The finest and fullest guide to the peculiarities of Elizabethan syntax, grammar, and prosody, this volume addresses every idiomatic usage found in Shakespeare's works (with additional references to the works of Jonson, Bacon, and others). Its informative introduction, which compares Shakespearian and modern usage, is followed by sections on grammar (classified according to parts of speech) and prosody (focusing on pronunciation). The book concludes with an examination of the uses of metaphor and simile and a selection of notes and questions suitable for classroom use.  Unabridged republication of the classic 1870 edition.

A Shakespearian Grammar
by E.A. Abbott
(Rare Book Collection)

The work is a complete book of reference for all difficulties of Shakespearian syntax or prosody. For this purpose the whole of Shakespeare has been re-read, and an attempt has been made to include within this edition the explanation of every idiomatic difficulty (where the text is not confessedly corrupt) that comes within the province of a grammar as distinct from a glossary. The great object being to make a useful book of reference for students, and especially for classes in schools, several Plays have been indexed so fully that with the aid of a glossary and historical notes the references will serve for a complete commentary. A complete table of the contents of each paragraph has been prefixed, together with a Verbal Index at the end. The indexes may be of use to students of a more advanced stage, and perhaps may occasionally be found useful to the general reader of Shakespeare.