SECTION VII—THE ECPHONEME.
The Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation, is used to denote a pause with some strong emotion of admiration, joy, grief, or other feeling; and, as a sign of great wonder, it is sometimes, though not very elegantly, repeated: as, "Grammatical consistency!!! What a gem!"—Peirce's Gram., p. 352.
RULE I.—INTERJECTIONS, &c.
Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are generally followed by the note of exclamation; as, "Hold! hold! Is the devil in you? Oh! I am bruised all over."—MOLIERE: Burgh's Speaker, p. 250.
"And O! till earth, and seas, and heav'n decay,
Ne'er may that fair creation fade away!"—Dr. Lowth.
RULE II.—INVOCATIONS.
After an earnest address or solemn invocation, the note of exclamation is now generally preferred to any other point; as, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa! I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision."—Acts, xxvi, 19.
"Be witness thou, immortal Lord of all!
Whose thunder shakes the dark aërial hall."—Pope.
RULE III.—EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.
Words uttered with vehemence in the form of a question, but without reference to an answer, should be followed by the note of exclamation; as, "How madly have I talked!"—Young.
"An Author! 'Tis a venerable name!
How few deserve it, and what numbers claim!"
—Id., Br. Po., viii, 401.