Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-03-20
The .huihor's literary Maer,
AND THE
POE'I's HNOMPYE&.
Deslgned to fdcdtafe de erefciae8 q y0uflyN
genius IN the
CoMPOSlTIDN OF PROSE AND VERSE.
BY SAMUEL WOODWORIH
GENERA CONTENTS OF THE work.

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 hume
rous errors and understandable liberties of g &C.
lebrated Poets, merely because they are cele-
5rated; but rather,to form a critical TEST by
which such errors and liberties may be detect
| ed and avoided Ii Us Intended to show, not
how Poetry has BEEN but how it ought to be
written.
These Rules, which are few, plain, and
easily ccmprehended, are Invested of all per-
picking phraseology, and adapted to the .Ne1v
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 .Wet,7cM GamH, on which these Rules
are predicated, will be found a valuable auxilia-
ry, not only to the pupil, whose unfledged
muse Las never yet ventured To soar into the
sublime regions OF fancy, but, also, to the ac-
complished "master of the lyre," whose dar-
ing and successful flights have already scaled
thu bcipital sumInit Of mount Parnassus. 1t
Wl be seen that Scale or Ganln is as appli-
c1ble to Poetry as TO Music, and that the rudi-
NJ n,s of each art may, and ought to be, taught
By similar process.
! III. Rules for PUNcTU ALTON, founded on the
piactlce Of the most correct writers in the
English language; comprising original stric-
thr's on the Punctuation Of Verse.
| ". Epithets and Synonynes, suitable for
hy and every possible subject, which subjects
re alphabetically arranged as heads for
hevarous epithets applicable to them. Thus,
| for instance, under the word ABSENCE, will be
| tbund every adjective which can properly agree
Win that noun--as enuious, long, prolonged, te-
diols, mve'come, paintin, constrained, forgetM,
| odioious, sc. &c. Under BROOK, such cpl
| thes mufaan4mg. siirer, .erdssh ba66HRg,
| eutyHng, zrhisperiag, bn"Aag', ansandenas, &c.
Unier sKY--a-u1e, ce'Tledn, starry, pa@hed,
| 8pdngld, &c Under EYE--aneiing, 6edmy,
| SPARKLING, piercing, sc. &c. But enough has
+, been said to convince the reader of the utility
ofthis part OF the work.
! ". A choice selection of the most elegant,
significant, andapproved forms recommending,
dspr;lsing, protesting, conlurng or beseech,
| ing, expressing gratitude, benediction, male,
tIction, blessing times and days, cursng ditto
breaking of a subject, introducing smilitudes-
| invoking MUSES., concluding letters, &c. &c.
| vi. A Dichonary Of Rhymes, on plan at
once novel, amusing, and instructive. All the
single rhymes in the English language are here
collected, and claSSed in such manner as to
enable the poet, i'll moment, and without the
! least trouble, to lind an appropriate word,
which, perhaps, an hours mental eXertion
would not have brought to his recollection.
| VII. But this is not all. The rhymes not
only classed, but each and every one is defined
by its practical use, in examples quoted from
the works Of the nest celebrated poets, ancient
| and modern, who have written in the English
language. In this one improN ement, it is hum
bly, conceived consists the chief excellence of
the work. mere collection Of underlined
rhymes, standing alone BY q msehes, as they
Il in oil works Cf th;c Find ara moi cpI,,
offensive to the eye and ear, bat are, also, Who'll
~ inadequate to the intended pnrpose--eaa.
| that Of directing the Judgment in its choice;
Whereas in the arrangement now adopted,
each rhyme is repeated rs often as its various
powers and different signifcationsw will permit
Thus the young poets not only furnished with
the requisite rhyme, but also with every neces-
sary instruction for its proper application.
VIII. But another (and, perhaps not the
least importantly use of this part Of the work,
remains to be mentioned. From what has al
| ready been sad it will be perceived that this
Rhyning Dictionary is. also, in ITSELF Diction-
| arg Of PoeticM Quotationa, comprising c0llec-
| ton Of such natural, agreeable and sublime
| thoughts, as are to be found in the best English
lpoets-such as illusions, smiles, descriptions
and characters of persons and things Ii thus
Ebecomes 4 textbook Of .Notfos, suitable for al
Emost any subject, arranged underlappropriate
heads and referred to in copious index. Il
will, also, in most, cases, subserve all the Dur.
poses of Dictionary Of EpitIets and Sw.onp-
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.
| 10 illustrate this, also, by example, let it be
supposed that the poet is at a loss for some
! term Synonymous with ambition. BY finding the
word ambition in the index, he viii be instantly
directed to great variety OF Quotations illus
trative of the term-such, for instance, as the
following:
Yet true renown is join'd with virtue still,
But t,Stcf bo7ver lets loose the unbridled will.
The soldiers Virtue Virtue's deGdlicat fac,
| Whose high desires no horizon would know.
| Ambition is the d'epsy ofthe soul,
| Whose thirst we must noty yield to, but control.
| Eirtates disease, which, like a 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
jccts were kept constantly in view:
| lst That every coupet, or triplet, should
exhibit examples Of Perfect hymes--and
i IDLY. That every sentiment, allusion, smile,
description, &c. should tend to improve the
intellect, refine the taste, and amend the heart.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTIONS.
The AUTiioR's LITERARY INDEX, and PoET's
FRONTIER, will be printed with neat type,
on fine white paper, and comprise about 500
pages, 18mo.
! 1t will be delivered to subscribers, in boards,
or transmitted by mail in sheets, at Irco Dbl
iars-the Subscribers to pay Postage.
I Any person who advances Five Dollars, shall
receive three copies and those who become
10 fnp mia, 81,