case choice by rhyme

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Fri Sep 23 15:25:00 UTC 2005


At 10:55 AM -0400 9/23/05, Baker, John wrote:
>         So, to use my other example, you would go with
>
>Other poets say their mistresses' eyes are like the sun.  I think my
>love as rare as they belied with false compare.
>
>rather than
>
>Other poets say their mistresses' eyes are like the sun.  I think my
>love as rare as them belied with false compare.
>
>
>         Is that correct?
>
>
>John Baker

It is for me, if I can (hereby) jump back in.  And, as noted, there's
a "they [who are] belied..." understood.

larry

>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>Of Joel S. Berson
>Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:37 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: case choice by rhyme
>
>At 9/22/2005 11:27 AM, you wrote:
>>          Actually, I don't think "she" is the object of "belied" at
>all.
>>"She" is the object of the preposition "as."  "Belied" is a participle
>>modifying "she."
>
>I thought Larry had the right explanation, that it is a case of "is".
>(Why am I reminded of Bill?)  That is, more completely and less
>poetically it would be "As any she [who is] belied with false compare."
>In that case, isn't "as" a conjunction, not a preposition?  And
>"belied", while a participle, being used as a verb, not as a noun?
>
>Joel



More information about the Ads-l mailing list