The Art of English Poetry (1708) Part 6

Or V Consonant; as _Cov'nant_ for _Covenant_.

To these may be added the Gerunds of all Verbs whose Infinitives end in any of the Liquids, preceded by a Vowel or Diphthong, and that are accented on the last save one: for the Gerunds being form'd by adding the Syllable ING to the Infinitive, the Liquid that was their final Letter, comes thereby to be between two Vowels; and the Accent that was on the last save one of the Infinitive, comes to be on the last save two of the Gerund: And therefore the Vowel or Diphthong, that precedes the Liquid, may be cut off; by means whereof the Gerund of three Syllables comes to be but of two, as from _Travel_, _Travelling_, or _Trav'ling_; from _Endeavour_, _Endeavouring_, or _Endeav'ring_, &c.

But if the Accent be on the last Syllable of such a Verb, its Gerund will not suffer such an Elision: Thus the Gerund of _Devour_ must always be three Syllables, _Devouring_, not _Dev'ring_; because all Derivatives still retain the Accent of their Primitives, that is, on the same Syllable: and the Accent always obliges the Syllable on which it is, to remain entire.

The Gerunds of the Verbs in OW, accented on the last save two, suffer an Elision of the O that precedes the W; as _Foll'wing_, _Wall'wing_.

The Particle _It_ admits of an Elision of its Vowel before _Is_, _Was_, _Were_, _Will_, _Would_; as _'Tis_, _'Twas_, _'Twere_, _'Twill_, _'Twould_, for _It is_, _It was_, &c.

_It_ likewise sometimes suffers the like Elision, when plac'd after a Word that ends in a Vowel; as _By't_ for _By it_, _Do't_ for _Do it_: Or that ends in a Consonant after which the Letter T can be p.r.o.nounc'd; as _Was't_ for _Was it_, _In't_ for _In it_, and the like: But this is not so frequent in Heroick Verse.

The Particle _Is_ may lose its _I_ after any Word that ends in a Vowel, or in any of the Consonants after which the Letter S may be sounded; as _she's_ for _she is_: The _Air's_ for the _Air is_, &c.

_To_ (sign of the Infinitive Mood) may lose its...o...b..fore any Verb that begins by a Vowel; as _T' amaze_, _t' undo_, &c.

_To_ (Sign of the Dative Case) may likewise lose its...o...b..fore any Noun that begins with a Vowel; as _t' Air_, _t' every_, _&c._ But this Elision is not so allowable as the former.

_Are_ may lose its _A_ after the p.r.o.nouns Personal, _We_, _You_, _They_; as _We're_, _You're_, _They're_: And thus it is that this Elision ought to be made, and not as some do, by cutting off the final Vowels of the p.r.o.nouns Personal; _W'are_, _Y'are_, _Th'are_.

_Will_ and _Would_ may lose all their first Letters, and retain only their final one, after any of the p.r.o.nouns Personal; as _I'll_ for _I will_; _He'd_ for _He would_; or after _Who_, as _who'll_ for _who will_; _who'd_ for _who would_.

_Have_, may lose its two first Letters after _I_, _You_, _We_, _They_; as _I've_, _You've_, _We've_, _They've_.

_Not_, its two first Letters after can; as _Can't_ for _Can not_.

_Am_, its _A_ after _I_: _I'm_ for _I am_.

_Us_, its _U_ after _Let_: _Let's_ for _Let us_.

_Taken_, its _K_, as _Ta'en_: for so it ought to be written, not _ta'ne_.

_Heaven_, _Seven_; _Even_, _Eleven_, and the Participles _Driven_, _Given_, _Thriven_, and their Compounds, may lose their last Vowel, as _Heav'n_, _Forgiv'n_, &c. _See the foregoing Section, p. 13._

To these may be added _Bow'r_, _Pow'r_, _Flow'r_, _Tow'r_, _Show'r_, for _Bower_, _Power_, &c.

_Never_, _Ever_, _Over_, may lose their _V_; and are contracted thus, _Ne'er_, _E'er_, _O'er_.

Some Words admit of an Elision of their first Syllable; as _'Tween_, _'Twixt_, _'Mong_, _'Mongst_, _'Gainst_, _'Bove_, _'Cause_, _'Fore_, for _Between_, _Betwixt_, _Among_, _Amongst_, _Against_, _Above_, _Because_, _Before_. And some others that may be observ'd in reading our Poets.

I have already, in the 3d Section of this Chapter, spoken of the Elision of the _e_ of the Particle _The_ before Vowels: But it is requisite likewise to take notice, that it sometimes loses its Vowel before a Word that begins by a Consonant, and then its two remaining Letters are joyn'd to the preceding Word; as _To th' Wall_, for _To the Wall_; _By th' Wall_, for _By the Wall_, &c. But this is scarce allowable in Heroick Poetry.

The Particles _In_, _Of_, and _On_, sometimes lose their Consonants, and are joyn'd to the Particle _The_ in like manner; as _i'th'_, _o'th'_, for _in the_, _of the_.

In some of our Poets we find the p.r.o.noun _His_ lose its two first Letters after any Word that ends in a Vowel; as _to's_, _by's_, &c. for _to his_, _by his_, &c. Or after many Words that end in a Consonant, after which the Letter S can be p.r.o.nounc'd; as _In's_, _for's_, for _In his_, _for his_, &c. This is frequent in _Cowley_, who often takes too great a Liberty in his Contractions; as _t' your_ for _to your_, _t'

which_ for _to which_, and many others; in which we must be cautious of following his Example: But the contracting of the p.r.o.noun _His_ in the manner I mention'd, is not wholly to be condemn'd.

We sometimes find the Word _Who_, contracted before Words that begin by a Vowel; as,

_Wh' expose to Scorn and Hate both them and it._ Cowl.

And the Preposition _By_ in like manner; as,

_B' unequal Fate, and Providence's Crime._ Dryd.

_Well did he know how Palms b' Oppression speed._ Cowl.

And the p.r.o.nouns personal, _He_, _She_, _They_, _We_; as,

_Timely h' obeys her wife Advice, and strait To unjust Force sh' opposes just Deceit._ Cowl.

_Themselves at first against themselves th' excite._ Cowl.

_Shame and Woe to us, if w' our Wealth obey._ Cowl.

But these and the like Contractions are very rare in our most correct Poets, and ought indeed wholly to be avoided: For 'tis a general Rule, that no Vowel can be cut off before another, when it cannot be sunk in the p.r.o.nunciation of it: And therefore we ought to take care never to place a Word that begins by a Vowel, after a Word that ends in one (mute E only excepted) unless the final Vowel of the former can be lost in its p.r.o.nunciation: For, to leave two Vowels opening on each other, causes a very disagreeable _Hiatus_. Whenever therefore a Vowel ends a Word, the next ought to begin with a Consonant, or what is Equivalent to it; as our W, and H aspirate, plainly are.

For which reason 'tis a Fault in some of our Poets to cut off the _e_ of the Particle _The_, for Example, before a Word that begins by an H aspirate; as

_And th' hasty Troops march'd loud and chearful down._ Cowl.

But if the H aspirate be follow'd by another E, that of the Particle _The_ may be cut off; As,

_Th' Heroick Prince's Courage or his Love._ Wall.