In the succeeding verse, we hear the sound of a bowstring immediately after the arrow has been shot.

..The string let fly

Twang'd short and sharp, like the shrill swallow's cry.

The spring of the pheasant is heard in these lines:

See! from the brake the whirring pheasant springs,
And mounts exulting on triumphant wings.

The following verse gives us the sound of felling trees in a wood.

Loud sounds the axe, redoubling strokes on strokes ;
On all sides round the forest hurls her oaks
Headlong. Deep echoing groan the thickets brown;
Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down.

In the succeeding lines, smooth and rough verses cor, respond to the objects which they describe.

Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows.

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar.

The Second class of objects, which the sound of words is often employed to imitate, is Motion; as it is swift or slow, violent or gentle, equable or interrupted, easy or accompanied with effort. Though there can be no natural affinity between sound, of any kind, and motion, yet, in the imagination, there is a strong one; as appears from the connexion between music and dancing. And, therefore, here it is in the poet's power, to give us a lively idea of the kind of motion, he would describe, by means

of sound which corresponds, in our imagination, with that motion. Long syllables naturally give the impression of slow motion. A succession of short syllables presents quick motion to the mind. The following is a beautiful instance of the sound of words corresponding to motion. It is the description of a sudden calm on the seas, in a poem, entitled, The Fleece.

With easy course

The vessels glide; unless their speed be slopp'd
By dead calms, that oft lie on these smooth seas,
When ev'ry zephyr sleeps: then the shrouds drop;
The downy feather en the cordage hung

Moves not; the flat sea shines like yellow gold
Fus'd in the fire, or like the marble floor

Of some old temple wide.

In the succeeding lines, we perceive that slow motion is imitated.

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labours, and the words move slow.

In the next example, the verse resembles swift and easy motion.

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.

The following verses exemplify laborious and impetuous

motion.

With many a weary step, and many a groan,
Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone

The huge round stone resulting with a bound,

Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground..

3

The next verse is expressive of regular and slow move

ment.

First march the heavy mules securely slow:

O'er hills, o'er dales, o'er crags, o'er rocks, they go.

In the following lines, slow and difficult motion is imitated.

A needless Alexandrine ends the song,

That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.

The succeeding lines imitate violent and irregular inotion, that of a rock torn from the brow of a mountain.

Still gath'ring force, it smokes, and urg'd amain,

Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to the plain.

The Third set of objects, which the sound of words are capable of representing, consists of the passions and emotions of the mind. Sound may, at first view, appear foreign to these: but that here, also, there is some sort of connexion, is sufficiently proved by the power which music has to awaken, or to assist certain passions; and, according as its strain is varied, to introduce one train of ideas, rather than another. This, indeed, logically speaking, cannot be called a resemblance between the sense and the sound, seeing long or short syllables have no natural resemblance to any thought or passion. But if the arrangement of syllables, by their sound alone, recalls one set of ideas more readily than another, and disposes the mind for entering into that affection which the poet means to raise, such arrangement may, justly enough, be said to resemble the sense, or be similar and correspondent to it. Without much study or reflection, a poet describing pleasure, joy, and agreeable objects, from the feeling of his subject, naturally runs into smooth, liquid, and flowing

numbers. Brisk and lively sensations exact quicker and more animated numbers. Melancholy and gloomy subjects naturally express themselves in slow measures, and long words.

The following verses may justly be said to resemble the pensive strain which they describe.

In these deep solitudes and awful cells,

Where heavenly pensive contemplation dwells,

And ever-musing melancholy reigns.

In the succeeding lines, the sound of the verse is made to imitate reluctance of mind.

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing, anxious being e'er resign'd;
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?

We have now given sufficient openings into this subject: a moderate acquaintance with good writers, will suggest many instances of the same kind. We proceed to explain the nature of Figures of Speech, the proper use of which contributes to the force and accuracy of a sentence.

CHAPTER IV.

OF FIGURES OF SPEECH.

The Fourth requisite of a perfect sentence, is a judi, cious use of the Figures of Speech.

As figurative language is to be met with in almost every sentence; and, when properly employed, confers beauty and strength on composition; some knowledge of it appears to be indispensable to the scholars, who are learning to form their sentences with perspicuity, accuracy, and force. We shall, therefore, enumerate the principal figures, and give them some explanation.

In general, Figures of Speech imply some departure from simplicity of expression; the idea which we mean to convey is expressed in a particular manner, and with some circumstance added, which is designed to render the impression more strong and vivid. When I say, for instance, "That a good man enjoys comfort in the midst of adversity;" I just express my thoughts in the simplest manner possible: but when I say, "To the upright there ariseth light in darkness;" the same sentiment is expressed in a figurative style; a new circumstance is introduced; "light," is put in the place of "comfort," and "darkness" is used to suggest the idea of "adversity." In the same manner, to say, "It is impossible, by any search we can make, to explore the Divine Nature fully," is to make a simple proposition: but when we say, "Canst thou, by searching, find out the Lord? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know?" this introduces a figure into style; the pro