The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | ||
SIR HORNBOOK; OR, Childe Launcelot's Expedition.
I.
With ardent hopes elate,
And loudly blew the horn that hung
Before Sir Hornbook's gate.
And forward strode the chief,
Arrayed in paper helmet's pride,
And arms of golden leaf.
That wakes the summer day?
I hate all idle truant boys:
Away, Sir Childe, away!”—
Childe Launcelot answered straight;
—“Resolved to climb this hill so high,
I seek thy castle gate.
And aid my bold design:”—
Sir Hornbook gazed, and written there,
Knew Emulation's sign.
Sir Hornbook quick replied,
“My merrymen all shall soon appear,
To aid thy cause with shield and spear,
And I will head thy bold career,
And prove thy faithful guide.”—
The gates asunder flew:
The knight thrice beat the portal bell,
And thrice he call'd “Halloo.”
By ones, twos, threes, and fours;
His merrymen rush'd the walls without,
And stood before the doors.
II.
In line of battle spread:
The first that came was mighty A,
The last was little Z.
Four Double men to boot,
And four were Liquids soft and sad,
And all the rest were Mute.
To range the scatter'd throng;
And Captain Word dispos'd them well
In bands compact and strong.
“These well-compacted powers,
Shall lead thy vent'rous steps to tread
Through all the Muses' bowers,
To use their proffer'd aid:
Still unallur'd by idleness,
By labor undismay'd;
And perils widely spread,
Around the groves of evergreen,
That crown this mountain's head:
But rich reward he finds, I ween,
Who through them all has sped.”—
At thought of noble deed;
Resolved through every path to go,
Where that bold knight should lead.
Full long, and loud, and shrill;
His merrymen all, for conquest born,
With armour glittering to the morn,
Went marching up the hill.
III.
The bold Sir Hornbook cried:
—“My name is The, my brother's A,”—
Sir Article replied.
At large and undefin'd;
But I a preference ever bear
For one fix'd spot, and settle there;
Which speaks my constant mind.”
And look you have them sure!”—
—Sir Hornbook cried,—“my men shall bear
Your captives off secure.”—
His bugle loud and shrill:
His merrymen all, so stout and true,
Went marching up the hill.
IV.
A steeper, harder ground,
Where by one ample wall contained,
All earthly things they found:
Were there, full strange to see,
And attributes and qualities
Of high and low degree.
Sir Substantive his name,
With Adjective, his lady bright,
Who seemed a portly dame;
She strove to stand alone,
She proved no more than smoke and air,
Who looked like flesh and bone.
She clung for evermore,
And lent him many a grace and charm
He had not known before;
He might have done without;
For lightly foreign help he prized,
He was so staunch and stout.
Of different forms and faces;
And two of them were Numbers bright,
And three they christened Cases.
Childe Launcelot poised his spear;
And on they rushed, to conquest borne,
In swift and full career.
It fell with furious rattle:
And earthly things and beings all
Rushed forth to join the battle.
Though mixed in boundless plenty,
Must one by one dissolving fall
To Hornbook's six-and-twenty.
And, when they ceased from strife,
Led stout Sir Substantive away,
His children, and his wife.
Full long, and loud, and shrill:
His merrymen all, a warlike train,
Went marching up the hill.
V.
And spied the coming train,
He left his fort beside the road,
And ran with might and main.
Went forth with whizzing sound:
Like lightning sped the arrows true;
Sir Pronoun pressed the ground:
But darts of science ever flew
To conquer, not to wound.
Childe Launcelot took his hand:
—“Sir Knight,”—said he,—“though doomed to fall
Before my conquering band,
On faith of cavalier:
Then join Sir Substantive behind,
And follow our career.”—
Felt knightly anger rise;
For he had marked Sir Pronoun's flight
With no approving eyes.
Thus sad Sir Pronoun cried,
—“When you had fallen in furious siege,
Could I the shock abide?”
Too well, alas! I knew:
For what could I, when you were ta'en,
Your poor lieutenant, do?”
In signals long and shrill:
His merrymen all, for conquest born,
Went marching up the hill.
VI.
And rougher grew the road,
As up the steep ascent they wound
To bold Sir Verb's abode.
All scenes and climates seeing,
Had run a wild and strange career
Through every mode of being.
Of action, and of passion:
And known to him was all the range
Of feeling, taste, and fashion.
In all things present done,
Deeds past, and every act to come
In ages yet to run.
Ditch, fort, and palisado,
He marked with scorn the coming throng,
And breathed a bold bravado:
My turrets, moats, and fences?
Soon will your vaunting courage fade,
When on the walls, in lines array'd,
You see me marshal undismay'd
My host of moods and tenses.”—
—“On them is your reliance;”—
Sir Hornbook wound his bugle horn,
And twang'd a loud defiance.
Sir Verb, with rage and shame,
Beheld his valiant general fall,
Infinitive by name.
Should perish by his hand;
The squadron to command.
Came forth with doubt and chance:
All fell alike, with all their men,
Before Sir Hornbook's lance.
To save Sir Verb from fate;
Whose doom poor Participle knew,
He must participate.
To shun the mighty jar,
Came forward, and himself resign'd
A prisoner of war.
Full strong, though somewhat small,
Next forward came, themselves to give
To conquering Launcelot's thrall.
But Preposition swore,
Though Interjection sobb'd aloud,
That he would go before.
Full long, and loud, and shrill;
His merrymen all, so stout and true,
Went marching up the hill.
VII.
All strown with scraps of flowers,
Which he had pluck'd, to please his love,
Among the Muses' bowers.
More fair than morning beam;
Who liv'd beneath a flowering tree,
Beside a falling stream.
The whole Parnassian ground,
Albeit some little difference
Between their taste was found:
Sir Syntax he was all for sense,
And Prosody for sound.
Exceedingly delighted;
And thought no earthly thing so rare,
That might with that fond twain compare,
When they were both united.
“This youth must pass thy grove,
Led on by me, his faithful guide,
In yonder bowers to rove.”—
But found resistance vain:
And through his grove Childe Launcelot sped,
With all Sir Hornbook's train.
Was singing in the shade:
Great joy Childe Launcelot had to see,
And hear that lovely maid.
Did nought their course oppose;
Till full before the martial throng
The Muses' gates arose.
Who scorn'd surrounding fruits;
And ever dug in deepest ground,
For old and mouldy Roots.
And tears at parting fell:
—“Sir Childe,”—he said,—“with all my band
I bid you here farewell.
Unfearing and alone:
All shrubs are here, and fruits, and flowers,
To happiest climates known.”—
A parting signal shrill:
His merrymen all, so stout and true,
Went marching down the hill.
With hope's exulting glow;
Some future song perchance may sound
The wondrous things which there he found,
If you the same would know.
There are twenty-six letters, A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z.
The indefinite article is used generally and indeterminately to point out one single thing of a kind: as, “There is a dog;” “Give me an orange.”
The definite article defines and specifies particular objects: as, “Those are the men;”—“Give me the book.”
Nouns are of two kinds, substantives and adjectives. A noun substantive declares its own meaning, and requires not another word to be joined with it to show its signification; as, man, book, apple.
A noun adjective cannot stand alone, but always requires to be joined with a substantive, of which it shows the nature or quality, as, “a good girl,”—“a naughty boy.”
A pronoun is used instead of a noun, and may be considered its locum tenens, or deputy: as, “The King is gone to Windsor, he will return to-morrow.”
The infinitive mood expresses a thing in a general and unlimited manner: as, “To love, to walk, to be ruled.”
The indicative mood simply indicates or declares a thing: as, “He loves:” “he is loved:” or asks a question: as, “Does he love?”—“Is he loved?”
The participle is a certain form of the verb, and is so called from participating the nature of a verb and an adjective: as, “he is an admired character; she is a loving child.”
The adverb is joined to verbs, to adjectives, and to other adverbs, to qualify their signification: as, “that is a remarkably swift horse: it is extremely well done.”
A conjunction is a part of speech chiefly used to connect words: as, “King and constitution;” or sentences: as, “I went to the theatre, and saw the new pantomime.”
A preposition is most commonly set before another word to show its relation to some word or sentence preceding: as, “The fisherman went down the river with his boat.”
Conjunctions and Prepositions are for the most part Imperative moods of obsolete verbs: Thus, and signifies add: “John and Peter—John add Peter:”—“The fisherman with his boat—The fisherman, join his boat.”
Interjections are words thrown in between the parts of a sentence, to express passions or emotions: as, “Oh! Alas!”
Syntax is that part of grammar, which treats of the agreement and construction of words in a sentence.
The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | ||