[117]
There are some points, it is true, which are
beyond the power of art to inculcate. For example
if the case, tense or mood with which we have
begun, produces a harsh rhythm, it must be changed.
But is it possible to lay down any definite rule as to
what the change of case, tense or mood should be?
It is often possible to help out the rhythm when it
is in difficulties by introducing variety through the
agency of a figure. But what is this figure to be?
A figure of speech or a figure of thought? Can we
give any general ruling on the subject? In such
cases opportunism is our only salvation, and we must
be guided by consideration of the special circumstances.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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