Greetings,

I think I'm seeing topicalization/fronting of the verb phrase
in the first line of the following and would just like confirmation:

"Yell'd on the view the opening pack,
Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back;
To many a mingled sound at once
The awaken'd mountain gave response."

-- Sir Walter Scott, _The Lady of the Lake_,
Canto First, Section III, lines 1-4

Is "Yell'd on the view the opening pack" a rearrangement of
"The opening pack yell'd on the view"? If so, it's not something
ordinarily done in modern English (?"Went up the hill Jack and Jill")
except when there's coordination of clauses and an auxiliary verb at the end:

"They said they would go up the hill, and _go up the hill they did_."

Thank you.

P.S. Here's how I'm inclined to scan the passage:

YELL'D on | the VIEW | the O | pning PACK
rock GLEN | and CA | vern PAID | them BACK
to MAN | ya MIN | gled SOUND | at ONCE
tha WA | ken'd MOUN | tain GAVE | re SPONSE

Le 10/11/2023 à 06:26, Metrist2021 a écrit :
> Greetings,
>
> I think I'm seeing topicalization/fronting of the verb phrase
> in the first line of the following and would just like confirmation:
>
> "Yell'd on the view the opening pack,
> Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back;
> To many a mingled sound at once
> The awaken'd mountain gave response."
>
> -- Sir Walter Scott, _The Lady of the Lake_,
> Canto First, Section III, lines 1-4
>
> Is "Yell'd on the view the opening pack" a rearrangement of
> "The opening pack yell'd on the view"?

Say to you I, yes.

> If so, it's not something
> ordinarily done in modern English (?"Went up the hill Jack and Jill")
> except when there's coordination of clauses and an auxiliary verb at the end:
>
> "They said they would go up the hill, and _go up the hill they did_."
>
> Thank you.
>
> P.S. Here's how I'm inclined to scan the passage:
>
> YELL'D on | the VIEW | the O | pning PACK
> rock GLEN | and CA | vern PAID | them BACK
> to MAN | ya MIN | gled SOUND | at ONCE
> tha WA | ken'd MOUN | tain GAVE | re SPONSE

On Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 11:26:21 PM UTC-7, Metrist2021 wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I think I'm seeing topicalization/fronting of the verb phrase
> in the first line of the following and would just like confirmation:
>
> "Yell'd on the view the opening pack,
> Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back;
> To many a mingled sound at once
> The awaken'd mountain gave response."
>
> -- Sir Walter Scott, _The Lady of the Lake_,
> Canto First, Section III, lines 1-4
>
> Is "Yell'd on the view the opening pack" a rearrangement of
> "The opening pack yell'd on the view"? If so, it's not something
> ordinarily done in modern English (?"Went up the hill Jack and Jill")
> except when there's coordination of clauses and an auxiliary verb at the end:

Yes. I don't think it was done much in prose in Scott's time.

> "They said they would go up the hill, and _go up the hill they did_."
>
> Thank you.
>
> P.S. Here's how I'm inclined to scan the passage:
>
> YELL'D on | the VIEW | the O | pning PACK
> rock GLEN | and CA | vern PAID | them BACK
> to MAN | ya MIN | gled SOUND | at ONCE
> tha WA | ken'd MOUN | tain GAVE | re SPONSE

I'd say "rock" is also stressed.

--
Jerry Friedman