PART IV. PROSODY. PROSODY treats of punctuation, utterance, figures, and versification. GEORGE.M. RICHARDSON CHAPTER I.-PUNCTUATION. Punctuation is the art of dividing composition, by points, or stops, for the purpose of showing more clearly the sense and relation of the words, and of noting the different pauses and inflections required in reading. The following are the principal points, or marks; the Comma [,], the Semicolon [;], the Colon [:], the Period [.], the Dash [-], the Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation [?], the Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation [!], and the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis [()]. OBS. The pauses that are made in the natural flow of speech, have, in reality, no definite and invariable proportions. Children are often told to pause at a comma while they might count one; at a semicolon, one, two; at a colon, one, two, three; at a period, one, two, three, four. This may be of some use, as teaching them to observe their stops that they may catch the sense; but the standard itself is variable, and so are the times which good sense gives to the points. As a finai stop, the period is immeasurable. The following general direction is as good as any that can be given. The Comma denotes the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of the comma; the Colon, a pause double that of the semicolon; and the Period, or Full Stop, a pause double that of the colon. The pauses required by the other marks, vary according to the structure of the sentence, and their place in it. They may be equal to any of the foregoing. SECTION I.-OF THE COMMA. The Comma is used to separate those parts of a sentence, which are so nearly connected in sense, as to be only one degree removed from that close connexion which admits no point. as, RULE I.-SIMPLE SENTENCES. A simple sentence does not, in general, admit the comma; "The weakest reasoners are the most positive."-W. Allen. Exception. When the nominative in a long simple sentence is accompanied by inseparable adjuncts, a comma should be placed before the verb; as, "The assemblage of these vast bodies, is divided into different systems." RULE II. SIMPLE MEMBERS. The simple members of a compound sentence, whether successive or involved, elliptical or complete, are generally divided by the comma; as, 66 1. He speaks eloquently, and he acts wisely." 2. "The man, when he saw this, departed." 3. "It may, and it often does happen.' 4. "That life is long, which answers life's great end." Exception 1.-When a relative immediately follows its antecedent, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be introduced before it; as, "The things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal." -2 Cor., iv, 18. Exception 2.-When the simple members are short, and closely connected by a conjunction or a conjunctive adverb, the comma is generally omitted; as, "Infamy is worse than death.” -"Let him tell me whether the number of the stars be even or odd." RULE III.-MORE THAN TWO WORDS. When more than two words or terms are connected in the same construction, by conjunctions expressed or understood, the comma should be inserted after every one of them but the last; and if they are nominatives before a verb, the comma should follow the last also: as, 1. "Who, to the enraptur'd heart, and ear, and eye, Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love, and melody." 2. "Ah! what avails * * * * * * All that art, fortune, enterprise, can bring, If envy, scorn, remorse, or pride, the bosom wring?" 3. "Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible; Thou, stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless." 4. "She plans, provides, expatiates, triumphs there.” OBS.-Two or more words are in the same construction, when they have a common dependence on some other term, and are parsed alike. RULE IV.-ONLY TWO WORDS. When only two words or terms are connected by a con junction, they should not be separated by the comma; as, "Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul."-Goldsmith. Exception 1.-When the two words connected have several adjuncts, or when one of them has an adjunct that relates not to both, the comma is inserted; as, "Honesty in his dealings, and attention to his business, procured him both esteem and wealth.""Who is applied to persons, or things personified." -Bullions. Exception 2.-When the two words connected are emphat ically distinguished, the comma is inserted; as, "Liberal, not lavish, is kind Nature's hand."-Beattie. ""Tis certain he could write, and cipher too."-Goldsmith. Exception 3.-When there is merely an alternative of words, the comma is inserted; as, "We saw a large opening, or inlet." Exception 4.-When the conjunction is understood, the comma is inserted; as, "She thought the isle that gave her birth, The sweetest, wildest land on earth.”—Hogg. RULE V.-WORDS IN PAIRS. When successive words are joined in pairs by conjunctions, they should be separated in pairs by the comma; as, "Interest and ambition, honour and shame, friendship and enmity, gratitude and revenge, are the prime movers in public transac tions."-W. Allen. RULE VI.-WORDS PUT ABSOLUTE. Nouns or pronouns put absolute, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as, "The prince, his father being dead, succeeded."-"This done, we parted."-"Zaccheus, make haste and come down."-"His prætorship in Sicily, what did it produce?"-Cicero. RULE VII.-WORDS IN APPOSITION. Words put in apposition, (especially if they have adjuncts,) are generally set off by the comma; as, "He that now calls. upon thee, is Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe."-Johnson. Exception 1.-When several words, in their common order, are used as one compound name, the comma is not inserted; as, "Samuel Johnson,"-" Publius Gavius Cosanus." Exception 2.-When a common and a proper name are closely united, the comma is not inserted; as, "The brook Kidron," "The river Don," "The empress Catharine,❞— "Paul the apostle." Exception 3.-When a pronoun is added to another word merely for emphasis and distinction, the comma is not inserted; as, "Ye men of Athens," "I myself,"-"Thou flaming minister,"-" You princes.' Exception 4.-When a name acquired by some action or relation, is put in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun, the comma is not inserted: as, "I made the ground my bed;" "To make him king;" "Whom they revered as God;""With modesty thy guide."-Pope. RULE VIII.-ADJECTIVES. Adjectives, when something depends on them, or when they have the import of a dependent clause, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as, 1. 2. "Among the roots Of hazel, pendent o'er the plaintive stream, They frame the first foundation of their domes.”—Thom. "Up springs the lark, Shrill-voic'd and loud, the messenger of morn."-Id. Exception.-When an adjective immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as, "On the coast averse from entrance.”—Milton. RULE IX.-FINITE VERBS. Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required: as, "From law arises security; from security, curiosity; from curiosity, knowledge.”—Murray. RULE X.-INFINITIVES. The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma; as, "His delight was, to assist the distressed.""To conclude, I was reduced to beggary." "The Governor of all-has interposed, Not seldom, his avenging arm, to smite The injurious trampler upon nature's law."-Cowper. Participles, when something depends on them, when they have the import of a dependent clause, or when they relate to something understood, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as, 1. "Young Edwin, lighted by the evening star, Ling'ring and list'ning, wander'd down the vale."-Beattie. 2. "United, we stand; divided, we fall." 3. "Properly speaking, there is no such thing as chance." Exception. When a participle immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as, "A man renown'd for repartee, Will seldom scruple to make free With friendship's finest feeling."-Cowper. Adverbs, when they break the connexion of a simple sen tence, or when they have not a close dependence on some particular word in the context, should be set off by the comma; as, "We must not, however, confound this gentleness with the artificial courtesy of the world." "Besides, the mind must be employed."-Gilpin. "Most unquestionably, no fraud was equal to all this."-Lyttelton. RULE XIII.-CONJUNCTIONS. Conjunctions, when they are separated from the principal clause that depends on them, or when they introduce an example, are generally set off by the comma; as, "But, by a timely call upon Religion, the force of Habit was eluded.”—Johnson. RULE XIV.-PREPOSITIONS. Prepositions and their objects, when they break the connexion of a simple sentence, or when they do not closely follow the words on which they depend, are generally set off by the comma; as, Fashion is, for the most part, nothing but the ostentation of riches.""By reading, we add the experience of 66 others to our own." RULE XV.-INTERJECTIONS. Interjections are sometimes set off by the comma; as, "For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north."Jeremiah, i, 15. RULE XVI.-WORDS REPEATED. "Ah! A word emphatically repeated, is generally set off by the comma; as, "Happy, happy, happy pair!"-Dryden. po, no, no."-Id. |