Words: Their Use and Abuse |
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Page 16
... Change the structure of the sentence , substitute one synonyme for another , and the whole effect is destroyed . The spell loses its power ; and he who should then hope to conjure with it would find himself as much mistaken as Cassim in ...
... Change the structure of the sentence , substitute one synonyme for another , and the whole effect is destroyed . The spell loses its power ; and he who should then hope to conjure with it would find himself as much mistaken as Cassim in ...
Page 20
... writers ' sentences is often in itself a work of art , having its strophes and antistrophes , its winding changes and recalls , by which the reader , though conscious of plural voices and running 20 WORDS ; THEIR USE AND ABUSE .
... writers ' sentences is often in itself a work of art , having its strophes and antistrophes , its winding changes and recalls , by which the reader , though conscious of plural voices and running 20 WORDS ; THEIR USE AND ABUSE .
Page 23
... writers ' sentences is often in itself a work of art , having its strophes and antistrophes , its winding changes and recalls , by which -- the reader , though conscious of plural voices and running 20 WORDS ; THEIR USE AND ABUSE .
... writers ' sentences is often in itself a work of art , having its strophes and antistrophes , its winding changes and recalls , by which -- the reader , though conscious of plural voices and running 20 WORDS ; THEIR USE AND ABUSE .
Page 26
... changes in form and changes in signification it has undergone , - and of the time and toil spent in its invention and elabo- ration by successive generations of thinkers and speakers . Still less do we think how different man's history ...
... changes in form and changes in signification it has undergone , - and of the time and toil spent in its invention and elabo- ration by successive generations of thinkers and speakers . Still less do we think how different man's history ...
Page 32
... Change their order , and you at once break the charm . The rhythm , in fact , is the sense . You de- stroy the significance of the sentence as well as its ring ; you lessen the intensity of the meaning as well as the verbal force . " At ...
... Change their order , and you at once break the charm . The rhythm , in fact , is the sense . You de- stroy the significance of the sentence as well as its ring ; you lessen the intensity of the meaning as well as the verbal force . " At ...
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Common terms and phrases
adjective ages Anglo-Saxon Archbishop Whately beauty called century character charm Cicero common corruption Demosthenes derived diction dictionary distinction eloquence England English language etymologists etymology expression fact familiar feeling force French genius German give Greek guage heart human hundred ideas intellectual J. H. Newman Latin learned less letter literature living London Lord Max Müller meaning meant Milton mind modern monosyllables moral murder nations nature never nickname once orator origin passage persons phrases poet poetry reader remarkable reply rhetoric rience Roman Roundhead Rufus Choate SAMUEL BAILEY Saxon says secret sense sentence Shakspeare significance solecisms sophism soul sound speak speakers speech spirit style Sydney Smith syllables talk tell term things thought Thucydides tion tongue translation true truth utterance verb verbal verse vocabulary vulgar W. D. WHITNEY whole words writer
Popular passages
Page 129 - The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
Page 366 - Three years she grew in sun and shower; Then Nature said: "A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own. "Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse; and with me The girl in rock and plain, In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power, To kindle or restrain.
Page 129 - Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
Page 122 - tis a common proof, That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend: so Caesar may; Then, lest he may, prevent.
Page 182 - Could I embody and unbosom now That which is most within me, — could I wreak My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw Soul, heart, mind, passions, feelings, strong or weak, All that I would have sought, and all I seek, Bear, know, feel, and yet breathe— into one word, And that one word were Lightning, I would speak ; But as it is, I live and die unheard, With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword.
Page 140 - While expletives their feeble aid do join; And ten low words oft creep in one dull line : While they ring round the same unvaried chimes, With sure returns of still expected rhymes ; Where'er you find " the cooling western breeze...
Page 324 - In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; Alike fantastic, if too new, or old: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.
Page 253 - Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; How jocund did they drive their team afield ! How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke ! Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys and destiny obscure.
Page 77 - John Keats, who was killed off by one critique, Just as he really promised something great, If not intelligible, - without Greek Contrived to talk about the Gods of late, Much as they might have been supposed to speak. Poor fellow! His was an untoward fate: 'Tis strange the mind, that very fiery particle, Should let itself be snuffed out by an Article.
Page 174 - And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.