Are they really the subject, or must we alter the order of such sentences into _The applause was loud_, etc.?
If we do, and then proceed to convert, we get _Loud was the applause_, or (more scrupulously) _Some loud noise was the applause_.

The last form, it is true, gives the subject a substantive word, but 'applause' has become the predicate; and if the substantive 'noise' was not implied in the first form, _Loud is the applause_, by what right is it now inserted?
The recognition of Conversion, in fact, requires us to admit that, formally, in a logical proposition, the term preceding the copula is subject and the one following is predicate.

And, of course, materially considered, the mere order of terms in a proposition can make no difference in the method of proving it, nor in the inferences that can be drawn from it.
Still, if the question is, how we may best cast a literary sentence into logical form, good grounds for a definite answer may perhaps be found.
We must not try to stand upon the naturalness of expression, for _Dark is the fate of man_ is quite as natural as _Man is mortal_.

When the purpose is not merely to state a fact, but also to express our feelings about it, to place the grammatical predicate first may be perfectly natural and most effective.

But the grounds of a logical order of statement must be found in its adaptation to the purposes of proof and inference.