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Elle n'ose déclamer ce poème lyrique devant le public.

Elle n'ose déclamer ce poème lyrique devant le public.
She does not dare declaim this lyrical poem in front of the audience.
From Lesson 415:Literary omission of 'pas' (ne)·French

Questions & Answers about Elle n'ose déclamer ce poème lyrique devant le public.

Why is there no 'pas' after n'ose in this sentence?
This is an example of the literary omission of pas. In formal or written French, a few specific verbs can be negated using just ne. The most common verbs that do this are oser (to dare), pouvoir (to be able to), savoir (to know), and cesser (to cease). In everyday spoken French, you would normally hear Elle n'ose pas.
Do I need a preposition like 'de' or 'à' between ose and déclamer?
No, the verb oser is followed directly by an infinitive without any prepositions. You just put the two verbs together: oser déclamer (to dare to declaim).
Why use devant instead of avant here?
Devant is used for physical space and location, meaning 'in front of' or 'in the physical presence of' the audience. Avant is used strictly for time, meaning 'before' (for example, avant le spectacle means 'before the show').
Since poème ends in 'e', shouldn't it be feminine? Why use 'ce' instead of 'cette'?
Poème is one of those tricky exceptions to the general rule about nouns ending in '-e'; it is actually a masculine noun. Because it is masculine and starts with a consonant, we use the demonstrative adjective ce (this). If it were feminine, you would use cette.

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