The trees are all so silvery
And the fairies dance around;
They make a pretty tinkle
As they step upon the ground.
They dance upon the tree tops
And dance upon the ground.
Of course, that is not perfect verse, but it has a quality of real poetry in it.
You cannot expect great results from your verse making, but you will certainly profit by some practice in managing meters. You will have a greater interest in the construction of the poetry you read, you will have greater ease in writing prose, and you may perhaps succeed in expressing some feeling of your own in a simple stanza which will be worth writing for its own sake.
CHAPTER XVII
PUNCTUATION
95. General Theory of Punctuation.—Punctuation is a way of showing by various signs (or points) which words in a written composition bear a close relation to one another. Read, for example, the following passage:—
As Pandora raised the lid, the cottage grew very dark and dismal; a black cloud had swept over the sun, and seemed to have buried it alive. But Pandora, heeding nothing of all this, lifted the lid nearly upright, and looked inside. It seemed as if suddenly a swarm of winged insects brushed past her, taking flight out of the box, while at the same instant she heard a voice. It was that of Epimetheus, as if he were in pain.
"Oh, I am stung!" cried he. "I am stung! Naughty Pandora! Why have you opened this wicked box?"