Chapter CVI: Section IV: Figures of Rhetoric

A Figure of Rhetoric is an intentional deviation from the ordinary application of words. Several of this kind of figures are commonly called _Tropes_, i.e., _turns_; because certain words are turned from their original signification to an other.[481]

Numerous departures from perfect simplicity of diction, occur in almost every kind of composition. They are mostly founded on some similitude or relation of things, which, by the power of imagination, is rendered conducive to ornament or illustration.

The principal figures of Rhetoric are sixteen; namely, _Sim'-i-le, Met'-a-phor, Al'-le-gor-y, Me-ton'-y-my, Syn-ec'-do-che, Hy-per'-bo-le, Vis'-ion, A-pos'-tro-phe, Per-son'-i-fi-ca'-tion, Er-o-te'-sis, Ec-pho-ne'-sis, An-tith'-e-sis, Cli'-max, I'-ro-ny, A-poph'-a-sis_, and _On-o-ma-to-poe'-ia._

EXPLANATIONS.

I. A _Simile_ is a simple and express comparison; and is generally introduced by _like, as_, or _so_: as, "Such a passion is _like falling in love with a sparrow flying over your head_; you have but one glimpse of her, and she is out of sight."--_Colliers Antoninus_. "Therefore they shall be _as the morning cloud_, and _as the early dew_ that passeth away; _as the chaff_ that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and _as the smoke_ out of the chimney."--_Hosea_, xiii.

"At first, _like thunder's distant tone_,
The rattling din came rolling on."--_Hogg_.

"Man, _like the generous vine_, supported lives;
The strength he gains, is from th' embrace he gives."--_Pope_.

OBS.--Comparisons are sometimes made in a manner sufficiently intelligible, without any express term to point them out. In the following passage, we have a triple example of what seems the _Simile_, without the usual sign--without _like, as_, or _so_: "Away with all tampering with such a question! Away with all trifling with the man in fetters! _Give a hungry man a stone, and tell what beautiful houses are made of it;--give ice to a freezing man, and tell him of its good properties in hot weather;--throw a drowning man a dollar, as a mark of your good will_;--but do not mock the bondman in his misery, by giving him a Bible when he cannot read it."--FREDERICK DOUGLASS: _Liberty Bell_, 1848.

II. A _Metaphor_ is a figure that expresses or suggests the resemblance of two objects by applying either the name, or some attribute, adjunct, or action, of the one, directly to the other; as,

1. "The LORD is my _rock_, and my _fortress_."--_Psal._, xviii 1.

2. "His eye was _morning's brightest ray_."--_Hogg_.

3. "An _angler_ in the _tides_ of fame."--_Id., Q. W._

4. "Beside him _sleeps_ the warrior's bow."--_Langhorne_.

5. "Wild fancies in his moody brain
_Gambol'd unbridled_ and unbound."--_Hogg, Q. W._

6. "Speechless, and fix'd in all the _death_ of wo."--_Thomson_.

OBS.--A _Metaphor_ is commonly understoood [sic--KTH] to be only the tropical use of some _single word_, or _short phrase_; but there seem to be occasional instances of one _sentence_, or _action_, being used metaphorically to represent an other. The following extract from the London Examiner has several figurative expressions, which perhaps belong to this head: "In the present age, nearly all people are critics, even to the pen, and treat the gravest writers with a sort of _taproom_ familiarity. If they are dissatisfied, _they throw a short and spent cigar in the face of the offender_; if they are pleased, _they lift the candidate off his legs, and send him away with a hearty slap on the shoulder_. Some of the shorter, when they are bent to mischief, _dip a twig in the gutter, and drag it across our polished boots_: on the contrary, when they are inclined to be gentle and generous, _they leap boisterously upon our knees, and kiss us_ with bread-and-butter in their mouths."--WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR.

III. An _Allegory_ is a continued narration of fictitious events, designed to represent and illustrate important realities. Thus the Psalmist represents the _Jewish nation_ under the symbol of a _vine_: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root; and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars."--_Psalms_, lxxx, 8-10.

OBS.--The _Allegory_, agreeably to the foregoing definition of it, includes most of those similitudes which in the Scriptures are called _parables_; it includes also the better sort of _fables_. The term _allegory_ is sometimes applied to a _true history_ in which something else is intended, than is contained in the words literally taken. See an instance in _Galatians_, iv, 24. In the _Scriptures_, the term _fable_ denotes an idle and groundless story: as, in _1 Timothy_, iv, 7; and _2 Peter_, i, 16. It is now commonly used in a better sense. "A _fable_ may be defined to be an analogical narrative, intended to convey some moral lesson, in which irrational animals or objects are introduced as speaking."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 280.

IV. A _Metonymy_ is a change of names between things related. It is founded, not on resemblance, but on some such relation as that of _cause_ and _effect_, of _progenitor_ and _posterity_, of _subject_ and _adjunct_, of _place_ and _inhabitant_, of _container_ and _thing contained_, or of _sign_ and _thing signified_: as, (1.) "God is our _salvation_;" i.e., _Saviour_. (2.) "Hear, O _Israel_;" i.e. O _ye descendants of_ Israel. (3.) "He was the _sigh_ of her secret soul;" i.e., the _youth_ she loved. (4.) "They smote the _city_;" i.e., the _citizens_. (5.) "My son, give me thy _heart_;" i.e., _affection_. (6.) "The _sceptre_ shall not depart from Judah;" i.e., _kingly power_. (7.) "They have _Moses and the prophets_;" i.e., _their writings_. See _Luke_, xvi, 29.

V. _Synecdoche_, (that is, _Comprehension_,) is the naming of a part for the whole, or of the whole for a part; as, (1.) "This _roof_ [i.e., house] protects you." (2.) "Now the _year_ [i.e., summer] is beautiful." (3.) "A _sail_ [i.e., a ship or vessel] passed at a distance." (4.) "Give us this day our daily _bread_;" i.e., food. (5.) "Because they have taken away _my Lord_, [i.e., the body of Jesus,] and I know not where they have laid him."--_John_. (6.) "The same day there were added unto them about three thousand _souls_;" i.e., persons.--_Acts_. (7.) "There went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all _the world_ [i.e., the Roman empire] should be taxed."--_Luke_, ii, 1.

VI. _Hyperbole_ is extravagant exaggeration, in which the imagination is indulged beyond the sobriety of truth; as, "My little finger _shall be thicker_ than my father's loins."--_2 Chron._, x, 10. "When I washed my _steps with butter_, and the rock poured me out _rivers of oil_."--_Job_, xxix, 6.

"The sky _shrunk upward with unusual dread_,
And trembling Tiber _div'd beneath his bed_."--_Dryden_.

VII. _Vision_, or _Imagery_, is a figure by which the speaker represents the objects of his imagination, as actually before his eyes, and present to his senses; as,

"I see the dagger-crest of Mar!
I see the Moray's silver star
Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war,
That up the lake comes winding far!"--_Scott, L. L._, vi, 15.

VIII. _Apostrophe_ is a turning from the regular course of the subject, into an animated address; as, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death! where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory?"--_1 Cor._, xv, 55.

IX. _Personification_ is a figure by which, in imagination, we ascribe intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract qualities; as,

1. "The _Worm_, aware of his intent,
Harangued him thus, right eloquent."--_Cowper_.

2. "Lo, steel-clad _War_ his gorgeous standard rears!"--_Rogers_.

3. "Hark! _Truth_ proclaims, thy triumphs cease!"--_Idem_.

X. _Erotesis_ is a figure in which the speaker adopts the form of interrogation, not to express a doubt, but, in general, confidently to assert the reverse of what is asked; as, "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"--_Job_, xl, 9. "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?"--_Psalms_, xciv, 9.

XI. _Ecphonesis_ is a pathetic exclamation, denoting some violent emotion of the mind; as, "O liberty!--O sound once delightful to every Roman ear!--O sacred privilege of Roman citizenship!--once sacred--now trampled upon."--_Cicero_. "And I said, O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."--_Psalms_, lv, 6.

XII. _Antithesis_ is a placing of things in opposition, to heighten their effect by contrast; as, "I will talk of things _heavenly_, or things _earthly_; things _moral_, or things _evangelical_; things _sacred_, or things _profane_; things _past_, or things _to come_; things _foreign_, or things _at home_; things more _essential_, or things _circumstantial_; provided that all be done to our profit."--_Bunyan, P. P._, p. 90.

"Contrasted faults through all his manners reign;
Though _poor, luxurious_; though _submissive, vain_;
Though _grave_, yet _trifling_; _zealous_, yet _untrue_;
And e'en _in penance, planning sins_ anew."--_Goldsmith_.

XIII. _Climax_ is a figure in which the sense is made to advance by successive steps, to rise gradually to what is more and more important and interesting, or to descend to what is more and more minute and particular; as, "And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity."--_2 Peter_, i, 5.

XIV. _Irony_ is a figure in which the speaker sneeringly utters the direct reverse of what he intends shall be understood; as, "We have, to be sure, great reason to believe the modest man would not ask him for a debt, when he pursues his life."--_Cicero_. "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you."--_Job_, xii, 2. "They must esteem learning _very much_, when they see its professors used with such little ceremony!"--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 150.

XV. _Apophasis_, or _Paralipsis_,[482] is a figure in which the speaker or writer pretends to omit what at the same time he really mentions; as, "I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it; albeit _I do not say to thee_, how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides."--_Philemon_, 19.

XVI. _Onomatopoeia_ is the use of a word, phrase, or sentence, the sound of which resembles, or intentionally imitates, the sound of the thing signified or spoken of: as, "Of a knocking at the door, _Rat a tat tat_."--J. W. GIBBS: _in Fowler's Gram._, p. 334. "_Ding-dong! ding-dong!_ Merry, merry, go the bells, _Ding-dong! ding-dong_!"--_H. K. White_. "Bow'wow _n._ The loud bark of a dog. _Booth_."--_Worcester's Dict._ This is often written separately; as, "_Bow wow_."--_Fowler's Gram._, p. 334. The imitation is better with three sounds: "_Bow wow wow_." The following verses have been said to exhibit this figure:

"But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar."
--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 369.

OBS.--The whole number of figures, which I have thought it needful to define and illustrate in this work, is only about thirty. These are the _chief_ of what have sometimes been made a very long and minute catalogue. In the hands of some authors, Rhetoric is scarcely anything else than a detail of figures; the number of which, being made to include almost every possible form of expression, is, according to these authors, not less than two hundred and forty. Of their _names_, John Holmes gives, in his index, two hundred and fifty-three; and he has not all that might be quoted, though he has more than there are of the forms named, or the figures themselves. To find a learned name for every particular mode of expression, is not necessarily conducive to the right use of language. It is easy to see the inutility of such pedantry; and Butler has made it sufficiently ridiculous by this caricature:

"For all a rhetorician's rules
Teach nothing but to name his tools."--_Hudibras_, P. i, C. i, l. 90.