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Thy blood is cold; thou hast no speculation
In those eyes which thou dost stare with.
Hence, horrible shadow; unreal mockery, hence!

LIII.

CLIMAX.

Climax consists in an artful exaggeration of all the circumstances of some object or action, which we wish to place in a strong light. It operates by a gradual rise of one circumstance above another, till our idea is raised to the highest pitch.

A speaker makes an assertion which he feels is not strong enough for his thought; he adds another, and another, until he reaches that point which his mind contemplates to be sufficiently expressive; and then the climax (or climbing) ends.

Example 1st.

Boisterous in speech, in action prompt and bold,
He buys, he sells, he steals, he kills for gold.

Example 2d.

[The following is part of an address, in the case of a woman who was accused of murdering her own child.]

Gentlemen, if one man had any how slain another; if an adversary had killed his opposer; or a woman occasioned the death of her enemy; even these criminals would have been capitally punished by the Cornelian law. But, if this guiltless infant, who could make no enemy, had been murdered by its own nurse; what punishment would not the mother have demanded? With what cries and exclamations would she have stunned your ears? What shall we say, then, when a woman, guilty of homicide; a mother, of the murder of her innocent child, hath comprised all those misdeeds in one single crime; a crime, in its own nature detestable; in a woman prodigious; in a mother incredible; and perpetrated against one, whose age called for compassion; whose near relation claimed affection; and whose innocence deserved the highest favor? *

*Such regular Climaxes, however, though they have great beauty, yet

Example 3d.

The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temple, the great globe itself,
Yea, all that it inhabits, shall dissolve,
And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a wreck behind.

Example 4th.

When we have practised good actions awhile they become easy; and when they are easy, we begin to take pleasure in them; and when they please us, we do them frequently; and by frequency of acts they grow into a habit.

Example 5th.

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

Example 6th.

It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in bonds; it is the height of guilt to scourge him; little less than parricide to put him to death; what name, then, shall I give to the act of crucifying him?

at the same time have the appearance of art and study; and, therefore, though they may be admitted into formal harangues, yet they are not the language of passion, which seldom proceeds by steps so regular.

Climax and Antithesis are sometimes united, as in the following

Example.

Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes,

Men would be angels, angels would be gods;
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell,

Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.

Climax is nearly related to Hyperbole, and differs from it chiefly in degree. The purpose of Hyperbole is to exalt our conceptions beyond the truth: of Climax, to elevate our ideas of the truth itself, by a series of circumstances, ascending one above another in respect of importance, and all pointing toward the same object. This figure, when properly introduced and displayed, affords a very sensible pleasure. It accords with our disposition to enlarge our conceptions of any object that we contemplate; it affords a gratification similar to what we receive on ascending an eminence, situated in the centre of a rich and varied landscape, where every step we proceed presents a grander and more extensive prospect.

LIV.

ANTICLIMAX.

The descent from great things to small is termed anticlimax. It is the opposite of climax, and is found principally in ludicrous compositions.

Examples.

1. And thou, Dalhousie, the great god of war,
Lieutenant-colonel to the Earl of Mar.

2. Under the tropic is our language spoke,
And part of Flanders hath received our yoke.

LV.

ALLUSION.

Allusion is that figure by which some word or phrase in a sentence calls to mind, as if accidentally, another similar or analogous subject.

Allusions, though different in form from comparisons, are of the same nature, and their introduction depends on similar principles, Like comparisons, they are illustrative, and give us pleasure from the discovery of unexpected resemblances, or coincidences of thought or expression. In making allusions, care should always be taken, that what is alluded to should be generally known.*

Examples.

1. You cannot be to them "Vich Ian Vohr," and these

The student who would see this figure beautifully illustrated, is referred to Newman's Rhetoric.

three magic words are the only "open sesame ings and sympathies.

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[Here the words "open sesame" recall to mind the charm by which the robbers' dungeon, in the Arabian tale, * was opened.]

2. There are many religionists of the present day who make it their shibboleth to be able to tell the precise moment when the heart was converted to God. †

3. I was surrounded with difficulties, and possessed no clue by which I could effect my escape. ‡

[Exercises may readily be framed by the student who attentively considers the close remblance of this figure to Simile or Comparison.]

LVI.

IRONY.

Irony is the intentional use of words which express a sense contrary to that which the writer or speaker means to convey, as when we say of one unskilled in grammar, "Admirable grammarian!"

When irony is so strong as to be termed bitter or cutting, it is Sarcasm. Irony turns things into ridicule, in a peculiar manner; it consists in laughing at an individual, under the disguise of appearing to praise or speak well of him.

The proper subjects of irony are vices and follies of all kinds; and this mode of exposing them is often more effectual than serious reasoning. The figure is, however, sometimes used on the most solemn occasions, as will be seen by the following:

Example 1st.

Cry aloud, for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pur

*The Forty Thieves.

† See the Book of Judges, chapter xii., verses 5, 6.

See the story of Ariadne, in Lempriere's Classical Dictionary. In the use of this figure (Allusion), it may be observed that the subject to which allusion is made, should be readily perceived, and that it recompense, by its beauty or its utility, the digression necessarily made in introducing it.

suing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awakened.

See 1 Kings, chapter xviii., verse 27.

Example 2d.

And Job answered and said, No doubt ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

Example of Sarcasm.

In the name of common sense, why should the Duke of Bedford think that none but of the House of Russell are entitled to the favor of the crown? Why should he imagine, that no king of England has been capable of judging of merit but King Henry the Eighth? Indeed, he will pardon me; he is a little mistaken: all virtue did not end in the first Earl of Bedford; all discernment did not lose its vision when his Creator closed his eyes. Let him remit his rigor on the disproportion between merit and reward in others, and they will make no inquiry into the origin of his fortune. They will regard with much more satisfaction, as he will contemplate with infinitely more advantage, whatever his pedigree has been dulcified, by an exposure to the influence of heaven in a long flow of generations, from the hard, acidulous, metallic tincture of the spring. It is little to be doubted, that several of his forefathers, in that long series, have degenerated into honor and virtue.

LVIII.

ALLITERATION.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as, bug-bear, sea-sick, and the ƒ and g in the following line:

Fields ever fresh, and groves for ever green.

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