THE TRICOLON.
THE TRICOLON. The beginning of the article linked in yesterday’s post had a familiar ring. The sentence, “Travel is exhausting, it’s expensive, and, as one football player chanted upon approaching Stonehenge, it’s ‘o-ver-ra-ted!’” reminded me of another sentence—which, upon reflection, turned out to be the advice supposedly given by Lord Chesterfield to his son about sex: “The pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, the expense damnable.” Further reflection brought back memories of my high school Latin teacher Lois Larson pointing out that Roman orators liked using groups of three so much that they had a name for the figure of speech: “tricolon.” Wikipedia says, “A tricolon (pl. tricola) is a sentence with three clearly defined parts (cola) of equal length, usually independent clauses and of increasing power.” The example that wikipedia gives is “I came; I saw; I conquered.” The article says that Lincoln was fond of the tricolon, as in “”We cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow…” The tricolon is still effective.
There has got to be a way to take vacations, rather than journeys. Journeys are rich in memories, and photos, and high points. But they are not relaxing. Sometimes, the journey has to be within instead.