2. The presidents', kings', governors', statesmen', philosophers', ministers', teachers', men of the future', all' are boys now. 3. Days', months', years', and ages' shall circle away, And still the vast waters above thee shall roll. RULE IX. All the particulars of a concluding series when at all emphatic usually require the falling inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. Idleness ever despaireth', bewaileth'. 2. A cheerful temper will lighten sickness', poverty, and affliction'. 3. Ring out the want, the care', the sin', The faithless coldness of the times. 4. It is hallowed by its humble purpose of utility', by its freedom from artifice', by its perfect submission to the care of nature and chance', by its beauty without adornment'. REMARK.—When the particulars of a concluding series are not at all emphatic, all except the last require the rising inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. The principal productions are wheat', rye, oats', corn', and barley'. 2. I despise him for his pride', his vanity', and his selfconceit`. GENERAL REMARK ON SERIES.-Rules VIII and IX state the general practice of readers and speakers in the delivery of a commencing or a concluding series. The following rules are given by some authors: I. All the particulars of a commencing series, except the last, require the falling inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. The poor, the aged, the sick, and the wounded', were left to perish. 2. His adventures', his toils', his sufferings', his privations', and his hairbreadth escapes', are all indelibly imprinted on his mind. II. All the particulars of a concluding series, except the last but one, require the fulling inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. Mankind are besieged by war', famine', and pestilence'. 2. Charity is not puffed up', doth not behave itself unseemly, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil', rejoiceth in the truth', beareth` all things, believeth' all things, hopeth' all things, endureth all things. 3. I protest against this measure as cruel', oppressive', tyrannous', and vindictive'. PARENTHESIS. RULE X.-A parenthesis should be read more rapidly, and in a lower tone than the rest of the sentence, and should terminate with the same inflection that next precedes it. EXAMPLES. 1. My gun was on my arm' (as it always is in that district'), but I let the stoat kill the rabbit. 2. She had managed this matter so well' (oh, she was the most artful of women'!) that my father's heart was gone before I suspected it was in danger. 3. The children' (two boys and two girls) were all under the age of twelve. 4. Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise (That last infirmity of noble minds) To scorn delights and live laborious days. REMARK.-When a parenthesis is emphatic, very long and complicated, or not connected with the main subject, the same rules govern the inflections as in other cases. EXAMPLES. 1. I had letters from him' (here I felt in my pockets') that exactly spoke the king's mind'. 2. If you, Eschines, in particular, were persuaded (and it was no particular affection for me that prompted you to give up the hopes, the appliances, the honors, which attended the course I then advised, but the superior force of truth, and your utter inability to point any course more eligible'), if this was the case, I say, is it not highly cruel and unjust to arraign these measures now, when you could not then propose a better? CIRCUMFLEX. RULE XI. The circumflex is used to express irony, sarcasm, hypothesis, or contrast. EXAMPLES. 1. Perhaps they'll think of me. 2. At peace! Zounds, he would never go to war. 3. You do not know him, as we do. 4. Those are good rules and golden for a landlord. 5. Oh, but he paused upon the brink. 6. No doubt ye are the people, and wisdom will die with you. 7. They follow an adventurer whom they fear; we serve a monarch whom we love. MONOTONE. RULE XII.—The use of the monotone is chiefly confined to grave and solemn subjects. EXAMPLES. 1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh up like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 2. How reverend is the face of this tall pile, Like the fair flower disheveled in the wind. 4. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. EMPHASIS. EMPHASIS is a special stress of voice upon one or more words of a sentence, to give them the prominence and importance the author intends. REMARK. The object of emphasis is to attract particular attention to the word or phrase upon which it is placed, thus indicating that the idea intended to be conveyed depends very much upon that word or phrase. This is sometimes accomplished by an unusual lowering of the voice, even to a whisper, but most frequently by an increased stress laid upon the word or phrase to be emphasized. Emphasis is either absolute or relative. ABSOLUTE EMPHASIS. When the emphasis is independent of any contrast or comparison with other words or ideas, it is called absolute emphasis. And suffer such dishonor? men, and wash not 2. A brother's and a sister's love was much. I know a brother's is. 3. We're all-all here. 4. There was some mistake about that order. 5. Hamlet. Saw who? Horatio. The king, your father. Hamlet. The king, my father? 6. Silence, base rebel!-no replying. 7. If you are men, follow me! gain the mountain passes Strike down yon guard, and RELATIVE EMPHASIS. Where there is antithesis, either expressed or implied, the emphasis is called relative. EXERCISES. 1. A day, an hour of virtuous liberty, 2. Would you, brother? No, you would not. 3. Just men only are free; the rest are slaves. 4. A false balance is abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his delight. 5. Heaven defend us from the friend Who comes, but never goes. 6. Wit laughs at things; humor laughs with them. 7. A friend can not be known in prosperity: an enemy can not be hidden in adversity. REMARK.-Sometimes the antithesis is implied. EXAMPLES. 1. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence. 2. My business is with Cato. 3. A style like this becomes a conqueror. 4. Mr. Tiffany, such vulgar remarks are only suitable to the counting-house. |