The early writers, the "pure wells of English undefiled," are full of "small words."
Hall, in one of the most exquisite of his satires, speaking of the vanity of "adding house to house, and field to field," has these most beautiful lines,—
"Fond fool! six feet shall serve for all thy store,
And he that cares for most shall find no more!"
"What harmonious monosyllables!" says Mr. Gifford; and what critic will refuse to echo his exclamation? The same writer is full of monosyllabic lines, and he is among the most energetic of satirists. By the way, it is not a little curious, that in George Webster's White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona, almost the same thought is also clothed in two monosyllabic lines:—
"His wealth is summed, and this is all his store:
This poor men get, and great men get no more."
Was Young dull? Listen, for it is indeed a "solemn sound:"—
"The bell strikes one. We take no note of time
Save by its loss, to give it then a tongue