IV. THE LETTER H. BYRON. 1. "Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell, In the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest, 2. It was seen in the lightning, and heard in the thunder; "Twill be found in the spheres when all riven asunder; It was given to man with his earliest breath, It assists at his birth, and attends him in death; 3. In the heaps of the miser 'tis hoarded with care, 4. In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found, HEIR drops the h in pronunciation. Some of the English drop the h in pronunciation, wherever it begins a word. cc The sound of h is heard in conscience and passion. The sound of h is not heard in hour. V. THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX. It is said that the Sphinx, a ravaging monster, having come to Thebes, propounded the following riddle to the people: "What animal is that which walks upon four feet in the morning, two at noon, and upon three at evening?" The throne having been promised to whoever would solve the riddle, Edipus came forward and answered the Sphinx that it was MAN, who, when an infant, creeps on all fours; in manhood walks erect; and in old age uses a staff. Thereupon the Sphinx threw herself upon the earth, and perished. LESSON LXX. CHARADES. [The Cha rādé, so called from the name of the inventor, is a species of riddle, the subject of which is a name or a word enigmatically described, first by its several letters or syllables, and then by their combination as a whole.] ON THE NAME OF CAMPBELL THE POET. W. M. PRAED. WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED (Pråde), an English poet, born in 1802; died in 1839. I. CAMP. 1. COME from my FIRST, ay, come'! The battle dawn is nigh`; And the screaming trump and the thund'ring drum Fight as thy father fought; Fall as thy father fell; Thy task is taught, thy shroud is wrought; II. BELL. 2. Toll ye, my SECOND! toll! Fling high the flambeau's light; Beneath the silent night! The wreath upon his head, The cross upon his breast, Let the prayer be said, and the tear be shed: So III. THE POET CAMPBELL. 3. Call ye my WHOLE, ay, call! Go, call him by his name; No fitter hand may crave To light the flame of a soldier's fame On the turf of a soldier's grave. XII. HYPERBOLE. LESSON LXXI. CHARACTER OF HYPERBOLE. [Analysis.—1. What is hy per'bo le? Examples.-2. It is a figure founded in nature. How this is shown. Who are prone to this kind of exaggeration.-3. What the abundance of hyperbole shows. Character of all great works of the imagination.4. The language of the Psalmist. Of St. John. How we interpret such passages. The examples in the following Lesson.] 1. HY PER BO LE, or exaggeration, is a figure which represents a thing as far greater, or far less,-better, or worse, than it is in reality; as when we call a tall person a giant, or steeple; or say of a lean man, he is a mere skeleton, or shadow; or when we use expressions like the following: as swift as the wind; as bright as the sun; as white as the snow; they are swifter than eagles; they are stronger than lions. 2. Yet, with all its extravagance, hyperbole is a figure founded in nature. If any thing be remarkably good or great of its kind, or exceedingly mean and despicable, we are ever ready to add to it some exaggerating epithet, and to make it the greatest or best, or the meanest we ever saw. People of lively imaginations are prone to this kind of exaggeration: hence young people deal much in hyperbole; and hence, also, the language of the Orientals is far more hyperbolical than that of the Europeans. 3. The abundance of hyperbole in all kinds of composition, and in common conversation, shows that language is not always to be taken literally, but according to what the speaker or writer may be properly supposed to mean when he uses it. Hence, in all great works of the imaginationsuch as the writings of Homer, Virgil, Milton, and Shakspeare-we naturally expect an excess of hyperbole; for the poet's imagination always outruns the cold severity of pure reason, and we are accustomed to make a proper allowance for the language of passion. 4. Thus, also, when the Psalmist says, "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law," we understand that he merely intended to describe his excessive grief: and when, in the last verse of the Gospel according to St. John, we read, " And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written," we do not take the words literally, but we understand that what John had written was but a scanty description of the deeds and words of Jesus. The examples in the following lesson will convey a correct idea of the use and beauty of this figure, when properly used in continuous discourse. LESSON LXXII. BRIEF EXAMPLES OF HYPERBOLE. I. GOD'S PROMISE TO ISRAEL. Didactic, or Instructive.-Genesis xiii., 15, 16. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. II. THE SWIFTNESS OF CAMILLA. III. DESCRIPTION OF A BATTLE. Descriptive.-POPE's Homer's Iliad, iv., 508. Now shield with shield, with helmet helmet closed, Host against host, with shadowy squadrons drew, IV. SATAN'S DESPAIR. Declarative and Descriptive.-MILTON's Paradise Lost, Book iv., 73. Which way I fly is hell'; myself am hell'; V. THE NORTHEAST WIND. Instructive and Descriptive. "Boreas is a ruffian and a bully, but the northeast is a rascal. It withers like an evil eye; it blights like a parent's curse; unkinder than ingratitude, more biting than forgotten benefits. It comes with sickness on its wings, and rejoices only the doctor and the sexton. While it reigns, no fire heats, no raiment comforts, no walls protect. It deflowers the earth, and it wans the sky. The ghastliest of hues overspreads the face of things, and collapsing Nature seems expiring of cholera." VI. CLEOPATRA IN HER BARGE. Descriptive.-SHAKSPEARE'S Antony and Cleopatra, Act II., Scene 2. 1. The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold: Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made |