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

The muse, figured as a horse, may be "bridled;" but when we speak of "launching," we make it a ship. The author bridles it to keep it from launching!

In religious discourse people are apt to use Scripture metaphors in a careless way. The following curious jumble once took place: A man prayed that "the word which had been preached might be like a nail driven in a sure place, sending its roots downward and its branches upward, spreading itself like a green bay-tree, fair as the moon, clear as the sun; and terrible as an army with banners!"

Observe the mixing of metaphors in the following passages: "The shot of the enemy mowed down our ranks with frightful rapidity. On every hand men and horses lay in universal carnage, like scattered wrecks on a storm-beaten shore." "His thoughts soared up from earth like fire and winged their flight to distant stars."

"Traitors may talk of England going down

(In quicksands that their coward selves have sown)-
She swims in hearts like these!"- Gerald Massey.

Here, in three short lines, we have bad grammar (“England going down"; it should be "England's going down"), bad rhyme ("down" and "sown"), bad metaphors (England swimming in hearts! and sowing "quicksands"— he might as well have talked of sowing batter-pudding!) and lastly, very commonplace thought as the basis of the whole.

RULE 3. Metaphors on the same subject should not be crowded together in rapid succession.

Explanation. Though the figure in each case may be distinct and consistently carried out, yet the mind, having in quick succession to conceive the subject, first in its literal sense, then in a figurative sense, and then again in still another figure, becomes confused.

Example.-Swift says, "Those whose minds are dull and heavy do not easily penetrate into the folds and intricacies of an affair, and therefore can only scum off what they find at the top." Here the mind has, first, to think of the literal fact, namely, that dull people do not easily penetrate the difficulties of a subject; next, to think of this fact under the similitude of handling the outer folds of a bale of cloth, without ever getting at the inside; and then again to think of the same fact under the similitude of skimming the top of some impure liquid without reaching the bottom. The two metaphors, though separable, are in such close succession that they have the effect of a mixed metaphor.

RULE 4. Metaphors should not be multiplied to excess.

Explanation. Though the metaphors may refer to different subjects, and be in different sentences, and therefore not come within either of the two preceding rules, yet if they are greatly multiplied, they have a confusing effect upon the mind. The variety of subjects distracts the attention.

Excessive Use of Figures.

The effect of unduly multiplying metaphors is very much like that produced by being over-dressed. This is true, not of metaphor merely, but of every kind of figure. Figures, whether for ornament or for illustration, to have their proper effect, must be used with moderation. Really good metaphors, occurring only here and there, at judicious intervals, and on suitable subjects, have a brilliant effect. But if multiplied too much, no matter how sparkling each may be in itself, they produce only a disagreeable glitter.

RULE 5. Metaphors should not be carried too far.

This fault is committed when the resemblance on which the metaphor is founded is carried out into a great many minute and irrelevant circumstances. This is called straining the metaphor.

Example.-Young says of old age, that it should

Walk thoughtful on the silent, solemn shore

Of that vast ocean it must sail so soon;

And put good works on board; and wait the wind
That shortly blows us into worlds unknown.

The expression in the first two lines is universally admired. But when the author begins to "put good works on board," and to "wait the wind," the metaphor becomes strained and loses dignity. Instead of the deep emotion excited by walking "thoughtful on the silent, solemn shore," the mind is brought down to the prosaic and calculating operations of a seafaring enterprise.

III. ALLEGORY.

An Allegory is a sort of continued Metaphor. It is a description of one thing under the image of another.

Difference between Allegory and Metaphor. Allegory differs from a Metaphor in two respects. First, it is carried out into a great variety of particulars, making usually a complete and connected story. Secondly, it suppresses all mention of the principal subject, leaving us to infer the writer's intention from the resemblance of the narrative, or of the description to the principal subject.

Points in Common. - Allegory, metaphor, and simile have this in common, that they are all founded in resemblance, there being in each case two subjects, a primary and a secondary, having certain points of likeness. In Simile, this resemblance is expressed in form, as when it is said, "Israel is like a vine, brought from Egypt, and

planted in Palestine." In Metaphor the formal comparison is dropped, as when it is said, "Israel is a vine brought from Egypt," &c. In Allegory, both the formal comparison and the principal subject are dropped, and the secondary subject is described by itself, leaving the application entirely to the imagination of the reader, as when it is said,. "God brought a vine out of Egypt, and planted it in Palestine." The reader knows that by the vine is meant God's people, Israel; yet Israel is not once mentioned, and there is neither metaphor nor simile, though there is a likeness.

This allegory occurs in the eightieth Psalm, and is as follows:

"Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room for it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it."

Here every circumstance, except that of casting out the heathen, answers to the description of a vine, while at the same time God's dealings with the Jewish people, though not once named, are plainly suggested to the mind of the reader. If the Psalmist, instead of saying that the vine was wasted by the boar from the wood, and devoured by the wild beast, had said that it was afflicted by heathens, or overcome by enemies, (which was his real meaning,) he would have spoiled the allegory.

Allegory, Parable, and Fable are closely akin to each other, and these terms are often interchangeable. Some distinctions between them, however, are worthy of notice. Allegory is the only term used in reference to extended works of this kind, such as Pilgrim's Progress and the Faery Queen. Shorter allegorical compositions are more frequently called Fables, or Parables, the latter term being specially used for specimens of this kind in the Holy ScripThe story told by Jotham, in the ninth chapter of Judges, of the trees choosing for themselves a king, is called a Parable. Had it occurred in Esop, it would have been called a Fable. None of these distinctions, however, in regard to the allegory, the parable, and the fable, are absolute.

tures.

Where Found. - Oriental nations are much addicted to the use of this kind of writing, and there are many excellent instances of it in the Bible. There are no Parables comparable for excellence to those in the New Testament. Among the ancients the Fables of -op are especially famous. The most perfect Allegory in all literature is the Pilgrim's Progress, by Bunyan.

Recent Example. The following passage from a recent work,

Forbes's Travels through the Alps, is a beautiful example of Simile, or Metaphor, extended into Allegory:

Poets and philosophers have delighted to compare the course of human life to that of a river; perhaps a still apter simile might be found in the history of a glacier. Heaven-descended in its origin, it yet takes its mould and conformation from the hidden womb of the mountains which brought it forth. At first soft and ductile, it acquires a character and firmness of its own, as an inevitable destiny urges it in its onward career. Jostled and constrained by the crosses and inequalities of its prescribed path, hedged in by impassable barriers which fix limits to its movements, it yields groaning to its fate, and still travels forward, seamed with the scars of many a conflict with opposing obstacles. All this while, although wasting, it is renewed by an unseen power-it evaporates, but is not consumed. On its surface it bears the spoils which, during the progress of its existence, it has made its own; - often weighty burdens, devoid of beauty or value, — at times precious masses, sparkling with gems or with ore. Having at length attained its greatest width and extension, commanding admiration by its beauty and power, waste predominates over supply, the vital springs begin to fail; it stoops into an attitude of decrepitude; it drops the burdens, one by one, which it had borne so proudly aloft; its dissolution is inevitable. But as it is resolved into its elements, it takes, all at once, a new, and livelier, and disembarrassed form: - from the wreck of its members it arises, another, and yet the same, a noble, full-bodied, arrowy stream, which leaps rejoicing over the obstacles which before had stayed its progress, and hastens through fertile valleys towards a freer existence, and a final union in the ocean with the boundless and the infinite.

This figure may be open to some extent to the objection that it is based upon scientific knowledge. But the description of glacial action has occupied of late so large a place in popular literature that the objection may be waived. The figure certainly is singularly beautiful.

Rule. The principal, almost the only rule, in regard to Allegory, is to avoid mingling the literal signification with the figurative.

Allegory is a very difficult kind of composition, in which few succeed. None should attempt it unless they have by nature a special aptitude for it.

IV. ANTITHESIS.

Antithesis, unlike the figures thus far considered, is not founded on resemblance, but on contrast or opposition. It consists in putting two unlike things in juxtaposition, so that each will appear more striking by the contrast.

The effect produced is in accordance with a general law of mental action, that all objects of knowledge make a stronger impression on

the mind when presented alongside of their opposites. White never appears so bright as when bordering immediately upon black. Sound never seems so loud as when preceded and followed by perfect silence. When, therefore, we wish to give to a thought special emphasis, we often do so by connecting the thought with an expression of its opposite, or of something with which it is contrasted.

Examples of Antithesis. "When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves that we leave them." "The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself." "If you wish to make a man rich, study not to increase his stores, but to diminish his desires."

RULE. The only practical Rule in regard to Antithesis is to give the contrasted ideas a similar verbal construction. Let nouns be contrasted to nouns, adjectives to adjectives, verbs to verbs, and so on, and let the arrangement of the words in the contrasted clauses be also as nearly alike as possible.

The reason for this rule is obvious. If two objects, one white and one black, are placed side by side, the difference between them in color will be all the more striking if the objects are in other respects alike, that is, are of the same material, size, and shape. So in composition, the point of an antithesis is made much more marked by making the contrasted clauses closely analogous in construction.

Examples.-If you regulate your desires according to the standard of nature, you will never be poor; if according to the standard of opinion, you will never be rich.

Flattery brings friends; truth brings foes.

Forewarned, forearmed.

Enemies in war; in peace friends.

Caution.

Antithesis must be used with caution. If employed too frequently, it gives to the style a labored and unnatural character, and produces the impression that an author is less concerned with what he says than how he says it. It also makes the matter read like a string of proverbs, which usually have the antithetical form. This is the vice of the style of some French writers, of Victor Hugo, for example, and of many Spanish writers.

Example. The following passage may be given as an illustration of this fault: "The peasant complains aloud; the courtier in secret repines. In want, what distress? in affluence, what satiety? The great are under as much difficulty to expend with pleasure, as the mean to labor with success. The ignorant, through ill-grounded