"As the ice melts and divides into drops, so life divides itself into separate forms" (Longfellow)

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Phaedrus

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Greetings,

Below is a Reed-Kellogg diagram that I have attempted to draw for the following ornate sentence (simplified in the title of this thread) from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's novel Hyperion, in celebration of the sentence's beauty:

"As the ice upon the mountain, when the warm breath of the summer sun breathes upon it, melts, and divides into drops, each of which reflects an image of the sun; so life, in the smile of God's love, divides itself into separate forms, each bearing in it and reflecting an image of God's love." - Longfellow

I haven't seen TheParser here in a while, and I'm not sure if any current members here besides him and me are interested in Reed-Kellogg diagramming. Nevertheless, I thought I'd start this thread, in case other members, unbeknownst to me, are interested in these diagrams, and in case anyone can examine my diagram for accuracy.

I have made two "daring" moves in my diagram. One is to represent the absolute construction as attached to "forms" (to which "each" refers) as a prepositional phrase with an elided preposition, namely, "with." The other is to represent the "As . . . so . . ." structure as involving cosubordination and clause-level modification.

I have found no precedents of diagramming "as . . . so . . ." constructions, especially of this kind, which is not exactly parallel to the "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" variety. Apart from how I have chosen to diagram the structure, I am interested in the question whether "as" and "so" attach to their respective clauses as wholes.

Thank you.

Longfellow.JPG
 
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jutfrank

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I'm not skilled in diagramming, Phaedrus, but I would like to join you in celebration of such a delightful sentence. :)
 
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