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I've had this book for ten days, and I only just finished the first exercise? Summer vacation is more enervating than I thought!
In any case, I thought that, since I wasn't posting very much on this journal, I'd provide the short essay that was assigned as part of Exercise 1 in the book. The exercise was straightforward: I was to read two passages, the 23rd Psalm from the King James Bible and a quote from John Milton's Areopagitica, and analyze their rhythm and figures of speech in a variety of specific ways. The essay was to present the content of these analyses and to suggest which was more effective in presenting its point.
Before the essay, naturally, comes the texts it analyzes. Then the essay, divided into three (very short) sections.
The Twenty-Third Psalm
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
1611 [King James] Bible
I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial and trial is by what is contrary.
John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644
The 23rd Psalm is one of the famous descriptions of the relationship of God and man in Christendom. The goal of the passage is to describe a God who protects and provides for his followers. The chief metaphor used is that of the Lord as a shepherd; since shepherds have to work very hard to keep their sheep safe and healthy, the parallel is a useful one. The metaphor is strengthened by its continuation describing the green pastures and still waters, since finding both requires dedication on the part of the shepherd to the well-being of the flock. The second major metaphor in the passage is that of dining in the presence of enemies. It adds to the sense that the Lord protects and provides, both because the Lord is providing the meal and because the Lord is (presumably) protecting the speaker against the enemies. It takes strength to be safe eating before one's enemies, and the oiling of the head and overflowing cup imply wealth.
The language of the 23rd Psalm adds to the strength of the passage in three ways. The first is the use of the first person; instead of a mere simile or metaphor, or even a parable, the 23rd Psalm begins with a personal account in the first person, and then turns to apostrophe. Each of these serve a purpose: the first-person section adds credibility to the claims it makes (since the speaker is describing relationships (s)he is actually in) and the apostrophe suggests the actual, immediate presence of the Lord. The second virtue of the language derives from the strong rhythms and simple vocabulary; it is easy to read and remember. Being memorable makes it more believable and easier to teach. The third virtue of the language, specifically of its rhythm, is the emphasis it lends to some passages in the psalm. An example of where this effect is especially prominent is the following sentence:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
In my reading of this, the regular four-accent rhythm of the first phrase (ignoring the "Yea") leads emphasis to the second phrase, which shares its rhythm but stops at two accents. The tension of this abrupt stop is then emphasized by the third phrase, which repeats the rhythm (the "with" gains an accent for this purpose), and then the tension is relieved by the three-accent final phrase.
What does this do to the meaning? Well, the relative shortness of the second phrase gives it emphasis, and gives emphasis to the parallel phrase following it. Combined with the directness of the words, the rhythm makes the statement that the Lord's presence relieves fear much stronger.
To understand the passage from Milton's Areopagitica, one must first make at least a cursory examination of the context in which it lies. Unlike how it may appear from merely these few words, Areopagitica is not about morality and virtue; it is political speech decrying acts of censorship by the British Parliament. In the context of the larger piece, the passage in question is making the argument that it is not at all praiseworthy to ban the speaking of falsehood, that rather it is necessary in the interests of truth to allow the free competition of ideas. Thus, in the passage, I read "a virtue" as an abstract concept, perhaps best translated as "a good thing".
Given the above, I come to the opinion that the quoted section contains exactly two metaphors, each contributing to Milton's point. It is important to note the subtle manner in which the metaphors are phrased; neither metaphor is directly stated, unlike all the analogies of the 23rd Psalm. In any case, Milton's first metaphor describes "virtue" as one might a horse and challenges to it as the race in which it must compete. He emphasizes three parts of this metaphor: the existence of an adversary, in the context likely competing ideas; the existence of a prize to be won, probably approval as truth; and the difficulty of the race, reflecting the virulence of public debate. Milton's second metaphor is implied: it is in the parallel between innocence in people and accuracy in ideas. The idea that people are not born perfect is not hard to accept, and its truth is even clearer when talking about ideas rather than people.
The language of Areopagitica is far different than that of the 23rd Psalm. Milton speaks in an intellectual tone, with much more sophisticated vocabulary and more abstract nouns. The effect is heightened by his multiple layers of modifying phrases and compound forms; the passage contains sixty-five words in only two sentences. Furthermore, Milton speaks in an authoritative manner; the "I cannot praise..." at the start bases its relevance chiefly on the importance of his opinion, and the "Assuredly" later on makes very strong the blanket statement about the nature of humanity. Finally, while the passage still has an interesting rhythm, its rhythm is not so prominent as that of the 23rd Psalm.
It is apparent from analysis of the two passages that they differ greatly in their methods for presenting their conclusions. As for the effectiveness of each of these methods, it is my opinion that the 23rd Psalm was the more convincing passage, for two reasons. The first was mere simplicity of reading; the meaning of the Areopagitica excerpt was much harder to discern due to the more complex phrasing and obscure figures of speech, whereas the 23rd Psalm was clearer and simpler throughout. The second reason is the greater and more meaningful use of rhythm in the 23rd Psalm; while the Areopagitica excerpt is rhythmical, there was little of the strong meters that give the 23rd Psalm color.
I must qualify this judgment, however, with the assertion that the two passages were intended for greatly different audiences. The Bible is a book for the people, to be read by all, whereas Milton's speech was intended for the eyes of the members of Parliament – likely a much more literary audience. Finally, there is the fact that the 23rd Psalm is a psalm, by definition a song or poem, and therefore expected to be much more rhythmical than a political speech – in fact, in the latter form such heavy rhythms would probably sound too strange, and take away from the effect. However, viewing each in isolation only, and keeping the differences in mind, I still judge the 23rd Psalm to be more effective.
Sadly, this is but the first exercise of four in the first chapter. If I want to finish before the semester starts, I'm really going to have to start moving faster. I'm tempted to skip the second one, which is almost exactly like the first, but the passages it asks me to analyze seem even more interesting than the above: they are three excerpts from Virginia Woolf's The Waves.
Ah, well. #3 is an exercise in writing in meter – I'm good at that, and I can probably turn at least one of the lines into a poem to put up here.
In any case, I thought that, since I wasn't posting very much on this journal, I'd provide the short essay that was assigned as part of Exercise 1 in the book. The exercise was straightforward: I was to read two passages, the 23rd Psalm from the King James Bible and a quote from John Milton's Areopagitica, and analyze their rhythm and figures of speech in a variety of specific ways. The essay was to present the content of these analyses and to suggest which was more effective in presenting its point.
Before the essay, naturally, comes the texts it analyzes. Then the essay, divided into three (very short) sections.
The Twenty-Third Psalm
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
1611 [King James] Bible
I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial and trial is by what is contrary.
John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644
The 23rd Psalm is one of the famous descriptions of the relationship of God and man in Christendom. The goal of the passage is to describe a God who protects and provides for his followers. The chief metaphor used is that of the Lord as a shepherd; since shepherds have to work very hard to keep their sheep safe and healthy, the parallel is a useful one. The metaphor is strengthened by its continuation describing the green pastures and still waters, since finding both requires dedication on the part of the shepherd to the well-being of the flock. The second major metaphor in the passage is that of dining in the presence of enemies. It adds to the sense that the Lord protects and provides, both because the Lord is providing the meal and because the Lord is (presumably) protecting the speaker against the enemies. It takes strength to be safe eating before one's enemies, and the oiling of the head and overflowing cup imply wealth.
The language of the 23rd Psalm adds to the strength of the passage in three ways. The first is the use of the first person; instead of a mere simile or metaphor, or even a parable, the 23rd Psalm begins with a personal account in the first person, and then turns to apostrophe. Each of these serve a purpose: the first-person section adds credibility to the claims it makes (since the speaker is describing relationships (s)he is actually in) and the apostrophe suggests the actual, immediate presence of the Lord. The second virtue of the language derives from the strong rhythms and simple vocabulary; it is easy to read and remember. Being memorable makes it more believable and easier to teach. The third virtue of the language, specifically of its rhythm, is the emphasis it lends to some passages in the psalm. An example of where this effect is especially prominent is the following sentence:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
In my reading of this, the regular four-accent rhythm of the first phrase (ignoring the "Yea") leads emphasis to the second phrase, which shares its rhythm but stops at two accents. The tension of this abrupt stop is then emphasized by the third phrase, which repeats the rhythm (the "with" gains an accent for this purpose), and then the tension is relieved by the three-accent final phrase.
What does this do to the meaning? Well, the relative shortness of the second phrase gives it emphasis, and gives emphasis to the parallel phrase following it. Combined with the directness of the words, the rhythm makes the statement that the Lord's presence relieves fear much stronger.
To understand the passage from Milton's Areopagitica, one must first make at least a cursory examination of the context in which it lies. Unlike how it may appear from merely these few words, Areopagitica is not about morality and virtue; it is political speech decrying acts of censorship by the British Parliament. In the context of the larger piece, the passage in question is making the argument that it is not at all praiseworthy to ban the speaking of falsehood, that rather it is necessary in the interests of truth to allow the free competition of ideas. Thus, in the passage, I read "a virtue" as an abstract concept, perhaps best translated as "a good thing".
Given the above, I come to the opinion that the quoted section contains exactly two metaphors, each contributing to Milton's point. It is important to note the subtle manner in which the metaphors are phrased; neither metaphor is directly stated, unlike all the analogies of the 23rd Psalm. In any case, Milton's first metaphor describes "virtue" as one might a horse and challenges to it as the race in which it must compete. He emphasizes three parts of this metaphor: the existence of an adversary, in the context likely competing ideas; the existence of a prize to be won, probably approval as truth; and the difficulty of the race, reflecting the virulence of public debate. Milton's second metaphor is implied: it is in the parallel between innocence in people and accuracy in ideas. The idea that people are not born perfect is not hard to accept, and its truth is even clearer when talking about ideas rather than people.
The language of Areopagitica is far different than that of the 23rd Psalm. Milton speaks in an intellectual tone, with much more sophisticated vocabulary and more abstract nouns. The effect is heightened by his multiple layers of modifying phrases and compound forms; the passage contains sixty-five words in only two sentences. Furthermore, Milton speaks in an authoritative manner; the "I cannot praise..." at the start bases its relevance chiefly on the importance of his opinion, and the "Assuredly" later on makes very strong the blanket statement about the nature of humanity. Finally, while the passage still has an interesting rhythm, its rhythm is not so prominent as that of the 23rd Psalm.
It is apparent from analysis of the two passages that they differ greatly in their methods for presenting their conclusions. As for the effectiveness of each of these methods, it is my opinion that the 23rd Psalm was the more convincing passage, for two reasons. The first was mere simplicity of reading; the meaning of the Areopagitica excerpt was much harder to discern due to the more complex phrasing and obscure figures of speech, whereas the 23rd Psalm was clearer and simpler throughout. The second reason is the greater and more meaningful use of rhythm in the 23rd Psalm; while the Areopagitica excerpt is rhythmical, there was little of the strong meters that give the 23rd Psalm color.
I must qualify this judgment, however, with the assertion that the two passages were intended for greatly different audiences. The Bible is a book for the people, to be read by all, whereas Milton's speech was intended for the eyes of the members of Parliament – likely a much more literary audience. Finally, there is the fact that the 23rd Psalm is a psalm, by definition a song or poem, and therefore expected to be much more rhythmical than a political speech – in fact, in the latter form such heavy rhythms would probably sound too strange, and take away from the effect. However, viewing each in isolation only, and keeping the differences in mind, I still judge the 23rd Psalm to be more effective.
Sadly, this is but the first exercise of four in the first chapter. If I want to finish before the semester starts, I'm really going to have to start moving faster. I'm tempted to skip the second one, which is almost exactly like the first, but the passages it asks me to analyze seem even more interesting than the above: they are three excerpts from Virginia Woolf's The Waves.
Ah, well. #3 is an exercise in writing in meter – I'm good at that, and I can probably turn at least one of the lines into a poem to put up here.
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