 | The Triangular Society |  |
23
THE ADJECTIVE.
Where would the force of language be
Without the adjective?
How could the critic wing his shaft?
How could the poet live?
Without the adjective?
How could the critic wing his shaft?
How could the poet live?
How could the novelist portray
The creatures of his brain,
The beauty of his heroine,
The transport of his swain?
The creatures of his brain,
The beauty of his heroine,
The transport of his swain?
No more his tide of eloquence
The orator could pour,
No more the man of science fill
His treasuries of lore.
The orator could pour,
No more the man of science fill
His treasuries of lore.
The lover's tongue could never tell
His passion and despair;
Deprived of its superlatives
Who would for flattery care?
His passion and despair;
Deprived of its superlatives
Who would for flattery care?
Where would the sting of satire be?
The edge and point of wit?
How could the stab of censure wound,
The dart of sarcasm hit?
The edge and point of wit?
How could the stab of censure wound,
The dart of sarcasm hit?
Biographers would cease to prowl,
Historians drop the pen,
Paralysis would chill and numb
The tongues and minds of men,—
Historians drop the pen,
Paralysis would chill and numb
The tongues and minds of men,—
The press would lose its voice of might,
The pulpit all its power,
The sage could not describe a star,
The botanist a flower,—
The pulpit all its power,
The sage could not describe a star,
The botanist a flower,—
24
So rarely is a period penned,
A line or sentence made,
Or thought set down, O adjective,
Which does not claim thy aid!
A line or sentence made,
Or thought set down, O adjective,
Which does not claim thy aid!
Yet I for once defy thy might,
For mark me, as I live,
No stanza of the nine here writ
Contains an adjective!
For mark me, as I live,
No stanza of the nine here writ
Contains an adjective!
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