Cuthbert Burbie. 1599.
_To the courteous Reader._
As in the two bookes before going (gentle Reader) my mind and purpose
was to set foorth vnto the learner, how much the phrase of our daylie
speech by well ordering and deliuerie is graced with Figures and
other ornaments of Art, and to such end and purpose, haue I in the
margent of euerie Epistle, directlie against the places where they are
vsed, quoted them to be seen. I haue now for better supplement of the
learners knowledge, determined in this place to make a collection of
them all, remembring with my selfe, that vnto such as are vnexperienced
in their particular applications, they shall be but of verie slender
moment in their quotations, without also they may be instructed by
example, how, where, and in what tearmes, wordes or cariage, they
are vsed, and wherein, and by what conueyance their efficacies are
explaned. For which cause, these briefe instructions following,
conteining, as in the title before going, a demonstration of their
true & seueral qualities, properties and natures, are to such ende
deliuered: wherein my purpose is to omit nothing, which in my poore
opinion may seeme vnto this deuised Methode anie wayes furthering.
And howbeit my selfe in the writing of these collections, doe well
consider the want I haue of other perfections, whereby to ornifie the
matter hereof, with examples correspondent, yet shall it by such meanes
appeare vnto all fauourers of science, what will and desire I haue to
deserue with the best, confessing (as by due proofe I haue found) no
speech to be accounted valuable or of weight, that is not graced with
these parts. Thus hauing at large expostulated my true meaning herein,
I commit the rest to your curteous censures, and my selfe to your good
opinions.
_Yours, A. D._
OF FIGVRES, TROPES, and Schemes.
=A |Figure| is a certaine meane whereby from a simple and ordinarie
kinde of speaking, we growe into a more cunning and excellent
deliuerie.=
A Figure is diuided into _Trope_ and _Scheme_.
=A |trope| is as much to say, as a variation of a worde or sentence
from the proper & apt signification, vnto another neere vnto the same,
sometimes for pleasure, and otherwhile for ornament sake, and there are
|tropes| of words, and |tropes| of sentences.=
=A |Scheme| is a certaine new kinde of forme of writing & speaking, and
for the excellencie thereof is called the ornament, light and colours
of Rhetoricall spéech.=
=Betweene a |Trope| and a |Scheme| the difference is, that the
|Trope| changeth the signification, as in these wordes |Generation|
of |Vipers|, meaning thereby |homicides| of their owne issue or
antecessors, as the |Viper| deuoureth her owne broode. The |Scheme|
hath no change of signification, but retaineth the expresse meaning,
as, |Can so great anger be in heauenlie mindes?| written of _Iuno_ in
the |Aeneidos| of _Virgill_, whereas anger is indéede onelie a humaine
passion, yet without alteration is there allotted vnto the heauenlie
Gods. And of some there is helde in them small difference, in so much
as often times they runne into one anothers meaning.=
The _Tropes_ of wordes, are
=_Metaphora_, which is, when a worde from the proper or right
signification is tanasferred to another neere vnto the meaning, as to
saie: |We see well|, when wee meane |wee vnderstande well|, or to call
them |eaters or deuourers of men and houses|, who vndo the poore,
or extort from them their goods or liuings: or to saie, a homelie or
rude speaker doth |braie|, which to do belongeth to an Asse, or to
attribute vnto thinges the properties they haue not, as if we should
say, the ground wanting wet, |doth thirst for raine|, or |fruits|
in their growth do |labour|, or |corne| by the statelie length and
weightie eare it carrieth, to bee |proude|, or by |Emphasis|, that
|by desire, men are enflamed, by anger kindled, fallen by errour:| And
lastlie, in prayse of mans ofspring, as to saie, |the beautie of his
stocke|, or to call the place of renowne, |the well or seate of glorie|,
also to say, |the showers of speech, flouds of eloquence|, onelie for
ornament in writing, without anie other proper affinitie, attribution
or likelihoode.=
=_Synecdoche_, when by one particular we vnderstand a number, as to
saie, the |braue English was conquerour|, as much to saie, |Englishmen
were victours|, or when by a part wee vnderstande the whole, as to say,
a |blade| for a |sworde|, a |Hall| for a |house|, or when by one thing
we vnderstand another, as to say, |the highest fall| for |the deepest
fall|, the |toppe| for |the bottome, Neptunes reigne| for the |Sea|: or
when we put the matter whereof a thing is made, for the thing it selfe:
as to saie, |the loftie Pine did scowre the Seas|, for the ship made
of the Pine trée, or thus: |With slashing Iron furious on his foes,
hee rusht amaine, &c.| for |with slashing sworde:| Likewise hee put
|spurres to his horse|, for |hee ranne his horse|. |They haue liued|,
that is, |they are dead, they flourish|, for they are rich, braue or
happie.=
=_Metonymia_, or _transnominatio_, the putting of one name for an
other, as the |inuenter|, for the thing inuented, so do we call
corne by the name of |Ceres|, we put |Bacchus| for wine, |Venus| for
lust, |Vulcane| for fire, |Neptune| for the sea, |Mars| for warre:
likewise the continent for that which is contained, as if we should
say, |acceptable to the heauens|, meaning to him that dwelleth in
the heauens, a |happie soyle|, meaning happie people in the soile,
|hee drunke vp the whole cup before him|, for the wine in the cup
before him. In like maner when the cause efficient is vnderstood by
the effect, as when we say, |Pale death, sorrowfull dread, headlong
rage, carelesse wine, vnshamefast night|: wherein is shewed, that
dread causeth sorowe, |death| palenes, |wine| carelesnes, and so of
the rest. Further, when by her that holdes the |Scepter|, wee signifie
the |Queenes Maiestie|, and likewise by mentioning the |Sword|,
|Magistracy|.=
=_Antonomasia_, where to the person of anie one, wee giue an other
name, then his owne proper, as in stead of |Christ|, to saie the |Holie
one of God|, or |The worlds Sauiour|. Or of the Queenes Maiestie,
to saie |The Virgin Queene, The Royall Maide|, with other like
appropriations fitting so great an excellencie.=
=_Onomatopœia_, where to a thing not hauing a proper terme, wee faine
or deuise a name, as to saie, |the murmure of the waters, the roring of
the cannon, clashing of armour|, & such like: where neither |murmur|,
|roring| nor |clashing| is by nature to these belonging.=
=_Catachresis_, where wee accommodate a name to a thing that is not
proper, as to saie, |lend me your hand, or your aid|, which tearme of
lending is more proper to money, or things that are borrowed, and to
say, |mens powers are short|, or |their counsels long|, when in neither
of both there is anie such measure.=
=_Metalepsis_, or |Transumptio|, when by a certaine number of degrees
we go beyond that wee intend in troth, and haue meaning to speake of,
as to saie: |Accursed soile that bred my cause of woe|, when we might
as well crie out on the parties selfe that hath don the wo, & not to
go so far off as to the soile that bred him, or as |Penelope| bewaling
her husbandes ouerlong absence from her, exclaimed in her Epistle to
|Vlysses|, on |Paris| that had raped |Helena|, wishing that he and all
his fleet had perished, ere the rape had bin committed, intending that
by that rape, the |Grecians| were drawn to the warres, and so the
siege for tenne yeares space continued, and ten yeeres after that,
her husband forced by many landes and seas to haue wandered. Of the
originall cause whereof her iust complaint was deriued.=
Tropes of sentences, _are_
=_Allegoria_, a kinde of inuerting or change of sence, as when we shew
one thing in wordes & signifie another in meaning, a |Trope| most
vsuall amongst vs euen in our common speaking, as when we saie, |Bow
the With while it is greene|, meaning to correct children whilest they
bee yong: or, |There is no fire without smoake:| meaning that there is
no ill conceipt without occasion: or, |I smell a Rat|, that is, I know
your meaning, for other applications you haue the same diuerslie quoted
in our Epistles to bee seene in their margents.=
=_Ænigma_, a darke sentence, or as we ordinarilie say, a riddle, rather
vsed in high and déepe mysteries, otherwise conueied sometime in
pleasant fancies, then accustomed in other writings.=
=_Parœmia_, called amongst vs an _Adage_ or common saying, as thus:
|Who so toucheth pitch shall bee defiled therewith: It earlie pricketh
that wil be a thorn: many hands make light worke, &c.|
=_Ironia_, a scoffe or flout, as when wee saie, |Alas good man|, or to
one that hath set debate or contention, |you haue spun a faire thred|:
or to him that hath made a long speach to no purpose, |you haue brought
forth a mighty mole-hil|, or to a lewd person, |you are an honest man|.
=_Sarcasmus_, a bitter bob as wee saie, or enuious derision, as of one
arraigned for fellonie, to twit him, |that hee had like to haue knockt
his head against the gallowes|, or of one suffering for treason to
saie, |that it made him hop headlesse.
=_Asteismus_, a smooth, as we call it, as when one tels a thing
repugnant to the present matter or companie, to saie, |I had as lieue
he told me it snew|, when neither the time of the yeare, or present
weather admitteth it snowe. Or when one misseth of a number, to bid him
|take a sticke and tell it|, or telling a lie, to bid him |take the
haire from his lips|.
=_Antiphrasis_, when a word scornefullie deliuered, is vnderstoode by
his contrarie, as of a dwarfe, to saie in iest, |what a gyant haue we
here|, or of him that telleth a matter ordinarie for strange, to saie,
|what a wonder telleth he|, or to say, |the man hath a sharpe wit|,
when we intend he hath a verie blunt capacitie, or of a blacke Moore
woman, to saie, |Will ye see a faire pigion.|=
=_Charientismus_, as when we scoffe a man in his threatning mood to
say, |O good words, I pray you|, or |kill vs not at the first dash|,
or, |Bite not my nose off I pray you|, and such like.=
=_Hyperbole_, when for the manifestation of a thing vehement or
exceeding, the wordes of our speach doe goe beyonde credite, as to
saie, |It woulde haue made a stonie hearte to weepe: hee wearied the
heauens with his clamour: Shee was fairer then beautie herselfe, more
cruell then Nero or Phaleris: Worse then the Deuill: Whiter then snowe:
sighing without ceasing|, and infinite such like.=
Of Schemes there are two sorts,
_that is,_
Grammaticall, and Rhetoricall.
Grammaticall are also deuided into two parts.
_that is,_
Orthographicall, pertaining chieflie to Poesie:
_and_
Syntaxicall, which are to be applied to our vses.
Schemes Syntaxicall, _are_,
=_Eclipsis_, that is a defect of sence in a word or necessarie
reason, aunswerable to the due construction, as when hauing spoken
sufficientlie of a matter, we close vp the sentence with these wordes,
|But this for that let be, and now to the rest|, where after |let be|,
this worde (|sufficient|) seemeth to be wanting. Likewise, |what might
be more in the matter?| for |what might be more don or spoken in the
matter|. Also to saie, |you are not to aunswere or compare with him|,
for |you are not meete, sufficient, or able to answere or compare with
him|. Or otherwise to say, |A man of so rare vertue, so deeplie to be
ouerseene|, for, |is it true that a man of so rare vertue shoulde so
deeply be ouerseene.|=
=_Aposiopesis_, when by passing to another matter, we stop our spéech
on a sudden, as it were in an interrupted or discontented mood, as to
say, |Are these the practises you take in hand? be these your deuises?
hath your worthy courage endeuored so mighty effectes? But I will first
tame your courses, and for the residue, I wil hold you in so bridled
a meane, that my selfe will warrant you henceforth from any such like
further proceedings|. Or thus, |Vngratefull creature, hast thou dealt
wel with me in thus conspiring my ill that haue euer sought thy good?
Wel, I wil saie no more, but for thee & thy complices I wil take order
well inough to stay you|. Or otherwise by way of a fearful rehearsall
thus: |What euill was there whereunto we were not subiect? But whie
dwell I in circumstances? wee were the men allotted to that purpose.|=
=_Zeugma_, when one or more clauses are concluded vnder one verbe, as
to saie, |His loosenesse ouercame all shame: his boldnesse, feare: his
madnesse, reason:| where all these clauses are concluded vnder this one
verbe, |Ouercame|. Or thus: |What auaileth it to shrine so much this
vaine beauty, which either by long sicknesse, extremity of old age,
infinite sorrowes and cares, or a thousand mishaps besides, is euery
day in daunger or subiect to bee vtterlie crased:| In which all the
clauses before going are concluded in this one verbe |is in danger,
&c.|=
=_Syllepsis_, when one verbe supplieth two clauses, one person two
roomes, or one word serueth to manie sences, as thus: |He runs for
pleasure, I for feare|: where this verbe |run|, serueth to both
purposes: also thus: |But scorning so to be reproued, and with a manly
resolution by one stroke giuen, he acquited his shame, his credit, and
his person|, where this one worde |acquite| serueth to all clauses
aforegoing and following.=
=_Prolepsis_, where some thing generallie first spoken, is afterwards
drawne into partes, as thus: |Let vs take vpon vs one selfe charge, I
to direct abroad, you to order at home|. Or otherwise: |Men diuerslie
do erre, some by an ignoraunt simplicitie, others by a most peruerse
follie.|=
=_Pleonasmus_, where with words seeming superfluous, we do increase our
reasons, as thus: |With these eares I heard him speake it: Or with mine
eies I behelde him sorrowing|, where we well knowe that without eares
or eies, we cannot wel heare or see, yet carieth this kind of spéech,
|a vehemency in enforcing| the matter so plainelie, or throughlie to be
hard or séene.=
=_Macrologia_, where a clause is finallie added to the matter going
before, in seeming more then néeded, as, |Men of so high and excelling
vertue, let them euer liue, and neuer die|, here |neuer die|, seemeth
superfluous, and yet notable wel adorneth the sentence.=
=_Anastrophe_, a preposterous inuersion of wordes, besides their common
course, as when we say: for |faults, no man liueth without|, when order
requireth we should saie: |No man liueth without faults: Long when he
had confusedly thus liued|, for when he had long time thus confusedlie
liued.=
=_Hysteron proteron_, where that which ought to be in the first place,
is put in the second, as thus: |After hee had giuen saile to the
winde, and taken the Seas|, for after he had taken the seas, and giuen
saile to the wind. Also, |That which of all others is most sacred and
permanent, honoured, and euer shining vertue, chuse vnto your selues:|
for chuse vnto your selues honored and euer shining vertue, which of
all others is most sacred and permanent: or, as commonly we say in our
English spéech, |Pull off my bootes and spurs.|=
=_Tmesis_ of _Diacope_, a diuision of a word compound into two parts,
as, |What might be soeuer vnto a man pleasing, that had he|, for
whatsoeuer might be, &c. |Hither should he haue come to, when he
finished his argument|: for hitherto should he haue come, &c.=
=_Parenthesis_, an intercluding of a sentence in any reason commonlie
set betweene two halfe circles, as thus: |I am content (not in respect
you deserue so much at my hands) onelie for pitie sake to hearken ynto
you|, the knowledge hereof is ordinarie, and therefore I néede speake
the lesse of it.=
=_Hypallage_, when by change of propertie in application a thing is
deliuered, as to saie, |Darkesome wandring by the solitary night|,
for wandring solitarilie by the darkesome night, or the |wicked wound
thus giuen|, for hauing thus wickedlie wounded him. The vse hereof in
|Poesie| is most rife.=
=_Hendiadis_, when one thing of it selfe intire, is diuersly layde
open, as to saie, |On iron and bit he champt|, for on the iron bitte
hee champt: And |part and pray we got|, for part of the pray: Also
by |surge and sea we past|, for by surging sea we past. This also is
rather Poeticall then other wise in vse.=
=_Asyndeton_, when two or thrée clauses or more disioyned do follow
one another, as to saie |his house, his land, his purse, himselfe, his
life, were all at his commaund|. Or thus, |he scapte, he ran, he rusht,
and fled away|. Or otherwise, |thy fame, thy wealth, thy friends, thy
kin, and all hast thou lost togithers.|=
=_Polysyndeton_, when in like sort by many coniunctions sundrie words
one following the other are vnited together, as thus, |Both sworde
and fire and dearth, three dreadfull scourges of the war were alwayes
attendant vpon him.| Or thus, |with faith and troth and plighted heart,
and loue he made him hers, &c.|=
=_Hirmos_, where a continuance of speech is vsed, vntill the ende
of the clause, as |God in the beginning made heauen, earth, sea,
firmament, sunne, moone, starres, and all things in them contained|:
where you see all these words, |heauen, earth, &c|. haue all one
continuance vntill the last end of the sentence.=
=_Epitheton_, when for ornament sake we adde vnto a worde, or for
mislike do attribute somewhat vnto the same, as when for ornament we
say, |Sweet beautie, precious loue, friendlie fortune:| Or contrariwise
in mislike, |vnbrideled lust, filthie gaine, wicked guile, deceitfull
fauour, fond fancie, &c.|=
=_Periphrasis_, when by circumlocution anie thing is expressed, as
when we say, |The Prince of Peripateticks|, for |Aristotle|, the
|subuerter of Carthage and Numantia|, for |Scipio. A man studious of
wisedome|, for a Philosopher: |A man diuerslie enriched|, for one that
is wealthie, &c.=
=_Liptote_, when by the lesse that is spoken, the more maie bee
vnderstood, as thus: What auaileth it that thou dost not despise me,
which is by the contrarie, |that thou louest mee|, the deliuerie
thereof is singular by the negatiue, for that giueth grace to the
|Figure|, as |it discontenteth me not to heare of you, but it griueth
me to heare ill of you. We are not so ignorant of things, but we can
perceiue somewhat|. That is in the one, |it pleaseth mee well to heare
of you|, and in the other, |we haue skill to discerne of things, and
thereby can perceiue somewhat|.=
=_Paradiastole_, when with a milde interpretation or spéech we colour
others or our owne faults, as when we call a subtill person, |wise|: a
bold fellow, |couragious|: a prodigall man |liberall|: a man furious
or rash, |valiant|: a parasite, |a companion|: him that is proud,
|magnanimous|, and such like.=
=_Meosis_, a maner of disabling, as when we saie, |Alas sir, it is not
in my power to doe it|: or otherwise, |little God wot could man doe in
such a case|.=
Schemes Rhetoricall, are
=_Anaphora_, or |Repetitio|, where by rehearsall of one worde wee
make sundrie beginnings, as to saie, |Learning bringeth to knowledge,
learning maketh wise, learning enableth to vertue, learning is the
ornament of the minde, finallie, learning is the onelie substantiall
proppe and guide of mans life, without which nothing in a manner
can bee pleasant, nothing sauourie, nothing of value, &c.| Or thus,
|hauing committed so great euils, couldest thou yet dare to come in
open shewe of the worlde, couldest thou dare to shewe thy selfe in the
face of men, couldest thou dare to bee seene of anie one, that hast
thus generallie deserued to bee hated of all:| Or otherwise thus, |When
death commeth to chalenge his due, what then shall auaile beautie, what
youth, what riches, what strength? where then shall become thy landes,
where thy reuenue, where thy possessions? who shall argue thy cause,
who stande for thee, who plead for thee?|=
=_Epanalepsis_, when with one selfe word, we doe both begin and finish
a sentence, the vse hereof is méerelie appropriate to |Poesie, Much
asked he of Priams state, of Hector verie much|.=
=_Epizeuxis_, or a redoubling of a word, by vehemencie to expresse a
thing, as thus: |Thou thou art he on whom I liue to be reuenged. He, he
it was that wrought all my care. Thus, thus behooueth men of vertue and
courage to doe.|=
=_Anadiplosis_, when the last word of a comma or member of a sentence,
is the beginner of another that followeth, as |heauens witnes my fall,
my fall more grieuous then may be well supported by common sorrow:| or
thus, |Fie, too much vngratefull, vngratefull to mee of all others,
that so much at thy hands haue deserued.|=
=_Antistrophe_, where manie members are drawne to ende with one and
the same worde, as, |we haue our felicitie of vertue, our renowne of
vertue, our hope and expectation of vertue|. Or thus: |men from their
errours are reclaimed by loue, reclaimed by hope, reclaimed by feare|.=
=_Symploche_, where sundrie members haue one selfe beginning and
ending, as thus, |If we shall debate of the times present, what is
I pray you the cause of all these euils? money: what hath beene the
decay of our estimate? money: what the ruine of our soules? money: what
the torment of our conscience? money: what the meane of all ambitious
aspirings, treacheries, and villanies? money: In fine, this cursed and
wretched title of gaine is it that bewitcheth all ages and seasons,
and that onelie by a seruile regarde and account giuen vnto money:| Or
otherwise thus in contempt. |What sillie soule wast thou when I beganne
first to like thee? nothing. What when I tooke thee? nothing. What
before I cherished and regarded thee? nothing. And now that by me thou
hast beene made somthing, thou esteemest me as nothing.|=
=_Ploche_, when by an Emphasin, a worde is either in praise or
disgrace, reiterated or repeated, as thus: |Though Scipio were neuer so
much terrified with the Carthaginians in Spaine, with the Numidians in
Affricke, with aduersaries abroade, and with priuie enemies at home,
yet ceased he not to be Scipio still|, that is, _sui similis_, like
vnto himselfe still.|=
=_Polyptoton_ or |Traductio|, when one worde is often repeated by
varietie of cases, as thus: |Who hath in his life nothing so much
pleasing as the verie life it selfe which he enioyth, it is impossible
that his life with vertue should anie wayes be adorned:| or by
translating of one worde into diuers formes, as thus: |What manhoode
call you this, so vnmanlie to deale in those actions, that speciallie
appertaineth to a man?| Here is this word |manhood| translated into
|vnmanlie| and to |man|.=
=_Membrum_, or |Parison|, when one or moe members doe followe in equall
sentences, as thus: |See now by one fault how manie mischiefs thou
hast heaped to thy selfe, thou hast consumed thy patrimonie, grieued
thy parents, estranged thy friends, defamed thy stocke, vndone thy
kindred, and heaped mischiefe a thousand folde to thy selfe more then
can be auoided:| or thus with copulation: |neither hast thou herein
dealt discreetlie for thy selfe, nor respected thy frends, nor regarded
thy being, nor studied of the euill, nor cared for the good that might
happen, but leauing al at randon, thou hast done what in thee lieth to
worke all our vndoing.|=
=_Omoioteliton_, or _similiter cadens_, when words and sentences in
one sort do finish togithers, as thus: |Weeping, wailing, and her
handes, wringing, she moued all men to pitie her|. Or thus: |Thou
liuest maliciouslie, speakest hatefully, and vsest thy selfe cruelly.|
Or thus: |Wee find it much better of wise men to be rebuked, then by
filthie flatterie to be fondly deceyued.|=
=_Prosonomasia_, a pleasant kind of collusion in words, in
significations diuers, only by changing, detracting, or adding a letter
or sillable in a word, as to say, |No doubt he is a foole wise man|,
for a full wise man, |for a Doctor|, a Doter, or otherwise, |thou art
no bewraier, but a betraier of mens counsels. Of one religious thou art
become prodigious.|=