Figures of

rhetoric.

Metonymy (a change of name, Greek) con

Metonymy. sists in the use of one name for another kindred

Princedom for prince.

Abstract for concrete.

to it, as that of cause for effect, abstract for
concrete, author for works, etc.; as, The kettle
boils, i.e., the water in the kettle.

"I will disease me, and myself present
As I was sometime Milan" [i.e. Duke of].

Tempest.

"Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue
Should become kings of Naples ?"-Tempest.

"I met her deity [Venus]
Cutting the clouds towards Paphos."-Tempest.

"Hear, all ye angels, progeny of light,

Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.”
MILTON.

Oxymoron.

He gazed upon that mighty orb of song,
The divine Milton."-WORDSWORTH.

Oxymoron (pointedly foolishly, Greek) is an intentional conjunction of words that seem to contradict one another; in short, a paradox.

"O these deliberate fools! when they do choose
They have the wisdom by their wit to lose."

Merchant of Venice.

[Eve.] "With lowliness majestic from her seat,
And grace that won who saw to wish her stay,
Rose and went forth among her fruits and flowers."

"I followed her; she what was honour knew,
And with obsequious majesty approved
My pleaded reason."-MILTON.

"His honour rooted in dishonour stood,

MILTON.

And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true."

TENNYSON'S Elaine.

rhetoric.

Personification consists in attributing life and Figures of action to inanimate things or abstract quali- Personificaties. It is a sort of literary galvanism.

"Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye."
SHAKESPEARE's Sonnets.

"Whilst Apoplexy crammed Intemperance knocks Down to the ground at once, as butcher felleth ox."

"Our castle's strength

Will laugh a siege to scorn."-Macbeth.

"For, to this lake, by night and day,
The great sea water finds its way
Through long, long windings of the hills,
And drinks up all the pretty rills,
And rivers large and strong;

Thence hurries back the road it came-
Returns on errand still the same.

This did it when the earth was new,

And this for evermore will do,

THOMSON.

As long as earth shall last."-WORDSWORTH.

tion.

Plagiarism (plagiarius=a kidnapper of free Plagiarism. men, who sold them for slaves, Lat.) is a literary theft; that is, a theft of another man's thoughts, and an attempt to pass them off as one's own.

Similè (similis = like, Lat.) is a comparison Simile. between two objects expressed in a formal manner, and introduced by the words like or

as.

"But true expression, like th' unchanging sun, Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon.'

"And as a faggot sparkles on the hearth, Not less if unattended and alone,

РОРЕ.

Than when both old and young sit gathered round,

Figures of rhetoric. Simile.

Vision.

And take delight in its activity,
Even so this happy creature of herself
Is all sufficient: solitude to her
Is blithe society, who fills the air
With gladness and involuntary songs.
Light are her sallies as the tripping fawn's,
Forth-startled from the fern where she lay couched;
Unthought of, unexpected as the stir

Of the soft breeze ruffling the meadow flowers;
Or from before it chasing wantonly

The many-coloured images impressed

Upon the bosom of a placid lake."

WORDSWORTH (Characteristics of a Child three years old).

Vision ("of the mind's eye") is a figure of speech whereby a writer represents the objects of his imagination as actually before his eyes, and present to his senses.

"Lochiel! Lochiel! beware of the day,

When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array!
For the field of the dead rushes red on my sight,
And thy clans on Culloden are scattered in fight."
CAMPBELL.

"Fire answers fire; and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other's umbered face.
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs,
Piercing the night's dull ear."—Henry V.

PART VII.

PROSODY.

Prosody treats of the accentuation and ar- Prosody. rangement of words in verse, and their division

into metrical feet; and, secondly, of the laws of Punctuation.

Metre (a measure, Greek) consists in the re- Metre. gular recurrence of syllables similarly accented in a verse.

Rhyme (swing of a body in motion, Greek) Rhyme. consists in the recurrence of syllables similarly sounded at the end of a verse.

Rhythm (measured motion, Greek) is a loose Rhythm. kind of metre, found chiefly in the early versifiers.

Note. For the rules of accentuation of English words, and the measure of syllables, see Part I, under Orthoepy.

As a general rule, both subject and predicate have each an accent in verse, even though they should both be monosyllables.

The measure of a metrical foot depends on the number of syllables which it comprehends, and the position of the accent.

Accented syllables are considered long, and unaccented syllables short in scanning.

The following are the feet of which English verses are mainly composed :

Prosody.

Iambus.

Trochee.

Spondee.

Dactyl.

A napæst.

An Iambus (-) consists of one unaccented and one accented syllable; as begone, caress, polite.

A Trochee (~~) consists of one accented and one unaccented syllable; as, table, mountain, thunder. From trochaios-running, Greek, because it was used in quick, lively verses.

A Spondee (--) consists of two accented syllables; as, straightway, well-head, downright. From spondai-a solemn treaty, Greek, because it was used in solemn melodies.

A Dactyl (~~) consists of one accented, and two unaccented syllables; as merrily, solitude, terrify. From dactylus a finger, Greek, because the fingers have each one long joint and two short ones.

་་

An Anapast (~~−) consists of two unaccented and one accented syllable; as, grenadier, magazine, acquiesce. From anapastus = reversed, Greek, because an anapæst is a dactyl reversed.

It is by no means necessary, in fact it is contrary to the general practice, that each of the above feet should be made up by the syllables of a single word, as in the examples given. They may each consist of one, two, or three words, or even of half a word, as will easily be seen from the examples below.