I am a pronominal adjective; behead me and I am personal pronoun; again behead me and I am a verb.
[36]
Three letters there are which may be so arranged,
That three things they can spell you with care,
A nickname quite common,—what all things must have,—
And the home of the lion or bear.
[37]
My whole is a name that belongs to some men,
And is short, if ’tis not very sweet;
Transpose me, and now on the fair sex I’m seen,
When they’re taking a walk in the street.
Transpose me again, and a verb I become,
Which boys must all do to be men;
A third time transpose me, ah! shun me, and run,
For wretched and sinful I’m then.
[38]
Pray, discover a part of the human frame,
Which divided, another will make,
A member, whose function is also made known,
If the letters you rightly shall take:
Again, it will show what another one does,
And that which is made by a third,
But each of these members return to my whole,
(When transposed), which no doubt you have heard.
[39]
Unbroken I am a term sometimes applied to the atmosphere; remove my first, and I am a king famed in tragedy; remove my first and second, I am a part of the human body; remove my first, second, and third, and I am a city mentioned in the Bible; remove my first and last, and I am an inclosure.