"Thou _paintst old_ nature," would be about as smooth poetry, and certainly
much better English. This confounding of the persons of the verb, however,
is no modern peculiarity. It appears to be about as old as the use of _s_
for _th_ or _eth_. Spenser, the great English poet of the sixteenth
century, may be cited in proof: as,

"Siker, _thou's_ but a lazy loord,
And _rekes_ much of thy swinke."--_Joh. Dict., w. Loord_.

OBS. 34.--In the solemn style, (except in poetry, which usually contracts
these forms,) the second person singular of the present indicative, and
that of the irregular preterits, commonly end in _est_, pronounced as a
separate syllable, and requiring the duplication of the final consonant,
according to Rule 3d for Spelling: as, I _run_, thou _runnest_; I _ran_,
thou _rannest_. But as the termination _ed_, in solemn discourse,
constitutes a syllable, the regular preterits form the second person
singular by assuming _st_, without further increase of syllables: as, I
_loved_, thou _lovedst_; not, "_lovedest_," as Chandler made it in his
English Grammar, p. 41, Edition of 1821; and as Wells's rule, above cited,
if literally taken, would make it. _Dost_ and _hast_, and the three
irregular preterits, _wast, didst_, and _hadst_, are permanently
contracted; though _doest_ and _diddest_ are sometimes seen in old books.
_Saidst_ is more common, and perhaps more regular, than _saidest. Werest_
has long been contracted into _wert_: "I would thou _werest_ either cold or
hot."--_W. Perkins_, 1608.[251] The auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ change
the final _l_ to _t_, and become _shalt_ and _wilt_. To the auxiliaries,
_may, can, might, could, would_, and _should_, the termination _est_ was
formerly added; but they are now generally written with _st_ only, and
pronounced as monosyllables, even in solemn discourse. Murray, in quoting
the Scriptures, very often charges _mayest_ to _mayst, mightest_ to
_mightst_, &c. Some other permanent contractions are occasionally met with,
in what many grammarians call the solemn style; as _bidst_ for _biddest,
fledst_ for _fleddest, satst_ for _sattest_:

"Riding sublime, thou _bidst_ the world adore,
And humblest nature with thy northern blast."
--_Thomson_.

"Fly thither whence thou _fledst_."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 963.

"Unspeakable, who _sitst_ above these heavens."
--_Id., ib._, B. v, l. 156.

"Why _satst_ thou like