Exercises.
(a) Parse the prepositions in these paragraphs:—
1. I remember, before the dwarf left the queen, he followed us one day into those gardens. I must needs show my wit by a silly illusion between him and the trees, which happens to hold in their language as it does in ours. Whereupon, the malicious rogue, watching his opportunity when I was walking under one of them, shook it directly over my head, by which a dozen apples, each of them near as large as a Bristol barrel, came tumbling about my ears; one of them hit me on the back as I chanced to stoop, and knocked me down flat on my face; but I received no other hurt, and the dwarf was pardoned at my desire, because I had given the provocation.—Swift
2. Be that as it will, I found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with prodigious speed. The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my hammock. I called out several times, but all to no purpose. I looked towards my windows, and could see nothing but the clouds and the sky. I heard a noise just over my head, like the clapping of wings, and then began to perceive the woeful condition I was in; that some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to let it fall on a rock: for the sagacity and smell of this bird enabled him to discover his quarry at a great distance, though better concealed than I could be within a two-inch board.—Id.
(b) Give the exact meaning of each italicized preposition in the following sentences:—
1. The guns were cleared of their lumber.
2. They then left for a cruise up the Indian Ocean.
3. I speak these things from a love of justice.
4. To our general surprise, we met the defaulter here.
5. There was no one except a little sunbeam of a sister.
6. The great gathering in the main street was on Sundays, when, after a restful morning, though unbroken by the peal of church bells, the miners gathered from hills and ravines for miles around for marketing.
7. The troops waited in their boats by the edge of a strand.
8. His breeches were of black silk, and his hat was garnished with white and sable plumes.
9. A suppressed but still distinct murmur of approbation ran through the crowd at this generous proposition.
10. They were shriveled and colorless with the cold.
11. On every solemn occasion he was the striking figure, even to the eclipsing of the involuntary object of the ceremony.
12. On all subjects known to man, he favored the world with his opinions.
13. Our horses ran on a sandy margin of the road.
14. The hero of the poem is of a strange land and a strange parentage.
15. He locked his door from mere force of habit.
16. The lady was remarkable for energy and talent.
17. Roland was acknowledged for the successor and heir.
18. For my part, I like to see the passing, in town.
19. A half-dollar was the smallest coin that could be tendered for any service.
20. The mother sank and fell, grasping at the child.
21. The savage army was in war-paint, plumed for battle.
22. He had lived in Paris for the last fifty years.
23. The hill stretched for an immeasurable distance.
24.
The baron of Smaylho'me rose with day,
He spurred his courser on,
Without stop or stay, down the rocky way
That leads to Brotherstone.
25. With all his learning, Carteret was far from being a pedant.
26. An immense mountain covered with a shining green turf is nothing, in this respect, to one dark and gloomy.
27. Wilt thou die for very weakness?
28. The name of Free Joe strikes humorously upon the ear of memory.
29. The shout I heard was upon the arrival of this engine.
30. He will raise the price, not merely by the amount of the tax.
WORDS THAT NEED WATCHING.
328. If the student has now learned fully that words must be studied in grammar according to their function or use, and not according to form, he will be able to handle some words that are used as several parts of speech. A few are discussed below,—a summary of their treatment in various places as studied heretofore.
THAT.
329. That may be used as follows:
(1) As a demonstrative adjective.
That night was a memorable one.—Stockton.
(2) As an adjective pronoun.
That was a dreadful mistake.—Webster.
And now it is like an angel's song,
That makes the heavens be mute.
—Coleridge.
(4) As an adverb of degree.
That far I hold that the Scriptures teach.—Beecher.
(5) As a conjunction: (a) Of purpose.
Has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day.—Webster.
(b) Of result.
Gates of iron so massy that no man could without the help of engines open or shut them.—Johnson.
(c) Substantive conjunction.
We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud in the midst of its toil.—Webster.