these writers should be carefully studied by all who aspire to
elegance, accuracy, and strength in literary expression.

Fine Writing

Never hesitate to call a spade a spade. One of the most frequent
violations of good taste consists in the effort to dress a common
subject in high-sounding language. The ass in the fable showed his
stupidity
_________________________________________________________________

9

when he put on the lion's skin and expected the other animals to
declare him to be the king of beasts. The distinction of a subject
lies in its own inherent character, and no pompous parade of words
will serve to exalt a commonplace theme.

Poetic Terms

In the expression of homely ideas and the discussion of affairs of
every-day life, avoid such poetic forms as o'er for over, ne'er for
never, 'mid for amid, e'en for even, 'gan for began, 'twixt for
betwixt, 'neath for beneath, list for listen, oft for often, morn for
morning, eve for evening, e'er for ever, ere for before, 'tis for it
is, 'twas for it was.

In all prose composition, avoid such poetic forms as swain, wight,
mead, brake, dingle, dell, zephyr.