_APOSTROPHE._
This figure and the former are derived from the same principle. If, to
gratify a plaintive passion, we can bestow a momentary sensibility upon
an inanimate object, it is not more difficult to bestow a momentary
presence upon a sensible being who is absent.
Hinc Drepani me portus et illætabilis ora
Accipit. Hic, pelagi tot tempestatibus actus,
Heu! genitorem, omnis curæ casusque levamen,
Amitto Anchisen: _hic me pater optime fessum
Deseris_, heu! tantis nequiequam erepte periclis.
Nec vates Helenus, cum multa horrenda moneret,
Hos mihi prædixit luctus; non dira Celæno.
_Æneid. iii. 707._
This figure is sometimes joined with the former: things inanimate, to
qualify them for listening to a passionate expostulation, are not only
personified, but also conceived to be present.
Et, si fata Deûm, si mens non læva fuisset,
Impulerat ferro Argolicas fœdare latebras:
_Trojaque nunc stares, Priamique arx alta maneres_.
_Æneid. ii. 54._
_Helena._---- Poor Lord, is’t I
That chase thee from thy country, and expose
Those tender limbs of thine to the event
Of non-sparing war? And is it I
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark
Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers,
That ride upon the violent speed of fire,
Fly with false aim; pierce the still moving air,
That sings with piercing; do not touch my Lord.
_All’s well that ends well, act 3. sc. 4._
This figure, like all others, requires an agitation of mind. In plain
narrative, as, for example, in giving the genealogy of a family, it has
no good effect:
----Fauno Picus pater; isque parentem
Te, Saturne, refert; tu sanguinis ultimus auctor.
_Æneid. vii. 48._