'Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come.' Into the second went the High Priest alone once every year.'

These are examples chosen from the ordinary prose style of the Bible, and show that the language originally permitted such inversions much more freely than at present.

Before exemplifying at large, we may advert to the different forms of sentence that admit of the inversion.

(1.) The verb must, as a rule, be preceded by an adverb, in one of its varieties-single word, phrase, or clause. We very rarely begin with a verb alone. The instances in the COMPANION, p. 298, are all from Scott. So are these:

Vanish'd the Saxon's struggling spear,
Vanish'd the mountain sword.

The drawbridge fell-they hurry out,
Clatters each plank and swinging chain.

This is from Milton

Stood vast infinitude confined.

Tennyson uses it in the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' :—
Flash'd all their sabres bare,

Flash'd as they turn'd in air.

Also twice in the song, Home they brought her warrior dead' :-
Stole a maiden from her place,
Lightly to the warrior stept.

Rose a nurse of ninety years,
Set his child upon her knee.

And in 'Locksley Hall':

:

Comes a vapour from the margin, blackening over heath and holt. Slides the bird o'er lustrous woodland, swings the trailer from the crag, Droops the heavy-blossom'd bower, hangs the heavy-fruited tree.

The following are from other poets :

Resounds the living surface of the ground,

Nor undelightful is the ceaseless hum. (Thomson.)

Wide flush the fields, the softening air is balm,
Echo the mountains round. (Id.)

Came a troop with broadswords swinging,

Bits and bridles sharply ringing. (Whittier.)

So to his hut he got him back again,

And fell the unhappy king upon his knee.

(William Morris.)

The following, from Keats, is even bolder than these :

'Thy venom'd goblet will we quaff until

We fill -we fill!

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVERSION.

11

The very unusual form here is felt less harsh, because the words are introduced as a sudden interruption of the preceding sentence, and hence not inappropriately appear as if broken and disjointed.

(2.) The easiest case is with an intransitive verb: 'Then burst his mighty heart'. When the verb is transitive, and has both subject and object, the inversion may lead to ambiguity, or other awkwardness.

(3.) Speaking generally, the effect of the inversion is best, when thorough-going. Little is gained by a partial in

version.

(4.) The efficacy or impressiveness of this inversion depends upon the same principles as the inversion in the case of a predicate adjective. It throws the subject to the end, thereby raising its importance. It also facilitates the expansion of the subject by appended circumstances. moreover, gives to the sentence the air of poetry.

It,

A few additional examples from the Bible may first be adduced. Those already given in this connection were confined to the prose style; we may now quote from the more poetical books, in order to illustrate the effect of this inversion.

'Out of the depths have I cried unto thee.' Here the form is not only effective in itself, but very happily strikes, in the opening words, the keynote of the whole composition (Psalm 130).

'With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.'

"With the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.' Here the parallelism, thus preserved, adds to the effect. So it is also in the following examples.

'In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?'

In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.'

'With thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.' In thy name shall they rejoice all the day; in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.'

The promiscuous examples now to be adduced will serve to elucidate the principles laid down, and determine the circumstances suitable for the employment of inversion.

First, let us quote a few of the simpler cases-such as short sentences with an intransitive verb.

'In 1066, was fought the battle of Hastings.' This is pure prose, with no attempt at rhetorical elevation beyond impressiveness. We may compare it with the other arrangements-The battle of Hastings was fought in 1066'; In 1066, the battle of Hastings was fought'. Leaving out of account the bearing of what may precede or follow, these two last forms are much inferior to the complete inversion.

'And thereby hangs a tale.' The best conceivable arrangement. The subject tale' has full emphasis, and is, moreover, brought into proximity with what naturally follows the particulars of the tale.

'In the background rose the mist, like incense.' Inversion is here turned to account in a descriptive sentence. The order conforms to one of the laws of description, namely, to give the scene or situation, previous to stating the action that is to take place in it. The simile, like incense,' follows the subject compared. There is an obvious inferiority in the form-The mist, like incense,

rose in the background'.

There was a sound of revelry by night.' possible disposition of the adverbs.

Not the best

By night was heard a sound of revelry,' dispenses with 'There,' and gives to the subject the place of emphasis at the end.

Duncan comes here to-night': otherwise, 'To-night comes Duncan here'. Both time and place are emphatic under the circumstances: the greater emphasis may be supposed to attach to 'here'.

Not wholly sank be. O'er that mist of spray
Glittered his sword. There fell a silence strange:
Slowly that mist dispersed ; and on the sands
That false Enchanter lay, with all his sons,
Black, bleeding bulks of death.

In the foregoing lines, there are five sentences of the character we are now discussing. Three have the full inversion; the fourth might equally well be inverted, without disturbing the metre-Slowly dispersed that mist'. The fifth would want a little adjustment for the sake of metre—'Lay that false enchanter'; and the inversion would be an improvement, if only to bring the subject 'enchanter' closer to its adjuncts.

When the verb is made up with auxiliaries, or with 'can,' 'must,' &c., the inversion often goes no farther than placing the subject after the auxiliary and before the verb.

To this extremity were we driven.'

'Let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come,' might be must she come'; but not 'must come she,' or come must she'. 'A greater mistake was never made.' By inversion-Never was a greater mistake made': or, Never was made a greater mistake,'-admissible but somewhat forced.

1

INVERSION SHOULD BE THOROUGH.

13

'On Monday will be shown the entire collection.' Here the inversion is to the best effect.

For I have often observed,' where the adverb is placed between the auxiliary and the adverb, we may have the inverted form-'Often have I observed'; whereby an increased emphasis is given to the often'.

In the following passage from Pope, the inversion in this class of cases is carried yet farther, the auxiliary being placed after the principal verb :'See Sir Robert-hum

'Go see Sir Robert

And never laugh- for all my life to come?
Seen him I have, but in his happier hour
Of social pleasure, ill exchanged for power;
Seen him, uncumber'd with the venal tribe,
Smile without art, and win without a bribe.'

The intention, of course, is to reiterate with emphasis the word see, and this justifies the form, which might be felt harsh if standing alone. It is this emphatic repetition of the verb, already expressed or implied, that is the usual object in cases of this sort, sometimes also with added force on the auxiliary. 'Go he must,' refers to a preceding statement or thought that he will refuse to go, and also puts stress on the compulsion expressed in the 'must'. So here: He might, perhaps, be taugh to do it better;

but let it alone he cannot'.

There is little or nothing gained, except through the accident of metre or sound, in partially inverting sentences of the class we are now considering:

In being's flood, in action's storm

(We walk =) walk we and work.

'How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank,' could not be thoroughly invérted without destroying the exquisite metre and melody. We might go a certain length without loss :- How sweet upon this bank the moonlight sleeps'. In prose we could be thorough- How sweet upon this bank sleeps the moonlight'.

O'er all the dreary coasts,

So stretched out, huge in length, the archfiend lay.

To invert and say, 'Lay the archfiend,' would impair the metre. But the adjective phrase, huge in length,' might go after the subject:

So stretched out, lay the archfiend, huge in length.

So glozed the tempter.

So work the honey bees.

Wordsworth calls Grasmere

The loveliest spot that man hath ever found.

The emphasis of order would assist the superlative meaning: Never hath man found a lovelier spot'.

The foot of Adam Smith was on the steps of power': 'On the steps of power was.'

Then ensued a scene of woe, the like of which no eye had seen, no heart conceived, and which no tongue can adequately tell.' (Burke.) Here the inversion is not only a clear gain in impressiveness, but enables the subject to be brought into immediate connection with the qualifying clauses. Moreover, these clauses also receive a emphatic position than they would have, if following the subject in the body of the sentence.

more

The complement of an incomplete verb may be placed first, in the same way as the adverb:- Soft blew the wind'. This is the generalised case of the first series of examples of inversion, those with an adjective predicate.

Pity, kind gentlefolks, friends of humanity,

Keen blows the wind, and the night's coming on.

13. III.-Inversion of Active Verb and Object. In a sentence having an Active Verb, together with Subject and Object, emphasis is often sought by inverting the grammatical order. The most complete inversion is to begin with the object and end with the subject: 'Another parable spake he unto them'; 'Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks'.

Not unfrequently the verb is last:-Thee, the voice, the dance obey'. The thorough inversion, in such cases, is often an improvement: Thee obey the voice, the dance'.

The presence of one or more adverbial adjuncts gives scope for still greater variations of order. The adverb may precede, as in the foregoing class of inversions: or it may remain in its more regular grammatical position, while the object is placed first.

In this fool's paradise, he drank delight.' Here the adverb emphatically precedes, while the rest of the sentence is regular. The inversion could be carried farther, and in several ways. The most easy and natural way is to bring the verb close to the adverb, as if it were a neuter verb:In this fool's paradise, drank he delight'. Otherwise, 'delight he drank,' not so good. The complete inversion, 'delight drank he,' is unsuitable. The word 'delight'