How to Write Clearly Part 6

Pope adds--

"Then drop into thyself, and be a _fool_."

*40 a. A new construction should not be introduced without cause.*--A sudden and apparently unnecessary change of construction causes awkwardness and roughness at least, and sometimes breaks the flow of the sentence so seriously as to cause perplexity. Thus, write "virtuous and accomplished," or "of many virtues and accomplishments,"

not "of many virtues and accomplished;" "riding or walking" or "on foot or horseback," not "on foot or riding." In the same way, do not put adjectives and participles, active and pa.s.sive forms of verbs, in too close juxtaposition. Avoid such sentences as the following:--

"He had good reason _to believe_ that the delay was not _an accident_ (accidental) but _premeditated_, and _for supposing_ (to suppose, or else, for believing, above) that the fort, though strong both _by art_ and _naturally_ (nature), would be forced by the _treachery of the_ governor and the _indolent_ (indolence of the) general to capitulate within a week."

"They accused him of being _bribed_ (receiving bribes from) by the king and _unwilling_ (neglecting) to take the city."

*41. Ant.i.thesis adds force, and often clearness.*--The meaning of _liberal_ in the following sentence is ascertained by the ant.i.thesis:--

"All the pleasing illusions which made _power_(a) _gentle_(b) and _obedience_(a') _liberal_(b') ... are now to be destroyed."

There is a kind of proportion. As _gentleness_ is to _power_, so _liberality_ (in the sense here used) is to _obedience_. Now _gentleness_ is the check on the excess of power; therefore _liberal_ here applies to that which checks the excess of obedience, _i.e._ checks servility. Hence _liberal_ here means "free."

The contrast also adds force. "They aimed at the _rule_(a), not at the _destruction_(a'), of their country. They were men of great _civil_(b) and great _military_(b') talents, and, if the _terror_(c), the _ornament_(c') of their age."

Excessive ant.i.thesis is unnatural and wearisome:--

"Who can persuade where _treason_(a) is above _reason_(a'), and _might_(b) ruleth _right_(b'), and it is had for _lawful_(c) whatsoever is _l.u.s.tful_(c'), and _commotioners_(d) are better than _commissioners_(d'), and _common woe_(e) is named common _wealth_(e')?"

*42. Epigram.*--It has been seen that the neglect of climax results in lameness. Sometimes the suddenness of the descent produces amus.e.m.e.nt: and when the descent is intentional and very sudden, the effect is striking as well as amusing. Thus:--

(1) "You are not only not vicious, you are virtuous," is a _climax_.

(2) "You are not vicious, you are vice," is not _climax_, nor is it _bathos_: it is _epigram_.[15]

Epigram may be defined as a "short sentence expressing truth under an amusing appearance of incongruity." It is often ant.i.thetical.

"The Russian grandees came to { and diamonds," _climax_.

court dropping pearls { and vermin," _epigram_.

"These two nations were divided { and the bitter remembrance by mutual fear { of recent losses," _climax_.

{ and mountains," _epigram_.

There is a sort of implied ant.i.thesis in:--

"He is full of information--(but flat also) like yesterday's _Times_."

"Verbosity is cured (not by a small, but) by a large vocabulary."

The name of epigram may sometimes be given to a mere ant.i.thesis; _e.g._ "An educated man should know something of everything, and everything of something."

*43. Let each sentence have one, and only one, princ.i.p.al subject of thought.*

"This great and good man died on the 17th of September, 1683, leaving behind him the memory of many n.o.ble actions, and a numerous family, of whom three were sons; one of them, George, the eldest, heir to his father's virtues, as well as to his princ.i.p.al estates in c.u.mberland, where most of his father's property was situate, and shortly afterwards elected member for the county, which had for several generations returned this family to serve in Parliament." Here we have (1) the "great and good man," (2) "George," (3) "the county,"

disputing which is to be considered the princ.i.p.al subject. Two, if not three sentences should have been made, instead of one. Carefully avoid a long sentence like this, treating of many different subjects on one level. It is called _heterogeneous_.

*44. The connection between different sentences must be kept up by Adverbs used as Conjunctions, or by means of some other connecting words at the beginning of each sentence.*--Leave out the conjunctions and other connecting words, and it will be seen that the following sentences lose much of their meaning:--

"Pitt was in the army for a few months in time of peace. His biographer (_accordingly_) insists on our confessing, that, if the young cornet had remained in the service, he would have been one of the ablest commanders that ever lived. (_But_) this is not all. Pitt (, _it seems_,) was not merely a great poet _in esse_ and a great general _in posse_, but a finished example of moral excellence....

(_The truth is, that_) there scarcely ever lived a person who had so little claim to this sort of praise as Pitt. He was (_undoubtedly_) a great man. (_But_) his was not a complete and well-proportioned greatness. The public life of Hampden or of Somers resembles a regular drama which can be criticised as a whole, and every scene of which is to be viewed in connection with the main action. The public life of Pitt (, _on the other hand_,) is," &c.

The following are some of the most common connecting adverbs, or connecting phrases: (1) expressing consequence, similarity, repet.i.tion, or resumption of a subject--_accordingly_, _therefore_, _then_, _naturally_, _so that_, _thus_, _in this way_, _again_, _once more_, _to resume_, _to continue_, _to sum up_, _in fact_, _upon this_; (2) expressing opposition--_nevertheless_, _in spite of this_, _yet_, _still_, _however_, _but_, _on the contrary_, _on the other hand_; (3) expressing suspension--_undoubtedly ... but_; _indeed ...

yet_; _on the one hand ... on the other_; _partly ... partly_; _some ... others_.

Avoid a style like that of Bishop Burnet, which strings together a number of sentences with "and" or "so," or with no conjunction at all:

"Blake with the fleet happened to be at Malaga, before he made war upon Spain; _and_ some of his seamen went ash.o.r.e, _and_ met the Host carried about; _and_ not only paid no respect to it, but laughed at those who did." Write "_When_ Blake &c."

*45. The connection between two long sentences sometimes requires a short intervening sentence, showing the transition of thought.*

"Without force or opposition, it (chivalry) subdued the fierceness of pride and power; it obliged sovereigns to submit to the soft collar[16] of social esteem, compelled stern authority to submit to elegance, and gave a dominating vanquisher of laws to be subdued by manners. But now (_all is to be changed_:) all the pleasing illusions which made power gentle and obedience liberal, which harmonized the different shades of life, and which, by a bland a.s.similation, incorporated into politics the sentiments that beautify and soften private society, are to be dissolved by this new conquering empire of light and reason." If the words italicized were omitted, the transition would be too abrupt: the conjunction _but_ alone would be insufficient.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] _For_, at the beginning of a sentence, sometimes causes temporary doubt, while the reader is finding out whether it is used as a conjunction or preposition.

[6] _It_ should refer (1) either to the Noun immediately preceding, or (2) to some Noun superior to all intervening Nouns in emphasis. See (25).

[7] So useful that, on mature consideration, I am disposed to adopt "that" here and in several of the following exceptional cases.

[8] Of course "and which" may be used where "which" precedes.

[9] "That which," where _that_ is an _object_, _e.g._ "then (set forth) _that which_ is worse," _St. John_ ii. 10, is rare in modern English.

[10] Sometimes the emphatic Adverb comes at the beginning, and causes the transposition of an Auxiliary Verb, "_Gladly_ do I consent."

[11] Of course punctuation will remove the ambiguity; but it is better to express oneself clearly, as far as possible, independently of punctuation.

[12] Professor Bain.

[13] See (30).

[14] The repet.i.tion of Auxiliary Verbs and p.r.o.nominal Adjectives is also conducive to clearness.

[15] Professor Bain says: "In the epigram the mind is roused by a conflict or contradiction between the form of the language and the meaning really conveyed."

[16] This metaphor is not recommended for imitation.