INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS
In the chapters on the infinitive phrase and the participial phrase,
we discussed those phrases used independently, that is, thrown loosely
into the sentence and forming no part of its structure, as in the
following sentences,--“It will then, _to borrow the elegant language
of the play-bills_, be withdrawn to make room for the forthcoming
novelties.”--_Macaulay._ “There is no custom that can, _properly
speaking_, be final.”--_Carlyle._
Besides phrases of these kinds, there are several other varieties of
independent elements that are commonly used and form very interesting
material in the sentence. Their function is often an important one,
and they could not be dispensed with without necessitating a very
roundabout and clumsy form of expression. Some of these elements
are single words, some are phrases, and some are propositions, both
independent in structure and dependent.
* * * * *
=Words used Independently.=--I. The noun of address.--This is used in
two ways:
(_a_) In oral or written conversation or formal address, where the
name of the person spoken is used, either to invite his attention or
for the sake of courtesy; as, “Upon my life, _Mr. Caudle_, that’s very
cool.”--_Jerrold._
(_b_) In more or less impassioned composition, often poetry or oratory,
where the person or thing spoken about is addressed as if actually
present and capable of understanding the address. Such an address has
the nature of an explanation. It forms the figure of speech called
apostrophe; as,--
“_O star of strength._ I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain.”--_Longfellow._
2. We also have the noun used independently by pleonasm, that is,
either for emphasis or to call the reader’s attention to the subject
that is to be talked about; as, “_The birds that come about one’s
door in winter or that build in his trees in summer_, what a peculiar
interest they have.”--_Burroughs._ The base of this independent element
is the noun _birds_; the element is long because of the two restrictive
adjective clauses modifying _birds_.
Often this independent noun is introduced by _as for_ or _as to_;
_thus_, “_As for the boy_, he turned up after a while as a constant
guest.”--_Howells._ The words _as for_ indicate that the boy had
already been the subject of discourse in some previous sentence.
3. The words _well_, _now_, _why_ often begin a sentence. They may
indicate the writer’s state of mind, his attitude toward what he is
going to say, also the tone, whether of conviction, remonstrance,
surprise, or deliberation, with which the sentence should be read;
as, “_Why_, let him go home in the rain, to be sure.”--_Jerrold._
“_Now_, the capitalists were men of understanding and wise in their
generation.”--_Bellamy._
4. The interjection is an independent element. It may be a single word
or a group of words with the office of one. Such words and expressions
as _Ah!_ _Oh!_ _Alas!_ _Dear me!_ _O my stars and garters!_ _Hurrah!_
_fudge!_ _pooh!_ are used to communicate not our thoughts but our
feelings. In doing this they perform the work of a whole declarative
sentence; as,--
“_Hurrah!_--_Hurrah!_--the west wind
Comes freshening down the bay,
The rising sails are filling,--
Give way, my lads, give way!”
--_Whittier._
The interjection _eh?_ is interrogative. _Whoa!_ and _hist!_ are
imperative. _O_ is frequently used before the noun of address.
* * * * *
=The Prepositional Phrase used Independently.=--This is usually a
stereotyped phrase ready to hand for any one who wishes to use it, such
a phrase as _for example_, _in fact_, _in short_, _at any rate_. In the
following sentence from Stevenson, “I take it, _in short_, that I was
about as near Nirvana as would be convenient in practical life; and if
this be so I make the Buddhists my sincere compliments,” the little
independent phrase signifies to the reader that the author, instead of
going on with a long description of his state of feeling, has thought
of a happy way by which he can communicate a knowledge of it in very
few words.
In Irving’s sentence, “This, _by the way_, is a mere casual remark,
which I would not for the universe have it thought I apply to Governor
Van Twiller,” the independent phrase indicates that this sentence also
is only a casual remark, much like a personal “aside” from the author
to the reader.
In this sentence from Mrs. Gaskell,--“_In the first place_, Cranford
is in possession of the Amazons,” the phrase is equivalent to the
independent infinitive phrase _to begin with_. It informs the reader
that the remark it introduces is necessary as a setting or background
for further description of Cranford.
* * * * *
=Propositions used Independently.=--1. The imperative sentence
addressed to the reader; as, “_Mind you_, this was the world as I
first knew it.”--_Holmes._ This independent element is like a note of
warning, telling the reader not to conclude that this is the world as
the writer knew it later.
2. An exclamation like “Bless your soul!” or “Thank God!” wherein
the subject of the verb is omitted. Such an expression reveals the
author’s feeling about the statement; as, “The civilized world is
learning, _thank God_, more and more of the importance of physical
science.”--_Kingsley._
An expression somewhat similar to this is found in the sentence,
“_Thanks to you_, I am able to speak French.” Here the cause of my
ability to speak French is given in the expression _Thanks to you_;
but this is not so constructed as to be a grammatical modifier of the
predicate, and hence must be considered independent.
3. A proposition introduced by _as_.--This has the structure of an
adverbial clause, but in meaning it is not a modifier of any part of
the sentence. Many of these expressions are stereotyped; for example,
_as it were_, _as it will be seen_, _as the case might be_, _as it was
called_. They are usually parenthetical. Their value in the sentence
can best be seen from a few examples.
(_a_) “Time, _as it will be seen afterward_, did not allow Sir George
Lewis any chance of making good this prediction.”--_McCarthy._ The
independent element here informs the reader that the author will not
drop the matter under discussion with the single statement of it, but
will take it up more at length later.
A similar expression, “as we have seen,” takes the reader’s mind back
to something he has read before.
(_b_) “The Saxon, _as it appears to me_, has never shown any capacity
for art.”--_Lowell._ The independent clause signifies here that the
author makes his statement not as a matter of fact but only as a matter
of personal opinion.
(_c_) “She was, _as I had supposed_, a gentlewoman whom a change of
circumstances had brought down from her high estate.”--_Holmes._ This
independent clause conveys to the reader the author’s satisfaction
in making a statement that is true and that coincides with his own
supposition.
(_d_) “‘You don’t know what your thoughts are going to be beforehand!’
said the ‘Member of the Haouse,’ _as he called himself_.”--_Holmes._
This independent element gives the authority for the preceding
quotation, and together with the quotation marks absolves the writer
from all responsibility for spelling and pronunciation.
Familiar forms of this clause are--_as everybody says_, _as the Bible
says_, _as Shakespeare puts it_. We often use the first of these when
we are unwilling ourselves to be held responsible for our statements.
The other two are sometimes used lest people should think we are trying
to pass off a quoted remark for an original one.
4. A clause of reason introduced by _for_. When such a clause is
independent, it gives the reason not for any action expressed in the
sentence nor for the whole statement, but rather the author’s reason
for using a particular word or phrase; as, “The bitterest opponent of
the poet (for like every strong personality he has many enemies) is
thus no less his debtor than his warmest admirer.”--_Boyesen._ Such a
clause is not always enclosed in a parenthesis; it is just as often
set off by commas or dashes.
5. An independent proposition, declarative.--Many of these independent
elements are stereotyped; such as, _I dare say_, _it seems_, _it is
said_, _it is true_. The following sentences contain familiar instances.
(_a_) “Mr. Swinburne, _Heaven knows_, has been imitated
enough.”--_Saintsbury._ The independent element here makes the sentence
emphatic, even makes it mean that Mr. Swinburne has been imitated too
much.
(_b_) “To equip so small a book with a preface is, _I am half afraid_,
to sin against proportion.”--_Stevenson._ The independent words are
here apologetic, revealing to the reader the author’s misgiving that
the preface is uncalled for, but not his full conviction.
(_c_) “I want my ‘asides,’ _you see_, to whisper loud to you who read
my notes.”--_Holmes._ The independent words, a familiar personal remark
to the reader, indicate the author’s appreciation of the fact that
the reader understands fully as well as the author the purpose of the
“asides.”
Sentences like the last three quoted could be re-arranged so that the
independent element would become the principal proposition and the rest
of the sentence a noun clause; thus, “Heaven knows that Mr. Swinburne
has been imitated enough.” This transposition is unjust, for it makes a
different sentence from what the author intended. Oftentimes sentences
read as if the independent element were not in the author’s mind when
he began to write, but occurred to him during the writing and so was
put in loosely, parenthetically--for a purpose, to be sure, but not as
part of the structure of the sentence. If we transpose such sentences,
we give the independent element an undue importance, not intended for
it by the author.
Exercise 39
Select the independent elements in the following sentences. Tell the
function of each.
1. Keen son of trade, with eager brow,
Who is now fluttering in thy snare?
Thy golden fortunes, tower they now
Or melt the glittering spires in air?--_Bryant._
2. Now, we will not discuss the point on any rigid principles of
morality.--_Macaulay._
3. For my part, I had never been in a canoe under sail in my
life.--_Stevenson._
4. These strangers or neighbors, as the case might be, were
looking at the display of toys and petty commodities in Hepzibah’s
shop-window.--_Hawthorne._
5. Without a word to either of them--and that was not his wont--he
passed to the stern of the yacht.--_Black._
6. Why, bless your soul, if all the cities of the world were reduced
to ashes, you’d have a new set of millionaires in a couple of years or
so out of the trade in potash.--_Holmes._
7. As to the nature of the dinner, it of course varies somewhat
according to the nature of the diner.--_Howells._
8. To be frank, the Doctor’s little establishment was dusty and
disorderly--very.--_Cable._
9. They’ll come and look at me, but, you may depend upon it, they will
dine at your expense before they go home again.--_Froude._
10. When the thunders of universal France, as even yet may happen,
shall proclaim the grandeur of the poor shepherd-girl that gave up all
for her country, thy ear, young shepherd-girl, will have been deaf for
five centuries.--_De Quincey._
11. Depend upon it, there is now truer duty to be done in raising
harvests than in burning them.--_Ruskin._
12. And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher;
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.--_Wordsworth._
13. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his
own.--_Irving._
14. Poor as he was,--for his income was little more than two hundred
a year,--and springing as he did from a family of no political
importance, it was by sheer dint of genius that the young cornet of
horse, at whose youth and inexperience Walpole had sneered, seized
a power which the Whig houses had ever since the Revolution kept in
their grasp.--_J. R. Green._
15. Call her, King of France, but she will not hear thee!--_De
Quincey._
16. The beauty of the scene increased, thanks largely to the brilliant
effects of cloud masses and an ardent setting sun.--_Bolles._
17. As for the carnival, which once lasted six months of the
year, charming hither all the idlers of the world by its peculiar
splendor and variety of pleasure, it does not, as I said, any longer
exist.--_Howells._
18. The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the side of the
room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the partition
walls.--_J. Hawthorne._
19. Ho! ye who suffer! know
Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels.--_E. Arnold._
20. And now, being a trifle choleric in his temperament, the
lieutenant governor uplifted the heavy hilt of his sword, wherewith
he so beat and banged upon the door that, as some of the bystanders
whispered, the racket might have disturbed the dead.--_Hawthorne._
21. Maule’s Lane, or Pyncheon Street, as it were now more decorous to
call it, was thronged at the appointed hour as with a congregation on
its way to church.--_Hawthorne._