"_Clash'd_ their sounding shields the din of war." "Till all his limbs do _crack_." "I _cleave_ with rapid fin the wave." "In one wild havoc _crash'd_." "The moonbeams _crisp_ the _curling_ surge." "By the howling of the dog." "By the _croaking_ of the frog."
All these are effective terms, both in the opening and close. Those who recollect any great actor in "Hamlet," must have noticed the splendid emphasis placeable on the words—
"What should such fellows as I do, _Crawling_ betwixt earth and heaven!"
"Save that a _clog_ doth hang yet at my heel."
And we have here a fine expression, with an equally good pause:—
"I plead a pardon for my tale, And having hemmed and _cough'd_—begin."
But _cough_ must be pronounced in the old Anglo-Saxon way, and not as _coff_. The power of the letter _d_, at the commencement of words, is not quick and sharp like the _c_, but rather slow and heavy; and this effect is vastly increased when an _r_ is added. Thus, for instance:—
"Not all the _drowsy_ syrups of the world."
"Snivelling and _drivelling_ folly without end."
"Good shepherds after shearing _drench_ their sheep."
Such words, too, as _drawl_, _droop_, _drip_, _drizzle_, _drum_, and others, may be, have been used excellently in poetry. The _f_ is a letter expressive of a light and rapid action, at least when conjoined with other consonants. Campbell uses it finely in both ways:—
"But see! 'mid the _fast-flashing_ lightnings of war. What steed to the desert _flies frantic and far_?"
The quick action is also signified in _flay_, _flog_, _fling_, _flitter_, and other vocables. Coriolanus portrays verbally the very deed, when he tells how,
"Like an eagle in a dovecot, he _Flutter'd_ their Volsces in Corioli."
_G_, by itself, is rather a soft consonant; and, followed by _l_, it has also a mild effect, as in the very expressive words, _gleam_, _glide_, _glitter_, _glisten_, _gloom_, and the like. _Gr_, again, is singularly heavy and harsh, as in the succeeding cases:—
"And _grinn'd_, terrific, a sardonic look."
"_Grapple_ him to thy soul with hooks of steel."
Of kindred force are _grasp_, _gripe_, _grope_, and others. _Gnash_ and _gnaw_ have a sort of convulsive twist in sense, and so should they have in sound, when rightly pronounced, and after the original mode. By the way, though _grin_ be a strong word, in its old shape it is stronger; and that _girn_, still used in Scotland.