Homer, speaking of the eloquence of Ulysses : "Soft as the fleeces of descending snows, Pope's translation. Milton, describing the standard of the reprobate angels, says that it— "Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind." Shakspere, in the "Tempest: " "And as the morning steals upon the night, Again, in King John: Act v. Scene i. "Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum, Act III. Scene i. The following are examples of comparisons of illustration, and their purpose is to instruct by explaining : "As wax would not be adequate to the purpose of signature, if it had not the power to retain as well as to receive the impression, the same holds of the soul with respect to sense and imagination. Sense is its receptive power; imagination, its retentive. Had it sense without imagination, it would not be as wax, but as water, where, though all impressions be instantly made, yet, as soon as they are made, they are instantly lost." "The Tartuffes, however, who were present at the exhibition, deeply stung by the sarcasms of the poet [Molière], like the foul birds of night whose recesses have been suddenly invaded by a glare of light, raised a fearful cry against him." "Those persons who creep into the hearts of most people, who are chosen as the companions of their softer hours, and their reliefs from care and anxiety, are never persons of shining qualities or strong virtues. It is like the soft green of the soul on which we rest our eyes that are fatigued with beholding more glaring objects." There are certain rules to be borne in mind with respect to the use of this figure: 1. Comparisons should not be drawn between things that are obviously similar to each other. The pleasure derived from comparing lies in discovering a resemblance where we should not, at first, expect to find one. There is no art in showing a likeness which every one could discover for himself, and therefore such comparisons always fall short of their intended effect. 2. We should not fall into the contrary extreme, and found comparisons on resemblances either too faint or too remote. What is not easily perceived can never be very satisfactory, and such comparisons will always be censured by every reader of correct taste. For this reason, if we cannot invent new comparisons, we should not borrow them. To compare a hero to a lion, benevolence to the sun, or anger to a tempest, raises no emotion in the reader's mind. These figures have been used over and over again, till they are worn threadbare, and the adoption of them will but proclaim our own want of creative power. 3. The object from which a comparison is drawn should never be one not generally known. The intention of the figure is to throw light on a subject, and this can never be done when the source of a comparison is obscure or abstruse. The figure, when founded on some philosophical discovery or technical term, understood only by a certain class of persons, fails in its effect when introduced in a work intended for the general public. 4. Lastly. A comparison that consists in words only, and not in sense, is open to the strongest objection. This sort of figure may suit the burlesque, or parody, but it should never be admitted into a serious composition. Of this form, the following are specimens : "And now had Fhoebus in the lap Of Thetis taken out his nap, The next is from the same poem :— Hudibras. "Great on the bench, great in the saddle, Many writers use the terms simile and comparison indiscriminately. This is an error. It is true that they are synonymous; i. e., they agree in expressing likeness; but they differ in particulars. In a simile, the objects compared are brought together, and the likeness between them is merely stated. In a comparison, not only is the likeness expressed, but various points of the resemblance are added; so that the latter figure is more explanatory and more widely expressed than the former. The following is a com parison "As bees In spring-time, when the sun with Taurus rides, New-rubbed with balm, expatiate, and confer This is, properly, a comparison. The poet compares the fallen angels to bees; and he carries out the figure into many details: 66 Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge "He ceased! and Satan stayed not to reply, But, glad that now his sea should find a shore, Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, Into the wild expanse." In the above passages nothing more than the mere likeness is stated. It may be a question whether the simile is not a livelier figure than the comparison, as it leaves more to the imagination, and is mores uggestive. This distinction between the two figures, though not always maintained, should certainly not be overlooked. ON METAPHOR. The next figure to be spoken of is the metaphor. The principle of comparing is the foundation common to the metaphor and the simile. In both cases images are brought together, and their points of resemblance compared. But the difference is, that in the simile the likeness is expressed; whereas in the metaphor it is only implied. For this reason, therefore, the metaphor is generally preferred, as being a more pleasing mode of illustration. The figure is bolder, and more lively, as the mind is here engaged in rapidly comparing the resemblances with the idea expressed; whilst in a comparison the action of the mind is more languid, as we must first fix our attention on the principal object, and then on its corresponding image. The difference in form between these two figures is, that while in the latter, one object is likened to another, in the former, it is declared to be identical with another. Thus, when a writer says, "He fought like a lion," he uses a simile; but if he should say, "He was a lion in combat," the figure is immediately a metaphor. This explanation applies strictly to the figure metaphor properly so called; but the word is often used in a looser and more extended sense, and refers to any form of figurative language. For this we can easily account. The metaphor is so much more fre S |