{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_5849/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_5849","id":"gutenberg_5849","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5849","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Language & Communication","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Style, Literary"],"text":"Produced by P. Peterson\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PHILOSOPHY OF STYLE.\n\n\nBy Herbert Spencer\n\n\n\n\nPART I. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE\nMENTAL ENERGIES.\n\n\n\n\ni. The Principle of Economy.\n\nSec. 1. Commenting on the seeming incongruity between his father's\nargumentative powers and his ignorance of formal logic, Tristram Shandy\nsays:--\"It was a matter of just wonder with my worthy tutor, and two or\nthree fellows of that learned society, that a man who knew not so much\nas the names of his tools, should be able to work after that fashion\nwith them.\" Sterne's intended implication that a knowledge of the\nprinciples of reasoning neither makes, nor is essential to, a good\nreasoner, is doubtless true. Thus, too, is it with grammar. As Dr.\nLatham, condemning the usual school-drill in Lindley Murray, rightly\nremarks: \"Gross vulgarity is a fault to be prevented; but the proper\nprevention is to be got from habit--not rules.\" Similarly, there can\nbe little question that good composition is far less dependent upon\nacquaintance with its laws, than upon practice and natural aptitude.\nA clear head, a quick imagination, and a sensitive ear, will go far\ntowards making all rhetorical precepts needless. He who daily hears and\nreads well-framed sentences, will naturally more or less tend to use\nsimilar ones. And where there exists any mental idiosyncrasy--where\nthere is a deficient verbal memory, or an inadequate sense of logical\ndependence, or but little perception of order, or a lack of\nconstructive ingenuity; no amount of instruction will remedy the defect.\nNevertheless, some practical result may be expected from a familiarity\nwith the principles of style. The endeavour to conform to laws may tell,\nthough slowly. And if in no other way, yet, as facilitating revision, a\nknowledge of the thing to be achieved--a clear idea of what constitutes\na beauty, and what a blemish--cannot fail to be of service.\n\nSec. 2. No general theory of expression seems yet to have been enunciated.\nThe maxims contained in works on composition and rhetoric, are presented\nin an unorganized form. Standing as isolated dogmas--as empirical\ngeneralizations, they are neither so clearly apprehended, nor so much\nrespected, as they would be were they deduced from some simple first\nprinciple. We are told that \"brevity is the soul of wit.\" We hear styles\ncondemned as verbose or involved. Blair says that every needless part of\na sentence \"interrupts the description and clogs the image;\" and again,\nthat \"long sentences fatigue the reader's attention.\" It is remarked by\nLord Kaimes, that \"to give the utmost force to a period, it ought, if\npossible, to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure.\"\nThat parentheses should be avoided and that Saxon words should be used\nin preference to those of Latin origin, are established precepts. But,\nhowever influential the truths thus dogmatically embodied, they would\nbe much more influential if reduced to something like scientific\nordination. In this, as in other cases, conviction will be greatly\nstrengthened when we understand the why. And we may be sure that\na comprehension of the general principle from which the rules of\ncomposition result, will not only bring them home to us with greater\nforce, but will discover to us other rules of like origin.\n\nSec. 3. On seeking for some clue to the law underlying these current\nmaxims, we may see shadowed forth in many of them, the importance of\neconomizing the reader's or hearer's attention, To so present ideas that\nthey may be apprehended with the least possible mental effort, is the\ndesideratum towards which most of the rules above quoted point. When we\ncondemn writing that is wordy, or confused, or intricate--when we praise\nthis style as easy, and blame that as fatiguing, we consciously or\nunconsciously assume this desideratum as our standard of judgment.\nRegarding language as an apparatus of symbols for the conveyance of\nthought, we may say that, as in a mechanical apparatus, the more simple\nand the better arranged its parts, the greater will be the effect\nproduced. In either case, whatever force is absorbed by the machine is\ndeducted from the result. A reader or listener has at each moment but a\nlimited amount of mental power available. To recognize and interpret the\nsymbols presented to him, requires part of this power; to arrange and\ncombine the images suggested requires a further part; and only that part\nwhich remains can be used for realizing the thought conveyed. Hence,\nthe more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each\nsentence, the less time and attention can be given to the contained\nidea; and the less vividly will that idea be conceived.\n\nSec. 4. How truly language must be regarded as a hindrance to thought,\nthough the necessary instrument of it, we shall clearly perceive\non remembering the comparative force with which simple ideas are\ncommunicated by signs. To say, \"Leave the room,\" is less expressive than\nto point to the door. Placing a finger on the lips is more forcible than\nwhispering, \"Do not speak.\" A beck of the hand is better than, \"Come\nhere.\" No phrase can convey the idea of surprise so vividly as opening\nthe eyes and raising the eyebrows. A shrug of the shoulders would lose\nmuch by translation into words. Again, it may be remarked that when\noral language is employed, the strongest effects are produced by\ninterjections, which condense entire sentences into syllables. And in\nother cases, where custom allows us to express thoughts by single words,\nas in _Beware, Heigho, Fudge,_ much force would be lost by expanding\nthem into specific propositions. Hence, carrying out the metaphor that\nlanguage is the vehicle of thought, there seems reason to think that\nin all cases the friction and inertia of the vehicle deduct from its\nefficiency; and that in composition, the chief, if not the sole thing\nto be done, is, to reduce this friction and inertia to the smallest\npossible amount. Let us then inquire whether economy of the recipient's\nattention is not the secret of effect, alike in the right choice and\ncollocation of words, in the best arrangement of clauses in a sentence,\nin the proper order of its principal and subordinate propositions, in\nthe judicious use of simile, metaphor, and other figures of speech, and\neven in the rhythmical sequence of syllables.\n\n\n\n\nii. Economy in the Use of Words.\n\nSec. 5. The greater forcibleness of Saxon English, or rather non-Latin\nEnglish, first claims our attention. The several special reasons\nassignable for this may all be reduced to the general reason--economy.\nThe most important of them is early association. A child's vocabulary is\nalmost wholly Saxon. He says, _I have,_ not _I possess_---_I wish,_\nnot I _desire;_ he does not _reflect,_ he _thinks;_ he does not beg\nfor _amusement,_ but for _play_; he calls things _nice_ or _nasty,_\nnot _pleasant_ or _disagreeable._ The synonyms which he learns in after\nyears, never become so closely, so organically connected with the ideas\nsignified, as do these original words used in childhood; and hence the\nassociation remains less strong. But in what does a strong association\nbetween a word and an idea differ from a weak one? Simply in the greater\nease and rapidity of the suggestive action. It can be in nothing else.\nBoth of two words, if they be strictly synonymous, eventually call up\nthe same image. The expression--It is _acid,_ must in the end give rise\nto the same thought as--It is sour; but because the term _acid_ was\nlearnt later in life, and has not been so often followed by the thought\nsymbolized, it does not so readily arouse that thought as the term sour.\nIf we remember how slowly and with what labour the appropriate ideas\nfollow unfamiliar words in another language, and how increasing\nfamiliarity with such words brings greater rapidity and ease of\ncomprehension; and if we consider that the same process must have gone\non with the words of our mother tongue from childhood upwards, we shall\nclearly see that the earliest learnt and oftenest used words, will,\nother things equal, call up images with less loss of time and energy\nthan their later learnt synonyms.\n\nSec. 6. The further superiority possessed by Saxon English in its\ncomparative brevity, obviously comes under the same generalization. If\nit be an advantage to express an idea in the smallest number of words,\nthen will it be an advantage to express it in the smallest number of\nsyllables. If circuitous phrases and needless expletives distract the\nattention and diminish the strength of the impression produced, then\ndo surplus articulations do so. A certain effort, though commonly\nan inappreciable one, must be required to recognize every vowel and\nconsonant. If, as all know, it is tiresome to listen to an indistinct\nspeaker, or read a badly-written manuscript; and if, as we cannot doubt,\nthe fatigue is a cumulative result of the attention needed to catch\nsuccessive syllables; it follows that attention is in such cases\nabsorbed by each syllable. And if this be true when the syllables are\ndifficult of recognition, it will also be true, though in a less degree,\nwhen the recognition of them is easy. Hence, the shortness of Saxon\nwords becomes a reason for their greater force. One qualification,\nhowever, must not be overlooked. A word which in itself embodies the\nmost important part of the idea to be conveyed, especially when that\nidea is an emotional one, may often with advantage be a polysyllabic\nword. Thus it seems more forcible to say, \"It is _magnificent,_\"\nthan \"It is _grand._\" The word _vast_ is not so powerful a one as\n_stupendous._ Calling a thing _nasty_ is not so effective as calling it\n_disgusting._\n\nSec. 7. There seem to be several causes for this exceptional superiority\nof certain long words. We may ascribe it partly to the fact that a\nvoluminous, mouth-filling epithet is, by its very size, suggestive of\nlargeness or strength; witness the immense pomposity of sesquipedalian\nverbiage: and when great power or intensity has to be suggested, this\nassociation of ideas aids the effect. A further cause may be that a\nword of several syllables admits of more emphatic articulation; and as\nemphatic articulation is a sign of emotion, the unusual impressiveness\nof the thing named is implied by it. Yet another cause is that a long\nword (of which the latter syllables are generally inferred as soon as\nthe first are spoken) allows the hearer's consciousness a longer time to\ndwell upon the quality predicated; and where, as in the above cases, it\nis to this predicated quality that the entire attention is called, an\nadvantage results from keeping it before the mind for an appreciable\ntime. The reasons which we have given for preferring short words\nevidently do not hold here. So that to make our generalization quite\ncorrect we must say, that while in certain sentences expressing strong\nfeeling, the word which more especially implies that feeling may often\nwith advantage be a many-syllabled or Latin one; in the immense majority\nof cases, each word serving but as a step to the idea embodied by the\nwhole sentence, should, if possible, be a one-syllabled or Saxon one.\n\nSec. 8. Once more, that frequent cause of strength in Saxon and other\nprimitive words-their imitative character may be similarly resolved into\nthe more general cause. Both those directly imitative, as _splash, bang,\nwhiz, roar,_ &c., and those analogically imitative, as _rough, smooth,\nkeen, blunt, thin, hard, crag,_ &c., have a greater or less likeness to\nthe things symbolized; and by making on the senses impressions allied to\nthe ideas to be called up, they save part of the effort needed to call\nup such ideas, and leave more attention for the ideas themselves.\n\nSec. 9. The economy of the recipient's mental energy, into which are thus\nresolvable the several causes of the strength of Saxon English, may\nequally be traced in the superiority of specific over generic words.\nThat concrete terms produce more vivid impressions than abstract ones,\nand should, when possible, be used instead, is a thorough maxim of\ncomposition. As Dr. Campbell says, \"The more general the terms are, the\npicture is the fainter; the more special they are, 'tis the brighter.\"\nWe should avoid such a sentence as:--\"In proportion as the manners,\ncustoms, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the\nregulations of their penal code will be severe.\" And in place of it we\nshould write:--\"In proportion as men delight in battles, bull-fights,\nand combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the\nrack.\"\n\nSec. 10. This superiority of specific expressions is clearly due to a\nsaving of the effort required to translate words into thoughts. As we\ndo not think in generals but in particulars--as, whenever any class of\nthings is referred to, we represent it to ourselves by calling to mind\nindividual members of it; it follows that when an abstract word is used,\nthe bearer or reader has to choose from his stock of images, one or\nmore, by which he may figure to himself the genus mentioned. In doing\nthis, some delay must arise some force be expended; and if, by employing\na specific term, an appropriate image can be at once suggested, an\neconomy is achieved, and a more vivid impression produced.\n\n\n\n\niii. The Principle of Economy applied to Sentences.\n\nSec. 11. Turning now from the choice of words to their sequence, we shall\nfind the same general principle hold good. We have _a priori_ reasons\nfor believing that in every sentence there is some one order of words\nmore effective than any other; and that this order is the one which\npresents the elements of the proposition in the succession in which they\nmay be most readily put together. As in a narrative, the events should\nbe stated in such sequence that the mind may not have to go backwards\nand forwards in order to rightly connect them; as in a group of\nsentences, the arrangement should be such, that each of them may be\nunderstood as it comes, without waiting for subsequent ones; so in\nevery sentence, the sequence of words should be that which suggests\nthe constituents of the thought in the order most convenient for the\nbuilding up that thought. Duly to enforce this truth, and to prepare the\nway for applications of it, we must briefly inquire into the mental act\nby which the meaning of a series of words is apprehended.\n\nSec. 12. We cannot more simply do this than by considering the proper\ncollocation of the substantive and adjective. Is it better to place\nthe adjective before the substantive, or the substantive before the\nadjective? Ought we to say with the French--un _cheval noir;_ or to say\nas we do--a black horse? Probably, most persons of culture would decide\nthat one order is as good as the other. Alive to the bias produced by\nhabit, they would ascribe to that the preference they feel for our own\nform of expression. They would expect those educated in the use of the\nopposite form to have an equal preference for that. And thus they would\nconclude that neither of these instinctive judgments is of any worth.\nThere is, however, a philosophical ground for deciding in favour of the\nEnglish custom. If \"a horse black\" be the arrangement, immediately on\nthe utterance of the word \"horse,\" there arises, or tends to arise,\nin the mind, a picture answering to that word; and as there has, been\nnothing to indicate what _kind_ of horse, any image of a horse suggests\nitself. Very likely, however, the image will be that of a brown horse,\nbrown horses being the most familiar. The result is that when the word\n\"black\" is added, a check is given to the process of thought. Either the\npicture of a brown horse already present to the imagination has to be\nsuppressed, and the picture of a black one summoned in its place; or\nelse, if the picture of a brown horse be yet unformed, the tendency to\nform it has to be stopped. Whichever is the case, a certain amount of\nhindrance results. But if, on the other hand, \"a black horse\" be\nthe expression used, no such mistake can be made. The word \"black,\"\nindicating an abstract quality, arouses no definite idea. It simply\nprepares the mind for conceiving some object of that colour; and the\nattention is kept suspended until that object is known. If, then, by the\nprecedence of the adjective, the idea is conveyed without liability to\nerror, whereas the precedence of the substantive is apt to produce a\nmisconception, it follows that the one gives the mind less trouble than\nthe other, and is therefore more forcible.\n\nSec. 13. Possibly it will be objected that the adjective and substantive\ncome so close together, that practically they may be considered as\nuttered at the same moment; and that on hearing the phrase, \"a horse\nblack,\" there is not time to imagine a wrongly-coloured horse before the\nword \"black\" follows to prevent it. It must be owned that it is not\neasy to decide by introspection whether this is so or not. But there are\nfacts collaterally implying that it is not. Our ability to anticipate\nthe words yet unspoken is one of them If the ideas of the hearer kept\nconsiderably behind the, expressions of the speaker, as the objection\nassumes, he could hardly foresee the end of a sentence by the time it\nwas half delivered: yet this constantly happens. Were the supposition\ntrue, the mind, instead of anticipating, would be continually falling\nmore and more in arrear. If the meanings of words are not realized as\nfast as the words are uttered, then the loss of time over each word\nmust entail such an accumulation of delays as to leave a hearer entirely\nbehind. But whether the force of these replies be or be not admitted,\nit will scarcely be denied that the right formation of a picture will\nbe facilitated by presenting its elements in the order in which they\nare wanted; even though the mind should do nothing until it has received\nthem all.\n\nSec. 14. What is here said respecting the succession of the adjective and\nsubstantive is obviously applicable, by change of terms, to the adverb\nand verb. And without further explanation, it will be manifest, that\nin the use of prepositions and other particles, most languages\nspontaneously conform with more or less completeness to this law.\n\nSec. 15. On applying a like analysis to the larger divisions of a sentence,\nwe find not only that the same principle holds good, but that the\nadvantage of respecting it becomes marked. In the arrangement of\npredicate and subject, for example, we are at once shown that as\nthe predicate determines the aspect under which the subject is to be\nconceived, it should be placed first; and the striking effect produced\nby so placing it becomes comprehensible. Take the often-quoted contrast\nbetween \"Great is Diana of the Ephesians,\" and \"Diana of the Ephesians\nis great.\" When the first arrangement is used, the utterance of the word\n\"great\" arouses those vague associations of an impressive nature with\nwhich it has been habitually connected; the imagination is prepared to\nclothe with high attributes whatever follows; and when the words, \"Diana\nof the Ephesians,\" are heard, all the appropriate imagery which can, on\nthe instant, be summoned, is used in the formation of the picture:\nthe mind being thus led directly, and without error, to the intended\nimpression. When, on the contrary, the reverse order is followed, the\nidea, \"Diana of the Ephesians\" is conceived with no special reference to\ngreatness; and when the words \"is great\" are added, the conception\nhas to be remodeled: whence arises a loss of mental energy and a\ncorresponding diminution of effect. The following verse from Coleridge's\n'Ancient Mariner,' though somewhat irregular in structure, well\nillustrates the same truth:\n\n    \"Alone, alone, all, all alone,\n    Alone on a wide, wide sea\n    And never a saint took pity on\n    My soul in agony.\"\n\nSec. 16. Of course the principle equally applies when the predicate is a\nverb or a participle. And as effect is gained by placing first all words\nindicating the quality, conduct or condition of the subject, it follows\nthat the copula also should have precedence. It is true that the general\nhabit of our language resists this arrangement of predicate, copula\nand subject; but we may readily find instances of the additional force\ngained by conforming to it. Thus, in the line from 'Julius Caesar'\n\n    \"Then burst his mighty heart,\"\n\npriority is given to a word embodying both predicate and copula. In a\npassage contained in 'The Battle of Flodden Field,' the like order is\nsystematically employed with great effect:\n\n    \"The Border slogan rent the sky!\n     _A Home! a Gordon!_  was the cry;\n     _Loud were _the clanging blows:\n     _Advanced--forced back---now low, now high,\n     _The pennon sunk and rose;\n     _As bends_ the bark's mast in the gale\n     When _rent are_ rigging, shrouds and sail,\n     It wavered 'mid the foes.\"\n\nSec. 17. Pursuing the principle yet further, it is obvious that for\nproducing the greatest effect, not only should the main divisions of a\nsentence observe this sequence, but the subdivisions of these should be\nsimilarly arranged. In nearly all cases, the predicate is accompanied by\nsome limit or qualification, called its complement. Commonly, also,\nthe circumstances of the subject, which form its complement, have to be\nspecified. And as these qualifications and circumstances must determine\nthe mode in which the acts and things they belong to are conceived,\nprecedence should be given to them. Lord Kaimes notices the fact\nthat this order is preferable; though without giving the reason. He\nsays:--\"When a circumstance is placed at the beginning of the period, or\nnear the beginning, the transition from it to the principal subject is\nagreeable: it is like ascending or going upward.\" A sentence arranged in\nillustration of this will be desirable. Here is one:--\"Whatever it may\nbe in theory, it is clear that in practice the French idea of liberty\nis--the right of every man to be master of the rest.\"\n\nSec. 18. In this case, were the first two clauses, up to the word \"I\npractice\" inclusive, which qualify the subject, to be placed at the\nend instead of the beginning, much of the force would be lost; as\nthus:--\"The French idea of liberty is--the right of every man to be\nmaster of the rest; in practice at least, if not in theory.\"\n\nSec. 19. Similarly with respect to the conditions under which any fact is\npredicated. Observe in the following example the effect of putting them\nlast:--\"How immense would be the stimulus to progress, were the honour\nnow given to wealth and title given exclusively to high achievements and\nintrinsic worth!\"\n\nSec. 20. And then observe the superior effect of putting them first:--\"Were\nthe honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high\nachievements and intrinsic worth, how immense would be the stimulus to\nprogress!\"\n\nSec. 21. The effect of giving priority to the complement of the predicate,\nas well as the predicate itself, is finely displayed in the opening of\n'Hyperion':\n\n    \"_Deep in the shady sadness of a vale\n    Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,\n    Far from the fiery noon and eve's one star\n    Sat_ gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone.\"\n\nHere it will be observed, not only that the predicate \"sat\" precedes the\nsubject \"Saturn,\" and that the three lines in italics, constituting the\ncomplement of the predicate, come before it; but that in the structure\nof that complement also, the same order is followed: each line being\nso arranged that the qualifying words are placed before the words\nsuggesting concrete images.\n\nSec. 22. The right succession of the principal and subordinate propositions\nin a sentence manifestly depends on the same law. Regard for economy of\nthe recipient's attention, which, as we find, determines the best order\nfor the subject, copula, predicate and their complements, dictates that\nthe subordinate proposition shall precede the principal one when the\nsentence includes two. Containing, as the subordinate proposition does,\nsome qualifying or explanatory idea, its priority prevents misconception\nof the principal one; and therefore saves the mental effort needed to\ncorrect such misconception. This will be seen in the annexed example:\n\"The secrecy once maintained in respect to the parliamentary debates,\nis still thought needful in diplomacy; and in virtue of this secret\ndiplomacy, England may any day be unawares betrayed by its ministers\ninto a war costing a, hundred thousand lives, and hundreds of millions\nof treasure: yet the English pique themselves on being a self-governed\npeople.\" The two subordinate propositions, ending with the semicolon and\ncolon respectively, almost wholly determine the meaning of the principal\nproposition with which it concludes; and the effect would be lost were\nthey placed last instead of first.\n\nSec. 23. The general principle of right arrangement in sentences, which we\nhave traced in its application to the leading divisions of them, equally\ndetermines the proper order of their minor divisions. In every sentence\nof any complexity the complement to the subject contains several\nclauses, and that to the predicate several others; and these may be\narranged in greater or less conformity to the law of easy apprehension.\nOf course with these, as with the larger members, the succession should\nbe from the less specific to the more specific--from the abstract to the\nconcrete.\n\nSec. 24. Now, however, we must notice a further condition to be fulfilled\nin the proper construction of a sentence; but still a condition dictated\nby the same general principle with the other: the condition, namely,\nthat the words and expressions most nearly related in thought shall\nbe brought the closest together. Evidently the single words, the minor\nclauses, and the leading divisions of every proposition, severally\nqualify each other. The longer the time that elapses between the mention\nof any qualifying member and the member qualified, the longer must the\nmind be exerted in carrying forward the qualifying member ready for use.\nAnd the more numerous the qualifications to be simultaneously remembered\nand rightly applied, the greater will be the mental power expended, and\nthe smaller the effect produced. Hence, other things equal, force\nwill be gained by so arranging the members of a sentence that these\nsuspensions shall at any moment be the fewest in number; and shall also\nbe of the shortest duration. The following is an instance of defective\ncombination:--\"A modern newspaper-statement, though probably true, would\nbe laughed at if quoted in a book as testimony; but the letter of\na court gossip is thought good historical evidence, if written some\ncenturies ago.\" A rearrangement of this, in accordance with the\nprinciple indicated above, will be found to increase the effect.\nThus:--\"Though probably true, a modern newspaper-statement quoted in\na book as testimony, would be laughed at; but the letter of a court\ngossip, if written some centuries ago, is thought good historical\nevidence.\"\n\nSec. 25. By making this change, some of the suspensions are avoided and\nothers shortened; while there is less liability to produce premature\nconceptions. The passage quoted below from 'Paradise Lost' affords a\nfine instance of a sentence well arranged; alike in the priority of the\nsubordinate members, in the avoidance of long and numerous suspensions,\nand in the correspondence between the order of the clauses and the\nsequence of the phenomena described, which, by the way, is a further\nprerequisite to easy comprehension, and therefore to effect.\n\n    \"As when a prowling wolf,\n     Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey,\n     Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eye,\n     In hurdled cotes amid the field secure,\n     Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold;\n     Or as a thief, bent to unhoard the cash\n     Of some rich burgher, whose substantial doors,\n     Cross-barr'd, and bolted fast, fear no assault,\n     In at the window climbs, or o'er the tiles;\n     So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold;\n     So since into his church lewd hirelings climb.\"\n\nSec. 26. The habitual use of sentences in which all or most of the\ndescriptive and limiting elements precede those described and limited,\ngives rise to what is called the inverted style: a title which is,\nhowever, by no means confined to this structure, but is often used where\nthe order of the words is simply unusual. A more appropriate title\nwould be the _direct style,_ as contrasted with the other, or _indirect\nstyle_: the peculiarity of the one being, that it conveys each thought\ninto the mind step by step with little liability to error; and of\nthe other, that it gets the right thought conceived by a series of\napproximations.\n\nSec. 27. The superiority of the direct over the indirect form of sentence,\nimplied by the several conclusions that have been drawn, must not,\nhowever, be affirmed without reservation. Though, up to a certain point,\nit is well for the qualifying clauses of a period to precede those\nqualified; yet, as carrying forward each qualifying clause costs some\nmental effort, it follows that when the number of them and the time they\nare carried become great, we reach a limit beyond which more is lost\nthan is gained. Other things equal, the arrangement should be such that\nno concrete image shall be suggested until the materials out of which it\nis to be made have been presented. And yet, as lately pointed out,\nother things equal, the fewer the materials to be held at once, and the\nshorter the distance they have to be borne, the better. Hence in some\ncases it becomes a question whether most mental effort will be entailed\nby the many and long suspensions, or by the correction of successive\nmisconceptions.\n\nSec. 28. This question may sometimes be decided by considering the capacity\nof the persons addressed. A greater grasp of mind is required for the\nready comprehension of thoughts expressed in the direct manner,\nwhere the sentences are anywise intricate. To recollect a number of\npreliminaries stated in elucidation of a coming idea, and to apply them\nall to the formation of it when suggested, demands a good memory and\nconsiderable power of concentration. To one possessing these, the direct\nmethod will mostly seem the best; while to one deficient in them it will\nseem the worst. Just as it may cost a strong man less effort to carry a\nhundred-weight from place to place at once, than by a stone at a\ntime; so, to an active mind it may be easier to bear along all the\nqualifications of an idea and at once rightly form it when named, than\nto first imperfectly conceive such idea and then carry back to it,\none by one, the details and limitations afterwards mentioned. While\nconversely, as for a boy, the only possible mode of transferring a\nhundred-weight, is that of taking it in portions; so, for a weak mind,\nthe only possible mode of forming a compound conception may be that of\nbuilding it up by carrying separately its several parts.\n\nSec. 29. That the indirect method--the method of conveying the meaning by\na series of approximations--is best fitted for the uncultivated, may\nindeed be inferred from their habitual use of it. The form of expression\nadopted by the savage, as in \"Water, give me,\" is the simplest type\nof the approximate arrangement. In pleonasms, which are comparatively\nprevalent among the uneducated, the same essential structure is seen;\nas, for instance, in--\"The men, they were there.\" Again, the old\npossessive case--\"The king, his crown,\" conforms to the like order of\nthought. Moreover, the fact that the indirect mode is called the natural\none, implies that it is the one spontaneously employed by the common\npeople: that is--the one easiest for undisciplined minds.\n\nSec. 30. There are many cases, however, in which neither the direct nor the\nindirect structure is the best; but where an intermediate structure is\npreferable to both. When the number of circumstances and qualifications\nto be included in the sentence is great, the most judicious course is\nneither to enumerate them all before introducing the idea to which they\nbelong, nor to put this idea first and let it be remodeled to agree with\nthe particulars afterwards mentioned; but to do a little of each. Take\na case. It is desirable to avoid so extremely indirect an arrangement\nas the following:--\"We came to our journey's end, at last, with no small\ndifficulty after much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather.\" Yet\nto transform this into an entirely direct sentence would not produce a\nsatisfactory effect; as witness:--\"At last, with no small difficulty,\nafter much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather, we came to our\njourney's end.\"\n\nSec. 31. Dr. Whately, from whom we quote the first of these two\narrangements,' proposes this construction:--\"At last, after much\nfatigue, through deep roads and bad weather, we came, with no small\ndifficulty, to our journey's end.\" Here it will be observed that by\nintroducing the words \"we came\" a little earlier in the sentence, the\nlabour of carrying forward so many particulars is diminished, and the\nsubsequent qualification \"with no small difficulty\" entails an addition\nto the thought that is very easily made. But a further improvement may\nbe produced by introducing the words \"we came\" still earlier; especially\nif at the same time the qualifications be rearranged in conformity with\nthe principle already explained, that the more abstract elements of the\nthought should come before the more concrete. Observe the better\neffect obtained by making these two changes:--\"At last, with no small\ndifficulty, and after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads and bad\nweather, to our journey's end.\" This reads with comparative smoothness;\nthat is, with less hindrance from suspensions and reconstructions of\nthought--with less mental effort.\n\nSec. 32. Before dismissing this branch of our subject, it should be further\nremarked, that even when addressing the most vigorous intellects, the\ndirect style is unfit for communicating ideas of a complex or abstract\ncharacter. So long as the mind has not much to do, it may be well able\nto grasp all the preparatory clauses of a sentence, and to use\nthem effectively; but if some subtlety in the argument absorb the\nattention--if every faculty be strained in endeavouring to catch the\nspeaker's or writer's drift, it may happen that the mind, unable to\ncarry on both processes at once, will break down, and allow the elements\nof the thought to lapse into confusion.\n\n\n\n\niv. The Principle of Economy applied to Figures.\n\nSec. 33. Turning now to consider figures of speech, we may equally discern\nthe same general law of effect. Underlying all the rules given for\nthe choice and right use of them, we shall find the same fundamental\nrequirement--economy of attention. It is indeed chiefly because they so\nwell subserve this requirement, that figures of speech are employed. To\nbring the mind more easily to the desired conception, is in many cases\nsolely, and in all cases mainly, their object.\n\nSec. 34. Let us begin with the figure called Synecdoche. The advantage\nsometimes gained by putting a part for the whole, is due to the more\nconvenient, or more accurate, presentation of the idea. If, instead\nof saying \"a fleet of ten ships,\" we say \"a fleet of ten _sail_,\" the\npicture of a group of vessels at sea is more readily suggested; and is\nso because the sails constitute the most conspicuous parts of vessels so\ncircumstanced: whereas the word _ships_ would very likely remind us of\nvessels in dock. Again, to say, \"_All hands_ to the pumps,\" is better\nthan to say, \"All _men_ to the pumps,\" as it suggests the men in the\nspecial attitude intended, and so saves effort. Bringing \"gray _hairs_\nwith sorrow to the grave,\" is another expression, the effect of which\nhas the same cause.\n\nSec. 35. The occasional increase of force produced by Metonymy may be\nsimilarly accounted for. \"The low morality of _the bar,_\" _is_ a phrase\nboth more brief and significant than the literal one it stands for. A\nbelief in the ultimate supremacy of intelligence over brute force, is\nconveyed in a more concrete, and therefore more realizable form, if we\nsubstitute _the pen_ and _the sword_ for the two abstract terms. To say,\n\"Beware of drinking!\" is less effective than to say, \"Beware of _the\nbottle!_\" and is so, clearly because it calls up a less specific image.\n\nSec. 36. The Simile is in many cases used chiefly with a view to ornament,\nbut whenever it increases the _force_ of a passage, it does so by being\nan economy. Here in an instance: \"The illusion that great men and great\nevents came oftener in early times than now, is partly due to historical\nperspective. As in a range of equidistant columns, the furthest off look\nthe closest; so, the conspicuous objects of the past seem more thickly\nclustered the more remote they are.\"\n\nSec. 37. To construct by a process of literal explanation, the thought\nthus conveyed would take many sentences, and the first elements of the\npicture would become faint while the imagination was busy in adding the\nothers. But by the help of a comparison all effort is saved; the picture\nis instantly realized, and its full effect produced.\n\nSec. 38. Of the position of the Simile, it needs only to remark, that what\nhas been said respecting the order of the adjective and substantive,\npredicate and subject, principal and subordinate propositions, &c.,\nis applicable here. As whatever qualifies should precede whatever is\nqualified, force will generally be gained by placing the simile before\nthe object to which it is applied. That this arrangement is the best,\nmay be seen in the following passage from the 'Lady of the Lake';\n\n    \"As wreath of snow, on mountain breast,\n     Slides from the rock that gave it rest,\n     Poor Ellen glided from her stay,\n     And at the monarch's feet she lay.\"\n\nInverting these couplets will be found to diminish the effect\nconsiderably. There are cases, however, even where the simile is a\nsimple one, in which it may with advantage be placed last, as in these\nlines from Alexander Smith's 'Life Drama':\n\n    \"I see the future stretch\n     All dark and barren as a rainy sea.\"\n\nThe reason for this seems to be, that so abstract an idea as that\nattaching to the word \"future,\" does not present itself to the mind\nin any definite form, and hence the subsequent arrival at the simile\nentails no reconstruction of the thought.\n\nSec. 39. Such, however, are not the only cases in which this order is the\nmost forcible. As the advantage of putting the simile before the object\ndepends on its being carried forward in the mind to assist in forming an\nimage of the object, it must happen that if, from length or complexity,\nit cannot be so carried forward, the advantage is not gained. The\nannexed sonnet, by Coleridge, is defective from this cause:\n\n    \"As when a child, on some long winter's night,\n    Affrighted, clinging to its grandam's knees,\n    With eager wond'ring and perturb'd delight\n    Listens strange tales of fearful dark decrees,\n    Mutter'd to wretch by necromantic spell;\n    Or of those hags who at the witching time\n    Of murky midnight, ride the air sublime,\n    And mingle foul embrace with fiends of hell;\n    Cold horror drinks its blood! Anon the tear\n    More gentle starts, to hear the beldame tell\n    Of pretty babes, that lov'd each other dear,\n    Murder'd by cruel uncle's mandate fell:\n    Ev'n such the shiv'ring joys thy tones impart,\n    Ev'n so, thou, Siddons, meltest my sad heart.\"\n\nSec. 40. Here, from the lapse of time and accumulation of circumstances,\nthe first part of the comparison is forgotten before its application\nis reached, and requires re-reading. Had the main idea been first\nmentioned, less effort would have been required to retain it, and to\nmodify the conception of it into harmony with the comparison, than to\nremember the comparison, and refer back to its successive features for\nhelp in forming the final image.\n\nSec. 41. The superiority of the Metaphor to the Simile is ascribed by Dr.\nWhately to the fact that \"all men are more gratified at catching the\nresemblance for themselves, than in having it pointed out to them.\" But\nafter what has been said, the great economy it achieves will seem the\nmore probable cause. Lear's exclamation--\n\n    \"Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,\"\n\nwould lose part of its effect were it changed into--\n\n    \"Ingratitude! thou fiend with heart like marble;\"\n\nand the loss would result partly from the position of the simile and\npartly from the extra number of words required. When the comparison is\nan involved one, the greater force of the metaphor, consequent on its\ngreater brevity, becomes much more conspicuous. If, drawing an analogy\nbetween mental and physical phenomena, we say, \"As, in passing through\nthe crystal, beams of white light are decomposed into the colours of the\nrainbow; so, in traversing the soul of the poet, the colourless rays of\ntruth are transformed into brightly tinted poetry\"; it is clear that\nin receiving the double set of words expressing the two halves of the\ncomparison, and in carrying the one half to the other, considerable\nattention is absorbed. Most of this is saved, however, by putting the\ncomparison in a metaphorical form, thus: \"The white light of truth, in\ntraversing the many sided transparent soul of the poet, is refracted\ninto iris-hued poetry.\"\n\nSec. 42. How much is conveyed in a few words by the help of the Metaphor,\nand how vivid the effect consequently produced, may be abundantly\nexemplified. From 'A Life Drama' may be quoted the phrase--\n\n    \"I spear'd him with a jest,\"\n\nas a fine instance among the many which that poem contains. A passage in\nthe 'Prometheus Unbound,' of Shelley, displays the power of the metaphor\nto great advantage:\n\n    \"Methought among the lawns together\n     We wandered, underneath the young gray dawn,\n     And multitudes of dense white fleecy clouds\n     Were wandering, in thick flocks along the mountains\n     _Shepherded_ by the slow unwilling wind.\"\n\nThis last expression is remarkable for the distinctness with which it\nrealizes the features of the scene: bringing the mind, as it were, by a\nbound to the desired conception.\n\nSec. 43. But a limit is put to the advantageous use of the Metaphor, by the\ncondition that it must be sufficiently simple to be understood from a\nhint. Evidently, if there be any obscurity in the meaning or application\nof it, no economy of attention will be gained; but rather the reverse.\nHence, when the comparison is complex, it is usual to have recourse to\nthe Simile. There is, however, a species of figure, sometimes classed\nunder Allegory, but which might, perhaps, be better called Compound\nMetaphor, that enables us to retain the brevity of the metaphorical\nform even where the analogy is intricate. This is done by indicating the\napplication of the figure at the outset, and then leaving the mind to\ncontinue the parallel.' Emerson has employed it with great effect in\nthe first of his I Lectures on the Times':--\"The main interest which\nany aspects of the Times can have for us is the great spirit which gazes\nthrough them, the light which they can shed on the wonderful questions,\nWhat are we, and Whither we tend? We do not wish to be deceived. Here\nwe drift, like white sail across the wild ocean, now bright on the wave,\nnow darkling in the trough of the sea; but from what port did we sail?\nWho knows? Or to what port are we bound? Who knows? There is no one\nto tell us but such poor weather-tossed mariners as ourselves, whom we\nspeak as we pass, or who have hoisted some signal, or floated to us some\nletter in a bottle from far. But what know they more than we? They\nalso found themselves on this wondrous sea. No; from the older sailors\nnothing. Over all their speaking trumpets the gray sea and the loud\nwinds answer, Not in us; not in Time.\"\n\nSec. 44. The division of the Simile from the Metaphor is by no means a\ndefinite one. Between the one extreme in which the two elements of the\ncomparison are detailed at full length and the analogy pointed out, and\nthe other extreme in which the comparison is implied instead of stated,\ncome intermediate forms, in which the comparison is partly stated and\npartly implied. For instance:--\"Astonished at the performances of the\nEnglish plow, the Hindoos paint it, set it up, and worship it; thus\nturning a tool into an idol: linguists do the same with language.\" There\nis an evident advantage in leaving the reader or hearer to complete the\nfigure. And generally these intermediate forms are good in proportion as\nthey do this; provided the mode of completing it be obvious.\n\nSec. 45. Passing over much that may be said of like purport upon Hyperbole,\nPersonification, Apostrophe, &c., let us close our remarks upon\nconstruction by a typical example. The general principle which has been\nenunciated is, that other things equal, the force of all verbal forms\nand arrangements is great, in proportion as the time and mental effort\nthey demand from the recipient is small. The corollaries from this\ngeneral principle have been severally illustrated; and it has been shown\nthat the relative goodness of any two modes of expressing an idea,\nmay be determined by observing which requires the shortest process\nof thought for its comprehension. But though conformity in particular\npoints has been exemplified, no cases of complete conformity have yet\nbeen quoted. It is indeed difficult to find them; for the English\nidiom does not commonly permit the order which theory dictates. A few,\nhowever, occur in Ossian. Here is one:--\"As autumn's dark storms pour\nfrom two echoing hills, so towards each other approached the heroes. As\ntwo dark streams from high rocks meet and mix, and roar on the plain:\nloud, rough, and dark in battle meet Lochlin and Inisfail...As the\ntroubled noise of the ocean when roll the waves on high; as the last\npeal of the thunder of heaven; such is noise of the battle.\"\n\nSec. 46. Except in the position of the verb in the first two similes, the\ntheoretically best arrangement is fully carried out in each of these\nsentences. The simile comes before the qualified image, the adjectives\nbefore the substantives, the predicate and copula before the subject,\nand their respective complements before them. That the passage is open\nto the charge of being bombastic proves nothing; or rather, proves our\ncase. For what is bombast but a force of expression too great for the\nmagnitude of the ideas embodied? All that may rightly be inferred is,\nthat only in very rare cases, and then only to produce a climax, should\nall the conditions of effective expression be fulfilled.\n\n\n\n\nv. Suggestion as a Means of Economy.\n\nSec. 47. Passing on to a more complex application of the doctrine with\nwhich we set out, it must now be remarked, that not only in the\nstructure of sentences, and the use of figures of speech, may economy\nof the recipient's mental energy be assigned as the cause of force; but\nthat in the choice and arrangement of the minor images, out of which\nsome large thought is to be built up, we may trace the same condition\nto effect. To select from the sentiment, scene, or event described those\ntypical elements which carry many others along with them; and so, by\nsaying a few things but suggesting\n\nmany, to abridge the description; is the secret of producing a vivid\nimpression. An extract from Tennyson's 'Mariana' will well illustrate\nthis:\n\n    \"All day within the dreamy house,\n     The door upon the hinges creaked,\n     The blue fly sung i' the pane; the mouse\n     Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked,\n     Or from the crevice peered about.\"\n\nSec. 48. The several circumstances here specified bring with them many\nappropriate associations. Our attention is rarely drawn by the buzzing\nof a fly in the window, save when everything is still. While the inmates\nare moving about the house, mice usually keep silence; and it is only\nwhen extreme quietness reigns that they peep from their retreats. Hence\neach of the facts mentioned, presupposing numerous others, calls up\nthese with more or less distinctness; and revives the feeling of dull\nsolitude with which they are connected in our experience. Were all these\nfacts detailed instead of suggested, the attention would be so frittered\naway that little impression of dreariness would be produced. Similarly\nin other cases. Whatever the nature of the thought to be conveyed, this\nskilful selection of a few particulars which imply the rest, is the\nkey to success. In the choice of component ideas, as in the choice of\nexpressions, the aim must be to convey the greatest quantity of thoughts\nwith the smallest quantity of words.\n\nSec. 49. The same principle may in some cases be advantageously carried\nyet further, by indirectly suggesting some entirely distinct thought\nin addition to the one expressed. Thus, if we say, \"The head of a good\nclassic is as full of ancient myths, as that of a servant-girl of ghost\nstories\"; it is manifest that besides the fact asserted, there is an\nimplied opinion respecting the small value of classical knowledge: and\nas this implied opinion is recognized much sooner than it can be put\ninto words, there is gain in omitting it. In other cases, again, great\neffect is produced by an overt omission; provided the nature of the\nidea left out is obvious. A good instance of this occurs in 'Heroes and\nHeroworship.' After describing the way in which Burns was sacrificed to\nthe idle curiosity of Lion-hunters--people who came not out of sympathy,\nbut merely to see him--people who sought a little amusement, and who got\ntheir amusement while \"the Hero's life went for it!\" Carlyle suggests a\nparallel thus: \"Richter says, in the Island of Sumatra there is a kind\nof 'Light-chafers,' large Fire-flies, which people stick upon spits, and\nilluminate the ways with at night. Persons of condition can thus travel\nwith a pleasant radiance, which they much admire. Great honour to the\nFire-flies! But--!--\"\n\n\n\n\nvi. The Effect of Poetry explained.\n\nSec. 50. Before inquiring whether the law of effect, thus far traced,\nexplains the superiority of poetry to prose, it will be needful to\nnotice some supplementary causes of force in expression, that have not\nyet been mentioned. These are not, properly speaking, additional causes;\nbut rather secondary ones, originating from those already specified\nreflex results of them. In the first place, then, we may remark that\nmental excitement spontaneously prompts the use of those forms of speech\nwhich have been pointed out as the most effective. \"Out with him!\" \"Away\nwith him!\" are the natural utterances of angry citizens at a disturbed\nmeeting. A voyager, describing a terrible storm he had witnessed, would\nrise to some such climax as--\"Crack went the ropes and down came the\nmast.\" Astonishment may be heard expressed in the phrase--\"Never was\nthere such a sight!\" All of which sentences are, it will be observed,\nconstructed after the direct type. Again, every one knows that excited\npersons are given to figures of speech. The vituperation of the vulgar\nabounds with them: often, indeed, consists of little else. \"Beast,\"\n\"brute,\" \"gallows rogue,\" \"cut-throat villain,\" these, and other like\nmetaphors and metaphorical epithets, at once call to mind a street\nquarrel. Further, it may be noticed that extreme brevity is another\ncharacteristic of passionate language. The sentences are generally\nincomplete; the particles are omitted; and frequently important words\nare left to be gathered from the context. Great admiration does not\nvent itself in a precise proposition, as--\"It is beautiful\"; but in the\nsimple exclamation--\"Beautiful!\" He who, when reading a lawyer's letter,\nshould say, \"Vile rascal!\" would be thought angry; while, \"He is a vile\nrascal!\" would imply comparative coolness. Thus we see that alike in\nthe order of the words, in the frequent use of figures, and in extreme\nconciseness, the natural utterances of excitement conform to the\ntheoretical conditions of forcible expression.\n\nSec. 51. Hence, then, the higher forms of speech acquire a secondary\nstrength from association. Having, in actual life, habitually heard them\nin connection with vivid mental impressions, and having been accustomed\nto meet with them in the most powerful writing, they come to have in\nthemselves a species of force. The emotions that have from time to time\nbeen produced by the strong thoughts wrapped up in these forms, are\npartially aroused by the forms themselves. They create a certain degree\nof animation; they induce a preparatory sympathy, and when the striking\nideas looked for are reached, they are the more vividly realized.\n\nSec. 52. The continuous use of these modes of expression that are alike\nforcible in themselves and forcible from their associations, produces\nthe peculiarly impressive species of composition which we call poetry.\nPoetry, we shall find, habitually adopts those symbols of thought,\nand those methods of using them, which instinct and analysis agree in\nchoosing as most effective, and becomes poetry by virtue of doing this.\nOn turning back to the various specimens that have been quoted, it will\nbe seen that the direct or inverted form of sentence predominates in\nthem; and that to a degree quite inadmissible in prose. And not only\nin the frequency, but in what is termed the violence of the inversions,\nwill this distinction be remarked. In the abundant use of figures,\nagain, we may recognize the same truth. Metaphors, similes, hyperboles,\nand personifications, are the poet's colours, which he has liberty to\nemploy almost without limit. We characterize as \"poetical\" the prose\nwhich uses these appliances of language with any frequency, and condemn\nit as \"over florid\" or \"affected\" long before they occur with the\nprofusion allowed in verse. Further, let it be remarked that in\nbrevity--the other requisite of forcible expression which theory points\nout, and emotion spontaneously fulfils--poetical phraseology similarly\ndiffers from ordinary phraseology. Imperfect periods are frequent;\nelisions are perpetual; and many of the minor words, which would be\ndeemed essential in prose, are dispensed with.\n\nSec. 53. Thus poetry, regarded as a vehicle of thought, is especially\nimpressive partly because it obeys all the laws of effective speech,\nand partly because in so doing it imitates the natural utterances of\nexcitement. While the matter embodied is idealized emotion, the vehicle\nis the idealized language of emotion. As the musical composer catches\nthe cadences in which our feelings of joy and sympathy, grief and\ndespair, vent themselves, and out of these germs evolves melodies\nsuggesting higher phases of these feelings; I so, the poet develops from\nthe typical expressions in which men utter passion and sentiment, those\nchoice forms of verbal combination in which concentrated passion and\nsentiment may be fitly presented.\n\nSec. 54. There is one peculiarity of poetry conducing much to its\neffect--the peculiarity which is indeed usually thought its\ncharacteristic one--still remaining to be considered: we mean its\nrhythmical structure. This, improbable though it seems, will be found to\ncome under the same generalization with the others. Like each of them,\nit is an idealization of the natural language of strong emotion, which\nis known to be more or less metrical if the emotion be not too violent;\nand like each of them it is an economy of the reader's or hearer's\nattention. In the peculiar tone and manner we adopt in uttering\nversified language, may be discerned its relationship to the feelings;\nand the pleasure which its measured movement gives us, is ascribable\nto the comparative ease with which words metrically arranged can be\nrecognized.\n\nSec. 55. This last position will scarcely be at once admitted; but a little\nexplanation will show its reasonableness. For if, as we have seen,\nthere is an expenditure of mental energy in the mere act of listening to\nverbal articulations, or in that silent repetition of them which goes\non in reading--if the perceptive faculties must be in active exercise\nto identify every syllable--then, any mode of so combining words as\nto present a regular recurrence of certain traits which the mind can\nanticipate, will diminish that strain upon the attention required by the\ntotal irregularity of prose. Just as the body, in receiving a series\nof varying concussions, must keep the muscles ready to meet the most\nviolent of them, as not knowing when such may come; so, the mind in\nreceiving unarranged articulations, must keep its perceptives active\nenough to recognize the least easily caught sounds. And as, if the\nconcussions recur in a definite order, the body may husband its forces\nby adjusting the resistance needful for each concussion; so, if the\nsyllables be rhythmically arranged, the mind may economize its energies\nby anticipating the attention required for each syllable.\n\nSec. 56. Far-fetched though this idea will perhaps be thought, a little\nintrospection will countenance it. That we do take advantage of metrical\nlanguage to adjust our perceptive faculties to the force of the expected\narticulations, is clear from the fact that we are balked by halting\nversification. Much as at the bottom of a flight of stairs, a step more\nor less than we counted upon gives us a shock; so, too, does a misplaced\naccent or a supernumerary syllable. In the one case, we _know_ that\nthere is an erroneous preadjustment; and we can scarcely doubt\nthat there is one in the other. But if we habitually preadjust our\nperceptions to the measured movement of verse, the physical analogy\nabove given renders it probable that by so doing we economize attention;\nand hence that metrical language is more effective than prose, because\nit enables us to do this.\n\nSec. 57. Were there space, it might be worthwhile to inquire whether the\npleasure we take in rhyme, and also that which we take in euphony, axe\nnot partly ascribable to the same general cause.\n\n\n\n\n\nPART II. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE\nMENTAL SENSIBILITIES.\n\n\n\n\ni. The Law of Mental Exhaustion and Repair.\n\nSec. 58. A few paragraphs only, can be devoted to a second division of\nour subject that here presents itself. To pursue in detail the laws of\neffect, as applying to the larger features of composition, would carry\nus beyond our limits. But we may briefly indicate a further aspect of\nthe general principle hitherto traced out, and hint a few of its wider\napplications.\n\nSec. 59. Thus far, then, we have considered only those causes of force in\nlanguage which depend upon economy of the mental _energies:_ we have\nnow to glance at those which depend upon economy of the mental\n_sensibilities._ Questionable though this division may be as a\npsychological one, it will yet serve roughly to indicate the remaining\nfield of investigation. It will suggest that besides considering the\nextent to which any faculty or group of faculties is tasked in receiving\na form of words and realizing its contained idea, we have to consider\nthe state in which this faculty or group of faculties is left; and how\nthe reception of subsequent sentences and images will be influenced by\nthat state. Without going at length into so wide a topic as the exercise\nof faculties and its reactive effects, it will be sufficient here to\ncall to mind that every faculty (when in a state of normal activity) is\nmost capable at the outset; and that the change in its condition,\nwhich ends in what we term exhaustion, begins simultaneously with its\nexercise. This generalization, with which we are all familiar in our\nbodily experiences, and which our daily language recognizes as true\nof the mind as a whole, is equally true of each mental power, from the\nsimplest of the senses to the most complex of the sentiments. If we hold\na flower to the nose for long, we become insensible to its scent. We say\nof a very brilliant flash of lightning that it blinds us; which means\nthat our eyes have for a time lost their ability to appreciate light.\nAfter eating a quantity of honey, we are apt to think our tea is without\nsugar. The phrase \"a deafening roar,\" implies that men find a very loud\nsound temporarily incapacitates them for hearing faint ones. To a hand\nwhich has for some time carried a heavy body, small bodies afterwards\nlifted seem to have lost their weight. Now, the truth at once recognized\nin these, its extreme manifestations, may be traced throughout. It may\nbe shown that alike in the reflective faculties, in the imagination,\nin the perceptions of the beautiful, the ludicrous, the sublime, in\nthe sentiments, the instincts, in all the mental powers, however we may\nclassify them-action exhausts; and that in proportion as the action is\nviolent, the subsequent prostration is great.\n\nSec. 60. Equally, throughout the whole nature, may be traced the law that\nexercised faculties are ever tending to resume their original state. Not\nonly after continued rest, do they regain their full power not only do\nbrief cessations partially reinvigorate them; but even while they are\nin action, the resulting exhaustion is ever being neutralized. The\ntwo processes of waste and repair go on together. Hence with faculties\nhabitually exercised--as the senses of all persons, or the muscles of\nany one who is strong--it happens that, during moderate activity, the\nrepair is so nearly equal to the waste, that the diminution of power\nis scarcely appreciable; and it is only when the activity has been long\ncontinued, or has been very violent, that the repair becomes so far\nin arrear of the waste as to produce a perceptible prostration. In\nall cases, however, when, by the action of a faculty, waste has been\nincurred, _some_ lapse of time must take place before full efficiency\ncan be reacquired; and this time must be long in proportion as the waste\nhas been great.\n\n\n\n\nii Explanation of Climax, Antithesis, and Anticlimax.\n\nSec. 61. Keeping in mind these general truths, we shall be in a condition\nto understand certain causes of effect in composition now to be\nconsidered. Every perception received, and every conception realized,\nentailing some amount of waste--or, as Liebig would say, some change of\nmatter in the brain; and the efficiency of the faculties subject to\nthis waste being thereby temporarily, though often but momentarily,\ndiminished; the resulting partial inability must affect the acts of\nperception and conception that immediately succeed. And hence we may\nexpect that the vividness with which images are realized will, in many\ncases, depend on the order of their presentation: even when one order is\nas convenient to the understanding as the other.\n\nSec. 62. There are sundry facts which alike illustrate this, and are\nexplained by it. Climax is one of them. The marked effect obtained\nby placing last the most striking of any series of images, and the\nweakness--often the ludicrous weakness--produced by reversing this\narrangement, depends on the general law indicated. As immediately after\nlooking at the sun we cannot perceive the light of a fire, while by\nlooking at the fire first and the sun afterwards we can perceive both;\nso, after receiving a brilliant, or weighty, or terrible thought, we\ncannot appreciate a less brilliant, less weighty, or less terrible one,\nwhile, by reversing the order, we can appreciate each. In Antithesis,\nagain, we may recognize the same general truth. The opposition of two\nthoughts that are the reverse of each other in some prominent trait,\ninsures an impressive effect; and does this by giving a momentary\nrelaxation to the faculties addressed. If, after a series of images of\nan ordinary character, appealing in a moderate degree to the sentiment\nof reverence, or approbation, or beauty, the mind has presented to it a\nvery insignificant, a very unworthy, or a very ugly image; the faculty\nof reverence, or approbation, or beauty, as the case may be, having\nfor the time nothing to do, tends to resume its full power; and will\nimmediately afterwards appreciate a vast, admirable, or beautiful\nimage better than it would otherwise do. Conversely, where the idea\nof absurdity due to extreme insignificance is to be produced, it maybe\ngreatly intensified by placing it after something highly impressive:\nespecially if the form of phrase implies that something still more\nimpressive is coming. A good illustration of the effect gained by thus\npresenting a petty idea to a consciousness that has not yet recovered\nfrom the shock of an exciting one, occurs in a sketch by Balzac. His\nhero writes to a mistress who has cooled towards him the following\nletter:\n\n\"Madame, Votre conduite m'etonne autant qu'elle m'afflige Non contente\nde me dechirer le coeur par vos dedains vous avez l'indelicatesse de\nme retenir une brosse a dents, que mes moyens ne me permettent pas de\nremplacer, mes proprietes etant grevees d'hypotheques\n\n\"Adieu, trop, belle et trop ingrate ainie! Puissions nous nous revoir\ndans un monde meilleur!\n\n\"Charles Edouard\"\n\nSec. 63. Thus we see that the phenomena of Climax, Antithesis, and\nAnticlimax, alike result from this general principle. Improbable as\nthese momentary variations in susceptibility may seem, we cannot doubt\ntheir occurrence when we contemplate the analogous variations in the\nsusceptibility of the senses. Referring once more to phenomena of\nvision, every one knows that a patch of black on a white ground looks\nblacker, and a patch of white on a black ground looks whiter, than\nelsewhere. As the blackness and the whiteness must really be the same,\nthe only assignable cause for this is a difference in their actions upon\nus, dependent upon the different states of our faculties. It is simply a\nvisual antithesis.\n\n\n\n\niii. Need of Variety.\n\nSec. 64. But this extension of the general principle of economy--this\nfurther condition to effective composition, that the sensitiveness of\nthe faculties must be continuously husbanded--includes much more than\nhas been yet hinted. It implies not only that certain arrangements and\ncertain juxtapositions of connected ideas are best; but that some modes\nof dividing and presenting a subject will be more striking than others;\nand that, too, irrespective of its logical cohesion. It shows why we\nmust progress from the less interesting to the more interesting; and\nwhy not only the composition as a whole, but each of its successive\nportions, should tend towards a climax. At the same time, it forbids\nlong continuity of the same kind of thought, or repeated production of\nlike effects. It warns us against the error committed both by Pope in\nhis poems and by Bacon in his essays--the error, namely, of constantly\nemploying forcible forms of expression: and it points out that as\nthe easiest posture by and by becomes fatiguing, and is with pleasure\nexchanged for one less easy, so, the most perfectly-constructed\nsentences will soon weary, and relief will be given by using those of an\ninferior kind.\n\nSec. 65. Further, we may infer from it not only that we should avoid\ngenerally combining our words in one manner, however good, or working\nout our figures and illustrations in one way, however telling; but\nthat we should avoid anything like uniform adherence, even to the wider\nconditions of effect. We should not make every section of our subject\nprogress in interest; we should not always rise to a climax. As we saw\nthat, in single sentences, it is but rarely allowable to fulfill all the\nconditions to strength; so, in the larger sections of a composition\nwe must not often conform entirely to the law indicated. We must\nsubordinate the component effect to the total effect.\n\nSec. 66. In deciding how practically to carry out the principles of\nartistic composition, we may derive help by bearing in mind a fact\nalready pointed out--the fitness of certain verbal arrangements\nfor certain kinds of thought. That constant variety in the mode of\npresenting ideas which the theory demands, will in a great degree result\nfrom a skilful adaptation of the form to the matter. We saw how the\ndirect or inverted sentence is spontaneously used by excited people;\nand how their language is also characterized by figures of speech and by\nextreme brevity. Hence these may with advantage predominate in emotional\npassages; and may increase as the emotion rises. On the other hand,\nfor complex ideas, the indirect sentence seems the best vehicle. In\nconversation, the excitement produced by the near approach to a\ndesired conclusion, will often show itself in a series of short, sharp\nsentences; while, in impressing a view already enunciated, we generally\nmake our periods voluminous by piling thought upon thought. These\nnatural modes of procedure may serve as guides in writing. Keen\nobservation and skilful analysis would, in like manner, detect further\npeculiarities of expression produced by other attitudes of mind; and\nby paying due attention to all such traits, a writer possessed\nof sufficient versatility might make some approach to a\ncompletely-organized work.\n\n\n\n\niv. The Ideal Writer.\n\nSec. 67. This species of composition which the law of effect points out\nas the perfect one, is the one which high genius tends naturally to\nproduce. As we found that the kinds of sentences which are theoretically\nbest, are those generally employed by superior minds, and by inferior\nminds when excitement has raised them; so, we shall find that the ideal\nform for a poem, essay, or fiction, is that which the ideal writer\nwould evolve spontaneously. One in whom the powers of expression fully\nresponded to the state of feeling, would unconsciously use that variety\nin the mode of presenting his thoughts, which Art demands. This constant\nemployment of one species of phraseology, which all have now to strive\nagainst, implies an undeveloped faculty of language. To have a specific\nstyle is to be poor in speech. If we remember that, in the far past, men\nhad only nouns and verbs to convey their ideas with, and that from then\nto now the growth has been towards a greater number of implements of\nthought, and consequently towards a greater complexity and variety\nin their combinations; we may infer that we are now, in our use of\nsentences, much what the primitive man was in his use of words; and that\na continuance of the process that has hitherto gone on, must produce\nincreasing heterogeneity in our modes of expression. As now, in a\nfine nature, the play of the features, the tones of the voice and\nits cadences, vary in harmony with every thought uttered; so, in one\npossessed of a fully developed power of speech, the mould in which\neach combination of words is cast will similarly vary with, and be\nappropriate to the sentiment.\n\nSec. 68. That a perfectly endowed man must unconsciously write in all\nstyles, we may infer from considering how styles originate. Why is\nJohnson pompous, Goldsmith simple? Why is one author abrupt, another\nrhythmical, another concise? Evidently in each case the habitual mode\nof utterance must depend upon the habitual balance of the nature. The\npredominant feelings have by use trained the intellect to represent\nthem. But while long, though unconscious, discipline has made it do this\nefficiently, it remains from lack of practice, incapable of doing the\nsame for the less active feelings; and when these are excited, the usual\nverbal forms undergo but slight modifications. Let the powers of speech\nbe fully developed, however--let the ability of the intellect to utter\nthe emotions be complete; and this fixity of style will disappear. The\nperfect writer will express himself as Junius, when in the Junius frame\nof mind; when he feels as Lamb felt, will use a like familiar speech;\nand will fall into the ruggedness of Carlyle when in a Carlylean mood.\nNow he will be rhythmical and now irregular; here his language will be\nplain and there ornate; sometimes his sentences will be balanced and\nat other times unsymmetrical; for a while there will be considerable\nsameness, and then again great variety. His mode of expression naturally\nresponding to his state of feeling, there will flow from his pen a\ncomposition changing to the same degree that the aspects of his subject\nchange. He will thus without effort conform to what we have seen to\nbe the laws of effect. And while his work presents to the reader that\nvariety needful to prevent continuous exertion of the same faculties,\nit will also answer to the description of all highly organized products,\nboth of man and of nature: it will be not a series of like parts simply\nplaced in juxtaposition, but one whole made up of unlike parts that are\nmutually dependent.","title":"The Philosophy of Style","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":12169}