The two modes of arrangement may be united in one sentence; such a sentence is a compromise between the periodic and the loose sentence, the point at which the sense is complete standing not at the close, but near it. Periodic sentence.-To this knowledge which all men carry about with them, and to these sympathies in which, without any other discipline than that of our daily life, we are fitted to take delight, the poet principally directs his attention.-Wordsworth. Loose sentence.-It was mercy that preserved the noblest of God's creatures here below; | he who stood condemned and undone under all the other attributes of God was saved and rescued by His mercy; | that it may be evident that God's mercy is above all His works, | and above all ours, | greater than the creation, and greater than our sins. -Jeremy Taylor. Compromise. While the multitude below saw only the flat, sterile desert in which they had so long wandered, bounded on every side by a near horizon, or diversified only by some deceitful mirage, he was gazing from a far higher stand on a far lovelier country, following with his eye the long course of fertilizing rivers, through ample pastures, and under the bridges of great capitals, measuring the distances of marts and havens, and portioning out all those wealthy regions from Dan to Beersheba.-Macaulay. If the preliminary parts of a sentence are many, the faculty of attention is taxed and wearied by the effort to grasp the thought. In such cases the compromise between the periodic and the loose sentence would be serviceable, enabling the reader or listener to lay down his growing burden before the close is reached. RULE VIII. The energy of a sentence is promoted by inversion, interrogation, and exclamation. These methods have been treated under "Variety of Expression"; but we give here a few examples: Inversion; as, "Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield" instead of, "The harvest did often yield to their sickle." Other examples are: Now begins the storm to lower. Full swells the deep, pure fountain of young life. Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave. Never had spies been so actively employed in detecting congregations. Prophet of evil I ever am to myself. Many are the roofs once thatched with reeds. Me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. How the truth came to the prophet he himself knew not. Interrogation: Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice? Who ever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter? Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Who can refute a sneer? Can the leopard change his spots? Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put a hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant forever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Shall thy companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? Exclamation. The occasions which justify the use of exclamation are comparatively rare, and writers should be correspondingly careful in resorting to it. The figure is suitable only in cases of real emotion, and when properly used it is of great value and power. As for example: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! How prayed I that my father's land might be an heritage for thee! I hear, I hear, with joy I hear! When one sits quite alone! Then one weeps, then one kneels! -God! how the house feels! Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers: And yet was every faltering tongue of man, How sweet and soothing is this hour of calm! RULE IX.-Climax promotes strength. Climax (Greek klimax, a ladder), consists in so arranging the words of a series, or the parts of a sentence, that the least impressive shall stand first, and the successive words or parts grow in strength. This order may hold in (1) words, (2) phrases, (3) clauses, and (4) sentences. Paragraphs, even, may stand in this order. The following passages are examples of this kind of construction: I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American. A day, an hour, an instant, may prove fatal. While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; And when Rome falls,-the World. Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter,—but the King of England can not enter! All his forces dare not cross the threshold of that ruined tenement. The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind. It is not always easy to construct a sentence in the order of climax. Not every subject admits of such arrangement, nor would it be desirable to construct all our sentences, or even a majority of them, on this model. The effect would be to destroy all simplicity, and to make the style stiff and pompous. Yet an occasional climax, brought in when the foregoing ideas have prepared the way for it, has a powerful effect. Anti-climax. The inversion of climacteric order gives anti-climax. The arrangement of the parts of the sentence is such that the ideas suddenly become less dignified at the close. Anti-climax is allowable in comic writings, but it is a fault in serious discourse. The Russian grandees came to court dropping diamonds.—Climax. pearls {and vermin. Anti-climax. These two nations were divided by mutual Thus: and the bitter remembrance of recent losses.-Climax. and mountains.-Anti-climax. A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the mean is called "bathos." Thus: He lost his wife, his child, his household goods, and his dog, at one fell swoop. Go teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule, There is some one-I see a dark shape- A clergyman, preaching to a country congregation, used the following persuasive arguments against swearing: “Oh, my brethren, avoid this practice, for it is a great sin, and, what is more, it is ungenteel." EXERCISE L. DIRECTION.-Criticise and amend the following: 1. Her chief is slain, and she fills his fatal post, where death is certain. 2. My ecstatic joys, my deepest, most despondent griefs, my most unconquerable passions, and my indefatigable powers, were my inalienable friends. 3. Sea-port towns on the coast are the great marts for selling produce. 4. Is it true, can it be possible, is it not a mistake, that we have taken the wrong road? 5. It is plain enough, it is quite evident, that the little mill can never keep a stand against this mighty rush of waters, or resist them. 6. The ancient Romans wore a long, loose, untrammeled robe, called a toga. 7. Thought and expression act and react upon each other mutually. 8. I went home full of a great many serious reflections. 9. I do not know what they paved the street with. 10. He gives a glowing description of his descent down into the mine. II. It is a principle of our religion that we should not revenge ourselves on our enemies, nor take vengeance on our foes. 12. A severe and tyrannical exercise of power must become a matter of necessary policy with kings when their subjects are imbued with such principles as justify and authorize rebellion. 13. In this plight, and with a strong consciousness of it, I waited to introduce myself to, and make my first impression on, my formidable aunt. 14. The laughers will be for those who have most wit; the serious part of mankind, for those who have most reason on their side. 15. There are few things that have not a good side as well as that which is bad. 16. He took the bundle from, and would not return it to, the child. 17. When will the balloon ascend up? 18. Whence you derive that idea, I will find out. |