A sentence from Gettysburg Address puzzled Bella

[AUTOMOON]

A sentence from Gettysburg Address puzzled Bella

I was studying a speech made on the occasion of the dedication of the national cemetry on the battle field of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Edward Evrette but not A.Lincoln.



"...the fields beyond the ridge,where the noble Reynolds held the advancing foe at bay,and, while he gave up his own life, assured by his forethought and self -sacrifice the triumph of the two succeeding days....



When anaylsing the sentence stucture in bold type, do you feel the same difficulty as I did, if not, how do you solve the problem?

THANKS from Bella

[Tdol]

Is the problem the word order? The basic meaning is this:

He held the foe at bay and assured the triumph by his forethought and sacrifice.

The word order, with the clause 'while he gave...' and the placing of 'by his forethought' ahead of the 'of the two succeeding days' may make it harder to understand. It is rhetoric, so try reading it aloud and see if that makes it easier to understand.

[AUTOMOON]

That really helps!!!

Thank you, tdol!!!

[Tdol]

You're welcome.