Tuesday, May 3, 2016

adjectives - "matters spiritual" vs "spiritual matters"


From A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.




France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it.



I am wondering how the following is used- or which one of these would be tantamount to correct phrase?


matters spiritual


spiritual matters



Answer



In that particular sentence, the entire structure is designed to sound somewhat 'knowing' & also slightly archaic, hence the archaic form of "matters spiritual", rather than the more modern "spiritual matters".


Take "her sister of the shield & trident"
It would be far easier to say Britain, but it wouldn't convey the same imagery.



If I didn't actually like the overall effect of it, I'd be tempted to say it was a bit too smug for its own good, overall ;-)
but I do, so I won't


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