On the Sublime by 1st cent. Longinus
page 69 of 126 (54%)
page 69 of 126 (54%)
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readers generally, as in the line
âThou hadâst not known for whom Tydides fought,â[4] and thus exciting him by an appeal to himself, you will rouse interest, and fix attention, and make him a partaker in the action of the book. [Footnote 4: _Il._ v. 85.] XXVII Sometimes, again, a writer in the midst of a narrative in the third person suddenly steps aside and makes a transition to the first. It is a kind of figure which strikes like a sudden outburst of passion. Thus Hector in the _Iliad_ âWith mighty voice called to the men of Troy To storm the ships, and leave the bloody spoils: If any I behold with willing foot Shunning the ships, and lingering on the plain, That hour I will contrive his death.â[1] The poet then takes upon himself the narrative part, as being his proper business; but this abrupt threat he attributes, without a word of warning, to the enraged Trojan chief. To have interposed any such words as âHector said so and soâ would have had a frigid effect. As the lines stand the writer is left behind by his own words, and the transition is effected while he is preparing for it. |
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