Sublimity is also diminished by excessive concision of phrase: it maims greatness when it is brought into too narrow a compass. Let it be understood now, not of what is rightly compressed, but of what is plainly small and chopped fine. Concision of the wrong sort cripples the thought, but right brevity goes straight to the point. As the converse, drawn-out passages are lifeless: they are recalled to life only by untimely length. §1