The Grammar of English Grammars Part 174

gend., in the 3d p., sing. num., and _objective case_, and is governed by the verb 'writes,' according to Rule III., which says. 'A transitive verb,'

&c."--_Ib._, p. 114.[465]

"Creation sleeps. 'T is as the general pulse Of life stood still, and nature made a pause; An awful pause! prophetic of her end, And let her prophecy be soon fulfilled; Fate drop the curtain; I can lose no more."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 216.

SECTION V.--THE DASH.

The Dash is mostly used to denote an unexpected or emphatic pause, of variable length; but sometimes it is a sign of faltering, or of the irregular stops of one who hesitates in speaking: as, "Then, after many pauses, and inarticulate sounds, he said: 'He was very sorry for it, was extremely concerned it should happen so--but--a--it was necessary--a--'

Here lord E------ stopped him short, and bluntly demanded, if his post were destined for an other."--See _Churchill's Gram._, p. 170.

RULE I.--ABRUPT PAUSES.

A sudden interruption, break, or transition, should be marked with the dash; as, 1. "'I must inquire into the affair; and if'--'And _if_!'

interrupted the farmer." 2. "Whom I--But first 't is fit the billows to restrain."--_Dryd. Virg._ 3. "HERE LIES THE GREAT--False marble! where?

Nothing but sordid dust lies here."--_Young_.

RULE II.--EMPHATIC PAUSES.

To mark a considerable pause, greater than the structure or the sentence or the points inserted would seem to require, the dash may be employed; as, 1.

"I pause for a reply.--None?--Then none have I offended.--I have done no more to Caesar, than you should do to Brutus."--SHAKSPEARE: _Enfields Speaker_, p. 182.

2. "Tarry a little. There is something else.-- This bond--doth give thee here--no jot of blood."

--ID.: _Burgh's Sp._, p. 167.

3. "It thunders;--but it thunders to preserve."--_Young_.

4. "Behold the picture!--Is it like?--Like whom?"--_Cowper_.

RULE III.--FAULTY DASHES.

Dashes needlessly inserted, or subst.i.tuted for other stops more definite, are in general to be treated as errors in punctuation; as, "Here Greece stands by _itself_ as opposed to the _other_ nations of antiquity--She was none of the _other nations_--She was more polished than they."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 78. "Here Greece stands by _herself_, as opposed to the _other_ nations of antiquity. She was none of the _other nations_: She was more polished than they."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 114. If this colon is sufficient, the capital after it is needless: a period would, perhaps, be better.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The dash does not appear to be always a rhetorical stop, or always intended to lengthen the pause signified by an other mark before it. As one instance of a different design, we may notice, that it is now very often employed between a text and a reference;--i.e., between a quotation and the name of the author of the book quoted;--in which case, as Wm. Day suggests, "it serves as a _connecting mark_ for the two."--_Day's Punctuation_, p.

131. But this usage, being comparatively recent, is, perhaps, not so general or so necessary, that a neglect of it may properly be censured as false punctuation.

OBS. 2.--An other peculiar use of the dash, is its application to _side-t.i.tles_, to set them off from other words in the same line, as is seen often in this Grammar as well as in other works. Day says of this, "When the _substance_ of a paragraph is given as a side-head, a dash is _necessary_ to _connect_ it with its relative matter."--_Ibid._ Wilson also approves of this usage, as well as of the others here named; saying, "The dash should be inserted between a t.i.tle and the subject-matter, and also between the subject-matter, and the authority from which it is taken, when they occur in the same paragraph."--_Wilson's Punctuation_, Ed. of 1850, p.

139.

OBS. 3.--The dash is often used to signify the omission of something; and, when set between the two extremes of a series of numbers, it may represent all the intermediate ones; as, "Page 10-15;" i. e., "Page 10, 11, 12, &c.

to 15."--"Matt, vi, 9-14."

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE DASH.

UNDER RULE I.--ABRUPT PAUSES.

"And there is something in your very strange story, that resembles ... Does Mr. Bevil know your history particularly?"--See _Key_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the abrupt pause after _resembles_ is here marked by three periods. But, according to Rule 1st for the Dash. "A sudden interruption, break, or transition, should be marked with the dash."

Therefore, the dash should be preferred to these points.]

"Sir, Mr. Myrtle, Gentlemen! You are friends; I am but a servant.

But."--See _Key_.

"Another man now would have given plump into this foolish story; but I? No, no, your humble servant for that."--See _Key_.

"Do not plunge thyself too far in anger lest thou hasten thy trial; which if Lord have mercy on thee for a hen!"--See _Key_.

"But ere they came, O, let me say no more!

Gather the sequel by that went before."--See _Key_.

UNDER RULE II.--EMPHATIC PAUSES.

"_M_, Malvolio; _M_, why, that begins my name."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pauses after _M_ and _Malvolio_ seem not to be sufficiently indicated here. But, according to Rule 2d for the Dash, "To mark a considerable pause, greater than the structure of the sentence or the points inserted would seem to require, the dash may be employed."

Therefore, a dash may be set after the commas and the semicolon, in this sentence.]

"Thus, by the creative influence of the Eternal Spirit, were the heavens and the earth finished in the s.p.a.ce of six days, so admirably finished, an unformed chaos changed into a system of perfect order and beauty, that the adorable Architect himself p.r.o.nounced it very good, and all the sons of G.o.d shouted for joy."--See _Key_.

"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop remained in my country, I NEVER would lay down my arms; NEVER, NEVER, NEVER."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 265.

"Madam, yourself are not exempt in this, Nor your son Dorset, Buckingham, nor you."--See _Key_.

UNDER RULE III.--FAULTY DASHES.

"--You shall go home directly, Le Fevre, said my uncle Toby, to my house,--and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter,--and we'll have an apothecary,--and the corporal shall be your nurse;--and I'll be your servant, Le Fevre."--STERNE: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 306.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because all the dashes here quoted, except perhaps the last, are useless, or obviously subst.i.tuted for more definite marks.

But, according to Rule 3d, "Dashes needlessly inserted, or subst.i.tuted for other stops more definite, are in general to be treated as errors in punctuation." Therefore, the first of these should be simply expunged; the second, third, and fourth, with their commas, should be changed to semicolons; and the last, with its semicolon, may well be made a colon.]

"He continued--Inferior artists may be at a stand, because they want materials."--HARRIS: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 191. "Thus, then, continued he--The end in other arts is ever distant and removed."--_Id., ib._

"The nouns must be coupled with _and_, and when a p.r.o.noun is used it must be plural, as in the example--When the nouns are _disjoined_ the p.r.o.noun must be singular."--_Lennie's Gram._, 5th Ed., p. 57.

"_Opinion_ is a noun or substantive common,--of the singular number,--neuter gender,--nominative case,--and third person."--_Wright's Philos. Gram._, p. 228.