Grammar
Random-ise: Milton's Paradise Lost,  -ize and -ise verbs
 
 
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.
 
John Milton - Paradise Lost 1667
- Paradise Lost at Wikipedia
 
- Paradise Lost at Project Gutenberg
 
- Paradise Lost at Google Books - London 1733
 
- Archive.org - facsimiles in various formats
 
- Facsimile of the First Edition - PDF at Archive.org - large file (20.8 MB) takes a bit of time to load
 
 
Problems
As an example of the problems of dealing with digitised texts, Google Books comes up with all eight of the instances of advise, but searching the PDF format of the the facsimile at Archive.org brings up none. I thought this might be due to the practice of using of an f-like letter to represent s in early publishing, and sure enough searching for advife and surprife in the PDF is more successful.
What I have learned is that with digitised books, there seem to be two digital versions: the (photographic?) one we see, and a background plain text version, and it seems to depend on how this latter has been treated as to how successful searching is.
 
Some of the introductions to the Books seem to be missing from the Project Gutenberg version. The earliest edition I could find at Google Books was from 1733. Clicking on the links will bring up the relevant pages in the London 1733 edition at Google Books. I confess I haven't checked very much with the facsimile version, which seeme to have some serious search problems.
Suffix -ize verbs - 5 instances of 4 verbs
 |  | 1733 | 
 |  | -ise | -ize | 
baptizing | (1) |  | 1 | 
eternize | (2) |  | 2 | 
evangelize | (1) |  | 1 | 
tyrannize | (1) |  | 1 | 
French -ise verbs - 18 instances of 6 verbs
 |  | 1733 | 
 |  | -ise | -ize | 
advise | (8) | 8 |  | 
advising | (1) | 1 |  | 
devising | (1) | 1 |  | 
exercise | (4) | 4 |  | 
surmise | (1) | 1 |  | 
surprise | (3) | 2 | 1 | 
Showing all instances of -ize and -ise as shown in Project Gutenberg
 | 1733 | 
| debate; who can  advise,  may speak. | -ise | 
| fire
  Must  exercise  us without hope | -ise | 
| have what I  advise.  | -ise | 
| Sentence pleas'd,
   Advising  peace: for such | -ise | 
| Faded so soon.  Advise  if this be | -ise | 
| regaind, but sat  devising  Death
  To | -ise | 
|  As may  advise  him of his | -ise | 
|  Let us  advise,  and to this | -ise | 
| Well thou didst  advise,
   Yet not | -ise | 
| dev'lish machination might  devise
   Like instrument | -ise | 
| likes them, to  despise
   God and | -ise | 
| least sin
   Surprise  thee, and her | -ise | 
| detaine thee I  devise,
   Inviting thee | -ise | 
| Thou therefore now  advise
   Or hear | -ise | 
| without thee can  despise.
   For bliss, | -ise | 
| in bad plight,  devise
   What best | -ise | 
| Earth
  Dominion  exercise  and in the | -ise | 
| How can he  exercise
   Wrath without | -ise | 
| Serpent: On me  exercise  not
  Thy | -ise | 
| serv'd but to  eternize  woe;
  Till | -ize | 
 
 | King, who to  surprize
   One man, | -ize | 
| No despicable gift;  surmise  not then
  | -ise | 
| under him to  tyrannize,
   Marching from | -ize | 
| shall beleeve
   Baptizing  in the profluent | -ize | 
| thine; there shall  surprise
   The Serpent, | -ise | 
| sends
  To  evangelize  the Nations, then | -ize | 
| sleep, and Dreams  advise,
   Which he | -ise | 
Related post
- Some random thoughts about -ise and -ize verbs
 
 
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Random-ise: A Sicilian Romance, -ize And -ise Verbs
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.
 
Ann... 
  
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Random-ise: Congreve's The Way Of The World, -ize And -ise Verbs
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.
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Random-ise: Shakespeare And -ize Suffix Verbs
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.
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Random-ised Thoughts - Tristram Shandy, -ize And -ise Verbs
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.
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Thackeray's Use Of -ise/-ize Verbs In Vanity Fair
In which I list all the instances of this type of verb in Mr. Thackeray's fine work and note certain inconsistencies in the spelling thereof, and do the same for Mr. Darwin and his Origin of Species.
 
Background
This is part of an investigation... 
Grammar