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19. Dactylic and Trochaic, 11s and 10s—four and three feet

Hail to the

EXAMPLE.

brightness of Zion's glad | morning!

Joy to the lands that in | darkness have | lain;
Hushed be the accents of sorrow and mourning,
Zion in triumph begins her mild reign.

20 Trochaic and Iambic, 4s, 5s, and 8s—four and two feet.

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FIGURES of speech are intentional departures from simplicity of expression, and may be described to be that language which is prompted, either by the imagination or the passions. They are divided into two general classes, called figures of words, and figures of thought.

Figurative language, when appropriately introduced, is one of the distinguishing beauties of style. It serves to enrich, and render the language itself more copious, by multiplying words and phrases for expressing all sorts of ideas; for describing the

QUESTIONS What are figures of speech? What is said of figurative language?

minutest differences, and the nicest shades and colors of thought, which no words in their literal sense could do.

Figures also elevate and give dignity to style, and at the same time afford the pleasure of enjoying two objects at one view without confusion;-the principal idea, which is the subject of the discourse, and its accessory, which is the figurative dress. In addition to this, figures oftentimes give a clearer and more striking view of the principal object, than could be gained merely by the use of simple terms unaccompanied by the accessory idea. Their beauty and effect are exemplified by the following sentences. The first conveys an idea of what was intended should be understood, in the simplest form of expression; and the second conveys the same idea, by a figurative use of words:

1. A good man enjoys comfort in the midst of adversity. 2. To the upright, there arises light in darkness.

In the second sentence, light suggests the idea of comfort, and darkness, the idea of adversity. Hence, it is a figurative mode of expressing what is affirmed by the simple language of the first

sentence.

The following are the most important of the figures of speech which demand our attention, in addition to the Exclamation, Interrogation, Antithesis, and Irony, already illustrated on preceding pages:

1. Metonymy.
2. Synecdoche.

3. Simile.

4. Metaphor.

5. Allegory.

6. Hyperbole.

7. Vision.

8. Personification.

9. Apostrophe.

10. Climax.

1. Metonymy.

A Metonymy is a figure in which one word is put for another, or a change of names which have some relation to each other.

QUESTIONS. How are its beauty and effect exemplified? What are the most im portant figures of speech in addition to those already illustrated? What is a metonymy? Give an illustration.

EXAMPLES.

That man keeps a good table. The boys have read Virgil. They have Moses and the Prophets. They smote the city.

Table is used here to denote provisions; Virgil, for his poems, Moses and the Prophets, for their writings; and city, for citizens.

2. Synecdoche.

A Synecdoche consists in putting the whole of a thing for a part, or a part for the whole; the genus for the species, or the species for the genus.

EXAMPLE.

Man is mortal. The horse is a noble animal. I bought twenty head of cattle. The year is now beautiful.

The synecdoche is very nearly allied to metonymy. In the preceding examples, man is used to represent the race, or all mankind; horse, the whole of that species, or genus; head, the whole of each animal; and year, the season of summer.

3. Simile, or Comparison.

A Simile, or Comparison, points out or expresses the resemblance between two or more objects.

EXAMPLES.

1. Our troops rushed on like a torrent, and overwhelmed the foe like a flood.

2. The actions of princes are like those great rivers, the course of which every one beholds, but their springs have been seen by few.

3. Our Indians are like those wild plants which thrive best in the shade, but which wither when exposed to the influence of the

sun.

QUESTIONS. What is a synecdoche? Give an illustration. To what is the synec dache nearly allied? What is a simile, or comparison? Give an illustration.

4. She came in all her beauty, like the moon from the cloud in the east. Loveliness was around her as light. Her steps were like the music of songs.

5. Pleasant are the words of the song, and lovely are the tales of other times. They are like the dew of the morning on the hill of roses, when the sun is faint on its side, and the lake is settled and blue in the vale.

NOTE. Comparisons are sometimes happily made between objects where no resemblance exists, in consequence of the similarity of the effects produced on the mind.

EXAMPLE.

The music of Carryl was like the memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul.

All comparisons are reducible to two characters: explaining and embellishing. The former is mainly used for elucidation; the latter, for ornament. Comparison is a figure in common, daily use among all classes of men.

4. Metaphor.

A Metaphor is an abridged form of simile, or comparison, and is founded on the resemblance which one object bears to another.

EXAMPLES.

1. His eye was morning's brightest ray.

2. I will be unto her a wall of fire round about.

3. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.

There is a close connection between a simile and a metapho The latter is a comparison implied; the former is one expressed. If we say, "Achilles is a lion," we mean that he resembles a lion

What is a metaphor

QUESTIONS. What is the note? Give an illustration. Give an illustration. What is the difference between a simile and metaphor? Give an illustration of their difference.

A-chilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis. He was a distinguished Grecian warrior at the siege of ancient Troy.

in courage or strength. If we say, “That man is a pillar of state," we mean, he supports the state, as a pillar does a building.

The above are metaphors. But if we say, "Our troops rushed on like a torrent, and overwhelmed the foe like a flood," we call it a simile, or comparison.

The similitude is sometimes reduced to a single word, or a word expressing the similitude without the signs of comparison; thus, to say, "That man is a fox," is a metaphor; but to say, "That man is like a fox," is a comparison. To say, "The soldiers were lions in combat," is a metaphor; but if we say, "The soldiers fought like lions," it becomes a comparison.

The resemblance and the difference between a metaphor and a simile, must, from the above examples, be obvious to every reader.

Metaphors abound in all languages; and no figure approaches so near painting as this. Its peculiar effect is to give light and strength to description, and, as it were, to make intellectual ideas visible to the eye, by giving them color, and substance, and sensible qualities.

5. Allegory.

An Allegory is a continued metaphor, or a connected narration of fictitious events designed to illustrate important realities.

Allegories were formerly a favorite method of delivering instruction. All those writings usually called fables, or parables, are a species of allegory, where the dispositions of men are figured by words and actions attributed to beasts, or inanimate objects; while the moral is the unfigured sense or meaning of the allegory.

EXAMPLES.

1. Night kissed the young rose, and it bent softly to sleep. The stars, shrined in pure dew-drops which hung upon its blushing bosom, watched its sweet slumbers. Morning came with her

QUESTIONS. What is the peculiar effect of a metaphor? What is an allegory' What are fables and parables?

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