302
We come from our eternal rest with joy,
To see th' oppressor oppress'd in his turn .
We come from our eternal rest with joy,
To see th' oppressor oppress'd in his turn .
Carey - Practice English Prosody Exercises
J14 Vmiftcatian*
249
How long shall man survey creation's boons.
And madly throw away its richest pearls ?
250
The fresh'ning breezes sweep away the clouds,
That hid the golden orb of day awhile.
251
She made a little stand at ev'ry turn,
And thrust her lily hand among the thorns.
by the inaccuracy of cither printers or editors, and that, in bet*
ter edition! , we read Briareos ; the nam* being written in two
ways, viz. Briareus, of three syllables, as in Virgil, Ovid, and
Lucan, above noticed--and Biiare&s, of four, which occurs in
Homer's Iliad, 1. 493, and jn Hesiod, Theog. 149. In Pope's
translation of Homer's line, the common editions make him.
guilty of a gross violation of prosody in lengthening and accent-
ing the short penultima of the trisyllabic BrMreus-- thus--
Whom gods Briareus, men jEgseon name. (v. 523. )
But I doubt not, that, after the example of his author, and of
Milton, he intended Briareos, which, as a word of four syllables,
properly admits the accent on the second -- and that he meant
a synteretis of the third and fourth, such as he had before his
eyes in the very line which he was translating, where the ac-
cusative, Briare&n, is reduced by synaereeis to three --and such
as Shakespear three times exhibits in the name Romeo, in the
following line --
O Romeo . ' Romeo /, wherefore art thou Romeo ?
which is only a common five-foot Iambic, with a redundant
syllable. [%* Part of this note is extracted from a letter of
mine, in reply to a querist in the " Lady't Magaiine," for No-
vember, 180ft]
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? Versification. 115
252
He brought back the beauteous dame in triumph,
"With whom came her sister, fair Emilia.
Iambic Verses of ten syllables, with a mixture of other
feet besides the Iambus.
253
To partake of those sublimer pleasures,
I would forsake the world and all its charms.
254
While the shepherd, free from passion, thus sleeps,,
A monarch might see his state with envy.
255
Fair order and rule dwell in her mansion :
What she earns so well, she eats with temp'rance.
256
With more than mortal sound the pavement rang;
Huge stones, uprooted from the ground, flew wide.
257
Fiends incarnate, who, void of shame or fear,
Dare to assume the Christian's sacred name.
258
At length I sink to rest, sad and hopeless,
Oppress'd by solitude, sorrow, silence.
259
Led on by me, bravely dare the danger -y
Share the perils and the glory with me.
260
Thirsting for immortal fame, the hero
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? 116 Versification. *
Had rather* die nobly, than live with shame.
261
We tond to th' appointed place, like pilgrims :
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end.
* Had rather. --Dr. Johnson lias somewhere stigmatised this
phrase ns a vulgar h irbarism ; and many modern writers, influ-
enced, I presume, by his authority, have utterly discarded it, to
adopt Would rather in its place. But, however great the vene-
ration, which I entertain, in other respects, for Dr. Johnson's
transcendent abilities, I cannot,in the present instance, suhscribe
to lii3 opinion, without wilfully shutting my (yes against the
light, Had rather/is genuine English, and a very good expres-
sion, if rightly understood. Had is here in the imperfect tense
subjunctive : and, when a man says, for example, " I had rather
die than submit," the meaning is, " I would rather have [or
take, or choose] to die, than to submit. "-- But, as some modern
grammarians deny the existence of a subjunctive mood in En-
glish, it may be well to recollect that the ground-work of our
language is borrowed from the German. Now the German lan-
guage most evidently and undeniably has a subjunctive mood,
which is more particularly conspicuous in the very numerous
host of irregular verbs, because, in the generality of these, the
present and imperfect of the subjunctive mood are found mate-
rially to difftr from the same tenses of the indicative. I shall
here quote two examples, which we can exactly parallel in En-
glish-- Indicative, " Ich war," I reus -- Subjunctive, " Ich ware"
or " ware" [prounounccd, in cither case, wayrc] I were, i. e. I
would or should be :--Indie. " lch hutte," I hud--,Subj. "Ich
h'dtte, or htttte [pronounced, in either case, haytte\ I would or
should have. Now this Incite, or h'dtte, is the very word used in
our good old English form, " had rather," and in such phrases
as "had I the means, I would do it," --" had I been there,
I would have dono it;"--and its present want of a distinctive
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? Verification. . 117
262
Take what God gives, since to rebel is vain.
. The bad, which we sustain well, grows better.
263
A holy and a happy pair lie here,
They now share in glory, as once in grace.
264
He strove, in Scythia, with the warrior queen,
Whom, first by force, then by love, he conquer'd.
character to discriminate it from had of the indicative, is easily
accounted for. When the hatte of the indicative was changed
to had, the subjunctive hatte naturally underwent a similar me-
tamorphosis, and became had [pronounced hayd\ In process
of time, particularly after the Norman conquest bad banished
the Anglo-Saxon language from the court and the polite circlet,
the distinction between had and had was gradually obhterated,
till at length both words were indiscriminately pronounced had.
-- If Dr. Johnson had looked to the German, be certainly would
not have reprobated, as barbarous, a long-established and per-
fectly grammatical form of expression. But, of hit unfortunate
want of acquaintance with that language (so indispensably re-
quisite to an English lexicographer) a truly ludicrous instance
occurs in his Dictionary, under the word, Booby. At a loss
for its etymology, he quotes the authority of a fanciful prede-
cessor, who derives the word from Butt-beef! ! ! Whether this
was intended as a compliment to Mr. John Bull, as if honest
John and his progeny were the most notable boobies in Europe,
I pretend not to determine. But, be that as it may, the word
Booby is pure German, viz. Bube [pronounced boobe] which
signifies a child, a boy, a great awkward boy, an oaf -- in short, a
booby -- without a single particle of John Bull's beef in his whole
composition.
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? 118 Versification.
265. -- The Planet Saturn.
A wond'rous circle clings round his huge form,
And, with lucid rings, girds his frozen globe.
266. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Four bright satellites* attend his orb,
And lend their borrow'd radiance to his night.
267
My breast labors now with oppressive care ;
And the falling tear descends o'er rriy cheek.
268
Distrust mankind : confer with your own heart;
And dread to find a flatterer e'en there.
* Satellites. -- Although Satellites be commonly pronounced,
in English, as three syllables, and accented on the first, it must,
in the present instance, be pronounced as four, and accented on
the second; the word being here pure Latin, as in Pope's Essay
on Man, t'pist. i. 42 --
"Or ask of yonder argent fields above,
" Why Jose's satellites are less than Jove. "
Pope, it is true, hag been accused of an almost unpardonable
poetic licence in thus accenting the word: but there was not
the slightest ground for such accusation, as there is not even
a shadow of poetic licence in the case. Had he, as a Latin
word, accented it on the first syllable after the English fashion,
he would have shown himself grossly ignorant of what is well
known to every school-boy who has learned the Latin declen-
sions, viz. that the Latin Satellites neither is'nor can be other-
wise accented than on the second syllable: and he would have
been equally ridiculed by every classical scholar, as if he had
accented Themistoeles and Achilles on the first, and curtailed
them to Them'stocks and Ach'/es.
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? Versification. 1 19
269
Lov'd Charity, seraph of earth, appears,
And drops celestial tears on human griefs.
270
Tell them, I still hope to live triumphant,
And revive in bliss with them after death.
271
The honor, which the Muse conveys, is faint,
If, void of truth, she lavish wanton praise.
272
O genial Nature ! preside o'er my soul:
Guide the trembling hand of feeling friendship.
273
I'll deck his humble tomb with pious care,
And bid the mem'ry of his virtues bloom.
274
To gain your praise, was all my ambition,
And to please you alone, all my pleasure.
275
He bids his car to rise from earth's low orb,
And sails through the trackless skies, advent'rous.
. 276 f
Though, with her laughing eyes, Pleasure hail thee,
Thy crimes will soon rise in direful judgement.
277
Conceive a maid crown'd with ev'ry virtue,
Renown'd alike for wit and for beauty.
278
His speech restrain'd the tempest of her grief;
And the maid regain'd awhile her lost peace.
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? 120 Versification.
279
The sun turns, revolving on his axis,
And burns intensely with creative fire.
280
Alas ! the gilded prospects fled too soon,
Leaving, in their stead, despair and mis'ry.
281
Jack may well be vain of his fine feelings;
For he has felt a cane most acutely.
282
Succeeding ages shall hear his triumph,
And blend a tear with their admiration,
283
Oh ! discard for a while the vulgar joys
Of unmeaning noise and empty pageant.
284
Where'er he flies, suspicion haunts the wretch :
He lives hated, and dies unlamented.
285
Though he shine here, bright in polish'd lustre,
His fainter light is scarce seen in the heav'ns.
286
Stern Diana's altar stood in Tauris*,
Drench'd with human blood, and girt with terrors.
? Tauris. --This appellation of the Crimea (or Tauric Cher-
sonnesus), lately revived by Russian Catharine, is sometimes
improperly written Taurida; an error, which originated in
hasty translations from the French, by persons who happened
not to recollect the ancient name, or the French usage in form-
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? Versification. 121
287
See stern defiance lour on Satan's brow,
And Hell's grim legions pour all around him.
288
Then man, blest with universal concord,
Shall clasp to his breast each brother and friend.
289
Vain the giddy strife for honors and gold:
A useful life is the first of honors.
290
Modest Worth pines there in secret sorrow,
And reclines his head, far from ev'ry joy.
291
If you want, earn : impart, if you abound.
ing terminations. In this and many similar cases, where the
ancient name of a country (I do not say, of a town) ends in IS,
the French closely follow the practice of the Italians, who, in
almost innumerable instances, form their nouns from the Latin
ablative, as Libro, Vino, Casttllo, Pane, Cesare, Cicerone.
Thus the Latin Tauris (ablatire, Tauride) becomes, in Italian,
Tauride, of three syllables, and, in French, Tauride, of two--as
Aulis, Colchis, Phocis, are rendered Aulide, Colchide, Phocide,
in Mons. Dacier's Horace, and Madame Dacier's Homer. And,
since it has not been judged proper, in English, to transform the
names of these last-mentioned countries into Aulida, Colchida,
Phocida, it is much to be regretted that some respectable
writers, who cannot be suspected of ignorance, have, with too
great a facility of condescension, adopted from those translators
the irregular appellation of Taurida, instead of setting them
right by their own example, which would have been deferen-
tially received as authority, and have finajly preponderated with
the public.
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? 122
To the feeling heart, these both are pleasures.
292
The fav'rite child, without strict discipline,
Runs wild, like a neglected forester.
293
Can gold make reason shine, or calm passion r
Can we, from the mine, dig wisdom or peace i
294
If attir'd in heav'nly truths, religion,
To be admir'd, needs only to be seen.
295
The slaves of establish'd mode and custom,
We keep the road with pack-horse constancy.
296
He that has a father's heart, will not blush
To take a childish part in childish plays.
297
Lofty hills now display their verdant crowns,
Emerging into day in vernal pomp.
298
The boasted skill of old practitioners*
Could avail nought to check the growing ill.
* Practitioners. --How this word could ever gain an esta-
blished footing in our language, I am utterly at a loss to con-
ceive: but I hope that the gentlemen of the liberal professions,
to whom it is usually applied, may brand it with their marked
disapprobation, and, as a mis-created monster, hunt it from
the circles of polished society, to herd in future with vulgar
" Musitioners" and " Polititionert. "--As, from the French
Musicien, Logicien, Mathimaticien, we have formed Musician,
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? Versification. M$
299
The eye of mom lends its brightness in vain :
The eve sends its frolic Zephyr in vain.
For me, whom fate beguiles of ev'ry joy,
No beauty smiles, and no music warbles.
300
Wafted by thy gentle gale, blest Mem'ry!
I oft turn my sail up the stream of time,
To view the fairy haunts of long-lost hours,
Blest with far fresher flow'rs, far greener shades.
301
I pity bashful men, who feel the pain
Of undeserv'd disdain and fancied scorn,
And bear, upon a blushing face, the marks
Of self-impos'd disgrace, and needless shame.
302
We come from our eternal rest with joy,
To see th' oppressor oppress'd in his turn . . . . . .
Tis thus Omnipotence lultils his law;
And, what Justice wills, Vengeance executes.
303
Without her heav'nlv guide, Philosophy
Logician, Mathematician, so we outfit to form Putctician from
the French Praticien--re-instating, of course, the c or k ol the
original Greek, Practicot, which is omitted in the French, only
for the sake of a softer sound. --With respect to Parishioner,
improperly formed from the French Parotsnen in I lie oame irre-
gular manner as Practitioner and Musitwner above, it wtre
fruitiest to attempt the extirpation of an error now inveterate
in the language, and too deeply rooted to allow any hope of
success.
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? 124 Versifkution.
May nourish pride, and blow up self-conceit,
But, while the reas'ning part is her province,
Has still on her heart a veil of midnight.
304. -- The Christian.
With unmanly fears he holds no parley:
He confidently steers, where duty bids;
At her call, faces a thousand dangers,
And surmounts them all, trusting in his God.
305
When life is new, our joys are not num'rous;
And some of the few are falling yearly.
306
Seek not thou, with vain endeavour, to find
The secret counsels of almighty mind.
The great decree lies involved in darkness;
Nor can the depths of fate by thee be pierc'd.
307
Oh ! wipe the falling dew from Sorrow's cheek :
The sons of want renew to you their plaint.
Impart the balm of kind relief again,
And glad the aching heart with timely aid.
308
The morsel valour gains, is sweet to me:
The homely cup which freedom drains, is sweet :
The ji>ys which independence knows, are sweet;
And revenge, wreak'd on insulting foes, sweet.
309
A naked new-born child, on parent's knees
Thou sat'st weeping, while all smil'd around thee,
So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep,
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? Versification. 12. 5
Thou may'st smile calm, when all weep around thee.
310
Pleasures are few ; and we enjoy fewer:
Pleasure is bright and coy, like quicksilver:
With our utmost skill we strive to grasp it:
It eludes us still, and it still glitters.
311
" Can this be true ? " cries an arch observer. --
" True ! yes, 'tis true : with these eyes I saw it. "--
" On that ground alone, sir, I believe it:
Had I seen it with my own, I could riot. "
312
A tale should be succinct, clear, judicious;
The incidents well link'd, the language plain.
Tell not what ev'ry body knows, as new;
And, new or old, hasten still to a close.
313
Though array'd in Vulcanian panoply,
Patroclus* bet ray'd his native weakness,
* Patroclus. --Thi<< name must here take the accent on the
first syllable, and have the second short; which, in Tact, is the
genuine classic pronunciation, though Mr. Pope, in translating
Homer, chose to make it Patroclus, for the sake of metrical
convenience; Patroclus being better suited tv ttie nature of
iambic verse than PatriSclus. A late writer, after. having quoted
the authority, of some modern lexicographers, and jjiven his own
vote in favor of Patroclus, calls for a reason why he should not
be at liberty to accent Patrocles and Patrocli in the same man-
ner. --A very simple and obvious reason might easily have been
given, without recurring to modern authorities in a case where. :
L 3.
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? ltd Versification.
When, tempting the unequal fight rashly,
Beneath resistless Hector's might he fell,
Taught ly his superior prowess to know,
How difT'rent real worth from empty show.
314
Oh ! could some poet rise, boldjin wisdom,
And unfold half thy beauties to the world,
they cannot possibl/liave the smallest weight, as the question
must be decided by one universal and invariable rule, well known
to every school-boy who has read even the first page of the La-
tin prosody. The rule is, that a short vowel, immediately pre<f
ceding a mute and liquid, is rendered, by such position, not ne-
cessarily long, but simply common; that is to say, that, although
it still remain short in prose, it may, in poetry, be made either
long or short, at the writer's option, as I have shown by various
examples in my " Latin Prosody. " Now, Pairoclut, PutrOclcs,
AndrScles, Niciicles, Mctrucles, Hambcles, &c. being writteD in
Greek with the O-micron, or short 0, that 0, though rendered
common in poetry by the following mute and liquid, still con-
tinues short in Greek and Latin prose: consequently, it ought
to be so pronounced in English prose ; and, as our language does
not admit a licentious two-fold pronunciation, it ought to be
equally short in our poetry. Indeed the warmest admirer of
ancient literature would certainly laugh at any writer who
should, in English verse, transform the well-known prosaic
names of PerMes, SophVcles, Themislocles, to Pericles, Sophocles,
Themistocles, though such transformation is perfectly allowable
in Greek and Latin. --The same unvarying rule applies to Dory-
clus, Jphiclus, and many other names, which are too often mit-
accented and mispronounced by persons un-acquainted with the
ancient language! . --See the note on Anirodes, page 129, No.
321.
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? Versification. 137
Tloving on fancy's wing, impart thy fire,
And feel thy genius beaming on his heart--
I'd wish humbly, though the wish would be vain,
That on me some small portion might alight.
315. -- To England, on the Roman Invasion.
At this distant moment, thy language shows,
How much the country owes to the conqu'ror:
Refin'd, energetic, and expressive,
It sparkles with the gems he left behind.
When he came, he brought thy land a blessing:
Savage he found thee, and tame he left thee.
316
The scenes of life, when confess'd and present,
Stamp on the breast but their bolder features :
Yet not an image, when view'd remotely,
However rude, and however trivial,
But wakes the social sigh, and wins the heart,
With ev'ry claim of close affinity.
317
Rich harvests fill each undulating vale:
Trees crown the waving hill: flow'rs deck the mead.
Oaks throw a show'r of acorns from their boughs :
In the trunk below, bees hoard their nectar.
Large flocks, that whiten and spread o'er the field,
Yield to the shepherd their fleecy tribute.
318. -- Sir Robert Walpole.
Thus was he form'd to please and to govern :
Dignity with ease, familiar greatness,
Compos'd his frame: in ev'ry state, admir'd j
Great in public, amiable in private;
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? 128 Versification.
In pow'r, gentle, but, in disgrace, daring;
His love was liberty, peace was his wish.
319
Darius tovv'rM in pride high on his thrones
The fair A pa me* grnc'd the sov'reign'e side;
And she smii'd now, and, with mimic frown, now
Plac'd the monarch's s;icred crown on her brow.
He bends o'er her faultless form in transport,
Loves ev'ry look, an. ! commends ev'ry act.
320. -- A Miser.
He wore a threadbare cloak,, and rusty hat:
At charge of other folk f he din'd and supp'd:
And, bad he held out his palms, by his looks,,
An object fit for alms he might be thought.
So, if he refus'd his pelf to the poor,
* Apame. --The elegant and ingenious author of these lines-
has used a poetic licence in lengthening the middle syllable of
this name, which must here accordingly be made Apame, though
its real quantity is Apume. --But, as some of our dictionaries say
otherwise, it may be necessary to add, that, although perhaps no
ancient verse can be produced^ in which the name appears, there
occurs, in Priscian's geographical poem, a line (quoted in my
" Latin Prosody," sect. 3) which mentions the city of Apumea,
denominated from ApiLme; and, by a well-known rule of ancient
prosody, the quantity of the derivative proves that the primitive
Apame has the middle syllable short.
. f Folk. --These lines are from Swift, whose suffrage we thus
luckily have in favor of grammatic propriety ; folk being a sin-
gular noun of multitude, like people; and neither of them ad-
mitting a plural, unless (like the Latin populi and the French,
peuples) we were to say folks or peoples, for nations.
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? Versification. 129
~Fa)l as kindly as himself he us'd them.
321. -- Androcles and the Lion.
"When the lion rears his terrific form,
"Lo! Androcles* appears half dead with fright.
But, when the lion views his well-known face,
How soon he renews his former friendship!
The grateful brute lies on the ground, fawning,
And licks the hand that had erst heal'd his wound.
322. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Revolving earth must run her course twelve times,
JEre, round the sun, the vast planet journeys.
Four radiant moons guide the mighty monarch,
And dance by his side in bright succession ;
-Eclips'd and eclipsing, move around him,
And light the night of Jove with changing beams.
Round the sacred oak, gay with garlands, thus
In bright array the rural virgins dance.
323
We die in part, as those we love decay:
String after string from the heart is sever'd ;
Till loosen'd life, but breathing clay at last,
Is glad to fall away without one pang.
* AndrVcles. --This name, like some other Greek names of
kindred derivation, is written in two ways, AndrMus and Andro-
cles, as, in Homer, we find one and the same individual indis-
criminately called Patroclus and Putrocles. --In Aulus Gellius,
the name is Andrticlus^in iElian, AndrVcles ; which latter is
preferable, as the more usual form of such derivatives. In either
shape, it has the middle syllable short, aad the accent on the
first. --See the note on Patroclus, page 185, No. 313.
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? 130 Versification.
Unhappy lie, who feels the blow latest,
Whose eyes, o'er ev'ry friend laid low, have wept;
Dragg'd on from partial death to death, ling'ring,
Till, dying, breath is all he can resign.
324. - The Post Horse.
Ere his exhausted spirits can return,
Or reviving ardor bum through his frame, [ing:
He must come forth, though sore, maim'd, and limp-
The chaise is at the door: he hears the whip.
The collar tightens: and he feels again
His half-heal'd wounds inflam'd ; the wheels again
In his ears resound with tiresome sameness,
O'er blinding dust, or miles of flinty ground.
Thus robb'd nightly, and ev'ry day injur'd,
His piece-meal murd'rers wear away his life.
325
The blackbird, the thrush -- all the tuneful throng,
That with their mefodious song ehcer the groves,
And spend their days harmless -- spare, ye gunners!
But the predacious* tyrants of the air,
Whose fierce attacks annoy the peaceful tribes --
Ye gunners! employ all your skill on these.
* Predacious. -- This word being frequently mis-spflletl, even
in dictionaries, and converted into PredaCEous, I wish my
young readers to X)bserve, in this and numerous other cases,
the very material distinction between the terminations ACIuus
and ACEous, which convey meanings as widely different as the
terminations ING and ED annexed to our English verbs. Ad-
jectives in ACEous (in Latin ACEVS, and either always or most
commonly derived from substantive*) signify, of the same nature
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? Versification. 131
326
Say, in his own proud esteem, what is man ?
Hear him -- himself the theme and the poet --
A monarch cloth'd witli awe and majesty ;
or substance as the original noun, or resembling or belonging to
or consisting of it, as Argillaceous, Farinaceous, Sebaceous,
Saponaceous, Sec. Sec. But adjectives in ACIous (in Latin, AX
-- Italian, ACE -- French, sometimes ACE, as Tenace. some-
times ACIEUX, whence our English ACIOUS, as Audacieux,
Audacious) are mostly derived from verbs, and signify fond of,
or addicted to, or Jit for the action of the original verb, as Lo-
quacious, fond of talking, Rapacious, addicted to snatching or
plundering, Tenacious, apt to hold or retain, Capacious, fit or
able to contain, or of fit size to contain much; and so in a va-
riety of other examples. -- Agreeably to this analogy, from the
Latin verb Prador (to prey or plunder) we form the adjective
Pretdax-- In English, PredaClous -- apt to prey or plunder --
addicted to preying or plundering ; and, from the substantive
Prada (prey, plunder, booty) comes the Adjective Pradaceus --
in English, PredaCEous -- belonging to prey or booty-- consisting
of prey or booty. --Hence it is evident that birds or beasts of
prey must be described as PredaClous, but cannot correctly be
called PredaCEous. Indeed the word PredaCEous can hardly
be used with propriety, except by a writer, who, little scrupu-
lous respecting quaintness or novelty of diction, should employ
it in some such combination as the following --
With rav'ning appetite, the bird of Jove
In haste dispatches his predaceous meal. --
i. e. his meal consisting of prey -- or (speaking of Gil Bias in
the robbers' cavern) --
He looks around, and, with astonish'd gaze,
Silent surveys the rich predaceous hoard --
i. e. the hoard consisting of prey or plunder.
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? 132 Versification.
His will his law, and his mind his kingdom ;
In his mien grace, and in his eyes glory;
Supreme on earth, and worthy of the skies ;
Dominion in his nod, strength in his heart;
And quite a god, thunderbolts excepted.
So sings he, charm'd with his own form and mind
The theme a worm, the song magnificent.
327
See the peacock, that self-applauding bird!
249
How long shall man survey creation's boons.
And madly throw away its richest pearls ?
250
The fresh'ning breezes sweep away the clouds,
That hid the golden orb of day awhile.
251
She made a little stand at ev'ry turn,
And thrust her lily hand among the thorns.
by the inaccuracy of cither printers or editors, and that, in bet*
ter edition! , we read Briareos ; the nam* being written in two
ways, viz. Briareus, of three syllables, as in Virgil, Ovid, and
Lucan, above noticed--and Biiare&s, of four, which occurs in
Homer's Iliad, 1. 493, and jn Hesiod, Theog. 149. In Pope's
translation of Homer's line, the common editions make him.
guilty of a gross violation of prosody in lengthening and accent-
ing the short penultima of the trisyllabic BrMreus-- thus--
Whom gods Briareus, men jEgseon name. (v. 523. )
But I doubt not, that, after the example of his author, and of
Milton, he intended Briareos, which, as a word of four syllables,
properly admits the accent on the second -- and that he meant
a synteretis of the third and fourth, such as he had before his
eyes in the very line which he was translating, where the ac-
cusative, Briare&n, is reduced by synaereeis to three --and such
as Shakespear three times exhibits in the name Romeo, in the
following line --
O Romeo . ' Romeo /, wherefore art thou Romeo ?
which is only a common five-foot Iambic, with a redundant
syllable. [%* Part of this note is extracted from a letter of
mine, in reply to a querist in the " Lady't Magaiine," for No-
vember, 180ft]
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? Versification. 115
252
He brought back the beauteous dame in triumph,
"With whom came her sister, fair Emilia.
Iambic Verses of ten syllables, with a mixture of other
feet besides the Iambus.
253
To partake of those sublimer pleasures,
I would forsake the world and all its charms.
254
While the shepherd, free from passion, thus sleeps,,
A monarch might see his state with envy.
255
Fair order and rule dwell in her mansion :
What she earns so well, she eats with temp'rance.
256
With more than mortal sound the pavement rang;
Huge stones, uprooted from the ground, flew wide.
257
Fiends incarnate, who, void of shame or fear,
Dare to assume the Christian's sacred name.
258
At length I sink to rest, sad and hopeless,
Oppress'd by solitude, sorrow, silence.
259
Led on by me, bravely dare the danger -y
Share the perils and the glory with me.
260
Thirsting for immortal fame, the hero
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? 116 Versification. *
Had rather* die nobly, than live with shame.
261
We tond to th' appointed place, like pilgrims :
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end.
* Had rather. --Dr. Johnson lias somewhere stigmatised this
phrase ns a vulgar h irbarism ; and many modern writers, influ-
enced, I presume, by his authority, have utterly discarded it, to
adopt Would rather in its place. But, however great the vene-
ration, which I entertain, in other respects, for Dr. Johnson's
transcendent abilities, I cannot,in the present instance, suhscribe
to lii3 opinion, without wilfully shutting my (yes against the
light, Had rather/is genuine English, and a very good expres-
sion, if rightly understood. Had is here in the imperfect tense
subjunctive : and, when a man says, for example, " I had rather
die than submit," the meaning is, " I would rather have [or
take, or choose] to die, than to submit. "-- But, as some modern
grammarians deny the existence of a subjunctive mood in En-
glish, it may be well to recollect that the ground-work of our
language is borrowed from the German. Now the German lan-
guage most evidently and undeniably has a subjunctive mood,
which is more particularly conspicuous in the very numerous
host of irregular verbs, because, in the generality of these, the
present and imperfect of the subjunctive mood are found mate-
rially to difftr from the same tenses of the indicative. I shall
here quote two examples, which we can exactly parallel in En-
glish-- Indicative, " Ich war," I reus -- Subjunctive, " Ich ware"
or " ware" [prounounccd, in cither case, wayrc] I were, i. e. I
would or should be :--Indie. " lch hutte," I hud--,Subj. "Ich
h'dtte, or htttte [pronounced, in either case, haytte\ I would or
should have. Now this Incite, or h'dtte, is the very word used in
our good old English form, " had rather," and in such phrases
as "had I the means, I would do it," --" had I been there,
I would have dono it;"--and its present want of a distinctive
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? Verification. . 117
262
Take what God gives, since to rebel is vain.
. The bad, which we sustain well, grows better.
263
A holy and a happy pair lie here,
They now share in glory, as once in grace.
264
He strove, in Scythia, with the warrior queen,
Whom, first by force, then by love, he conquer'd.
character to discriminate it from had of the indicative, is easily
accounted for. When the hatte of the indicative was changed
to had, the subjunctive hatte naturally underwent a similar me-
tamorphosis, and became had [pronounced hayd\ In process
of time, particularly after the Norman conquest bad banished
the Anglo-Saxon language from the court and the polite circlet,
the distinction between had and had was gradually obhterated,
till at length both words were indiscriminately pronounced had.
-- If Dr. Johnson had looked to the German, be certainly would
not have reprobated, as barbarous, a long-established and per-
fectly grammatical form of expression. But, of hit unfortunate
want of acquaintance with that language (so indispensably re-
quisite to an English lexicographer) a truly ludicrous instance
occurs in his Dictionary, under the word, Booby. At a loss
for its etymology, he quotes the authority of a fanciful prede-
cessor, who derives the word from Butt-beef! ! ! Whether this
was intended as a compliment to Mr. John Bull, as if honest
John and his progeny were the most notable boobies in Europe,
I pretend not to determine. But, be that as it may, the word
Booby is pure German, viz. Bube [pronounced boobe] which
signifies a child, a boy, a great awkward boy, an oaf -- in short, a
booby -- without a single particle of John Bull's beef in his whole
composition.
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? 118 Versification.
265. -- The Planet Saturn.
A wond'rous circle clings round his huge form,
And, with lucid rings, girds his frozen globe.
266. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Four bright satellites* attend his orb,
And lend their borrow'd radiance to his night.
267
My breast labors now with oppressive care ;
And the falling tear descends o'er rriy cheek.
268
Distrust mankind : confer with your own heart;
And dread to find a flatterer e'en there.
* Satellites. -- Although Satellites be commonly pronounced,
in English, as three syllables, and accented on the first, it must,
in the present instance, be pronounced as four, and accented on
the second; the word being here pure Latin, as in Pope's Essay
on Man, t'pist. i. 42 --
"Or ask of yonder argent fields above,
" Why Jose's satellites are less than Jove. "
Pope, it is true, hag been accused of an almost unpardonable
poetic licence in thus accenting the word: but there was not
the slightest ground for such accusation, as there is not even
a shadow of poetic licence in the case. Had he, as a Latin
word, accented it on the first syllable after the English fashion,
he would have shown himself grossly ignorant of what is well
known to every school-boy who has learned the Latin declen-
sions, viz. that the Latin Satellites neither is'nor can be other-
wise accented than on the second syllable: and he would have
been equally ridiculed by every classical scholar, as if he had
accented Themistoeles and Achilles on the first, and curtailed
them to Them'stocks and Ach'/es.
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? Versification. 1 19
269
Lov'd Charity, seraph of earth, appears,
And drops celestial tears on human griefs.
270
Tell them, I still hope to live triumphant,
And revive in bliss with them after death.
271
The honor, which the Muse conveys, is faint,
If, void of truth, she lavish wanton praise.
272
O genial Nature ! preside o'er my soul:
Guide the trembling hand of feeling friendship.
273
I'll deck his humble tomb with pious care,
And bid the mem'ry of his virtues bloom.
274
To gain your praise, was all my ambition,
And to please you alone, all my pleasure.
275
He bids his car to rise from earth's low orb,
And sails through the trackless skies, advent'rous.
. 276 f
Though, with her laughing eyes, Pleasure hail thee,
Thy crimes will soon rise in direful judgement.
277
Conceive a maid crown'd with ev'ry virtue,
Renown'd alike for wit and for beauty.
278
His speech restrain'd the tempest of her grief;
And the maid regain'd awhile her lost peace.
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? 120 Versification.
279
The sun turns, revolving on his axis,
And burns intensely with creative fire.
280
Alas ! the gilded prospects fled too soon,
Leaving, in their stead, despair and mis'ry.
281
Jack may well be vain of his fine feelings;
For he has felt a cane most acutely.
282
Succeeding ages shall hear his triumph,
And blend a tear with their admiration,
283
Oh ! discard for a while the vulgar joys
Of unmeaning noise and empty pageant.
284
Where'er he flies, suspicion haunts the wretch :
He lives hated, and dies unlamented.
285
Though he shine here, bright in polish'd lustre,
His fainter light is scarce seen in the heav'ns.
286
Stern Diana's altar stood in Tauris*,
Drench'd with human blood, and girt with terrors.
? Tauris. --This appellation of the Crimea (or Tauric Cher-
sonnesus), lately revived by Russian Catharine, is sometimes
improperly written Taurida; an error, which originated in
hasty translations from the French, by persons who happened
not to recollect the ancient name, or the French usage in form-
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? Versification. 121
287
See stern defiance lour on Satan's brow,
And Hell's grim legions pour all around him.
288
Then man, blest with universal concord,
Shall clasp to his breast each brother and friend.
289
Vain the giddy strife for honors and gold:
A useful life is the first of honors.
290
Modest Worth pines there in secret sorrow,
And reclines his head, far from ev'ry joy.
291
If you want, earn : impart, if you abound.
ing terminations. In this and many similar cases, where the
ancient name of a country (I do not say, of a town) ends in IS,
the French closely follow the practice of the Italians, who, in
almost innumerable instances, form their nouns from the Latin
ablative, as Libro, Vino, Casttllo, Pane, Cesare, Cicerone.
Thus the Latin Tauris (ablatire, Tauride) becomes, in Italian,
Tauride, of three syllables, and, in French, Tauride, of two--as
Aulis, Colchis, Phocis, are rendered Aulide, Colchide, Phocide,
in Mons. Dacier's Horace, and Madame Dacier's Homer. And,
since it has not been judged proper, in English, to transform the
names of these last-mentioned countries into Aulida, Colchida,
Phocida, it is much to be regretted that some respectable
writers, who cannot be suspected of ignorance, have, with too
great a facility of condescension, adopted from those translators
the irregular appellation of Taurida, instead of setting them
right by their own example, which would have been deferen-
tially received as authority, and have finajly preponderated with
the public.
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? 122
To the feeling heart, these both are pleasures.
292
The fav'rite child, without strict discipline,
Runs wild, like a neglected forester.
293
Can gold make reason shine, or calm passion r
Can we, from the mine, dig wisdom or peace i
294
If attir'd in heav'nly truths, religion,
To be admir'd, needs only to be seen.
295
The slaves of establish'd mode and custom,
We keep the road with pack-horse constancy.
296
He that has a father's heart, will not blush
To take a childish part in childish plays.
297
Lofty hills now display their verdant crowns,
Emerging into day in vernal pomp.
298
The boasted skill of old practitioners*
Could avail nought to check the growing ill.
* Practitioners. --How this word could ever gain an esta-
blished footing in our language, I am utterly at a loss to con-
ceive: but I hope that the gentlemen of the liberal professions,
to whom it is usually applied, may brand it with their marked
disapprobation, and, as a mis-created monster, hunt it from
the circles of polished society, to herd in future with vulgar
" Musitioners" and " Polititionert. "--As, from the French
Musicien, Logicien, Mathimaticien, we have formed Musician,
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? Versification. M$
299
The eye of mom lends its brightness in vain :
The eve sends its frolic Zephyr in vain.
For me, whom fate beguiles of ev'ry joy,
No beauty smiles, and no music warbles.
300
Wafted by thy gentle gale, blest Mem'ry!
I oft turn my sail up the stream of time,
To view the fairy haunts of long-lost hours,
Blest with far fresher flow'rs, far greener shades.
301
I pity bashful men, who feel the pain
Of undeserv'd disdain and fancied scorn,
And bear, upon a blushing face, the marks
Of self-impos'd disgrace, and needless shame.
302
We come from our eternal rest with joy,
To see th' oppressor oppress'd in his turn . . . . . .
Tis thus Omnipotence lultils his law;
And, what Justice wills, Vengeance executes.
303
Without her heav'nlv guide, Philosophy
Logician, Mathematician, so we outfit to form Putctician from
the French Praticien--re-instating, of course, the c or k ol the
original Greek, Practicot, which is omitted in the French, only
for the sake of a softer sound. --With respect to Parishioner,
improperly formed from the French Parotsnen in I lie oame irre-
gular manner as Practitioner and Musitwner above, it wtre
fruitiest to attempt the extirpation of an error now inveterate
in the language, and too deeply rooted to allow any hope of
success.
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? 124 Versifkution.
May nourish pride, and blow up self-conceit,
But, while the reas'ning part is her province,
Has still on her heart a veil of midnight.
304. -- The Christian.
With unmanly fears he holds no parley:
He confidently steers, where duty bids;
At her call, faces a thousand dangers,
And surmounts them all, trusting in his God.
305
When life is new, our joys are not num'rous;
And some of the few are falling yearly.
306
Seek not thou, with vain endeavour, to find
The secret counsels of almighty mind.
The great decree lies involved in darkness;
Nor can the depths of fate by thee be pierc'd.
307
Oh ! wipe the falling dew from Sorrow's cheek :
The sons of want renew to you their plaint.
Impart the balm of kind relief again,
And glad the aching heart with timely aid.
308
The morsel valour gains, is sweet to me:
The homely cup which freedom drains, is sweet :
The ji>ys which independence knows, are sweet;
And revenge, wreak'd on insulting foes, sweet.
309
A naked new-born child, on parent's knees
Thou sat'st weeping, while all smil'd around thee,
So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep,
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? Versification. 12. 5
Thou may'st smile calm, when all weep around thee.
310
Pleasures are few ; and we enjoy fewer:
Pleasure is bright and coy, like quicksilver:
With our utmost skill we strive to grasp it:
It eludes us still, and it still glitters.
311
" Can this be true ? " cries an arch observer. --
" True ! yes, 'tis true : with these eyes I saw it. "--
" On that ground alone, sir, I believe it:
Had I seen it with my own, I could riot. "
312
A tale should be succinct, clear, judicious;
The incidents well link'd, the language plain.
Tell not what ev'ry body knows, as new;
And, new or old, hasten still to a close.
313
Though array'd in Vulcanian panoply,
Patroclus* bet ray'd his native weakness,
* Patroclus. --Thi<< name must here take the accent on the
first syllable, and have the second short; which, in Tact, is the
genuine classic pronunciation, though Mr. Pope, in translating
Homer, chose to make it Patroclus, for the sake of metrical
convenience; Patroclus being better suited tv ttie nature of
iambic verse than PatriSclus. A late writer, after. having quoted
the authority, of some modern lexicographers, and jjiven his own
vote in favor of Patroclus, calls for a reason why he should not
be at liberty to accent Patrocles and Patrocli in the same man-
ner. --A very simple and obvious reason might easily have been
given, without recurring to modern authorities in a case where. :
L 3.
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? ltd Versification.
When, tempting the unequal fight rashly,
Beneath resistless Hector's might he fell,
Taught ly his superior prowess to know,
How difT'rent real worth from empty show.
314
Oh ! could some poet rise, boldjin wisdom,
And unfold half thy beauties to the world,
they cannot possibl/liave the smallest weight, as the question
must be decided by one universal and invariable rule, well known
to every school-boy who has read even the first page of the La-
tin prosody. The rule is, that a short vowel, immediately pre<f
ceding a mute and liquid, is rendered, by such position, not ne-
cessarily long, but simply common; that is to say, that, although
it still remain short in prose, it may, in poetry, be made either
long or short, at the writer's option, as I have shown by various
examples in my " Latin Prosody. " Now, Pairoclut, PutrOclcs,
AndrScles, Niciicles, Mctrucles, Hambcles, &c. being writteD in
Greek with the O-micron, or short 0, that 0, though rendered
common in poetry by the following mute and liquid, still con-
tinues short in Greek and Latin prose: consequently, it ought
to be so pronounced in English prose ; and, as our language does
not admit a licentious two-fold pronunciation, it ought to be
equally short in our poetry. Indeed the warmest admirer of
ancient literature would certainly laugh at any writer who
should, in English verse, transform the well-known prosaic
names of PerMes, SophVcles, Themislocles, to Pericles, Sophocles,
Themistocles, though such transformation is perfectly allowable
in Greek and Latin. --The same unvarying rule applies to Dory-
clus, Jphiclus, and many other names, which are too often mit-
accented and mispronounced by persons un-acquainted with the
ancient language! . --See the note on Anirodes, page 129, No.
321.
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? Versification. 137
Tloving on fancy's wing, impart thy fire,
And feel thy genius beaming on his heart--
I'd wish humbly, though the wish would be vain,
That on me some small portion might alight.
315. -- To England, on the Roman Invasion.
At this distant moment, thy language shows,
How much the country owes to the conqu'ror:
Refin'd, energetic, and expressive,
It sparkles with the gems he left behind.
When he came, he brought thy land a blessing:
Savage he found thee, and tame he left thee.
316
The scenes of life, when confess'd and present,
Stamp on the breast but their bolder features :
Yet not an image, when view'd remotely,
However rude, and however trivial,
But wakes the social sigh, and wins the heart,
With ev'ry claim of close affinity.
317
Rich harvests fill each undulating vale:
Trees crown the waving hill: flow'rs deck the mead.
Oaks throw a show'r of acorns from their boughs :
In the trunk below, bees hoard their nectar.
Large flocks, that whiten and spread o'er the field,
Yield to the shepherd their fleecy tribute.
318. -- Sir Robert Walpole.
Thus was he form'd to please and to govern :
Dignity with ease, familiar greatness,
Compos'd his frame: in ev'ry state, admir'd j
Great in public, amiable in private;
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? 128 Versification.
In pow'r, gentle, but, in disgrace, daring;
His love was liberty, peace was his wish.
319
Darius tovv'rM in pride high on his thrones
The fair A pa me* grnc'd the sov'reign'e side;
And she smii'd now, and, with mimic frown, now
Plac'd the monarch's s;icred crown on her brow.
He bends o'er her faultless form in transport,
Loves ev'ry look, an. ! commends ev'ry act.
320. -- A Miser.
He wore a threadbare cloak,, and rusty hat:
At charge of other folk f he din'd and supp'd:
And, bad he held out his palms, by his looks,,
An object fit for alms he might be thought.
So, if he refus'd his pelf to the poor,
* Apame. --The elegant and ingenious author of these lines-
has used a poetic licence in lengthening the middle syllable of
this name, which must here accordingly be made Apame, though
its real quantity is Apume. --But, as some of our dictionaries say
otherwise, it may be necessary to add, that, although perhaps no
ancient verse can be produced^ in which the name appears, there
occurs, in Priscian's geographical poem, a line (quoted in my
" Latin Prosody," sect. 3) which mentions the city of Apumea,
denominated from ApiLme; and, by a well-known rule of ancient
prosody, the quantity of the derivative proves that the primitive
Apame has the middle syllable short.
. f Folk. --These lines are from Swift, whose suffrage we thus
luckily have in favor of grammatic propriety ; folk being a sin-
gular noun of multitude, like people; and neither of them ad-
mitting a plural, unless (like the Latin populi and the French,
peuples) we were to say folks or peoples, for nations.
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? Versification. 129
~Fa)l as kindly as himself he us'd them.
321. -- Androcles and the Lion.
"When the lion rears his terrific form,
"Lo! Androcles* appears half dead with fright.
But, when the lion views his well-known face,
How soon he renews his former friendship!
The grateful brute lies on the ground, fawning,
And licks the hand that had erst heal'd his wound.
322. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Revolving earth must run her course twelve times,
JEre, round the sun, the vast planet journeys.
Four radiant moons guide the mighty monarch,
And dance by his side in bright succession ;
-Eclips'd and eclipsing, move around him,
And light the night of Jove with changing beams.
Round the sacred oak, gay with garlands, thus
In bright array the rural virgins dance.
323
We die in part, as those we love decay:
String after string from the heart is sever'd ;
Till loosen'd life, but breathing clay at last,
Is glad to fall away without one pang.
* AndrVcles. --This name, like some other Greek names of
kindred derivation, is written in two ways, AndrMus and Andro-
cles, as, in Homer, we find one and the same individual indis-
criminately called Patroclus and Putrocles. --In Aulus Gellius,
the name is Andrticlus^in iElian, AndrVcles ; which latter is
preferable, as the more usual form of such derivatives. In either
shape, it has the middle syllable short, aad the accent on the
first. --See the note on Patroclus, page 185, No. 313.
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? 130 Versification.
Unhappy lie, who feels the blow latest,
Whose eyes, o'er ev'ry friend laid low, have wept;
Dragg'd on from partial death to death, ling'ring,
Till, dying, breath is all he can resign.
324. - The Post Horse.
Ere his exhausted spirits can return,
Or reviving ardor bum through his frame, [ing:
He must come forth, though sore, maim'd, and limp-
The chaise is at the door: he hears the whip.
The collar tightens: and he feels again
His half-heal'd wounds inflam'd ; the wheels again
In his ears resound with tiresome sameness,
O'er blinding dust, or miles of flinty ground.
Thus robb'd nightly, and ev'ry day injur'd,
His piece-meal murd'rers wear away his life.
325
The blackbird, the thrush -- all the tuneful throng,
That with their mefodious song ehcer the groves,
And spend their days harmless -- spare, ye gunners!
But the predacious* tyrants of the air,
Whose fierce attacks annoy the peaceful tribes --
Ye gunners! employ all your skill on these.
* Predacious. -- This word being frequently mis-spflletl, even
in dictionaries, and converted into PredaCEous, I wish my
young readers to X)bserve, in this and numerous other cases,
the very material distinction between the terminations ACIuus
and ACEous, which convey meanings as widely different as the
terminations ING and ED annexed to our English verbs. Ad-
jectives in ACEous (in Latin ACEVS, and either always or most
commonly derived from substantive*) signify, of the same nature
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? Versification. 131
326
Say, in his own proud esteem, what is man ?
Hear him -- himself the theme and the poet --
A monarch cloth'd witli awe and majesty ;
or substance as the original noun, or resembling or belonging to
or consisting of it, as Argillaceous, Farinaceous, Sebaceous,
Saponaceous, Sec. Sec. But adjectives in ACIous (in Latin, AX
-- Italian, ACE -- French, sometimes ACE, as Tenace. some-
times ACIEUX, whence our English ACIOUS, as Audacieux,
Audacious) are mostly derived from verbs, and signify fond of,
or addicted to, or Jit for the action of the original verb, as Lo-
quacious, fond of talking, Rapacious, addicted to snatching or
plundering, Tenacious, apt to hold or retain, Capacious, fit or
able to contain, or of fit size to contain much; and so in a va-
riety of other examples. -- Agreeably to this analogy, from the
Latin verb Prador (to prey or plunder) we form the adjective
Pretdax-- In English, PredaClous -- apt to prey or plunder --
addicted to preying or plundering ; and, from the substantive
Prada (prey, plunder, booty) comes the Adjective Pradaceus --
in English, PredaCEous -- belonging to prey or booty-- consisting
of prey or booty. --Hence it is evident that birds or beasts of
prey must be described as PredaClous, but cannot correctly be
called PredaCEous. Indeed the word PredaCEous can hardly
be used with propriety, except by a writer, who, little scrupu-
lous respecting quaintness or novelty of diction, should employ
it in some such combination as the following --
With rav'ning appetite, the bird of Jove
In haste dispatches his predaceous meal. --
i. e. his meal consisting of prey -- or (speaking of Gil Bias in
the robbers' cavern) --
He looks around, and, with astonish'd gaze,
Silent surveys the rich predaceous hoard --
i. e. the hoard consisting of prey or plunder.
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? 132 Versification.
His will his law, and his mind his kingdom ;
In his mien grace, and in his eyes glory;
Supreme on earth, and worthy of the skies ;
Dominion in his nod, strength in his heart;
And quite a god, thunderbolts excepted.
So sings he, charm'd with his own form and mind
The theme a worm, the song magnificent.
327
See the peacock, that self-applauding bird!
