heard, all the appropriate imagery which can, on
the instant, be summoned, is used in the formation of the picture:
the mind being thus led directly, and without error, to the intended
impression. When, on the contrary, the reverse order is followed, the
idea, "Diana of the Ephesians" is conceived with no special reference to
greatness; and when the words "is great" are added, the conception
has to be remodeled: whence arises a loss of mental energy and a
corresponding diminution of effect. The following verse from Coleridge's
'Ancient Mariner,' though somewhat irregular in structure, well
illustrates the same truth:

"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."

Sec. 16. Of course the principle equally applies when the predicate is a
verb or a participle. And as effect is gained by placing first all words
indicating the quality, conduct or condition of the subject, it follows
that the copula also should have precedence. It is true that the general
habit of our language resists this arrangement of predicate, copula
and subject; but we may readily find instances of the additional force
gained by conforming to it. Thus, in the line from 'Julius Caesar'

"Then burst his mighty heart,"

priority is given to a word embodying both predicate and copula. In a
passage contained in 'The Battle of Flodden Field,' the like order is
systematically employed with great effect:

"The Border slogan rent the sky!
_A Home! a Gordon!_ was the cry;
_Loud were _the clanging blows:
_Advanced--forced back---now low, now high,
_The pennon sunk and rose;
_As bends_ the bark's mast in the gale
When _rent are_ rigging, shrouds and sail,
It wavered 'mid the foes."

Sec. 17. Pursuing the principle yet further, it is obvious that for
producing the greatest effect, not only should the main divisions of a
sentence observe this sequence, but the subdivisions of these should be
similarly arranged. In nearly all cases, the predicate is accompanied by
some limit or qualification, called its complement. Commonly, also,
the circumstances of the subject, which form its complement, have to be
specified. And as these qualifications and circumstances must determine
the mode in which the acts and things they belong to are conceived,
precedence should be given to them. Lord Kaimes notices the fact
that this order is preferable; thoug