The subject usually comes first in the sentence. If it has any
modifiers, they alone precede the subject, as for example:
A wonderful, inspiring _lecture_ was given.
The weary _army_ slept in the trenches.
But occasionally we find the subject after the verb.
+421.+ +By simple inversion.+
We will often find this use in poetry or in poetic prose, as for
example:
Never have _I_ heard one word to the contrary.
In this sentence _I_ is the subject of the sentence, _have heard_ is the
verb, and _never_ is an adverb modifying the verb phrase, _have heard_.
But in order to place emphasis upon the word _never_, which is the
emphatic word in the sentence, _never_ is placed first, and the verb
phrase inverted so that the subject _I_ comes in between the two words
which form the verb phrase. The sentence expressed in its usual order
would be: