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PDF “Look next on Greatness;
say where Greatness lies:
Where, but among the Heroes
and the Wise?”
—Brit.
Poets, vi, 380.
SECTION VII—THE ECPHONEME.
The Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation, is used to denote a pause with some strong emotion of admiration, joy, grief, or other feeling; and, as a sign of great wonder, it is sometimes, though not very elegantly, repeated: as, “Grammatical consistency!!! What a gem!”—Peirce’s Gram., p. 352.
RULE I.—INTERJECTIONS, &c.
Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are generally followed by the note of exclamation; as, “Hold! hold! Is the devil in you? Oh! I am bruised all over.”—MOLIERE: Burgh’s Speaker, p. 250.
“And O! till earth, and seas,
and heav’n decay,
Ne’er may that fair
creation fade away!”—Dr. Lowth.
RULE II.—INVOCATIONS.
After an earnest address or solemn invocation, the note of exclamation is now generally preferred to any other point; as, “Whereupon, O king Agrippa! I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”—Acts, xxvi, 19.
“Be witness thou, immortal
Lord of all!
Whose thunder shakes the dark
aerial hall.”—Pope.
RULE III.—EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.
Words uttered with vehemence in the form of a question, but without reference to an answer, should be followed by the note of exclamation; as, “How madly have I talked!”—Young.
“An Author! ’Tis
a venerable name!
How few deserve it, and what
numbers claim!”
—Id.,
Br. Po., viii, 401.
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE PUNCTUATION.—ERRORS CONCERNING THE ECPHONEME.
UNDER RULE I.—OF INTERJECTIONS, &c.
(1.) “O that he were wise.”—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 111.
[FORMULE. Not proper, because this strong wish, introduced by “O,” is merely marked with a period. But, according to Rule 1st for the Ecphoneme, “Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are generally followed by the note of exclamation.” Therefore, the pause after this sentence, should be marked with the latter sign; and, if the “O” be read with a pause, the same sign may be there also.]
(2.) “O that his heart was tender.”—Exercises, ib., p. 111. (3.) “Oh, what a sight is here!”—Lennie’s Gram., p. 48. (4.) “Oh! what a sight is here.”—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 71; (Obs. 2;) Pract. Les., p. 83. (5.) “O virtue! How amiable thou art.”—Id.,, p. 71; Pract. Les., p. 82. (6.) “O virtue! how amiable thou art.”—Day’s Gram., p. 109. (7.) “O, virtue! how amiable
