Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 2 AIL 0116 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Thou, Thee, Thy, Thine
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The idea
Thou is the subject form, thee the object, thy and thine the possessives. Thou dost stay means you stay. These forms are singular and once marked intimacy or inferiority, so their use in a poem carries a relationship as well as a grammar.
In practice
Thou acts, thee is acted upon.
Where people slip
The choice signals intimacy or rank.
Your place on the trail
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