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Ant_222 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Please, help to parse this sentence
Hello, everybody
In the following extract I have included the end of the preceding sentence to make the next one clearer:
«...he was surely conscious, inexplicably conscious of some presence. Ay, surely; to every room and corner of the house his imagination followed it; and now it was a faceless thing, and yet had eyes to see with; and again it was a shadow of himself; and yet again behold the image of the dead dealer [Ant: whom he had just killed and whose body was lying on the floor], reinspired with cunning and hatred.»
(Robert Louis Stevenson's "Markheim")
I can't grasp the function of the word "behold" (underlined). Is it the verb of some clause? What's the subject then? And why is it used in the Present Simple tense? Who's the beholder?
Thanks in advance,
Anton
In the following extract I have included the end of the preceding sentence to make the next one clearer:
«...he was surely conscious, inexplicably conscious of some presence. Ay, surely; to every room and corner of the house his imagination followed it; and now it was a faceless thing, and yet had eyes to see with; and again it was a shadow of himself; and yet again behold the image of the dead dealer [Ant: whom he had just killed and whose body was lying on the floor], reinspired with cunning and hatred.»
(Robert Louis Stevenson's "Markheim")
I can't grasp the function of the word "behold" (underlined). Is it the verb of some clause? What's the subject then? And why is it used in the Present Simple tense? Who's the beholder?
Thanks in advance,
Anton
Top answer
It is imperative, and I suppose it is his consciousness telling him to behold (= look at) the image.
- It is imperative, and I suppose it is his consciousness telling him to behold (= look at) the image.
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4 Answers
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It is imperative, and I suppose it is his consciousness telling him to behold (= look at) the image.
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I humbly suggest: (l) "behold" is verb in imperative (command) mood. (2)"you" (understood) is the subject. (3) The imperative mood always uses the base (simple) form. E.g., Come here! Be quiet! (4) the beholder (looker) is "you." Let's see how other contributors parse it.
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Thank you for the feedback,
I, too, tried to interpret it as an imperative form but failed. To me it is not clear at all how this conclusion follows from the sentence's structure.
Below I have¼condensed it to make the overaln structure easier to grasp:
«<...> his iíagination follo÷ed it; and now it was a facelesó thing <...&ot;; and again it was a shadow of him
I, too, tried to interpret it as an imperative form but failed. To me it is not clear at all how this conclusion follows from the sentence's structure.
Below I have¼condensed it to make the overaln structure easier to grasp:
«<...> his iíagination follo÷ed it; and now it was a facelesó thing <...&ot;; and again it was a shadow of him
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"To behold" is an infinitive used as a direct object which can take its own object.
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