The Grammar of English Grammars/Part IV/Chapter VI

865032The Grammar of English Grammars — Part IV - Chapter VIGoold Brown


CHAPTER VI.—FOR WRITING.

EXERCISES IN PROSODY.

[When the pupil can readily answer all the questions on Prosody, and apply the rules of punctuation to any composition in which the points are rightly inserted, he should write out the following exercises, supplying what is required, and correcting what is amiss. Or, if any teacher choose to exercise his classes orally, by means of these examples, he can very well do it; because, to read words, is always easier than to write them, and even points or poetic feet may be quite as readily named as written.]

EXERCISE I.—PUNCTUATION. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.

EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF SIMPLE SENTENCES. edit

"The dogmatist's assurance is paramount to argument." "The whole course of his argumentation comes to nothing." "The fieldmouse builds her garner under ground."

EXC.—"The first principles of almost all sciences are few." "What he gave me to publish was but a small part." "To remain insensible to such provocation is apathy." "Minds ashamed of poverty would be proud of affluence." "To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in character."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 38.

UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLE MEMBERS. edit

"I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame." "They are gone but the remembrance of them is sweet." "He has passed it is likely through varieties of fortune." "The mind though free has a governor within itself." "They I doubt not oppose the bill on public principles." "Be silent be grateful and adore." "He is an adept in language who always speaks the truth." "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong."

EXC. I.—"He that has far to go should not hurry." "Hobbes believed the eternal truths which he opposed." "Feeble are all pleasures in which the heart has no share." "The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soul."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 38.

EXC. II.—"A good name is better than precious ointment." "Thinkst thou that duty shall have dread to speak?" "The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns."

UNDER RULE III.—OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS. edit

"The city army court espouse my cause." "Wars pestilences and diseases are terrible instructors." "Walk daily in a pleasant airy and umbrageous garden." "Wit spirits faculties but make it worse." "Men wives and children stare cry out and run." "Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential to happiness."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 29. "Honor, affluence, and pleasure seduce the heart."—Ib., p. 31.

UNDER RULE IV.—OF TWO TERMS CONNECTED. edit

"Hope and fear are essentials in religion." "Praise and adoration are perfective of our souls." "We know bodies and their properties most perfectly." "Satisfy yourselves with what is rational and attainable." "Slowly and sadly we laid him down."

EXC. I.—"God will rather look to the inward motions of the mind than to the outward form of the body." "Gentleness is unassuming in opinion and temperate in zeal."

EXC. II.—"He has experienced prosperity and adversity." "All sin essentially is and must be mortal." "Reprove vice but pity the offender."

EXC. III.—"One person is chosen chairman or moderator." "Duration or time is measured by motion." "The governor or viceroy is chosen annually."

EXC. IV.—"Reflection reason still the ties improve." "His neat plain parlour wants our modern style." "We are fearfully wonderfully made."

UNDER RULE V.—OF WORDS IN PAIRS. edit

"I inquired and rejected consulted and deliberated." "Seed-time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease."

EXERCISE II.—PUNCTUATION. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.

EXAMPLES UNDER RULE VI.—OF WORDS PUT ABSOLUTE. edit

"The night being dark they did not proceed." "There being no other coach we had no alternative." "Remember my son that human life is the journey of a day." "All circumstances considered it seems right." "He that overcometh to him will I give power." "Your land strangers devour it in your presence." "Ah sinful nation a people laden with iniquity!"

"With heads declin'd ye cedars homage pay;
Be smooth ye rocks ye rapid floods give way!"

UNDER RULE VII.—OF WORDS IN APPOSITION. edit

"Now Philomel sweet songstress charms the night." "'Tis chanticleer the shepherd's clock announcing day." "The evening star love's harbinger appears." "The queen of night fair Dian smiles serene." "There is yet one man Micaiah the son of Imlah." "Our whole company man by man ventured down." "As a work of wit the Dunciad has few equals."

   "In the same temple the resounding wood
    All vocal beings hymned their equal God."

EXC. I.—"The last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus." "Bossuet highly eulogizes Maria Theresa of Austria." "No emperor has been more praised than Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus."

EXC. II.—"For he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith." "Remember the example of the patriarch Joseph." "The poet, Milton, excelled in prose as well as in verse."

EXC. III.—"I wisdom dwell with prudence." "Ye fools be ye of an understanding heart." "I tell you that which you yourselves do know."

EXC. IV.—"I crown thee king of intimate delights" "I count the world a stranger for thy sake." "And this makes friends such miracles below." "God has pronounced it death to taste that tree." "Grace makes the slave a freeman."

UNDER RULE VIII.—OF ADJECTIVES. edit

"Deaf with the noise I took my hasty flight." "Him piteous of his youth soft disengage." "I played a while obedient to the fair." "Love free as air spreads his light wings and flies." "Physical science separate from morals parts with its chief dignity."

   "Then active still and unconfined his mind
    Explores the vast extent of ages past."

    "But there is yet a liberty unsung
    By poets and by senators unpraised."

EXC.—"I will marry a wife beautiful as the Houries." "He was a man able to speak upon doubtful questions." "These are the persons, anxious for the change." "Are they men worthy of confidence and support?" "A man, charitable beyond his means, is scarcely honest."

UNDER RULE IX.—OF FINITE VERBS. edit

"Poverty wants some things—avarice all things." "Honesty has one face—flattery two." "One king is too soft and easy—an other too fiery."

   "Mankind's esteem they court—and he his own:
    Theirs the wild chase of false felicities;
    His the compos'd possession of the true."

EXERCISE III.—PUNCTUATION. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.

EXAMPLES UNDER RULE X.—OF INFINITIVES. edit

"My desire is to live in peace." "The great difficulty was to compel them to pay their debts." "To strengthen our virtue God bids us trust in him." "I made no bargain with you to live always drudging." "To sum up all her tongue confessed the shrew." "To proceed my own adventure was still more laughable."

   "We come not with design of wasteful prey
    To drive the country force the swains away."

UNDER RULE XI.—OF PARTICIPLES. edit

"Having given this answer he departed." "Some sunk to beasts find pleasure end in pain." "Eased of her load subjection grows more light." "Death still draws nearer never seeming near." "He lies full low gored with wounds and weltering in his blood." "Kind is fell Lucifer compared to thee." "Man considered in himself is helpless and wretched." "Like scattered down by howling Eurus blown." "He with wide nostrils snorting skims the wave." "Youth is properly speaking introductory to manhood."

EXC.—"He kept his eye fixed on the country before him." "They have their part assigned them to act." "Years will not repair the injuries done by him."

UNDER RULE XII.—OF ADVERBS. edit

"Yes we both were philosophers." "However Providence saw fit to cross our design." "Besides I know that the eye of the public is upon me." "The fact certainly is much otherwise." "For nothing surely can be more inconsistent."

UNDER RULE XIII.—OF CONJUNCTIONS. edit

"For in such retirement the soul is strengthened." "It engages our desires; and in some degree satisfies them also." "But of every Christian virtue piety is an essential part." "The English verb is variable—as love lovest loves."

UNDER RULE XIV.—OF PREPOSITIONS. edit

"In a word charity is the soul of social life." "By the bowstring I can repress violence and fraud." "Some by being too artful forfeit the reputation of probity." "With regard to morality I was not indifferent." "Of all our senses sight is the most perfect and delightful."

UNDER RULE XV.—OF INTERJECTIONS. edit

"Behold I am against thee O inhabitant of the valley!" "O it is more like a dream than a reality," "Some wine ho!" "Ha ha ha; some wine eh?"

   "When lo the dying breeze begins to fail,
    And flutters on the mast the flagging sail."

UNDER RULE XVI.—OF WORDS REPEATED. edit

"I would never consent never never never." "His teeth did chatter chatter chatter still." "Come come come—to bed to bed to bed."

UNDER RULE XVII.—OF DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS. edit

"He cried 'Cause every man to go out from me.'" "'Almet' said he 'remember what thou hast seen.'" "I answered 'Mock not thy servant who is but a worm before thee.'"

EXERCISE IV.—PUNCTUATION. edit

I. THE SEMICOLON. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma and the Semicolon where they are requisite.

EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF COMPOUND MEMBERS. edit

"'Man is weak' answered his companion 'knowledge is more than equivalent to force.'" "To judge rightly of the present we must oppose it to the past for all judgement is compartive [sic—KTH] and of the future nothing can be known." "'Contentment is natural wealth' says Socrates to which I shall add 'luxury is artificial poverty.'"

   "Converse and love mankind might strongly draw
    When love was liberty and nature law."

UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLE MEMBERS. edit

"Be wise to-day 'tis madness to defer." "The present all their care the future his." "Wit makes an enterpriser sense a man." "Ask thought for joy grow rich and hoard within." "Song soothes our pains and age has pains to soothe." "Here an enemy encounters there a rival supplants him." "Our answer to their reasons is; 'No' to their scoffs nothing."

   "Here subterranean works and cities see
    There towns aerial on the waving tree."

UNDER RULE III.—OF APPOSITION. edit

"In Latin there are six cases namely the nominative the genitive the dative the accusative the vocative and the ablative." "Most English nouns form the plural by taking s; as boy boys nation nations king kings bay bays." "Bodies are such as are endued with a vegetable soul as plants a sensitive soul as animals or a rational soul as the body of man."

II. THE COLON. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the Semicolon, and the Colon, where they are requisite.

UNDER RULE I.—OF ADDITIONAL REMARKS. edit

"Indulge not desires at the expense of the slightest article of virtue pass once its limits and you fall headlong into vice." "Death wounds to cure we fall we rise we reign." "Beware of usurpation God is the judge of all."

   "Bliss!—there is none but unprecarious bliss
    That is the gem sell all and purchase that."

UNDER RULE II.—OF GREATER PAUSES. edit

"I have the world here before me I will review it at leisure surely happiness is somewhere to be found." "A melancholy enthusiast courts persecution and when he cannot obtain it afflicts himself with absurd penances but the holiness of St. Paul consisted in the simplicity of a pious life."

   "Observe his awful portrait and admire
    Nor stop at wonder imitate and live."

UNDER RULE III.—OF INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS. edit

"Such is our Lord's injunction 'Watch and pray.'" "He died praying for his persecutors 'Father forgive them they know not what they do.'" "On the old gentleman's cane was inscribed this motto ‘Festina lente.’"

III.—THE PERIOD. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the Semicolon, the Colon, and the Period, where they are requisite.

UNDER RULE I.—OF DISTINCT SENTENCES. edit

"Then appeared the sea and the dry land the mountains rose and the rivers flowed the sun and moon began their course in the skies herbs and plants clothed the ground the air the earth and the waters were stored with their respective inhabitants at last man was made in the image of God"

"In general those parents have most reverence who most deserve it for he that lives well cannot be despised"

UNDER RULE II.—OF ALLIED SENTENCES. edit

"Civil accomplishments frequently give rise to fame but a distinction is to be made between fame and true honour the statesman the orator or the poet may be famous while yet the man himself is far from being honoured"

UNDER RULE III.—OF ABBREVIATIONS. edit

"Glass was invented in England by Benalt a monk A D 664" "The Roman era U C commenced A C 1753 years" "Here is the Literary Life of S T Coleridge Esq" "PLATO a most illustrious philosopher of antiquity died at Athens 348 B C aged 81 his writings are very valuable his language beautiful and correct and his philosophy sublime"—See Univ. Biog. Dict.

EXERCISE V.—PUNCTUATION. edit

I. THE DASH. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert, in their proper places, the Dash, and such other points as are necessary.

EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF ABRUPT PAUSES. edit

"You say famous very often and I don't know exactly what it means a famous uniform famous doings What does famous mean"

"O why famous means Now don't you know what famous means It means It is a word that people say It is the fashion to say it It means it means famous."

UNDER RULE II.—OF EMPHATIC PAUSES. edit

"But this life is not all there is there is full surely another state abiding us And if there is what is thy prospect O remorseless obdurate Thou shalt hear it would be thy wisdom to think thou now nearest the sound of that trumpet which shall awake the dead Return O yet return to the Father of mercies and live"

   "The future pleases Why The present pains
    But that's a secret yes which all men know"

II. THE EROTEME. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation, 'and such other points as are necessary.

UNDER RULE I.—OF QUESTIONS DIRECT. edit

   "Does Nature bear a tyrant's breast
    Is she the friend of stern control
    Wears she the despot's purple vest
    Or fetters she the freeborn soul"

    "Why should a man whose blood is warm within
    Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster"

    "Who art thou courteous stranger and from whence
    Why roam thy steps to this abandon'd dale"

UNDER RULE II.—OF QUESTIONS UNITED. edit

   "Who bid the stork Columbus-like explore
    Heav'ns not his own and worlds unknown before
    Who calls the council states the certain day
    Who forms the phalanx and who points the way"

UNDER RULE III.—OF QUESTIONS INDIRECT. edit

"They asked me who I was and whither I was going." "St. Paul asked king Agrippa if he believed the prophets? But he did not wait for an answer."

   "Ask of thy mother Earth why oaks are made
    Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade"

III. THE ECPHONEME. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation, and such other points as are necessary.

UNDER RULE I.—OF INTERJECTIONS. edit

"Oh talk of hypocrisy after this Most consummate of all hypocrites After instructing your chosen official advocate to stand forward with such a defence such an exposition of your motives to dare utter the word hypocrisy and complain of those who charged you with it" Brougham

   "Alas how is that rugged heart forlorn"

    "Behold the victor vanquish'd by the worm"

    "Bliss sublunary Bliss proud words and vain"

UNDER RULE II.—OF INVOCATIONS. edit

   "O Popular Applause what heart of man
    Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms"

    "More than thy balm O Gilead heals the wound"

UNDER RULE III.—OF EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS. edit

With what transports of joy shall I be received In what honour in what delightful repose shall I pass the remainder of my life What immortal glory shall I have acquired" Hooke's Roman History.

   "How often have I loiter'd o'er thy green
    Where humble happiness endear'd each scene"

IV.—THE CURVES. edit

Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis, and such other points as are necessary.

UNDER RULE I.—OF THE PARENTHESIS. edit

   "And all the question wrangle e'er so long
    Is only this If God has plac'd him wrong"

    "And who what God foretells who speaks in things
    Still louder than in words shall dare deny"

UNDER RULE II.—OF INCLUDED POINTS. edit

   "Say was it virtue more though Heav'n ne'er gave
    Lamented Digby sunk thee to the grave"

    "Where is that thrift that avarice of time
    O glorious avarice thought of death inspires"

    "And oh the last last what can words express
    Thought reach the last last silence of a friend"

EXERCISE VI.—PUNCTUATION. edit

Copy the following Mixed Examples and insert the points which they require.

"As one of them opened his sack he espied his money" "They cried out the more exceedingly Crucify him" "The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners" "Great injury these vermin mice and rats do in the field" "It is my son's coat an evil beast hath devoured him" "Peace of all worldly blessings is the most valuable" "By this time the very foundation was removed" "The only words he uttered were I am a Roman citizen" "Some distress either felt or feared gnaws like a worm" "How then must I determine Have I no interest If I have not I am stationed here to no purpose" Harris "In the fire the destruction was so swift sudden vast and miserable as to have no parallel in story" "Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily was far from being happy" "I ask now Verres what thou hast to advance" "Excess began and sloth sustains the trade" "Fame can never reconcile a man to a death bed" "They that sail on the sea tell of the danger" "Be doers of the word and not hearers only" "The storms of wintry time will quickly pass" "Here Hope that smiling angel stands" "Disguise I see thou art a wickedness" "There are no tricks in plain and simple faith" "True love strikes root in reason passion's foe" "Two gods divide them all Pleasure and Gain" "I am satisfied My son has done his duty" "Remember Almet the vision which thou hast seen" "I beheld an enclosure beautiful as the gardens of paradise" "The knowledge which I have received I will communicate" "But I am not yet happy and therefore I despair" "Wretched mortals said I to what purpose are you busy" "Bad as the world is respect is always paid to virtue" "In a word he views men as the clear sunshine of charity" "This being the case I am astonished and amazed" "These men approached him and saluted him king" "Excellent and obliging sages these undoubtedly" "Yet at the same time the man himself undergoes a change" "One constant effect of idleness is to nourish the passions" "You heroes regard nothing but glory" "Take care lest while you strive to reach the top you fall" "Proud and presumptuous they can brook no opposition" "Nay some awe of religion may still subsist" "Then said he Lo I come to do thy will O God" Bible "As for me behold I am in your hand" Ib. "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord" Jer xxiii 24 "Now I Paul myself beseech you" "Now for a recompense in the same I speak as unto my children be ye also enlarged" 2 Cor vi 13 "He who lives always in public cannot live to his own soul whereas he who retires remains calm" "Therefore behold I even I will utterly forget you" "This text speaks only of those to whom it speaks" "Yea he warmeth himself and saith Aha I am warm" "King Agrippa believest thou the prophets"

EXERCISE VII.—PUNCTUATION. edit

Copy the following Mixed Examples, and insert the points which they require.

    To whom can riches give repute or trust
    Content or pleasure but the good and just Pope

    To him no high no low no great no small
    He fills he bounds connects and equals all Id

    Reasons whole pleasure all the joys of sense
    Lie in three words health peace and competence Id

    Not so for once indulged they sweep the main
    Deaf to the call or hearing hear in vain Anon

    Say will the falcon stooping from above
    Smit with her varying plumage spare the dove Pope


    Throw Egypts by and offer in its stead
    Offer the crown on Berenices head Id

    Falsely luxurious will not man awake
    And springing from the bed of sloth enjoy
    The cool the fragrant and the silent hour Thomson

    Yet thus it is nor otherwise can be
    So far from aught romantic what I sing Young

    Thyself first know then love a self there is
    Of virtue fond that kindles at her charms Id

    How far that little candle throws his beams
    So shines a good deed in a naughty world Shakspeare

    You have too much respect upon the world
    They lose it that do buy it with much care Id

    How many things by season seasoned are
    To their right praise and true perfection Id

    Canst thou descend from converse with the skies
    And seize thy brothers throat For what a clod Young

    In two short precepts all your business lies
    Would you be great—be virtuous and be wise Denham

    But sometimes virtue starves while vice is fed
    What then is the reward of virtue bread Pope

    A life all turbulence and noise may seem
    To him that leads it wise and to be praised
    But wisdom is a pearl with most success
    Sought in still waters and beneath clear skies Cowper

    All but the swellings of the softened heart
    That waken not disturb the tranquil mind Thomson

    Inspiring God who boundless spirit all
    And unremitting energy pervades
    Adjusts sustains and agitates the whole Id

    Ye ladies for indifferent in your cause
    I should deserve to forfeit all applause
    Whatever shocks or gives the least offence
    To virtue delicacy truth or sense
    Try the criterion tis a faithful guide
    Nor has nor can have Scripture on its side. Cowper

EXERCISE VIII.—SCANNING. edit

Divide the following Verses into the feet which compose them, and distinguish by marks the long and the short syllables.

Example I.—"Our Daily Paths"—By F. Hemans.
"There's Beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes
 Can trace it 'midst familiar things, and through their lowly guise;
 We may find it where a hedgerow showers its blossoms o'er our way,
 Or a cottage-window sparkles forth in the last red light of day."
Example II.—"Fetching Water"—Anonymous.
"Early on a sunny morning, while the lark was singing sweet,
 Came, beyond the ancient farmhouse, sounds of lightly-tripping feet.
 'Twas a lowly cottage maiden, going,—why, let young hearts tell,—
 With her homely pitcher laden, fetching water from the well."
Example III.—Deity.

Alone thou sitst above the everlasting hills
And all immensity of space thy presence fills:
For thou alone art God;—as God thy saints adore thee;
Jehovah is thy name;—they have no gods before thee.—G. Brown.


Example IV.—Impenitence.

The impenitent sinner whom mercy empowers,
Dishonours that goodness which seeks to restore;
As the sands of the desert are water'd by showers.
Yet barren and fruitless remain as before.—G. Brown.


Example V.—Piety.

Holy and pure are the pleasures of piety,
Drawn from the fountain of mercy and love;
Endless, exhaustless, exempt from satiety,
Rising unearthly, and soaring above.—G. Brown.

Example VI.—A Simile.
The bolt that strikes the tow'ring cedar dead,
Oft passes harmless o'er the hazel's head.—G. Brown.
Example VII.—A Simile.
"Yet to their general's voice they soon obey'd
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,
Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile."—Milton.
Example VIII.—Elegiac Stanza.

Thy name is dear—'tis virtue balm'd in love;
Yet e'en thy name a pensive sadness brings.
Ah! wo the day, our hearts were doom'd to prove,
That fondest love but points affliction's stings!—G. Brown.


Example IX.—Cupid.

Zephyrs, moving bland, and breathing fragrant
With the sweetest odours of the spring,
O'er the winged boy, a thoughtless vagrant,
Slumb'ring in the grove, their perfumes fling.—G. Brown.


Example X.—Divine Power.

When the winds o'er Gennesaret roar'd,
And the billows tremendously rose,
The Saviour but utter'd the word,
They were hush'd to the calmest repose.—G. Brown.


Example XI.—Invitation.

Come from the mount of the leopard, spouse,
Come from the den of the lion;
Come to the tent of thy shepherd, spouse,
Come to the mountain of Zion.—G. Brown.

Example XII.—Admonition.
In the days of thy youth,      O! forsake not his truth,
  Remember thy God:      Incur not his rod.—G. Brown.
Example XIII.—Commendation.
Constant and duteous,      How art thou beauteous,
  Meek as the dove,      Daughter of love!—G. Brown.

EXERCISE IX.—SCANNING. edit

Mark the feet and syllables which compose the following lines—or mark a sample of each metre.

Edwin, an Ode. I. STROPHE.

Led by the pow'r of song, and nature's love,
Which raise the soul all vulgar themes above,
The mountain grove
Would Edwin rove,
In pensive mood, alone;
And seek the woody dell,
Where noontide shadows fell,
Cheering,
Veering,
Mov'd by the zephyr's swell.
Here nurs'd he thoughts to genius only known,
When nought was heard around
But sooth'd the rest profound
Of rural beauty on her mountain throne.
Nor less he lov'd (rude nature's child)
The elemental conflict wild;
When, fold on fold, above was pil'd
The watery swathe, careering on the wind.


Such scenes he saw
With solemn awe,
As in the presence of the Eternal Mind.
Fix'd he gaz'd,
Tranc'd and rais'd,
Sublimely rapt in awful pleasure undefin'd.

II. ANTISTROPHE

Reckless of dainty joys, he finds delight
Where feebler souls but tremble with affright.
Lo! now, within the deep ravine,
A black impending cloud
Infolds him in its shroud,
And dark and darker glooms the scene.
Through the thicket streaming,
Lightnings now are gleaming;
Thunders rolling dread,
Shake the mountain's head;
Nature's war
Echoes far,
O'er ether borne,
That flash
The ash
Has scath'd and torn!
Now it rages;
Oaks of ages,
Writhing in the furious blast,
Wide their leafy honours cast;
Their gnarled arms do force to force oppose
Deep rooted in the crevic'd rock,
The sturdy trunk sustains the shock,
Like dauntless hero firm against assailing foes.

III. EPODE.

'0 Thou who sitst above these vapours dense,
And rul'st the storm by thine omnipotence!
Making the collied cloud thy ear,
Coursing the winds, thou rid'st afar,
Thy blessings to dispense.
The early and the latter rain,
Which fertilize the dusty plain,
Thy bounteous goodness pours.
Dumb be the atheist tongue abhorr'd!
All nature owns thee, sovereign Lord!
And works thy gracious will;
At thy command the tempest roars,
At thy command is still.
Thy mercy o'er this scene sublime presides;
'Tis mercy forms the veil that hides
The ardent solar beam;
While, from the volley'd breast of heaven,
Transient gleams of dazzling light,
Flashing on the balls of sight,
Make darkness darker seem.
Thou mov'st the quick and sulphurous leven—
The tempest-driven
Cloud is riven;
And the thirsty mountain-side
Drinks gladly of the gushing tide.'
So breath'd young Edwin, when the summer shower,
From out that dark o'erchamb'ring cloud,
With lightning flash and thunder loud,
Burst in wild grandeur o'er his solitary bower.—G. Brown.


THE END OF PART FOURTH.