Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-04-17
The .Author's literary hdee,
AND THE
POEY'S PROMPVEN.
Designed to facilitate the exercises Of yOuthfM
genius in the
COMPOSITION OF PROSE AND VERSE.
BY SAMUEL WOODWORTH

BY SAMUEL WOODW ORTIZ
GENERAL CONTENTS OF THE WORK.
l. Elements of English COMPOSITIONS, reduced
to plain practical RULES drawn from the wrl-
tngs of Lord Kaims, Blair, Walker, Irving, &C.
H. Rules for the construction OF ENGLISH
VERSE, by which the most ordinary as well as
most brilliant ideas may be readily expressed
in smooth harmonious numbers. 1t IS not the
object of these Rules to accommodate the art
to the practice, and thus to tolerate the nume-
rous errors and understandable liberties Of " &C.
le6rated POETS, merely because they are cete-
6rated. but rather to form critical TEST by
which such errors and liberties may be detect
ed and avoided. 1t is intended to show, not
how Poetry has been, but how it ought TO be
written.
These Rules, which are few, plain, and
easily comprehended, are Invested of all per-
picking phraseology, and adapted to the JVe1o
School of Poetry, which now obtains in Great
Britain, aud to which public taste, on both sides
the Atlantic, is principally indebted for its re-
cent reformation and present refinement.
The .Het,ical Gamut, on which these Rules
are pretlicated, will found valuable auxilia-
nv, not only to the pupil, whose unhedged
muse has never yet ventured to soar into the
sublime regions of fancy, but, also, to the ac-
complishel "master of the Tyre" whose dar-
ing and successful flights have already scaled
the biciptal summit of mount Parnassus 1t
will be seen that Scale or Gan,nt IS as appli-
cable to Poetry as to Music, and that the rudi-
ments of each art may, and ought to be, taught
by similar process
Ill. Rules for PUNCTUATION, founded on the
practice of the most correct writers in the
English language; comprising original stric-
tl,. nr Dorcp
". Epthets and Synonymes, suitable for
any and every possible subject, which subjects
are alphabetically arranged as heads for
the various epthets applicable to them. Thus,
for instance, under the word ABSENCE, will be
found every affective which can properly agree
with that MOUNDS envious, long, prolonged, te-
dious, an,welcome, Painful, constrained, forgefu,
obiiuious, sc. Sc Under BROOK, such cpl
thets as mnrm1rimg, sifuer, grassy, ba66hng,
gmging, 10hispering, p1ning, meande'1ng, CSC.
Under sKy-axnre, cerulean, starry, udaffed,
sbaneted, &c. Under EYE-'nelting, beamy,
sparkling, piercing, sc. CSC. But enough has
been said to convince the reader of the utility
of this part of the work.
V. A choice selection of the most elegant,
significant, andapproved forms recommending,
Dispensing, protesting, conjuring or beseech,
ing, expressing gratitude, benediction, male,
diction, blessing times and days, curslng ditto
,reaking off subject, introducing similitudes-
invoking MUSES., concluding letters, &c. &c.
VI. A Dictionary Of Rhymes, on plan at
once novel, amusing, and instructive. All the
sin gle rhymes in the English language are here
collected, and classed in such a manner as to
enable the poet, in moment and without the
least trouble, to find an appropriate word,
which, perhaps, an hours mental exertion
would not have brought to his recollection.
VII But this is not all. The rhymes are not
| only classed, but each and every one is defined
| by its practical use, in examples quoted from
| the works Of the most celebrated poets, ancient
| and modern, who have written in the English
| language. In this one improvement, it is hum
| bly, conceived, consists the chief excellence of
the work. A mere collection Of underlined
| rhymes, standing alone by themselves, as they
| do in other works of this kind, are not only
offensive to the eye and ear, but are, also, Who'll
| ly inadequate to the intended pnrpose-ui-.
that of directing the judgment in its choice /;
whereas, in the arrangement now adopted,
each rhyme is repeated as often as its various
powers and different Specifications will permit.
| Thus the young poet is not only furnished with
| the requisite rhyme, but also with every neces-
sary instruction for its proper application.
| VII. But another (and, perhaps, not the
USE VI tlilS part vi tllS
remains to be mentioned. From what has al
ready been said, it will be perceived that this
Rhgming Dictionary is, also in itself, Diction-
arg Of P0etical Quotations, comprising collec-
ton of such natural, agreeable and sublime
thoughts, as are to be found in the best English
poets-such as illusions, smiles, descriptions
and characters Of persons and things. 1t thus
| becomes textbook of .Nottos suitable for al
most any subject, arranged under appropriate
heads, and referred to in copious index. 1t
will, also, in most, cases, subserve all the pur
poses of a Dictionary Of Ebithets and Synony-
mes for by finding, in 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 collection, what terms have
been employed by other writer's, and in what
| manner.
To illustrate this, also, by example, let it be
supposed that the poet is at loss for some
| term Synonymous with ambition. BY finding the
word ambition in the index, he will be instantly
directed to a great variety of quotations illus
| trative ofthe term-such, for instance, as the
| folowing
Yet true renown is jon'd with virtue still,
But laStcf power lets loose the unbridled will.
| The soldiers rirtue-Nisue's deadliest foe,
! Whose high desires no horizon would know.
Ambition is the dropsy cfthe soul,
Whose thirst must not yield to, but control.
Krue's disease, which, like surfeit, bred
From undigested fulncss, turns his head.
1t may not be improper, in this place, to OBJ
serve, that in making these selections, two OBJ
jects were kept constantly in view:
list. That every couplet, or triplet, should
exhibit examples Of perfect rhymes-and
IDLY. That every sentiment, alllsion, smile,
description, &c should tend to nnrove the