The Grammar of English Grammars Part 262

SECTION V.--OF UNITY.

Unity consists in avoiding needless pauses, and keeping one object predominant throughout a sentence or paragraph. Every sentence, whether its parts be few or many, requires strict unity. The chief faults, opposite to this quality of style, are suggested in the following precepts. PRECEPT I.--Avoid brokenness, hitching, or the unnecessary separation of parts that naturally come together. Examples: "I was, soon after my arrival, taken out of my Indian habit."--_Addison, Tattler_, No. 249. Better: "Soon after my arrival, _I_ was taken out of my Indian habit."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.

326. "Who can, either in opposition, or in the ministry, act alone?"--_Ib._ Better: "Who can act alone, either in opposition, or in the ministry?"--_Ib._ "I, like others, have, in my youth, trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely a.s.sails me."--_Ib._, p. 327. Better: "Like others, I have trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely a.s.sails me."

PRECEPT II.--Treat different topics in separate paragraphs, and distinct sentiments in separate sentences. Error: "The two volumes are, indeed, intimately _connected, and const.i.tute_ one uniform system of English Grammar."--_Murray's Preface_, p. iv. Better thus: "The two volumes are, indeed, intimately connected. _They_ const.i.tute one uniform system of English _grammar_."

PRECEPT III.--In the progress of a sentence, do not desert the princ.i.p.al subjects in favour of adjuncts, or change the scene unnecessarily. Example: "After we came to anchor, they put me on sh.o.r.e, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness, which was not then expected." Better: "The vessel having come to anchor, I was put on sh.o.r.e; where I was unexpectedly welcomed by all my friends, and received with the greatest kindness."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 107.

PRECEPT IV.--Do not introduce parentheses, except when a lively remark may be thrown in without diverting the mind too long from the princ.i.p.al subject. Example: "But (saith he) since I take upon me to teach the whole world, (it is strange, it should be so natural for this man to write untruths, since I direct my _Theses_ only to the Christian world; but if it may render me odious, such _Peccadillo's_ pa.s.s with him, it seems, but for _Piae Fraudes_:) I intended never to write of those things, concerning which we do not differ from others."--_R. Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii. p. 279. The parts of this sentence are so put together, that, as a whole, it is scarcely intelligible.

SECTION VI.--OF STRENGTH.

Strength consists in giving to the several words and members of a sentence, such an arrangement as shall bring out the sense to the best advantage, and present every idea in its due importance. Perhaps it is essential to this quality of style, that there be animation, spirit, and _vigour of thought_, in all that is uttered. A few hints concerning the Strength of sentences, will here be given in the form of precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid verbosity; a concise style is the most favourable to strength. Examples: "No human happiness is so pure as not to contain _any_ alloy."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 270. Better: "No human happiness is _unalloyed_." "He was so much skilled in the exercise of the oar, that few could equal him."--_Ib._, p. 271. Better: "He was so _skillful at_ the oar, that few could _match_ him." Or thus: "At the oar, he was _rarely equalled_." "The reason why they [the p.r.o.nouns] are considered separately is, because there is something particular in their inflections."-- _Priestley's Gram._, p. 81. Better: "The p.r.o.nouns are considered separately, because there is something peculiar in their inflections."

PRECEPT II.--Place the most important words in the situation in which they will make the strongest impression. Inversion of terms sometimes increases the strength and vivacity of an expression: as, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."--_Matt._, iv, 9.

"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgements."--_Psalms_, cxix, 137. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."--_Ps._, cxvi, 15.

PRECEPT III.--Have regard also to the relative position of clauses, or members; for a weaker a.s.sertion should not follow a stronger; and, when the sentence consists of two members, the longer should be the concluding one.

Example: "We flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken our pa.s.sions, when they have forsaken us." Better: "When our pa.s.sions have forsaken us, we flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken them."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.

PRECEPT IV.--When things are to be compared or contrasted, their resemblance or opposition will be rendered more striking, if a pretty near resemblance in the language and construction of the two members, be preserved. Example: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own approbation; the fool, when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him." Better: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own approbation; the fool, when he gains the applause of others."--See _Murray's Gram._, p. 324.

PRECEPT V.--Remember that it is, in general, ungraceful to end a sentence with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word or phrase, which may either be omitted or be introduced earlier. "For instance, it is a great deal better to say, 'Avarice is a crime of which wise men are often guilty,' than to say, 'Avarice is a crime which wise men are often guilty of.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.

END OF THE THIRD APPENDIX.

APPENDIX IV.

TO PART FOURTH, OR PROSODY.

OF POETIC DICTION.

Poetry, as defined by Dr. Blair, "is the language of pa.s.sion, or of enlivened imagination, formed, most commonly, into regular numbers."--_Rhet._, p. 377. The style of poetry differs, in many respects, from that which is commonly adopted in prose. Poetic diction abounds in bold figures of speech, and unusual collocations of words. A great part of the figures, which have been treated of in one of the chapters of Prosody, are purely poetical. The primary aim of a poet, is, to please and to move; and, therefore, it is to the imagination, and the pa.s.sions, that he speaks.

He may also, and he should, have it in his view, to instruct and to reform; but it is indirectly, and by pleasing and moving, that such a writer accomplishes this end. The exterior and most obvious distinction of poetry, is versification: yet there are some forms of verse so loose and familiar, as to be hardly distinguishable from prose; and there is also a species of prose, so measured in its cadences, and so much raised in its tone, as to approach very nearly to poetic numbers.

This double approximation of some poetry to prose, and of some prose to poetry, not only makes it a matter of acknowledged difficulty to distinguish, by satisfactory definitions, the two species of composition, but, in many instances, embarra.s.ses with like difficulty the attempt to show, by statements and examples, what usages or licenses, found in English works, are proper to be regarded as peculiarities of poetic diction. It is purposed here, to enumerate sundry deviations from the common style of prose; and perhaps all of them, or nearly all, may be justly considered as pertaining only to poetry.

POETICAL PECULIARITIES.

The following are among the chief peculiarities in which the poets indulge, and are indulged:--

I. They not unfrequently omit the ARTICLES, for the sake of brevity or metre; as,

"What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime, Like _shipwreck'd mariner_ on _desert_ coast!"

--_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 12.

"_Sky lour'd_, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops Wept at _completing_ of the mortal sin."

--_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, l. 1002.

II. They sometimes abbreviate common NOUNS, after a manner of their own: as, _amaze_, for _amazement_; _acclaim_, for _acclamation_; _consult_, for _consultation_; _corse_, for _corpse_; _eve_ or _even_, for _evening_; _fount_, for _fountain_; _helm_, for _helmet_; _lament_, for _lamentation_; _morn_, for _morning_; _plaint_, for _complaint_; _targe_, for _target_; _weal_, for _wealth_.

III. By _enallage_, they use verbal forms substantively, or put verbs for nouns; perhaps for brevity, as above: thus,

1. "Instant, without _disturb_, they took alarm."

--_P. Lost: Joh. Dict., w. Aware._

2. "The gracious Judge, without _revile_ reply'd."

--_P. Lost, B. x, l. 118._

3. "If they were known, as the _suspect_ is great."

--_Shakspeare._

4. "Mark, and perform it: seest thou? for the _fail_ Of any point in't shall be death."

--_Shakspeare._

IV. They employ several nouns that are not used in prose, or are used but rarely; as, _benison, boon, emprise, fane, guerdon, guise, ire, ken, lore, meed, sire, steed, welkin, yore_.

V. They introduce the noun _self_ after an other noun of the possessive case; as,

1. "Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb, Affliction's _self_ deplores thy youthful doom."--_Byron._

2. "Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's _self._"--_Thomson._

VI. They place before the verb nouns, or other words, that usually come after it; and, after it, those that usually come before it: as,

1. "No jealousy _their dawn of love_ o'ercast, Nor _blasted_ were _their wedded days_ with strife."

--_Beattie._

2. "No _hive_ hast _thou_ of h.o.a.rded sweets."

--_W. Allen's Gram._

3. "Thy chain _a wretched weight_ shall prove."

--_Langhorne._

4. "Follows the loosen'd aggravated _roar._"

--_Thomson._

5. "That _purple_ grows _the primrose pale._"

--_Langhorne._

VII. They more frequently place ADJECTIVES after their nouns, than do prose writers; as,