Download Sentence 16

Sentence 16
From Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, 1946
“Mr. Patton’s
n.
n.
granite
visage
seemed
to lean
adj.
n.
v.
adj.
toward
prep.
me
like
a
pron. prep. adj.
monument
n.
about
prep.
to fall.”
n.
______________________________________________________________________________________
subj.
LVP
-----------------S.C---------------
______________________________________________________________________________________
--------infinitive phrase---------prep. phrase----
---------prep. phrase-------
----prep. phrase----
______________________________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------independent clause---------------------------------------------------------------------------a simple declarative sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________
Grammar:
Vocabulary:
This sentence suddenly evolves into a labyrinth of phrases without ever losing its clarity. The verb seemed is one
of the classic linking verbs; if—as seems logical—we regard to lean toward me as the subject complement, then we
must interpret to lean as an adjective modifying visage, rather than as an adverb modifying seemed.
The noun visage means face, particularly the shape and proportion of the face; vid means look. W66
Poetics:
Notice the scary eeeee in sEEmed lEAn mE. The sentence gathers rhythmic force with iambics, but notice the
double stress at me like; there is an tottering pause created, then a MON / u MENT / a BOUT / to FALL. Notice
the alliteration of me and monument; sometimes adjacent words are alliterated, sometimes they are remote. Notice
the falling is supported by the final syllable being stressed; an unstressed syllable would not work here.
Writing:
The sequence of phrases, including phrases and within phrases, is elaborate and intricate, but—and this is the
point—it is a design, not a knot.
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