In the following there are two climaxes, each of which has three terms:—
"To gossip(a) is a fault(b); to libel(a'), a crime(b'); to slander(a''), a sin(b'')."
In the following, there are several climaxes, and note how they contribute to the clearness of a long sentence:—
"Man, working, has contrived(a) the Atlantic Cable, but I declare that it astonishes(b) me far more to think that for his mere amusement(c), that to entertain a mere idle hour(c'), he has created(a') 'Othello' and 'Lear,' and I am more than astonished, I am awe-struck(b'), at that inexplicable elasticity of his nature which enables him, instead of turning away(d) from calamity and grief(e), or instead of merely defying(d') them, actually to make them the material of his amusement(d''), and to draw from the wildest agonies of the human spirit(e') a pleasure which is not only not cruel(f), but is in the highest degree pure and ennobling(f')."
The neglect of climax produces an abruptness that interferes with the even flow of thought. Thus, if Pope, in his ironical address to mankind, had written—
"Go, wondrous creature, mount where science guides;
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule"—
the ascent would have been too rapid. The transition from earth to heaven, and from investigating to governing, is prepared by the intervening climax—
"Instruct the planets in what orbs to run;
Correct old Time, and regulate the Sun;
Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,
To the first good, first perfect, and first fair."
*40. When the thought is expected to ascend and yet descends, feebleness and sometimes confusion is the result. The descent is called "bathos."*
"What pen can describe the tears, the lamentations, the agonies, the animated remonstrances of the unfortunate prisoners?"