Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

(b) We ought to avoid such stale and hackneyed phrases as the "Swan of Avon" for Shakespeare; the "Bard of Florence" for Dante; "the Great Lexicographer for Dr Johnson.

[ocr errors]

(v) Brevity enjoins upon us the need of expressing our meaning in as few words as possible.

Opposed to brevity is verbosity, or wordiness. Pope says

"Words are like leaves; and, where they most abound,

Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found."

(vi) Dr Johnson says: "Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults."

9. Our sentences should be written in flowing English. That is, the rhythm of each sentence ought to be pleasant to the ear, if read aloud. This axiom gives rise to two rules:

Practical Rule III-Write as you would speak!

(i) This, of course, points to an antecedent condition—that you must be a good reader. Good reading aloud is one of the chief conditions of good writing. "Living speech," says a philosophic writer, "is the corrective of all style."

Practical Rule IV.-After we have written our piece of composition, we should read it aloud either to ourselves or to some one else.

Thus, and thus only, shall we be able to know whether each sentence has an agreeable rhythm.

Practical Rule V.- "Never write about any matter you do not well understand. If you clearly understand all about your matter, you will never want thoughts; and thoughts instantly become words."-COBBETT.

"Seek not for words; seek only fact and thought,

And crowding in will come the words, unsought."--HORACE. "Know well your subject; and the words will go

To the pen's point, with steady, ceaseless flow."-PENTLAND.

10. Our sentences should be compact.

(i) That is, they ought not to be loose collections of words, but firm, well-knit, nervous organisms.

(ii) A sentence in which the complete sense is suspended till the close is called a period. Contrasted with it is the loose sentence.

(a) Loose Sentence.—The Puritans looked down with contempt on the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests.

(b) Period. On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests the Puritans looked down with contempt.

(iii) The following is a fine example of a loose sentence: "Notwithstanding his having gone, in winter, to Moscow, where he found the cold excessive, and which confined him, without intermission, six weeks to his room, we could not induce him to come home." This no more makes a sentence than a few cartloads of bricks thrown loosely upon the ground constitute a house.

EMPHASIS.

One object in style is to call the attention of the reader in a forcible and yet agreeable way to the most important parts of our subject-in other words, to give emphasis to what is emphatic, and to make what is striking and important strike the eye and mind of the reader. This purpose may be attained in many different ways; but there are several easy devices that will be found of use to us in our endeavour to give weight and emphasis to what we write. These are:

1. The ordinary grammatical order of the words in a sentence may be varied; and emphatic words may be thrown to the beginning or to the end of the sentence. This is the device

of Inversion.

Thus we have, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." "Jesus I know, and Paul I know: but who are ye?" "Some he imprisoned; others he put to death." "Go he must!" "Do it he shall!" 'They could take their rest, for they knew Lord Strafford watched. Him they feared, him they trusted, him they obeyed." "He that tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes; for, to maintain one, he must invent twenty more." In the last sentence, the phrase to maintain one gains emphasis by being thrown out of its usual and natural position. But

Caution 1.-Do not go out of your way to invert. It has a look of affectation. Do not say, for example, "True it is," or "Of Milton it was always said," etc. And do not begin an essay thus: "Of all the vices that disfigure and degrade," etc.

2. The Omission of Conjunctions gives force and emphasis.

Thus Hume writes: "He rushed amidst them with his sword drawn, threw them into confusion, pushed his advantage, and gained a complete victory." We may write : "You say this; I deny it."

3. The use of the Imperative Mood gives liveliness and emphasis.

[ocr errors]

Thus we find the sentence: Strip virtue of the awful authority she derives from the general reverence of mankind, and you rob her of half her majesty." Here strip is equal to If you strip; but is much more forcible.

4. Emphasis is also gained by employing the Interrogative Form.

[ocr errors]

(i) Thus, to say Who does not hope to live long?" is much more forcible and lively than "All of us hope to live long."

(ii) This is a well-known form in all impassioned speech. Thus, in the Bible we find: "Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever?"

5. The device of Exclamation may also be employed to give emphasis; but it cannot be frequently used, without danger of falling into affectation.

Thus Shakespeare, instead of making Hamlet say, "Man is a wonderful piece of work," etc.-which would be dull and flat-writes, "What a piece of work is man!" etc.

6. Emphasis may be gained by the use of the device of Periphrasis.

[ocr errors]

(i) Thus, instead of saying "John built this house," or This house was built by John," we can say: "It was John who built this house;" "It was no other than John who," etc.

7. Repetition is sometimes a powerful device for producing emphasis; but, if too frequently employed, it becomes a tire

some mannerism.

"Tacitus tells a

(i) Macaulay is very fond of this device. He says: fine story finely, but he cannot tell a plain story plainly. He stimulates till stimulants lose their power." Again: "He aspired to the highest -above the people, above the authorities, above the laws, above his country."

(ii) Its effect in poetry is sometimes very fine :

:

"By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed;
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed;

By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned;

By strangers honoured, and by strangers mourned."

8. The device of Suspense adds to the weight and emphasis of a statement; it keeps the attention of the reader on the stretch, because he feels the sense to be incomplete.

[ocr errors]

(i) The suspense in the following sentence gives a heightened idea of the difficulty of travelling: "At last, with no small difficulty, and after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads, storms of wind and rain, and bad weather of all kinds, to our journey's end."

(ii) This device is frequent in poetry. Thus Keats opens his "Hyperion" in this way :—

[ocr errors]

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale,

Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,

Far from the fiery noon and eve's one star—
Sat grey-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone."

Here the verb is kept to the last line.

9. Antithesis always commands attention, and is therefore a powerful mode of emphasising a statement. But antithesis is not always at one's command; and it must not be strained after.

Macaulay employs this device with great effect. He has: "The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." Swift was very fond of it. Thus he says: "The two maxims of a great man at court are, always to keep his countenance, and never to keep his word." Dr Johnson has this sentence: "He was a learned man among lords, and a lord among learned men." "He twice forsook his party; his principles never."

A very sharp, sudden, and unexpected antithesis is called an Epigram.

(i) Thus Lord Bacon, speaking of a certain procession in Rome, says that "The statues of Brutus and Cassius were conspicuous by their absence." Macaulay says of the dirt and splendour of the Russian Ambassadors: 'They came to the English Court dropping pearls and vermin."

(ii) The following are additional instances of truths put in a very striking and epigrammatic way: "Verbosity is cured by a large vocabulary" (because when you have a large stock of words, you will be able to choose the fittest). "We ought to know something of everything, and everything of something." "He was born of poor but dishonest parents." "When you have nothing to say, say it." "He

had nothing to do, and he did it." "The better is the enemy of the good." "One secret in education," says Herbert Spencer, "is to know how wisely to lose time." "Make haste slowly." "They did nothing in particular; and did it very well."

(iii) But no one should strain after such a style of writing. Such an attempt would only produce smartness, which is a fatal vice.

DISTINCTNESS OF STYLE.

1. One great secret of a good and striking style is the art of Specification.

Professor Bain gives us an excellent example of a vague and general, as opposed to a distinct and specific style :—

(a) Vague.—“ In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulation of their penal codes will be severe.

[ocr errors]

(b) Specific. "According as men delight in battles, bull-fights, and combats of gladiators, so will they punish by hanging, burning, and crucifying."

2. Specification or distinctness of style may be attained in two ways: (i) by the use of concrete terms; and (ii) by the use of detail.

3. A concrete or particular term strikes both the feelings and imagination with greater force than an abstract or general term can do.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

(ii) Campbell says: "The more general the terms are, the picture is the fainter; the more special, the brighter." 'They sank like lead in the mighty waters' is more forcible than "they sank like metal."

« VorigeDoorgaan »