Heu! and proh! alas! are joined, sometimes to a nominative, sometimes to an accusative, and occasionally to a vocative case, as—Heu bellis! Lack-a-daisy. Heu diem! Lack-a-day. Proh Clamor! Oh cry! Proh deos pisciculosque! Oh, ye gods and little fishes!
Heu miserande puer!
Oh, boy, to be pitied!
What boy is more to be pitied than a junior boy? The Fagin system described in Oliver Twist is nothing compared to that adopted in public schools. People may say what they will of the beneficial effect which it produces on the minds of those who are subjected to it—we contend that to breed a gentleman’s son up like a tiger is the readiest way to make a beast of him.
Hei! and væ! alas, are joined to a dative case, as
Hei mihi quod nullis amor est medicabilis herbis:
Woe is me that love is curable by no herbs.
HEU! MISERANDE PUER!