8. A common form of the concessive clause is one in which an adjective, a verb, an adverb, or a noun comes first, followed sometimes by though, oftener by as. This order of words arises from our desire to make prominent or emphatic some particular attribute; as, “Strange as it may appear, even the baron’s jokes seemed only to render him the more melancholy.”—Irving. Here the attribute strange is emphasized. That such a clause is only an ordinary clause of concession transposed for a special purpose, with as substituted for though, becomes evident by comparing it with the clause in the following,—
“Thy brow,
Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarred
With tokens of old wars.”—Bryant.
Transposing this clause to the natural order, we have, “though it be glorious in beauty.”
In sentences containing a concessive clause the principal proposition is sometimes introduced by yet, a correlative of the connective in the clause. Yet is often used when the clause comes first and is long. It is useful in calling attention to the fact that the concession has all been stated, gathering it up, as it were, into one word before the principal statement is made.
Exercise 17
Dispose of all concessive clauses in the following sentences.
1. The Icelanders say that “Iceland is the best land the sun shines on,” though the sun scarcely shines enough to melt the ice in summer.—Munger.
2. No man, whatever his sensibility may be, is ever affected by Hamlet or Lear, as a little girl is affected by the story of poor Red-Ridinghood.—Macaulay.