EXAMPLE. "Accustomed to a land at home where every height, seen dimly in the distance, might prove a cathedral tower, a church-spire, a pilgrim's oratory, or at least a way-side cross, the religious explorers must have often strained their sight in order to recognize some object of a similar character." 55. Suspense is often effected by placing the predicate first, or, what is of the same principle, the characteristics of an object before the object itself is named. EXAMPLE. From Matthew Arnold: "Spenser's manner is no more Homeric than is the manner of the one modern inheritor of Spenser's beautiful gift, — the poet, who evidently caught from Spenser his sweet and easy-slipping movement, and who has exquisitely employed it; a Spenserian genius, nay, a genius by natural endowment richer probably than even Spenser; that light which shines so unexpected and without fellow in our century, an Elizabethan born too late, the early lost and admirably gifted Keats." Cautions and Suggestions. While the suspensive structure is useful for climax and unity, and for imparting a certain stateliness to the style, it imposes on the reader a greater burden of interpretation than do other structures. The chief problem, therefore, is to secure directness and simplicity. 56. The principal caution is against excess. As all the suspensive details must be held in mind until the key-word is reached, it is easy to make the number too great to be carried, and the reader's attention is dissipated instead of stimulated. EXAMPLE. In the following, which is quoted from a newspaper, the accumulation of details becomes almost ludicrous toward the end: "Shocked by the suicide and treachery of a professed friend, embarrassed by the broken condition of the bank, maddened by the wild clamor of an excited community, stung by the harsh reports of the New York papers, dreading lest by reason of some technicality his honor would be impeached, having borne the terrible strain for four weary days, in a moment, without the slightest premeditation, frenzied and insane, he committed the deed." It will be noticed here that the principal means of suspense is the participial construction. 57. It is often an advantage, when the number of suspensive details is large, to introduce the principal assertion piecemeal, between the members of the sentence. EXAMPLE. The following sentence, strictly periodic, is cumbrous: "At last, with no small difficulty, after much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather, we came to our journey's end." Observe the greater ease and naturalness of the following: "At last, with no small difficulty, and after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads and bad weather, to our journey's end.”1 58. Care is to be taken what kind of addition is made, if any, after the completion of a period. It should not be out of proportion to what precedes, in brevity or insignificance of meaning; and this it is peculiarly liable to be if it is a clause beginning with not or which. EXAMPLES.-This "loose addition" is equally precarious on any long sentence, whether strictly periodic or not. The following examples are quoted from Abbot. "This reform has already been highly beneficial to all classes of our countrymen, and will, I am persuaded, encourage among us industry, self-dependence, and frugality, and not, as some say, wastefulness." The italicized part ought to come after "among us" and the rest then be set off by but. “After a long and tedious journey, the last part of which was a little dangerous owing to the state of the roads, we arrived safely at York, which is a fine old town." The danger of such a loose addition is that it may introduce some fact or thought not reconcilable with the unity of sentence structure. See page 176. IX. AUGMENTATION. "It is a maxim of style universally," says Professor Bain, "that everything should have bulk and prominence according to its importance." This principle leads the writer to augment, condense, or repeat, according to the requirements of his subject-matter. The word Augmentation is here chosen to indicate intentional fullness of statement, made in order to give more time or more emphasis to important elements of the thought. Prefaced Statement. It is a natural and frequent impulse, in the case of important statements, to make some kind of approach to them, by words or clauses not indispensable to the sense. 1 See discussion of this sentence, and principle involved, Spencer, "Philosophy of Style," pp. 26, 27. See also Bain's Rhetoric, p. 77. 59. A prefacing expression gains distinction or momentum for certain words or parts of the thought. Not always, however, is such a device of advantage; and its need or extent must be determined by careful judgment, or it may easily become a superfluity. EXAMPLES. — The words it and there have already been mentioned under prospective reference; here it is to be noted again that they are in their nature merely prefacing expressions, useful for the approach they make to important thoughts. Compare, for instance, “I would not believe he listened to my voice," which is capable of more than one emphasis, with "I would not believe it was he that listened to my voice," where the prefacing words direct the emphasis. "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes; but what are they among so many?" All this idea could be expressed more briefly, "A lad here hath five barley loaves," etc., but the prefacing words gain distinction for it. Sometimes the prefacing statement may be more extended, a condition, for instance, or personal explanation. For example: “If we read of some illustrious line, so ancient that it has no beginning, so worthy that it ought to have no end, we sympathize in its various fortunes; nor can we blame the generous enthusiasm, or even the harmless vanity, of those who are allied to the honors of its name." Here our sympathy for the fortunes of the illustrious line does not really depend on our reading of it; and the idea could be all expressed by beginning, "We sympathize with the various fortunes," etc., but the prefacing conditional clause gives distinction, and is introduced for that purpose. Oratory is particularly friendly to such prefacing statements; as, "Let me remind the honorable gentleman that," etc. "I think I am right in maintaining that," etc. Amplitude. Not only at the beginning, but also in the body of a sentence, the tendency is natural, on occasion, to increase the number of words. 60. Of alternative grammatical structures, choose for amplitude the fuller; not, however, unless the influence of every added word to increase the desired effect of the passage can be accurately determined. EXAMPLES. -1. For amplitude, word-adjuncts may be changed to clauseadjuncts; for example: "This expedient should embody [something that may be regarded as] a real requisite to [what is in fact] so momentous a result." Here the words in brackets may be of real use in some circumstances. 2. For amplitude, conjunctions are sometimes used copiously, in order to compel due attention to every detail thus connected; for example: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God." 3. In oratory, amplitude of expression sometimes adds words merely to aid the movement or imaginative power of a passage. The following is from Daniel Webster: " a Power (the British Empire) which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.” On this E. P. Whipple remarks, "Perhaps a mere rhetorician might consider superfluous the word 'whole,' as applied to 'globe,' and 'unbroken,' as following 'continuous'; yet they really add to the force and majesty of the expression." 61. It is not to be supposed, however, that amplitude can be reduced wholly to rule. In all its real effectiveness it must be left to the instinctive sense of a full mind seeking its best individual expression. To quote the words of Cardinal Newman, words which themselves illustrate their theme: "And, since the thoughts and reasonings of an author have, as I have said, a personal character, no wonder that his style is not only the image of his subject, but of his mind. That pomp of language, that full and tuneful diction, that felicitousness in the choice and exquisiteness in the collocation of words, which to pro- . saic writers seem artificial, is nothing else but the mere habit and way of a lofty intellect. Aristotle, in his sketch of the magnanimous man, tells us that his voice is deep, his motions slow, and his stature commanding. In like manner, the elocution of a great intellect is great. His language expresses, not only his great thoughts, but his great self. Certainly he might use fewer words than he uses; but he fertilizes his simplest ideas, and germinates into a multitude of details, and prolongs the march of his sentences, and sweeps round to the full diapason of his harmony, as if kúdeï yaíwv, rejoicing in his own vigor and richness of resource. I say, a narrow critic will call it verbiage, when really it is a sort of fullness of heart, parallel to that which makes the merry boy whistle as he walks, or the strong man, like the smith in the novel, flourish his club when there is no one to fight with." Under this head of Augmentation are to be considered also Redundancy and Circumlocution, which may or may not be justifiable, according as they are the result of skillful intent or of mere carelessness. Redundancy. This consists of additions not essential to the sense, and beyond the requirements of the grammatical construction. When it is merely a crude repetition of what is already implied, especially in unimportant words, it has no excuse. EXAMPLE. — In the sentence, "They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth," the five words in italics are redundant grammatically: nor is there any excuse for them on the score of distinction. 62. "Redundancy is permissible," says Professor Bain, "for the surer conveyance of important meaning, for emphasis, and in the language of passion and poetic embellishment." EXAMPLES. -"We have seen with our eyes; we have heard with our ears." These redundancies give a real emphasis and distinction. Under this head come also many of the essential and decorative epithets of poetry; see pages 56, 57. Circumlocution. - The nature of this is indicated by the derived meaning of the word — "talking around"; it is a diffuse mode of speaking, which cannot be remedied by cutting out parts of the passage, but only by recasting. EXAMPLE. The commonly quoted example is a good example of needless circumlocution: "Pope professed to have learned his poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an opportunity was presented, he praised through the whole period of his existence with unvaried liberality; and perhaps his character may receive some illustration, if a comparison be instituted between him and the man whose pupil he was." This is intolerably diffuse, and may be condensed thus: "Pope professed himself the pupil of Dryden, whom he lost no opportunity of praising; and his character may be illustrated by a comparison with his master "1 1 Cited from Bain's "English Composition and Rhetoric," pp. 71, 72. |