"Of what thou wast." "All the conspirators save only he." K. Rich. III. "Save only him." "The earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she." "This is strange, your father's in some passion." Tempest. "Tis strange, your father's in some passion." It is, perhaps, unnecessary to tell the reader of Shakspeare, that "Passion," like all other words, wherein a junction of vowels will admit of either a lengthened or contracted utterance, the poet applies variously to suit the quantity and tenor of his verse; thus, in Hamlet, we find passion a dissyllable. "That laps'd in time and passion lets go-by." But in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, again a trisyllable. "Poor forlorn Protheus, passíónate Protheus !" "Limps after in base imitatíón.” Anth. and Cleop. "And feeds on objects, arts, and imitations." Ibid. "My liege, this haste was hot in questíón." K. Hen. IV. "Use no more question, try no further means." Merch. of Ven. "Thy nephew and right royal sovéréign.” K. John. "Might, by the sovereign power you have of us." Hamlet. "How all occasions do inform against me." Ibid. "For courage mounteth with occasión." K. John. "By héavén, Hubert, I'm almost asham'd." Ibid. "The sun is in the heaven; and the proud day." Ibid. "Figur'd quite o'er with burning metéórs." Ibid. "And call them meteors, progidies, and signs." Ibid. Ibid. "And come against us in full púíssance." "Upon the power and puissance of the king." Ibid. "I mean, my lord, those pówérs that the queen," &c. &c. Nor is this effect of associated vowels confined to themselves, even iron consonants, intervening, will often be amalgamated in the coalition. "Within their alabaster innocent arms." K. Rich. III. "Christian and heathen must be beleed and calm'd." Othello. "Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief." Hamlet. "Some of those branches by the destinies cut." VOL. I. C K. Rich, II. "One flourishing branch of his most royal root." Of this licence Milton also makes abundant and happy use. "And chiefly thou, o spirit, that dost prefer."— "Arraying with reflected purple and gold.”. Paradise Lost. "On all deservers, from hence to Inverness." Macbeth. "On all deservers, hence to Inverness.” "So all men do, from hence to the palace gate.” Ibid. "So all men do, hence to the palace gate.” "I wou'd breed from hence, occasion, and I will," "I wou'd breed hence, occasion, and I will.” Let us here, once for all, condemn that practice which prevails among our most correct writers, of placing the preposition, "from," before the words hence, thence, whence, with their compounds, henceforth, thenceforth, whenceforth, henceforward, &c. &c. These are all adverbs, unconnected with prepositions, and, clearly, of themselves expressing: from this time, place, or cause; from that time, place, or cause; from which time, place, or cause, &c. and the introduction of the ablative preposition is no less impertinent than would be that of the dative before the adverbs hither, thither, whither, were they to be set down to hither, to thither, to whither. (6) It is not improbable that the poet himself might have introduced the word which is here rejected; and that the line, at first, stood thus: "'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature." But when, upon revisal, he judged it fitting to insert "Hamlet," it was, doubtless, to follow, that the word "Nature," with the possessive termination of the pronoun, was to be expunged. C. LOFFT. "When I have told the story; can you tax me "(That have receiv'd some worldly presents from him) MARC. "Bless me, good Angels! "Or am I blasted? Lies so false and wicked "And falsehood to so damnable a purpose," &c. Of eighteen lines here, in succession, we find only one (admitting the offered correction) of the regular heroic struc ture *Time, probably omitted. "And age from that which bred it, good example, "Nay (wou'd ourselves were not the worst) even parents "That did destroy the hopes in their own children: "The first words we form their tongue with are licentious jests. "Can it call whore? Cry bastard? O then kiss it, "A witty child! Can't swear? The father's darling. "Give it two plums; but this is in the infancy : "When it puts on the breeches, it will put-off all this; 66 Ay, it is like, when it is gone into the bone already." Ben Jonson-Every Man in his Humour. "In all our royal master's names we tell you, "You have done injustice; broke the bond of concord, "Whole provinces; mann'd and maintain'd these injuries, Beam. and Fletcher-Mad Lover. Among these diffused terminations (besides some that are entirely out of all reckoning) we find in Jonson one, and in Beaumont and Fletcher two trisyllables; which, by the way, is very frequent with these writers. (a) As, besides some instances in the preceding note, "Where he "Resolves to revel, how the lords of her, "The tradesmen," &c. like Massinger.-Picture. "To die, which is inevitable, you may urge." Ibid. "The Spartans are in arms, and like to win all. Beam, and Fletch.-Mad Lover. |