Paradigms lost: Bishop lowth and the "poetic dialect" in his English grammar

Author: Percy C.E.

Source: Neophilologus, Volume 81, Number 1, November 1996 , pp. 129-144(16)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Lowth's grammar (1762) remains notorious for its use of literary quotations as negative examples. Lowth catalogued grammar errors in the works of the most skilled users of the English language in order to support his claim that grammar rules for English urgently needed to be codified and disseminated. Some of Lowth?s rules were regarded as irrelevant to contemporary usage. He not only avoided using examples from living writers and stated that the best standard for the language was the 1611 Bible, but even cited pages of Old English irregular verbs. Some commentators also accused him of deriving his rules not only from archaic English, but from Latin.

This article seeks to reconcile the Lowth who catalogued solecisms in English literary texts with the Lowth who defended similar errors in Hebrew poetry on the grounds of poetic licence. Lowth's interest in the distinctive properties of English, evident from the first edition of the grammar, has already been observed. Here I chart Lowth's continuing awareness of different varieties of English, particularly "the poetical style", as manifested in his revisions to the grammar. In later editions, he -- like contemporary book reviewers -- subjects poetry to some otherwise archaic rules, but exempts it from others.

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of English, University of Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada

Publication date: 1996-11-01