[6]
But neither clauses nor periods
should be curtailed or too long. If too short, they often make the hearer
stumble; for when he is hurrying on
towards the measure
of which he already has a definite idea, if he is checked by the speaker
stopping, a sort of stumble is bound to occur in consequence of the sudden stop.
If too long, they leave the hearer behind, as those who do not turn till past
the ordinary limit leave behind those who are walking with them. Similarly long
periods assume the proportions of a speech and resemble dithyrambic preludes.
This gives rise to what Democritus of Chios1 jokingly rebuked in Melanippides,2 who instead of antistrophes composed
dithyrambic preludes: “
A man does harm to himself in doing harm to another, and a long
prelude is most deadly to one who composes it;3
” for these verses may be applied to those who employ long clauses.
Again, if the clauses are too short, they do not make a period, so that the
hearer himself is carried away headlong.
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Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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