrant feels himself a man, and subject to the weakness of humanity!--Behold! and tell me, is that power contemptible which can thus find access to the sternest hearts?"--_Author_.

FIGURE VIII.--APOSTROPHE.

"Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on,
Inhumanly ingenious to find out
New pains for life, new terrors for the grave;
Artificers of death! Still monarchs dream
Of universal empire growing up
From universal ruin. _Blast the design_,
_Great God of Hosts! nor let thy creatures fall_
_Unpitied victims at Ambition's shrine_."--_Porteus_.

LESSON IX.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE IX.--PERSONIFICATION.

"Hail, sacred _Polity_, by _Freedom_ rear'd!
Hail, sacred _Freedom_, when by _Law_ restrain'd!
Without you, what were man? A grov'ling herd,
In darkness, wretchedness, and want, enchain'd."--_Beattie_.

"Let cheerful _Mem'ry_, from her purest cells,
Lead forth a godly train of _Virtues_ fair,
Cherish'd in early youth, now paying back
With tenfold usury the pious care."--_Porteus_.

FIGURE X.--EROTESIS.

"He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?"--_Psalms_, xciv, 10. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."--_Jeremiah_, xiii, 23.

FIGURE XI.--ECPHONESIS. "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!"--_Jeremiah_, ix, 1.

FIGURE XII.--ANTITHESIS.

"On this side, modesty is engaged; on that, impudence: on this, chastity; on that, lewdness: on this, integrity; on that, fraud: on this, piety; on that, profaneness: on this, constancy; on that, fickleness: on this, honour; on that, baseness: on this, moderation; on that, unbridled passion."--_Cicero_.

"She, from the rending earth, and bursting skies,
Saw gods descend, and fiends infernal rise;
Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest abodes;
Fear made her devils, and weak hope her gods."--_Pope_.

LESSON X.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE XIII.--CLIMAX.

"Virtuous actions are necessarily approved by the awakened conscience; and when they are approved, they are commended to practice; and when they are practised, they become easy; and when they become easy, they afford pleasure; and when they afford pleasure, they are done frequently; and when they are done frequently, they are confirmed by habit: and confirmed habit is a kind of second nature."--_Inst._, p. 246.

"Weep all of every name: begin the wo,
Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds;
And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills;
And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales;
And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks;
And sorrwing brooks, weep to the weeping stream;
And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep;
And let the instrument take up the song,
Responsive to the voice--harmonious wo!"--_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 115.

FIGURE XIV.--IRONY.

"And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, 'Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in [_on_] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!' "--_1 Kings_, xviii, 27.

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my breach of promise."--_Numbers_, xiv, 34.

"Some lead a life unblamable and just,
Their own dear virtue their unshaken trust;
They never sin--or if (as all offend)
Some trivial slips their daily walk attend,
The poor are near at hand, the charge is small,
A slight gratuity atones for all."--_Cowper_.

FIGURE XV.--APOPHASIS, OR PARALIPSIS.

I say nothing of the notorious profligacy of his character; nothing of the reckless extravagance with which he has wasted an ample fortune; nothing of the disgusting intemperance which has sometimes caused him to reel in our streets;--but I aver that he has not been faithful to our interests,--has not exhibited either probity or ability in the important office which he holds.

FIGURE XVI.--ONOMATOPOEIA.

[Fist][The following lines, from Swift's Poems, satirically mimick the imitative music of a violin.]

"Now slowly move your fiddle-stick;
Now, tantan, tantantivi, quick;
Now trembling, shivering, quivering, quaking,
Set hoping hearts of Lovers aching."

"Now sweep, sweep the deep.
See Celia, Celia dies,
While true Lovers' eyes
Weeping sleep, Sleeping weep,
Weeping sleep, Bo-peep, bo-peep."

CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.

Versification is the forming of that species of literary composition which is called _verse_; that is, _poetry_, or _poetic numbers_.