(1) The lower forms represent inanimate objects or lower animals as manifesting some human emotion, or as performing some voluntary action; as,

Angry waves; smiling spring.

"On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending."

"And every wave with dimpled face

That leaps upon the air,

Had caught a star in its embrace,

And held it trembling there."

Mrs. Welby.

(2) The highest form represents inanimate objects and lower animals as taking part in conversation; as, "Come into my parlor," said the spider to the fly. "Oh, no, no!" said the fly.

Remark.

Personification, when judiciously applied, is the source of much animation in composition.

844. Apostrophe is personification in which we address the absent as present; the inanimate as animate; or the abstract as personal; as,—

"Departed spirits of the mighty dead,

Ye who at Marathon and Luctra bled."

"Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again."

"O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!"

845. Antithesis is the figure by which we suggest opposition, but yet consistency of thought; as,

As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

846. Interrogation is a figure according to which a sentence having the form of a question is in reality a very positive declaration. If the question contains a negative particle, it is generally intended to imply an affirmative

answer; but without such a particle, it suggests a negative answer. Thus, "Will I not demand my money?" means, I certainly will demand my money; and "Will I tolerate his slander?" means, I certainly will not tolerate his slander.

847. Exclamation is the figure by which we express strong emotion. It doubtless has a place in composition, but it is so much used by writers and speakers that it seems best to discourage it. It is generally indicative of the absence of thought, for the mind does not think well while in a state of intense pleasure or pain. It would be much better for writers and speakers, as well as for the public, if they would restrain their feeling and encourage their thought. And to those who have formed the habit of making exclamations simply because they can, and in the absence of any corresponding emotions, it ought to be sufficient to say that, sooner or later, they will experience the sad fate of the boy who hollowed, "WOLF! WOLF!" when there was no wolf, and thus caused his friends to give him no attention when the wolf did come.

848. The Philosophy of Figures must be sought among the principles governing mental action. It has been suggested by some one that the Latin phrase, idem in alia, the same in another, expresses the basis of all fine art. Figurative Language is a fine art, and has for its basis the principle that the mind is pleased more when it sees a thing through another thing than when it sees only the thing itself. This principle depends upon the more fundamental ones that the thing most pleasing to the mind is its own activity, and the mental activity of seeing a thing is increased if the thing be seen through another. According to this principle, that mental action is agreeable, suggestiveness becomes the indispensable characteristic of all good composition. Never

express explicitly what can be forcibly implied. This is almost the whole secret of composition, and the student cannot impress it too firmly upon his mind; it is the key that will unlock all doors for our productions. We read as a task when the author thinks the subject all out for us, but we read as a pleasure when he leads us to think it out for ourselves.

849. General Suggestions on Style.

Read much, think more, and write out all your thoughts in the best style possible.

"Be Homer's works your study and delight;

Read them by day, and meditate by night."— Pope.

Let the same be said of a great many other works, especially those of Addison, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton. Never use slang.

"I never felt the temptation to use a foreign word without being able to find in English a word that expressed my meaning with more exactness and felicity."— Bryant.

"Avoid redundancy, deficiency, tautology, ambiguity, obscurity, affectation, pedantry, vulgarity, silliness, falseness, absurdity, nonsense, selfcontradiction, and any phraseology that is not the best the language affords." Kerl's Grammar.

"The first rule for figures is, that they be suited to the nature of the subject; neither too many, nor too gay, nor too elevated for it; that we neither attempt to force the subject, by means of them, into a degree of elevation which is not congruous to it; nor, on the other hand, allow it to sink below its proper dignity. . . . One of the greatest secrets in composition is to know when to be simple." - Blair.

"Accuracy of expression is the most essential element of a good style; and inaccurate writing is generally the expression of inaccurate thinking. Style, however, although it cannot be taught, is, to a certain extent, the result of mental training. . It is general culture." - Richard Grant White.

"Often it must have happened, to the mortification or joy of multitudes, that one man, out of windy nothings, has constructed an overwhelming appeal to the passions of his hearers, whilst another has thrown away the weightiest cause by his manner of treating it.

- Thomas De Quincey.