DRYDEN

DRYDEN, Translation of Æneid.

Next, as to examples of disjunction and opposition in the parts of the thought, imitated in the expression; an imitation that is distinguished by the name of antithesis.

Speaking of Coriolanus soliciting the people to be made consul:

With a proud heart he wore his humble weeds.
Coriolanus.

"Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves, than that Cæsar were dead, to live all free men?"
Julius Cæsar.

He hath cool'd my friends and heated mine enemies.
SHAKESPEARE.

An artificial connexion among the words, is undoubtedly a beauty when it represents any peculiar connection among the constituent parts of the thought; but where there is no such connection, it is a positive deformity, because it makes a discordance between the thought and expression. For the same reason, we ought also to avoid every artificial opposition of words where there is none in the thought. This last, termed verbal antithesis, is studied by low writers, because of a certain degree of liveliness in it. They do not consider how incongruous it is, in a grave composition, to cheat the reader, and to make him expect a contrast in the thought, which upon examination is not found there.

Language. A fault directly opposite to the last mentioned, is to conjoin artificially words that express ideas opposed to each other. This is a fault too gross to be in common practice; and yet writers are guilty of it in some degree, when they conjoin by a copulative things translated at different periods of time. Hence a want of neatness in the following expression: "The nobility too, whom the king had no means of retaining by suitable offices and preferments, had been seized with the general discontent, and unwarily threw themselves into the scale which began already too much to preponderate." Hume. In periods of this kind, it appears more neat to express the past time by the participle passive, thus: "The nobility having been seized with the general discontent, unwarily threw themselves," &c. or, "The nobility, who had been seized, &c. unwarily threw themselves," &c.

It is unpleasant to find even a negative and affirmative proposition connected by a copulative:

If it appear not plain, and prove untrue,
Deadly divorce step between me and you.

SHAKESPEARE.

In mirth and drollery it may have a good effect to connect verbally things that are opposite to each other in the thought. Example: Henry IV. of France introducing the marshal Biron to some of his friends, "Here, gentlemen (says he) is the marshal Biron, whom I freely present both to my friends and enemies."

This rule of studying uniformity between the thought and expression may be extended to the construction of sentences or periods. A sentence or period ought to express one entire thought or mental proposition; and different thoughts ought to be separated in the expression by placing them in different sentences or periods. It is therefore offending against neatness, to crowd into one period entire thoughts requiring more than one; which is joining in language things that are separated in reality. Of errors against this rule take the following examples:

"Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea pleasant: also our bed is green."

Burnet, in the history of his own times, giving Lord Sunderland's character, says: "His own notions were always good; but he was a man of great expence."

"I have seen a woman's face break out in heats, as she has been talking against a great lord, whom she had never seen in her life; and indeed never knew a party-woman that kept her beauty for a twelvemonth." Spec.

Lord Bolingbroke, speaking of Strada: "I single him out among the moderns, because he had the foolish presumption to censure Tacitus, and to write history himself; and your lordship will forgive this short excursion in honour of a favourite writer."

To crowd into a single member of a period different subjects, is still worse than to crowd them into one period.

Trojam genitore Adamasto
Paupere (manissetque utinam fortuna!) profectus.
Eneid. iii. 614.

From conjunctions and disjunctions in general, we

proceed to comparisons, which make one species of Language, them, beginning with similes. And here also, the intimate connection that words have with their meaning requires, that in describing two resembling objects, a resemblance in the two members of the period ought to be studied. To begin with examples of resemblances expressed in words that have no resemblance.

"I have observed of late, the style of some great ministers very much to exceed that of any other productions." Swift. This, instead of studying the resemblance of words in a period that expresses a comparison, is going out of one's road to avoid it. Instead of productions, which resemble not ministers great nor small, the proper word is writers or authors.

"I cannot but fancy, however, that this imitation, which passes so currently with other judgments must at some time or other have stuck a little with your lordship." Shafesb. Better thus: "I cannot but fancy, however, that this imitation, which passes so currently with others, must at some time or other have stuck a little with your lordship."

"A glutton or mere sensualist is as ridiculous as the other two characters." Id.

"They wisely prefer the generous efforts of good will and affection, to the reluctant compliances of such as obey by force." Bolingb.

It is a still greater deviation from congruity, to affect not only variety in the words, but also in the construction.

Hume speaking of Shakespeare: "There may remain a suspicion that we overrate the greatness of his genius, in the same manner as bodies appear more gigantic on account of their being disproportioned and misshapen." This is studying variety in a period where the beauty lies in uniformity. Better thus: "There may remain a suspicion that we overrate the greatness of his genius, in the same manner as we overrate the greatness of bodies that are disproportioned and misshapen."

Next of comparison where things are opposed to each other. And here it must be obvious, that if resemblance ought to be studied in the words which express two resembling objects, there is equal reason for studying opposition in the words which express contrasted objects. This rule will be best illustrated by examples of deviations from it.

"A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy inflames his crimes." Spec. Here the opposition in the thought is neglected in the words; which at first view seem to import, that the friend and enemy are employed in different matters, without any relation to each other, whether of resemblance or of opposition. And therefore the contrast or opposition will be better marked by expressing the thought as follows: "A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy his crimes."

"The wife man is happy when he gains his own approbation; the fool when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him." Id. Better: "The wife man is happy when he gains his own approbation, the fool when he gains that of others."

We proceed to a rule of a different kind. During the course of a period, the scene ought to be continued without variation: the changing from person to person,

Language. from subject to subject, or from person to subject, within the bounds of a single period, distracts the mind, and affords no time for a solid impression.

Hook, in his Roman history, speaking of Eumenes, who had been beat to the ground with a stone, says, "After a short time he came to himself; and the next day they put him on board his ship, which conveyed him first to Corinth, and thence to the island of Egina."

The following period is unpleasant, even by a very slight deviation from the rule: "That sort of instruction which is acquired by inculcating an important moral truth," &c. This expression includes two persons, one acquiring, and one inculcating; and the scene is changed without necessity. To avoid this blemish, the thought may be expressed thus: "That sort of instruction which is afforded by inculcating," &c.

The bad effect of such a change of person is remarkable in the following passage: "The Britons, daily harassed by cruel inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their defence, who consequently reduced the greatest part of the island to their own power, drove the Britons into the most remote and mountainous parts, and the rest of the country, in customs, religion, and language, became wholly Saxon." Swift.

The following passage has a change from subject to person: "This prostitution of praise is not only a deceit upon the gross of mankind, who take their notion of characters from the learned; but also the better sort must by this means lose some part at least of that desire of fame which is the incentive to generous actions, when they find it promiscuously bestowed on the meritorious and undeserving." Guardian, No. 4.

The present head, which relates to the choice of materials, shall be closed with a rule concerning the use of copulatives. Longinus observes, that it animates a period to drop the copulatives; and he gives the following example from Xenophon: "Closing their shields together, they were pushed, they fought, they flew, they were slain." The reason may be what follows. A continued sound, if not loud, tends to lay us asleep: an interrupted sound rouses and animates by its repeated impulses: thus feet composed of syllables, being pronounced with a sensible interval between each, make more lively impressions than can be made by a continued sound. A period of which the members are connected by copulatives, produces an effect upon the mind approaching to that of a continued sound; and therefore the suppressing copulatives must animate a description. It produces a different effect akin to that mentioned: the members of a period connected by proper copulatives, glide smoothly and gently along; and are a proof of sedateness and leisure in the speaker: on the other hand, one in the hurry of passion, neglecting copulatives and other particles, expresses the principal image only; and for that reason, hurry or quick action is best expressed without copulatives:

Veni, vidi, vici.

Ite:

Ferte citi flammas, date vela, impellite remos.
Eneid, iv. 593.

Quis globus, O cives, caligine volvitur atra?
Ferte citi ferrum, date tela, scandite muros.
Hostis adit, eja.

Eneid, ix. 37.

In this view Longinus justly compares copulatives in a period to strait tying, which in a race obstructs the freedom of motion.

It follows, that a plurality of copulatives in the same period ought to be avoided; for if the laying aside copulatives give force and liveliness, a redundancy of them must render the period languid. The following instance may be appealed to, though there are but two copulatives: "Upon looking over the letters of my female correspondents, I find several from women complaining of jealous husbands; and at the same time protesting their own innocence, and desiring my advice upon this occasion." Spect.

Where the words are intended to express the coldness of the speaker, there indeed the redundancy of copulatives is a beauty:

'Dining one day at an alderman's in the city, Peter observed him expatiating after the manner of his brethren in the praises of his furlorn of beef. "Beef" (said the sage magistrate) is the king of meat: beef comprehends in it the quintessence of partridge, and quail, and venison, and pheasant, and plum pudding, and custard." Tale of a Tub, § 4. And the author shows great delicacy of taste by varying the expression in the mouth of Peter, who is represented more animated: "Bread (says he), dear brothers, is the staff of life; in which bread is contained, inclusive, the quintessence of beef, mutton, veal, venison, partridge, plum pudding, and custard."

Another case must also be excepted. Copulatives have a good effect where the intention is to give an impression of a great multitude consisting of many divisions, for example: "The army was composed of Grecians, and Carians, and Lycians, and Pamphylians, and Phrygians." The reason is, that a leisurely survey, which is expressed by the copulatives, makes the parts appear more numerous than they would do by a hasty survey: in the latter case, the army appears in one group; in the former, we take as it were an accurate survey of each nation, and of each division.

2. To pave the way for the rules of arrangement, it will here be necessary to explain the difference between a natural style and that where transposition or inversion prevails. In a natural style, relative words are by juxtaposition connected with those to which they relate, going before or after, according to the peculiar genius of the language. Again, a circumstance connected by a preposition, follows naturally the word with which it is connected. But this arrangement may be varied, when a different order is more beautiful: a circumstance may be placed before the word with which it is connected by a preposition; and may be interjected even between a relative word and that to which it relates. When such liberties are frequently taken, the style becomes inverted or transposed.

But as the liberty of inversion is a capital point in the present subject, it will be necessary to examine it more narrowly, and in particular to trace the several degrees in which an inverted style recedes more and more from that which is natural. And first, as to the placing

Language. placing a circumstance before the word with which it is connected, this is the easiest of all inversion, even so easy as to be consistent with a style that is properly termed natural: witness the following examples.

"In the sincerity of my heart, I profess," &c.

"By our own ill management, we are brought to so low an ebb of wealth and credit, that," &c.

"On Thursday morning there was little or nothing transacted in Change-alley."

"At St Bride's church in Fleetstreet, Mr Woolston (who wrote against the miracles of our Saviour), in the utmost terrors of conscience, made a public recantation."

The interjecting a circumstance between a relative word and that to which it relates, is more properly termed inversion; because, by a disjunction of words intimately connected, it recedes farther from a natural style. But this license has degrees; for the disjunction is more violent in some cases than in others.

In nature, though a subject cannot exist without its qualities, nor a quality without a subject; yet in our conception of these, a material difference may be remarked. We cannot conceive a quality but as belonging to some subject: it makes indeed a part of the idea which is formed of the subject. But the opposite holds not; for though we cannot form a conception of a subject void of all qualities, a partial conception may be formed of it, abstracting from any particular quality: we can, for example, form the idea of a fine Arabian horse without regard to his colour, or of a white horse without regard to his size. Such partial conception of a subject is still more easy with respect to action or motion, which is an occasional attribute only, and has not the same permanency with colour or figure: we cannot form an idea of motion independent of a body; but there is nothing more easy than to form an idea of a body at rest. Hence it appears, that the degree of inversion depends greatly on the order in which the related words are placed: when a substantive occupies the first place, the idea it suggests must subsist in the mind at least for a moment, independent of the relative words afterward introduced; and that moment may without difficulty be prolonged by interjecting a circumstance between the substantive and its connections. This liberty therefore, however frequent, will scarce alone be sufficient to denominate a style inverted. The case is very different, where the word that occupies the first place denotes a quality or an action; for as these cannot be conceived without a subject, they cannot without greater violence be separated from the subject that follows; and for that reason, every such separation by means of an interjected circumstance belongs to an inverted style.

To illustrate this doctrine, examples are necessary. In the following, the word first introduced does not imply a relation:

———Nor Eve to iterate
Her former trespass fear'd.

———Hunger and thirst at once,
Powerful persuaders, quicken'd at the scent
Of that alluring fruit, urg'd me so keen.—

Moon that now meet'st the orient sun, now flit'st
With the fix'd stars, fix'd in their orb that flies,
And ye five other wand'ring fires that move

In mystic dance, not without song, resound
His praise.

Where the word first introduced imports a relation, the disjunction will be found more violent:

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful feat,
Sing heav'nly muse.

———Upon the firm opacous globe
Of this round world, whose first convex divides
The luminous inferior orbs enclos'd
From chaos and th' iuroad of darkness old,
Satan alighted walks.

———On a sudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound,
Th' infernal doors.

———Wherein remain'd,
For what could else? to our almighty foe
Clear victory, to our part loss and rout.

Language would have no great power, were it confined to the natural order of ideas: By inversion a thousand beauties may be compassed, which must be relinquished in a natural arrangement.

Rules. 1. In the arrangement of a period, as well as in a right choice of words, the first and great object being perspicuity, the rule above laid down, that perspicuity ought not to be sacrificed to any other beauty, holds equally in both. Ambiguities occasioned by a wrong arrangement are of two sorts; the one where the arrangement leads to a wrong sense, and the other where the sense is less doubtful. The first, being the more culpable, shall take the lead, beginning with examples of words put in a wrong place.

"How much the imagination of such a presence must exalt a genius, we may observe merely from the influence which an ordinary presence has over men." Shafesb. The arrangement leads to a wrong sense: the adverb merely seems by its position to affect the preceding word; whereas it is intended to affect the following words, an ordinary presence; and therefore the arrangement ought to be thus: "How much the imagination of such a presence must exalt a genius, we may observe from the influence which an ordinary presence merely has over men." [Or better], "which even an ordinary presence has over men."

"Sixtus the Fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books at least." Boling. The expression here leads evidently to a wrong sense; the adverb at least, ought not to be connected with the substantive books, but with collector, thus: "Sixtus the Fourth was a great collector at least, of books."

Speaking of Louis XIV. "If he was not the greatest king, he was the best actor of majesty at least that ever filled a throne." Id. Better thus: "If he was not the greatest king, he was at least the best actor of majesty," &c. This arrangement removes the wrong sense occasioned by the juxtaposition of majesty and at least.

Language. The following examples are of a wrong arrangement of members.

"I have confined myself to those methods for the advancement of piety, which are in the power of a prince limited like ours by a strict execution of the laws." Swift. The structure of this period leads to a meaning which is not the author's, viz. power limited by a strict execution of the laws. That wrong sense is removed by the following arrangement: "I have confined myself to those methods for the advancement of piety, which, by a strict execution of the laws, are in the power of a prince limited like ours."

"This morning, when one of Lady Lizard's daughters was looking over some hoods and ribbands brought by her tirewoman, with great care and diligence, I employed no less in examining the box which contained them." Guardian. The wrong sense occasioned by this arrangement, may be easily prevented by varying it thus: "This morning, when, with great care and diligence, one of Lady Lizard's daughters was looking over some hoods and ribbands," &c.

"A great stone that I happened to find after a long search by the sea shore, served me for an anchor." Swift. One would think that the search was confined to the sea shore; but as the meaning is, that the great stone was found by the sea shore, the period ought to be arranged thus: "A great stone that, after a long search, I happened to find by the sea shore, served me for an anchor."

Next of a wrong arrangement where the sense is left doubtful; beginning, as in the former sort, with examples of a wrong arrangement of words in a member.

"These forms of conversation by degrees multiplied and grew troublesome." Spec. Here it is left doubtful whether the modification by degrees relates to the preceding member or to what follows: it should be, "These forms of conversation multiplied by degrees."

"Nor does this false modesty expose us only to such actions as are indolent, but very often to such as are highly criminal." Spec. The ambiguity is removed by the following arrangement: "Nor does this false modesty expose us to such actions only as are indolent," &c.

"The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the north-east side of Lilliput, from whence it is parted only by a channel of 800 yards wide." Swift. The ambiguity may be removed thus: "from whence it is parted by a channel of 800 yards wide only."

In the following examples the sense is left doubtful by wrong arrangement of members.

The minister who grows less by his elevation, like a little statue placed on a mighty pedestal, will always have his jealousy strong about him." Bolingb. Here, so far as can be gathered from the arrangement, it is doubtful, whether the object introduced by way of simile relates to what goes before or to what follows. The ambiguity is removed by the following arrangement: "The minister who, like a little statue placed on a mighty pedestal, grows less by his elevation, will always," &c.

Speaking of the superstitious practice of looking up the room where a person of distinction dies: "The

knight, seeing his habitation reduced to so small a compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his own house, upon the death of his mother, ordered all the apartments to be flung open, and exorcised by his chaplain." Spec. Better thus: "The knight, seeing his habitation reduced to so small a compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his own house, ordered, upon the death of his mother, all the apartments to be flung open."

Speaking of some indecencies in conversation: "As it is impossible for such an irrational way of conversation to last long among a people that make any profession of religion, or show of modesty, if the country gentlemen get into it, they will certainly be left in the lurch." Ib. The ambiguity vanishes in the following arrangement: "the country gentlemen, if they get into it, will certainly be left in the lurch."

"And since it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of buying and selling, and dealing upon credit, where fraud is permitted or connived at, or hath no law to punish it, the honest dealer is always undone, and the knave gets the advantage." Swift. Better thus: "And since it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of buying and selling, and dealing upon credit, the honest dealer, where fraud is permitted or connived at, or hath no law to punish it, is always undone, and the knave gets the advantage."

From these examples, the following observation will occur: That a circumstance ought never to be placed between two capital members of a period; for by such situation it must always be doubtful, so far as we gather from the arrangement, to which of the two members it belongs: where it is interjected, as it ought to be, between parts of the member to which it belongs, the ambiguity is removed, and the capital members are kept distinct, which is a great beauty in composition. In general, to preserve members distinct that signify things distinguished in the thought, the best method is, to place first in the consequent member, some word that cannot connect with what precedes it.

If it shall be thought, that the objections here are too scrupulous, and that the defect of perspicuity is easily supplied by accurate punctuation; the answer is, That punctuation may remove an ambiguity, but will never produce that peculiar beauty which is perceived when the sense comes out clearly and distinctly by means of a happy arrangement. Such influence has this beauty, that, by a natural transition of perception, it is communicated to the very found of the words, so as in appearance to improve the music of the period. But as this curious subject comes in more properly elsewhere, it is sufficient at present to appeal to experience, that a period, so arranged as to bring out the sense clear, seems always more musical than where the sense is left in any degree doubtful.

The next rule is, That words expressing things connected in the thought, ought to be placed as near together as possible. This rule is derived immediately from human nature, prone in every instance to place together things in any manner connected: where things are arranged according to their connexions, we have a sense of order; otherwise we have a sense

Language of disorder, as of things placed by chance: and we naturally place words in the same order in which we would place the things they signify. The bad effect of a violent separation of words or members thus intimately connected, will appear from the following examples.

"For the English are naturally fanciful, and very often disposed, by that gloominess and melancholy of temper which is so frequent in our nation, to many wild notions and visions, to which others are not so liable." Spec. Here the verb or assertion is, by a pretty long circumstance, violently separated from the subject to which it refers: this makes a harsh arrangement; the less excusable that the fault is easily prevented by placing the circumstance before the verb, after the following manner: "For the English are naturally fanciful, and by that gloominess and melancholy of temper which is so frequent in our nation, are often disposed to many wild notions," &c.

"From whence we may date likewise the rivalship of the house of France, for we may reckon that of Valois and that of Bourbon as one upon this occasion, and the house of Austria, that continues at this day, and has oft cost so much blood and so much treasure in the course of it." Bolingbr.

"It cannot be impertinent or ridiculous therefore in such a country, whatever it might be in the abbot of St Real's, which was Savoy, I think; or, in Peru, under the incas, where Garcilasso de la Vega says it was lawful for none but the nobility to study—for men of all degrees to instruct themselves in those affairs wherein they may be actors, or judges of those that act, or controllers of those that judge." Ibid.

"If Scipio, who was naturally given to women, for which anecdote we have, if I mistake not, the authority of Polybius, as well as some verses of Nevius preserved by Aulus Gellius, had been educated by Olympias at the court of Philip, it is improbable that he would have restored the beautiful Spaniard." Ibid.

If any one have a curiosity for more specimens of this kind, they will be found without number in the works of the same author.

A pronoun, which saves the naming a person or thing a second time, ought to be placed as near as possible to the name of that person or thing. This is a branch of the foregoing rule; and with the reason there given, another occurs, viz. That if other ideas intervene, it is difficult to recall the person or thing by reference.

"If I had leave to print the Latin letters transmitted to me from foreign parts, they would fill a volume, and be a full defence against all that Mr Partridge, or his accomplices of the Portugal inquisition, will be ever able to object; who, by the way, are the only enemies my predictions have ever met with at home or abroad." Better thus:—"and be a full defence against all that can be objected by Mr Partridge, or his accomplices of the Portugal inquisition; who, by the way, are," &c.

"There being a round million of creatures in human figure, throughout this kingdom, whose whole subsistence," &c. Swift. Better: "There being, throughout this kingdom, a round million of creatures in human figure, whose whole subsistence," &c.

The following rule depends on the communication

of emotions to related objects; a principle in human nature that hath an extensive operation; and we find this operation, even where the objects are not otherwise related than by juxtaposition of the words that express them. Hence, to elevate or depress an object, one method is, to join it in the expression with another that is naturally high or low: witness the following speech of Eumenes to the Roman senate.

"Causam veniendi sibi Romam fuisse, præter cupiditatem videndi deos hominesque, quorum beneficio in ea fortuna esset, supra quam ne optare quidem audeat, etiam ut coram moneret senatum ut Persei conatus obviam iret." Livy. To join the Romans with the gods in the same enunciation, is an artful stroke of flattery, because it tacitly puts them on a level.

On the other hand, the degrading or vilifying an object, is done successfully by ranking it with one that is really low: "I hope to have this entertainment in readiness for the next winter; and doubt not but it will please more than the opera or puppet show." Spec.

"Manifold have been the judgments which Heaven from time to time, for the chastisement of a sinful people, has inflicted upon whole nations. For when the degeneracy becomes common, it is but just the punishment should be general. Of this kind, in our own unfortunate country, was that destructive pestilence, whose mortality was so fatal as to sweep away, if Sir William Petty may be believed, five millions of Christian souls, besides women and Jews." Arbuthnot.

"Such also was that dreadful conflagration ensuing in this famous metropolis of London, which consumed, according to the computation of Sir Samuel Moreland, 100,000 houses, not to mention churches and stables." Ibid.

"But on condition it might pass into a law, I would gladly exempt both lawyers of all ages, subaltern and field officers, young heirs, dancing masters, pickpockets, and players." Swift.

Sooner let earth, air, sea, to chaos fall,
Men, monkeys, lap dogs, parrots, perish all.
Rope of the Lock.

Circumstances in a period resemble small stones in a building, employed to fill up vacuities among those of a larger size. In the arrangement of a period, such under parts crowded together make a poor figure; and never are graceful but when interspersed among the capital parts.

"It is likewise urged, that there are, by computation, in this kingdom, above 10,000 parsons, whose revenues, added to those of my lords the bishops, would suffice to maintain, &c. Swift. Here two circumstances, viz. by computation, and in this kingdom, are crowded together unnecessarily. They make a better appearance separated in the following manner: "It is likewise urged, that in this kingdom there are by computation, above 10,000 parsons," &c.

If there be room for a choice, the sooner a circumstance is introduced, the better; because circumstances are proper for that coolness of mind, with which we begin a period as well as a volume: in the progress the mind warms, and has a greater relish for matters of importance. When a circumstance is placed at the beginning of the period, or near the beginning, the transition from it to the principal subject is agreeable:

Language it is like ascending, or going upward. On the other hand, to place it late in the period has a bad effect; for after being engaged in the principal subject, one is with reluctance brought down to give attention to a circumstance. Hence evidently the preference of the following arrangement, "Whether in any country a choice altogether unexceptionable has been made, seems doubtful;" before this other, "Whether a choice altogether unexceptionable has in any country been made," &c.

For this reason the following period is exceptionable in point of arrangement. "I have considered formerly, with a good deal of attention, the subject upon which you command me to communicate my thoughts to you." Boling. Which, with a slight alteration, may be improved thus: "I have formerly, with a good deal of attention, considered the subject," &c.

Swift, speaking of a virtuous and learned education: "And although they may be, and too often are, drawn by the temptations of youth, and the opportunities of a large fortune, into some irregularities, when they come forward into the great world; it is ever with reluctance and compunction of mind, because their bizs to virtue still continues." Better: "And although, when they come forward into the great world, they may be, and too often," &c.

In arranging a period, it is of importance to determine in what part of it a word makes the greatest figure, whether at the beginning, during the course, or at the close. The breaking silence rouses the attention, and prepares for a deep impression at the beginning; the beginning, however, must yield to the close; which being succeeded by a pause, affords time for a word to make its deepest impression. Hence the following rule, That to give the utmost force to a period, it ought, if possible, to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure. The opportunity of a pause should not be thrown away upon accessories, but reserved for the principal object, in order that it may make a full impression: which is an additional reason against closing a period without a circumstance. There are, however, periods that admit not such a structure; and in that case the capital word ought, if possible, to be placed in the front, which next to the close is the most advantageous for making an impression. Hence, in directing our discourse to a man of figure, we ought to begin with his name; and one will be sensible of a degradation when this rule is neglected, as it frequently is for the sake of verse. We give the following examples.

Integer vitæ, scelerisque purus,
Non eget Mauris jaculis, neque arcu,
Nec venenatis grava fagittis,
Fusce, pharetra. HORAT. Carm. lib. 1. ode 22.

Je crains Dieu, cher Abner, et n'ai point d'autre
crainte.

In these examples, the name of the person addressed to makes a mean figure, being like a circumstance slipped into a corner. That this criticism is well founded, we need no other proof than Addison's translation of the last example.

O Abner! I fear my God, and I fear none but him.
Guardian, N^o 117.

Language O father, what intends thy hand, the cry'd,
Against thy only son? What fury, O son,
Possess thee to bend that mortal dart
Against thy father's head?

Paradise Lost, book ii. l. 727.

Every one must be sensible of a dignity in the invocation at the beginning, which is not attained by that in the middle. It is not meant, however, to censure this passage: on the contrary, it appears beautiful, by distinguishing the respect that is due to a father from that which is due to a son.

The substance of what is said in this and the foregoing section, upon the method of arranging words in a period, so as to make the deepest impression with respect to sound as well as signification, is comprehended in the following observation: That order of words in a period will always be the most agreeable, where, without obscuring the sense, the most important images, the most sonorous words, and the longest members, bring up the rear.

Hitherto of arranging single words, single members, and single circumstances. But the enumeration of many particulars in the same period is often necessary: and the question is, In what order they should be placed? And, first, with respect to the enumerating particulars of equal rank: As there is no cause for preferring any one before the rest, it is indifferent to the mind in what order they be viewed; therefore it is indifferent in what order they be named. 2dly, If a number of objects of the same kind, differing only in size, are to be ranged along a straight line, the most agreeable order to the eye is of an increasing series: in surveying a number of subjects, beginning at the least, and proceeding to greater and greater, the mind swells gradually with the successive objects, and in its progress has a very sensible pleasure. Precisely for the same reason, words expressive of such objects ought to be placed in the same order. The beauty of this figure, which may be termed a climax in sense, has escaped Lord Bolingbroke in the first member of the following period: "Let but one, great, brave, disinterested, active man arise, and he will be received, followed, and almost adored." The following arrangement has sensibly a better effect: "Let but one brave, great, active, disinterested man arise," &c. Whether the same rule ought to be followed in enumerating men of different ranks, seems doubtful: on the one hand, a number of persons presented to the eye in form of an increasing series, is undoubtedly the most agreeable order; on the other hand, in every list of names, we set the person of the greatest dignity at the top, and descend gradually through his inferiors. Where the purpose is to honour the persons named according to their rank, the latter ought to be followed: but every one who regards himself only, or his reader, will choose the former order. 3dly, As the sense of order directs the eye to descend from the principal to its greatest accessory, and from the whole to its greatest part, and in the same order through all the parts and accessories, till we arrive at the minutest; the same order ought to be followed in the enumeration of such particulars.

When force and liveliness of expression are demanded, the rule is, to suspend the thought as long as possible,

Language. fible, and to bring it out full and entire at the close, which cannot be done but by inverting the natural arrangement. By introducing a word or member before its time, curiosity is raised about what is to follow; and it is agreeable to have our curiosity gratified at the close of the period: the pleasure we feel resembles that of seeing a stroke exerted upon a body by the whole collected force of the agent. On the other hand, where a period is so constructed as to admit more than one complete close in the sense, the curiosity of the reader is exhausted at the first close, and what follows appears languid or superfluous: his disappointment contributes also to that appearance when he finds, contrary to expectation, that the period is not yet finished. Cicero, and after him Quintilian, recommend the verb to the last place. This method evidently tends to suspend the sense till the close of the period; for without the verb the sense cannot be complete; and when the verb happens to be the capital word, which it frequently is, it ought at any rate to be the last, according to another rule above laid down. The following period is placed in its natural order: "Were instruction an essential circumstance in epic poetry, I doubt whether a single instance could be given of this species of composition in any language." The period thus arranged admits a full close upon the word composition; after which it goes on languidly, and closes without force. This blemish will be avoided by the following arrangement: "Were instruction an essential circumstance in epic poetry, I doubt whether, in any language, a single instance could be given of this species of composition."

"Some of our most eminent divines have made use of this Platonic notion, as far as it regards the substance of our passions after death, with great beauty and strength of reason." Specul. Better thus: "Some of our most eminent divines have, with great beauty and strength of reason, made use of this Platonic notion," &c.

"Men of the best sense have been touched, more or less, with these groundless horrors and presages of futurity, upon surveying the most indifferent works of nature." ib. Better, "Upon surveying the most indifferent works of nature, men of the best sense," &c.

"She soon informed him of the place he was in; which, notwithstanding all its horrors, appeared to him more sweet than the bower of Mahomet, in the company of his Balsora." Guardian. Better, "She soon, &c. which appeared to him, in the company of his Balsora, more sweet than the bower of Mahomet."

None of the rules for the composition of periods are more liable to be abused than those last mentioned; witness many Latin writers, among the moderns especially, whose style, by inversions too violent, is rendered harsh and obscure. Suspension of the thought till the close of the period, ought never to be preferred before perspicuity. Neither ought such suspension to be attempted in a long period; because in that case the mind is bewildered amidst a profusion of words: a traveller, while he is puzzled about the road, relishes not the finest prospect: "All the rich presents which Assyrians had given him at parting, keeping only some Median horses, in order to propagate the breed of them in Persia, he distributed among his friends whom he left at the court of Ecbatana." Trav. of Cyrus.

VOL. XI. Part II.

III. Beauties from a Resemblance between Sound and Language.
Signification. There being frequently a strong resemblance of one sound to another, it will not be surprising to find an articulate sound resembling one that is not articulate; thus the sound of a bow string is imitated by the words that express it:

The string let fly,
Twang'd short and sharp, like the shrill swallow's cry.
Odyssey, xxi. 449.

The sound of felling trees in a wood:

Loud sounds the axe, redoubling strokes on strokes,
On all sides round the forest hurls her oaks
Headlong. Deep echoing groan the thickets brown,
Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down.
Iliad, xxiii. 144.

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar.
Pope's Essay on Criticism, 369.

Dire Scylla there a scene of horror forms,
And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms:
When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves,
The rough rock roars; tumultuous boil the waves.
Pope.

No person can be at a loss about the cause of this beauty; it is obviously that of imitation.

That there is any other natural resemblance of sound to signification, must not be taken for granted. There is no resemblance of sound to motion, nor of sound to sentiment. We are, however, apt to be deceived by artful pronunciation: the same passage may be pronounced in many different tones, elevated or humble, sweet or harsh, brisk or melancholy, so as to accord with the thought or sentiment: such concord must be distinguished from that concord between sound and sense which is perceived in some expressions independent of artful pronunciation; the latter is the poet's work, the former must be attributed to the reader. Another thing contributes still more to the deceit: in language, sound and sense being intimately connected, the properties of the one are readily communicated to the other; for example, the quality of grandeur, of sweetness, or of melancholy, though belonging to the thought solely, is transferred to the words, which by that means resemble in appearance the thought that is expressed by them. That there may be a resemblance of articulate sounds to some that are not articulate, is self-evident; and that in fact there exist such resemblances successfully employed by writers of genius, is clear from the foregoing examples, and from many others that might be given. But we may safely pronounce, that this natural resemblance can be carried no farther; the objects of the different senses differ so widely from each other, as to exclude any resemblance: sound in particular, whether articulate or inarticulate, resembles not in any degree taste, smell, nor motion; and as little can it resemble any internal sentiment, feeling, or emotion. But must we then admit, that nothing but sound can be imitated by sound? Taking imitation in its proper sense, as imparting a resemblance between two objects, the proposition must be admitted: and yet in many passages

Language. fages that are not descriptive of sound, every one must be sensible of a peculiar concord between the sound of the words and their meaning. As there can be no doubt of the fact, what remains is to inquire into its cause.

Resembling causes may produce effects that have no resemblance; and causes that have no resemblance may produce resembling effects. A magnificent building, for example, resembles not in any degree a heroic action; and yet the emotions they produce are concordant, and bear a resemblance to each other. We are still more sensible of this resemblance in a song, when the music is properly adapted to the sentiment; there is no resemblance between the thought and sound; but there is the strongest resemblance between the emotion raised by music tender and pathetic, and that raised by the complaint of an unsuccessful lover. Applying this observation to the present subject, it appears, that, in some instances, the sound even of a single word makes an impression resembling that which is made by the thing it signifies: witness the word running composed of two short syllables; and more remarkably the words rapidity, impetuosity, precipitation. Brutal manners produce in the spectator an emotion not unlike what is produced by a harsh and rough sound; and hence the beauty of the figurative expression, rugged manners. Again, the word little, being pronounced with a very small aperture of the mouth, has a weak and faint sound, which makes an impression resembling that made by a diminutive object. This resemblance of effects is still more remarkable where a number of words are connected in a period: words pronounced in succession make often a strong impression; and when this impression happens to accord with that made by the sense, we are sensible of a complex emotion, peculiarly pleasant; one proceeding from the sentiment, and one from the melody or sound of the words. But the chief pleasure proceeds from having these two concordant emotions combined in perfect harmony, and carried on in the mind to a full close. Except in the single case where sound is described, all the examples given by critics, of sense being imitated in sound, resolve into a resemblance of effects: emotions raised by sound and signification may have a resemblance; but sound itself cannot have a resemblance to any thing but sound.

Proceeding now to particulars, and beginning with those cases where the emotions have the strongest resemblance, we observe, first, That by a number of syllables in succession, an emotion is sometimes raised, extremely similar to that raised by successive motion; which may be evident even to those who are defective in taste, from the following fact, that the term movement in all languages is equally applied to both. In this manner, successive motion, such as walking, running, galloping, can be imitated by a succession of long or short syllables, or by a due mixture of both: for example, slow motion may be justly imitated in a verse where long syllables prevail; especially when aided by a slow pronunciation:

Illi inter sese magna vi brachia tollunt.
Georg. iv. 174.

On the other hand, swift motion is imitated by a succession of short syllables:

Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula cam. Language.
pum.

Again:

Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas:

Thirdly, A line composed of monosyllables makes an impression by the frequency of its pauses, similar to what is made by laborious interrupted motion:

With many a weary step, and many a groan,
Up the high hill he leaves a huge round stone.
Odyssey, xi. 736.

First march the heavy mules securely flow;
O'er hills, o'er dales, o'er craggs, o'er rocks they go.
Iliad, xxiii. 138.

Fourthly, The impression made by rough sounds in succession, resembles that made by rough or tumultuous motion: on the other hand, the impression of smooth sounds resembles that of gentle motion. The following is an example of both.

Two craggy rocks projecting to the main,
The roaring winds tempestuous rage restrain;
Within, the waves in softer murmurs glide,
And ships secure without their haulers ride.
Odyssey, iii. 118.

Another example of the latter:

Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows.
Essay on Criticism, 366.

Fifthly, Prolonged motion is expressed in an Alexandrine line. The first example shall be of a slow motion prolonged:

A needless Alexandrine ends the song;
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.
ib. 356.

The next example is of forcible motion prolonged:

The waves behind impel the waves before,
Wide-rolling, foaming high, and tumbling to the shore.
Iliad, xiii. 1004.

The last shall be of rapid motion prolonged:

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Essay on Criticism, 373.

Again, speaking of a rock torn from the brow of a mountain:

Still gathering force, it smokes, and urg'd amain,
Whirls, leaps, and thunders down impetuous to the plain.
Iliad, xiii. 197.

Sixthly, A period consisting mostly of long syllables, that is, of syllables pronounced slow, produceth an emotion resembling faintly that which is produced by gravity and solemnity. Hence the beauty of the following verse:

Olli sedato respondet corde Latinus.

It resembles equally an object that is insipid and uninteresting.

Tuedet quotidianarum harum formarum. TERENCE.
Seventhly,

Language. Seventhly, A slow succession of ideas is a circumstance that belongs equally to settled melancholy, and to a period composed of polysyllables pronounced slow; and hence, by similarity of emotion, the latter is imitative of the former:

In those deep solitudes, and awful cells,
Where heavenly pensive Contemplation dwells,
And ever-musing Melancholy reigns.