Part 20
3. In the fifth example, _what_, following _proved_, is a compound relative. _Thing_, the antecedent part, is in the nom. case after _to be_, understood, and put by apposition with _he_, according to RULE 21, and NOTE. _Which_, the relative part, is in the obj. case after _to be_ expressed, and put by apposition with _him_, according to the same RULE. _Man_ is in the obj. case, put by apposition with _which_: RULE 7. The latter part of the sentence may be _literally_ rendered thus: He plainly appears to have proved _to be that base character which_ the prophet foresaw him to be, viz. a _man_ of violence, cruelty, and blood. The antecedent part of the first _what_, in the next sentence, is governed by _hides_; and _which_, the relative part, is governed by _know_ understood. The antecedent part of the second _what_, is governed by _hides_ understood, and the relative part is governed by _know_ expressed.
4. The first _he_, in the seventh example, is, in the opinion of some, nom. to _can hear_ understood; but Mr. N.R. Smith, a distinguished and acute grammarian, suggests the propriety of rendering the sentence thus; "He that formed the ear, _formed it to hear_; can he not hear?" The first _he_, in the last example, is redundant; yet the construction is sometimes admissible, for the expression is more forcible than it would be to say, "Let him hear who hath ears to hear;" and if we adopt the ingenious method of Mr. Smith, the sentence is grammatical, and may be rendered thus; "He that hath ears, _hath ears_ to hear; let him hear."
EXERCISES IN PARSING. _Idioms, anomalies, and intricacies_.
1. "The wall is three _feet_ high." 2. "His son is eight _years_ old." 3. "My knife is worth a _shilling_." 4. "She is worth _him_ and all his _connexions_." 5. "He has been there three _times_." 6. "The hat cost ten _dollars_." 7. "The load weighs a _tun_." 8. "The spar measures ninety _feet_."
REMARKS.--_Anomaly_ is derived from the Greek, _a_, without, and _omales_, similar; that is, _without similarity_. Some give its derivation thus; _anomaly_, from the Latin, _ab_, from, or out of, and _norma_, a rule, or law, means an _outlaw_; a mode of expression that departs from the rules, laws, or _general_ usages of the language; a construction in language peculiar to itself. Thus, it is a general rule of the language, that adjectives of one syllable are compared by adding _r_, or _er_, and _st_, or _est_, to the positive degree; but good, _better, best_; bad, _worse, worst_, are not compared according to the general rule. They are, therefore, anomalies. The plural number of nouns is generally formed by adding s to the singular: man, _men_; woman, _women_; child, _children_; penny, _pence_, are anomalies. The use of _news, means, alms_ and _amends_, in the singular, constitutes anomalies. Anomalous constructions are correct according to custom; but, as they are departures from general rules, by them they cannot be analyzed.
An _idiom_, Latin _idioma_, a construction peculiar to a language, may be an anomaly, or it may not. An idiomatical expression which is not an anomaly, can be analyzed.
_Feet_ and _years_, in the 1st and 2d examples, are not in the nominative after _is_, according to Rule 21, because they are not in apposition with the respective nouns that precede the verb; but the constructions are anomalous; and, therefore, no rule can be applied to analyze them. The same ideas, however; can be conveyed by a legitimate construction which can be analyzed; thus, "The _height_ of the wall is three _feet_;" "The _age_ of my son is eight _years_."
An anomaly, when ascertained to be such, is easily disposed of; but sometimes it is very difficult to decide whether a construction is anomalous or not. The 3d, 4th, and 5th examples, are generally considered anomalies; but if we supply, as we are, perhaps, warranted in doing, the associated words which modern refinement has dropped, they will cease to be anomalies; thus, "My knife is _of the_ worth _of_ a shilling;" "--_of the_ worth _of_ him," &c. "He has been there _for_ three times;" as we say, "I was unwell _for_ three days, after I arrived;" or, "I was unwell three days." Thus it appears, that by tracing back, _for_ a few centuries, what the merely modern English scholar supposes to be an anomaly, an ellipsis will frequently be discovered, which, when supplied, destroys the anomaly.
On extreme points, and peculiar and varying constructions in a living language, the most able philologists can never be agreed; because many usages will always be unsettled and fluctuating, and will, consequently, be disposed of according to the caprice of the grammarian. By some, a sentence may be treated as an anomaly; by others who contend for, and supply, an ellipsis, the same sentence may be analyzed according to the ellipsis supplied; whilst others, who deny both the elliptical and anomalous character of the sentence, construct a rule by which to analyze it, which rule has for its foundation the principle contained in that sentence only. This last mode of procedure, inasmuch as it requires us to make a rule for every peculiar construction in the language, appears to me to be the most exceptionable of the three. It appears to be multiplying rules beyond the bounds of utility.
The verbs, _cost, weighs_, and _measures_, in the 6th, 7th, and 8th examples, may be considered as transitive. See remarks on _resemble, have, own_, &c., page 56.
EXAMPLES.
1. "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." "Let us make man." "Let us bow before the Lord." "Let high-born seraphs tune the lyre."
2. "_Be it_ enacted." "_Be it_ remembered." _"Blessed be he_ that blesseth thee; and _cursed be he_ that curseth thee." "My soul, turn from them:--_turn we_ to survey," &c.
3. "_Methinks_ I see the portals of eternity wide open to receive him." "_Methought_ I was incarcerated beneath the mighty deep." "I was there just thirty _years ago_."
4. "Their laws and their manners, generally _speaking_, were extremely rude." "_Considering_ their means, they have effected much."
5.
"Ah _me!_ nor hope nor life remains." "_Me_ miserable! which way shall I fly?"
6.
"O _happiness!_ our being's end and aim! Good, pleasure, ease, content! whatever thy name, That something still which prompts th' eternal sigh. For which we bear to live, or dare to die."--
The verb _let_, in the idiomatic examples under number 1, has no nominative specified, and is left applicable to a nominative of the first, second, or third person, and of either number. Every action necessarily depends on an agent or moving cause; and hence it follows, that the verb, in such constructions, has a nominative understood; but as that nominative is not particularly _pointed out_, the constructions may be considered anomalous.
Instead of saying, "_Let_ it [_to_] be enacted;" or, "It _is_ or _shall_ be enacted;" "_Let_ him [_to_] be blessed;" or, "He _shall_ be blessed;" "_Let us_ turn to survey," &c.; the verbs, _be enacted, be blessed, turn_, &c. according to an idiom of our language, or the poet's license, are used in the _imperative_, agreeing with a nominative of the first or third person.
The phrases, _methinks_ and _methought_, are anomalies, in which the objective pronoun _me_, in the _first_ person, is used in place of a nominative, and takes a verb after it in the _third_ person. _Him_ was anciently used in the same manner; as, "_him thute_, him thought." There was a period when these constructions were not anomalies in our language. Formerly, what we call the _objective_ cases of our pronouns, were employed in the same manner as our present _nominatives_ are. _Ago_ is a contraction of _agone_, the past part. of to _go_. Before this participle was contracted to an adverb, the noun _years_ preceding it, was in the nominative case absolute; but now the construction amounts to an anomaly. The expressions, "generally speaking," and "considering their means," under number 4, are idiomatical and anomalous, the subjects to the participles not being specified.
According to the genius of the English language, transitive verbs and prepositions require the _objective_ case of a noun or pronoun after them; and this requisition is all that is meant by government, when we say, that these parts of speech govern the objective case. See pages 52, 57, and 94. The same principle applies to the interjection. Interjections require the _objective_ case of a pronoun of the first person after them; but the _nominative_ of a noun or pronoun of the second or third person; as, "Ah _me!_ Oh _thou!_ O my _country!_" To say, then, that interjections _require_ particular cases after them, is synonymous with saying, that they _govern_ those cases; and this office of the interjection is in perfect accordance with that which it performs in the Latin and many other languages. In the examples under number 5, the first _me_ is in the objective after "ah," and the second _me_, after _ah_ understood; thus, "Ah miserable me!" according to NOTE 2, under Rule 5.--_Happiness_, under number 6, is nom. independent; Rule 5, or in the nom. after _O_, according to this Note. The principle contained in the note, proves that every noun of the second person is in the _nominative_ case; for, as the pronoun of the second person, in such a situation, is always nominative, which is shown by its _form_, it logically follows that the noun, under such circumstances, although it has _no form_ to show its case, must necessarily be in the same case as the pronoun. "Good, pleasure, ease, content, _that_," the antecedent part of "whatever," and _which_, the relative part, are nom. after _art_ understood; Rule 21, and _name_ is nom. to _be_ understood.
The second line may be rendered thus; Whether thou art good, or whether thou art pleasure, &c. or _be_ thy _name_ that [thing] which [ever thing] it may be: putting _be_ in the imperative, agreeing with _name_ in the third person. _Something_ is nominative after _art_ understood.
EXAMPLES.
1. "All were well _but_ the _stranger_." "I saw nobody but the _stranger_." "All had returned but he." "None but the _brave_ deserve the fair." "The thing they can't _but_ purpose, they postpone." "This life, at best, is _but_ a dream." "It affords _but_ a scanty measure of enjoyment." "If he _but_ touch the hills, they will smoke." "Man is _but_ a reed, floating on the current of time."
2. "Notwithstanding his poverty, he is content."
3. "Open your hand _wide_." "The apples boil _soft_." "The purest clay is that which burns _white_." "Drink _deep_, or taste not the Pierian spring."
4. "_What though_ the swelling surge thou see?" &c. "_What if_ the foot, ordain'd the dust to tread?" &c.
REMARKS.--According to the principle of analysis assumed by many of our most critical philologists, _but_ is _always_ a disjunctive conjunction; and agreeably to the same authorities, to construe it, in any case, as a preposition, would lead to error. See false Syntax under Rule 35. They maintain, that its legitimate and undeviating office is, to join on a member of a sentence which _expresses opposition of meaning_, and thereby forms an exception to, or takes from the universality of, the proposition contained in the preceding member of the sentence. That it sustains its true character as a conjunction in all the examples under number 1, will be shown by the following resolution of them.--"All were well but the _stranger [was not well_."] "I saw nobody but [_I saw_] the _stranger_." "None deserve the fair but the _brave_ [_deserve the fair_."] "They postpone the thing which [_they ought to do, and do not] but_ which [_thing_] they cannot avoid purposing to do." "This life, at best, [_is not a reality,] but_ it is a dream. It [_affords not unbounded fruition] but_ it affords a scanty measure of enjoyment." "If he _touch_ the hills, _but exert no greater power upon them_, they will smoke;"--"If _he exert no greater power upon the hills, but [be-out this fact_] if he touch them, they will smoke." "Man _is not a stable being, but_ he is a reed, floating on the current of time." This method of analyzing sentences, however, if I mistake not, is too much on the plan of our pretended philosophical writers, who, in their rage for ancient constructions and combinations, often overlook the modern associated meaning and application of this word. It appears to me to be more consistent with the _modern_ use of the word, to consider it an _adverb_ in constructions like the following: "If he _but (only, merely)_ touch the hills they will smoke."
_Except_ and _near_, in examples like the following, are generally construed as prepositions: "All went _except him_;" "She stands _near them_." But many contend, that when we employ _but_ instead of _except_, in such constructions, a _nominative_ should follow: "All went _but he [did not go_."] On this point and many others, _custom_ is _variable_; but the period will doubtless arrive, when _but, worth_, and _like_, will be considered prepositions, and, in constructions like the foregoing, invariably be followed by an objective case. This will not be the case, however, until the practice of supplying an ellipsis after these words is entirely dropped.
_Poverty_, under number 2, is governed by the preposition _notwithstanding_, Rule 31. The adjectives _wide, soft, white_, and _deep_, under number 3, not only express the quality of nouns, but also qualify verbs: Note 4, under Rule 18.--_What_, in the phrases "what though" and "what if," is an interrogative in the objective case, and governed by the verb _matters_ understood, or by some other verb; thus, "What matters it--what dost thou fear, though thou see the swelling surge?" "What would you think, if the foot, which is ordained to tread the dust, aspired to be the head?"
In the following examples, the same word is used as several parts of speech. But by exercising judgment sufficient to comprehend the meaning, and by supplying what is understood, you will be able to analyze them correctly.
EXERCISES IN PARSING.
I like what you dislike. Every creature loves its like. Anger, envy, and like passions, are sinful. Charity, like the sun, brightens every object around it. Thought flies swifter than light. He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man. Hail often proves destructive to vegetation. I was happy to hail him as my friend. Hail! beauteous stranger of the wood. The more I examine the work, the better I like it. Johnson is a better writer than Sterne. Calm was the day, and the scene delightful. We may expect a calm after a storm. To prevent passion is easier than to calm it. Damp air is unwholesome. Guilt often casts a damp over our sprightliest hours. Soft bodies damp the sound much more than hard ones. Much money has been expended. Of him to whom much is given, much will be required. It is much better to give than to receive. Still water runs deep. He labored to still the tumult. Those two young profligates remain still in the wrong. They wrong themselves as well as their friends.
I will now present to you a few examples in poetry. Parsing in poetry, as it brings into requisition a higher degree of mental exertion than parsing in prose, will be found a more delightful and profitable exercise. In this kind of analysis, in order to come at the meaning of the author, you will find it necessary to _transpose_ his language, and supply what is understood; and then you will have the literal meaning in prose.
EXERCISES IN PARSING.
APOSTROPHE TO HOPE.--CAMPBELL.
Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime Pealed their first notes to sound the march of time, Thy joyous youth began:--but not to fade.-- When all the sister planets have decayed; When wrapt in flames the realms of ether glow, And Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below; Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile, And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile!
TRANSPOSED.
Eternal Hope! thy joyous youth began when yonder sublime spheres pealed their first notes to sound the march of time:--but it began not to fade.--Thou, undismayed, shalt smile over the ruins, when all the sister planets shall have decayed; and thou shalt light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile, when wrapt in flames, the realms of ether glow, and Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below.
ADDRESS TO ADVERSITY.--GRAY.
Daughter of heaven, relentless power, Thou tamer of the human breast, Whose iron scourge, and tort'ring hour, The bad affright, afflict the best! The gen'rous spark extinct revive; Teach me to love and to forgive; Exact my own defects to scan: What others are to feel; and know myself a man.
TRANSPOSED.
Daughter of heaven, relentless power, thou tamer of the human breast, whose iron scourge and torturing hour affright the bad, and afflict the best! Revive thou in me the generous, extinct spark; and teach thou me to love others, and to forgive them; and teach thou me to scan my own defects exactly, or critically: and teach thou me that which others are to feel; and make thou me to know myself to be a man.
ADDRESS TO THE ALMIGHTY.--POPE.
What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do, This teach me more than hell to shun, That more than heav'n pursue.
TRANSPOSED.
O God, teach thou me to pursue that (_the thing_) which conscience dictates to be done, more ardently than I pursue heaven; and teach thou me to shun this (_the thing_) which conscience warns me not to do, more cautiously than I would shun hell.
TRIALS OF VIRTUE.--MERRICK.
For see, ah! see, while yet her ways With doubtful step I tread, A hostile world its terrors raise, Its snares delusive spread. O how shall I, with heart prepared, Those terrors learn to meet? How, from the thousand snares to guard My unexperienced feet?
TRANSPOSED.
For see thou, ah! see thou a hostile world _to_ raise its terrors, and see thou a hostile world _to_ spread its delusive snares, while I yet tread her (_virtue's_) ways with doubtful steps.
O how shall I learn to meet those terrors with a prepared heart? How shall I learn to guard my unexperienced feet from the thousand snares of the world?
THE MORNING IN SUMMER.--THOMPSON.
Short is the doubtful empire of the night; And soon, observant of approaching day, The meek-eyed morn appears, mother of dews, At first, faint gleaming in the dappled east, Till far o'er ether spreads the wid'ning glow, And from before the lustre of her face White break the clouds away.
TRANSPOSED.
The doubtful empire of the night is short; and the meek-eyed morn, (_which is the_) mother of dews, observant of approaching day, soon appears, gleaming faintly, at first, in the dappled east, till the widening glow spreads far over ether, and the white clouds break away from before the lustre of her face.
NATURE BOUNTIFUL.--AKENSIDE.
--Nature's care, to all her children just, With richest treasures, and an ample state, Endows at large whatever happy man Will deign to use them.
TRANSPOSED.
Nature's care, which is just to all her children, largely endows, with richest treasures and an ample state, that happy man who will deign to use them.
NOTE. _What_, in the second example, is a comp. rel. The antecedent part is gov. by _teach_ understood; and the relative part by _to feel_ expressed. _To shun_ and _to pursue_, in the third example, are in the infinitive mood, gov. by _than_, according to a NOTE under Rule 23. _Faint_ and _from_, in the 5th example, are adverbs. An adverb, in poetry, is often written in the form of an adjective. _Whatever_, in the last sentence, is a compound pronoun, and is equivalent to _that_ and _who. That_ is an adj. pron. belonging to "man;" _who_ is nom. to "will deign;" and _ever_ is excluded from the sentence in sense. See page 113. Parse these examples as they are transposed, and you will find the analysis very easy.
ADDITIONAL EXERCISES IN PARSING.
GOLD, NOT GENUINE WEALTH.
Where, thy true treasure? Gold says, "not in me;" And, "not in me," the Diamond. Gold is poor.
TRANSPOSED.
Where is thy true treasure? Gold says, "It is not in me;" and the Diamond says, "It is not in me." Gold is poor.
SOURCE OF FRIENDSHIP.--DR. YOUNG.
Lorenzo, pride repress; nor hope to find A friend, but what has found a friend in thee.
TRANSPOSED.
Lorenzo, repress thou pride; nor hope thou to find a friend, only in him who has already found a friend in thee.
TRUE GREATNESS.--POPE.
Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or, failing, smiles in exile or in chains, Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed Like Socrates, that man is great indeed.
TRANSPOSED.
That man is great indeed, let him _to_ reign like unto good Aurelius, or let him _to_ bleed like unto Socrates, who obtains noble ends by noble means; or that man is great indeed, who, failing to obtain noble ends by noble means, smiles in exile or in chains.
INVOCATION.--POLLOK.
Eternal Spirit! God of truth! to whom All things seem as they are, inspire my song; My eye unscale: me what is substance teach; And shadow what, while I of things to come, As past rehearsing, sing. Me thought and phrase Severely sifting out the whole idea, grant.
TRANSPOSED.
Eternal Spirit! God of truth! to whom all things seem to be as they really are, inspire thou my song; and unscale thou my eyes: teach thou _to_ me the thing which is substance; and teach thou _to_ me the thing which is shadow, while I sing of things which are to come, as one sings of things which are past rehearsing. Grant thou _to_ me thought and phraseology which shall severely sift out the whole idea.
THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.
How few, favored by ev'ry element, With swelling sails make good the promised port, With all their wishes freighted! Yet ev'n these, Freighted with all their wishes, soon complain. Free from misfortune, not from nature free, They still are men; and when is man secure? As fatal time, as storm. The rush of years Beats down their strength; their numberless escapes In ruin end: and, now, their proud success But plants new terrors on the victor's brow. What pain, to quit the world just made their own! Their nests so deeply downed and built so high!-- Too low they build, who build beneath the stars.
TRANSPOSED.
How few persons, favored by every element, safely make the promised port with swelling sails, and with all their wishes freighted! Yet even these few persons who do safely make the promised port with all their wishes freighted, soon complain. Though they are free from misfortunes, yet (_though_ and _yet_, corresponding conjunctions, form only _one_ connexion) they are not free from the course of nature, for they still are men; and when is man secure? Time is as fatal to him, as a storm is to the mariner.--The rush of years beats down their strength; (_that is, the strength of these few_;) and their numberless escapes end in ruin: and then their proud success only plants new terrors on the victor's brow. What pain it is to them to quit the world, just as they have made it to be their own world; when their nests are built so high, and when they are downed so deeply!--They who build beneath the stars, build too low for their own safety.
REFLECTIONS ON A SCULL.--LORD BYRON.