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O, what a monument of glorious worth,
When, in a new edition, he comes forth,
Without erratas, may we think he'll be
In leaves and covers of eternity." 1

Here the trains of thought aroused are, under the circumstances, more ludicrous than impressive.

(2) Similarly, figures should not confuse several incongruous trains of thought, as in the following "mixed" figures:

(a) Italy is a narrow tongue of land, the backbone of which is formed by the Apennines.

(b) He unravelled all these obscurities and with his penetrating illustrations threw light on all these unparalleled complications.

We should be careful also not to jumble together plain and figurative language, as in the often quoted remark that a certain scientist was "the father of chemistry and brother to the Earl of Cork."

(3) The charm and value of figures depend largely upon their freshness; they throw new light, as it were, on the subject. We must be careful, therefore, to avoid figures so often used and well worn that they have become meaningless. Slang, too, which is largely figurative in character, is effective under certain circumstances, because of the startling trains of thought which it awakens. It is ineffective when these trains of thought involve vulgar associations, or when it has passed into a merely conventional and meaningless form of expression.

The ancient rhetoricians distinguished many forms of expression besides similes and metaphors, but the general feeling now is that it is not necessary to

1 From a poem on John Cotton by Benjamin Woodbridge (1607-75), in Stedman and Hutchinson's Library of American Literature, vol. i, page 360. Quoted also in Wendell's English Composition.

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attempt minute discrimination in such matters. It is worth while, perhaps, to call the pupil's attention to the figures called metonomy and synecdoche,1 and to the forms of expression called personification and apostrophe. Metonomy is applied to the use of a sign for the thing signified, as in "fire and sword" for war," the "cross and the crescent" for "Christians and Mohammedans." Synecdoche is applied to the use of a part for the whole, as when we speak of "hands" for "workmen." The terms are, however, scarcely to be distinguished, and the student need have only a general conception of their meaning and force. Personification is referring to inanimate or imaginary things as if they were alive, as in "Quick, thy tablets, Memory"; apostrophe is the technical term for an address, in poetry or impassioned prose, as in "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll!" It is interesting, moreover, to notice that many familiar words and expressions are figurative in essence, as, for example, "under-standing," "awakening a train of thought."

EXERCISE 64

I. Analyze a strong newspaper editorial, showing how the writer contrives to give force to his remarks. II. Criticise the following composition as regards emphasis:

It was on a very warm summer's afternoon when we went to the shore. While seated on the beach watching the surf bathers, the heavy black clouds began to gather and the

1 Metonomy and synecdoche are from Greek words meaning literally "change of name and "understanding together."

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distant roll of thunder soon sent the many pleasure seekers away from the beach. The lightning now began to flash, and we were forced to make a hasty retreat for the hotel.

The storm now set in with all its fury, and our attention was soon attracted to a small sailing vessel tossing up and down upon the waves. Its only occupant appeared to be an elderly man, and every now and then the wind would make his cries for help more audible. At length two of the Life Saving Crew rushed to the shore, jumped aboard their boat, and with some difficulty rescued him and brought him ashore.

III. Distinguish force from clearness. Mention, if possible, a piece of writing which has one of these qualities without the other. What kinds of words and what kinds of sentences have, as a rule, the most force?

IV. Define the metaphor, the simile. Find five striking metaphors; five striking similes. To what, in each case, do they owe their effect?

V. In a set of the compositions you have written, note just what figurative language you have employed. Is it, in any instance, ineffective? Why?

VI. Analyze a dozen current slang expressions, noting whether they are similes or metaphors. Under what circumstances are the figures of speech involved appropriate?

VII. Note the figures of speech in one of your favorite poems, and determine what effect each has on the reader.

VIII. Criticise the figures of speech in the following passages:

(a) He flung aside the mask and showed the cloven foot. (b) The heroic Spanish gunners had no defence but bags of cotton joined to their own courage.

(c) The secretary said that the keynote of the government's policy was wrapped in obscurity.

(d) If the Roman toga has been bedraggled in the filth and the mire of the centuries, surely the cloak of senatorial courtesy has been used to hide the infamy and the corruption which has dishonored and disgraced a body which was once the proudest in the land. The cloak of senatorial courtesy has become a stench in the nostrils and a byword in the mouths of all honest citizens of the land.

CHAPTER XVI

ELEGANCE

154. ELEGANCE. 155. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT. 156. ATTENTION TO DETAILS.-157. GOOD TASTE.-158. CONCLUSION.

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154. Elegance. With a little care we shall distinguish the æsthetic quality of style, elegance, from clearness, the intellectual, and force, the emotional quality of style. A book may be clear and yet dull; it may, under some circumstances, be strong or interesting and yet not altogether clear; and it may be clear and interesting, and still unpleasant or unsatisfactory to the taste. Work that is thoroughly pleasing, thoroughly satisfactory to the taste, we shall call elegant; not of course in the vulgar and local sense of the word,1 but in its truer meaning, indicating something which is so select or so finely adapted to its uses that it completely satisfies the taste. Such a quality must obviously be determined rather by the particular circumstances of a given piece of composition than by any generalization. The following hints, however, may help us in many cases.

155. Preparation of Manuscript. — Nothing is so sure to displease even the most benevolent reader as bad manuscript. What is worth doing at all is worth

1 E.g. as in the incorrect expression, "an elegant time."

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