http://wordsman.org/2009/02/17/this-day-in-history-entry-1/ Defending your brain from the scum of the Internet Mon, 14 May 2012 20:10:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://wordsman.org/2009/02/17/this-day-in-history-entry-1/comment-page-1/#comment-7 A Fan Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:06:35 +0000 http://www.wordsman.org/?p=113#comment-7 Nice. Using the apostrophe to reduce the number of syllables in "slavery" to fit the meter and increase the amount of content in the line is very Miltonian (e.g., "Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples th' upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread, Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss, And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That, to the height of this great argument, I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men." Nice. Using the apostrophe to reduce the number of syllables in “slavery” to fit the meter and increase the amount of content in the line is very Miltonian (e.g., “Above th’ Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples th’ upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know’st; thou from the first
Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast Abyss,
And mad’st it pregnant: what in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That, to the height of this great argument,
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.”

]]>