The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-11
Poetic ,.,c.use and Gr.mm.r.

will last some time, and every point in
the case will be stubbornly contested.
Poetic License and Grammar.
When. In the unavoidable haste of corn
position. writers for the daily newspapers
lose their way among the intricaoIes of the
English language. and the verbs appear in
print In disagreement with their subjects.
or the nouns and pronouns in q tangle.
little charity is shown by critical readers
not of the journ alistio profession. On the
contrary. such errors are quickly pounced
upon ana used to point the moral that news
paper English is vile and TO be avoided,
and that all who wish to keep
their own vOcsbularies pure should
dip only INTO the undefled wells
provided by the standard" authors and
other approved literary lights. This dis
position to exalt the work of magazine and
book writers ct the expense of editorial
literature naturally tends, with the
majority of readers. to prevent gram
matical analysis of the work of authors of
high reputation. 1t is assumed that the
people whose productions are eagerly
sought by leading magazines are above
criticism by the public SO far as their nse
of language is concerned. When careless
phrase or a dou btful form of expression OBJ
trudes itself and cannot be overlooked IL
creates decided shock. This Is particu.
larry the case when the writer is not only
popular. but has an independent reputa-
tion as u purist and q master Of literature.
In such instances the first and natural
tendency of the reader Is to question
the accuracy Of his own knowledge. and
then to ask if the writer of the question
able phrase has not some authority to sup
port him in It's use. Who. for instance,
would read o poem by Aldrich with any
thought of finding verbal flaw; or, hav-
ing STUN bled upon o seeming error. would
not endeavor TO account for it on the ground
of the poets superior knOwledges That
there IL q disposition TO accept the work OF
such writer's without question IL curiously
demonstrated in the May number of Har-
|. per's Magazine In that are printed some
verses by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, addressed
to Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1856.
on the occasion OF the sailing of
the "Autoorat' for England. This poem
was written by one scholar and student to
another. How many other literary persons
saw and read IL before 1t passed into the
hands of the pu blishers is only to be guessed,
but if any. they let it pass without COM
ment and presumably without detecting
error. The readers" and editors. and
proof-readers of Harper's Monthly are
many, and 1t is their boast that the pages
of that publication are without bIemish.
Nevertheless. in spite of the authorship and
of the vigilsnt editors the first stsnza of
the address to Holmes gets into print in
this form:
o Wind and Wave be kind to him.
So, Wave and Wind we give thee thanks,
o Fog that from Newfoundland Banks
Make5t the blue, bright ocean dim,
Delay him not. And We who snare
The wayworn ehipman with thy song,
Go pipe thy ditties Orherwhere
While this brave vessel ploushs along!
phantom Daughters OF the Brine,
Look lively lest thyselves get caught
With swee strains than those OF thine!
In the second line. "thee." singular pro-
noun, ls made to refer to wave and wind"
In the fifth line is we" a plural pronoun.
Admitting, for the sake of argument that
it can be properly used in both numbers as
YOU" then the thy" in the sixth line,
might be permissible; but the we" OBJ
viously means the phantom daughters of
the brine," mentioned later. and how can
daughters" snare the wayworn shipman
with thy" song or pipe thy dittles other
where" and do either in proper
accordance with recognized authori-
tiesf The poet continues. still address
ing the phantom daughters. If still to
tempt him be thy thought"-.thy," again
referring to plural Doun-"Lo0k lively
lest thyselves get caught with sweeter
strains than those of thine" ''Thyselves"
and "thinew Shade of Lindley Murray!
Can these things be correct when perpe-
trated by an Aldricb. though forbidden to
the High-schooi boyf Does poets license
permit variation In the time honored rule
that . pronoun must agree with Its ante
cedent In number and personi Do the
readers eyes deceive him. and his memory
of grammatical principles failf Has the
language changed it's basisf Has Mr.
Aldricb special license or other private
authority for this use of words and do the
Harpers know what il isl Who shall say?
The city of Elizabeth. y. j., had q strange
experience few days ago. Shortly after q
thunder storm q funnel shaped black cloud
was seen approaching from the north west,
which seemed TO pOrtend a Cyclone. or
something of that kind. Asit approached.
It was seen to be something else than vapor.
and. when IL came near 1t proved to be a
moving mass of mosquitoes. The mass as
so solid that the electric lights. which had
just been turned on, became invisible.
| Houses and stores were suddenly filled
with mosquitoes. and many places of bust
ness were closed. Horses were holt crazed
| with fright and pain. after having thrown
| half the city into panic the cloud rose in
the air aud moved OFT In the opposite direc-
| ton from which it had come. This il
the frst mosquito story of the season. and
| it's truth is vouchcd for. 1t must be re-
membered shat New Jersey is the land OF
mosquitoes
THE Des Moines lIal Register ontains q
notice OF the death In that city. few days
| ago. of DR.. Joel L. Hendricks who former
" resided in this State. The deceased was
one of the beat known scientific men of his
| time. and as "a mathematician had few