kettle boils," meaning the water; "A flourishing city," meaning the inhabitants. 4. The sign for the thing signified; as, "He assumes the sceptre ;" that is, "He assumes the sovereignty." 148. a. A SYNÉCDŎCHĚ or comprehension is when the whole is put for a part, or a part for the whole, a definite for an indefinite number, &c.; as, "Man returns to the dust," meaning only his body; “He earns his bread," meaning all the necessaries of life. b. In applying a synecdoche, care must be taken, that if a part is once used to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part, the same mode must be preserved throughout, in order to avoid a confusion of terms and ideas. 149. PERSONIFICATION or Prosopopeia is that figure by which we ascribe intelligence and personality to irrational animals and inanimate things; as, "My children, the aged Goat replies;" "The thirsty ground;" ""The angry ocean;" "The mountains saw Thee, O Lord, and they trembled." 150. a. The lowest kind of Personification is when we attribute some of the properties or qualities of living creatures to inanimate objects; as, "The angry ocean,"-"a furious dart,"—"a smiling morn," -"the sullen sky." Expressions of this kind are very common in descriptive Poetry. b. A second and higher kind is when inanimate objects or abstract ideas are introduced as acting, in a more sustained manner, like living creatures. This species of Personification is very frequently exhibited in poetical descriptions, and in the highest species of Oratory. The following is an instance from Thomson: "But yonder comes the powerful king of day, c. The third and highest kind is when inanimate objects and irrational beings are introduced not only as feeling and acting, but also as listening and speaking. This kind is appropriate only for representing some st emotion, either of love, anger, indignation, or of grief, remorse, or melancholy. The following address of Satan, when left in torment by the Messiah, is a tolerable specimen : " Earth, Earth, Earth! cannot my groans pervade Thy stony heart to embowel me alive Under this rock, before to-morrow's sun Wont to behold in me their kingly chief?" d. In prose compositions, this figure requires to be used with great moderation and delicacy, for the same assistance cannot be obtained as in poetry for raising passion to its proper height by the force of numbers and the glow of style. 151. An APOSTROPHE is a turning off from the subject of discourse to address some other person, dead or absent, or some object, as if that person or object were actually before the speaker; thus, David, in his lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, says, "How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me; thy love to me was wonderful." EXERCISES. 152. Neatly transcribe the following Examples, underlining the words exemplifying the Figure, and subjoining to each Example a few Remarks tending to show the propriety of each Figure: 1. Metonymy. -a. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah."-b. "They smote the city."-c. "He reads the poets." -d. "He is studying Paley."-e. "He aspired to the crown." -f. "The cups runs over."-g. "The thorns of state." Remarks. 2. Synecdoche.-a. "A fleet of twenty sail."-b. “Since he left his father's roof."-c. "Those paupers have cost the township so much a head.”—d. "The manufacturer employs fifty hands."-e. "Lazarus is said to be in Abraham's bosom." Remarks. 3. Personification. -a. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Remarks. b. I Wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom, I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. Remarks. c. Oh, Winter! ruler of the inverted year, Thy scattered air with sleet-like ashes fill'd, Remarks. d. Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, 4. Apostrophe. Oh, that those lips had language! Life has pass'd The meek intelligence of those dear eyes, To quench it,) here shines on me still the same. LESSON 76. Allegory, Antithesis, Allusion. 153. An ALLEGORY is a series of metaphors continued through an entire narration, and represents one subject by another which is analogous to it. The subject thus represented is not formally mentioned, but will be easily discovered by reflection. Thus, the Psalmist represents the Jewish nation under the symbol of a vine; "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou prepared'st room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with It the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its branches unto the river. Why hast thou broken down its hedges, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck it? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it." 154. In an allegory, as well as in a metaphor, such terms only must be employed as are literally applicable to the representative subject; nor must any circumstance be added that is not strictly appropriate to this subject, however justly it may apply to the principal, either in a figurative or in a proper sense. Thus, if in the example just given, instead of describing the vine as wasted by the boar out of the wood and devoured by wild beasts, the Psalmist had said, that it was afflicted by heathens, or overcome by enemies, this would have destroyed the allegory, and produced the same confusion that has been remarked in those meta phors in which the figurative and the literal sense are confounded together. 155. Allegories are the same as fables or parables, which, in ancient times, formed a favourite method of imparting instruction, and what is called the moral, is the simple meaning of the allegory. 156. An ANTITHESIS is the contrast or opposition between two different objects or qualities, that their difference may be rendered more apparent. This figure is mostly employed in the delineation of characters, particularly in biography, history, and satire. The following is an instance : "He can bribe, but he cannot seduce; he can buy, but he cannot gain; he can lie, but he cannot deceive." 157. When objects are compared or contrasted, the resemblance or the opposition must be denoted, not only by the words, but by the structure of the sentence. a. Thus," A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy his crimes." Here, the actors and objects are contrasted; the verb exaggerates being common to both is expressed in the first clause and understood in the second. b. "Between fame and true honour a distinction is to be made. The former is a blind and noisy applause; the latter a more silent and internal homage." A continued succession of antitheses must be avoided, otherwise our expressions will appear too studied and laboured, conveying an impression that greater attention has been paid to the manner of saying a thing than to the thing itself. 158. An ALLUSION is a figure by which some word or phrase in a sentence recalls to our mind, either some well-known fact in history, or fable in mythology, or the sentiments of some distinguished writer. In all allusions, the subject alluded to should be readily perceived, otherwise a deeper shade will be cast on those objects which were intended, by this means, to be illuminated. |