"How many things by season seasoned are
To their right praise and true perfection!"
Merchant of Venice.

Punctua

tion.

RULE II.-Two nouns, pronouns, verbs, ad- Rule II. verbs, or adjectives, used without any qualifying words, and connected by the copulative or disjunctive conjunction, are not separated from each other by any stop; as,

"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains." Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Jones! when from Calais southward you and I Travelled on foot together."-WORDSWORTH.

"Some neither can for wits nor critics pass,

As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass."—POPE.

"To be direct and honest is not safe."-Othello.

"In every grove

A gay or pensive tenderness prevailed."

WORDSWORTH.

RULE III.—A short subordinate sentence, a Rule III. phrase in the infinitive mood, a short participial, adjectival, or relative clause, immediately following the words to which it refers, is not separated from them by any stop; as,

"What harmonious pensive changes Wait upon her as she ranges

Round and through this pile of state."

WORDSWORTH.

MILTON.

"To do aught good never will be our task."

"The injustice done to an individual is sometimes of

service to the public."-JUNIUS.

"He is a soldier fit to stand by Cæsar

And give direction."-Othello.

Punctuation.

"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that the author writ."

Rule IV.

Rule V.

POPE.

RULE IV.-Long subordinate sentences, long participial and adjectival phrases, long relative clauses, are pointed off by commas; as,

""Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell-incensed points
Of mighty opposites."—Hamlet.

"Some, valuing those of their own side or mind,
Still make themselves the measure of mankind."

POPE.

WORDSWORTH.

RULE V.-The nominative of address, the nominative and infinitive absolute, adverbs, conjunctions, or other words used elliptically, any phrases or dependent sentences placed out of their usual position in the main sentence, are pointed off by commas; as,

"Haste, virgins, haste! and you, ye matrons grave, Go forth with rival youthfulness of mind."

WORDSWORTH.

"Nature well known, no prodigies remain."-POPE.

"And, to conclude,

The victory fell on us."-Macbeth.

"Of manners gentle, of affections mild,

In wit a man, simplicity a child."-POPE.

"The senseless plea of right by Providence

Was, by a flattering priest, invented since."

DRYDEN.

nevertheless, tion.

Punctua

In short, however, moreover, indeed, when used alone are enclosed in

commas.

RULE VI.-In elliptical co-ordinate sentences, Rule VI. when several nouns have reference to one verb, or when several verbs have reference to one noun or pronoun, they are separated by commas, whether connected by conjunctions or not; as,

"But not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine."

MILTON.

"For interest, envy, pride, and strife, are banished hence."-THOMSON.

"So fails, so languishes, grows dim, and dies,
All that the world is proud of."-WORDSWORTH.

"So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn,
Have sight of Proteus coming from the sea,
And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."
WORDSWORTH.

"I saw an intermingled pomp of vale and hill,
Tower, town, and city, and suburban grove,
And stately forest where the wild deer rove."
WORDSWORTH.

RULE VII.-Co-ordinate sentences, which are Rule VII. perfectly independent of one another in grammatical structure, if connected by a pronoun or conjunction, are separated by a semicolon; but, if there is not a pronoun or a conjunction, then by a colon; as,

Punctuation.

Rule VIII.

Rule IX.

"The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown."

Merchant of Venice.

"All that glisters is not gold,
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:

Gilded tombs do worms enfold."

Merchant of Venice.

RULE VIII.—A semicolon is used to introduce an example, speech, or quotation, if there is any connecting particle; but if there is none, then a colon is used; as, [any of the above rules with their examples is an instance of the use of the semicolon], and

"Let's see once more this saying graved in gold:
'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.'"
Merchant of Venice.

"A thrilling voice was heard that vivified

My patriotic heart; aloud it cried :
'I, the guardian of this land,' " etc.

WORDSWORTH.

RULE IX. When two or more co-ordinate sentences refer to a common apodosis, a semicolon is used after each but the last, which is pointed off with a colon; as,

Apodosis. Protasis.

"Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;

And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees, that soar for bloom,
High as the highest peak of Furness Fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth, the prison, unto which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is."-WORDSWORTH.

See also the lines of Burns given as an example of
Climax at page 130 ante.

tion.

RULE X.-A full stop is used after a com- Punctuaplete sentence, which has no grammatical con- Rule X. nection with the following sentences; as,

"Talk not of genius baffled.

man.

Genius is master of

Genius does what it must; and talent does what it
can."-O. MEREDITH.

A full stop is also used after abbreviations; as, MS., M.P., F.R.S., etc., verbum sap., nem. con., fi. fa.

terrogation.

A note of interrogation is used after direct Note of inquestions; as,

"In tasks so bold can little men engage ?

And in soft bosoms dwells such mighty rage?"

POPE.

clamation.

A note of exclamation is used after interjec- Note of extions, and expressions of strong feeling or surprise; as,

"O upright judge! Mark, Jew!-O learned judge!' Merchant of Venice.

"O all you host of heaven! O earth!"-Hamlet.

"'Tis rising from the dead-alas! it cannot be !"

THOMSON.

A parenthesis is used to enclose words which Parenthesis. may be added or withdrawn without affecting the grammatical structure of the sentence in

which they stand; as,

"Know then this truth (enough for man to know) : Virtue alone is happiness below."-POPE.

"Absent or dead, still let a friend be dear

(A sigh the absent claims, the dead a tear)."

POPE.