But the hard work involved in securing this
proportion and harmony of structure can never be avoided or evaded without
disastrous consequences. Toil, toil, toil! That should be every writer's
motto if be aspires to success, even in the simplest forms of writing.
The ambitious writer will not learn harmony of style from any single
short selection, however perfect such a composition may be in itself.
It requires persistent reading, as well as very thoughtful reading,
of the masters of perfect style. Two such masters are especially to be
recommended,---Irving and Hawthorne. And among their works, the best
for such study are "The Sketchbook," especially Rip Van Winkle and
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Irving, and "The Scarlet Letter" and such
short stories as "The Great Stone Face," by Hawthorne. To these may be
added Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," Scott's "Ivanhoe," and Lamb's "Essays
of Elia." These books should be read and re-read many times; and
whenever any composition is to be tested, it may conveniently be
compared as to style to some part of one or other of these books.
In conclusion we would say that the study of too many masterpieces is
an error.
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