Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-01-23
TIE .faihor's literary Mdee,
AND TIE
VOMA'S pNOMr'IEH.
De8t3aea % taclAfete HAe e.rercl8ea q yoWatN
genius IN the
COMPOSITION 0F pRUsE AND VERSE.
BY SAMUEL U00DWOR1H
GENRnaI coNTENrs OF raE woRK.


BIZ SAMUEL U0ODWOR1H
GENERA CONTENTS OF TIE Work.
l. Elements of English CoMPoslr,oN reduced
to PLAN practical RUNS drawn from the VIII
tings oi Lofa haims BAR, " alker, Irving, &c.
II. Rules FOR the construction OF EsGLIsa
VERSE, by which the most ordinary as well as
NEST brilliant ideas may be readily expressed
in smooth harmonious numbers. Ii is not the
object OF these Rules to accommodate the art
to the Practice and thus 10 tolerate the nulne-
rOus errors and unWarrantabie liberties OF Ce-
tebraied poets, merely because they IRE cele-
6ratsd; but rather to form a critical TEST by
which such errors and Liberties may be detect
ed and avoided. 1t is intended 10 show, not
how Poetry has been, but how ii oHsla to be
written.
These Rules, which are few, plain, and
J easily comprehended, are Invested Of all per-
picking phraseologs, and adapted to the New
/ Schoot OF Poetry, which now obtains in Great
Britain, aud % winch public taste, on both sides
the Atlantic, principally indebted for its re-
cent reformation and present refinement.
| The .ietflcdi Ga'nut, on which these Rules
are predicated, viii DC found valuable auxia-
ry, not only to the pupil, whose unfiedged
muse has never yet ventured TO soar into the
sublime regions OF fancy, but, also, to the ac-
complshed master Of the lyle," whose dar-
ing and successful fights have already scaled
The bCipital summit of mount Pafnassus. 1t
will be seen that d Scale or GMnat IS as appi-
cable 10 Poetry as to Music, AID that the r,idi-
ments Jf each art may, and ought to be, taught
by similar process.
! Ill. Rules for puNcruAwIoy, founded on the
practice of the most correct writer's IN the
English language; comprising original stric-
lures on the Punctuation ef Verse.
W Epithets and Syaonynes, suitable for
any and every possible SUBJECT, which subjects
are alphabetically arranged as heads for
the various epithets applicable to them. Thus,
| for instance, under the word ABSENCE, viii be
found every affective which can properly agree
with That noiln--as curious, long, pr0loHged te-
dio7s ua,yse'eome, pain5u!, constrained, to5ge}u,
! odauious, &c. &c. Under BnooK, such ep-
thets as marmnrimg, sifUel, grassy, 6abbang,
sWgiag, siispefihs, fnrAAg, meaade'ing, sc.
Under sKf-a-ne, cern}eaa, starry, paa'ted,
sGanelsd, &c. Under gYE-melting, bedmu,
| sparkling, PIERCING, sc. &c. But enough has
been SAID 10 convince the reader Of the utility
OF this part OF the work.
V. choice selection of the most elegant,
significant, andapproyed firms of commencing,
dsprmsng, protesting, conjdring or beseech-
lng, express gratitude, bcnedction, male
oicuon, blessing tunes and day S, clrsng ditto,
breaking of subject, introducing smihtudes,
inv oking MUSES., concluding letters, &c. &c.
VI ~ nc.50nory Of IhBmes on Il plan at
once novel, amusing, and instructive. Ali the
single rhymes n thv English language are here
collected, aud ClaSSed i'll such manner as to
enable The poet, in Il moment, and without the
least trouble, to find an appropriate word,
which, perhaps, an hours mental eXertion
would not have Brought to hisrecolIection.
VII. But THIS is not all. The rhymes are not
only claSsed, but each and every one IS defined
by its pract;cai use, III examples quoted from
the works OF the most celebrated poets, ancient
and modern, who have written III the English
| language. In this one Improvement, it IS nun
! bly, conceived, consists the chief excellence OF
the work. A mere collection If undeiiBeo,
rhymes, standing alone by themselves, as they
| do in other works OF lh.s kind, are not only
offensive to the eye and ear, but are, also, whoi-
ly nad- iate to the intended pnrpose-1i-.
that of directing the Judgment IN its choice 4;
whereas, IN the arrangement now adopted,
each rhyme IS repeated as often as its various
! power and different sign ficatlons wll permit.
| hus the young poeti is not only furnished with
die requisite rhyme, but also with every neces-
sary instruction for its proper application.
VII. But another (and, perhaps, not the
least iaportant) use Of this part OF the work,
remains 70 be mentioned. From what has al
ready been sad, it will be perceived thag this
Ahamias Dlcti9narg IS, also in Itself, Dtction-
arg q PoesicA Qaofet5ona, comprising collec-
toa o. such natl.ra., agreeable ana sublime
| th1uglis, rs are TO be found III the best English
p0ets-sllch as illusions, smiles, descriptions
and characters OF persons aad things. 1t thus
becomes u textbook Of .fotfoS, suitable for al
most any subject, arranged under appropriate
| heads, and referred to In copious index. ii
| VIII, also, III most. cases, subserve all the pur
poses Of Dioa9aasy IF Eptthets and Synony-
mes for by finding, III the index, such word
as the subject Of our thought is most likely to
be ranged under. we can readily discover, in
some part Of the coll, ction, what terms have
been employed by otter writer's, and in what
mapHer.
To illustrate this, also, BY example, let it be
supposed that the poet is at a loss for some
term Synonymous with ambition. By fndngth
word ambition in the index, he viii be instantly
directed TO 4 great variety Of quotations Illus
tratiTe OF the term-such, for instance, as the
| following:
YET true renown is .oin'd with virtue still,
Rut listof pozrer lets loose the unbridied will.
| Tie sohGer's Virtue W1ne's deaa1eSt fbe
! Whose high desires no horizon would know.
Ambition is the dtotsY ofthe soa,
! Whose thirst we mastnoty ieldto, but control
! Eirtue's disease, which, like sureeit, bred
] From undigestcd funcss, turns his head.
1t may not be improper, in this place, to OBJ
serve, that in making these selections, two OBJ
i jjects were kept constantly IN view:
+ LIST. ! hat every couplet, or trplet, should
exhibit examples OF perfect hymes--and
2dly. that every sentiments ailusion, smile,
description, &c. should tend to improve the
intellect, refine the aste, and amend the heart.
TERMS OF SUBScRIPrION.
F V,,r A ,-,,,on3e ! ,,,,,, y,..... ~,