  LIPOGRAMMATA AND PANGRAMMATA.In No. 59 of the Spectator, Addison, descanting on the different species of wit, observes, “The first I shall produce are the Lipogrammatists, or letter droppers of antiquity, that would take an exception, without any reason, against some particular letter in the alphabet, so as not to admit it once in a whole poem. One Tryphiodorus was a great master in this kind of writing. He composed an Odyssey, or Epic Poem, on the adventures of Ulysses, consisting of four-and-twenty-books, having entirely banished the letter A from his first book, which was called Alpha, (as lucus a non lucendo,) because there was not an alpha in it. His second book was inscribed Beta, for the same reason. In short, the poet excluded the whole four-and-twenty letters in their turns, and showed them that he could do his business without them. It must have been very pleasant to have seen this Poet avoiding the reprobate letter as much as another would a false quantity, and making his escape from it, through the different Greek dialects, when he was presented with it in any particular syllable; for the most apt and elegant word in In No. 63, Addison has again introduced Tryphiodorus, in his Vision of the Region of False Wit, where he sees the phantom of this poet pursued through the intricacies of a dance by four-and-twenty persons, (representatives of the alphabet,) who are unable to overtake him. Addison should, however, have mentioned that Tryphiodorus is kept in countenance by no less an authority than Pindar, who, according to AthenÆus, wrote an ode from which the letter sigma was carefully excluded. This caprice of Tryphiodorus has not been without its imitators. Peter de Riga, a canon of Rheims, wrote a summary of the Bible in twenty-three sections, and throughout each section omitted, successively, some particular letter. Gordianus Fulgentius, who wrote “De Ætatibus Mundi et Hominis,” has styled his book a wonderful work, chiefly, it may be presumed, from a similar reason; as from the chapter on Adam he has excluded the letter A; from that on Abel, the B; from that on Cain, the C; and so on through twenty-three chapters. Gregorio Letti presented a discourse to the Academy of Humorists at Rome, throughout which he had purposely omitted the letter R, and he entitled it the exiled R. A friend having requested a copy as a literary curiosity, (for so he considered this idle performance,) Letti, to show it was not so difficult a matter, replied by a copious answer of seven pages, in which he observed the same severe ostracism against the letter R. Du Chat, in the “Ducatiana,” says “there are five novels in prose, of Lope de Vega, similarly avoiding the vowels; the first without A, the second without E, the third without I, the fourth without O, and the fifth without U.” The Orientalists are not without this literary folly. A Persian poet read to the celebrated Jami a ghazel of his own composition, which Jami did not like; but the writer replied it was, notwithstanding, a very curious sonnet, for the letter Aliff was This alphabetical whim has assumed other shapes, sometimes taking the form of a fondness for a particular letter. In the Ecloga de Calvis of Hugbald the Monk, all the words begin with a C. In the NugÆ Venales there is a Poem by Petrus Placentius, entitled Pugna Porcorum, in which every word begins with a P. In another performance in the same work, entitled Canum cum cattis certamen, in which “apt alliteration’s artful aid” is similarly summoned, every word begins with a C. Lord North, one of the finest gentlemen in the Court of James I., has written a set of sonnets, each of which begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. The Earl of Rivers, in the reign of Edward IV., translated the Moral Proverbs of Christiana of Pisa, a poem of about two hundred lines, almost all the words of which he contrived to conclude with the letter E. The Pangrammatists contrive to crowd all the letters of the alphabet into every single verse. The prophet Ezra may be regarded as the father of them, as may be seen by reference to ch. vii., v. 21, of his Book of Prophecies. Ausonius, a Roman poet of the fourth century, whose verses are characterized by great mechanical ingenuity, is fullest of these fancies. The following sentence of only 48 letters, contains every letter of the alphabet:—John P. Brady, give me a black walnut box of quite a small size. The stanza subjoined is a specimen of both lipogrammatic and pangrammatic ingenuity, containing every letter of the alphabet except e. Those who remember that e is the most indispensable letter, being much more frequently used than any other, And tax his fancy’s might, To quiz in vain, for ’tis most plain, That what I say is right. The Fate of Nassan affords another example, each stanza containing the entire alphabet except e, and composed, as the writer says, with ease without e’s. Bold Nassan quits his caravan, A hazy mountain-grot to scan; Climbs jaggy rocks to spy his way, Doth tax his sight, but far doth stray. Not work of man, nor sport of child, Finds Nassan in that mazy wild; Lax grow his joints, limbs toil in vain— Poor wight! why didst thou quit that plain? Vainly for succor Nassan calls. Know, Zillah, that thy Nassan falls: But prowling wolf and fox may joy To quarry on thy Arab boy. Lord Holland, after reading the five Spanish novels already alluded to, in 1824, composed the following curious example, in which all the vowels except E are omitted:— EVE’S LEGEND.Men were never perfect; yet the three brethren Veres were ever esteemed, respected, revered, even when the rest, whether the select few, whether the mere herd, were left neglected. The eldest’s vessels seek the deep, stem the element, get pence; the keen Peter, when free, wedded Hester Green,—the slender, stern, severe, erect Hester Green. The next, clever Ned, less dependent, wedded sweet Ellen Heber. Stephen, ere he met the gentle Eve, never felt tenderness: he kept kennels, bred steeds, rested where the deer fed, went where green trees, where fresh breezes, greeted sleep. There he met the meek, the gentle Eve: she tended her sheep, she ever neglected self: she never heeded pelf, yet she heeded the shepherds even less. Nevertheless, her cheek reddened when she met Stephen; yet decent reserve, meek respect, tempered her speech, even when she shewed tenderness. Stephen felt the sweet effect: he felt he erred when he fled the sex, yet felt he defenceless when Eve seemed tender. She, he reflects, never deserved neglect; she never vented spleen; he esteems her gentleness, her endless deserts; he reverences her steps; he greets her:— “Well bred, we were eke better fed, ere we went where reckless men seek fleeces. There we were fleeced. Need then rendered me shepherdess, need renders me sempstress. See me tend the sheep; see me sew the wretched shreds. Eve’s need preserves the steers, preserves the sheep; Eve’s needle mends her dresses, hems her sheets; Eve feeds the geese; Eve preserves the cheese.” Her speech melted Stephen, yet he nevertheless esteems, reveres her. He bent the knee where her feet pressed the green; he blessed, he begged, he pressed her. “Sweet, sweet Eve, let me wed thee; be led where Hester Green, where Ellen Heber, where the brethren Vere dwell. Free cheer greets thee there; Ellen’s glees sweeten the refreshment; there severer Hester’s decent reserve checks heedless jests. Be led there, sweet Eve!” “Never! we well remember the Seer. We went where he dwells—we entered the cell—we begged the decree,— ‘Where, whenever, when, ’twere well Eve be wedded? Eld Seer, tell.’ “He rendered the decree; see here the sentence decreed!” Then she presented Stephen the Seer’s decree. The verses were these:— “Ere the green reed be red, Sweet Eve, be never wed; Ere be green the red cheek, Never wed thee, Eve meek.” The terms perplexed Stephen, yet he jeered the terms; he resented the senseless credence, “Seers never err.” Then he repented, knelt, wheedled, wept. Eve sees Stephen kneel; she relents, yet frets when she remembers the Seer’s decree. Her dress redeems her. These were the events:— Her well-kempt tresses fell; sedges, reeds, bedecked them. The reeds fell, the edges met her cheeks; her cheeks bled. She presses the green sedge where her check bleeds. Red then bedewed the green reed, the green reed then speckled her red cheek. The red cheek seems green, the green reed seems red. These were e’en the terms the Eld Seer decreed Stephen Vere. Here endeth the Legend. ALPHABETICAL ADVERTISEMENT.TO WIDOWERS AND SINGLE GENTLEMEN.—WANTED by a lady, a SITUATION to superintend the household and preside at table. She is Agreeable, Becoming, Careful, Desirable, English, Facetious, Generous, Honest, Industrious, JACOBITE TOAST.The following remarkable toast is ascribed to Lord Duff, and was presented on some public occasion in the year 1745.
THE THREE INITIALS.The following couplet, in which initials are so aptly used, was written on the alleged intended marriage of the Duke of Wellington, at a very advanced age, with Miss Angelina Burdett Coutts, the rich heiress:— The Duke must in his second childhood be, Since in his doting age he turns to A. B. C. ENIGMAS.The letter E is thus enigmatically described:— The beginning of eternity, The end of time and space, The beginning of every end, The end of every place. The letter M is concealed in the following Latin enigma by an unknown author of very ancient date: Ego sum principium mundi et finis seculorum: Ego sum trinus et unus, et tamen non sum Deus. THE LETTER H.The celebrated enigma on the letter H, commonly attributed to Lord Byron, Whereas by you I have been driven From ’ouse, from ’ome, from ’ope, from ’eaven, And placed by your most learned society In Hexile, Hanguish, and Hanxiety; Nay, charged without one just pretence, With Harrogance and Himpudence— I here demand full restitution, And beg you’ll mend your Helocution. Rowland Hill, when at college, was remarkable for the frequent wittiness of his observations. In a conversation on the powers of the letter H, in which it was contended that it was no letter, but a simple aspiration or breathing, Rowland took the opposite side of the question, and insisted on its being, to all intents and purposes, a letter; and concluded by observing that, if it were not, it was a very serious affair to him, as it would occasion his being ILL all the days of his life. When Kohl, the traveller, visited the Church of St. Alexander Nevskoi, at St. Petersburg, his guide, pointing to a corner of the building, said, “There lies a Cannibal.” Attracted to the tomb by this strange announcement, Kohl found from the inscription that it was the Russian general Hannibal; but as the Russians have no H, “Future ages, recording your Majesty’s exploits, will pronounce you to have been a Nero!” Mrs. Crawford says she wrote one line in her song, Kathleen Mavourneen, for the express purpose of confounding the cockney warblers, who sing it thus:— The ’orn of the ’unter is ’eard on the ’ill. Moore has laid the same trap in the Woodpecker:— A ’eart that is ’umble might ’ope for it ’ere. And the elephant confounds them the other way:— A helephant heasily heats at his hease, Hunder humbrageous humbrella trees. ON THE MARRIAGE OF A LADY TO A GENTLEMAN NAMED GEESure, madam, by your choice a taste we see: What’s good or great or grand without a G? A godly glow must sure on G depend, Or oddly low our righteous thoughts must end: The want of G all gratitude effaces; And without G, the Graces would run races. ON SENDING A PAIR OF GLOVES.From this small token take the letter G, And then ’tis love, and that I send to thee. UNIVOCALIC VERSES.A.—THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR.Wars harm all ranks, all arts, all crafts appall: At Mars’ harsh blast, arch, rampart, altar, fall! Ah! hard as adamant, a braggart Czar Arms vassal swarms, and fans a fatal war! Rampant at that bad call, a Vandal band Harass, and harm, and ransack Wallach-land. A Tartar phalanx Balkan’s scarp hath past, And Allah’s standard falls, alas! at last. E.—THE FALL OF EVE.Eve, Eden’s Empress, needs defended be; The Serpent greets her when she seeks the tree. Serene, she sees the speckled tempter creep; Gentle he seems,—perversest schemer deep,— Yet endless pretexts ever fresh prefers, Perverts her senses, revels when she errs, Sneers when she weeps, regrets, repents she fell; Then, deep revenged, reseeks the nether hell! I.—THE APPROACH OF EVENING.Idling, I sit in this mild twilight dim, Whilst birds, in wild, swift vigils, circling skim. Light winds in sighing sink, till, rising bright, Night’s Virgin Pilgrim swims in vivid light! O.—INCONTROVERTIBLE FACTS.No monk too good to rob, or cog, or plot. No fool so gross to bolt Scotch collops hot. From Donjon tops no Oronoko rolls. Logwood, not Lotos, floods Oporto’s bowls. Troops of old tosspots oft, to sot, consort. Box tops, not bottoms, school-boys flog for sport. No cool monsoons blow soft on Oxford dons, Orthodox, jog-trot, book-worm Solomons! Bold Ostrogoths, of ghosts no horror show. On London shop-fronts no hop-blossoms grow. To crocks of gold no dodo looks for food. On soft cloth footstools no old fox doth brood. Long storm-tost sloops forlorn, work on to port. Rooks do not roost on spoons, nor woodcocks snort, Nor dog on snow-drop or on coltsfoot rolls, Nor common frogs concoct long protocols. U.—THE SAME SUBJECT, CONTINUED.Dull humdrum murmurs lull, but hubbub stuns. Lucullus snuffs no musk, mundungus shuns. Puss purrs, buds burst, bucks butt, luck turns up trumps; But full cups, hurtful, spur up unjust thumps. A young English lady, on observing a gentleman’s lane newly planted with lilacs, made this neat impromptu:— Let lovely lilacs line Lee’s lonely lane. ALPHABETICAL ALLITERATION.THE SIEGE OF BELGRADE.An Austrian army, awfully arrayed, Boldly, by battery, besieged Belgrade; Cossack commanders cannonading come— Dealing destruction’s devastating doom; Every endeavor, engineers essay, For fame, for fortune—fighting furious fray:— Generals ’gainst generals grapple—gracious God! How honors Heaven, heroic hardihood! Infuriate,—indiscriminate in ill, Kindred kill kinsmen,—kinsmen kindred kill! Labor low levels loftiest longest lines— Men march ’mid mounds, ’mid moles, ’mid murderous mines: Now noisy, noxious, noticed nought Of outward obstacles opposing ought: Poor patriots, partly purchased, partly pressed: Quite quaking, quickly quarter, quarter quest, Reason returns, religious right redounds, Suwarrow stops such sanguinary sounds. Truce to thee, Turkey—triumph to thy train! Unjust, unwise, unmerciful Ukraine! Vanish vain victory, vanish victory vain! Why wish ye warfare? Wherefore welcome were Xerxes, Ximenes, Xanthus, Xaviere? Yield! ye youths! ye yeomen, yield your yell! Zeno’s, Zapater’s, Zoroaster’s zeal, And all attracting—arms against acts appeal. THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT CELEBRATION.Americans arrayed and armed attend; Beside battalions bold, bright beauties blend. Chiefs, clergy, citizens conglomerate,— Detesting despots,—daring deeds debate; Each eye emblazoned ensigns entertain,— Flourishing from far,—fan freedom’s flame. Guards greeting guards grown grey,—guest greeting guest. High-minded heroes, hither, homeward, haste. Ingenuous juniors join in jubilee, Kith kenning kin,—kind knowing kindred key. Lo, lengthened lines lend Liberty liege love, Mixed masses, marshaled, Monumentward move. Oft our oppressors overawed old Ocean; Presumptuous princes, pristine patriots paled, Queens’ quarrel questing quotas, quondam quailed. Rebellion roused, revolting ramparts rose. Stout spirits, smiting servile soldiers, strove. These thrilling themes, to thousands truly told, Usurpers’ unjust usages unfold. Victorious vassals, vauntings vainly veiled, Where, whilesince, Webster, warlike Warren wailed. ’Xcuse ’xpletives ’xtra-queer ’xpressed, Yielding Yankee yeomen zest. PRINCE CHARLES PROTECTED BY FLORA MACDONALD.All ardent acts affright an Age abased By brutal broils, by braggart bravery braced. Craft’s cankered courage changed Culloden’s cry; “Deal deep” deposed “deal death”—“decoy,” “defy:” Enough. Ere envy enters England’s eyes, Fancy’s false future fades, for Fortune flies. Gaunt, gloomy, guarded, grappling giant griefs, Here, hunted hard, his harassed heart he heaves; In impious ire incessant ills invests. Judging Jove’s jealous judgments, jaundiced jests! Kneel, kirtled knight! keep keener kingcraft known, Let larger lore life’s levelling lessons loan: Marauders must meet malefactors’ meeds; No nation noisy non-conformists needs. O oracles of old! our orb ordain Peace’s possession—Plenty’s palmy plain! Quiet Quixotic quests; quell quarrelling; Rebuke red riot’s resonant rifle ring. Slumber seems strangely sweet since silence smote The threatening thunders throbbing through their throat. Usurper! under uniform unwont Vail valor’s vaguest venture, vainest vaunt. Well wot we which were wise. War’s wildfire won Ximenes, Xerxes, Xavier, Xenophon: Yet you, ye yearning youth, your young years yield Zuinglius’ zealot zest—Zinzendorf zion-zealed. CACOPHONOUS COUPLET ON CARDINAL WOLSEY.Begot by butchers, but by bishops bred, How high his honor holds his haughty head! ADDRESS TO THE AURORA, WRITTEN IN MID-OCEAN.Awake Aurora! and across all airs By brilliant blazon banish boreal bears. Crossing cold Canope’s celestial crown, Deep darts descending dive delusive down. Entranced each eve Europa’s every eye Firm fixed forever fastens faithfully, Greets golden guerdon gloriously grand; How Holy Heaven holds high his hollow hand! Ignoble ignorance, inapt indeed— Jeers jestingly just Jupiter’s jereed: Knavish Kamschatkans, knightly Kurdsmen know, Long Labrador’s light lustre looming low; Midst myriad multitudes majestic might No nature nobler numbers Neptune’s night. Opal of Oxus or old Ophir’s ores Pale pyrrhic pyres prismatic purple pours,— Quiescent quivering, quickly, quaintly queer, Rich, rosy, regal rays resplendent rear; Strange shooting streamers streaking starry skies Trail their triumphant tresses—trembling ties. Unseen, unhonored Ursa,—underneath Veiled, vanquished—vainly vying—vanisheth: Wild Woden, warning, watchful—whispers wan Xanthitic Xeres, Xerxes, Xenophon, Yet yielding yesternight yule’s yell yawns Zenith’s zebraic zigzag, zodiac zones. Pulci, in his Morgante Maggiore, xxiii. 47, gives the following remarkable double alliterations, two of them in every line:— La casa cosa parea bretta e brutta, Vinta dal vento, e la natta e la notte, Stilla le stelle, ch’a tetto era tutta, Del pane appena ne dette ta’ dotte; Pere avea pure e qualche fratta frutta, E svina e scena di botto una botte; Poscia per pesci lasche prese all’esca, Ma il letto allotta alla frasca fufresca. In the imitation of Laura Matilda, in the Rejected Addresses occurs this stanza:— Pan beheld Patroclus dying, Nox to Niobe was turned; From Busiris Bacchus flying, Saw his Semele inurned. TITLE-PAGE FOR A BOOK OF EXTRACTS FROM MANY AUTHORS.Astonishing Anthology from Attractive Authors. Broken Bits from Bulky Brains. Choice Chunks from Chaucer to Channing. Dainty Devices from Diverse Directions. Echoes of Eloquence from Eminent Essayists. Fragrant Flowers from Fields of Fancy. Gems of Genius Gloriously Garnished. Handy Helps from Head and Heart. Illustrious Intellects Intelligently Interpreted. Jewels of Judgment and Jets of Jocularity. Kindlings to Keep from the King to the Kitchen. Loosened Leaves from Literary Laurels. Magnificent Morsels from Mighty Minds. Numerous Nuggets from Notable Noodles. Oracular Opinions Officiously Offered. Prodigious Points from Powerful Pens. Quirks and Quibbles from Queer Quarters. Rare Remarks Ridiculously Repeated. Suggestive Squibs from Sundry Sources. Tremendous Thoughts on Thundering Topics. Utterances from Uppermost for Use and Unction. Valuable Views in Various Voices. Wisps of Wit in a Wilderness of Words. Xcellent Xtracts Xactly Xpressed. Yawnings and Yearnings for Youthful Yankees. Zeal and Zest from Zoroaster to Zimmerman. COMPLIMENTARY CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING CHESS.Cherished chess! The charms of thy checkered chambers chain me changelessly. Chaplains have chanted thy charming choiceness; chieftains have changed the chariot and the chase for the chaster chivalry of the chess-board, and the cheerier charge of the chess-knights. Chaste-eyed Caissa! For thee are the chaplets of chainless charity and the chalice of childlike cheerfulness. No chilling churl, no cheating chafferer, no chattering changeling, no chanting charlatan can be thy champion; the chivalrous, the charitable, and the cheerful are the chosen ones thou cherishest. Chance cannot change thee: from the cradle of childhood to the charnel-house, from our first childish chirpings to the chills of the churchyard, thou art our cheery, changeless chieftainess. Chastener of the churlish, chider of the changeable, cherisher of the chagrined, the chapter of thy chiliad of charms should be chanted in cherubic chimes by choicest choristers, and chiselled on chalcedon in cherubic chirography. All Fume and Fret, Fuss, Fidget, Fancy, Fever, Funking, Fright, Ferment, Fault-fearing, Faintness—more F’s yet: Flushed, Frigid, Flurried, Flinching, Fitful, Flat, Add Famished, Fuddled, and Fatigued to that; Funeral, Fate-Foreboding. The repetition of the same letter in the following is very ingenious:— FELICITOUS FLIGHT OF FANCY.“A famous fish-factor found himself father of five flirting females—Fanny, Florence, Fernanda, Francesca, and Fenella. The first four were flat-featured, ill-favored, forbidding-faced, freckled frumps, fretful, flippant, foolish, and flaunting. Fenella was a fine-featured, fresh, fleet-footed fairy, frank, free, and full of fun. The fisher failed, and was forced by fickle fortune to forego his footman, forfeit his forefathers’ fine fields, and find a forlorn farm-house in a forsaken forest. The four fretful females, fond of figuring at feasts in feathers and fashionable finery, fumed at their fugitive father. Forsaken by fulsome, flattering fortune-hunters, who followed them when first they flourished, Fenella fondled her father, flavored their food, forgot her flattering followers, and frolicked in a frieze without flounces. The father, finding himself forced to forage in foreign parts for a fortune, found he could afford a faring to his five fondlings. The first four were fain to foster their frivolity with fine frills and fans, fit to finish their father’s finances; Fenella, fearful of flooring him, formed a fancy for a full fresh flower. Fate favored the fish-factor for a few days, when he fell in with a fog; his faithful Filley’s footsteps faltered, and food failed. He found himself in front of a fortified fortress. Finding it forsaken, and feeling himself feeble, and forlorn with fasting, he fed on the fish, flesh, and fowl he found, fricasseed, and when full fell flat on the floor. Fresh in the forenoon, he forthwith flew to the fruitful fields, and not forgetting Fenella, he filched a fair flower; when a foul, frightful, fiendish figure flashed forth: ‘Felonious fellow, fingering my flowers, I’ll finish you! Fly; say farewell to your fine felicitous family, and face me in a fortnight!’ The faint-hearted fisher fumed and faltered, and fast and far was his flight. His five daughters flew to fall at his feet and fervently felicitate him. Frantically and fluently he unfolded his fate. Fenella, forthwith fortified by filial fondness, followed her father’s footsteps, and flung her faultless form at the foot of the frightful figure, who forgave the father, and fell flat on his face, for he had fervently fallen in a fiery fit of love for the fair Fenella. He feasted her till, fascinated by his faithfulness, she forgot the ferocity of his face, form, A BEVY OF BELLES.The following lines are said to have been admirably descriptive of the five daughters of an English gentleman, formerly of Liverpool;— Minerva-like majestic Mary moves. Law, Latin, Liberty, learned Lucy loves. Eliza’s elegance each eye espies. Serenely silent Susan’s smiles surprise. From fops, fools, flattery, fairest Fanny flies. MOTIVES TO GRATITUDE.A remarkable example of the old fondness for antithesis and alliteration in composition, is presented in the following extract from one of Watts’ sermons:— The last great help to thankfulness is to compare various circumstances and things together. Compare, then, your sorrows with your ACROSTICS.The acrostic, though an old and favorite form of verse, in our own language has been almost wholly an exercise of ingenuity, and has been considered fit only for trivial subjects, to be classed among nugÆ literariÆ. The word in its derivation includes various artificial arrangements of lines, and many fantastic conceits have been indulged in. Generally the acrostic has been formed of the first letters of each line; sometimes of the last; sometimes of both; sometimes it is to be read downward,
In these lines, on the death of Lord Hatherton, (1863), the initial and final letters are doubled:—
Although the fanciful and trifling tricks of poetasters have been carried to excess, and acrostics have come in for their share of satire, the origin of such artificial poetry was of a higher dignity. When written documents, were yet rare, every artifice was employed to enforce on the attention or fix on the memory the verses sung by bards or teachers. Alphabetic associations formed obvious and convenient aids for this purpose. In the Hebrew Psalms of David, and in other parts of Scripture, striking specimens occur. The peculiarity is not retained in the translations, but is indicated in the common Among the modern examples of acrostic writing, the most remarkable may be found in the works of Boccaccio. It is a poem of fifty cantos, of which GuinguenÈ has preserved a specimen in his Literary History of Italy. A successful attempt has recently been made to use this form of verse for conveying useful information and expressing agreeable reflections, in a volume containing a series of acrostics on eminent names, commencing with Homer, and descending chronologically to our own time. The alphabetic necessity of the choice of words and epithets has not hindered the writer from giving distinct and generally correct character to the biographical subjects, as may be seen in the following selections, which are as remarkable for the truth and discrimination of the descriptions as for the ingenuity of the diction: Oliver, a sailor and patriot, with a merited reputation for extempore rhyming, while on a visit to his cousin Benedict Arnold, after the war, was asked by the latter to amuse a party of English officers with some extemporaneous effusion, whereupon he stood up and repeated the following Ernulphus curse, which would have satisfied Dr. Slop B orn for a curse to virtue and mankind, E arth’s broadest realm ne’er knew so black a mind. N ight’s sable veil your crimes can never hide, E ach one so great, ’twould glut historic tide. D efunct, your cursed memory will live I n all the glare that infamy can give. C urses of ages will attend your name, T raitors alone will glory in your shame. A lmighty vengeance sternly waits to roll R ivers of sulphur on your treacherous soul: N ature looks shuddering back with conscious dread O n such a tarnished blot as she has made. L et hell receive you, riveted in chains, D oomed to the hottest focus of its flames. ALLITERATIVE ACROSTIC.The following alliterative acrostic is a gem in its way. Miss Kitty Stephens was the celebrated London vocalist, and is now the Dowager Countess of Essex:— S he sings so soft, so sweet, so soothing still T hat to the tone ten thousand thoughts there thrill; E lysian ecstasies enchant each ear— P leasure’s pure pinions poise—prince, peasant, peer, H ushing high hymns, Heaven hears her harmony,— E arth’s envy ends; enthralled each ear, each eye; N umbers need ninefold nerve, or nearly name, S oul-stirring Stephens’ skill, sure seraphs sing the same. CHRONOGRAMMATIC PASQUINADE.On the election of Pope Leo X., in 1440, the following satirical acrostic appeared, to mark the date M C C C C X L. Multi Coeci Cardinales Creaverunt Coecum Decimum (X) Leonem. MONASTIC VERSE.The merit of this fine specimen will be found in its being at the same time acrostic, mesostic, and telestic.
The following translation preserves the acrostic and mesostic, though not the telestic form of the original:—
The figure of a FISH carved on many of the monuments in the Roman Catacombs, is an emblematic acrostic, intended formerly to point out the burial-place of a Christian, without revealing the fact to the pagan persecutors. The Greek word for fish is ?????, which the Christians understood to mean Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour,—the letters forming the initials of the following Greek words:—
NAPOLEON FAMILY.The names of the male crowned heads of the extinct Napoleon dynasty form a remarkable acrostic:— N apoleon, Emperor of the French. I oseph, King of Spain. H ieronymus, King of Westphalia. I oachim, King of Naples. L ouis, King of Holland. RACHEL.Rachel, on one occasion, received a most remarkable present. It was a diadem, in antique style, adorned with six jewels. The stones were so set as to spell, in acrostic style, the name of the great artiste, and also to signify six of her principal rÔles, thus:
This mode of constructing a name or motto by the initial letters of gems was formerly fashionable on wedding rings. MASONIC MEMENTO.The following curious memento was written in the early part of last century:— M—Magnitude, Moderation, Magnanimity. A—Affability, Affection, Attention. S—Silence, Secrecy, Security. O—Obedience, Order, Œconomy. N—Noble, Natural, Neighborly. R—Rational, Reciprocative, Receptive. Y—Yielding, Ypight (fixed), Yare (ready). Which is explained thus:—
HEMPE.Bacon says, “The trivial prophecy which I heard when I was a child and Queen Elizabeth was in the flower of her years was— When Hempe is spun England’s done; whereby it was generally conceived that after the sovereigns had reigned which had the letters of that word HEMPE, (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, Elizabeth,) England should come to utter confusion; which, thanks be to God, is verified in the change of the name, for that the King’s style is now no more of England, but of Britain.” THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE.Behold, alas! our days we spend: How vain they be, how soon they end! BEHOLD How short a span Was long enough of old To measure out the life of man; In those well-tempered days his time was then Surveyed, cast up, and found but threescore years and ten. ALAS! What is all that? They come and slide and pass Before my tongue can tell thee what. The posts of time are swift, which having run Their seven short stages o’er, their short-lived task is done. OUR DAYS Begun, we bend To sleep, to antic plays And toys, until the first stage end; 12 waning moons, twice 5 times told, we give To unrecovered loss: we rather breathe than live. WE SPEND A ten years’ breath Before we apprehend What ’tis to live in fear of death; Our childish dreams are filled with painted joys Which please our sense, and waking prove but toys. HOW VAIN, How wretched is Poor man, that doth remain A slave to such a state as this! His days are short at longest; few at most; They are but bad at best, yet lavished out, or lost. THEY BE The secret springs That make our minutes flee On wings more swift than eagles’ wings! Our life’s a clock, and every gasp of breath Breathes forth a warning grief, till time shall strike a death. HOW SOON Our new-born light Attains to full-aged noon! And this, how soon to gray-haired night; We spring, we bud, we blossom, and we blast, Ere we can count our days, our days they flee so fast. When scarce begun, And ere we apprehend That we begin to live, our life is done. Man, count thy days; and if they fly too fast For thy dull thoughts to count, count every day the last. A VALENTINE.The reader, by taking the first letter of the first of the following lines, the second letter of the second line, the third of the third, and so on to the end, can spell the name of the lady to whom they were addressed by Edgar A. Poe. For her this rhyme is penned whose luminous eyes, BRightly expressive as the twins of Loeda, ShAll find her own sweet name, that nestling lies UpoN the page, enwrapped from every reader. SearCh narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure DivinE—a talisman—an amulet That muSt be worn at heart. Search well the measure— The wordS—the syllables! Do not forget The triviAlest point, or you may lose your labor! And yet theRe is in this no Gordian knot Which one miGht not undo without a sabre, If one could mErely comprehend the plot. Enwritten upoN the leaf where now are peering Eyes scintillaTing soul, there lie perdus Three eloquent wOrds, oft uttered in the hearing Of poets, by poets—aS the name’s a poet’s, too. Its letters, althouGh naturally lying Like the knight PintO—Mendez Ferdinando— Still form a synonym fOr Truth. Cease trying! You will not read the riDdle, though you do the best you can do. ANAGRAMS.But with still more disordered march advance (Nor march it seemed, but wild fantastic dance) The uncouth Anagrams, distorted train, Shifting in double mazes o’er the plain.—Scribleriad. Camden, in a chapter in his Remains, on this frivolous and now almost obsolete intellectual exercise, defines Anagrams to Wiat—A Wit. Astronomer may be made Moon-starer, and Telegraph, Great Help. Funeral may be converted into Real Fun, and Presbyterian may be made Best in prayer. In stone may be found tones, notes, or seton; and (taking j and v as duplicates of i and u) the letters of the alphabet may be arranged so as to form the words back, frown’d, phlegm, quiz, and Styx. Roma may be transposed into amor, armo, Maro, mora, oram, or ramo. The following epigram occurs in a book printed in 1660: Hate and debate Rome through the world has spread; Yet Roma amor is, if backward read: Then is it strange Rome hate should foster? No; For out of backward love all hate doth grow. It is said that the cabalists among the Jews were professed anagrammatists, the third part of their art called themuru (changing) being nothing more than finding the hidden and mystical meaning in names, by transposing and differently combining the letters of those names. Thus, of the letters of Noah’s name in Hebrew, they made grace; and of the Messiah they made he shall rejoice. Lycophron, a Greek writer who lived three centuries before the Christian era, records two anagrams in his poem on the siege of Troy entitled Cassandra. One is on the name of Ptolemy Philadelphus, in whose reign Lycophron lived:— ????????S ??? ??????S—Made of honey. The other is on Ptolemy’s queen, ArsinoË:— ??S????. ???S ???—Juno’s violet. Owen, the Welsh epigrammatist, sometimes called the British Martial, lived in the golden age of anagrammatism. The following are fair specimens of his ingenuity:— Galenus—Angelus.Angelus es bonus anne malus; Galene! salutis Humana custos, angelus ergo bonus, De Fide—Anagramma quincuplex.Recta fides, certa est, arcet mala schismata, non est, Sicut Creta, fides fictilis, arte caret. Brevitas—Anagramma triplex.Perspicua brevitate nihil magis afficit aures In verbis, ubi res postulat, esto brevis. In a New Help to Discourse, 12mo, London, 1684, occurs an anagram with a very quaint epigrammatic “exposition:”— TOAST—A SOTT.A toast is like a sot; or, what is most Comparative, a sot is like a toast; For when their substances in liquor sink, Both properly are said to be in drink. Cotton Mather was once described as distinguished for— “Care to guide his flock and feed his lambs By words, works, prayers, psalms, alms, and anagrams.” Sylvester, in dedicating to his sovereign his translation of Du Bartas, rings the following loyal change on the name of his liege:— James Stuart—A just master. Of the poet Waller, the old anagrammatist said:— His brows need not with Lawrel to be bound, Since in his name with Lawrel he is crowned. The author of an extraordinary work on heraldry was thus expressively complimented:— Randle Holmes. Lo, Men’s Herald! Marie Touchet, Je charme tout. In the assassin of Henry III., FrÈre Jacques Clement, they discovered C’est l’enfer qui m’a crÉe. The French appear to have practised this art with peculiar facility. A French poet, deeply in love, in one day sent his mistress, whose name was Magdelaine, three dozen of anagrams on her single name. The father Pierre de St. Louis became a Carmelite monk on discovering that his lay name— Ludovicus Bartelemi— yielded the anagram— Carmelo se devovet. Of all the extravagances occasioned by the anagrammatic fever when at its height, none equals what is recorded of an infatuated Frenchman in the seventeenth century, named AndrÉ Pujom, who, finding in his name the anagram Pendu À Riom, (the seat of criminal justice in the province of Auvergne,) felt impelled to fulfill his destiny, committed a capital offence in Auvergne, and was actually hung in the place to which the omen pointed. The anagram on General Monk, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, on the restoration of Charles II., is also a chronogram, including the date of that important event:— Georgius Monke, Dux de Aumarle, Ego Regem reduxi Ano. Sa. MDCLVV. The mildness of the government of Elizabeth, contrasted with her intrepidity against the Iberians, is thus picked out of her title: she is made the English lamb and the Spanish lioness. Elizabetha Regina AngliÆ, Anglis Agna, HiberiÆ Lea. Maria Steuarda Scotorum Regina. Trusa vi Regnis, morte amara cado. In Taylor’s Suddaine Turne of Fortune’s Wheele, occurs the following very singular example:— But, holie father, I am certifyed That they your power and policye deride; And how of you they make an anagram, The best and bitterest that the wits could frame. As thus: Supremus Pontifex Romanus. Annagramma: O non sum super petrum fixus. The anagram on the well-known bibliographer, William Oldys, may claim a place among the first productions of this class. It was by Oldys himself, and was found by his executors among his MSS. In word and WILL I AM a friend to you; And one friend OLD is worth a hundred new. The following anagram, preserved in the files of the First Church in Roxbury, was sent to Thomas Dudley, a governor and major-general of the colony of Massachusetts, in 1645. He died in 1653, aged 77. THOMAS DUDLEY.Ah! old must dye. A death’s head on your hand you neede not weare, A dying head you on your shoulders beare. You need not one to mind you, you must dye, You in your name may spell mortalitye. Younge men may dye, but old men, these dye must; ’Twill not be long before you turne to dust. Before you turne to dust! ah! must! old! dye! What shall younge doe when old in dust doe lye? When old in dust lye, what N. England doe? When old in dust doe lye, it’s best dye too. John Alden—End al on hi. The Calvinistic opponents of Arminius made of his name a not very creditable Latin anagram:— Jacobus Arminius, Vani orbis amicus; (The friend of a false world.) while his friends, taking advantage of the Dutch mode of writing it, Harminius, hurled back the conclusive argument, Habui curam Sionis. (I have had charge of Zion.) Perhaps the most extraordinary anagram to be met with, is that on the Latin of Pilate’s question to the Saviour, “What is truth?”—St. John, xviii. 38. Quid est veritas? Est vir qui adest. (It is the man who is before you.) Live, vile, and evil, have the self-same letters; He lives but vile, whom evil holds in fetters. If you transpose what ladies wear—Veil, ’Twill plainly show what bad folks are—Vile. Again if you transpose the same, You’ll see an ancient Hebrew name—Levi. Change it again, and it will show What all on earth desire to do—Live. Transpose the letters yet once more, What bad men do you’ll then explore—Evil. PERSIST.A lady, being asked by a gentleman to join in the bonds of matrimony with him, wrote the word “Stripes,” stating at the time that the letters making up the word stripes could be changed so as to make an answer to his question. The result proved satisfactory. My resource Christianity soon will appear. The two which follow are peculiarly appropriate:— Florence Nightingale, Flit on, charming angel. John Abernethy, Johnny the bear. T I M E I T E M M E T I E M I T This word, Time, is the only word in the English language which can be thus arranged, and the different transpositions thereof are all at the same time Latin words. These words, in English as well as in Latin, may be read either upward or downward. Their signification as Latin words is as follows:—Time—fear thou; Item—likewise; Meti—to be measured; Emit—he buys. Some striking German and Latin anagrams have been made of Luther’s name, of which the following are specimens. Doctor Martinus Lutherus transposed, gives O Rom, Luther ist der schwan. In D. Martinus Lutherus may be found ut turris das lumen (like a tower you give light). In Martinus Lutherus we have vir multa struens (the man who builds up much), and ter matris vulnus (he gave three wounds to the mother church). Martin Luther will make lehrt in Armuth (he teaches in poverty). Jablonski welcomed the visit of Stanislaus, King of Poland, with his noble relatives of the house of Lescinski, to the annual examination of the students under his care, at the gymnasium of Lissa, with a number of anagrams, all composed of the letters in the words Domus Lescinia. The recitations closed with a heroic dance, in which each youth carried a shield inscribed with a legend of the letters. After a new evolution, the boys exhibited the words Ades incolumis; next, Omnis es lucida; next, Omne sis lucida; fifthly, Mane sidus loci; sixthly, Sis columna Dei; and at the conclusion, I scande solium. A TELEGRAM ANAGRAMMATISED.Though but a late germ, with a wondrous elation, Yet like a great elm it o’ershadows each station. Et malgrÉ the office is still a large fee mart, So joyous the crowd was, you’d thought it a glee mart; But they raged at no news from the nation’s belligerent, And I said let’m rage, since the air is refrigerant. I then met large numbers, whose drink was not sherbet, Who scarce could look up when their eyes the gas-glare met; So when I had learned from commercial adviser That mere galt for sand was the great fertilizer, I bade Mr. Eaglet, although ’twas ideal, Get some from the clay-pit, and so get’m real; Then, just as my footstep was leaving the portal, I met an elm targe on a great Highland mortal, With the maid he had woo’d by the loch’s flowery margelet, And row’d in his boat, which for rhyme’s sake call bargelet, And blithe to the breeze would have set the sail daily, But it blew at that rate which the sailors term gale, aye; I stumbled against the fair bride he had married, When a merle gat at large from a cage that she carried; She gave a loud screech! and I could not well blame her, But lame as I was, I’d no wish to get lamer; So I made my escape—ne’er an antelope fleeter, Lest my verse, like the poet, should limp through lag metre. Anagrams are sometimes found in old epitaphial inscriptions. For example, at St. Andrews:— At Newenham church, Northampton:— William Thorneton. O little worth in man. At Keynsham:— Mrs. Joane Flover. Love for anie. At Mannington, 1631:— Katherine Lougher, Lower taken higher. How much there is in a word—monastery, says I: why, that makes nasty Rome; and when I looked at it again, it was evidently more nasty—a very vile place or mean sty. Ay, monster, says I, you are found out. What monster? said the Pope. What monster? said I. Why, your own image there, stone Mary. That, he replied, is my one star, my Stella Maris, my treasure, my guide! No, said I, you should rather say, my treason. Yet no arms, said he. No, quoth I, quiet may suit best, as long as you have no mastery, I mean money arts. No, said he again, those are Tory means; and Dan, my senator, will baffle them. I don’t know that, said I, but I think one might make no mean story out of this one word—monastery. CHRONOGRAMS.Addison, in his remarks on the different species of false wit, (Spect. No. 60,) thus notices the chronogram. “This kind of wit appears very often on modern medals, especially those of Germany, when they represent in the inscription the year in which they were coined. Thus we see on a medal of Gustavus Adolphus the following words:— ChrIstVs DuX ergo trIVMphVs. If you take the pains to pick the figures out of the several words, and range them in their proper order, you will find they amount to MDCXVVVII, or 1627, the year in which the medal was stamped; for as some of the letters distinguish themselves from the rest and overtop their fellows, they are to be considered in a double capacity, both as letters and as figures. Your laborious German wits will turn over a whole dictionary for one of these ingenious devices. A man would think they were searching after an apt classical term; but instead of that they are looking out a word that has an L, an M, or a D, in it. When therefore we meet with any of these inscriptions, Apropos of this humorous allusion to the Germanesque character of the chronogram, it is worthy of notice that European tourists find far more numerous examples of it in the inscriptions on the churches on the banks of the Rhine than in any other part of the continent. On the title-page of “Hugo Grotius his Sophompaneas” the date, 1652, is not given in the usual form, but is included in the name of the author, thus:— franCIs goLDsMIth. Howell, in his German Diet, after narrating the death of Charles, son of Philip II. of Spain, says:— If you desire to know the year, this chronogram will tell you: fILIVs ante DIeM patrIos InqVIrIt In annos. MDLVVIIIIIIII, or 1568. The following commemorates the death of Queen Elizabeth:— My Day Is Closed In Immortality. (1603.) A German book was issued in 1706, containing fac-similes and descriptions of more than two hundred medals coined in honor of Martin Luther. An inscription on one of them expresses the date of his death, 1546, as follows:— ECCe nVnc MorItVs IVstVs In paCe ChrIstI exItV tVto et beato. The most extraordinary attempt of this kind that has yet been made, bears the following title:— Chronographica Gratulatio in Felicissimum adventum Serenissimi Cardinalis Ferdinandi, Hispaniarum Infantis, a Collegio Soc. Jesu. A dedication to St. Michael and an address to Ferdinand are followed by one hundred hexameters, every one of which is a chronogram, and each gives the same result, 1634. The first and last verses are subjoined as a specimen. AngeLe CÆLIVogI MIChaËL LUX UnICa CÆtUs. VersICULIs InCLUsa, fLUent In sÆCULa CentUM. |
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