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sparingly indulged. There are, however, several forms of it which can appeal to good authority: as,

1. "You know that you are Brutus, that speak this."-Shak. 2. "They fall successive [ly], and successive [ly] rise.”—Pope. 3. "Than whom [who] none higher sat."-Milton.

4. "Sure some disaster has befell" [befallen]-Gay. 5. “So furious was that onset's shock,

Destruction's gates at once unlock."—Hogg.

V. Hyperbaton is the transposition of words; as, "He wanders earth around."--Cowper. “Rings the world with the vain stir."-Id. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."-Acts. This figure is much employed in poetry. A judicious use of it confers harmony, variety, strength, and vivacity upon composition. But care should be taken lest it produce ambiguity or obscurity.

SECTION IV.-FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

A Figure of Rhetoric is an intentional deviation from the ordinary application of words. Some figures of this kind are commonly called Tropes, i. e., turns.

Numerous departures from perfect simplicity of diction, occur in almost every kind of composition. They are mostly founded on some similitude or relation of things, which, by the power of imagination, is rendered conducive to ornament or illustration.

The principal figures of Rhetoric are fourteen; namely Sim'-i-le, Met-a-phor, Al-le-gor-y, Me-ton'-y-my, Syn-ec'-do-che, Hy-per-bo-le, Vis'-ion, A-pos'-tro-phe, Per-son'-i-fi-ca'-tion, Er-ote'-sis, Ec-pho-ne-sis, An-tith'-e-sis, Cli'-max, and I'-ro-ny.

I. A Simile is a simple and express comparison; and is generally introduced by like, as, or so: as,

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"At first, like thunder's distant tone,

The rattling din came rolling on."-Hogg.. Man, like the generous vine, supported lives;

The strength he gains, is from th' embrace he gives."--Pope. II. A Metaphor is a figure that expresses the resemblance of two objects by applying either the name, or some attribute adjunct, or action of the one, directly to the other; as,

1. "His eye was morning's brightest ray."-Hogg. 2. "An angler in the tides of fame.”—Id.

altogether. There are, however, some changes of this kind, which the grammarian is not competent to condemn, though they do not accord with the ordinary principles of construction.

3. "Beside him sleeps the warrior's bow."-Langhorne. 4. "Wild fancies in his moody brain,

Gambol'd unbridled and unbound."-Hogg.

5. "Speechless, and fix'd in all the death of wo.'

Thom.

III. An Allegory is a continued narration of fictitious events, designed to represent and illustrate important realities. 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 preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root; and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.”—Ps., lxxx, 8.

OBS.-The Allegory, agreeably to the foregoing definition of it, includes most of those similitudes which in the Scriptures are called parables; it includes also the better sort of fables. The term allegory is sometimes applied to a true history in which something else is intended, than is contained in the words literally taken. [See Gal., iv, 24.] In the Scriptures, the term fable denotes an idle and groundless story. [See 1 Tim., iv, 1; and 2 Pet., i, 16.] IV. A Metonymy is a change of names. It is founded on some such relation as that of cause and effect, of subject and adjunct, of place and inhabitant, of container and thing contain ed, or of sign and thing signified: as, “God is our salvation ;” i. e., Saviour.--"He was the sigh of her secret soul;" i. e., the youth she loved.-"They smote the city;" i. e., citizens.— "My son, give me thy heart;" i. c., affection.—"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah;" i. e., kingly power.

V. Synedoche is the naming of the whole for a part, or of a part for the whole; as, "This roof [i. e., house] protects you."--"Now the year [i. e., summer] is beautiful."

VI. Hyperbole is extravagant exaggeration, in which the imagination is indulged beyond the sobriety of truth; as, "The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread,

And trembling Tiber div'd beneath his bed."-Dryden. VII. Vision, or Imagery, is a figure by which the speaker represents the objects of his imagination, as actually before his eyes, and present to his senses; as,

"I see the dagger-crest of Mar!

I see the Moray's silver star

Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war,

That up the lake comes winding far !"--Scott.

VIII. Apostrophe is a turning from the regular course of the subject, into an animated address; as, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death! where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory ?"-1 Cor., xv, 54, 55.

IX. Personification is a figure by which, in imagination, we

ascribe intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract qualities; as,

1. "The Worm, aware of his intent,

Harangued him thus, right eloquent."-Cowper.

2. "Lo, steel-clad War his gorgeous standard rears!"-Rog. 3. "Hark! Truth proclaims, thy triumphs cease."—Id.

X. Erotesis is a figure in which the speaker adopts the form of interrogation, not to express a doubt, but, in general, confidently to assert the reverse of what is asked; as, "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"-Job, xl, 9. "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see ?"—Ps., xciv, 9.

XI. Ecphonesis is a pathetic exclamation, denoting some violent emotion of the mind; as, "O liberty!-O sound once delightful to every Roman ear!-O sacred privilege of Roman citizenship!-once sacred-now trampled upon!"— Cicero. "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would fly away and be at rest!"—Ps., lv, 6.

XII. Antithesis is a placing of things in opposition, to heighten their effect by contrast; as,

"Contrasted faults through all his manners reign;
Though poor, luxurious; though submissive, vain,
Though grave, yet trifling; zealous, yet untrue;

And e'en in penance, planning sins anew."-Goldsmith. XIII. Climax is a figure in which the sense is made to advance by successive steps, to rise gradually to what is more and more important and interesting, or to descend to what is more and more minute and particular; as, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity."-2 Peter, i, 5.

XIV. Irony is a figure in which the speaker sneeringly utters the direct reverse of what he intends shall be understood; as, "We have, to be sure, great reason to believe the modest man would not ask him for a debt, when he pursues his life." Cicero.

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CHAPTER IV.—VERSIFICATION.

Versification is the art of arranging words into lines of correspondent length, so as to produce harmony by the regular alternation of syllables differing in quantity.

SECTION 1.-OF QUANTITY.

The Quantity of a syllable, is the relative portion of time occupied in uttering it. In poetry, every syllable is considered to be either long or short. A long syllable is reckoned to be equal to two short ones.

OBS. 1.-The quantity of a syllable does not depend on the sound of the vowel or diphthong, but principally on the degree of accentual force with which the syllable is uttered, whereby a greater or less portion of time is employed. The open vowel sounds are those which are the most easily protracted, yet they often occur in the shortest and feeblest syllables.

OBS. 2.-Most monosyllables are variable, and may be made either long or short, as suits the rhythm. In words of greater length, the accented syllable is always long; and a syllable immediately before or after that which is accented, is always short.

SECTION II.—OF RHYME.

Rhyme is a similarity of sound, between the last syllables of different lines or half lines. Blank verse is

verse without rhyme.

OBS.-The principal rhyming syllables are almost always long. Double rhyme adds one short syllable; triple rhyme, two. Such syllables are redundant in iambic and anapestic verses.

SECTION III.-OF POETIC FEET.

A line of poetry consists of successive combinations of syllables, called feet. A poetic foot, in English, consists either of two or of three syllables.

The principal English feet are the Iambus, the Trochee, the Anapest, and the Dactyl.

1. The Iambus, or lamb, is a poetic foot consisting of a short syllable and a long one; as, betray, confess.

2. The Trochee, or Choree, is a poetic foot consisting of a long syllable and a short one; as, hateful, pēttish.

3. The Anapest is a poetic foot consisting of two short syllables and one long one; as, contravene, acquiesce.

4. The Dactyl is a poetic foot consisting of one long syllable and two short ones; as, labourĕr, põssiblē.

We have, accordingly, four principal kinds of verse, or poetic measure; Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, and Dactylic.

OBS. 1.-The more pure these several kinds are preserved, the more exact and complete is the chime of the verse. But poets generally indulge some variety; not so much, however, as to confound the drift of the rhythmical pulsations.

OBS. 2.-Among the occasional diversifications of metre, are sometimes found or supposed sundry other feet, which are called secondary: as, the Spondee, a foot of two long syllables; the Pyrrhic, of two short: the Moloss, of three long syllables; the Tribrach, of three short: the Amphibrach, a long syllable with a short one on each side; the Amphimac, Amphimacer, or Cretic, a short syllable with a long one on each side: the Bacchy, a short syllable

and two long ones; the Antibacchy, or Hypobacchy, two long syllables and a short one. Yet few, if any, of these feet, are really necessary to a sufficient explanation of English verse; and the adopting of so many is liable to the great objection, that we thereby produce different modes of measuring the same lines.

OBS. 3.-Sometimes also verses are variegated by what is called the pedal casura, or cesure; (i. e., cutting ;) which is a single long syllable counted by itself as a foot. For, despite the absurd suggestions of many grammarians and prosodists to the contrary, all metrical deficiencies and redundancies embrace nothing but short syllables, and the number of long ones in a line is almost always the number of feet which compose it: as,

"Keeping time, | time, | time,

In a sort of | Runic | rhyme."-E. A. Poe.

SECTION IV.-OF SCANNING.

Scanning, or Scansion, is the dividing of verses into the feet which compose them, according to the several orders of poetic numbers, or the different kinds of metre.

OBS.-When a syllable is wanting, the verse is said to be catalectic; when the measure is exact, the line is acatalectic; when there is a redundant syllable, it forms hypermeter, or a line hypercatalectic.

ORDER I.-IAMBIC VERSE.

In Iambic verse, the stress is laid on the even syllables, and the odd ones are short. It consists of the following measures:—

Measure 1st.-Iambic of Eight Feet, or Octometer. "O all | yě peo-plě, clap your hands, | ănd with | trìūm|phant võic-es sing;

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No force the might -y pow'r | withstands | of God | the u-nivers-al King."

OBS.-Each couplet of this verse is now commonly reduced to, or exchanged for, a simple stanza of four tetrameter lines; thus,

"The hour is come the cher-ish'd hour,
When from the bus-y world | set free,

I seek at length | my lonel-ly bower,

And muse in sil-lent thought | on thee."-Hook.

Measure 2d.-Iambic of Seven Feet, or Heptameter. "The Lord | descend -ěd from | ǎbōve, | ănd bōw'd | the heavens high."

OBS.-Modern poets have divided this kind of verse, into alternate lines of four and of three feet; thus,—

"O blind to each | îndul-gent aim
Of pow'r suprême-ly wise,
Who fan-cy hap-piness in aught
The hand of heav'n | denies "

Measure 3d.-Iambic of Six Feet, or Hexameter.

"Thỷ realm | fōrēv|-ĕr lāsts, | thỷ ōwn | Měssi|-ǎh rēigns.” OBS. This is the Alexandrine; it is seldom used except to complete a stanza in an ode, or occasionally to close a period in heroic rhyme. French heroics are similar to this.

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