The Grammar of English Grammars Part 263

1. "Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Show'rs on her kings _barbaric_, pearl and gold."

--_Milton, P. L._, B. ii, l. 2.

2. "Come, nymph _demure_, with mantle _blue_."

--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 189.

3. "This truth _sublime_ his simple sire had taught."

--_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 14.

VIII. They ascribe qualities to things to which they do not literally belong; as,

1. "The ploughman homeward plods his _weary way_."

--_Gray's Elegy_, l. 3.

2. "Or _drowsy tinklings_ lull the distant folds."

--_Ibidem_, l. 8.

3. "Imbitter'd more and more from _peevish day_ to day."

--_Thomson_.

4. "All thin and naked, to the _numb_ cold _night_."

--_Shakspeare_.

IX. They use concrete terms to express abstract qualities; (i. e., adjectives for nouns;) as,

1. "Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls, And on the _boundless_ of thy goodness calls."

--_Young_.

2. "Meanwhile, whate'er of _beautiful_ or _new_, _Sublime_ or _dreadful_, in earth, sea, or sky, By chance or search, was offer'd to his view, He scann'd with curious and romantic eye."

--_Beattie_.

3. "Won from the void and formless _infinite_."

--_Milton_.

4. "To thy large heart give utterance due; thy heart Contains of _good, wise, just_, the perfect shape."

--_Id., P. R._, B. iii, l. 10.

X. They often subst.i.tute quality for manner; (i. e., adjectives for adverbs;) as,

1. ----"The stately-sailing swan Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale, And, arching _proud_ his neck, with oary feet, Bears forward _fierce_, and guards his osier isle."

--_Thomson_.

2. "Thither _continual_ pilgrims crowded still."

--_Id., Cos. of Ind._, i, 8.

3. "Level at beauty, and at wit; The fairest mark is _easiest_ hit."

--_Butler's Hudibras_.

XI. They form new compound epithets, oftener than do prose writers; as,

1. "In _world-rejoicing_ state, it moves sublime."

--_Thomson_.

2. "The _dewy-skirted_ clouds imbibe the sun."

--_Idem_.

3. "By brooks and groves in _hollow-whispering_ gales."

--_Idem_.

4. "The violet of _sky-woven_ vest."

--_Langhorne_.

5. "A league from Epid.a.m.num had we sail'd, Before the _always-wind-obeying_ deep Gave any tragic instance of our harm."

--_Shakspeare_.

6. "'_Blue-eyed, strange-voiced, sharp-beaked, ill-omened_ fowl, What art thou?' 'What I ought to be, an owl.'"

--_Day's Punctuation_, p. 139.

XII. They connect the comparative degree to the positive, before a verb; as,

1. "_Near and more near_ the billows rise."

--_Merrick_.

2. "_Wide and wider_ spreads the vale."

--_Dyer's Grongar Hill_.

3. "_Wide and more wide_, the overflowings of the mind Take every creature in, of every kind."

--_Pope_.

4. "_Thick and more thick_ the black blockade extends, A hundred head of Aristotle's friends."

--_Id., Dunciad_.

XIII. They form many adjectives in _y_, which are not common in prose; as, The _dimply_ flood,--_dusky_ veil,--a _gleamy_ ray,--_heapy_ harvests,--_moony_ s.h.i.+eld,--_paly_ circlet,--_sheety_ lake,--_stilly_ lake,--_spiry_ temples,--_steely_ casque,--_steepy_ hill,--_towery_ height,--_vasty_ deep,--_writhy_ snake.

XIV. They employ adjectives of an abbreviated form: as, _dread_, for _dreadful_; _drear_, for _dreary_; _ebon_, for _ebony_; _h.o.a.r_, for _h.o.a.ry_; _lone_, for _lonely_; _scant_, for _scanty_; _slope_, for _sloping_: _submiss_, for _submissive_; _vermil_, for _vermilion_; _yon_, for _yonder_.

XV. They employ several adjectives that are not used in prose, or are used but seldom; as, _azure, blithe, boon, dank, darkling, darksome, doughty, dun, fell, rife, rapt, rueful, sear, sylvan, twain, wan._

XVI. They employ the personal p.r.o.nOUNS, and introduce their nouns afterwards; as,

1. "_It_ curl'd not Tweed alone, that _breeze_."

--_Sir W. Scott_.

2. "What may _it_ be, the heavy _sound_ That moans old Branksome's turrets round?"

--_Idem, Lay_, p. 21.

3. "Is it the lightning's quivering glance, That on the thicket streams; Or do _they_ flash on spear and lance, The sun's retiring _beams_"

--_Idem, L. of L._, vi, 15.