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15. Truths that wake to perish never.- Wordsworth.

16. Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.-Coleridge

EXERCISE.

1. Select ten sentences illustrating personification by the use of the adjective.

2. Select ten sentences illustrating personification by the use of the verb.

3. Write five original sentences illustrating personification by the use of the adjective.

4. Write five original sentences illustrating personification by the use of the verb.

4. ALLEGORY.

Allegory is an extended metaphor, in which the figure runs through the entire work. By some it is claimed to consist of a number of cognate metaphors.

Simile, metaphor, and allegory are all founded on resemblance. Their difference may be illustrated with slight changes of Psalm lxxx., in which the Jewish nation is represented as a vine. Thus,

Simile.-"The Jewish nation is like a vine, which thou hast brought out of Egypt," etc.

Metaphor.-"The Jewish nation is a vine, which thou hast brought out of Egypt," etc.

Allegory. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen," etc.

Allegory and Metaphor Differ.-There are two differences between allegory and metaphor. First, Allegory is extended to include a great variety of particulars, often making a complete story. This is not the case with Metaphor. Secondly, Allegory suppresses all mention of the principal subject, and leaves us to infer the writer's intention from his general narration.

Allegory, Parables, and Fables are Closely Related. -The following are the chief distinctions:

Allegory is the term used when reference is made to a whole poem, essay, or book, such as Addison's The Vision of Mirza, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Swift's Tale of a Tub, Thomson's Castle of Indolence.

.

A Parable is a shorter allegorical composition, and is generally based upon possibilities, as the parables of the sacred Scriptures.

A Fable differs from a parable in being based on impossibilities. It frequently deals with the personification of animals, and closes with an application or "moral" embodying some important truth. The most familiar examples are Esop's Fables, which are also the most famous.

The following, from Longfellow's "Launch of the Ship," is a beautiful example of Allegory:

"Thou, too, sail on, O ship of State,
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity, with all its fears,
With all its hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what master laid thy keel,
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel;
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat;
In what a forge and what a heat,
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock-
'Tis of the wave, and not the rock;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee;

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,

Are all with thee, are all with thee !"

SUGGESTIONS.

1. Like metaphor, allegory should not be mingled with plain language.

2. The allegory should not contain mixed metaphors.

3. The relation between the allegory and its literal meaning should be clear.

Note.-The general rules and suggestions with reference to metaphor apply with equal force to allegory.

EXERCISE.

Let the pupil select allegories to be read in class.

5. METONYMY.

Metonymy is a figure in which one object is described by the name of another to which it is related. The figure is based on the contiguity, in either time or space, of the two objects of thought.

Rhetoricians do not agree as to the number of forms in which Metonymy may exist, but the following are the most important.

a. Cause for effect; as, "We have read Milton and Shakespeare;" that is, authors for writings.

b. Effect for cause; as, "Can gray hairs make folly respectable?" that is, gray hairs for age.

c. The container for the thing contained; as, "The bottle is his worst enemy;" that is, the bottle instead of the contents.

d. The sign for the thing signified; as, "The pen is the civilizer of the world;" that is, pen for literature or the spread of knowledge.

To the foregoing are added by some rhetoricians the following:

1. Instrument for agent; as, "The pen is more powerful than the sword."

2. Material for the thing made; as, "He raised the glittering steel on high.”

But each of these may properly be classified under the forms heretofore given.

SUGGESTIONS.

1. In using Metonymy, the Name of a Thing better Known should be Substituted for one that is less Known.—If this be not done, much of the beauty of the figure is lost.

2. Avoid the Use of Names about which Little is known.The average reader is not supposed to be familiar with the heroes of mythology, or with characters but little known in history.

3. Metonymy should Rarely be Used in Scientific State

ments.

EXERCISE.

Point out the figures of Metonymy in the following, and show under which form each falls:

1. They have Moses and the prophets.

2. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.

3. Those who begin by reading novels may end by reading Milton and Shakespeare.

4. Strike for your altars and your

5. The watched pot never boils.

fires.

6. The time has come when the ballot shall take the place of the bullet.

7. Your flashes of wit that were wont to set the table in a

roar.

8. The miser loves his purse.

9. The whole town is laughing at his conceit.

10. The speaker addressed the Chair.

11. His slavery to the cup has dragged him down rapidly.

12. A second Daniel come to judgment !

13. England's commerce whitens every sea.

14. The pulpit and the bench should be wholly above suspicion.

15. Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest.

16. Now is the time when bayonets think.

17. The tumult waned a little, and the House gathered a slight appearance of order.

18. It is preferable that in addressing a Welsh audience an English pastor should use his own tongue rather than misuse the native dialect.

19. Great Britain is not to be frightened even by a couple of hares.

20. Let us imagine the consternation of the ladies of England if they were suddenly forced to an exclusive fare of George Eliot and Thackeray.

.

EXERCISE.

1. Select ten examples of Metonymy from current literature, and show in what the metonymy in each case consists.

2. Write five original sentences, each containing a figure of metonymy.

6. SYNECDOCHE.

Synecdoche is a figure in which a name is given to an object that suggests more or less than we intend. Synecdoche is really a species of metonymy, but on account of its importance rhetoricians have given it a name of its own. It always represents the whole by a part or a part by the whole. Synecdoche may therefore take either of two forms:

1. A part for the whole; as sail for ships, waves for ocean, winters for years. Thus, "The snows of many winters have whitened his head."

2. The whole for a part; as, "All America was aroused by the contest;" that is, many of the people of America.

Value of Synecdoche.-The chief value of Synecdoche lies in the fact that it usually puts a thing well known for one less known.

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