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diff --git a/5849-8.txt b/5849-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f914395 --- /dev/null +++ b/5849-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1640 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philosophy of Style, by Herbert Spencer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Philosophy of Style + +Author: Herbert Spencer + +Posting Date: March 20, 2009 +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5849] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILOSOPHY OF STYLE *** + + + + +Produced by P. Peterson + + + + + +THE PHILOSOPHY OF STYLE. + + +By Herbert Spencer + + + + +PART I. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE +MENTAL ENERGIES. + + + + +i. The Principle of Economy. + +§ 1. Commenting on the seeming incongruity between his father's +argumentative powers and his ignorance of formal logic, Tristram Shandy +says:--"It was a matter of just wonder with my worthy tutor, and two or +three fellows of that learned society, that a man who knew not so much +as the names of his tools, should be able to work after that fashion +with them." Sterne's intended implication that a knowledge of the +principles of reasoning neither makes, nor is essential to, a good +reasoner, is doubtless true. Thus, too, is it with grammar. As Dr. +Latham, condemning the usual school-drill in Lindley Murray, rightly +remarks: "Gross vulgarity is a fault to be prevented; but the proper +prevention is to be got from habit--not rules." Similarly, there can +be little question that good composition is far less dependent upon +acquaintance with its laws, than upon practice and natural aptitude. +A clear head, a quick imagination, and a sensitive ear, will go far +towards making all rhetorical precepts needless. He who daily hears and +reads well-framed sentences, will naturally more or less tend to use +similar ones. And where there exists any mental idiosyncrasy--where +there is a deficient verbal memory, or an inadequate sense of logical +dependence, or but little perception of order, or a lack of +constructive ingenuity; no amount of instruction will remedy the defect. +Nevertheless, some practical result may be expected from a familiarity +with the principles of style. The endeavour to conform to laws may tell, +though slowly. And if in no other way, yet, as facilitating revision, a +knowledge of the thing to be achieved--a clear idea of what constitutes +a beauty, and what a blemish--cannot fail to be of service. + +§ 2. No general theory of expression seems yet to have been enunciated. +The maxims contained in works on composition and rhetoric, are presented +in an unorganized form. Standing as isolated dogmas--as empirical +generalizations, they are neither so clearly apprehended, nor so much +respected, as they would be were they deduced from some simple first +principle. We are told that "brevity is the soul of wit." We hear styles +condemned as verbose or involved. Blair says that every needless part of +a sentence "interrupts the description and clogs the image;" and again, +that "long sentences fatigue the reader's attention." It is remarked by +Lord Kaimes, that "to give the utmost force to a period, it ought, if +possible, to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure." +That parentheses should be avoided and that Saxon words should be used +in preference to those of Latin origin, are established precepts. But, +however influential the truths thus dogmatically embodied, they would +be much more influential if reduced to something like scientific +ordination. In this, as in other cases, conviction will be greatly +strengthened when we understand the why. And we may be sure that +a comprehension of the general principle from which the rules of +composition result, will not only bring them home to us with greater +force, but will discover to us other rules of like origin. + +§ 3. On seeking for some clue to the law underlying these current +maxims, we may see shadowed forth in many of them, the importance of +economizing the reader's or hearer's attention, To so present ideas that +they may be apprehended with the least possible mental effort, is the +desideratum towards which most of the rules above quoted point. When we +condemn writing that is wordy, or confused, or intricate--when we praise +this style as easy, and blame that as fatiguing, we consciously or +unconsciously assume this desideratum as our standard of judgment. +Regarding language as an apparatus of symbols for the conveyance of +thought, we may say that, as in a mechanical apparatus, the more simple +and the better arranged its parts, the greater will be the effect +produced. In either case, whatever force is absorbed by the machine is +deducted from the result. A reader or listener has at each moment but a +limited amount of mental power available. To recognize and interpret the +symbols presented to him, requires part of this power; to arrange and +combine the images suggested requires a further part; and only that part +which remains can be used for realizing the thought conveyed. Hence, +the more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each +sentence, the less time and attention can be given to the contained +idea; and the less vividly will that idea be conceived. + +§ 4. How truly language must be regarded as a hindrance to thought, +though the necessary instrument of it, we shall clearly perceive +on remembering the comparative force with which simple ideas are +communicated by signs. To say, "Leave the room," is less expressive than +to point to the door. Placing a finger on the lips is more forcible than +whispering, "Do not speak." A beck of the hand is better than, "Come +here." No phrase can convey the idea of surprise so vividly as opening +the eyes and raising the eyebrows. A shrug of the shoulders would lose +much by translation into words. Again, it may be remarked that when +oral language is employed, the strongest effects are produced by +interjections, which condense entire sentences into syllables. And in +other cases, where custom allows us to express thoughts by single words, +as in _Beware, Heigho, Fudge,_ much force would be lost by expanding +them into specific propositions. Hence, carrying out the metaphor that +language is the vehicle of thought, there seems reason to think that +in all cases the friction and inertia of the vehicle deduct from its +efficiency; and that in composition, the chief, if not the sole thing +to be done, is, to reduce this friction and inertia to the smallest +possible amount. Let us then inquire whether economy of the recipient's +attention is not the secret of effect, alike in the right choice and +collocation of words, in the best arrangement of clauses in a sentence, +in the proper order of its principal and subordinate propositions, in +the judicious use of simile, metaphor, and other figures of speech, and +even in the rhythmical sequence of syllables. + + + + +ii. Economy in the Use of Words. + +§ 5. The greater forcibleness of Saxon English, or rather non-Latin +English, first claims our attention. The several special reasons +assignable for this may all be reduced to the general reason--economy. +The most important of them is early association. A child's vocabulary is +almost wholly Saxon. He says, _I have,_ not _I possess_---_I wish,_ +not I _desire;_ he does not _reflect,_ he _thinks;_ he does not beg +for _amusement,_ but for _play_; he calls things _nice_ or _nasty,_ +not _pleasant_ or _disagreeable._ The synonyms which he learns in after +years, never become so closely, so organically connected with the ideas +signified, as do these original words used in childhood; and hence the +association remains less strong. But in what does a strong association +between a word and an idea differ from a weak one? Simply in the greater +ease and rapidity of the suggestive action. It can be in nothing else. +Both of two words, if they be strictly synonymous, eventually call up +the same image. The expression--It is _acid,_ must in the end give rise +to the same thought as--It is sour; but because the term _acid_ was +learnt later in life, and has not been so often followed by the thought +symbolized, it does not so readily arouse that thought as the term sour. +If we remember how slowly and with what labour the appropriate ideas +follow unfamiliar words in another language, and how increasing +familiarity with such words brings greater rapidity and ease of +comprehension; and if we consider that the same process must have gone +on with the words of our mother tongue from childhood upwards, we shall +clearly see that the earliest learnt and oftenest used words, will, +other things equal, call up images with less loss of time and energy +than their later learnt synonyms. + +§ 6. The further superiority possessed by Saxon English in its +comparative brevity, obviously comes under the same generalization. If +it be an advantage to express an idea in the smallest number of words, +then will it be an advantage to express it in the smallest number of +syllables. If circuitous phrases and needless expletives distract the +attention and diminish the strength of the impression produced, then +do surplus articulations do so. A certain effort, though commonly +an inappreciable one, must be required to recognize every vowel and +consonant. If, as all know, it is tiresome to listen to an indistinct +speaker, or read a badly-written manuscript; and if, as we cannot doubt, +the fatigue is a cumulative result of the attention needed to catch +successive syllables; it follows that attention is in such cases +absorbed by each syllable. And if this be true when the syllables are +difficult of recognition, it will also be true, though in a less degree, +when the recognition of them is easy. Hence, the shortness of Saxon +words becomes a reason for their greater force. One qualification, +however, must not be overlooked. A word which in itself embodies the +most important part of the idea to be conveyed, especially when that +idea is an emotional one, may often with advantage be a polysyllabic +word. Thus it seems more forcible to say, "It is _magnificent,_" +than "It is _grand._" The word _vast_ is not so powerful a one as +_stupendous._ Calling a thing _nasty_ is not so effective as calling it +_disgusting._ + +§ 7. There seem to be several causes for this exceptional superiority +of certain long words. We may ascribe it partly to the fact that a +voluminous, mouth-filling epithet is, by its very size, suggestive of +largeness or strength; witness the immense pomposity of sesquipedalian +verbiage: and when great power or intensity has to be suggested, this +association of ideas aids the effect. A further cause may be that a +word of several syllables admits of more emphatic articulation; and as +emphatic articulation is a sign of emotion, the unusual impressiveness +of the thing named is implied by it. Yet another cause is that a long +word (of which the latter syllables are generally inferred as soon as +the first are spoken) allows the hearer's consciousness a longer time to +dwell upon the quality predicated; and where, as in the above cases, it +is to this predicated quality that the entire attention is called, an +advantage results from keeping it before the mind for an appreciable +time. The reasons which we have given for preferring short words +evidently do not hold here. So that to make our generalization quite +correct we must say, that while in certain sentences expressing strong +feeling, the word which more especially implies that feeling may often +with advantage be a many-syllabled or Latin one; in the immense majority +of cases, each word serving but as a step to the idea embodied by the +whole sentence, should, if possible, be a one-syllabled or Saxon one. + +§ 8. Once more, that frequent cause of strength in Saxon and other +primitive words-their imitative character may be similarly resolved into +the more general cause. Both those directly imitative, as _splash, bang, +whiz, roar,_ &c., and those analogically imitative, as _rough, smooth, +keen, blunt, thin, hard, crag,_ &c., have a greater or less likeness to +the things symbolized; and by making on the senses impressions allied to +the ideas to be called up, they save part of the effort needed to call +up such ideas, and leave more attention for the ideas themselves. + +§ 9. The economy of the recipient's mental energy, into which are thus +resolvable the several causes of the strength of Saxon English, may +equally be traced in the superiority of specific over generic words. +That concrete terms produce more vivid impressions than abstract ones, +and should, when possible, be used instead, is a thorough maxim of +composition. As Dr. Campbell says, "The more general the terms are, the +picture is the fainter; the more special they are, 'tis the brighter." +We should avoid such a sentence as:--"In proportion as the manners, +customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the +regulations of their penal code will be severe." And in place of it we +should write:--"In proportion as men delight in battles, bull-fights, +and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the +rack." + +§ 10. This superiority of specific expressions is clearly due to a +saving of the effort required to translate words into thoughts. As we +do not think in generals but in particulars--as, whenever any class of +things is referred to, we represent it to ourselves by calling to mind +individual members of it; it follows that when an abstract word is used, +the bearer or reader has to choose from his stock of images, one or +more, by which he may figure to himself the genus mentioned. In doing +this, some delay must arise some force be expended; and if, by employing +a specific term, an appropriate image can be at once suggested, an +economy is achieved, and a more vivid impression produced. + + + + +iii. The Principle of Economy applied to Sentences. + +§ 11. Turning now from the choice of words to their sequence, we shall +find the same general principle hold good. We have _a priori_ reasons +for believing that in every sentence there is some one order of words +more effective than any other; and that this order is the one which +presents the elements of the proposition in the succession in which they +may be most readily put together. As in a narrative, the events should +be stated in such sequence that the mind may not have to go backwards +and forwards in order to rightly connect them; as in a group of +sentences, the arrangement should be such, that each of them may be +understood as it comes, without waiting for subsequent ones; so in +every sentence, the sequence of words should be that which suggests +the constituents of the thought in the order most convenient for the +building up that thought. Duly to enforce this truth, and to prepare the +way for applications of it, we must briefly inquire into the mental act +by which the meaning of a series of words is apprehended. + +§ 12. We cannot more simply do this than by considering the proper +collocation of the substantive and adjective. Is it better to place +the adjective before the substantive, or the substantive before the +adjective? Ought we to say with the French--un _cheval noir;_ or to say +as we do--a black horse? Probably, most persons of culture would decide +that one order is as good as the other. Alive to the bias produced by +habit, they would ascribe to that the preference they feel for our own +form of expression. They would expect those educated in the use of the +opposite form to have an equal preference for that. And thus they would +conclude that neither of these instinctive judgments is of any worth. +There is, however, a philosophical ground for deciding in favour of the +English custom. If "a horse black" be the arrangement, immediately on +the utterance of the word "horse," there arises, or tends to arise, +in the mind, a picture answering to that word; and as there has, been +nothing to indicate what _kind_ of horse, any image of a horse suggests +itself. Very likely, however, the image will be that of a brown horse, +brown horses being the most familiar. The result is that when the word +"black" is added, a check is given to the process of thought. Either the +picture of a brown horse already present to the imagination has to be +suppressed, and the picture of a black one summoned in its place; or +else, if the picture of a brown horse be yet unformed, the tendency to +form it has to be stopped. Whichever is the case, a certain amount of +hindrance results. But if, on the other hand, "a black horse" be +the expression used, no such mistake can be made. The word "black," +indicating an abstract quality, arouses no definite idea. It simply +prepares the mind for conceiving some object of that colour; and the +attention is kept suspended until that object is known. If, then, by the +precedence of the adjective, the idea is conveyed without liability to +error, whereas the precedence of the substantive is apt to produce a +misconception, it follows that the one gives the mind less trouble than +the other, and is therefore more forcible. + +§ 13. Possibly it will be objected that the adjective and substantive +come so close together, that practically they may be considered as +uttered at the same moment; and that on hearing the phrase, "a horse +black," there is not time to imagine a wrongly-coloured horse before the +word "black" follows to prevent it. It must be owned that it is not +easy to decide by introspection whether this is so or not. But there are +facts collaterally implying that it is not. Our ability to anticipate +the words yet unspoken is one of them If the ideas of the hearer kept +considerably behind the, expressions of the speaker, as the objection +assumes, he could hardly foresee the end of a sentence by the time it +was half delivered: yet this constantly happens. Were the supposition +true, the mind, instead of anticipating, would be continually falling +more and more in arrear. If the meanings of words are not realized as +fast as the words are uttered, then the loss of time over each word +must entail such an accumulation of delays as to leave a hearer entirely +behind. But whether the force of these replies be or be not admitted, +it will scarcely be denied that the right formation of a picture will +be facilitated by presenting its elements in the order in which they +are wanted; even though the mind should do nothing until it has received +them all. + +§ 14. What is here said respecting the succession of the adjective and +substantive is obviously applicable, by change of terms, to the adverb +and verb. And without further explanation, it will be manifest, that +in the use of prepositions and other particles, most languages +spontaneously conform with more or less completeness to this law. + +§ 15. On applying a like analysis to the larger divisions of a sentence, +we find not only that the same principle holds good, but that the +advantage of respecting it becomes marked. In the arrangement of +predicate and subject, for example, we are at once shown that as +the predicate determines the aspect under which the subject is to be +conceived, it should be placed first; and the striking effect produced +by so placing it becomes comprehensible. Take the often-quoted contrast +between "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," and "Diana of the Ephesians +is great." When the first arrangement is used, the utterance of the word +"great" arouses those vague associations of an impressive nature with +which it has been habitually connected; the imagination is prepared to +clothe with high attributes whatever follows; and when the words, "Diana +of the Ephesians," are heard, all the appropriate imagery which can, on +the instant, be summoned, is used in the formation of the picture: +the mind being thus led directly, and without error, to the intended +impression. When, on the contrary, the reverse order is followed, the +idea, "Diana of the Ephesians" is conceived with no special reference to +greatness; and when the words "is great" are added, the conception +has to be remodeled: whence arises a loss of mental energy and a +corresponding diminution of effect. The following verse from Coleridge's +'Ancient Mariner,' though somewhat irregular in structure, well +illustrates the same truth: + + "Alone, alone, all, all alone, + Alone on a wide, wide sea + And never a saint took pity on + My soul in agony." + +§ 16. Of course the principle equally applies when the predicate is a +verb or a participle. And as effect is gained by placing first all words +indicating the quality, conduct or condition of the subject, it follows +that the copula also should have precedence. It is true that the general +habit of our language resists this arrangement of predicate, copula +and subject; but we may readily find instances of the additional force +gained by conforming to it. Thus, in the line from 'Julius Caesar' + + "Then burst his mighty heart," + +priority is given to a word embodying both predicate and copula. In a +passage contained in 'The Battle of Flodden Field,' the like order is +systematically employed with great effect: + + "The Border slogan rent the sky! + _A Home! a Gordon!_ was the cry; + _Loud were _the clanging blows: + _Advanced--forced back---now low, now high, + _The pennon sunk and rose; + _As bends_ the bark's mast in the gale + When _rent are_ rigging, shrouds and sail, + It wavered 'mid the foes." + +§ 17. Pursuing the principle yet further, it is obvious that for +producing the greatest effect, not only should the main divisions of a +sentence observe this sequence, but the subdivisions of these should be +similarly arranged. In nearly all cases, the predicate is accompanied by +some limit or qualification, called its complement. Commonly, also, +the circumstances of the subject, which form its complement, have to be +specified. And as these qualifications and circumstances must determine +the mode in which the acts and things they belong to are conceived, +precedence should be given to them. Lord Kaimes notices the fact +that this order is preferable; though without giving the reason. He +says:--"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: it is like ascending or going upward." A sentence arranged in +illustration of this will be desirable. Here is one:--"Whatever it may +be in theory, it is clear that in practice the French idea of liberty +is--the right of every man to be master of the rest." + +§ 18. In this case, were the first two clauses, up to the word "I +practice" inclusive, which qualify the subject, to be placed at the +end instead of the beginning, much of the force would be lost; as +thus:--"The French idea of liberty is--the right of every man to be +master of the rest; in practice at least, if not in theory." + +§ 19. Similarly with respect to the conditions under which any fact is +predicated. Observe in the following example the effect of putting them +last:--"How immense would be the stimulus to progress, were the honour +now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high achievements and +intrinsic worth!" + +§ 20. And then observe the superior effect of putting them first:--"Were +the honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high +achievements and intrinsic worth, how immense would be the stimulus to +progress!" + +§ 21. The effect of giving priority to the complement of the predicate, +as well as the predicate itself, is finely displayed in the opening of +'Hyperion': + + "_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_ gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone." + +Here it will be observed, not only that the predicate "sat" precedes the +subject "Saturn," and that the three lines in italics, constituting the +complement of the predicate, come before it; but that in the structure +of that complement also, the same order is followed: each line being +so arranged that the qualifying words are placed before the words +suggesting concrete images. + +§ 22. The right succession of the principal and subordinate propositions +in a sentence manifestly depends on the same law. Regard for economy of +the recipient's attention, which, as we find, determines the best order +for the subject, copula, predicate and their complements, dictates that +the subordinate proposition shall precede the principal one when the +sentence includes two. Containing, as the subordinate proposition does, +some qualifying or explanatory idea, its priority prevents misconception +of the principal one; and therefore saves the mental effort needed to +correct such misconception. This will be seen in the annexed example: +"The secrecy once maintained in respect to the parliamentary debates, +is still thought needful in diplomacy; and in virtue of this secret +diplomacy, England may any day be unawares betrayed by its ministers +into a war costing a, hundred thousand lives, and hundreds of millions +of treasure: yet the English pique themselves on being a self-governed +people." The two subordinate propositions, ending with the semicolon and +colon respectively, almost wholly determine the meaning of the principal +proposition with which it concludes; and the effect would be lost were +they placed last instead of first. + +§ 23. The general principle of right arrangement in sentences, which we +have traced in its application to the leading divisions of them, equally +determines the proper order of their minor divisions. In every sentence +of any complexity the complement to the subject contains several +clauses, and that to the predicate several others; and these may be +arranged in greater or less conformity to the law of easy apprehension. +Of course with these, as with the larger members, the succession should +be from the less specific to the more specific--from the abstract to the +concrete. + +§ 24. Now, however, we must notice a further condition to be fulfilled +in the proper construction of a sentence; but still a condition dictated +by the same general principle with the other: the condition, namely, +that the words and expressions most nearly related in thought shall +be brought the closest together. Evidently the single words, the minor +clauses, and the leading divisions of every proposition, severally +qualify each other. The longer the time that elapses between the mention +of any qualifying member and the member qualified, the longer must the +mind be exerted in carrying forward the qualifying member ready for use. +And the more numerous the qualifications to be simultaneously remembered +and rightly applied, the greater will be the mental power expended, and +the smaller the effect produced. Hence, other things equal, force +will be gained by so arranging the members of a sentence that these +suspensions shall at any moment be the fewest in number; and shall also +be of the shortest duration. The following is an instance of defective +combination:--"A modern newspaper-statement, though probably true, would +be laughed at if quoted in a book as testimony; but the letter of +a court gossip is thought good historical evidence, if written some +centuries ago." A rearrangement of this, in accordance with the +principle indicated above, will be found to increase the effect. +Thus:--"Though probably true, a modern newspaper-statement quoted in +a book as testimony, would be laughed at; but the letter of a court +gossip, if written some centuries ago, is thought good historical +evidence." + +§ 25. By making this change, some of the suspensions are avoided and +others shortened; while there is less liability to produce premature +conceptions. The passage quoted below from 'Paradise Lost' affords a +fine instance of a sentence well arranged; alike in the priority of the +subordinate members, in the avoidance of long and numerous suspensions, +and in the correspondence between the order of the clauses and the +sequence of the phenomena described, which, by the way, is a further +prerequisite to easy comprehension, and therefore to effect. + + "As when a prowling wolf, + Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey, + Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eye, + In hurdled cotes amid the field secure, + Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold; + Or as a thief, bent to unhoard the cash + Of some rich burgher, whose substantial doors, + Cross-barr'd, and bolted fast, fear no assault, + In at the window climbs, or o'er the tiles; + So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold; + So since into his church lewd hirelings climb." + +§ 26. The habitual use of sentences in which all or most of the +descriptive and limiting elements precede those described and limited, +gives rise to what is called the inverted style: a title which is, +however, by no means confined to this structure, but is often used where +the order of the words is simply unusual. A more appropriate title +would be the _direct style,_ as contrasted with the other, or _indirect +style_: the peculiarity of the one being, that it conveys each thought +into the mind step by step with little liability to error; and of +the other, that it gets the right thought conceived by a series of +approximations. + +§ 27. The superiority of the direct over the indirect form of sentence, +implied by the several conclusions that have been drawn, must not, +however, be affirmed without reservation. Though, up to a certain point, +it is well for the qualifying clauses of a period to precede those +qualified; yet, as carrying forward each qualifying clause costs some +mental effort, it follows that when the number of them and the time they +are carried become great, we reach a limit beyond which more is lost +than is gained. Other things equal, the arrangement should be such that +no concrete image shall be suggested until the materials out of which it +is to be made have been presented. And yet, as lately pointed out, +other things equal, the fewer the materials to be held at once, and the +shorter the distance they have to be borne, the better. Hence in some +cases it becomes a question whether most mental effort will be entailed +by the many and long suspensions, or by the correction of successive +misconceptions. + +§ 28. This question may sometimes be decided by considering the capacity +of the persons addressed. A greater grasp of mind is required for the +ready comprehension of thoughts expressed in the direct manner, +where the sentences are anywise intricate. To recollect a number of +preliminaries stated in elucidation of a coming idea, and to apply them +all to the formation of it when suggested, demands a good memory and +considerable power of concentration. To one possessing these, the direct +method will mostly seem the best; while to one deficient in them it will +seem the worst. Just as it may cost a strong man less effort to carry a +hundred-weight from place to place at once, than by a stone at a +time; so, to an active mind it may be easier to bear along all the +qualifications of an idea and at once rightly form it when named, than +to first imperfectly conceive such idea and then carry back to it, +one by one, the details and limitations afterwards mentioned. While +conversely, as for a boy, the only possible mode of transferring a +hundred-weight, is that of taking it in portions; so, for a weak mind, +the only possible mode of forming a compound conception may be that of +building it up by carrying separately its several parts. + +§ 29. That the indirect method--the method of conveying the meaning by +a series of approximations--is best fitted for the uncultivated, may +indeed be inferred from their habitual use of it. The form of expression +adopted by the savage, as in "Water, give me," is the simplest type +of the approximate arrangement. In pleonasms, which are comparatively +prevalent among the uneducated, the same essential structure is seen; +as, for instance, in--"The men, they were there." Again, the old +possessive case--"The king, his crown," conforms to the like order of +thought. Moreover, the fact that the indirect mode is called the natural +one, implies that it is the one spontaneously employed by the common +people: that is--the one easiest for undisciplined minds. + +§ 30. There are many cases, however, in which neither the direct nor the +indirect structure is the best; but where an intermediate structure is +preferable to both. When the number of circumstances and qualifications +to be included in the sentence is great, the most judicious course is +neither to enumerate them all before introducing the idea to which they +belong, nor to put this idea first and let it be remodeled to agree with +the particulars afterwards mentioned; but to do a little of each. Take +a case. It is desirable to avoid so extremely indirect an arrangement +as the following:--"We came to our journey's end, at last, with no small +difficulty after much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather." Yet +to transform this into an entirely direct sentence would not produce a +satisfactory effect; as witness:--"At last, with no small difficulty, +after much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather, we came to our +journey's end." + +§ 31. Dr. Whately, from whom we quote the first of these two +arrangements,' proposes this construction:--"At last, after much +fatigue, through deep roads and bad weather, we came, with no small +difficulty, to our journey's end." Here it will be observed that by +introducing the words "we came" a little earlier in the sentence, the +labour of carrying forward so many particulars is diminished, and the +subsequent qualification "with no small difficulty" entails an addition +to the thought that is very easily made. But a further improvement may +be produced by introducing the words "we came" still earlier; especially +if at the same time the qualifications be rearranged in conformity with +the principle already explained, that the more abstract elements of the +thought should come before the more concrete. Observe the better +effect obtained by making these two changes:--"At last, with no small +difficulty, and after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads and bad +weather, to our journey's end." This reads with comparative smoothness; +that is, with less hindrance from suspensions and reconstructions of +thought--with less mental effort. + +§ 32. Before dismissing this branch of our subject, it should be further +remarked, that even when addressing the most vigorous intellects, the +direct style is unfit for communicating ideas of a complex or abstract +character. So long as the mind has not much to do, it may be well able +to grasp all the preparatory clauses of a sentence, and to use +them effectively; but if some subtlety in the argument absorb the +attention--if every faculty be strained in endeavouring to catch the +speaker's or writer's drift, it may happen that the mind, unable to +carry on both processes at once, will break down, and allow the elements +of the thought to lapse into confusion. + + + + +iv. The Principle of Economy applied to Figures. + +§ 33. Turning now to consider figures of speech, we may equally discern +the same general law of effect. Underlying all the rules given for +the choice and right use of them, we shall find the same fundamental +requirement--economy of attention. It is indeed chiefly because they so +well subserve this requirement, that figures of speech are employed. To +bring the mind more easily to the desired conception, is in many cases +solely, and in all cases mainly, their object. + +§ 34. Let us begin with the figure called Synecdoche. The advantage +sometimes gained by putting a part for the whole, is due to the more +convenient, or more accurate, presentation of the idea. If, instead +of saying "a fleet of ten ships," we say "a fleet of ten _sail_," the +picture of a group of vessels at sea is more readily suggested; and is +so because the sails constitute the most conspicuous parts of vessels so +circumstanced: whereas the word _ships_ would very likely remind us of +vessels in dock. Again, to say, "_All hands_ to the pumps," is better +than to say, "All _men_ to the pumps," as it suggests the men in the +special attitude intended, and so saves effort. Bringing "gray _hairs_ +with sorrow to the grave," is another expression, the effect of which +has the same cause. + +§ 35. The occasional increase of force produced by Metonymy may be +similarly accounted for. "The low morality of _the bar,_" _is_ a phrase +both more brief and significant than the literal one it stands for. A +belief in the ultimate supremacy of intelligence over brute force, is +conveyed in a more concrete, and therefore more realizable form, if we +substitute _the pen_ and _the sword_ for the two abstract terms. To say, +"Beware of drinking!" is less effective than to say, "Beware of _the +bottle!_" and is so, clearly because it calls up a less specific image. + +§ 36. The Simile is in many cases used chiefly with a view to ornament, +but whenever it increases the _force_ of a passage, it does so by being +an economy. Here in an instance: "The illusion that great men and great +events came oftener in early times than now, is partly due to historical +perspective. As in a range of equidistant columns, the furthest off look +the closest; so, the conspicuous objects of the past seem more thickly +clustered the more remote they are." + +§ 37. To construct by a process of literal explanation, the thought +thus conveyed would take many sentences, and the first elements of the +picture would become faint while the imagination was busy in adding the +others. But by the help of a comparison all effort is saved; the picture +is instantly realized, and its full effect produced. + +§ 38. Of the position of the Simile, it needs only to remark, that what +has been said respecting the order of the adjective and substantive, +predicate and subject, principal and subordinate propositions, &c., +is applicable here. As whatever qualifies should precede whatever is +qualified, force will generally be gained by placing the simile before +the object to which it is applied. That this arrangement is the best, +may be seen in the following passage from the 'Lady of the Lake'; + + "As wreath of snow, on mountain breast, + Slides from the rock that gave it rest, + Poor Ellen glided from her stay, + And at the monarch's feet she lay." + +Inverting these couplets will be found to diminish the effect +considerably. There are cases, however, even where the simile is a +simple one, in which it may with advantage be placed last, as in these +lines from Alexander Smith's 'Life Drama': + + "I see the future stretch + All dark and barren as a rainy sea." + +The reason for this seems to be, that so abstract an idea as that +attaching to the word "future," does not present itself to the mind +in any definite form, and hence the subsequent arrival at the simile +entails no reconstruction of the thought. + +§ 39. Such, however, are not the only cases in which this order is the +most forcible. As the advantage of putting the simile before the object +depends on its being carried forward in the mind to assist in forming an +image of the object, it must happen that if, from length or complexity, +it cannot be so carried forward, the advantage is not gained. The +annexed sonnet, by Coleridge, is defective from this cause: + + "As when a child, on some long winter's night, + Affrighted, clinging to its grandam's knees, + With eager wond'ring and perturb'd delight + Listens strange tales of fearful dark decrees, + Mutter'd to wretch by necromantic spell; + Or of those hags who at the witching time + Of murky midnight, ride the air sublime, + And mingle foul embrace with fiends of hell; + Cold horror drinks its blood! Anon the tear + More gentle starts, to hear the beldame tell + Of pretty babes, that lov'd each other dear, + Murder'd by cruel uncle's mandate fell: + Ev'n such the shiv'ring joys thy tones impart, + Ev'n so, thou, Siddons, meltest my sad heart." + +§ 40. Here, from the lapse of time and accumulation of circumstances, +the first part of the comparison is forgotten before its application +is reached, and requires re-reading. Had the main idea been first +mentioned, less effort would have been required to retain it, and to +modify the conception of it into harmony with the comparison, than to +remember the comparison, and refer back to its successive features for +help in forming the final image. + +§ 41. The superiority of the Metaphor to the Simile is ascribed by Dr. +Whately to the fact that "all men are more gratified at catching the +resemblance for themselves, than in having it pointed out to them." But +after what has been said, the great economy it achieves will seem the +more probable cause. Lear's exclamation-- + + "Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend," + +would lose part of its effect were it changed into-- + + "Ingratitude! thou fiend with heart like marble;" + +and the loss would result partly from the position of the simile and +partly from the extra number of words required. When the comparison is +an involved one, the greater force of the metaphor, consequent on its +greater brevity, becomes much more conspicuous. If, drawing an analogy +between mental and physical phenomena, we say, "As, in passing through +the crystal, beams of white light are decomposed into the colours of the +rainbow; so, in traversing the soul of the poet, the colourless rays of +truth are transformed into brightly tinted poetry"; it is clear that +in receiving the double set of words expressing the two halves of the +comparison, and in carrying the one half to the other, considerable +attention is absorbed. Most of this is saved, however, by putting the +comparison in a metaphorical form, thus: "The white light of truth, in +traversing the many sided transparent soul of the poet, is refracted +into iris-hued poetry." + +§ 42. How much is conveyed in a few words by the help of the Metaphor, +and how vivid the effect consequently produced, may be abundantly +exemplified. From 'A Life Drama' may be quoted the phrase-- + + "I spear'd him with a jest," + +as a fine instance among the many which that poem contains. A passage in +the 'Prometheus Unbound,' of Shelley, displays the power of the metaphor +to great advantage: + + "Methought among the lawns together + We wandered, underneath the young gray dawn, + And multitudes of dense white fleecy clouds + Were wandering, in thick flocks along the mountains + _Shepherded_ by the slow unwilling wind." + +This last expression is remarkable for the distinctness with which it +realizes the features of the scene: bringing the mind, as it were, by a +bound to the desired conception. + +§ 43. But a limit is put to the advantageous use of the Metaphor, by the +condition that it must be sufficiently simple to be understood from a +hint. Evidently, if there be any obscurity in the meaning or application +of it, no economy of attention will be gained; but rather the reverse. +Hence, when the comparison is complex, it is usual to have recourse to +the Simile. There is, however, a species of figure, sometimes classed +under Allegory, but which might, perhaps, be better called Compound +Metaphor, that enables us to retain the brevity of the metaphorical +form even where the analogy is intricate. This is done by indicating the +application of the figure at the outset, and then leaving the mind to +continue the parallel.' Emerson has employed it with great effect in +the first of his I Lectures on the Times':--"The main interest which +any aspects of the Times can have for us is the great spirit which gazes +through them, the light which they can shed on the wonderful questions, +What are we, and Whither we tend? We do not wish to be deceived. Here +we drift, like white sail across the wild ocean, now bright on the wave, +now darkling in the trough of the sea; but from what port did we sail? +Who knows? Or to what port are we bound? Who knows? There is no one +to tell us but such poor weather-tossed mariners as ourselves, whom we +speak as we pass, or who have hoisted some signal, or floated to us some +letter in a bottle from far. But what know they more than we? They +also found themselves on this wondrous sea. No; from the older sailors +nothing. Over all their speaking trumpets the gray sea and the loud +winds answer, Not in us; not in Time." + +§ 44. The division of the Simile from the Metaphor is by no means a +definite one. Between the one extreme in which the two elements of the +comparison are detailed at full length and the analogy pointed out, and +the other extreme in which the comparison is implied instead of stated, +come intermediate forms, in which the comparison is partly stated and +partly implied. For instance:--"Astonished at the performances of the +English plow, the Hindoos paint it, set it up, and worship it; thus +turning a tool into an idol: linguists do the same with language." There +is an evident advantage in leaving the reader or hearer to complete the +figure. And generally these intermediate forms are good in proportion as +they do this; provided the mode of completing it be obvious. + +§ 45. Passing over much that may be said of like purport upon Hyperbole, +Personification, Apostrophe, &c., let us close our remarks upon +construction by a typical example. The general principle which has been +enunciated is, that other things equal, the force of all verbal forms +and arrangements is great, in proportion as the time and mental effort +they demand from the recipient is small. The corollaries from this +general principle have been severally illustrated; and it has been shown +that the relative goodness of any two modes of expressing an idea, +may be determined by observing which requires the shortest process +of thought for its comprehension. But though conformity in particular +points has been exemplified, no cases of complete conformity have yet +been quoted. It is indeed difficult to find them; for the English +idiom does not commonly permit the order which theory dictates. A few, +however, occur in Ossian. Here is one:--"As autumn's dark storms pour +from two echoing hills, so towards each other approached the heroes. As +two dark streams from high rocks meet and mix, and roar on the plain: +loud, rough, and dark in battle meet Lochlin and Inisfail...As the +troubled noise of the ocean when roll the waves on high; as the last +peal of the thunder of heaven; such is noise of the battle." + +§ 46. Except in the position of the verb in the first two similes, the +theoretically best arrangement is fully carried out in each of these +sentences. The simile comes before the qualified image, the adjectives +before the substantives, the predicate and copula before the subject, +and their respective complements before them. That the passage is open +to the charge of being bombastic proves nothing; or rather, proves our +case. For what is bombast but a force of expression too great for the +magnitude of the ideas embodied? All that may rightly be inferred is, +that only in very rare cases, and then only to produce a climax, should +all the conditions of effective expression be fulfilled. + + + + +v. Suggestion as a Means of Economy. + +§ 47. Passing on to a more complex application of the doctrine with +which we set out, it must now be remarked, that not only in the +structure of sentences, and the use of figures of speech, may economy +of the recipient's mental energy be assigned as the cause of force; but +that in the choice and arrangement of the minor images, out of which +some large thought is to be built up, we may trace the same condition +to effect. To select from the sentiment, scene, or event described those +typical elements which carry many others along with them; and so, by +saying a few things but suggesting + +many, to abridge the description; is the secret of producing a vivid +impression. An extract from Tennyson's 'Mariana' will well illustrate +this: + + "All day within the dreamy house, + The door upon the hinges creaked, + The blue fly sung i' the pane; the mouse + Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked, + Or from the crevice peered about." + +§ 48. The several circumstances here specified bring with them many +appropriate associations. Our attention is rarely drawn by the buzzing +of a fly in the window, save when everything is still. While the inmates +are moving about the house, mice usually keep silence; and it is only +when extreme quietness reigns that they peep from their retreats. Hence +each of the facts mentioned, presupposing numerous others, calls up +these with more or less distinctness; and revives the feeling of dull +solitude with which they are connected in our experience. Were all these +facts detailed instead of suggested, the attention would be so frittered +away that little impression of dreariness would be produced. Similarly +in other cases. Whatever the nature of the thought to be conveyed, this +skilful selection of a few particulars which imply the rest, is the +key to success. In the choice of component ideas, as in the choice of +expressions, the aim must be to convey the greatest quantity of thoughts +with the smallest quantity of words. + +§ 49. The same principle may in some cases be advantageously carried +yet further, by indirectly suggesting some entirely distinct thought +in addition to the one expressed. Thus, if we say, "The head of a good +classic is as full of ancient myths, as that of a servant-girl of ghost +stories"; it is manifest that besides the fact asserted, there is an +implied opinion respecting the small value of classical knowledge: and +as this implied opinion is recognized much sooner than it can be put +into words, there is gain in omitting it. In other cases, again, great +effect is produced by an overt omission; provided the nature of the +idea left out is obvious. A good instance of this occurs in 'Heroes and +Heroworship.' After describing the way in which Burns was sacrificed to +the idle curiosity of Lion-hunters--people who came not out of sympathy, +but merely to see him--people who sought a little amusement, and who got +their amusement while "the Hero's life went for it!" Carlyle suggests a +parallel thus: "Richter says, in the Island of Sumatra there is a kind +of 'Light-chafers,' large Fire-flies, which people stick upon spits, and +illuminate the ways with at night. Persons of condition can thus travel +with a pleasant radiance, which they much admire. Great honour to the +Fire-flies! But--!--" + + + + +vi. The Effect of Poetry explained. + +§ 50. Before inquiring whether the law of effect, thus far traced, +explains the superiority of poetry to prose, it will be needful to +notice some supplementary causes of force in expression, that have not +yet been mentioned. These are not, properly speaking, additional causes; +but rather secondary ones, originating from those already specified +reflex results of them. In the first place, then, we may remark that +mental excitement spontaneously prompts the use of those forms of speech +which have been pointed out as the most effective. "Out with him!" "Away +with him!" are the natural utterances of angry citizens at a disturbed +meeting. A voyager, describing a terrible storm he had witnessed, would +rise to some such climax as--"Crack went the ropes and down came the +mast." Astonishment may be heard expressed in the phrase--"Never was +there such a sight!" All of which sentences are, it will be observed, +constructed after the direct type. Again, every one knows that excited +persons are given to figures of speech. The vituperation of the vulgar +abounds with them: often, indeed, consists of little else. "Beast," +"brute," "gallows rogue," "cut-throat villain," these, and other like +metaphors and metaphorical epithets, at once call to mind a street +quarrel. Further, it may be noticed that extreme brevity is another +characteristic of passionate language. The sentences are generally +incomplete; the particles are omitted; and frequently important words +are left to be gathered from the context. Great admiration does not +vent itself in a precise proposition, as--"It is beautiful"; but in the +simple exclamation--"Beautiful!" He who, when reading a lawyer's letter, +should say, "Vile rascal!" would be thought angry; while, "He is a vile +rascal!" would imply comparative coolness. Thus we see that alike in +the order of the words, in the frequent use of figures, and in extreme +conciseness, the natural utterances of excitement conform to the +theoretical conditions of forcible expression. + +§ 51. Hence, then, the higher forms of speech acquire a secondary +strength from association. Having, in actual life, habitually heard them +in connection with vivid mental impressions, and having been accustomed +to meet with them in the most powerful writing, they come to have in +themselves a species of force. The emotions that have from time to time +been produced by the strong thoughts wrapped up in these forms, are +partially aroused by the forms themselves. They create a certain degree +of animation; they induce a preparatory sympathy, and when the striking +ideas looked for are reached, they are the more vividly realized. + +§ 52. The continuous use of these modes of expression that are alike +forcible in themselves and forcible from their associations, produces +the peculiarly impressive species of composition which we call poetry. +Poetry, we shall find, habitually adopts those symbols of thought, +and those methods of using them, which instinct and analysis agree in +choosing as most effective, and becomes poetry by virtue of doing this. +On turning back to the various specimens that have been quoted, it will +be seen that the direct or inverted form of sentence predominates in +them; and that to a degree quite inadmissible in prose. And not only +in the frequency, but in what is termed the violence of the inversions, +will this distinction be remarked. In the abundant use of figures, +again, we may recognize the same truth. Metaphors, similes, hyperboles, +and personifications, are the poet's colours, which he has liberty to +employ almost without limit. We characterize as "poetical" the prose +which uses these appliances of language with any frequency, and condemn +it as "over florid" or "affected" long before they occur with the +profusion allowed in verse. Further, let it be remarked that in +brevity--the other requisite of forcible expression which theory points +out, and emotion spontaneously fulfils--poetical phraseology similarly +differs from ordinary phraseology. Imperfect periods are frequent; +elisions are perpetual; and many of the minor words, which would be +deemed essential in prose, are dispensed with. + +§ 53. Thus poetry, regarded as a vehicle of thought, is especially +impressive partly because it obeys all the laws of effective speech, +and partly because in so doing it imitates the natural utterances of +excitement. While the matter embodied is idealized emotion, the vehicle +is the idealized language of emotion. As the musical composer catches +the cadences in which our feelings of joy and sympathy, grief and +despair, vent themselves, and out of these germs evolves melodies +suggesting higher phases of these feelings; I so, the poet develops from +the typical expressions in which men utter passion and sentiment, those +choice forms of verbal combination in which concentrated passion and +sentiment may be fitly presented. + +§ 54. There is one peculiarity of poetry conducing much to its +effect--the peculiarity which is indeed usually thought its +characteristic one--still remaining to be considered: we mean its +rhythmical structure. This, improbable though it seems, will be found to +come under the same generalization with the others. Like each of them, +it is an idealization of the natural language of strong emotion, which +is known to be more or less metrical if the emotion be not too violent; +and like each of them it is an economy of the reader's or hearer's +attention. In the peculiar tone and manner we adopt in uttering +versified language, may be discerned its relationship to the feelings; +and the pleasure which its measured movement gives us, is ascribable +to the comparative ease with which words metrically arranged can be +recognized. + +§ 55. This last position will scarcely be at once admitted; but a little +explanation will show its reasonableness. For if, as we have seen, +there is an expenditure of mental energy in the mere act of listening to +verbal articulations, or in that silent repetition of them which goes +on in reading--if the perceptive faculties must be in active exercise +to identify every syllable--then, any mode of so combining words as +to present a regular recurrence of certain traits which the mind can +anticipate, will diminish that strain upon the attention required by the +total irregularity of prose. Just as the body, in receiving a series +of varying concussions, must keep the muscles ready to meet the most +violent of them, as not knowing when such may come; so, the mind in +receiving unarranged articulations, must keep its perceptives active +enough to recognize the least easily caught sounds. And as, if the +concussions recur in a definite order, the body may husband its forces +by adjusting the resistance needful for each concussion; so, if the +syllables be rhythmically arranged, the mind may economize its energies +by anticipating the attention required for each syllable. + +§ 56. Far-fetched though this idea will perhaps be thought, a little +introspection will countenance it. That we do take advantage of metrical +language to adjust our perceptive faculties to the force of the expected +articulations, is clear from the fact that we are balked by halting +versification. Much as at the bottom of a flight of stairs, a step more +or less than we counted upon gives us a shock; so, too, does a misplaced +accent or a supernumerary syllable. In the one case, we _know_ that +there is an erroneous preadjustment; and we can scarcely doubt +that there is one in the other. But if we habitually preadjust our +perceptions to the measured movement of verse, the physical analogy +above given renders it probable that by so doing we economize attention; +and hence that metrical language is more effective than prose, because +it enables us to do this. + +§ 57. Were there space, it might be worthwhile to inquire whether the +pleasure we take in rhyme, and also that which we take in euphony, axe +not partly ascribable to the same general cause. + + + + + +PART II. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE +MENTAL SENSIBILITIES. + + + + +i. The Law of Mental Exhaustion and Repair. + +§ 58. A few paragraphs only, can be devoted to a second division of +our subject that here presents itself. To pursue in detail the laws of +effect, as applying to the larger features of composition, would carry +us beyond our limits. But we may briefly indicate a further aspect of +the general principle hitherto traced out, and hint a few of its wider +applications. + +§ 59. Thus far, then, we have considered only those causes of force in +language which depend upon economy of the mental _energies:_ we have +now to glance at those which depend upon economy of the mental +_sensibilities._ Questionable though this division may be as a +psychological one, it will yet serve roughly to indicate the remaining +field of investigation. It will suggest that besides considering the +extent to which any faculty or group of faculties is tasked in receiving +a form of words and realizing its contained idea, we have to consider +the state in which this faculty or group of faculties is left; and how +the reception of subsequent sentences and images will be influenced by +that state. Without going at length into so wide a topic as the exercise +of faculties and its reactive effects, it will be sufficient here to +call to mind that every faculty (when in a state of normal activity) is +most capable at the outset; and that the change in its condition, +which ends in what we term exhaustion, begins simultaneously with its +exercise. This generalization, with which we are all familiar in our +bodily experiences, and which our daily language recognizes as true +of the mind as a whole, is equally true of each mental power, from the +simplest of the senses to the most complex of the sentiments. If we hold +a flower to the nose for long, we become insensible to its scent. We say +of a very brilliant flash of lightning that it blinds us; which means +that our eyes have for a time lost their ability to appreciate light. +After eating a quantity of honey, we are apt to think our tea is without +sugar. The phrase "a deafening roar," implies that men find a very loud +sound temporarily incapacitates them for hearing faint ones. To a hand +which has for some time carried a heavy body, small bodies afterwards +lifted seem to have lost their weight. Now, the truth at once recognized +in these, its extreme manifestations, may be traced throughout. It may +be shown that alike in the reflective faculties, in the imagination, +in the perceptions of the beautiful, the ludicrous, the sublime, in +the sentiments, the instincts, in all the mental powers, however we may +classify them-action exhausts; and that in proportion as the action is +violent, the subsequent prostration is great. + +§ 60. Equally, throughout the whole nature, may be traced the law that +exercised faculties are ever tending to resume their original state. Not +only after continued rest, do they regain their full power not only do +brief cessations partially reinvigorate them; but even while they are +in action, the resulting exhaustion is ever being neutralized. The +two processes of waste and repair go on together. Hence with faculties +habitually exercised--as the senses of all persons, or the muscles of +any one who is strong--it happens that, during moderate activity, the +repair is so nearly equal to the waste, that the diminution of power +is scarcely appreciable; and it is only when the activity has been long +continued, or has been very violent, that the repair becomes so far +in arrear of the waste as to produce a perceptible prostration. In +all cases, however, when, by the action of a faculty, waste has been +incurred, _some_ lapse of time must take place before full efficiency +can be reacquired; and this time must be long in proportion as the waste +has been great. + + + + +ii Explanation of Climax, Antithesis, and Anticlimax. + +§ 61. Keeping in mind these general truths, we shall be in a condition +to understand certain causes of effect in composition now to be +considered. Every perception received, and every conception realized, +entailing some amount of waste--or, as Liebig would say, some change of +matter in the brain; and the efficiency of the faculties subject to +this waste being thereby temporarily, though often but momentarily, +diminished; the resulting partial inability must affect the acts of +perception and conception that immediately succeed. And hence we may +expect that the vividness with which images are realized will, in many +cases, depend on the order of their presentation: even when one order is +as convenient to the understanding as the other. + +§ 62. There are sundry facts which alike illustrate this, and are +explained by it. Climax is one of them. The marked effect obtained +by placing last the most striking of any series of images, and the +weakness--often the ludicrous weakness--produced by reversing this +arrangement, depends on the general law indicated. As immediately after +looking at the sun we cannot perceive the light of a fire, while by +looking at the fire first and the sun afterwards we can perceive both; +so, after receiving a brilliant, or weighty, or terrible thought, we +cannot appreciate a less brilliant, less weighty, or less terrible one, +while, by reversing the order, we can appreciate each. In Antithesis, +again, we may recognize the same general truth. The opposition of two +thoughts that are the reverse of each other in some prominent trait, +insures an impressive effect; and does this by giving a momentary +relaxation to the faculties addressed. If, after a series of images of +an ordinary character, appealing in a moderate degree to the sentiment +of reverence, or approbation, or beauty, the mind has presented to it a +very insignificant, a very unworthy, or a very ugly image; the faculty +of reverence, or approbation, or beauty, as the case may be, having +for the time nothing to do, tends to resume its full power; and will +immediately afterwards appreciate a vast, admirable, or beautiful +image better than it would otherwise do. Conversely, where the idea +of absurdity due to extreme insignificance is to be produced, it maybe +greatly intensified by placing it after something highly impressive: +especially if the form of phrase implies that something still more +impressive is coming. A good illustration of the effect gained by thus +presenting a petty idea to a consciousness that has not yet recovered +from the shock of an exciting one, occurs in a sketch by Balzac. His +hero writes to a mistress who has cooled towards him the following +letter: + +"Madame, Votre conduite m'étonne autant qu'elle m'afflige Non contente +de me déchirer le coeur par vos dédains vous avez l'indélicatesse de +me retenir une brosse à dents, que mes moyens ne me permettent pas de +remplacer, mes propriétés etant grevées d'hypothèques + +"Adieu, trop, belle et trop ingrate ainie! Puissions nous nous revoir +dans un monde meilleur! + +"Charles Edouard" + +§ 63. Thus we see that the phenomena of Climax, Antithesis, and +Anticlimax, alike result from this general principle. Improbable as +these momentary variations in susceptibility may seem, we cannot doubt +their occurrence when we contemplate the analogous variations in the +susceptibility of the senses. Referring once more to phenomena of +vision, every one knows that a patch of black on a white ground looks +blacker, and a patch of white on a black ground looks whiter, than +elsewhere. As the blackness and the whiteness must really be the same, +the only assignable cause for this is a difference in their actions upon +us, dependent upon the different states of our faculties. It is simply a +visual antithesis. + + + + +iii. Need of Variety. + +§ 64. But this extension of the general principle of economy--this +further condition to effective composition, that the sensitiveness of +the faculties must be continuously husbanded--includes much more than +has been yet hinted. It implies not only that certain arrangements and +certain juxtapositions of connected ideas are best; but that some modes +of dividing and presenting a subject will be more striking than others; +and that, too, irrespective of its logical cohesion. It shows why we +must progress from the less interesting to the more interesting; and +why not only the composition as a whole, but each of its successive +portions, should tend towards a climax. At the same time, it forbids +long continuity of the same kind of thought, or repeated production of +like effects. It warns us against the error committed both by Pope in +his poems and by Bacon in his essays--the error, namely, of constantly +employing forcible forms of expression: and it points out that as +the easiest posture by and by becomes fatiguing, and is with pleasure +exchanged for one less easy, so, the most perfectly-constructed +sentences will soon weary, and relief will be given by using those of an +inferior kind. + +§ 65. Further, we may infer from it not only that we should avoid +generally combining our words in one manner, however good, or working +out our figures and illustrations in one way, however telling; but +that we should avoid anything like uniform adherence, even to the wider +conditions of effect. We should not make every section of our subject +progress in interest; we should not always rise to a climax. As we saw +that, in single sentences, it is but rarely allowable to fulfill all the +conditions to strength; so, in the larger sections of a composition +we must not often conform entirely to the law indicated. We must +subordinate the component effect to the total effect. + +§ 66. In deciding how practically to carry out the principles of +artistic composition, we may derive help by bearing in mind a fact +already pointed out--the fitness of certain verbal arrangements +for certain kinds of thought. That constant variety in the mode of +presenting ideas which the theory demands, will in a great degree result +from a skilful adaptation of the form to the matter. We saw how the +direct or inverted sentence is spontaneously used by excited people; +and how their language is also characterized by figures of speech and by +extreme brevity. Hence these may with advantage predominate in emotional +passages; and may increase as the emotion rises. On the other hand, +for complex ideas, the indirect sentence seems the best vehicle. In +conversation, the excitement produced by the near approach to a +desired conclusion, will often show itself in a series of short, sharp +sentences; while, in impressing a view already enunciated, we generally +make our periods voluminous by piling thought upon thought. These +natural modes of procedure may serve as guides in writing. Keen +observation and skilful analysis would, in like manner, detect further +peculiarities of expression produced by other attitudes of mind; and +by paying due attention to all such traits, a writer possessed +of sufficient versatility might make some approach to a +completely-organized work. + + + + +iv. The Ideal Writer. + +§ 67. This species of composition which the law of effect points out +as the perfect one, is the one which high genius tends naturally to +produce. As we found that the kinds of sentences which are theoretically +best, are those generally employed by superior minds, and by inferior +minds when excitement has raised them; so, we shall find that the ideal +form for a poem, essay, or fiction, is that which the ideal writer +would evolve spontaneously. One in whom the powers of expression fully +responded to the state of feeling, would unconsciously use that variety +in the mode of presenting his thoughts, which Art demands. This constant +employment of one species of phraseology, which all have now to strive +against, implies an undeveloped faculty of language. To have a specific +style is to be poor in speech. If we remember that, in the far past, men +had only nouns and verbs to convey their ideas with, and that from then +to now the growth has been towards a greater number of implements of +thought, and consequently towards a greater complexity and variety +in their combinations; we may infer that we are now, in our use of +sentences, much what the primitive man was in his use of words; and that +a continuance of the process that has hitherto gone on, must produce +increasing heterogeneity in our modes of expression. As now, in a +fine nature, the play of the features, the tones of the voice and +its cadences, vary in harmony with every thought uttered; so, in one +possessed of a fully developed power of speech, the mould in which +each combination of words is cast will similarly vary with, and be +appropriate to the sentiment. + +§ 68. That a perfectly endowed man must unconsciously write in all +styles, we may infer from considering how styles originate. Why is +Johnson pompous, Goldsmith simple? Why is one author abrupt, another +rhythmical, another concise? Evidently in each case the habitual mode +of utterance must depend upon the habitual balance of the nature. The +predominant feelings have by use trained the intellect to represent +them. But while long, though unconscious, discipline has made it do this +efficiently, it remains from lack of practice, incapable of doing the +same for the less active feelings; and when these are excited, the usual +verbal forms undergo but slight modifications. Let the powers of speech +be fully developed, however--let the ability of the intellect to utter +the emotions be complete; and this fixity of style will disappear. The +perfect writer will express himself as Junius, when in the Junius frame +of mind; when he feels as Lamb felt, will use a like familiar speech; +and will fall into the ruggedness of Carlyle when in a Carlylean mood. +Now he will be rhythmical and now irregular; here his language will be +plain and there ornate; sometimes his sentences will be balanced and +at other times unsymmetrical; for a while there will be considerable +sameness, and then again great variety. His mode of expression naturally +responding to his state of feeling, there will flow from his pen a +composition changing to the same degree that the aspects of his subject +change. He will thus without effort conform to what we have seen to +be the laws of effect. And while his work presents to the reader that +variety needful to prevent continuous exertion of the same faculties, +it will also answer to the description of all highly organized products, +both of man and of nature: it will be not a series of like parts simply +placed in juxtaposition, but one whole made up of unlike parts that are +mutually dependent. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Philosophy of Style, by Herbert Spencer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILOSOPHY OF STYLE *** + +***** This file should be named 5849-8.txt or 5849-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/8/4/5849/ + +Produced by P. 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