Page images
PDF
EPUB

CIRCUMFLEX.

RULE XIII. The circumflex is used to express irony, sarcasm, hypothesis, or contrast.

EXAMPLES.

1. But nobody can bear the death of Clodius.

2. Man never is, but always to bê, blest.

3. They follow an adventurer whom they fear; we serve a monarch whom we love. They boast, they come but to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error. Yes, they will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. They offer us their protection: yes, such protection as vultures give to lămbs, covering and devouring them.

MONOTONE.

RULE XIV.-The use of the monotone is confined chiefly to grave and solemn subjects. When carefully and properly employed, it gives great dignity to delivery.

EXAMPLES.

1. The unbeliever! one who can gaze upon the sun, and mōōn, and stārs, and upon the unfading and impērishable sky, spread out so magnificently above him, and say, "All this is the work of chance!"

2. God walketh upon the ocean. Brilliantly The glassy waters mirror back his smiles;

3.

4.

The surging billows, and the gamboling stōrms
Come crouching to his fēēt.

I hail thee, as in gōrgeous robes,

Blōōming, thou leav'st the chambers of the east,
Crowned with a gēm-med tiāra thick embossed
With studs of living light.

High on a thrōne of royal state, which far
Outshōne the wealth of Ormus and the Ind;
Or where the gorgeous east, with richest hand,
Shōwers on her kings, barbaric pearls and gōld,
Satan exalted sat.

5. His broad expanded wings

Lay calm and mōtionless upōn the air,
As if he floated there withōut their aid,

By the sole act of his unlōrded will.

QUESTIONS.-Name the several principles whlch govern the use of Give an example of each.

the falling inflection.

In what cases is

In what cases are the

What is a

the rising inflection used? Give examples. two inflections united in the same sentence? What is antithesis? Give the rule for antithesis. How does the disjunctive or influence the inflection? Give an example. What is a series? A commencing series? A concluding series? Give an example of each. simple series? A compound series? Give the rule for a commencing series. For a concluding series. Give examples. What are the remarks upon them? What is the rule for inflection in a clause contained in a parenthesis? When is the circumflex used? When is the monotone used?

III. ACCENT AND EMPHASIS.

ACCENT.

THAT syllable in a word which is uttered more forcibly than the others, is said to be accented; as the italicized syllables in the following words:

[blocks in formation]

Accent when marked, is denoted by the same characters as those used in inflection; the acute accent, by (), and the grave, by (). The latter is merely a nominal distinction, and means only, that the syllable thus marked is not accented at all.

Common usage alone determines upon which syllable the accent should be placed, and to the lexicographer it belongs, to ascertain and record its decision on this point.

In some few cases, we can trace the reasons for common usage in this respect. In words which are used as different parts of speech, or which have different meanings, the distinction is sometimes denoted by changing the accent.

[blocks in formation]

There is another case, in which we discover the reason for changing the accent, and that is, when it is required by emphasis, as in the following

EXAMPLES.

His ability or in ability to perform the act, materially varies the case.

This corruption must put on in ́corruption.

In words of more than two syllables, there is often a second accent given, but more slightly than the principal one, and this is called the secondary accent; as, caravan, rep ́artee ́ ́, where the principal accent is marked ( ́ ́) and the secondary, (); so, also, this accent is obvious, in nav ́iga ́ ́tion, com ́prehension, plau'si-bility, &c. This whole subject, however, properly belongs to dictionaries and spelling-books.

ON EMPHASIS.

EMPHASIS consists in a certain manner of uttering a word or phrase, designed to give it force and energy, and to draw the attention of the hearer, particularly, to the idea thereby expressed.

This is most frequently accomplished by an increased stress of voice laid upon the word or phrase. Sometimes, though more rarely, the same object is effected by an unusual lowering of the voice, even down to a whisper.

The inflections, also, are made subsidiary to this object. To give emphasis to a word, the inflection is often changed or increased in force or extent. Where the rising inflection is ordinarily used, the word, when emphatic, frequently takes the falling inflection; and sometimes, also, the falling inflection is changed into the rising, for the same purpose.

Emphatic words are often denoted by being written in italics, or in SMALL, or in LARGE CAPITALS.

ABSOLUTE EMPHASIS.

Where the emphasis is independent of any contrast or comparison with other words or ideas, it is called absolute emphasis.

EXAMPLES.

1. We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. 2. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll.

3. Arm, warriors, arm!

4. You know that you are Brutus, that speak this, Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. 5. Hamlet. Saw who?

[blocks in formation]

Follow upon your spirit, and upon this charge,
Cry" God for Harry, England, and St. George."

7. She was the rainbow to thy sight,

Thy sun, thy heaven of lost delight.

8. The old Lion of England grows youthful again: He rouses-he rises-he bristles his mane.

9.

Strike-till the last armed foe expires,
Strike-for your altars and your fires,
Strike-for the green graves of your sires,
God-and your native land.

RELATIVE EMPHASIS.

Where there is antithesis, either expressed or implied, the emphasis is called relative.

EXAMPLES.

1. We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
2. But I am describing your condition, rather than my own.
3. I fear not death, and shall I then fear thee?

4. Hunting men, and not beasts, shall be his game.

5. He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

6. It may moderate and restrain, but was not designed to banish gladness from the heart of man.

In the following examples, there are two sets of antithesis in the same sentence.

7. John was punished; William, rewarded.

8. Without were fightings, within were fears.

9. Business sweetens pleasure, as labor sweetens rest.

10. Justice appropriates rewards to merit, and punishments to crime.

11. On the one side, all was alacrity and courage; on the other, all was timidity and indecision.

12. The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation, the fool, when he gains the applause of others.

13. His care was to polish the country by art, as he had protected it by arms.

In the following examples the relative emphasis is applied to three sets of antithetic words.

14. The difference between a madman and a fool is, that the former reasons justly from false data; and the latter, erroneously from just data.

15. He raised a mortal to the skies,

She drew an angel down.

Sometimes the antithesis is implied, as in the following instances.

16. The spirit of the white man's heaven, forbids not thee to weep.

17. What! while our arms can wield these blades,

[blocks in formation]

The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,

Of burning cressets; and at my birth,

The fame and huge foundation of the earth
Shook like a coward.

EMPHASIS AND ACCENT.

When words, which are the same in part of their formation, are contrasted, the emphasis is expressed by accenting the syllable in which they differ. See Accent, page 40.

« PreviousContinue »