——"And on the coast averse
From entrance or cherubic watch."—Milton, P. L., B. ix, l. 68.
RULE IX.—FINITE VERBS.
Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required; as, "From law arises security; from security, curiosity; from curiosity, knowledge."—Murray.
"Else all my prose and verse were much the same;
This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fallen lame."—Pope.
EXCEPTION.—VERY SLIGHT PAUSE.
As the semicolon must separate the clauses when the comma is inserted by this rule, if the pause for the omitted verb be very slight, it may be left unmarked, and the comma be used for the clauses; as, "When the profligate speaks of piety, the miser of generosity, the coward of valour, and the corrupt of integrity, they are only the more despised by those who know them."—Comstock's Elocution, p. 132.
RULE X.—INFINITIVES.
The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma; as, "One of the greatest secrets in composition is, to know when to be simple."—Jamieson's Rhet., p. 151. "To confess the truth, I was much in fault."—Murray's Gram., p. 271.
"The Governor of all—has interposed,
Not seldom, his avenging arm, to smite
The injurious trampler upon nature's law."—Cowper.