Classic Poem

General Rule 1

Gods, angels, men, months, rivers, wind
Must ever be with " hic " declined;
Thus every common name for " He "
Must of the better gender be.

General Rule 2

Goddesses, women, cities, isles
All " haec " a true grammarian styles;
So Sirens, Furies, Harpies, Graces,
Because they are all female faces;
Nymphs, Muses, Fates, this gender crave;
And every common name they have,
As " haec virago. " To these nouns
Add counties, villages and towns.

General Rule 3

Decline with " haec " most names of trees,
Because they've female properties;
By bearing fruit, and summer's pride,
They're nearly to the sex allied.

General Rule 4

All names of metals, pulse and fruit
Do with neuter gender suit;
But if both fruit and tree they sound,
The female " haec " still keeps its ground.

Rule the 5th

Nouns that express both kinds are common,
As " senex " an old man and woman;
But yet by epithets we find
Some are to one side more inclined.

Remarks upon Rule 5

We must observe nouns that are common
Sometimes for man, sometimes for woman;
But by the sense we soon may see
With what sex they can best agree.
Some words we know, by Nature bent,
To either sex indifferent.
Others are found again t' incline
Chiefly to be o' th' masculine.
And some by Nature too there are
That to the female must adhere.
Verbals in a must follow these,
And nouns denoting offices,
In which the male and female are
Obliged to have an equal share.