How to parse. ...

242

AD VERBS.

[Par. 420.

speare has " thy here-approach," " our hence-going,"
"till Harry's back-return."
420 Adverbs repeated. —Many Adverbs are repeated, sometimes to denote repetition, sometimes
for emphasis. Thus we use "again and again,"
" in and in," (of horse-breeding), "over and over,"
logically; for the repetition of the action requires
the repetition of the Adverb. But we also illogically use "through and through," "out and out,"
and Pope has:"Know there are rhymes which fiesh and freshl
applied."
This explains "by and by." " By " meant "near,"
either of space or time. Hence " by and by " meant
"very near," either of space or of time. Chaucer
uses it of space and speaks of "two knights sleeping by and by," i.e. "close by." But we now use it
only in the sense of "very soon." In early English
(Layamon ii. 447) we find "with and with" for
" again and agaii." 2

1 So a dinner is served up " hot and hot."
2 'Tle later text has one " with " only.