Elizabethan English, on a superficial view, appears to present this great point of difference from the English of modern times, that in the former any irregularities whatever, whether in the formation of words or in the combination of words into sentences, are allowable. In the first place, almost any part of speech can be used as any other part of speech. An adverb can be used as a verb,"They askance their eyes" (R. of L.); as a noun, "the backward and abysm of time" (Sonn.); or as an adjective, "a seldom pleasure" {Sonn.). Any noun, adjective, or neuter verb can be used as an active verb. You can "happy" your friend, "malice" or "foot" your enemy, or "fall" an axe on his neck. An adjective can be used as an adverb; and you can speak and act "easy," "free," "excellent:" or as a noun, and you can talk of "fair" instead of "beauty," and "a pale" instead of "a paleness." Even the pronouns are not exempt from these metamorphoses. A "he" is used for a man, and a lady is described by a gentleman as "the fairest she he has yet beheld." Spenser asks us to

   "Come down and learne the little what
   That Thomalin can sayne."—Calend. Jul. v. 31 (Nares).

And Heywood, after dividing human diners into three classes thus—

   "Some with small fare they be not pleased,
   Some with much fare they be diseased,
   Some with mean fare be scant appeased,"

adds with truly Elizabethan freedom—

   "But of all somes none is displeased."

Participles are equally dangerous. Sometimes, as is the case with pronouns, their reference is vague.

Hastening up the steps, the door opened.
On entering'the room, the eye is struck by a huge chandelier.
After eating a hearty dinner, our carriages were brought to the door.
Lost in meditation, the minutes fleeted past.

Each sentence above illustrates what is called the "dangling participle." There is no one word to which the participle definitely refers. In each sentence except the third, they refer presumably to words in a preceding sentence. In the third, the participle refers to the antecedent of our. Errors of this sort are especially common. Participles much be watched; they cannot be trusted without strict surveillance. Make your participles refer to some definite person, thing, or idea. Moreover, see that they refer to some particular person, thing, or idea. Make it clear that they modify one word, and only one; see that they are not ambiguous.