Pigs-eyes, and fometimes Snotty-nofe and Draggle-tail. Or of Accidents for Perfons; as a Lawyer is called Split-caufe, a Taylor Prick-loufe, &c. Or of things belonging to a man, for the man himself; as a Swordman, a Gorn-man, a T-m-T-d-man: a White-staff, a Turn-key, &c. The APOSIOPESIS. An excellent figure for the Ignorant, as, "What shall "I fay?" when one has nothing to fay: or, "I can "no more," when one really can no more. Expreffions which the gentle Reader is fo good as never to take in earnest. The METAPHOR. The first Rule is to draw it from the lowest things, which is a certain way to fink the higheft; as when you fpeak of the Thunder of Heaven, fay, *«The Lords above are angry and talk big.” If you would defcribe a rich man refunding his treafures, exprefs it thus, + "Tho' he (as faid) may Riches gorge, the Spoil "Painful in mafy Vomit fhall recoil, "Soon fhall he perish with a fwift decay, "Like his own Ordure, caft with fcorn away." The Second, that, whenever you ftart a Metaphor, you must be sure to run it down, and purfue it as far as it can go. If you get the scent of a State negociation, follow it in this manner: "The ftones and all the elements with thee *Lee, Alex. + Blackm. Job, p. 91. 93. Job, p. 22. "Wild beasts their favage temper shall forget, Or, if you represent the Creator denouncing war against the wicked, be sure not to omit one circumstance ufual in proclaiming and levying war. * "Envoys and Agents, who by my command. "Refide in Paleftina's land, "To whom commiffions I have given, "To manage there the interefts of Heaven: Ye holy heralds, who proclaim "Or war or peace, in mine your master's name: « Will on his march in majesty appear, 1. The MIXTURE OF FIGURES, which raises so many images, as to give you no image at all. But its principal beauty is when it gives an idea juft oppofite to what it seemed meant to defcribe: Thus an ingenious artist painting the Spring talks of a Snow of blooms, and thereby raises an unexpected picture of Winter. Of this fort is the following: + "The gaping clouds pour lakes of fulphur down, "Whose livid flashes fickning fun-beams drown." *Blackm. Ifa, c. xl. 8 Pr. Arthur, p. 37. What a noble Confufion? clouds, lakes, brimstone, flames, fun-beams, gaping, pouring, fickning, drowning all in two lines. 2. The JARGON. *«Thy head fhall rife, tho' buried in the dust, "And 'midst the clouds his glittering turrets thrust." Quare, What are the glittering turrets of a man's head? "Upon the fhore, as frequent as the fand, "To meet the Prince, the glad Dimetians ftand." Quare, Where these Dimetians ftood; and of what fize they were? Add alfo to the Jargon fuch as the following: "Deftruction's empire fhall no longer last, "And Defolation lie for ever waste." § "Here Niobe, fad mother, makes her moan, "And seems converted to a ftone in ftone." But, for Variegation, nothing is more useful than 3. The PARONOMASIA, or PUN, where a Word, like the tongue of a jack-daw, fpeaks twice as much by being split: As this of Mr. Dennis ||, "Bullets that wound, like Parthians, as they fly." or this excellent one of Mr. Welfted ¶, "Behold the Virgin lie "Naked, and only cover'd by the Sky." To which thou may'st add, "To fee her beauties no man needs to ftoop, 4. The ANTITHESIS, or SE E-SAW, whereby Contraries and Oppofitions are balanced in fuch a way, as to caufe a Reader to remain fufpended between them, to his exceeding delight and recreation. Such are these, on a lady who made herself appear out of fize, by hiding a young princess under her clothes. "While the kind nymph, changing her faultless shape, "Becomes unhandsome, handsomely to 'scape." On the Maids of Honour in mourning. "Sadly they charm, and difmally they please." "His eyes fo bright "Let in the object, and let out the light." § "The Gods look pale, to fee us look fo red.” 11 "The Fairies and their Queen "In mantles blue came tripping o'er the green.' "All nature felt a reverential fhock, "The fea flood ftill to fee the mountains rock." Quarles. Blackm. Job, p. 176. CHAP. XI. The Figures continued: Of the Magnifying and Diminishing Figures. A GENUINE Writer of the Profund will take care never to magnify any object without clouding it at the fame time: His Thought will appear in a true mist, and very unlike what is in nature. It must always be remembered that Darkness is an effential quality of the Profund; or if there chance to be a glimmering, it must be as Milton expreffes it, 66 No light, but rather darkness visible.” The chief Figure of this fort is, 1. The HYPERBOLE, or IMPOSSIBLE. For Inftance, of a Lion. "He roar'd fo loud, and look'd fo wond'rous grim, "His very fhadow durft not follow him." Of a Lady at Dinner. "The filver whiteness that adorns thy neck, "The obfcureness of her birth Of a Bull-baiting. "Up to the ftars the fprawling maftives fly, * Vet. Aut. †Theob. Double Falfehood. Blackm. |