II. PASSIVE VERBS.

The cases of nouns are a fruitful theme for investigation and discussion. In the progress of these lectures, this subject has frequently engaged our attention; and, now, in introducing to your notice the passive verb, it will, perhaps, be found both interesting and profitable to present one more view of the nominative case.

Every sentence, you recollect, must have one finite verb, or more than one, and one nominative, either expressed or implied, for, without them, no sentence can exist.

The nominative is the actor or subject concerning which the verb makes an affirmation. There are three kinds of nominatives, active, passive, and neuter.

The nominative to an active verb, is active, because it produces an action, and the nominative to a passive verb, is passive, because it receives or endures the action expressed by the verb; for,

A Passive Verb denotes action received or endured by the person or thing which is the nominative; as, "The boy is beaten by his father."

You perceive, that the nominative boy, in this example, is not represented as the actor, but as the object of the action expressed by the verb is beaten; that is, the boy receives or endures the action performed by his father; therefore boy is a passive nominative. And you observe, too, that the verb is beaten, denotes the action received or endured by the nominative; therefore is beaten is a passive verb.

If I say, John kicked the horse, John is an active nominative, because he performed or produced the action; but if I say, John was kicked by the horse, John is a passive nominative, because he received or endured the action.

The nominative to a neuter verb, is neuter, because it does not produce an action nor receive one; as, John sits in the chair. John is here connected with the neuter verb sits, which expresses simply the state of being of its nominative, therefore John is a neuter nominative.

I will now illustrate the active, passive, and neuter nominatives by a few examples.

I. Of ACTIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy beats the dog; The lady sings; The ball rolls; The man walks."

II. Of PASSIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy is beaten; The lady is loved; The ball is rolled; The man was killed."

III. Of NEUTER NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy remains idle; The lady is beautiful; The ball lies on the ground; The man lives in town." You may now proceed to the conjugation of passive verbs.

Passive Verbs are called regular when they end in ed; as, was loved; was conquered.

All Passive Verbs are formed by adding the perfect participle of an active-transitive verb, to the neuter verb to be.

If you place a perfect participle of an active-transitive verb after this neuter verb be, in any mood or tense, you will have a passive verb in the same mood and tense that the verb be would be in if the participle were not used; as, I am slighted; I was slighted; he will be slighted; If I be slighted; I may, can, or must be slighted, &c. Hence you perceive, that when you shall have learned the conjugation of the verb be, you will be able to conjugate any passive verb in the English language.

The regular passive verb to be loved, which is formed by adding the perfect participle loved to the neuter verb to be, is conjugated in the following manner:

TO BE LOVED.—INDICATIVE MOOD.
Pres. TenseSing. I am loved, thou art loved, he is loved.
Plur. We are loved, ye or you are loved, they are loved.
Imperf. Tense.Sing. I was loved, thou wast loved, he was loved.
Plur. We were loved, ye or you were loved, they were loved.
Perfect Tense.Sing. I have been loved, thou hast been loved, he has been loved.
Plur. We have been loved, you have been loved, they have, &c.
Pluper. TenseSing. I had been loved, thou hadst been loved, he had been, &c.
Plur. We had been loved, you had been loved, they had been, &c.
First Future.Sing. I shall or will be loved, thou shall or wilt be loved, he, &c.
Plur. We shall or will be loved, you shall or will be loved, they, &c.
First Future.Sing. I shall have been loved, thou wilt have been loved, he, &c.
Plur. We shall have been loved, you will have been loved, &c.
SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
Pres. TenseSing. If I be loved, if thou be loved, if he be loved.
Plur. If we be loved, if ye or you be loved, if they be loved.
Imperf. Tense.Sing. If I were loved, if thou wert loved, if he were loved.
Plur. If we were loved, if you were loved, if they were loved.

This mood has six tenses:—See conjugation of the verb to be.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.
Pres. Tense.Sing. Be thou loved, or do thou be loved.
Plur. Be ye or you loved, or do ye be loved.
POTENTIAL MOOD.
Pres. TenseSing. I may, can, or must be loved, thou mayst, canst, or must, &c.
Plur. We may, can, or must be loved, you may, can, or must, &c.
Imperf. Tense.Sing. I might, could, would, or should be loved, thou mightst, &c.
Plur. We might, could, would, or should be loved, ye or you, &c.
Perfect Tense.Sing. I may, can, or must have been loved, thou mayst, canst, &c.
Plur. We may, can, or must have been loved, you may, can, &c.
Plup. Tense.Sing. I might, could, would, or should have been loved, thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, or shouldst have
Plur. We might, could, would, or should have been loved, you might, could, would, or should have been loved, they, &c.
INFINITIVE MOOD.
Pres. Tense. To be loved. Perf. Tense.To have been loved.
PARTICIPLES.
Present, Being loved. Perfect or Passive, Loved. Compound, Having been loved.

NOTE. This conjugation of the passive verb to be loved, is called the passive, voice of the regular active-transitive verb to love.

Now conjugate the following passive verbs; that is, speak them in the first pers. sing, and plur. of each tense, through all the moods, and speak the participles; "to be loved, to be rejected, to be slighted, to be conquered, to be seen, to be beaten, to be sought, to be taken."

NOTE 1. When the perfect participle of an intransitive verb is joined to the neuter verb to be, the combination is not a passive verb, but a neuter verb in a passive form; as, "He is gone; The birds are flown; The boy is grown; My friend is arrived." The following mode of construction, is, in general, to be preferred; "He has gone; The birds have flown; The boy has grown; My Friend has arrived."

2. Active and neuter verbs may be conjugated by adding their present participle to the auxiliary verb to be, through all its variations; as, instead of, I teach, thou teachest, he teaches, &c., we may say, I am teaching, thou art teaching, he is teaching, &c.; and, instead of, I taught, &c.; I was teaching, &c. This mode of conjugation expresses the continuation of an action or state of being; and has, on some occasions, a peculiar propriety, and contributes to the harmony and precision of language. When the present participle of an active verb is joined with the neuter verb to be, the two words united, are, by some grammarians, denominated an active verb, either transitive or intransitive, as the case may be; as, "I am writing a letter; He is walking:" and when the present participle of a neuter verb is thus employed, they term the combination a neuter verb; as, "I am sitting; He is standing." Others, in constructions like these, parse each word separately. Either mode may be adopted.

III. DEFECTIVE VERBS.

DEFECTIVE VERBS are those which are used only in some of the moods and tenses.

The principal of them are these.

Pres. Tense.Imperf. Tense.Perfect or Passive Participle is wanting.
May,might.——————
Can,could.——————
Will,would.——————
Shall,should.——————
Must,must.——————
Ought,ought.——————
———quoth.——————

NOTE. Must and ought are not varied. Ought and quoth are never used as auxiliaries. Ought is always followed by a verb in the infinitive mood, which verb determines its tenses. Ought is in the present tense when the infinitive following it is in the present; as, "He ought to do it;" and ought is in the imperfect tense when followed by the perfect of the infinitive; as, "He ought to have done it."

Before you proceed to the analysis of the following examples, you may read over the last three lectures carefully and attentively; and as soon as you become acquainted with all that has been presented, you will understand nearly all the principles and regular constructions of our language. In parsing a verb, or any other part of speech, be careful to pursue the systematic order, and to conjugate every verb until you become familiar with all the moods and tenses.

"He should have been punished before he committed that atrocious deed."

Should have been punished is a verb, a word that signifies to do—passive, it denotes action received or endured by the nom.—it is formed by adding the perfect part, punished to the neuter verb to be—regular, the perf. part, ends in ed—potential mood, it implies obligation, &c.—pluperfect tense, it denotes a past act which was prior to the other past time specified by "committed"—third pers. sing. num. because the nom. "he" is with which it agrees: RULE 4. The verb must agree, &c.—Conjugated, Indic. mood, pres. tense, he is punished; imperf. tense, he was punished; perf. tense, he has been punished; and so on. Conjugate it through all the moods and tenses, and speak the participles.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Columbus discovered America. America was discovered by Columbus. The preceptor is writing a letter. The letter is written by the preceptor. The work can be done. The house would have been built ere this, had he fulfilled his promise. If I be beaten by that man, he will be punished. Young man, if you wish to be respected, you must be more assiduous. Being ridiculed and despised, he left the institution. He is reading Homer. They are talking. He may be respected, if he become more ingenuous. My worthy friend ought to be honored for his benevolent deeds. This ought ye to have done.

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES IN PARSING.

All the most important principles of the science, together with many of the rules, have now been presented and illustrated. But before you proceed to analyze the following exercises, you may turn over a few pages, and you will find all the rules presented in a body. Please to examine them critically, and parse the examples under each rule and note. The examples, you will notice, are given to illustrate the respective rules and notes under which they are placed; hence, by paying particular attention to them, you will be enabled fully and clearly to comprehend the meaning and application of all the rules and notes.

As soon as you become familiarly acquainted with all the definitions so that you can apply them with facility, you may omit them in parsing; but you must always apply the rules of Syntax. When you parse without applying the definitions, you may proceed in the following manner:

"Mercy is the true badge of nobility."

Mercy is a noun common, of the neuter gender, third person, singular number, and in the nominative case to "is:" RULE 3. The nominative case governs the verb.

Is is an irregular neuter verb, indicative mood, present tense, third person, singular number, agreeing with "mercy," according to RULE 4. The verb must agree, &c.

The is a definite article, belonging to "badge," in the singular number: RULE 2. The definite article the, &c.

True is an adjective in the positive degree, and belongs to the noun "badge:" RULE 18. Adjectives belong, &c.

Badge is a noun com. neuter gender, third person, singular number, and in the nominative case after "is," and put by apposition with "mercy," according to RULE 21. The verb to be may have the same case after it as before it.

Of is a preposition, connecting "badge" and "nobility," and showing the relation between them.

Nobility is a noun of multitude, mas. and fem. gender, third person, sing, and in the obj. case, and governed by "of:" RULE 31. Prepositions govern the objective case.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Learn to unlearn what you have learned amiss.

What I forfeit for myself is a trifle; that my indiscretions should reach my posterity, wounds me to the heart.

Lady Jane Gray fell a sacrifice to the wild ambition of the duke of Northumberland.

King Missipsi charged his sons to consider the senate and people of Rome as proprietors of the kingdom of Numidia.

Hazael smote the children of Israel in all their coasts; and from what is left on record of his actions, he plainly appears to have proved, what the prophet foresaw him to be, a man of violence, cruelty, and blood.

Heaven hides from brutes what men, from men what spirits know.

He that formed the ear, can he not hear?

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

NOTE 1. Learn, in the first of the preceding examples, is a transitive verb, because the action passes over from the nom. you understood, to the rest of the sentence for its object: RULE 24. In the next example, that my indiscretions should reach my posterity, is a part of a sentence put as the nominative to the verb wounds, according to the same Rule.

2. The noun sacrifice, in the third example, is nom. after the active-intransitive verb fell: RULE 22. The noun proprietors, in the next sentence, is in the objective case, and put by apposition with senate and people: RULE 7, or governed by consider, understood, according to RULE 35.

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."

"Ah me! nor hope nor life remains."
"Me miserable! which way shall I fly?"

"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 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.

Remove yon scull from out the scattered heaps.
Is that a temple, where a God may dwell?
Why, ev'n the worm at last disdains her shattered cell!
Look on its broken arch, its ruined wall,
Its chambers desolate, and portals foul;
Yes, this was once ambition's airy hall,
The dome of thought, the palace of the soul.
Behold, through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole,
The gay recess of wisdom and of wit,
And passion's host, that never brooked control.
Can all, saint, sage, or sophist ever writ,
People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?

TRANSPOSED.

Remove thou yonder scull out from the scattered heaps. Is that a temple, where a God may dwell? Why, even the worm at last disdains her shattered cell! Look thou on its broken arch, and look thou on its ruined wall, and on its desolate chambers, and on its foul portals:—yes, this scull was once ambition's airy hall; (it was) the dome of thought, the palace of the soul. Behold thou, through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole, the gay recess of wisdom and of wit, and passion's host, which never brooked control. Can all the works which saints, or sages, or sophists have ever written, repeople this lonely tower, or can they refit this tenement?

For your future exercises in parsing, you may select pieces from the English Reader, or any other grammatical work. I have already hinted, that parsing in poetry, as it brings more immediately into requisition the reasoning faculties, than parsing in prose, will necessarily tend more rapidly to facilitate your progress: therefore it is advisable that your future exercises in this way, be chiefly confined to the analysis of poetry. Previous to your attempting to parse a piece of poetry, you ought always to transpose it, in a manner similar to the examples just presented; and then it can be as easily analyzed as prose.

Before you proceed to correct the following exercises in false syntax, you may turn back and read over the whole thirteen lectures, unless you have the subject-matter already stored in your mind.