One Substantive controls another when
Those Nouns in the Possessive Case do stand,
Thus, when they do a different thing express,
As, Father's house,; or, that Man's happiness.
Verbs Active, govern the Objective Case;
He pleases me; 'tis Virtue gives her grace:
Verbs Neuter, act not, on Pronoun, or Noun;
Winds blow,-Seas roar,—Fires burn, and Waters drown.
One Verb controls another that succeeds,
And when the mood infinitive it leads,
'Tis Nominative to the Verb,-we say,
To play is pleasant, and boys love to play.
When Words in point of time related be,
A due regard to their relation pay;
"My Father gave, and he hath taken hence."
When you're reprov'd, you must not take offence.
Participles, as Verbs from which deriv'd,
Have government like verbs before describ'd;
I am instructing you, mind what I say,
For we were grieved with you yesterday.
RULE XV.
Adverbs when fitly used, do add a grace,
But have no government in Tense or Case,
Before an Adjective,—as in this verse,
"He made a very sensible discourse."
Oft after Active Verbs, or Neuter lie,—
You learn but slowly, you'll improve yet, try:
And oft, between Auxiliary and Verb,
Thus, he that spoke, was very plainly heard.
Two Negatives in English come to nought;
Or, do affirm, though ill express'd the thought;
Nor did I not perceive him when he came,
That is, I did perceive him,-'tis the same.
RULE XVII.
The Prepositions are a useful class,
And govern mostly the Objective Case;
With us, at School, in Books, each passing day,
Is sweet to me, through him, who leads the way.
RULE XVIII.
Conjunctions join the Mood and Tense of Verbs,
As dirty habits cleanliness disturbs;
Avoid the sloven dress, or, person then,
For dirty boys, are mostly filthy men.
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Conjunctions, Noun and Pronoun Cases join,-
Shall you and I, or, He and She complain?
We overlook the blessings of this hour,
And search for those beyond our place and power.
Now when contingency, or doubt's implied,
Conjunctions the Subjunctive Mood provide;
If you are frugal, you may yet succeed,
Unless you're prudent, you must suffer need.
Conjunctions which are positive, demand
The Mood Indicative, with them to stand;
As light advances, so doth shade recede ;
Your mind improves, because you love to read.
When qualities of different things contrast,
The Noun, or Pronoun, that may stand the last
Is not control'd by than, or as; one sees
With Verb, or Preposition, it agrees.
Thou art more wise than I,-you'll here perceive,
That am's omitted, though that word's conceiv'd :
Some, are Correlative,-example see,
As he is wise, so you I hope will be.
When Repetitions would offend the ear,
Omit some words, but keep the meaning clear;
He was a wise man, and a good man too,
He was a wise and good man, this would do.
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But use not an Ellipsis, if the sense
Obscur'd or weaken'd be, on no pretence;
Large fields and trees, would not be well express'd,
Large fields and noble trees, is much the best.
A Sentence should in every part agree,
A regular, dependent harmony;
Just numbers, true proportions, come with grace,
When clear ideas, with fitted words have place.
You're more belov'd, but not so much admir'd
As James,-here than you'll see's requir'd;
You're more belov'd than James, (your temper's mild,)
But not so much admir'd for learning, child.
By Prosody we're taught now what is meant,
By Quantity in words;—their true Accent,
Their Emphasis, their Tone, and varied Pause,
If versified, details their code of laws.
ACCENT. (Cano, to sing.)
As Mountaineer, Meander, or the Lawn:
On words thus mark'd, the voice should always rise, More force, I mean,-to chant, the word implies.
By Quantity, is meant the time employ'd
In uttering a syllable, as Void;
Accented words, or vowels, slowly join
Those that succeed them, as in Valentine.
When Consonants accented are, one finds
The word is short,-the vowel quickly joins
That which succeeds it, and but half the space
Requir'd to speak it, as the former case.
Emphatic words have a peculiar tone,
As well as stress, and accent of their own;
It indicates that something more's design'd
Than words express,—expression of the mind.
Our chief ideas, most emphatic are;
Hence Nouns and Verbs, emphatic most appear;
Emphatic Nouns, are subjects which oppose,-
"Unfaithful Friends, are worse than open foes."
The helping Verbs emphatic, mark this rhyme,
Take an example,-Time oppos'd to time,—
Before you speak, you may your words command,
But when you've spoken, you must thereby stand.
Verbs of the first form, call'd Infinitive
Participles, when emphasis we give,
Often express an Act oppos'd to act;
Some cloth'd with shame, and some with glory deck'a
Adjectives are emphatic, when they're plac'd
Oppos'd to Adjectives; though not express'd;
Be wise, my Son, and make thy Father glad,
For foolish Children, make their Parents sad.
Emphatic Pronouns, oft our meaning make,
Distinguishing the man, without mistake:
Thus, in the sin of David, you have read,
"Thou art the man," the wily Prophet said.
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Emphatic Prepositions too, there are,
Their proper use however is but rare;
But the same word must follow them you'll see,"The Lord's for us, who can against us be?"
Adverbs oppos'd to adverbs, do require
An emphasis, which good sense will inspire;
If thou do'st well, the pleasing fruit's thine own,
If thou do'st ill, you must for that atone.
If the emphatic word should not be known,
Then read, and let all emphasis alone;
To its too frequent use we must object,
It will not aid, but lessen the effect.
Tone, is the modulation of the voice,
It's rise, or fall, as suits the speaker's choice;
Inflections they are call'd, which if they rise (?),
Suspend the voice,-imperfectness implies.
* Inflecto, to bend, or turn.
Inflections if they fall, or downward slide (`),
Denote completion, and the judgment guide;
The Monotone [-] denotes sameness of sound,
Where change, nor cadence in the voice is found.
Punctuation.
Punctuation, may be call'd the art,
By points, or stops, our sentences to part.
Four marks we use, and this I'd have you mind, Their character in crotchets thus [], you'll find.
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