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express the thought; and, apart from this, the beauty or grace of the expression.

Fitness is, as has been remarked in the chapter on Esthetics, a decided element of beauty, and thus conduces to Elegance. And this fitness or appropriateness implies that a writer should have something to say, and means to proceed at once to say it in the most proper language. This appropriateness is lost when it appears as though a person only wanted to say something, and was at a loss what to say, as well as how to say it.

It is further evident that the nature of the discourse will determine, according to the laws of fitness, the character of the expression: A plain mathematical disquisition will need no graces of language or figures of speech, while a poetic thought will claim a more ornate and romantic expression. It is evident without further illustration that a different style must be used in the treatment of the various kinds of discourse; to this we shall devote a few lines before closing.

But elegance of style also depends upon the graces of expression, as to the choice of words, which has already been spoken of in treating of purity and propriety, and in the structure of sentences, as to the euphony and harmony of diction, and in the general arrangement of the discourse, with a reference to the

beauty of its entire construction. To these latter we shall now refer.

(110.) Euphony and Harmony.

By Euphony (Greek, ev, well, and porn, the voice), is meant a pleasantly voiced sound, and has reference only to sound, and not to sense.

Such words as are easily pronounced, and make a pleasant, gliding, or flowing sound to the ear, are called euphonious.

Euphony, then, which is one of the essential or absolute properties of style, is to be attained in various ways; thus, the loudness of sound concerns its euphony; so does the clearness, the pitch, the time, &c.; indeed, the consideration of the musical gamut is the true key to the euphony of style.

I. Euphony in style consists, first, in the choice of pleasant-sounding words; and the ear will readily aid us in such a choice; most persons agreeing very easily upon this point. Harsh, guttural sounds, are unpleasing; sharp and hissing sounds pain the ear; words ending in two or three consonants, as lovedst, strik'st, are also uneuphonious.

II. But upon the arrangement of words in sentences, quite apart from the sense, the euphony of style depends. When, for example, many words similar to those just mentioned are brought together,

the euphony is destroyed. Tautology, or the repetition of the same word in a sentence, is also injurious to the euphony.

III. But the most important consideration of the pleasantness of sound, is its adaptation to the sense, This adaptation is called Harmony; and it has been incidentally referred to already in the subject of rhetorical æsthetics. Harmony requires that the words in a sentence shall make a pleasing sound to the ear, analogous to the effect of the thought upon the mind. But in every case the sound must be suited to the sense; and if the thought be a painful and disagreeable one, the words may also be harsh and ill-sounding. Milton is full of such charming analogies. Gray's Elegy abounds in them, and these attract the interest of many persons, who are not aware why they are pleased with these charming

verses.

A fine example of Harmony may be found in Dryden's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, in which music's power is used to excite varied moods in the mind of the great conqueror. And in the other ode, "To St. Cecilia," there is a wonderful flow and sweetness in the opening lines:

"From harmony, from heavenly harmony,

This universal frame began.

From harmony to harmony,

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in Man."

Perhaps there is no more striking illustration of the adaptation of sound to sense, than the following:

"The trumpet's loud clangor,

Excites us to arms,

With shrill notes of anger,

And mortal alarms.

The double, double, double beat

Of the thundering drum,

Cries, Hark! the foes come;

Charge, charge, 'tis too late to retreat."

As a very successful attempt in this study of Harmony, we may cite Poe's "Bells." One almost hears the

"Sledges with the bells

Silver bells

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy ear of night!"

And then

"The mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells!"

But we should transcribe the whole poem if we endeavoured to select special passages illustrative of harmony-The brazen. bells" which tell of fire, and the "iron bells" "moaning" and "groaning' 'in the silence of the night.

The English language is peculiarly adapted to the

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cultivation of harmony; and we should be at no loss for the richest examples of its use.

Akin to this is the subject of Rhythm, or the accentuation of syllables to produce the cadence of verse. But this subject belongs to Prosody and to Poetry, and leads, consequently, to another field of investigation.

With these remarks we close the consideration of the qualities of style.

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