Altar for the facrifice. Field for the battle fought upon it, Well-fought field. 12. The name of the materials, employ'd figuratively to fignify the things made of them. Ferrum for gladius. 13. The names of the Heathen deities, employ'd figuratively to fignify what they patronife. Jove for the air, Mars for war, Venus for beauty, Cupid for love, Ceres for corn, Neptune for the fea, Vulcan for fire. This figure beftows great elevation upon the subject; and therefore ought to be confined to the higher strains of poetry. SECOND TABLE. Attributes expressed figuratively. When two attributes are connected, the name of the one may be employ'd figuratively to exprefs the other. Purity and virginity are attributes of the fame perfon: hence the expreffion, Virgin fnow, for pure fnow. 2. A word fignifying properly an attribute of one fubject, employ'd figuratively to exprefs a refembling attribute of another fubject. Tottering state. Imperious ocean. Raging tempeft. Shallow fears. Angry flood. Odyssey xx. 61. My fure divinity fhall bear the fhield, And edge thy fword to reap the glorious field. Black omen, for an omen that portends bad fortune. Ater odor. Virgil. The peculiar beauty of this figure arifes from fuggefting a comparison. 3. A word proper to the fubject, employ'd to exprefs one of its attributes. Mens for intellectus. Mens for a refolution: Iftam, oro, exue mentem. 4. When two fubjects have a resemblance by a com mon mon quality, the name of the one fubject may be employ'd figuratively to denote that quality in the other. Summer life, for agreeable life. 5. The name of the inftrument made to fignify the power of employing it. Melpomene, cui liquidam pater Vocem cum cithara dedit. The ample field of figurative expreffion difplay'd in thefe tables, affords great fcope for reafoning. Several of the obfervations relating to metaphor, are applicable to figures of fpeech: thefe I fhall flightly retouch, with fome additions peculiarly adapted to the prefent fubject. In the first place, as the figure under confideration is built upon relation, we find from experience, and it must be obvious from reafon, that the beauty of the figure depends on the intimacy of the relation between the figurative and proper fenfe of the word. A flight remembrance, in particular, will never make this figure agreeable: the expreflion, for example, Drink down a fecret, for liftening to a fecret with attention, is harsh and uncouth, because there is fcarce any refemblance between listening and drinking. The expreflion weighty crack, ufed by Ben Johnfon for loud crack, is worse if poffible: a loud found has not the flightest refemblance to a piece of matter that is weighty. The following expreffion of Lucretius is not lefs faulty," Et "Et lepido quæ funt fucata fonore." i. 645. Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Sed magis Denfum humeris bibit aure vulgus. Horat. Carm. 1. 2. ode 13. Phemius! let acts of gods, and heroes old, Strepitumque exterritus baufit. Qdyfey, i. 433. Write, my Queen, And with mine eyes I'll drink the words you fend. Cymbeline, act 1. fc. 2. I 3 As thus th' effulgence tremulous I drink. Neque audit currus habenas. Summer, l. 1684: O Prince! (Lycaon's valiant fon reply'd), Iliad v. 288. The following figures of fpeech feem altogether wild and extravagant, the figurative and proper meanings having no connection whatever. Moving softness, Frefhnels breathes, Breathing profpect, Flowing fpring, Dewy light, Lucid coolness, and many others of this falfe coin may be found in Thomfon's Seafons. Secondly, The proper fenfe of the word ought to bear fome proportion to the figurative fenfe, and not foar much above it, nor fink much below it. This rule, as well as the foregoing, is finely illuftrated by Vida: Hæc adeo cum fint, cum fas audere poetis Multa modis multis; tamen obfervare memento, Haud magis imprudens mihi erit, et luminis expers, Thirdly, In a figure of speech, every circumstance ought to be avoided that agrees with the proper sense only, not the figurative fenfe; for it is the latter that expreffes the thought, and the former ferves for no other purpose but to make harmony: Zacynthus green with ever fhady groves, Odyfey, xix. 152. Zacynthus here ftanding figuratively for the inhabitants, the description of the island is quite out of place: it puzzles the reader, by making him doubt whether the word ought to be taken in its proper or figurative sense. -Write, my Queen, And with mine eyes I'll drink the words you fend, Though ink be made of gall. Cymbeline, act 1. fc. 2. The difguft one has to drink ink in reality, is not to the purpose where the fubject is drinking ink figuratively. In the fourth place, To draw confequences from a figure of fpeech, as if the word were to be understood literally, is a grofs abfurdity, for it is confounding truth with fiction: Be Moubray's fins fo heavy in his bosom, That they may break his foaming courfer's back, Richard II. a 1. fc. 3. Sin may be imagined heavy in a figurative fense: but weight in a proper fenfe belongs to the acceffory only; and therefore to defcribe the effects of weight, is to defert the principal subject, and to convert the acceffory into a principal: Cromwell. How does your Grace? Never fo truly happy, my good Cromwell. A till and quiet confcience. The King has cur'd me, A load would fink a navy, too much honour. Ulyffes fpeaking of Hector: Henry VIII. act 3. Sc. 6. I wonder now how yonder city ftands, When we have here the bafe and pillar by us. Troilus and Creffida, act 4. fc. 9. Othello. No; my heart is turn'd to ftone: I ftrike it, and it hurts my hand. 1 4 Othello, act 4. fc. 5. Not Not lefs, even in this defpicable now, And froze Don Sebaftian King of Portugal, act 1. How long a space, fince firft I lov'd, it is! And am furpris'd with wonder, when I mifs, Cowley, vol. 1. p. 86. I chose the flourishing'ft tree in all the park, And in three days behold 'tis dead; Cowley, vol. 1. p. 1:36. Ah, mighty Love, that it were inward heat But what, alas! ah what does it avail. So cold, that I admire they fall not hail. Cowley, vol. 1. p. 132 Such a play of words is pleafant in a ludicrous poem. Mourning Bride, act 1. fc. 1.. This would be very right, if there were any inconfistence, in being interred in one place really, and in another place figuratively. Je crains que cette faifon Tout |