The Grammar of English Grammars Part 186

"_Plants rais'd with tenderness are seldom strong_; Man's coltish disposition asks the thong; And, without discipline, the fav'rite child, _Like a neglected forester_, runs wild."--_Cowper_.

"As turns a flock of geese, and, on the green, Poke out their foolish necks in awkward spleen, (Ridiculous in rage!) to _hiss_, not _bite, So war their quills_, when sons of _dullness_ write."--_Young_.

"Who can unpitying see the flowery race, Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign, Before th' unbating beam? _So fade the fair_, When fevers revel through their azure veins."--_Thomson_.

FIGURE II.--METAPHOR.

"Cathmon, thy name is a pleasant _gale_."--_Ossian_. "Rolled into himself he flew, wide on the _bosom of winds_. The old _oak felt_ his departure, and _shook_ its whistling _head_."--_Id._ "Carazan gradually lost the inclination to do good, as he acquired the power; as the _hand of time_ scattered _snow_ upon his head, the _freeziny influence_ [sic--KTH]

extended to his bosom."--_Hawkesworth_. "The sun _grew weary_ of gilding the palaces of Morad; _the clouds of sorrow_ gathered round his head; and _the tempest of hatred_ roared about his dwelling."--_Dr. Johnson_.

LESSON VII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE III.--ALLEGORY.

"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not;' but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir;' and went not.

Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, 'The first.'"--_Matt._, xxi, 28-31.

FIGURE IV.--METONYMY.

"Swifter than a whirlwind, flies the leaden _death_."--_Hervey_. "'Be all the dead forgot,' said Foldath's bursting _wrath_. 'Did not I fail in the field?'"--_Ossian_.

"Their _furrow_ oft the stubborn glebe has broke."--_Gray_.

"Firm in his love, resistless in his hate, His arm is _conquest_, and his frown is _fate_."--_Day_.

"At length the _world_, renew'd by calm repose, Was strong for toil; the dappled morn arose."--_Parnell_.

"What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme, The mole's dim curtain and the lynx's _beam_!

Of hearing, from the _life_ that fills the flood, To _that_ which warbles through the vernal wood!"--_Pope_.

FIGURE V.--SYNECDOCHE.

"'Twas then his _threshold_ first receiv'd a guest."--_Parnell_.

"For yet by swains alone the world he knew, Whose _feet_ came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew."--_Id._

"Flush'd by the spirit of the genial _year_, Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round."--_Thomson_.

LESSON VIII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE VI.--HYPERBOLE.

"I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his shield the rising moon; he sat on the sh.o.r.e, like a cloud of mist on the hill."--_Ossian_.

"At which the universal host up sent A shout, that tore h.e.l.l's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."--_Milton_.

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather The mult.i.tudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red!"--_Shakspeare_.

FIGURE VII.--VISION.

"How mighty is their defence who reverently trust in the arm of G.o.d! How powerfully do they contend who fight with lawful weapons! Hark! 'Tis the voice of eloquence, pouring forth the living energies of the soul; pleading, with generous indignation and holy emotion, the cause of injured humanity against lawless might, and reading the awful destiny that awaits the oppressor!--I see the stern countenance of despotism overawed! I see the eye fallen, that kindled the elements of war! I see the brow relaxed, that scowled defiance at hostile thousands! I see the knees tremble, that trod with firmness the embattled field! Fear has entered that heart which ambition had betrayed into violence! The tyrant feels himself a man, and subject to the weakness of humanity!--Behold! and tell me, is that power contemptible which can thus find access to the sternest hearts?"--_Author_.

FIGURE VIII.--APOSTROPHE.

"Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on, Inhumanly ingenious to find out New pains for life, new terrors for the grave; Artificers of death! Still monarchs dream Of universal empire growing up From universal ruin. _Blast the design_, _Great G.o.d of Hosts! nor let thy creatures fall_ _Unpitied victims at Ambition's shrine_."--_Porteus_.

LESSON IX.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE IX.--PERSONIFICATION.

"Hail, sacred _Polity_, by _Freedom_ rear'd!

Hail, sacred _Freedom_, when by _Law_ restrain'd!

Without you, what were man? A grov'ling herd, In darkness, wretchedness, and want, enchain'd."--_Beattie_.

"Let cheerful _Mem'ry_, from her purest cells, Lead forth a G.o.dly train of _Virtues_ fair, Cherish'd in early youth, now paying back With tenfold usury the pious care."--_Porteus_.

FIGURE X.--EROTESIS.

"He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?"--_Psalms_, xciv, 10. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."--_Jeremiah_, xiii, 23.

FIGURE XI.--ECPHONESIS. "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!"--_Jeremiah_, ix, 1.

FIGURE XII.--ANt.i.tHESIS.

"On this side, modesty is engaged; on that, impudence: on this, chast.i.ty; on that, lewdness: on this, integrity; on that, fraud: on this, piety; on that, profaneness: on this, constancy; on that, fickleness: on this, honour; on that, baseness: on this, moderation; on that, unbridled pa.s.sion."--_Cicero_.

"She, from the rending earth, and bursting skies, Saw G.o.ds descend, and fiends infernal rise; Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest abodes; Fear made her devils, and weak hope her G.o.ds."--_Pope_.

LESSON X.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE XIII.--CLIMAX.

"Virtuous actions are necessarily approved by the awakened conscience; and when they are approved, they are commended to practice; and when they are practised, they become easy; and when they become easy, they afford pleasure; and when they afford pleasure, they are done frequently; and when they are done frequently, they are confirmed by habit: and confirmed habit is a kind of second nature."--_Inst._, p. 246.

"Weep all of every name: begin the wo, Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds; And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills; And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales; And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks; And sorrwing brooks, weep to the weeping stream; And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep; And let the instrument take up the song, Responsive to the voice--harmonious wo!"--_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 115.

FIGURE XIV.--IRONY.

"And it came to pa.s.s at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, 'Cry aloud; for he is a G.o.d: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in [_on_] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!'

"--_1 Kings_, xviii, 27.

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my breach of promise."--_Numbers_, xiv, 34.

"Some lead a life unblamable and just, Their own dear virtue their unshaken trust; They never sin--or if (as all offend) Some trivial slips their daily walk attend, The poor are near at hand, the charge is small, A slight gratuity atones for all."--_Cowper_.