Ever a student of
historical documents and speeches, I today seek to celebrate a complete
sentence of the Gettysburg Address, and hopefully clarify what I think to be
common grammatical misunderstanding.
The sentence I wish to
address follows…
“It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.”
It appears to me that
Lincoln was suggesting that those present at that event should consider
themselves dedicated to the ideal of a new birth of freedom for the nation.
Earlier in the speech Lincoln referenced the Declaration of Independence with the
sentence “all men are created equal”. That is the ideal and aspiration to which
those gathered there that day, and by extension we. are dedicated.
May we honor, not only
Lincoln, but also those that “gave the last full measure of devotion” by
devoting ourselves to their cause.
Now, on to what many may
feel to be grammatical nit-pickyness…
The sentence contains
eighty-one words, nine commas (if I have not miscounted), and one period.
Having been literarily
reared on Charles Dickens who often used one hundred words and multiple types
of punctuation within one sentence, and here Lincoln with eighty-one words and
nine commas, I become perplexed at a cultural, and academic tendency to make
sentences uninteresting, and less than fully informative by imposing a limitation
on the number of words and a malnutrition of punctuation!
But, to become yet more
exacting about punctuation, please attend to the following clarification…
I have heard many people reference the Gettysburg
Address while speaking about government. Please note that the final few words
read “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.”
Please acknowledge that
there is not a comma directly following the word “government”.
Many people speak the
phrase, incorrectly, as “and that government, of the people, by the people, and
for the people”
Allow me to separate the
phrases as I believe Lincoln intended, at least from the transcription from the
National Archives…
And that government of
the people (no comma, “government of the people” is
the intended phrase).
By the people
For the people
Shall not perish from the
earth
Again, it may seem a bit fussy,
however, those who find value in the correct use of the comma should appreciate
my grammatical discovery.
