[13]
But if there is such secret power in rhythm and
melody alone, this power is found at its strongest in
eloquence, and, however important the selection
of words for the expression of our thoughts, the
structural art which welds them together in the
body of a period or rounds them off at the close,
has at least an equal claim to importance. For
there are some things which, despite triviality of
thought and mediocrity of language, may achieve
distinction in virtue of this excellence alone.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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