about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves."

+38. Figures of Contrast.+ (1) _Antithesis_ presents a strong contrast
of words or sentiments, usually in the form of balanced sentences. It
gives force to style by uniting opposite things in one conception. Its
excessive use, however, becomes monotonous; and antithesis in
construction, without a real contrast of thought, is confusing and
disagreeable. Macaulay, perhaps, makes more frequent use of antithesis
than any other of our great modern writers. Of the Puritans he says: "If
they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they
were deeply read in the oracles of God; if their names were not found in
the registers of heralds, they felt assured that they were recorded in
the Book of Life; if their steps were not accompanied by a splendid
train of menials, legions of ministering angels had charge over them."

(2) _Climax_ arranges its words, phrases, or clauses in an order of
increasing impressiveness. Its proper use gives an accumulative force to
the sentence. No better illustration of the climax can be given than the
well-known one in Cicero's oration against Verres: "To bind a Roman
citizen is an outrage; to scourge him is an atrocious crime; to put him
to death is almost parricide; but to crucify him--what shall I call it?"

The arrangement of the words or clauses in a descending order is called
_anticlimax_ or _bathos_. It is frequently used in wit and humor. The
following sentence is a ridiculous anticlimax: "The enemy is now
hovering upon our borders, preparing to press the knife to our throats,
to devastate our fields, to quarter themselves in our houses, and to
devour our poultry."

The principle of the climax is of wide application. Not only in the
sentence but also in the paragraph, chapter, and entire work, there
should be, as far as possible, progress in the importance, intensity, or
amplitude of the thought.

(3) _Interrogation_ strengthens an affirmation or denial by throwing it
into the form of a question. It is a figure frequent in poetry and
emotional prose. The following example from Gray's "Elegy" will be
sufficient for illustration:

"Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honor's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death?"

These questions are not asked for information, but for rhetorical
effect, and they forcibly