passages in which short, quick, and abrupt tones are most natural to the excited passions of the speakers. пече LESSON VI.-The Monotone. The monotone, which is a succession of words on a uniform key or pitch-sometimes high, but more frequently lowis often employed in passages of solemn denunciation or sublime description, and in such as express deep reverence and awe. The movement is generally slow, the quality pure, and the volume of sound full. The monotone style becomes monotonous, as its name implies, when indulged in to any great extent; but it is very properly employed in the following selections : : 1. "And one cried unto another, and said, Hōly, hōly, hōly, is the Lord Gōd of hōsts. The whole carth is full of his glory.-Blessing, hōnor, glōry, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lāmb, for ēver and ever."-Isa. vi. 3, and Rev. v. 13. 2. "In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spīrit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stōōd up. It stōōd still, but I could not discern the fōrm thereōf: an īmāge was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal mãn be more just than God? Shall a mān be mōre pūre than his maker?”—Job iv. 13–17. Ossian's Address to the Sun. [An Apostrophe.] 3. "O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers! Whence are thy beams, O sun? thy everlasting light? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty; the stars hide themselves in the sky; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave; but thou thyself movest alone. The mountains themselves decay with years; the ocean shrinks and grows again; the moon herself is lost in heaven, but thou art forever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. a 4. "When the world is dark with tempests; when thunders roll, and lightnings flash, thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm. But to Ossian thou lookest in vain; for he beholds thy beams no more; “ whether thy yellow hairs float on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art, perhaps, like me, for a season: thy years will have an end. Thou shalt sleep in the clouds, careless of the voice of the morning. Exult, then, O sun! in the strength of thy youth!"-Macpherson's "Ossian." 5. " High on a throne of royal state, which far Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, CHAPTER IV.-FIGURES OF SPEECH. LESSON I. Introductory. 1. A Figure of Speech is the use of a word or sentence in a sense different from its ordinary acceptation. Thus, when we say a lemon has a sour taste, or an apple a sweet taste, we use the word taste in its ordinary acceptation; but when we apply it to intellectual relish, as when we say that a man has a fine taste for painting, poetry, or music, we use it in a figurative sense. So, also, when we use epithets that express some quality not literally appropriate to the words to which they are applied, as when we a Ossian here alludes to his blindness. speak of the faithful plough, the expecting soil, glad errands, living gold, angry tides, drowsy night, etc., we use figurative expressions." 2. When we speak of listening to the voice of conscience, the voice of nature, etc., we depart from the literal and primary use of the word voice; but, as the figure is an appropriate one, we thereby add an additional charm to the thought, by the beauty of the language in which we clothe it. Figures form the constant language of poetry, and when properly applied they add ornament, dignity, and grace to prose, and often make it poetical. When Job, speaking of thunder as the voice of God, says, "Canst thou thunder with a voice like him ?" and when the Psalmist says, "The floods lifted up their voice," the thought becomes all the more impressive by its poctical rendering. 3. To say that "the sun rises," is trite and common; but the idea becomes a magnificent image when expressed in the glowing language of the poet Thomson: "But yonder comes the powerful king of day, To say that "all men are alike subject to death," is but a common saying, and excites no emotion; but the thought rises and fills the imagination when painted thus:— "With equal pace impartial fate Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate."-Horace. "It is to the figurative use of words," says Walker, “that language owes its peculiar force and beauty." LESSON II.-The Simile. 1. What is called the sim'i-le is merely a poetical or imaginary comparison between one subject and another sub a See Fifth Reader, page 15, "Figurative Language." ject or object different in kind from the former, but resembling it in some striking particular. It is considered one of the most sparkling, as it is one of the most common, ornaments of composition, and is employed in prose to enforce thought, and in poetry to enliven and embellish it. 2. Thus, if we would describe the steady, unmoved position of a body of soldiers in line of battle, we may do it very effectively by comparing it with some resembling object that will tend to dignify the subject, as, "The soldiers stood like statues, unmoved by the cannon's roar." So, a man's courage is sometimes compared to that of a lion, as we say, "He is as bold as a lion;" and eloquence is exalted in our imagination by comparing it to a river overflowing its banks and sweeping everything in its course. The principle of gratitude is beautifully illustrated by the following simile ::As a river rolls its waters to the sea, whence its springs were supplied, so the heart of a grateful man delights to return a benefit received." 66 3. In the following, two objects that resemble each other in their effects only upon the mind, are very happily brought into comparison in describing the nature of soft and melancholy music:-"The music of Caryl was, like the memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul." The music of Caryl might have been compared, very naturally, to the voice of the nightingale, or the murmur of the stream; but a much stronger impression is made by the unexpectedness of the resemblance here introduced. 4. While the subject which the simile illustrates is to be read in such pitch and tone as are adapted to its character, it will be observed that, in a simile of much length, the reading naturally begins in a low and contemplative tone, and then gradually slides into a higher pitch, with varied inflections as the mind warms with the subject. The simile is generally introduced by the words like, so, as, or thus; but these words frequently introduce the subject also, when the simile precedes it. The following are appropriate and beautiful similes, in which the comparison may be easily traced: I.-Fraternal Concord. 'Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard,—even Aaron's beard;—that went down to the skirts of his garment."Psalm cxxxiii. II.-The Minds of the Aged. "The minds of the aged are like the tombs to which they are approaching; where, though the brass and the marble remain, yet the inscriptions are effaced by time, and the imagery has mouldered away." III.-Philip, last king of the Wampanoags. "He lived a wanderer and a fugitive in his native land, and went down, like a lonely bark foundering amid darkness and tempest, without a pitying eye to weep his fall, or a friendly hand to record his struggle."-Irving. IV.-The Shadows on Loch Katrine. "The mountain shadows on her breast In bright uncertainty they lie, Like future joys to funcy's eye.”—W. Scott. V.-The Poetry of Milton. "The poetry of Milton, exhibiting the most sublime conceptions and elevated language, intermingled with passages of uncommon delicacy of thought and beauty of expres sion, reminds us of the miracles of Alpine scenery. Nooks and dells, beautiful as fairy-land, arc embosomed in its most |