[60]
The most important
task, however, is to know what word is best fitted to
any given place. And the most accomplished artist
will be the man who does not arrange his words
solely with a view to rhythmic effect.
On the other hand the management of feet is far
more difficult in prose than in verse, first because
there are but few feet in a single line of verse which
is far shorter than the lengthy periods of prose;
secondly because each line of verse is always uniform
and its movement is determined by a single definite
scheme, whereas the structure of prose must be
varied if it is to avoid giving offence by its monotony
and standing convicted of affectation.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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