EXERCISE

Study the following poem:

TO THE DANDELION

Dear, common flower, that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May,

Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold, High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they An Eldorado in the grass have found Which not the rich earth's ample round

May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer blooms may be.

Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow
Through the primeval hush of Indian seas,
Nor wrinkled the lean brow

Of age to rob the lover's heart of ease.
'Tis the spring's largess, which she scatters now
To rich and poor alike with lavish hand,
Though most hearts never understand
To take it at God's value, but pass by
The offered wealth with unrewarded eye.

Thou art my tropics and mine Italy.

To look at thee unlocks a warmer clime.
The eyes thou givest me

Are in the heart, and heed not space or time.
Not in mid June the golden-cuirassed bee
Feels a more summer-like warm ravishment
In the white lily's breezy tent,

His fragrant Sybaris, than I when first
From the dark green thy yellow circles burst.

Then think I of deep shadows on the grass;
Of meadows where, in sun, the cattle graze,
Where, as the breezes pass,

The gleaming rushes lean a thousand ways;
Of leaves that slumber in a cloudy mass,

Or whiten in the wind; of waters blue
That, from the distance, sparkle through
Some woodland gap; and of a sky above
Where one white cloud like a stray lamb doth move.

My childhood's earliest thoughts are linked with thee.
The sight of thee calls back the robin's song,

Who, from the dark old tree

Beside the door, sang clearly all day long;
And I, secure in childish piety,

Listened as if I heard an angel sing

With news from heaven which he could bring
Fresh every day to my untainted ears,

When birds and flowers and I were happy peers.

-James Russell Lowell.

Give reasons for the use of commas in this exercise.

Point out nouns used as attributive or objective complements.

Point out all phrases, and tell what each modifies.

What adjectives may be expanded into phrases or clauses?

Write a biographical sketch of the poet Lowell:

His parentage.

His education.

Outline of his life-work.

The Bigelow Papers.

His other principal poems.
Date and place of death.

COMPOUND SUBJECT

Examine the following sentences:

The flowers and the blossoms wither.
The robin and the wren are flown.
His pallid cheek and brow confessed
That grief was busy in his breast.

Nor forces nor fraud could turn my steps aside.

Point out the subject of each sentence. Of how many nouns of equal rank does each subject consist? How are these nouns connected?

A subject consisting of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by a conjunction, is called a compound subject.

In most cases the compound subject results from the union of two or more sentences having a common element. Ex. The flowers wither.

The blossoms wither.

The flowers and the blossoms wither.

In a few cases, however, the compound subject does not result from such union.

Ex. And the sunset and the moonrise

Were mingled into one.

A compound subject consisting of words connected by and is usually plural, although each of the component elements may be singular.

Ex. Here the bright crocus and blue violet glow.

A compound subject consisting of singular nouns or pronouns connected by or or nor, takes a verb in the singular. Ex.-No other voice nor sound was there.

In a series of three or more words, the conjunction is usually omitted except between the last two, and a comma is placed after each word of the series except the last.

Ex.-Wave, wood, and spire beneath them smile.

If all the conjunctions are omitted, with a compound subject, a comma is placed after each word of the series.

Ex.-The fair, the brave, the good, must die.

When all the conjunctions are expressed, no comma should be used.

Ex.-Perish wealth and power and pride!

Point out the compound subject in each of the following sentences, and justify the punctuation:

Soft airs and song and light and bloom
Should keep them lingering by my tomb.
The hill, the vale, the tree, the tower,
Glowed with the tint of evening's hour.
The present scene, the future lot,
His toils, his wants, were all forgot.

Lake and mountain give no sign.

The robin and the bluebird, piping loud,

Filled all the blossoming orchard with their glee.

The first, the last, is welcome here.

Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go.

The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.