APPENDIX

FIGURES OF SPEECH

402. The Two Uses of Language. In our study of composition, we find that language, both oral and written, is used in two very different ways, that it is sometimes employed in strict conformity to accurate meanings and accepted definitions, and sometimes in senses only suggestive of original meanings. The first of these two uses is called literal, the second figurative.

403. Study I: Figurative Language. Study carefully the following pairs of sentences with a view to finding out the differences in the employment of language:

1. (a) Cowards are all as false as stairs of sand.

(b) Cowards are all completely false.

2. (a) Thy argosies fly by them with their woven wings. (b) Thy large ships sail quickly by them.

3. (a) The world is still deceived with ornament.
(b) People are still deceived with ornament.

4. (a) They put out with a fleet of sixty sail.
(b) They put out with a fleet of sixty ships.

5. (a) The waves to sleep had gone.

(b) There were no waves.

Questions.

I. In which sentences in the above groups are the italicized words used in their strictly literal sense?

2. Strictly speaking, can or cannot stairs be called false?
3. What two things are likened in 1 (a)?

4. Literally speaking, how much alike are the two things? 5. In group 2, the large ships are by implication likened to what? the act of sailing, to what? the sails, to what?

6. In group 2, how much truth is there in the first statement if taken literally?

7. Explain why it is that we understand the meaning of the writer in this sentence.

8. In 3 (a), what word is substituted for another?

9. What is the relation between the two words? How does the one suggest the other?

10. What is the relation between the two italicized words in group 4? Why is one used for the other in 4 (a)?

II. What kind of qualities are attributed to the waves in 5 (a)? 12. Explain the nature of the deviation from the literal meanings in each of the above groups.

13. Give your opinion with respect to the naturalness of figures in general.

14. Explain the value of each of the above figures. Do they give vividness, picturesqueness, clearness, strength? Which of these qualities does the following figure add to the sentence? “In the early history of our planet, the moon was flung off into space, as mud is thrown from a turning wagon wheel."

15. Make a general statement about the value of figures.

404. Study II: Figures of Resemblance. We have already seen that certain figures are based upon resemblance. Study the following sentences (1) to discover other figures of resemblance, and (2) to find out the nature of the resemblance between the things likened:

1. The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun

With the deluge of summer it receives.

2. Here are severed lips, parted with sugar breath.

Questions.

1. Between what things is the implied comparison in the first line of I? In what respects are the two things alike? How unlike are they in all other respects? Of what value is the figure?

2. In the second line of 1, between just what things is the comparison? What is the effect of the figure? Does it add force, clearness, picturesqueness, vividness?

3. What things are by implication compared in line three of 1? How much alike are the things compared? With what effect? 4. In what respects is the figure in 2 like the implied comparison in I? Can you state what things are compared?

405. Simile. A simile is a figure of speech which directly asserts a particular resemblance between dissimilar objects. A careful consideration of this definition will show that not all comparisons are similes. To be figurative, a comparison must deal with objects that are unlike, that is, of different classes. "My book is as large as yours" is not a simile; all the words are used in a literal sense.

EXERCISE

406. In the following sentences (1) distinguish between the comparisons that are similes and those that are not; (2) state definitely in each case the exact nature of the resemblance; and (3) tell whether the figure adds clearness, force, or beauty to the sentence. And all in a moment his roan

I.

2.

Rolled neck and croup over, lay dead as a stone.

Then broke

The thunder like a whole sea overhead.

3. Down the valley he rode, so fast that no one could keep within shouting distance.

4. Slender and clear were his crystal spars

As the lashes of light that trim the stars.

5. A false friend is like a shadow, which attends only when the sun shines.

6. The gentle Elaine was as fair as a lily.

7. Swift, in his decay, resembled a giant tree withered in its topmost branches.

8. The elm before our house is as tall as the great sycamore on your father's farm.

9. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold. 10. The sails are scattered abroad like weeds;

II.

The strong masts shake like quivering reeds.

And lightly was her slender nose
Tip-tilted like the petal of a flower.

407. Metaphor. In the first sentence of Study II, we found two figures in which there was an implied comparison between objects that were almost entirely unlike. One point of resemblance was, however, very evident. Constructing a definition in accordance with these hints, we may say: Metaphor is a figure of speech which implies a comparison between unlike objects, by ascribing to one of them certain attributes of the other.

408. Epithet. In sentence two of Study II, we found a figure resembling a metaphor; but one confined to a single word, used for descriptive force. It is called epithet. We may say: Epithet is a word, used for the sake of vividness, in which a quality of one thing is ascribed to another.

EXERCISE

409. In the following sentences (1) distinguish between metaphors and epithets; (2) state the things that are indirectly compared ; (3) point out the exact nature of the resemblance suggested; (4) explain the value