TABLEAU, Exhibiting the Matter contained in Chapter VIII. on FIGURATIVE CONSTRUCTION. SECTION II.-EXERCISE ON FIGURES OF WORDS. SECTION IV.-EXERCISE ON FIGURES OF THOUGHT. CHAP. VIII. FIGURATIVE CONSTRUCTION. RHETORICIANS who have endeavoured to find out the origin of Tropes, assert that these Figures of language owe their birth, first to necessity or indigence, convenience or agreement; then to delicacy and sentiment; and lastly, to the vivacity and ardour of the imagination. Why do we say in French, un fer-acheval d'argent? Undoubtedly for the want of a better expression. Why do we say une Perse, when applied to stuffs manufactured in Persia? Because it is convenient. And lastly, when speaking of a peculiar failing some one has, why say, c'est son faible? Because it is becoming. All these terms are so many Figures. Many persons think that Rhetorical Figures are useless, and believe that those who are masters of them neither speak nor write the language any better on that account. There are certain individuals who may possibly speak their language purely and elegantly, without ever having learned the Figures of Rhetoric; in the same manner as many sing with taste and precision, without having studied music. It must, however, be allowed, that these persons very often find themselves at a loss; and that had they studied the principles of Rhetoric, they would have acquired a greater degree of taste and precision than they otherwise possess. Thus it is certain, that the knowledge of Rhetorical Figures is essential to all who desire to write or speak the language elegantly and correctly, because it awakens the judgment, and furnishes those sprightly thoughts, so necessary to beautify the style. Quintilian, speaking of Figures of Rhetoric, very pro Chap. VIII. FIGURATIVE CONSTRUCTION. perly observes, that luminous and brilliant expressions ought to be regarded as the eyes of eloquence. * As for the names of these Figures, it is true, that either pedantry or ignorance took hold of them, with the view of imposing on early ages. But this mysticism has disappeared from the present mode of teaching, and teachers are too enlightened to boast of a science to be so easily acquired. The names of Figures are now explained in a familiar manner, and cease to be thought barbarous as soon as understood. Figures abound in the language of all ancient and modern rhetoricians; and to conceal them as well as their names from youth, is exactly corroborating Boileau in the following lines: "Pièce-à-pièce épluchant vos sons et vos paroles, Traiter tout noble mot de termes hasardeux, Grands mots que Pradon croit des termes de chimie." Figurative Construction is of all others the most difficult and delicate to manage. Many believe themselves masters of it, when they can recollect the terms it employs, just as some fancy themselves painters, merely because they know the colours, and the instruments necessary for applying them. There is scarcely a language, the richness of which is not derived from a Figurative Construction; from it, eloquence acquires sublimity, and poetry its vivid colouring. 66 Ego vero hæc lumina orationes, velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiæ credo."-De Oratore, lib. viii. ch. 5. Translation. Je tiens donc, pour moi, que ces pensées qui sont si lumineuses et si brillantes, doivent être regardées comme les yeux de l'éloquence.L'ABBE GEDOYN. Chap. VIII. FIGURATIVE CONSTRUCTION, Sect. I. FIGS. OF WORDS. Rhetorical, or Figurative Construction, is founded on two principal bases, viz. Figures of Words, and Figures of Thought. In the First, the word cannot be altered without destroying the Figure. For example, in the following line, "Le sang de vos rois crie et n'est point écouté ;" RACINE, Athalie. the word crie, which here means demande vengeance, cannot suffer any alteration, or else the Figure would no longer exist. It is not so with Figures of Thought; as in the following line, 66 Rompez, rompez tout pacte avec l'impiété :" The repetition of rompez is a Figure of Thought, because the first rompez might be suppressed without materially affecting the Figure. The present Chapter on Rhetorical, or Figurative Construction, is divided into two Sections, viz. 1st, Figures of Words; and, 2d, Figures of Thought. SECTION I-FIGURES OF WORDS, CALLED TROPES. * The Tropes are eleven in number. 1st, Metaphor; 2d, Catachresis; 3d, Metonymy; 4th, Synecdoche; 5th, Antonomasis; 6th, Allegory; 7th, Irony ; 8th, Hyperbole; 9th, Euphemism; 10th, Litote; 11th, Onomatopoeia. The above figures, for the sake of clearness, are divided into two series; the first is to consist of five, and the second of six figures. Trope is derived from the Greek resaw, (trepô,) to turn, or change. Chap. VIII. FIGURATIVE CONSTRUCTION, Sect. I. FIGS. OF WORDS. FIRST SERIES OF FIGURES OF WORDS. METAPHOR. Generally speaking, all Figures may be called Metaphors; but a Metaphor, in the present sense, is a word, the proper signification of which is replaced by another, possessing new ideas drawn from comparison. The following expressions in Italics are instances of Metaphors. Une campagne riante,-for agréable. Un homme bouillant de colère,—for agité. Il était courbé sous le poids des années,-for nombre. The following is a beautiful specimen of Metaphors in prose: "Paraissez maintenant, justes: où êtes-vous? Restes d'Israël, passez à la droite: froment de Jésus-Christ, démêlezvous de cette paille destinée au feu: ô Dieu! où sont vos élus, et que reste-t-il pour votre partage ?"-MASSILLON, Sermon sur le petit nombre des élus. The expressions froment for those who possess virtues, and paille for those who have none, when associated with Jésus-Christ in the first part of the phrase, and destinée au feu in the second, present the * Metaphor is derived from the Greek μerapigw, (metapherô,) to transfer, or transport. |