CHAPTER XI
THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF MANNER
Function.—A common question in regard to activities is how? This is oftenest answered by means of an adverb or a prepositional phrase; as, sew neatly, study diligently, go with dispatch. But it is to be noticed that these elements tell how in an absolute way with no reference to a fixed standard, and are capable of many degrees of interpretation, for people’s notions of neatness, diligence, and dispatch differ.
Adverbs and prepositional phrases are unsatisfactory in another respect also;—the manner of an action can seldom be characterized by one term, so unless we wish to call attention to only one characteristic, we must employ several terms, or leave the action incompletely described. But if we use a clause we may tell exactly how an action is performed by comparing it with some other action familiar and understood, which it more or less precisely resembles; for example, “Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do.”—Mrs. Browning. Here the clause conveys one clear and definite impression to all who have heard the thrushes sing, an impression that it would take a whole list of adverbs to convey, like sweetly, joyfully, thrillingly, spontaneously; but how like a catalogue these sound, and how little they appeal to the imagination.
Frequently a mental action, an action of the emotions or of the will, or something else not immediately intelligible, is made clear by comparing it with something material, something evident to the senses. In such sentences we find the familiar figure of speech called simile; thus, “Poetry produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern produces an illusion on the eye of the body.”—Macaulay. Here the clause of manner modifies the entire predicate of the principal proposition.
Introductory Word.—The ordinary connective of the modal clause is the subordinating conjunction as, though its place is sometimes taken by as if or as though, both of which expressions it is best to consider one conjunction. In the sentence,
“The maiden paused as if again
She thought to catch that distant strain,”
the clause conveys an idea of purpose in the maiden’s pausing as well as an idea of manner. This clause may be expanded to read as she would pause if again she thought to catch that distant strain, where the clause of manner contains a clause of condition.
A clause introduced by as though cannot be so expanded. “I will invest your money as though it were my own,” cannot be made to read—“I will invest your money as I would invest it though it were my own.” This is proof that the clause has been thought of only as a clause of manner, and as though as only one connective.
Notice that when a modal clause is introduced by as if or as though, the action or state in the clause is represented not as real but only as assumed.
Position of the Modal Clause.—The usual position of a clause of manner is after the predicate it modifies, but sometimes it precedes the principal proposition and is made emphatic by the adverb just, even, or precisely, used as a clause modifier; thus, “Just as we estimate the importance of a river—not by its length nor by its breadth, but by the amount of water it contributes to the ocean—so we estimate the size of a city by the number of people it contains.”
When the clause is long and comes first, the principal proposition is often introduced by so, a correlative of as in the clause; as in the example above.
Exercise 11
Select the adverbial clauses of manner, telling what each clause modifies, and its connective.
1. These poems differ from others as attar of roses differs from ordinary rose-water.—Macaulay.
2. The beggars and the wretcheder poor keep themselves warm, I think, by sultry recollections of summer, as Don Quixote proposed to subsist upon savory remembrances, during one of his periods of fast.—Howells.
3. The stars all seemed brighter than usual, as if the wind blew them up like burning coals.—Burroughs.
4.
And ever with the years
Waxed this compassionateness of our Lord
Even as a great tree grows from two soft leaves,
To spread its shade afar.—E. Arnold.
5. And as the piety of Noah could not save the antediluvian empires, as the faith of Abraham could not convert idolatrous nations, as the wisdom of Moses could not prevent the sensualism of emancipated slaves, so the lofty philosophy of Aurelius could not save the empire which he ruled.—Lord.
6. The foreign merchants, manufacturers, and artisans fled from her gates as if the plague were raging within them.—Motley.
7. The Creole neighbors rushed bareheaded into the middle of the street, as though there were an earthquake or a chimney on fire.—Cable.
8. For, as there is a curiosity about intellectual matters which is futile and merely a disease, so there is certainly a curiosity which is, in an intelligent being, natural and laudable.—M. Arnold.
9. Dislike at first sight is more common than love, as discord is more common than harmony.—A. S. Hardy.
10. The will has great though indirect power over the taste, just as it has over the belief.—Bagehot.