Catachrésis. The Catachresis, or abuse, borrows the name of one thing to express another, which either has no proper name of its own, or, if it has, the borrowed name is more surprising and agreeable, on account of its novelty and boldness: thus the word drink, in the following passage, is so bold a figure as to be properly styled a Catachresis: Phemius! let acts of gods and heroes old, What ancient bards in hall and bow'r have told The figures which follow, and which, for the sake of distinction, may be styled oratorical figures, are such as derive much of their beauty from a proper delivery: this delivery we shall endeavour to describe; and if the description conveys but a faint idea of the proper manner of pronouncing them, it must be remembered that a faint idea of this pronunciation is better than none at all. I'rony. Irony is a figure, in which one extreme is signified by its opposite extreme; or where we speak of one thing and design another, in order to give the greater force and poignancy to our meaning. Thus Cicero sometimes applies it in the way of jest and banter, where he says, We have much reason to believe the modest man would not ask him for his debt, where he pursues his life. Pro Quint. c. 11. At other times, by way of insult and derision. Thus, when he would represent the forces of Catiline as mean and contemptible, he says, O terrible war! in which this band of profligates are to march under Catiline. Draw out all your garrisons against this formidable body! And at other times, in order to give the greater force to his argument, he seems, as it were, by this figure to recall and correct what he had said before: as in his oration for Milo: But it is foolish in us to compare Drusus Africanus, and ourselves, with Clodius; all our other calamities were tolerable, but no one can patiently bear the death of Clodius, In pronouncing the first of these passages, we should assume an over-acted approbation, and such a tone of voice as seems to exclude all doubt of the integrity of the person we sneer at: this tone is low and drawling, and must be accompanied by a lifting-up of the hands, as if it were a crime to think otherwise than we speak. In the second passage we must assume a fear, as if occasioned by the most terrible danger. The voice must be in a high tremulous tone, and the hands lifted up, with the palms and fingers open, as if to defend us from approaching ruin. In the third passage we must assume a disapprobation, approaching to contempt: the voice must be in a low tone, and the right-hand with the palm and fingers open, waved from the left to the right, as if to set aside something too insignificant to be attended to; but the last member must have the tone of approbation, as if the object of it were something very noble and sacred. For this sentence, see pp. 79 and 81, and the Plate annexed. Satan beheld their plight, And to his mates thus in derision call'd. O friends, why come not on these victors proud? And breast (what could we more?) propounded terms As they would dance; yet for a dance they seem'd Milton's Paradise Lost, b. vi. v.609. This passage, as Mr. Addison observes, is nothing but a string of puns, and those very bad ones too: but whatever may be its merits in other respects, it affords an excellent opportunity of practising the pronunciation of irony. It must begin by an affected surprise, and proceed with a seriousness and seeming sincerity till the seventh line, when the word for is to have an emphasis with the rising inflexion, and to be pronounced with an air of uncertainty "whether it were a dance or not. A sneer commences at perhaps, which must be pronounced with a sly arch tone, as if perfectly secure of the consequences of another onset, Ecphonésis. EXCLAMATION and Interrogation have been treated at large in the former part of this work; but there they have been considered only with respect to pause and inflexion of voice: here it will be necessary to consider them more rhetorically, and to endeavour to show what tones, passions, and gestures, they demand. Ecphonesis, or Exclamation, is a figure which shows that the mind labours with some strong and vehement passion. It is generally expressed by such interjections as O! Oh! Ah! Alas! and the like, which may be called the signs of this figure. But first we may observe, that while other figures are confined to some particular passion, this seems to extend to all, and is the voice of nature under any kind of commotion or concern this voice, however, is not (as we are told in our grammars) always in a high and elevated tone: strong passion is not unfrequently expressed by a low tone; for, though both loudness and highness generally accompany any sudden emotion of soul, it is certain that we may cry out in a loud and high tone without much emotion, provided it is not sudden, without being either very high or very loud. The tone of the passion, therefore, must direct the tone of the voice in this figure. Accordingly we find that joy unexpected adopts this figure, and elevates the voice to the highest pitch. O my soul's joy! If after ev'ry tempest come such calms, May the winds blow till they have waken'd death! years O joy, thou welcome stranger! twice three Revenge, act iii. Sorrow in the extreme likewise adopts this figure, and raises the voice into a high tone: thus Lady Constance, in King John, cries out, I am not mad-I would to heav'n I were! But a slight degree of sorrow, or pleasing melancholy, adopts this figure in a soft middle tone of voice: thus the Duke, in Shakspeare's Twelfth Night, relieving his melancholy with music, says: That strain again! it had a dying fall! Oh, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, While the contemptuous reproach and impatience of Lady Macbeth uses the exclamation in a harsh and lower tone of voice: O proper stuff! This is the very painting of This is the air-drawn dagger, which you said Led you to Duncan. Thus Cicero, speaking of his banishment, from which he had been so honourably recalled, begins in a low and mournful tone, but ends in a high and exulting one: Oli mournful day to the senate and all good men! calamitous to the senate, afflictive to me and my family; but to posterity glorious, and worthy of admiration! Pro Sext. cap. 12. Again, in his defence of Cælius, endeavouring to expose his accusers to the indignation of the court, he cries out, in a loud and high tone, Oh! the great and mighty force of truth, which so easily supports itself against all the wit, craft, subtlety, and artful designs of men! At other times he adopts this figure to express disdain or contempt; as, when speaking of Pompey's house, which Mark Anthony had pur |