suggest the truth of their negation.

(4) _Epigram_ is the pungent phrasing of a shrewd observation. It may be
recognized by two characteristics,--it must be brief, and it must have
an unexpected turn of thought. This turn of thought may spring from an
apparent contradiction, from the solemn assertion of a truism, from a
play on words, or from other sources. There is an apparent contradiction
in Wordsworth's epigrammatic line,--

"The child is father of the man."

There is a play on words in the following epigrammatic characterization
of a loud and violent speaker: "He mistakes _perspiration_ for
_inspiration_."

(5) _Irony_ expresses a thought contrary to the form of words. Its
seeming praise is really condemnation; its compliments are insults. Its
advantage lies in the difficulty its victim experiences in making a
reply. It is useful in chastising follies and vices; but as a rule
ironic touches are to be preferred to continuous irony. The following is
from Thackeray: "So was Helen of Greece innocent. She never ran away
with Paris, the dangerous young Trojan. Menelaus, her husband, ill-used
her; and there never was any siege of Troy at all. So was Bluebeard's
wife innocent. She never peeped into the closet where the other wives
were with their heads off. She never dropped the key, or stained it with
blood; and her brothers were quite right in finishing Bluebeard, the
cowardly brute! Yes, Madam Laffarge never poisoned her husband, and Mary
of Scotland never blew up hers; and Eve never took the apple--it was a
cowardly fabrication of the serpent's."

FOOTNOTES:

[72:1] Psalm lxxx. 8-15.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

34. What is a figure? How did it originate? What is its object? In what
two ways is it used? Illustrate. 35. To how many classes may figures be
reduced? On what are these several groups based? Name the figures based
on _resemblance_; those based on _contiguity_; on _contrast_. What name
is given to figures of _diction_? to figures of _thought_? State the
figures of _intuition_; of _emphasis_. 36. What is a _simile_? How is it
introduced? Give an illustration. What errors should be avoided in the
use of simile? What is a _metaphor_? What is its effect as compared with
a simile? What errors in the use of metaphor are to be avoided? What is
_mixed metaphor_? Illustrate. What is _personification_? Give an
example. What is _allegory_? Illustrate. What is a _parable_? Give an
example. What is a _fable_?