LL-L: "Syntax" LOWLANDS-L, 12.OCT.1999 (02) [E]

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Syntax

The form noun + adjective is used in older English verse where it helps the
rhyme or metre.

Milton, "Lycidas", 1638 contains the much-misquoted lines:

At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:
Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.

In the Scottish Metrical Psalms of 1650 the paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm has
the much mis-sung (because the lines break up the logical flow) lines:

He maketh me down to lie
In pastures green: he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.

There is a hymn which starts "Love divine all loves excelling" and Coleridge
wrote "power divine" to rhyme with "river Rhine".

Shakespeare does it when it suits him and wrote:

O mistress mine! where are you roaming?

The examples of possessive adjective in post-position which come to my mind
all involve "mine".

The Lord's Prayer in Old English starts "Father ure .. " but that may have
been affected by "Pater noster .. "

In my Norwegian primer Father Bear roars: "DET ER NOEN SOM HAR SITTET PAA
STOLEN MIN!" and the rules for adjective position are different from those
cited by Ron, but I see that the book was written in 1937 so perhaps things
have moved on. Apparently Icelandic and Faroese also have this word order.

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Syntax

>From the sublime to the ridiculous: I forgot

Blake, in the poem now sung as "Jerusalem", wrote (1804-1810)

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?

The poem he called "Jerusalem" (1815) has

Pancras and Kentish-town repose
Among her golden pillars high
Among her golden arches which
Shine upon her starry sky.

(Part of a fantasy about Jerusalem having been "builded" in North London [or
in his day, outside it]. Those golden arches get everywhere!)

And who but me could have forgotten:

In fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Syntax

John wrote:

> And who but me could have forgotten:
>
> In fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two
> Columbus sailed the ocean blue

Yes, indeed!  And how very apt, considering that today is Columbus Day in the
United States (though the bank holiday was yesterday, as always conveniently
placed on a Monday)!

Thanks for all your enlightening input, John, here and under other subject
headings.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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