Studies in English literature; being typical selections of British and American authorship, from Shakespeare to the present time

Front matter

«4^

C>, * O H O'

""Key

Contents

Preface ni

Definitions xi

PAGE I PAGB

II. Style

15. Definition and Topics. — Style refers to the choice and arrangement of words, and may be defined as the peculiar manner in which thought is expressed in language.

It includes the following topics : l.T\v& figures of speech.

II. The order of words.

III. The qualities of style.

I. FIGURES OF SPEECH.

16. A figure of speech is a deviation from the direct and literal mode of expression for greater effect. It is a form of speech artfully varied from the common usage.

17. Classification. — Figures of speech may be divided into three classes: I. Figures of relativity ; IL Figures oi gradation ; III. Figures oi emphasis. Under this head also may come the grammatical figures — ellipsis, enallage, and pleonasm.

The principal figures of which mention is made in this book are as follows :

ANTITHESIS.

APOSTROPHE.

SYNECDOCHE

SIMILE.

VISION.

METONYMY.

Figures of KelatiTity

METAPHOR.

ALLUSION.

EUPHEMISM.

ALLEGORY.

IRONY.

LITOTES.

PERSONIFICATION.

SARCASM.

EPITHET.

- « ^ X. [ CLIMAX.

Figures of Gmdation \

^ \ HYPERBOLE f EPIZEUXIS.

ANACOLUTHON.

APOSIOPESIS.

I ALLITERATION.

DEFINITIONS. xvil

/. Figures of Rela tivity.

18. Antithesis is the statement of a contrast or opposition of thoughts and words, as —

" In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As mild behavior and humility ; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Let us be tigers in our fierce deportment."

I. Oxymoron is an antithesis arising from the opposition of two contradictory terms, as "a pious fraud," "O victorious defeat!"

II. Antimetabole is an antithesis in which the order of words i? reversed in each member, as "A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits."

III. Parison, or isocolon, is an antithesis in which clauses of similar construction follow in a series, word contrasting with word, phrase with phrase, etc., as " Homer was the greater genius, Virgil the better artist. In the one we most admire the man, in the other the work. Homer hurries us with a commanding impetuosity, Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty."

19. The simile, or comparison, is a figure that formally likens one thing to another, as —

" Him, like the working bee in blossom dust, Blanched with his mill they found." — Tennyson.

20. The metaphor is a comparison implied in the language used. It transfers a word from the object to which it literally belongs, and applies it to another, as —

He bridles his anger.

" Athens, the eye of Greece, Mother of arts and eloquence." — Milton.

I. Metaphor dispenses with the connectives of comparison (like, as, etc.) used in the simile ; and instead of stating that one thing resembles another, asserts that it is that other : thus —

Simile. He was as brave as a lion.

Metaphor. He was a lion in the combat.

II. Conversiott into Simile. — Every metaphor may be converted into a simile, since every metaphor is a condensed simile. The process of expansion is a matter of tact rather than of rule ; but so far as any rule can be given, the following may be serviceable. First, it is to be noted that a simile is a kind of

XVlll

STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITER A TURE.

rhetorical proposition, and must, when fully expressed, contain four terms. Now let the metaphor to be explained be "The ship ploughs the sea." The following is the rule given by Seeley and Abbott {English Lessons, p. 131) : "It has been seen that the simile consists of four terms. In the third term of the simile stands the subject ('ship,' for instance) whose unknown predicated relation (' action of ship on water ') is to be explained. In the first term stands the corresponding subject (' plough '), whose predicated relation (' action on land ') is known. In the second term is the known relation. The fourth term is the unknown predicated relation, which requires explanation." Thus —

As the plough Known subject.

turns up the land, Known predicate.

so the ship

Subject whose predicate is unknown.

acts on the sea.

Unknown predicate.

III. Mixed Metaphors. — It is a well-known canon of the metaphor that in the same metaphor figures should not be mixed. A familiar example is afforded by the following couplet from Addison :

" I bridle in my struggling Muse with pain, That longs to launch into a nobler strain."

Here the Muse, a goddess, is spoken of as being " bridled." Then, after raising the image of a horse, the author confounds us by viewing the Muse as a ship that longs to launch itself — and into a " strain !" Yet it is Addison who formulated this capital test of metaphors :

"Try and form a picture on them."

21. Allegory is a narrative with a figurative meaning, designed to convey instruction of a moral character. The Faerie Queene of Spenser and Bunyan's Pilgrim s Progress are the greatest allegories in English literature.

Allegory has been called "a prolonged metaphor." Subjects remote from each other are brought into a similitude sustained throughout the details. Thus in Bunyan's immortal work the spiritual life or progress of a Christian is represented in detail by the story of a pilgrim in search of a distant country, which he reaches after many struggles and difficulties. In the Faerie Queene the vices and virtues are personified, and made to act out their nature in a series of supposed adventures.

rrEFIN-maNS^. xix

22. Personification is that figure in which some action or attribute of a living being is ascribed to an inanimate object, as —

"The mountains sing together, the hills rejoice and clap hands."

23. Apostrophe is that figure in which something absent is addressed as though present. It is found chiefly iq poetry and oratory.

" Milton ! thou shouldst be living at this hour : England hath need of thee." — Wordsworth.

24. Vision is the narration of past or absent scenes as though actually occurring before us. It is allied to and is often found associated with apostrophe.

I. Byron's description of the Dying Gladiator—

" I see before me the gladiator lie," etc.^

is a familiar e.xample of vision.

II. Metastasis. — Metastasis is a kind of description similar to vision : it involves a transition from the present to the future. A good example is found in the peroration of Webster's reply to Hayne. (See p. 345 of this book.)

25. Allusion is that figure by which some word or phrase calls to mind something not directly mentioned, as—

" It may be said of him that he came, he saw, he conquered."

The allusion Here is to Caesar's famous despatch (" Veni, vidi, vici"), which it calls to mind.

Rhetoricians make various degrees of allusion, and among others direct allusion (as "The patience of Job is proverbial"); but, properly speaking, this is not allusion: it is mere reference. Allusion is always oblique. The following, in which Milton wishes to denote Moses, is an allusion in the strict sense :

"That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heaven and earth Rose out of chaos."

26. Irony is a mode of speech expressing a meaning contrary to that which the speaker intends to convey, as in Job's address to his friends, " No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom will die with you."

27. Sarcasm is a mode of expressing vituperation under

XX STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITER A TURE.

a somewhat veiled form. The Letters of Junius come under this description.

Sarcasm is generally softened in the outward expression by the arts and figures of disguise — irony, innuendo, and epigram. Pope's Atticus (see pp. 128, 129 of this book) is a fine example.

28. Synecdoche is that figure which consists in substituting words denoting a part, a species, or the concrete for words denoting the whole, a genus, or the abstract ; or the reverse. Thus —

1. A part for the whole, as sail for ship.

2. The species for the genus, as "our daily bread" for our daily food.

3. The concrete for the abstract, as "Tht father yearns in the true prince's he2irt"— father mtSimng paternal love.

4. The whole for a part, as America for the United States.

\ 5. The genus for the species, as a vessel for a ship, a creature for a man. 6. The abstract for the concrete, as —

" Belgium's capital had gathered then Her beatity and her chivalry''

meaning her beautiful women and brave men.

Antonomasia. — Antonomasia is a form of synecdoche resembling (2), only that instead of the species being put for the genus, the individual is put for the species. It consists in using a proper name to designate a class, as a Solomon for a wise man, a Croesus for a rich man.

29. Metonymy is that figure in which one thing is described by the name of another thing having to the thing described the relation of cause, effect, adjunct, or accompaniment. Thus :

1. Cause for effect, as "the savage desolation of war," where the cause of the desolation (a savage spirit) is put for the effect.

2. The effect for the cause, 2L?,gray hairs for old age.

3. The sign for the thing signified, as sceptre for royalty, the White House for the office of Presidefit.

4. The container for the thing contained, as bottle for intoxicat' ing drink, purse for money.

y DEFINITIONS. xxi

5. The instrument for the agent, as the arbitration of the sword — meaning war.

6. An author for his works, as " They have Moses and the prophets" "We find in Bacon " — meaning Bacon's writings.

Distinction. — From definitions 28 and 29 it may be inferred that a synecdoche is a figure in which a word is used to express a thing that differs from its original meaning only in degree, and not in kind ; while a metonymy is a figure in which a word is used to express a thing differing from its original in kind. Hence metonymies are somewhat bolder than synecdoches.

30. Euphemism is the figure by means of which a harsh meaning is expressed in words of softer signification, as " He was unable to meet his engagements''' for \\e failed in business.

31. Litotes is that figure in which, by denying the contrary, more is implied than is expressed, as —

" Immortal names, That were not born to die'''' — i. e., that wilt live.

32. Transferred Epithet. — ^An epithet is a word joined to another in order to explain its character, as sea-girt Salamis, the sunny South,

The transference of an epithet from its proper subject to some allied subject or circumstance is a common figure tn poetry, as —

"Hence to his idle bed."

"The little fields made green By husbandry of many thri/iy years.'''

II. Figures of Gradation.

33. Climax is an ascending series of thoughts or statements, increasing in strength or importance until the last. Thus:

"It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen ; to scourge him is an atrocious crime ; to put him to death is almost a parricide ; but to CRUCIFY him — what shall I call it?" — Cicero.

Anticlimax. — Any great departure from the order of ascending strength is called an anticlimax. Thus :

" If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing ; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." — Db Quincey.

xxii STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.

34. Hyperbole is that figure by which more than the lit. eral truth is expressed. It consists in magnifying objects beyond their natural bounds, so as to make them more impressive or more intelligible. Thus:

" Beneath the lowest deep, a lower deep.

Still threatening to devour me, opens wide." — Milton.

///. Figures of Emphasis.

35. Epizeuxis is the immediate repetition of some word or words for the sake of emphasis, as —

" Few, few shall part where many meet."

Repetitio Crebra. — The name "repetitio crebra" is applied to the frequent repetition of a word, as —

" He sang Darius, good and great, Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, Fallen from his high estate." — Dryden.

36. Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each of several sentences, or divisions of a sentence, as —

" By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed, By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed, By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned. By strangers honored, and by strangers mourned." — PoPE.

37. Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial letter of emphatic words, as —

38. Anacoluthon is the device of leaving a proposition

unfinished, and introducing something else to complete

the sentence, as —

" If thou be'st he — but oh, how fallen, how changed From him who," etc.

39. Aposiopesis is a sudden pause in the course of a sentence by which the conclusion is left unfinished, as —

" For there I picked up on the heather, And there I put within my breast, A moulted feather, an eagle's feather — Well— I forget the rest." — Browning.

DEFINITIONS. xxin

IV. Grammatical Figures.

40. Ellipsis is the omission of words with a rhetorical purpose. Thus "Impossible!" is more expressive than a complete sentence affirming impossibility.

Asyndeton, or the omission of connectives, is a device of which considerable use is made both in prose and poetry; "The wind passeth over it — it is gone."

41. Enallage is the substitution of one part of speech for another, as —

" Whether the charmer sinner it or saint it, If folly grow romantic, I must paint it." — Pope.

42. Pleonasm is the employment of more words than usual, or of redundant words, as " Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."

When properly employed, pleonasm is a legitimate rhetorical device, and may be productive of a high degree of emphasis.

II. THE ORDER OF WORDS.

43. Words may be arranged in two orders — the grammatical and the rhetorical order.

44. The grammatical order, otherwise called the direct, or prose order, is the ordinary prose arrangement of words in a sentence.

There is a customary order of the parts of a sentence which in ordinary speech and writing we unconsciously follow. Thus the subject precedes the verb, and the arrangement of a simple sentence is in the order of subject, verb, object. But for the sake of emphasis or ornament this natural arrangement is often departed from.

45. The rhetorical order, otherwise called the indirect, or poetic order, is an inverted arrangement of words, adopted with a view to greater effect. It is characteristic of poetry, and of elevated or impassioned prose,

STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.

GRAMMATICAL ORDER.

I shall attempt neither to palliate nor deny the atrocious crime of being a young man.

The gate is wide and the way is broad that leadeth to destruction.

They could take their rest, for they knew that Lord Stratford watched. They feared ki7n, they trusted him, they obeyed him.

The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar, and the wild sea-mew shrieks.

RHETORICAL ORDER.

The atrocious crime of being a young man I shall attempt neither to palliate nor deny.

Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.

They could take their rest, for they knew that Lord Stratford watched. Him they feared, him they trusted, hitn they obeyed.

The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,

And shrieks the wild sea-mew.

III, THE QUALITIES OF STYLE,

46. The principal qualities of style are perspicuity, energy, and melody.

47. Perspicuity, or clearness of expression, is such a use af words that they may readily be understood by those to whom they are addressed,

48. Its Sources. — The principal sources of perspicuity are simplicity and precision.

49. Simplicity of style arises from the choice of simple words, and from such an arrangement of words in sentences as adapts them to easy comprehension. The works of De Foe, Bunyan, Addison, Franklin, and Washington Irving illustrate this quality,

I, Simplicity, in so far as it depends on diction, is best obtained by the employment of specific and concrete terms rather than those that are general or abstract. It is also secured by the use of Anglo-Saxon words (see Def. 6i) rather than those of classical origin. And it is to be observed that there is an intimate relation between these two sources of simplicity; for it will be found that most specific and concrete terms are of Anglo-Saxon, and most general and abstract terms of classical, origin. This is well illustrated in the following passage from an essay by Henry Rogers : " Hfove ^nd motion are gen-

DEFINITIONS. XXV

eral terms of Latin origin ; but all the special terms for expressing varieties of motion are Anglo-Saxon, as run, walk, leap, stagger, slip, step, slide. Color is Latin ; but white, black, green, yellow, blue, red, brown, are Anglo-Saxon. Crime is Latin ; but nutrder, theft, robbery, to lie, to steal, are Anglo- Saxon. Member and organ, as applied to the body, are Latin and Greek ; but ear, eye, hand, foot, lip, mouth, teeth, hair, finger, nostril, are Anglo-Saxon. Animal is Latin ; but tnan, horse, cow, sheep, dog, cat, calf, goat, are Anglo-Saxon. Number is Latin ; but all our cardinal and ordinal numbers, as far as a million, are Anglo-Saxon."

IL Simplicity, in so far as it depends on the structure of sentences, is best obtained by the use of short rather than long sentences, and of the loose sentence rather than the period (see Def. 57), and by an easy, natural, and inartificial arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses.

50. Precision consists in the selection of such words as may exhibit neither more nor less than the meaning which the writer intends to convey.

51. Its Violations. — The most frequent violations of precision are: I. By th.& faulty use of synonymous words; II. By the improper use of words ; III. By the use of vague words ; IV. By tautology ; V. By circumlocution.

L By the faulty use of synonymous words, as where modest (which refers to the habit of mind, and is commendable) is used for bashful (which refers to the state of feeling, and is reprehensible).

IL By the improper use of words, as " I would not demean myself," where " demean," which signifies behave, is, by confusion arising from the root meajt, used for debase or lower.

IIL By the use of vague words, as affair, circumstajice, remarkable, where used in place of definite and specific words.

IV. By tautology, or the repetition of the same idea in different words, as " They returned back again to the same ^^Vac^ from whence they came forth ;" which is reducible to " They returned to the place whence they departed." A critic has pointed out that Dr. Johnson's couplet,

" Let observation with extensive view Survey mankind from China to Peru,"

is equivalent to " Let observation with extensive observation observe mankind extensively."

xxvi STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE.

V. By circumlocution, or a roundabout mode of speech, in which words are multipHed to an unnecessary extent. The following is an example of circumlocution :

" Pope professed to have learned his poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an opportunity was presented, he praised through the whole period of his existence with unvarying liberality ; and perhaps his character may receive some illustration, if a comparison be instituted between him and the man whose pupil he was." — Du. Johnson.

Condensed thus by Bain :

"Pope professed himself the pupil of Dryden, whom he lost no opportunity of praising; and his character is illustrated by a comparison with his master."

52. Energy (variously termed by writers on rhetoric vigor, force, strengtJi, vivacity, and persuasiveness) is that quality of style which conduces to arouse the attention, enforce argument, stimulate imagination, and excite the feelings. It is the vital element in style.

I, Among the requisites of energy are simplicity (the simplest words being often the strongest), conciseness, and precision.

II. Another important device for securing energy of style is the use of specific and concrete terms rather than of general and abstract terms.

53. Melody, harmony, or music of language is that quality in style which gives pleasure by the use of euphonious words and rhythmical arrangements.

I. While the "harmony of sweet sounds" is an essential of verse, it is influential in prose also. Prose has its rhjrthm as well as poetry, only it is less artificial and more varied. "Rhythm in piose," says De Mille, "may be defined as the alternate swelling and lessening of sound at certain intervals. It refers to the general effect of sentences and paragraphs, where the words are chosen and arranged so as not only to express the meaning of the writer, but also to furnish a musical accompaniment which shall at once delight the ear by its sound, and help out the sense by its suggestiveness."

II. The following passage from De Quincey has relation to the subject of prose rhythm, and is further interesting as in itself an illustration of rhythmic prose :

" Where, out of Sir Thomas Browne, shall we hope to find music so Miltonic, an intonation of such solemn chords as are struck in the following opening bar of a passage in the Urn-Biiri'il : ' Now since these bones have rested quietly in the grave, under the drums and tramplings of three conquests,' etc. What a melodious ascent as of a prelude to some impassioned requiem breathing from the pomps of the earth and from the sanctities of the grave ! What TLfiuctm decumatws of rhetoriq ! Time expounded

DEFINITIONS. xxvil

not by generations or centuries, but by vast periods of conquests and dynasties ; by cycles of Pharaohs and Ptolemies, Antiochi and Arsacides! And these vast successions of time distinguished and figured by the uproars which revolve at their inaugurations — by the drums and traraplings rolling overhead upon the chambers of forgotten dead — the trepidations of time and mortality vexing, at secular intervals, the everlasting Sabbaths of the grave ! ' '

III. Types Of Sentences

54. Classification. — Sentences are classified grammatically and rhetorically. Grammatically, they are divided, as regards structure, into simple, complex, and compound ; and, as regards use, into declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamative. Rhetorically, they are divided into loose sentences and periods.

55. Divisions by Structure. — A simple sentence consists of one independent proposition ; a complex sentence consists of one independent (or principal) proposition and one or more clauses ; * a cojiipound sentence consists of two or more independent propositions.

56. Divisions by Use. — A declarative sentence is one that expresses an assertion (that is, an affirmation or a negation) ; an interrogative sentence is one that expresses a question ; an imperative sentence is one that expresses a command or an entreaty ; an exclamative sentence is one that expresses a thought in an interjectional manner.

57. A loose sentence consists of parts which may be separated without destroying the sense. Thus:

The Puritans looked down with contempt on the rich | and the eloquent, I on nobles | and priests.

I. The above is a loose sentence, because if we pause at any of the places marked, the sense is grammatically complete. Sometimes, as in this instance, it is necessary to supply ellipses in order to make the latter part complete ; in other cases,

* The term clause is in this book always used in the sense of a dependent or subordinate proposition, introduced by a connective. It is never applied to the independent membey-s of a compound sentence.

xxviii STUDIES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.

as in the following, the latter part will make complete sense alone : " It seems, gentlemen, that this is an age of reason • the time and the person have at last arrived that are to dissipate the errors of past ages." Here a full stop might be put after "reason," and the following word begun with a capital, thus converting the sentence into two sentences. II. Some writers so punctuate as to appear to write very long sentences, which are really only a union of short ones in one long loose sentence. Other writers (as Macaulay) are in the habit of breaking up loose sentences into their constituent parts and punctuating them as separate sentences. This practice gives rise to what the French call the style coupi.

58. A period is a sentence in which the complete sense is suspended until the close. Thus :

On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, the Puritans looked down with contempt.

I. Periods, in the strict sense of the definition, are not very numerous, for in most periodic sentences a complete meaning is reached somewhat before the close. Thus the first sentence of Paradise Lost, if stopped at "heavenly Muse," would be a period; continued to "in prose or rhyme," it is, strictly speaking, loose. Nevertheless, sentences which, though not absolutely periods, yet tend towards that type, are said to be periodic in structure.

II. Balanced Sentence. — The term balanced sentence is applied to a sentence in which the words, phrases, and clauses in one part correspond with the words, phrases, and clauses in another part. The balanced sentence generally consists of a series of antitheses, and in this case it is identical with the figure n2L.m.&6. parison, or zsocolofi. (See Def., p. xvii.)

III. It often happens that the cardinal distinction between the style of two writers is simply a difference in the prevailing type of sentence into which the writers cast their thoughts. Thus, marked as is the contrast between the style of Hume and that of Gibbon, analysis will show that the principal characteristic of Hume's style is his habitual use of the loose sentence, and of Gibbon's his habitual use of the period.

DEFINITIONS. xxix