48 GLOSSOLOGY. 



the arrangement of a certain number and variety of syllables, accord- 

 ing to certain laws ; to form what is technically called poetry. Ver 

 sified poetry is written either in rhyme, or in blank verse, which has 

 no rhymes ; but both are divisible into regular poetic feet ; in which 

 they differ from prose. Rhyme is a similarity in sound between the 

 last syllables of each two or more verses. A verse is properly a 

 single line of poetry ; and several lines connected compose a stanza. 

 A poetic foot, is an assemblage of two or more syllables ; having 

 the long and short ones, or in modern languages, the accented and 

 unaccented, in a certain order; and every verse is composed of such 

 poetic feet. An iambus, has one short syllable, followed by one 

 which is long, or accented ; as betray. Of such feet are the English 

 heroic verse, and the long, common, and short metres, in Psalmody. 

 A trochee, has one long syllable, followed by one, short ; as hateful. 

 The anapest, has two short syllables followed by one long ; as con- 

 travene: and the dactyl, has one long syllable, followed by two 

 short ; as laborer. These are the feet chiefly used in English poetry, 

 and the only kinds that we have room to mention. The spondee, 

 consisting of two long syllables ; and the pyrrhic, of two short, are 

 occasionally used by the ancient poets. Of the four following lines, 

 the first is iambic; the second, trochaic; the third, anapestic ; and 

 the fourth, dactylic, but closing with an additional syllable, which 

 gives it an anapestic cadence. 



" Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song." 



" Guide me, Oh thou great Jehovah !" 



" May I govern my passions with absolute sway." 



" Sound the loud timbrel, o'er Egypt's dark sea." 



Punctuation, is the application of points, to mark the pauses, and 

 often the sense of a written composition. The points now in use are 

 the comma, ( , ) ; the semicolon, ( ; ) ; the colon, ( : ) ; the period, 

 ( . ) ; the exclamation point, ( ! ), appended to something remarkable; 

 and the interrogation point, (? ), denoting a question. All of these 

 points mark pauses, increasing in length, from the first, to the two 

 last named. The parenthesis, ( ), and brackets, [ ], are used for 

 subordinate or detached clauses ; the asterisk, *, the obelisk, t, the 

 binobelisk, J, and parallels, ||, are used for reference ; the apostrophe, 

 ('), for abbreviating words; the hyphen, (-), for connecting words 

 or syllables ; the caret, ( A ), for supplying omissions ; and the ellip- 

 sis, whether dash, dots, or stars, indicates that something is purposely 

 omitted. Quotation marks, (" ") enclose a passage taken verbatim 

 from some other author : an index, ISP""? points out some remark- 

 able passage ; and a single or double brace, > , j , is used to 



connect several lines, which are intimately related ; as in poetry, when 

 they rhyme together. 



