"Riding sublime, thou bidst the world adore,
And humblest nature with thy northern blast."
—Thomson.
"Fly thither whence thou fledst."
—Milton, P. L., B. iv, l. 963.
"Unspeakable, who sitst above these heavens."
—Id., ib., B. v, l. 156.
"Why satst thou like an enemy in wait?"
—Id., ib., B. iv, l. 825.
OBS. 35.—The formation of the third person singular of verbs, is now precisely the same as that of the plural number of nouns: as, love, loves; show, shows; boast, boasts; fly, flies; reach, reaches. This form began to be used about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The ending seems once to have been es, sounded as s or z: as,
"And thus I see among these pleasant thynges
Eche care decayes, and yet my sorrow sprynges."—Earl of Surry.
"With throte yrent, he roares, he lyeth along."—Sir T. Wyat.
"He dyeth, he is all dead, he pantes, he restes."—Id., 1540.
In all these instances, the e before the s has become improper. The es does not here form a syllable; neither does the eth, in "lyeth" and "dyeth." In very ancient times, the third person singular appears to have been formed by adding th or eth nearly as we now add s or es[252] Afterwards, as in our common Bible, it was formed by adding th to verbs ending in e, and eth to all others; as, "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself."—1 Cor., xi, 29. "He quickeneth man, who is dead in trespasses and sins; he keepeth alive the quickened soul, and leadeth it in the paths of life; he scattereth, subdueth, and conquereth the enemies of the soul."—I. Penington. This method of inflection, as now pronounced, always adds a syllable to the verb. It is entirely confined to the solemn style, and is little used. Doth, hath, and saith, appear to be permanent contractions of verbs thus formed. In the days of Shakspeare, both terminations were common, and he often mixed them, in a way which is not very proper now: as,
"The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."
—Merchant of Venice.