The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-09

LAWYERS motto :-'Si Nurnrni in1nuunis' TIE follow
ing sentence is not only palindrome. but extraor-
dInaTy other respeCts:- SdtOT 0repO tenet
rotdS.' This spells the same backward and for
ward all the frs letters Of the words spell the first
word; the second letters OIL the words spell the
second word. and so on through the third fourth
and fifth. The last letters spell the last word the
next to the last OF each word spell the next word
and so on 10 the beginning.
The Anagiam has occupied portentious place
in lite1aturt. The wits and wIseacros OF the Oden
tim looked into the names OF men and plac is for
sstIree and for Omens Several astronomers have used
anagrams to secure the credit oil discoveries whch
they did not wish to reveal
Louis XIII retained in his service anagram-
matlst named Thomas Billion with pension OF
anagrnnmatIc name of AlcuuuN, IN the title OF his
lusiitutos' printed at Strasbufg
"A placard bearing the following dialogue wa'
once, in Rome, Iound pasted on statue OF the
Pope ;-'Query What ais the PopeE An.Wer-
umore (tumorl. Q What. the cause of III -
What will Q tine consequences of il? A-Strike
out the initial U-hore he dies Q;-Mhe IS 1t
(wiihin a few hOurs). Q.-And who'll take his
placer A.-Strike out the initial o Re lthe King
Q-Which lIng1 A.-Srike out the initial RE
(EmanueleJ'"
From discoursing upon these quips, and
quirLzs, and quibbles Of constructive syntaX, Mr..
Wakeman proceeds to consider the general topic
of ALTERATION. he says:-
"AlieratiOn. THOUGH 1t may properly be cons.
dered IN this article, real effect by sound
bv The luaTly OF letters The throwing together
of words thai commence alike may cause us
specimens OF literature; bu', when his art IS used
TO accomplish the harmon, of and sentences,
II becomes one o. the most effective grac or Ian
guage. The best known specimen of ALTERATION IS
The SePo OF Belgrade commencing
IAN Austrian army awlullY arraYed.'
"Thc following sentence from sir Thomas Browne
illustrates how deity similar sounds may be in ner-
woven INTO prose to add to its harmOny:- Even
that Oulgar and taUern music witch makes one man
merry another mad, strikes in me deep flt of de-
vO ION, and q profOund cOntemp anon OF the first
composer CuTran describ a politician as 'Jne
VINO, buoyant 6y putreiacnOn rises as he rois' The
sentence made terrible by the anttthess and al.
Iteration OF the four last words. Many poets have
cared more for studi arrangements and ystematic
distortion than for melody, and have made their
lines monotonous with clumsy sequences OF letters.
Shakespeare rid cules these in LOUe'S Labor Lost,
where he makes Master IOlOternes' say
81 will something affect the letter, for it argues
facility.
The pla,Iul princess pierced and pricked pretty
peasing prck"t.'
"a writer classes ALTERATION under two divi
siOns-thP vulgar and the subtle. He giyes. as
an instance OF the vulgar a quotation from
1OTnhOUSeT:-
" Creeps through throbbmg light that grows and
glOws
From parc to greater glare until 1t gluts
And CUPS him in
''And as an example Of the subtle, the following
quotation from TcuIysous In Memoram,' in
which the sounds OF d and n and are N )st
pleasantly interlInked, especially in the first
cOuplet:-
"DIp down upon the No,thern shore,
-, Oh! sweet new year, delaying longs
Thou dost eXpectant Nature wrong
Delaying long; delay no more
'Aniteration is used By some universal in.
stinCt and is to he found wherever language is
found. There is no little OF it in poetry. Pro-
verbs and phrases are fun OF it.. Advertisers,
always delCately sensitive to popular instincts.
and blood-and thunder nOyelists and dramatists,
almost equally so, are constantly using it in
newspapers and on bOOk-CovPrs and board
fences. And If we are to believe that Coleridee
wrote the greater part OF "Kubla Khan" i'll a
dream, then it may be produced along witch
rhyme and versifiCatiOn even in dreams; for the
opening of that poem owes much of ITS beauty
to IT'S assonauce and alteration
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river,
Through caverns measuTCess to man,
Down 10 sunless sea-"
1t is no part of our purpose to comment in
eTteaSO upon Mr.. Nakeman's paper, but merely
tu aGd that which he has omitted VIA 0et-
milton OF the alhterative principle. ALTERATION
serye~ three purposes IN composition
l. To lmbue proposition or proVerb with
eplerammatic point.
2. TO iEHpart piquancv Of flavor to what might
otherwise be stale, by modulating the sound to
the sense, both in poetry and prose.
3. To imbue rhythm with subtle and Won
derfully deft and effective underCuTents of
music.
In principle. ALTERATION is no more than an
unusual application of the rhythmical idea.
and arises out OF the universal instinct OF man
to subdue anguage unto music.