Your swallowing or eating vp one letter by another is when two vowels meete, whereof th’ones sound goeth into other, as to say for to attaine, t’attaine] for sorrow smart, sor’smart.]

Your displacing of a sillable as to say [desier for desire] [sier for sire.]

By cleare exchaunge of one letter or sillable for another, as to say euermare for euermore, wrang for wrong:  gould for gold:  fright for fraight and a hundred moe, which be commonly misused and strained to make rime.

By wrong ranging the accent of a sillable by which meane a short sillable is made long and a long short as to say soueraine for soueraine:  gratious for gratious:  endure for endure:  Salomon for Salomon.

These many wayes may our maker alter his wordes, and sometimes it is done for pleasure to giue a better sound, sometimes vpon necessitie and to make vp the rime.  But our maker must take heed that he be not to bold specially in exchange of one letter for another for vnlesse vsuall speach and custome allow it, it is a fault and no figure, and because these be figures of the smallest importaunce, I forbeare to giue them any vulgar name.

  CHAP.  XII.

Of Auricular figures pertaining to clauses of speech and by them working no little alteration to the eare.

As your single words may be many waies transfigured to make the meetre or verse more tunable and melodious, so also may your whole and entire clauses be in such sort contriued by the order of their construction as the eare may receiue certaine recreation, although the mind for any noueltie of sence be little or nothing affected.  And therefore al your figures of grammaticall construction, I accompt them but merely auricular in that they reach no furder then the eare.  To which there will appeare some sweete or vnsauery point to offer you dolour or delight, either by some euident defect, or surplusage, or disorder, or immutation in the same speaches notably altering either the congruitie grammaticall, or the sence, or both.

[Sidenote:  Eclipsis or the Figure of default.] And first of those that worke by defect, if but one word or some little portion of speach be wanting, it may be supplied by ordinary vnderstanding and vertue of the figure Eclipsis, as to say so early a man, for [are ye] so early a man:  he is to be intreated, for he is [easie] to be intreated:  I thanke God I am to liue like a Gentleman, for I am [able] to liue, and the Spaniard said in his deuise of armes acuerdo oluido, I remember I forget whereas in right congruitie of speach it should be:  I remember [that I [doo] forget.  And in a deuise of our owne [empechement pur a choison] a let for a furderance whereas it should be said [vse] a let for a furderance, and a number more like speaches defectiue, and supplied by common vnderstanding.