# The Grammar of English Grammars/Part IV/Chapter III

​CHAPTER III.—FIGURES.
A Figure, in grammar, is an intentional deviation from the ordinary spelling, formation, construction, or application, of words. There are, accordingly, figures of Orthography, figures of Etymology, figures of Syntax, and figures of Rhetoric. When figures are judiciously employed, they both strengthen and adorn expression. They occur more frequently in poetry than in prose; and several of them are merely poetic licenses.

### SECTION I.—FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.SECTION I.—FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

A Figure of Orthography is an intentional deviation from the ordinary or true spelling of a word. The principal figures of Orthography are two; namely, Mi-me'-sis and Ar'-cha-ism.
EXPLANATIONS.
* Mimesis is a ludicrous imitation of some mistake or mispronunciation of a word, in which the error is mimicked by a false spelling, or the taking of one word for another; as, "Maister, says he, have you any wery good weal in you vâllet?"—Columbian Orator, p. 292. "Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, captain Gower."—Shak. "I will description the matter to you, if you be capacity of it."—Id. "Perdigious! I can hardly stand." —LLOYD: Brit. Poets, Vol. viii, p. 184.
* An Archaism is a word or phrase expressed according to ancient usage, and not according to our modern orthography; as, "Newe grene chese of smalle clammynes comfortethe a hotte stomake."—T. PAYNEL: Tooke's Diversions, ii, 132. "He hath holpen his servant Israel."—Luke, i, 54. "With him was rev'rend Contemplation pight, Bow-bent with eld, his beard of snowy hue."—Beattie.
OBS.—Among the figures of this section, perhaps we might include the foreign words or phrases which individual authors now and then adopt in writing English; namely, the Scotticisms, the Gallicisms, the Latinisms, the Grecisms, and the like, with which they too often garnish their English style. But these, except they stand as foreign quotations, in which case they are exempt from our rules, are in general offences against the purity of our language; and it may therefore be sufficient, just to mention them here, without expressly putting any of them into the category of grammatical figures.

### SECTION II.—FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.SECTION II.—FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.

A Figure of Etymology is an intentional deviation from the ordinary formation of a word. The principal figures of Etymology are eight; namely, A-phoer'-e-sis, Pros'-the-sis, Syn'-co-pe, A-poc'-o-pe, Par-a-go'-ge, Di-oer'-e-sis, Syn-oer'-e-sis, and Tme'-sis.
EXPLANATIONS.
* Aphæresis is the elision of some of the initial letters of a word: as, 'gainst, for against; 'gan, for began; 'neath, for beneath; 'thout, for without.
* Prosthesis is the prefixing of an expletive syllable to a word: as, adown, for down; appaid, for paid; bestrown, for strown; evanished, for vanished; yclad, for clad.
* Syn'copè is the elision of some of the middle letters of a word: as, med'cine, for medicine; e'en, for even; o'er, for over; conq'ring, for conquering; se'nnight, for sevennight.
* Apoc'opè is the elision of some of the final letters of a word: as, tho’ for though; th’, for the; t'other, for the other; thro’, for through.
* Parago'gè is the annexing of an expletive syllable to a word: as, Johnny, for John; deary, for dear; withouten, for without.
* Diæresis is the separating of two vowels that might be supposed to form a diphthong: as, coöperate, not cooperate; aëronaut, not æronaut; or'thoëpy, not orthoepy. ​
* Synæresis is the sinking of two syllables into one: as, seest, for sëest; tacked, for tack-ed; drowned, for drown-ed; spoks't, for spok-est; show'dst, for show-edst; ’tis, for it is; I'll, for I will.
* Tmesis is the inserting of a word between the parts of a compound, or between two words which should be united if they stood together: as, "On which side soever."—Rolla. "To us ward;" "To God ward."—Bible. "The assembling of ourselves together."—Id. "With what charms soe'er she will."—Cowper. "So new a fashion'd robe."—Shak. "Lament the live day long."—Burns.
OBS.—In all our pronunciation, except that of the solemn style, such verbal or participial terminations as can be so uttered, are usually sunk by synæresis into mere modifications of preceding syllables. The terminational consonants, if not uttered with one vowel, must be uttered with an other. When, therefore, a vowel is entirely suppressed in pronunciation, (whether retained in writing or not,) the consonants connected with it, necessarily fall into an other syllable: thus, tried, triest, sued, suest, loved, lovest, mov'd, mov'st, are monosyllables; and studied, studiest, studi'dst, argued, arguest, argu'dst, are dissyllables; except in solemn discourse, in which the e is generally retained and made vocal.

### SECTION III.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.SECTION III.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

A Figure of Syntax is an intentional deviation from the ordinary construction of words. The principal figures of Syntax are five; namely, El-lip'-sis, Ple'-o-nasm, Syl-lep'-sis, En-al'-la-ge, and Hy-per'-ba-ton.
EXPLANATIONS.
* Ellipsis is the omission of some word or words which are necessary to complete the construction, but not necessary to convey the meaning. Such words are said, in technical phrase, to be understood; because they are received as belonging to the sentence, though they are not uttered.Of compound sentences, a vast many are more or less elliptical; and sometimes, for brevity's sake, even the most essential parts of a simple sentence, are suppressed; as, "But more of this hereafter."—Harris's Hermes, p. 77. This means, "But I shall say more of this hereafter." "Prythee, peace."—Shak. That is, "I pray thee, hold thou thy peace."There may be an omission of any of the parts of speech, or even of a whole clause, when this repeats what precedes; but the omission of mere articles or interjections can scarcely constitute a proper ellipsis, because these parts of speech, wherever they are really necessary to be recognized, ought to be expressed. EXAMPLES OF ELLIPSIS SUPPLIED OBSERVATIONS. Grammarians in general treat of ellipsis without defining it; and exhibit such rules and examples as suppose our language to be a hundred-fold more elliptical than it really is. This is a great error, and only paralleled by that of a certain writer elsewhere noticed, who denies the existence of all ellipsis whatever. (See Syntax, Obs. 24th on Rule 22d.) Some have defined this figure in a way that betrays a very inaccurate notion of what it is: as, "Ellipsis is when one or more words are wanting to complete the sense."—Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram., p. 235; Gould's, 229. "Ellipsis is the omission of one or more words necessary to complete the sense."—Bullions, Lat. Gram., p. 265. These definitions are decidedly worse than none; because, if they have any effect, they can only mislead. They absurdly suggest that every elliptical sentence lacks a part of its own meaning! Ellipsis is, in fact, the mere omission or absence of certain suggested words; or of words that may be spared from utterance, without defect in the sense. There never can be an ellipsis of any thing which is either unnecessary to the construction or necessary to the sense; for to say what we mean and nothing more, never can constitute a deviation from the ordinary grammatical construction of words. As a figure of Syntax, therefore, the ellipsis can only be of such words as are so evidently suggested to the reader, that the writer is as fully answerable for them as if he had written them. To suppose an ellipsis where there is none, or to overlook one where it really occurs, is to pervert or mutilate the text, in order to accommodate it to the parser's or reader's ignorance of the principles of syntax. There never can be either a general uniformity or a self-consistency in our methods of parsing, or in our notions of grammar, till the true nature of an ellipsis is clearly ascertained; so that the writer shall distinguish it from a blundering omission that impairs the sense, and the reader or parser be barred from an arbitrary insertion of what would be cumbrous and useless. By adopting loose and extravagant ideas of the nature of this figure, some pretenders to learning and philosophy have been led into the most whimsical and opposite notions concerning the grammatical construction of language. Thus, with equal absurdity, Cardell and Sherman, in their Philosophic Grammars, attempt to confute the doctrines of their predecessors, by supposing ellipses at pleasure. And while the former teaches, that prepositions do not govern the objective case, but that every verb is transitive, and governs at least two objects, expressed or understood, its own and that of a preposition: the latter, with just as good an argument, contends that no verb is transitive, but that every objective case is governed by a preposition expressed or understood. A world of nonsense for lack of a definition!
** Of the Article—"A man and [a] woman."—"The day, [the] month, and [the] year."—"She gave me an apple and [a] pear, for a fig and [an] orange."—Jaudon's Gram., p. 170.
** Of the Noun—"The common [law] and the statute law."—"The twelve [apostles]."—"The same [man] is he."—"One [book] of my books."—"A dozen [bottles] of wine."—"Conscience, I say; not thine own [conscience], but [the conscience] of the other."—1 Cor., x, 29. "Every moment subtracts from [our lives] what it adds to our lives."—Dillwyn's Ref., p. 8. "Bad actions mostly lead to worse" [actions].—Ib., p. 5.
** Of the Adjective—"There are subjects proper for the one, and not [proper] for the other."—Kames. "A just weight and [a just] balance are the Lord's."—Prov., xvi, 11. True ellipses of the adjective alone, are but seldom met with.
** Of the Pronoun—"Leave [thou] there thy gift before the altar, and go [thou] thy way; first be [thou] reconciled to thy brother, and then come [thou] and offer [thou] thy gift,"—Matt., v, 24. "Love [ye] your enemies, bless [ye] them that curse you, do [ye] good to them that hate you."—Ib., v. 44. "Chastisement does not always immediately follow error, but [it] sometimes comes when [it is] least expected."— Dillwyn, Ref., p. 31. "Men generally put a greater value upon the favours [which] they bestow, than upon those [which] they receive."—Art of Thinking, p. 48. "Wisdom and worth were all [that] he had."—Allen's Gram., p. 294.
** Of the Verb—"The world is crucified unto me, and I [am crucified] unto the world."—Gal., vi, 14. "Hearts should not [differ], though heads may, differ."—Dillwyn, p. 11. "Are ye not much better than they" [are]?—Matt., vi, 26. "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience [worketh] experience; and experience [worketh] hope."—Romans, v, 4. "Wrongs Are engraved ​ are engraved on marble; benefits [are engraved] on sand."—Art of Thinking, p. 41. "To whom thus Eve, yet sinless" [spoke].—Milton.
** Of the Participle—"That [being] o'er, they part."—"Animals of various natures, some adapted to the wood, and some [adapted] to the wave."—Melmoth, on Scripture, p. 13. "His knowledge [being] measured to his state and place, His time [being] a moment, and a point [being] his space."—Pope.
** Of the Adverb—"He can do this independently of me, if not [independently] of you." "She shows a body rather than a life; A statue, [rather] than a breather." —Shak., Ant. and Cleo., iii, 3.
** Of the Conjunction—"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, [and] joy, [and] peace, [and] long suffering, [and] gentleness, [and] goodness, [and] faith, [and] meekness, [and] temperance."—Gal., v, 22. The repetition of the conjunction is called Polysyndeton; and the omission of it, Asyndeton.
** Of the Preposition—"It shall be done [on] this very day."—"We shall set off [at] some time [in] next month."—"He departed [from] this life."—"He gave [to] me a book."—"We walked [through] a mile."—"He was banished [from] the kingdom."—W. Allen. "He lived like [to] a prince."—Wells.
** Of the Interjecion—"Oh! the frailty, [oh!] the wickedness of men."—"Alas for Mexico! and [alas] for many of her invaders!"
** Of Phrases or Clauses—"The active commonly do more than they are bound to do; the indolent [commonly do] less" [than they are bound to do].—"Young men, angry, mean less than they say; old men, [angry, mean] more" [than they say].—"It is the duty of justice, not to injure men; [it is the duty] of modesty, not to offend them."—W. Allen.
* Pleonasm is the introduction of superfluous words; as, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."—Gen., ii, 17. This figure is allowable only, when, in animated discourse, it abruptly introduces an emphatic word, or repeats an idea to impress it more strongly; as, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."—Bible. "All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth."—Id. "There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."—Id. "I know thee who thou art."—Id. A Pleonasm, as perhaps in these ​instances, is sometimes impressive and elegant; but an unemphatic repetition of the same idea, is one of the worst faults of bad writing. OBS.—Strong passion is not always satisfied with saying a thing once, and in the fewest words possible; nor is it natural that it should be. Hence repetitions indicative of intense feeling may constitute a beauty of the highest kind, when, if the feeling were wanting, or supposed to be so, they would be reckoned intolerable tautologies. The following is an example, which the reader may appreciate the better, if he remembers the context: "At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead."—Judges, v, 27.
* Syllepsis is agreement formed according to the figurative sense of a word, or the mental conception of the thing spoken of, and not according to the literal or common use of the term; it is therefore in general connected with some figure of rhetoric: as "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory."—John, i, 14. "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."—Acts, viii, 5. "The city of London have expressed their sentiments with freedom and firmness."—Junius, p. 159. "And I said [to backsliding Israel,] after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it."—Jer., iii, 7. "And he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder."—Mark, iii, 17. "While Evening draws her crimson curtains round."—Thomson, p. 63. "The Thunder raises his tremendous voice."—Id., p. 113. OBSERVATIONS. To the parser, some explanation of that agreement which is controlled by tropes, is often absolutely necessary; yet, of our modern grammarians, none appear to have noticed it; and, of the oldest writers, few, if any, have given it the rank which it deserves among the figures of syntax. The term Syllepsis literally signifies conception, comprehension, or taking-together. Under this name have been arranged, by the grammarians and rhetoricians, many different forms of unusual or irregular agreement; some of which are quite too unlike to be embraced in the same class, and not a few, perhaps, too unimportant or too ordinary to deserve any classification as figures. I therefore omit some forms of expression which others have treated as examples of Syllepsis, and define the term with reference to such as seem more worthy to be noticed as deviations from the ordinary construction of words. Dr. Webster, allowing the word two meanings, explains it thus: "Syllepsis, n. [Gr. syllæpsis.] 1. In grammar, a figure by which we conceive the sense of words otherwise than the words import, and construe them according to the intention of the author; otherwise called substitution. 2. The agreement of a verb or adjective, not with the word next to it, but with the most worthy in the sentence."—American Dict. In short, Syllepsis is a conception of which grammarians have conceived so variously, that it has become doubtful, what definition or what application of the term is now the most appropriate. Dr. Prat, in defining it, cites one notion from Sanctius, and adds an other of his own, thus: "SYLLEPSIS, id est, Conceptio, est quoties Generibus, aut Numeris videntur voces discrepare. Sanct. l. 4. c. 10. Vel sit Comprehensio indignioris sub digniore."—Prat's Lat. Gram., Part ii, p. 164. John Grant ranks it as a mere form or species of Ellipsis, and expounds it thus: "Syllepsis is when the adjective or verb, joined to different substantives, agrees with the more worthy."—Institutes of Lat. Gram., p. 321. Dr. Littleton describes it thus: "Syllepsis [sic—KTH],—A Grammatical figure where two Nominative Cases singular of different persons are joined to a Verb plural."—Latin Dict., 4to. By Dr. Morell it is explained as follows: "Syllepsis,—A grammatical figure, where one is put for many, and many for one, Lat. Conceptio."—Morell's Ainsworth's Dict., 4to, Index Vitand.
* Enállagè is the use of one part of speech, or of one modification, for an other. This figure borders closely upon solecism; and, for the stability of the language, it should be sparingly indulged. There are, however, several forms of it which can appeal to good authority: as, ​ OBSERVATIONS. Enallage is a Greek word, signifying commutation, change, or exchange. "Enallage, in a general sense, is the change of words, or of their accidents, one for another."—Grant's Latin Gram., p. 322. The word Antimeria, which literally expresses change of parts, was often used by the old grammarians as synonymous with Enallage; though, sometimes, the former was taken only for the substitution of one part of speech for an other, and the latter, only, or more particularly, for a change of modification—as of mood for mood, tense for tense, or number for number. The putting of one case for an other, has also been thought worthy of a particular name, and been called Antiptosis. But Enallage, the most comprehensive of these terms, having been often of old applied to all such changes, reducing them to one head, may well be now defined as above, and still applied, in this way, to all that we need recognize as figures. The word Enallaxis, preferred by some, is of the same import. "Enallaxis, so called by Longinus, or Enallage, is an Exchange of Cases, Tenses, Persons, Numbers, or Genders."—Holmes's Rhet., Book i, p. 57. "An ENALLAXIS changes, when it pleases, Tenses, or Persons, Genders, Numbers, Cases."—Ib., B. ii, p. 50. Our most common form of Enallage is that by which a single person is addressed in the plural number. This is so fashionable in our civil intercourse, that some very polite grammarians improperly dispute its claims to be called a figure; and represent it as being more ordinary, and even more literal than the regular phraseology; which a few of them, as we have seen, would place among the archaisms. The next in frequency, (if indeed it can be called a different form,) is the practice of putting we for I, or the plural for the singular in the first person. This has never yet been claimed as literal and regular syntax, though the usages differ in nothing but commonness; both being honourably authorized, both still improper on some occasions, and, in both, the Enallage being alike obvious. Other varieties of this figure, not uncommon in English, are the putting of adjectives for adverbs, of adverbs for nouns, of the present tense for the preterit, and of the preterit for the perfect participle. But, in the use of such liberties, elegance and error sometimes approximate so nearly, there is scarcely an obvious line between them, and grammarians consequently disagree in making the distinction. Deviations of this kind are, in general, to be considered solecisms; otherwise, the rules of grammar would be of no use or authority. Despauter, an ancient Latin grammarian, gave an improper latitude to this figure, or to a species of it, under the name of Antiptosis; and Behourt and others extended it still further. But Sanctius says, "Antiptosi grammaticorum nihil imperitius, quod figmentum si esset verum, frustra quæreretur, quem casum verba regerent." And the Messieurs De Port Royal reject the figure altogether. There are, however, some changes of this kind, which the grammarian is not competent to condemn, though they do not accord with the ordinary principles of construction.
** "You know that you are Brutus, that say this."—Shak.
** "They fall successive[ly], and successive[ly] rise."—Pope.
** "Than whom [who] a fiend more fell is nowhere found."—Thomson.
** "Sure some disaster has befell" [befallen].—Gay.
** "So furious was that onset's shock, Destruction's gates at once unlock" [unlocked].—Hogg.
* Hyperbaton is the transposition of words; as, "He wanders earth around."—Cowper "Rings the world with the vain stir."—Id. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."—Acts, xvii, 23. "‘Happy’, says Montesquieu, ‘is that nation whose annals are tiresome.’"—Corwin, in Congress, 1847. This figure is much employed in poetry. A judicious use of it confers harmony, variety, strength, and vivacity upon composition. But care should be taken lest it produce ambiguity or obscurity, absurdity or solecism. OBS.—A confused and intricate arrangement of words, received from some of the ancients the name of Syn'chysis, and was reckoned by them among the figures of grammar. By some authors, this has been improperly identified with Hyper'baton, or elegant inversion; as may be seen under the word Synchysis in Littleton's Dictionary, or in Holmes's Rhetoric, at page 58th. Synchysis literally means confusion, or commixtion; and, in grammar, is significant only of some poetical jumble of words, some verbal kink or snarl, which cannot be grammatically resolved or disentangled: as, "Is piety thus and pure devotion paid?" —Milton, P. L., B. xi, l. 452. "An ass will with his long ears fray The flies that tickle him away; But man delights to have his ears Blown maggots in by flatterers." —Butler's Poems, p. 161.

### SECTION IV.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.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. ​
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.
* 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. 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.
    "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.
* 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, 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.
** "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress."—Psal., xviii 1.
** "His eye was morning's brightest ray."—Hogg.
** "An angler in the tides of fame."—Id., Q. W.
** "Beside him sleeps the warrior's bow."—Langhorne.
** "Wild fancies in his moody brain Gambol'd unbridled and unbound."—Hogg, Q. W.
** "Speechless, and fix'd in all the death of wo."—Thomson.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Personification is a figure by which, in imagination, we ascribe intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract qualities; as,
** "The Worm, aware of his intent, Harangued him thus, right eloquent."—Cowper.
** "Lo, steel-clad War his gorgeous standard rears!"—Rogers.
** "Hark! Truth proclaims, thy triumphs cease!"—Idem.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Apophasis, or Paralipsis, 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.
* 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.

### SECTION V.—EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.SECTION V.—EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XIV.—PROSODICAL.
In the Fourteenth Praxis, are exemplified the several Figures of Orthography, of Etymology, of Syntax, and of Rhetoric, which the parser may name and define; ​and by it the pupil may also be exercised in relation to the principles of Punctuation, Utterance, Analysis, or whatever else of Grammar, the examples contain.

#### LESSON I.—FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.LESSON I.—FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

MIMESIS AND ARCHAISM.
"I ax'd you what you had to sell. I am fitting out a wessel for Wenice, loading her with warious keinds of prowisions, and wittualling her for a long woyage; and I want several undred weight of weal, wenison, &c., with plenty of inyons and winegar, for the preserwation of ealth."—Columbian Orator, p. 292.
"God bless you, and lie still quiet (says I) a bit longer, for my shister's afraid of ghosts, and would die on the spot with the fright, was she to see you come to life all on a sudden this way without the least preparation."—Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, p. 143.
"None [else are] so desperately evill, as they that may bee good and will not: or have beene good and are not."—Rev. John Rogers, 1620. "A Carpenter finds his work as hee left it, but a Minister shall find his sett back. You need preach continually."—Id.
"Here whilom ligg'd th' Esopus of his age,  But call'd by Fame, in soul ypricked deep."—Thomson.
 "It was a fountain of Nepenthe rare,  Whence, as Dan Homer sings, huge pleasaunce grew."—Id.

#### LESSON II.—FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.LESSON II.—FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.

APHÆRESIS, PROSTHESIS, SYNCOPE, APOCOPE, PARAGOGE, DIÆRESIS, SYNÆRESIS, AND TMESIS.
"Bend ’gainst the steepy hill thy breast,  Burst down like torrent from its crest."—Scott.
 "’Tis mine to teach th’ inactive hand to reap  Kind nature's bounties, o'er the globe diffus'd."—Dyer.
 "Alas! alas! how impotently true  Th' aërial pencil forms the scene anew."—Cawthorne.
 "Here a deformed monster joy'd to won,  Which on fell rancour ever was ybent."—Lloyd.
 "Withouten trump was proclamation made."—Thomson.
 "The gentle knight, who saw their rueful case,  Let fall adown his silver beard some tears.  'Certes,' quoth he, 'it is not e'en in grace,  T’ undo the past and eke your broken years."—Id.
 "Vain tamp'ring has but foster'd his disease;  ’Tis desp'rate, and he sleeps the sleep of death."—Cowper.
 "'I have a pain upon my forehead here'—  'Why that's with watching; ’twill away again.'"—Shakspeare.
 "I'll to the woods, among the happier brutes;  Come, let's away; hark! the shrill horn resounds."—Smith.
"What prayer and supplication soever be made."—Bible. "By the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you ward."—Ib.

#### LESSON III.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.LESSON III.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.
##### FIGURE I.—ELLIPSIS.FIGURE I.—ELLIPSIS.

"And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,  And [--] villager [--] abroad at early toil."—Beattie.
 "The cottage curs at [--] early pilgrim bark."—Id.
 "'Tis granted, and no plainer truth appears,  Our most important [--] are our earliest years."—Cowper.
 "To earn her aid, with fix'd and anxious eye,  He looks on nature's [--] and on fortune's course."—Akenside.
 "For longer in that paradise to dwell,  The law [--] I gave to nature him forbids."—Milton.
"So little mercy shows [--] who needs so much."—Cowper.
 "Bliss is the same [--] in subject, as [--] in king;  In [--] who obtain defence, and [--] who defend."—Pope.
 "Man made for kings! those optics are but dim  That tell you so—say rather, they [--] for him."—Cowper.
 "Man may dismiss compassion from his heart,  But God will never [-------]."—Id.
 "Vigour [--] from toil, from trouble patience grows."—Beattie.
 "Where now the rill melodious, [--] pure, and cool,  And meads, with life, and mirth, and beauty crown'd?"—Id.
 "How dead the vegetable kingdom lies!  How dumb the tuneful [------------]!"—Thomson.
 "Self-love and Reason to one end aspire,  Pain [--] their aversion, pleasure [--] their desire;  But greedy that its object would devour,  This [--] taste the honey, and not wound the flower."—Pope.

#### LESSON IV.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.LESSON IV.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.
##### FIGURE II.—PLEONASM.FIGURE II.—PLEONASM.

"According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense."—Isaiah, lix, 18. "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night."—Song of Sol., v, 2. "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God."—Jer., xxxi, 18. "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow."—Matt., vi, 28. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."—2 Cor., x, 17.
"He too is witness, noblest of the train  That wait on man, the flight-performing horse."—Cowper.

##### FIGURE III.—SYLLEPSIS.FIGURE III.—SYLLEPSIS.

"'Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas:' which is, by interpretation a stone."—John, i, 42. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.'"—Jer., xlix, 35. "Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."—Rom., ix, 33.
"Thus Conscience pleads her cause within the breast,  Though long rebell'd against, not yet suppressed."—Cowper.
 "Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much;  Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."—Id.
 "For those the race of Israel oft forsook  Their living strength, and unfrequented left  His righteous altar, bowing lowly down  To bestial gods."—Milton, Paradise Lost, B. i, l. 432.

#### LESSON V.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.LESSON V.—FIGURES OF SYNTAX.
##### FIGURE IV.—ENALLAGE.FIGURE IV.—ENALLAGE.

"Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself  Are much condemned to have an itching palm,  To sell and mart your offices for gold."—Shakspeare.
 "Come, Philomelus; let us instant go,  O'erturn his bow'rs, and lay his castle low."—Thomson.
 "Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son  Shall finish what the short-liv'd sire begun"—Pope.
 "Such was that temple built by Solomon,  Than whom none richer reign'd o'er Israel."—Author.
 "He spoke: with fatal eagerness we burn,  And quit the shores, undestin'd to return."—Day.
"Still as he pass'd, the nations he sublimes."—Thomson.
 "Sometimes, with early morn, he mounted gay."—Id.
 "'I've lost a day'—the prince who nobly cried,  Had been an emperor without his crown."—Young.

##### FIGURE V.—HYPERBATON.FIGURE V.—HYPERBATON.

"Such resting found the sole of unblest feet."—Milton.
 "Yet, though successless, will the toil delight."—Thomson.
 "Where, 'midst the changeful scen'ry ever new,  Fancy a thousand wondrous forms descries."—Beattie.
 "Yet so much bounty is in God, such grace,  That who advance his glory, not their own,  Them he himself to glory will advance."—Milton.
 "No quick reply to dubious questions make;  Suspense and caution still prevent mistake."—Denham.

#### LESSON VI.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.LESSON VI.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
##### FIGURE I.—SIMILE.FIGURE I.—SIMILE.

"Human greatness is short and transitory, as the odour of incense in the fire."—Dr. Johnson. "Terrestrial happiness is of short continuance: the brightness of the flame is wasting its fuel, the fragrant flower is passing away in its own odours."—Id. "Thy nod is as the earthquake that shakes the mountains; and thy smile, as the dawn of the vernal day."—Id.
"Plants rais'd with tenderness are seldom strong;  Man's coltish disposition asks the thong;  And, without discipline, the fav'rite child,  Like a neglected forester, runs wild."—Cowper.
 "As turns a flock of geese, and, on the green,  Poke out their foolish necks in awkward spleen,  (Ridiculous in rage!) to hiss, not bite,  So war their quills, when sons of dullness write."—Young.
 "Who can unpitying see the flowery race,  Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign,  Before th' unbating beam? So fade the fair,  When fevers revel through their azure veins."—Thomson.

##### FIGURE II.—METAPHOR.FIGURE II.—METAPHOR.

"Cathmon, thy name is a pleasant gale."—Ossian. "Rolled into himself he flew, wide on the bosom of winds. The old oak felt his departure, and shook its whistling head."—Id. "Carazan gradually lost the inclination to do good, as he acquired the power; as the hand of time scattered snow upon his head, the freeziny influence [sic—KTH] extended to his bosom."—Hawkesworth. "The sun grew weary of gilding the palaces of Morad; the clouds of sorrow gathered round his head; and the tempest of hatred roared about his dwelling."—Dr. Johnson.

#### LESSON VII.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.LESSON VII.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
##### FIGURE III.—ALLEGORY.FIGURE III.—ALLEGORY.

"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not;' but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir;' and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, 'The first.'"—Matt., xxi, 28-31.

##### FIGURE IV.—METONYMY.FIGURE IV.—METONYMY.

"Swifter than a whirlwind, flies the leaden death."—Hervey. "'Be all the dead forgot,' said Foldath's bursting wrath. 'Did not I fail in the field?'"—Ossian.
"Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke."—Gray.
 "Firm in his love, resistless in his hate,  His arm is conquest, and his frown is fate."—Day.
"At length the world, renew'd by calm repose,  Was strong for toil; the dappled morn arose."—Parnell.
 "What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme,  The mole's dim curtain and the lynx's beam!  Of hearing, from the life that fills the flood,  To that which warbles through the vernal wood!"—Pope.

##### FIGURE V.—SYNECDOCHE.FIGURE V.—SYNECDOCHE.

"'Twas then his threshold first receiv'd a guest."—Parnell.
 "For yet by swains alone the world he knew,  Whose feet came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew."—Id.
 "Flush'd by the spirit of the genial year,  Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom  Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round."—Thomson.

#### LESSON VIII.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.LESSON VIII.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
##### FIGURE VI.—HYPERBOLE.FIGURE VI.—HYPERBOLE.

"I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his shield the rising moon; he sat on the shore, like a cloud of mist on the hill."—Ossian.
"At which the universal host up sent  A shout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond  Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."—Milton.
 "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood  Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather  The multitudinous seas incarnadine,  Making the green one red!"—Shakspeare.

##### FIGURE VII.—VISION.FIGURE VII.—VISION.

"How mighty is their defence who reverently trust in the arm of God! How powerfully do they contend who fight with lawful weapons! Hark! 'Tis the voice of eloquence, pouring forth the living energies of the soul; pleading, with generous indignation and holy emotion, the cause of injured humanity against lawless might, and reading the awful destiny that awaits the oppressor!—I see the stern countenance of despotism overawed! I see the eye fallen, that kindled the elements of war! I see the brow relaxed, that scowled defiance at hostile thousands! I see the knees tremble, that trod with firmness the embattled field! Fear has entered that heart which ambition had betrayed into violence! The tyrant feels himself a man, and subject to the weakness of humanity!—Behold! and tell me, is that power contemptible which can thus find access to the sternest hearts?"—Author.

##### FIGURE VIII.—APOSTROPHE.FIGURE VIII.—APOSTROPHE.

"Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on,  Inhumanly ingenious to find out  New pains for life, new terrors for the grave;  Artificers of death! Still monarchs dream  Of universal empire growing up  From universal ruin. Blast the design,  Great God of Hosts! nor let thy creatures fall  Unpitied victims at Ambition's shrine."—Porteus.

#### LESSON IX.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.LESSON IX.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
##### FIGURE IX.—PERSONIFICATION.FIGURE IX.—PERSONIFICATION.

"Hail, sacred Polity, by Freedom rear'd!  Hail, sacred Freedom, when by Law restrain'd!  Without you, what were man? A grov'ling herd,  In darkness, wretchedness, and want, enchain'd."—Beattie.
 "Let cheerful Mem'ry, from her purest cells,  Lead forth a godly train of Virtues fair,  Cherish'd in early youth, now paying back  With tenfold usury the pious care."—Porteus.

##### FIGURE X.—EROTESIS.FIGURE X.—EROTESIS.

"He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?"—Psalms, xciv, 10. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."—Jeremiah, xiii, 23.

##### FIGURE XI.—ECPHONESIS.FIGURE XI.—ECPHONESIS.

"O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!"—Jeremiah, ix, 1.

##### FIGURE XII.—ANTITHESIS.FIGURE XII.—ANTITHESIS.

"On this side, modesty is engaged; on that, impudence: on this, chastity; on that, lewdness: on this, integrity; on that, fraud: on this, piety; on that, profaneness: on this, constancy; on that, fickleness: on this, honour; on that, baseness: on this, moderation; on that, unbridled passion."—Cicero.
"She, from the rending earth, and bursting skies,  Saw gods descend, and fiends infernal rise;  Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest abodes;  Fear made her devils, and weak hope her gods."—Pope.

#### LESSON X.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.LESSON X.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
##### FIGURE XIII.—CLIMAX.FIGURE XIII.—CLIMAX.

"Virtuous actions are necessarily approved by the awakened conscience; and when they are approved, they are commended to practice; and when they are practised, they become easy; and when they become easy, they afford pleasure; and when they afford pleasure, they are done frequently; and when they are done frequently, they are confirmed by habit: and confirmed habit is a kind of second nature."—Inst., p. 246.
"Weep all of every name: begin the wo,  Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds;  And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills;  And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales;  And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks;  And sorrwing brooks, weep to the weeping stream;  And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep;  And let the instrument take up the song,  Responsive to the voice—harmonious wo!"—Pollok, B. vi, l. 115.

##### FIGURE XIV.—IRONY.FIGURE XIV.—IRONY.

"And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, 'Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in [on] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!' "—1 Kings, xviii, 27.
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my breach of promise."—Numbers, xiv, 34.
"Some lead a life unblamable and just,  Their own dear virtue their unshaken trust;  They never sin—or if (as all offend)  Some trivial slips their daily walk attend,  The poor are near at hand, the charge is small,  A slight gratuity atones for all."—Cowper.

##### FIGURE XV.—APOPHASIS, OR PARALIPSIS.FIGURE XV.—APOPHASIS, OR PARALIPSIS.

I say nothing of the notorious profligacy of his character; nothing of the reckless extravagance with which he has wasted an ample fortune; nothing of the disgusting intemperance which has sometimes caused him to reel in our streets;—but I aver that he has not been faithful to our interests,—has not exhibited either probity or ability in the important office which he holds. ​

##### FIGURE XVI.—ONOMATOPOEIA.FIGURE XVI.—ONOMATOPOEIA.

$_☞$[The following lines, from Swift's Poems, satirically mimick the imitative music of a violin.]
"Now slowly move your fiddle-stick;  Now, tantan, tantantivi, quick;  Now trembling, shivering, quivering, quaking,  Set hoping hearts of Lovers aching."
 "Now sweep, sweep the deep.  See Celia, Celia dies,  While true Lovers' eyes  Weeping sleep, Sleeping weep,  Weeping sleep, Bo-peep, bo-peep."
* ↑ [477] The Latin term, (made plural to agree with verba, words,) is subaudita, underheard—the perfect participle of subaudio, to underhear. Hence the noun, subauditio, subaudition, the recognition of ellipses.
* ↑ [478] "Thus, in the Proverbs of all Languages, many Words are usually left to be supplied from the trite obvious Nature of what they express; as, out of Sight out of Mind; the more the merrier, &c."—W. Ward's Pract. Gram., p. 147.
* ↑ [479] Lindley Murray and some others say, "As the ellipsis occurs in almost every sentence in the English language, numerous examples of it might be given."—Murray's Gram., p. 220; Weld's, 292; Fisk's, 147. They could, without doubt, have exhibited many true specimens of Ellipsis; but most of those which they have given, are only fanciful and false ones; and their notion of the frequency of the figure, is monstrously hyperbolical.
* ↑ [480] Who besides Webster has called syllepsis "substitution," I do not know. Substitution and conception are terms of quite different import, and many authors have explained syllepsis by the latter word. Dr. Webster gives to "SUBSTITUTION" two meanings, thus: "1. The act of putting one person or thing in the place of another to supply [his or] its place.—2. In grammar, syllepsis, or the use of one word for another."—American Dict., 8vo. This explanation seems to me inaccurate; because it confounds both substitution and syllepsis with enallage. It has signs of carelessness throughout; the former sentence being both tautological and ungrammatical.—G. B.
* ↑ [481] Between Tropes and Figures, some writers attempt a full distinction; but this, if practicable, is of little use. According to Holmes, "Tropes affect only single Words; but figures, whole Sentences."—Rhetoric, B. i, p. 28. "The chief tropes in Language," says this author, "are seven; a Metaphor, an Allegory, a Metonymy, a Synecdoche, an Irony, an Hyperbole, and a Catachresis."—Ib., p. 30. The term Figure or Figures is more comprehensive than Trope or Tropes; I have therefore not thought it expedient to make much use of the latter, in either the singular or the plural form. Holmes's seven tropes are all of them defined in the main text of this section, except Catachresis, which is commonly explained to be "an abuse of a trope." According to this sense, it seems in general to differ but little from impropriety. At best, a Catachresis is a forced expression, though sometimes, perhaps, to be indulged where there is great excitement. It is a sort of figure by which a word is used in a sense different from, yet connected with, or analogous to, its own; as, "And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, as heaven's cherubim Hors'd upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind."—Shak., Macbeth, Act i, Sc. 7.
* ↑ [482] Holmes, in his Art of Rhetoric, writes this word "Paraleipsis" retaining the Greek orthography. So does Fowler in his recent "English Grammar," §646. Webster, Adam, and some others, write it "Paralepsis." I write it as above on the authority of Littleton, Ainsworth, and some others; and this is according to the analogy of the kindred word ellipsis, which we never write either ellepsis, or, as the Greek, elleipsis.