LENGTHENING OF WORDS. Monosyllables, prolonged by emphasis or antithesis
Monosyllables emphasized by position or antithesis. A conjunction like "yet" or "but," implying hesitation, may naturally require a pause immediately after it; and this pause may excuse the absence of an unaccented syllable, additional stress being laid on the monosyllable. But.-- “Of góod | ly thóus | ands. Bú | t, fór | all thís.” Macbeth, iv. 3. 44. “The Góds | rebúke | me bú | t ít | is tídings.” A. and C. v. 1. 27. Yet.-- “Thóugh I | condémn | not, yé | t, ún | der párdon.” Lear, i. 4. 365. “Yét (as yet), | I thínk, | we áre | not bróught | so lów.” T. A. iii. 2. 76. “Brut. When Cæ's | ar's héad | is óff. |Cass. Yét | I féar him.” J. C. ii. 1. 183. Pronouns emphasized by antithesis or otherwise, sometimes dispense with the unaccented syllable. “Shów | men dú | tifúl?
Why, só | didst thó | u. Séem | they gráve | and léarned?
Why, só | didst thóu.” Hen. V. ii. 2. 128. (Possibly, however, "seem" may be prolonged instead of "thou.") “When yóu | shall pléase | to pláy | the thíeves | for wíves.
I'll wátch | as lóng | for yó | u thén. | Appróach.” M. of V. ii. 6. 24. “Were yó | u ín | my stéad, | would yóu | have héard?” Coriol. v. 3. 192. You is emphatic from Desdemona to Othello in “Othello. 'Tís a | good hánd,
A fránk | one.
Desd. Yó | u máy | indéed | say só.” Othello, iii. 4. 44. So in “Hów in | my stréngth | you pléase. | For yó | u, E'dmund.” Lear, ii. 1. 114. and in the retort of Brutus on Cassius, “Lét me | tell yó | u, Cáss | ius, yóu | yoursélf
Are múch | condémn'd | to háve | an ítch | ing pálm.” J. C. iv. 3. 9. Perhaps aware of Ferdinand's comment on his emotion, "your father's in some passion," Prospero turns to Ferdinand and says, "it is you who are moved" in “Yo'u | do lóok, | my són, | ín a | mov'd sórt.” Temp. iv. 1. 146. Otherwise the reading of the line so as to avoid accenting "my" seems difficult. There is no prolongation, though there is antithetical emphasis, in “Lóok up | on hím, | love hím, | he wór | ships yóu.” A. Y. L. v. 2. 88. The repeated "thence" seems to require a pause in “Thénce to | a wátch, | thénce | intó (457a) | a wéakness.” Hamlet, ii. 1. 148. But possibly, like "ord(i)nance," "light(e)ning" (see 477), so "weakness" may be pronounced a trisyllable.
