As, in a general way appears
Long unto all but asses' ears,
But some Greek words take care to mark as
Short,-- for example-- Pall{a}s, Arc{a}s--
And nouns increasing plural sport
An _as_ accusative that's short.
Es in the main's a long affair,
AnchisEs, such, and patrEs are,
Though of the third declension you
As short such substantives must view,
The genitives of which increase,
Derived from nominatives in es,
And have an accent short upon
The syllable that's last but one.
As mil{e}s, seg{e}s, div{e}s, (which
Means what a Poet is n't,)-- rich:
But pEs is long, with bipEs, tripEs,
Like to a hermit munching dry pease.
To these add CerEs, Saturn's cub,
(Name of a goddess, and for grub
The figure Metonymy through,)
And ariEs, abiEs, pariEs, too.
Sum with its compounds forming {e}s, }
Are short, join pen{e}s, if you please, }
Item Cyclop{e}s Naiad{e}s. }
Greek nominatives and plural neuters,
For lists of which consult your tutors.
Is, we call short, as Par{i}s, trist{i}s,
Save all such words as mensIs, istIs.
Plurals oblique that end in _is_,
Adding thereto for quibus quIs.
The _is_ in SamnIs long by right is
Because its genitive's SamnItis,
Where you observe a lengthened state
Of syllable penultimate.
The same to all such words applies,
And Is contracted, meaning _eis_,
Long too,-- and pray remember this
Are monosyllables in _is_.
Save {i}s the nominative pronoun,
And qu{i}s, and b{i}s, which last is no noun.
When verbs by _is_ concluded are,
In second person singular;
But in the plural _itis_ make,
The _is_ is long, and no mistake--
Provided always that the pe-
Nultimate plural long shall be.
Os, saving comp{o}s, imp{o}s, {o}s
Is long-- as honOs dominOs.
The Greek omicron 's short, and that in
All conscience must be so in Latin.
Words should be short in _us_, unless
Authority has laid a stress
On the penultimate of any
Word that increases in the geni-
Tive case when us is long, the same
Pronunciation nouns may claim--
Declined like gradUs or like manUs
Though here exceptions still detain us.
The first case and the fifth are those
Singular; short as monkey's nose.
Long are mUs, crUs, and thUs and sUs
All monosyllables in Us,
And Grecian nouns by diphthong _ous_,
Translated _us_ by men of _nous_.
Lastly, all words in _u_ are long,