Sometimes several words in succession are emphasized, forming what is called an emphatic phrase.
EXAMPLES.
Shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations but of the Alps themselves—shall I compare myself with this HALF—YEAR—CAPTAIN?
Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the LAST TEN
YEARS.
And if thou said'st I am not peer
To any lord in Scotland here,
Lowland or Highland, far or near,
Lord Angus-THOU-HAST-LIED!
EMPHATIC PAUSE.
The emphatic expression of a sentence often requires a pause where the grammatical construction authorizes none. This is sometimes called the rhetorical pause. Such pauses occur chiefly before or after an emphatic word or phrase, and sometimes both before and after it.
EXAMPLES.
Rise—fellow-men! our country—yet remains!
By that dread name we wave the sword on high,
And swear for her—to live—with her—to die.
But most—by numbers judge the poet's song:
And smooth or rough, with them is—right or wrong.