Figures of speech, or tropes, are used to make language more effective
by adding special strength and beauty. They are words used in meanings
not their own designed to secure a peculiarly happy effect. Thus when
the poet writes:
“But yonder comes the powerful king of day,
Rejoicing in the East..........”
he uses “king of day” for “sun”; and no one can fail to notice the
pleasureable effect produced.
=Chief Rhetorical Figures of Speech=
/---------------------------------/\---------------------------------\
| | |
_Resemblance._ _Contiguity._ _Contrast or Surprise._
_a._ Comparison or _a._ Autonomasia-- _a._ Antithesis and
Simile. Individual for Epigram.
class.
_b_. Metaphor-- _b_. Synecdoche-- _b_. Hyperbole.
1. Identification Part for whole.
of like qualities. _c_. Irony and
Euphemism.
2. Identification _c_. Metonymy--Cause
of like things. for effect, badge _Arrangement._
for class, etc. _a._ Climax.
_b._ Anti-climax.
_c._ Personification. _c._ Emphasis, or
Inversion.
_d._ Allegory.
But the new word images introduced must really be suited to add strength
or beauty. Notice the contrast between these two descriptions of
morning:
The saffron morn, with early blushes spread,
Now rose refulgent from Tithonus’ bed,
With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,
And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light.
--_Pope’s Homer._
The sun had long since in the lap
Of Thetis taken out his nap;
And, like a lobster boiled, the morn
From black to red began to turn.
--_Butler’s Hudibras._
PRINCIPAL FIGURES--The common figures are metaphor, simile, allegory,
personification, apostrophe, euphemism, hyperbole, antithesis, epigram,
irony, climax, onomatopœia (_ŏn-ŏm-a-tō-pœ´-ĭ-a_), and alliteration.
=Simile.=--A simile is a comparison between objects that are not of the
same class, and usually expressed by either _like_ or _as_.
Examples:--The warrior fought like a lion.
His spear was like the mast of a ship.
His wrath was as the storm.
=Metaphor.=--A metaphor is a comparison which is implied between two
objects that are not of the same class. Unlike the simile, it does not
state the resemblance, it takes that for granted and proceeds as if the
two things were one--we no longer say, “He fought _like_ a lion,” but,
“He _was_ a lion in the fight.”
=Allegory.=--Under which head fall Fables and Parables, is an extended
Metaphor generally accompanied by Personification.
Example:--Bunyan’s _Pilgrim’s Progress_; Spenser’s _Faerie Queene_.
=Personification.=--Attributes life to inanimate objects. It speaks of
“The _childhood_ of a nation,” of “a _learned_ age” of “the _thirsty_
ground,” of “_eager_ darts,” of “_winged_ words.”
=Apostrophe.=--Is a Personification accompanied by an address, or an
address to an absent person.