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Title: Punctuation personified

or, pointing made easy

Author: Mr. Stops

Release date: November 1, 2023 [eBook #72005]

Language: English

Original publication: London: John Harris, 1824

Credits: Bob Taylor, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUNCTUATION PERSONIFIED ***
Cover

PUNCTUATION

Personified:

OR

POINTING MADE EASY.


BY


MR. STOPS.



LONDON:

JOHN HARRIS,
CORNER OF ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET.

[Pg 1]

Figure made of punctuation

ROBERT’S first interview with MR. STOPS.

Young Robert could read but he gabbled so fast:
And ran on with such speed, that all meaning he lost.
Till one Morning he met Mr. Stops by the way,
Who advis’d him to listen to what he should say.
Then entering the house, he a riddle repeated.
To shew, WITHOUT STOPS, how the ear may be cheated.

[Pg 2]

Two kids

MR. STOPS READING TO ROBERT AND HIS SISTER.

“Ev’ry lady in this land
“Has twenty nails upon each hand
“Five & twenty on hands & feet
“And this is true without deceit.”
But when the stops were plac’d aright,
The real sense was brought to light.

[Pg 3]

Counsellor

COUNSELLOR COMMA, marked thus ,

Here counsellor Comma the reader may view,
Who knows neither guile nor repentance;
A straight forward path he resolves to pursue
By dividing short parts of a sentence;
As “Charles can sing, whistle, leap, tumble, & run,”—
Yet so BRIEF is each pause, that he merely counts ONE.

[Pg 4]

Ensign with flag

ENSIGN SEMICOLON, marked thus ;

See, how Semicolon is strutting with pride;
Into two or more parts he’ll a sentence divide.
As “John’s a good scholar; but George is a better:
One wrote a fair copy; the other a letter.”
Without this gay ensign we little could do;
And when he appears we must pause & count TWO.

[Pg 5]

Colon on a stick

A COLON, marked thus :

The colon consists of two dots, as you see:
And remains within sight whilst you count one, two, three:
Tis us’d where the sense is complete, tho but part
Of the sentence you’re reading, or learning by heart.
As “Gold is deceitful: it bribes to destroy.”
“Young James is admired: he’s a very good boy.”

[Pg 6]

Figure holding cloth

A PERIOD or Full Stop,

marked thus .

The full-fac’d gentleman here shown
To all my friends, no doubt, is known:
In him the PERIOD we behold,
Who stands his ground whilst four are told;
And always ends a perfect sentence,
As “Crime is followed by repentance.”

[Pg 7]

Crooked man

THE INTERROGATIVE POINT ?

What little crooked man is this?
He’s call’d INTERROGATION, Miss:
He’s always asking this & that,
As “What’s your name? Whose dog is that?”
And for your answer, he will stay
While you, One, Two, Three, Four, can say.

[Pg 8]

Figure reading

THE EXCLAMATION POINT !

or Note of Admiration.

This Youth, so struck with admiration,
Is of a wondering generation,
With face so long, and thin and pale,
He cries, “Oh! what a wonderous tale!”
While you count four, he stops, and then,
Admiring! he goes on again.

[Pg 9]

People on boat

AN APOSTROPHE ’

The comma, plac’d as here you see,
From the word LOV’D has snatch’d a letter;
It bears the name APOSTROPHE:—
And, perhaps, you can’t contrive a better.
In poetry ’tis chiefly found,
Where sense should coincide with sound.

[Pg 10]

Figure holding Acute and Grave papers

A dash — Circumflex ^ Breve ˘ Diæresis ¨ Hyphen - Acute Accent ´ Grave Accent ` Parenthesis ( )

A DASH & a CIRCUMFLEX here form a hat;
A BREVE serves to mark out the face;
DIÆRESIS, too, & the HYPHEN come pat,
As a breast & a neck in their place:
The arms are the Accents, both GRAVE & ACUTE,
And for legs the PARENTHESIS nicely may suit.

[Pg 11]

YOU
DON’T SEE

The use of me.

Don’t you see
a Caret

A Caret, marked thus ^.

If you a letter are inditing
And make an error in your writing,
By leaving out a word, or two,
The CARET may be us’d by you;
As “This new book to Charles I send,
And hope to please my dearest friend.”

[Pg 12]

Section figure

A Section, marked thus §.

This Gentleman of deep reflections,
Divides a subject into Sections;
Ideas ranging under heads,
As gardens are laid out in beds;
That o’er the whole the eye may move,
Survey the plan, & then approve.

[Pg 13]

Chapter figure

A PARAGRAPH ¶.

The PARAGRAPH, which here you view,
Always announces something new;
Distinct from what was read before,
As is the water from the shore.
This mark in Scripture oft is found,
As thriving best on sacred ground.

[Pg 14]

“Remember me” sign

A QUOTATION “ ”

Two commas standing on their heads,
Their orders are obeying;
Two others, risen from their beds,
Their best respects are paying;
These four are ushers of much use,
As they great authors introduce.

[Pg 15]

Figures of punctuation

BRACKETS OR CROTCHETS [] BRACE } ELLIPSIS __ PARALLELS ∥ OBELISK † DOUBLE DAGGER ‡ ASTERISK *

These Brackets some words may enclose, without doubt:
The Brace several lines will unite;
Ellipsis is us’d where we letters leave out.
As k—t may be read for a knight.
The Parallels, Ob’lisk, & Daggers we find,
Like the ASTERISK only for ref’rence design’d.

[Pg 16]

HARRIS’S

CABINET OF AMUSEMENT AND INSTRUCTION,

Consisting of the most approved Novelties for the Nursery;

Printed in a superior manner upon good paper, 1s. 6d. each, and illustrated with Sixteen Engravings neatly coloured.

1. Mother Hubbard & her Dog.

2. Dame Trot and her Cat.

3. Cock Robin, a Painted Toy.

4. History of the House that Jack Built.

5. Nursery Novelties, or a New Alphabet for Children.

6. History of the Apple Pie, an Alphabet for little Masters and Misses.

7. Dame Dearlove’s Ditties for the Nursery.

8. Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain & Perfect Pronunciation.

9. The Infant’s Friend, or Easy Reading Lessons.

10. The Snow-Drop, or Poetic Trifles for Little Folks.

11. The Hobby-Horse, being a revival of that favourite Alphabet, A was an Archer and shot at a Frog.

12. Cries of London, or Sketches of Characters in the Metropolis.

13. The Courtship, Marriage, &c. of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren.

14. The Alphabet of Goody Two Shoes; “by learning which she soon got rich.”

15. History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women.

16. Spring Flowers, or Easy Lessons, not exceeding Words of Two Syllables. By Mrs. Ritson.

17. The Phœnix, or a Choice Collection of Riddles and Charades.

18. Sir Harry Herald’s View of the Dignitaries of England, shewing the Costume of different Ranks, and the Coronation Regalia.

19. The Paths of Learning strewed with Flowers, or English Grammar illustrated.

20. Tommy Trip’s Museum, or a Peep at the Quadruped Race, Part I.

21. Ditto, Part II.—22. Part III.

23. The Costumes of Different Nations, illustrated.

24. Wonders, descriptive of some of the most remarkable in Art and Nature.

25. The Monthly Monitor; or Short Stories, adapted to every Season of the Year. By Mrs. Ritson.

26. The Picturesque Primer, with 72 Engravings.

27. The Peacock at Home; with The Butterfly’s Ball.

28. Simple Stories in Words of One Syllable, by the Author of the “Stories of Old Daniel.”

29. The New Tom Thumb; and Account of his Wonderful Exploits.

30. Valentine and Orson, or Two Sons of the Emperor of Greece.

31. Take your Choice, or the Alphabet Community.

32. Lapland Sketches; or, Costume, &c. of Jens Holm and his Wife.

33. Tom Pickle’s Family History, versified by himself.

34. Tommy Trip’s Museum of Birds, Part I.

35. Ditto, Part II.

36. The Infant’s Grammar; or a Pic-Nic Party of the Parts of Speech.

37. The Monkey’s Frolic.

38. The Seven Champions of Christendom.

39. Little Rhymes for Little Folks.

40. Poetical Gems; or Short Pieces from the most admired Authors, to commit to memory.

41. Punctuation Personified, or Pointing made Easy; by Mr. Stops.

42. Pug’s Travels thro’ Europe.

43. Peep at the Stars.

44. The Scripture Alphabet.

45. Portraits and Characters of the Kings of England, from William Conqueror to Edw. IV. Part I.

46. Ditto, from Edward IV. to George III. Part II.

47. New Year’s Feast, on his coming of Age; a Poem illustrative of the Festivals and Fasts.

48. Travels and Adventures of John Bull the Younger.

49. An Alphabetical Arrangement of Animals, by Sally Sketch.

50. The Three Cakes; a Tale in Verse, from the Original in Prose by Mrs. Barbauld.

51. The Word Book.

52. The Rational Alphabet.

53. Royal Primer, or high Road to Learning.

54. Old Woman and her Pig.

55. Cinderella, or the little Glass Slipper.

56. Puss in Boots.

57. Whittington and his Cat.

58. Walks with Mamma.