that it would be an advantage to have this one
thus differentiated both in spelling and sound.

26. 'Toadstools twired and hued fantastically'. (68)

Though the word #twired# is not explained in Mr. Blunden's glossary
and the meaning is not evident from the context, we guess that he is
using it here of shape, in the sense of 'contorted', which would range
with the quotation from Burton (given in some dictionaries) 'No sooner
doth a young man see his sweetheart coming, but he ... slickes his
haire, twires his beard [&c.]'. Here _twires_, as latest edition of
_O.E.D._ suggests, may be a misprint for _twirls_. Older dictionaries
give wrong and misleading definitions of this word; and a spurious
_twire_, to sing, was inferred from a misreading 'twierethe' for
'twitereth' in Chaucer's _Boethius_, III m. 2. Modern authorities only
allow _twire_, to peep, as in Shakespeare's 28th Sonnet,

'When sparkling stars twire not, thou gildst the even'

(whence some had foolishly supposed that _twire_ meant twinkle) and in
Ben Jonson, _Sad Shepherd_, II. 1, 'Which maids will twire at, 'tween
their fingers'. The verb is still in dialectal use: _E.D.D._ explains it
'to gaze wistfully or beseechingly'.

27. 'The tiny frogs
Go yerking'. (69)

#Yerk.# The intrans. verb is to kick as a horse. The trans. verb is
quoted from Massinger, Herrick, and Burns, who has 'My fancy yerkit up
sublime': i.e. roused, lashed.

28. 'There seems no heart in wood or wide'. (8)

#Wide# as a subst. is hardly recognized. Tennyson is quoted, 'The
waste wide of that abyss', but as _waste_ is a recognized substantive
the authority is uncertain.

In the above examples we have taken such words as best answered our
purpose, neglecting many which have almost equal claims. The richness of
the vocabulary in unusual words and in words carrying unusual meanings
forbids complete examination; as will be seen by a rough classification
of some of those which we have passed over.

To begin with the words which our author uses well, we will quote as an
example all the passages in which #writhe# occurs. The transitive
verb which is perhaps in danger of neglect is very valuable, and it is
well employed. These passages will also fully exhibit the general
quality of Mr. Blunden's diction.

'But no one loves the aguish mist
That writhes