[93]
Similarly
the conclusion of a sentence is stronger when long
syllables preponderate, but it may also be formed
of short syllables, although the quantity of the final
syllable is regarded as indifferent. I am aware that
a concluding short syllable is usually regarded as
equivalent to a long, because the time-length which
it lacks appears to be supplied from that which
follows. But when I consult my own ears I find
that it makes a great difference whether the final
syllable is really long or only treated as the equivalent of a long. For there is not the same fullness
of rhythm in diccre incipieniem timere1 as there is in
ausus est confiteri.2
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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